This student reflects on their experience in an American Literature class taught with an open source learning approach by Dr. Preston. Some key points: 1) The class provided a more personal and trusting environment where students were treated like colleagues rather than inferior students. 2) Students were given more freedom than other classes, which helped those who wanted to learn while weeding out those who did not. 3) The class analyzed classic novels like Fahrenheit 451 and The Catcher in the Rye to understand character development and relate to characters personally. 4) The student found their passion for photography through a class project and plans to pursue it further in college. 5) The class included fun human moments

1. Maddi Binney
Dr.Preston
American Literature
8 June 2015
Masterpiece Academy Question
Thinking back to the very beginning of the yeaar, I knew right off the bat that this
class was not going to be like any English class I've ever experienced, or any class for that
matter. From the very first day when Dr.Preston walked out of the classroom giving us a
choice to decide on taking a traditional English class approach or to introduce Open Source
Learning, I knew we were in for an interesting ride. And we weren't disappointed.
From the very first day we have been treated as colleagues with Dr.Preston as
opposed to the inferior little snots as viewed by a great majority of teachers at Righetti.
Dr.Preston is very different from any teacher that I have ever had personally. The reason why
most of all of his students succeed is because of his appraoch to learning and his attempt to
make the class more personal and close knit. He's gave us reason to trust him and has never
once screwed us over like many teachers tend to do. We've been given a high level of
freedom even we haven't deserved it, but there has always been a balance. Some haven't
earned the level of trust they were given and some certainly don't honor it, yet in the end it's
worked out in the way that the ones who don't care to conform have been weeded out of the
bunch and the ones who actually desire to respect the 50/50 giving and taking have soared
with success. It's clear to me that Dr.Preston's teacher style works well because of how much
people have been able to open up in a classroom setting because of the level of comfort they
feel in there. The more personal Masterpiece Presentations have represented that comfort
the student's feel in presenting personal events with the class in that non-judgemental and
analytical setting. It makes people more comfortable knowing that their stories are being
analyzed as more of a literary question and exploration rather than content to judge upon.
Upon analyzing our own creations from our Masterpiece Presentations, we also spent

2. a great deal of time anazlying novels in classic literature such as Fahrenheit 451 by Ray
Bradbury, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, and The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.
The way we read and analyzed these novels have allowed to really understand the approach
of the author's character developpment choices along with getting to know the character on
what feels like a personal level. I, personally, related most to Holden Caufield in The Catcher
in the Rye because of the way that J.D. Saligner used diction to set him as a dynamic character
who had complex emotions and feelings ranging all over the map. He made Holden seem
mentally insane or off when in reality all of the obstacles and emotions Holden felt were not
far-fetched, but very relatable. He captured teenage angst and conflict in a way that all youth
can relate to.
The one thing I've absolutely loved about this course has been the amount of things
brought up that makes to relate to others and connect thing we have never thought to
without being forced to think about it. Dr.Preston has puched us all year long to find a muse
and get motivated byt doing things we care about and love doing and turn that into literature
in a unique way. I have challenged myself to find what inspires me and give me drive to
progress in. Naturally from my masterpiece I chose photography because it is one of my only
hobbies and it;s something U absolutely love doing and in that I dscovered my love for
creating videos and editing myslef to make meaningful montages. I've decided to continure
my photography by taking more courses in college and I'm excited to see where that leads
me.
Not every assignment or things studied have been serious or have lead to literary
exploration or self-evaluation. We have had a lot fo fun along the way and have created
beautiful human moments in our class setting. A moment that really made me laugh out loud
this year was when Dr.Preston told us the story about when he was in Spanish class in high
school he was getting a bad grade because of his teachers animosity towards his friends in
the class, he soon moved seats to be right in front of his teacher to suck up and he ended up
getting and A in the class and she even met him a scarf for his birthday. I think these are the

3. moments we find seldom coming from our teachers and I also found it to be quite ironic
because we were given a perfect example of how unfair teachers can be for no apparent
reason and all this coming from a teacher themself. It made me realize how twisted the
world can be and if we want something we cannot just expect the universe will give it to us
without struggle.
This course has been a constant realization that people are more alike than you think
and you are never alone in your thoughts because there is always someone going through the
same things as you and who shares the same opinion. I noticed that while watching the
Masterpiece Presentations that many of the masterpieces had a similar theme to them which
was the desire to help someone or something. This brings me to the big opinion on whether
people are naturally born good or naturally born evil, I believe we are all born good but some
seeds along the way turn bad which inevitable. I think that most people wish to help others
because that's what they really believe in. Take for example in Kyra's masterpiece, she wants
to start a non-profit organization to help homeless people because as she mentioned at the
beginning of her presentation is all she wants to do it help people and make them feel good.
Bridgette desires to create a support group for children of divorced parents because she
believes that she can help other people due to her experience with divorced parents. Though
no all help has to be directed towards humans. Megan's presented on saving the oceans, she
was so passionate about maintaining a clean and prosperous ocean enviornment and in turn
saving it's many endangered species. Life's a beach, am I right? Rianne showered her passion
through her dog and her struggle with caring for her epilepsy. We all want to do good and
there is always room for further education on these important topics and always
improvement.
As for my own betterment, I can happily say that I am a hero. I've gone through a lot
of very difficult situations in the past two years that are hard to explain in words. I've come
out of the fight more strong than I have ever thought and I've conquered these challenges
with grace. Along the way I've come to an intense self-awareness and acceptance which has

4. made me better person overall. I've learned to challenge myself more this year and I'm
adamant on maintaining my new lifestyle and mindset I've created this year. I am a hero and I
am a better person thanks to this class.