I'm starting to think teachers are always right

I have to write some 8-12 page paper for Research Methods. I only took this class because I need to know how to write papers when I go on to college. I didn't take it, expecting it to be fun. I took it expecting it to be hard work :(. Our teacher missed most of the first month, so we were not totally prepared for her. I had slacked a lot in the last few weeks. I got some good books from the library when we went, but most of the other days I wasted time and figured I could cruise by in this class giving less effort then I should. Once my teacher got back she put an end to that.

I have realized that this class isn't as easy as I want it to be. I am going to struggle as English is my worst subject, espeically writing. However, I have also realized this class can be easier then it looks. The teacher lays out a strict schedule of when things are due to keep you on a good pace and make sure you get stuff done. For tomorrow, I had to write a topic outline. I had gone into today thinking I would just add a few more indepth things to my graphic organizer from yesterday and do fine. But when she returned the graphic organizers, I noticed that she thought my topic was way to broad. I talked to her about it, and she said she wanted me to cut my topic into a much smaller portion then what I had (I'm writing about the reasons for the fall of Rome FYI.) I was a little unhappy with this, as a I had not done enough research to go indepth into anyone of these subjects. So I went home and put it off by watching Seinfeld, reading the paper, doing my paper route, picking up my brother from weightlifting, and lo and behold it was time to go to work. After work I came home, and watched Family Guy, then I watched CSI, and all of a sudden it was 12:15 AM and I hadn't started on this damn outline.

I started to look at my organizer and realized I was in major trouble, I hadn't read enough to go indepth on these topics, and I was certain that if I did go indepth, I wouldn't have enough sources to do good notecards for Monday(o yeah I didn't mention we have 75 notecards due on Monday! I have to be real careful to make sure I use alot of sources too! O joy!). I was seriously contemplating just writing another broad outline, and then narrowing it later after I read more. I was standing there thinking, I should just go to bed and do it in the morning(I have tried this in the past, never works very well. I tend to get F's when I do that). Then I started thinking out loud, verbally going through my possible reasons to go indepth on. Pretty soon I realized that I had narrowed my topic down to 2 possible reasons. The growth of the empire, or the problems in the army. When I verbally went through how I could go indepth with the growth part, I realized I had found my paper. Just like me teacher had told me in class, you will find this ALOT easier once you narrow it down. Now that I had narrowed it down, it was much easier to write this oultine. Also I started to see where I could use my sources to make notecards.

The moral of my story, if there is one, is to listen to your teachers. Distinguish when they don't know when they don't know what they are talking about(you all know what I mean ;) and when they do, give it a try, even if it isn't your stlye. Maybe you never have been a person to use flashcards, but at your teachers urgings you try and find out they work best. You never would know if you don't listen to your teacher and try it out. For some reasons these people who go to school to learn how to teach, and get paid to educate me, know all these secrets about how to learn, and how to succed in school. Now if only I had realized this last year :(.