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Noemi Flores
English 113 B
Professor Rebecca Lawson
21 February 2015
How To Make A Space You Learn In
Through all of our school experience from elementary, to middle
school, and high school and even college we must all take general
required classes, enforced by the government and school district.
These general classes are given to us to learn general knowledge; yet
many of us dont take them to learn, but because we have to pass
them due to law enforcement. Many students I know dont like these
classes an in fact dont learn anything from these classes, but I did
learn in my general required class. I learned in my Chicanos studies
class 100 because of the space it was held in. A space that was a safe
environment for me and for the students in it. This class was different
then a usual class Chicanos studies 100 with Cristina Ayala Alcantran
represents a space where students learned about equality, even
though it was a general class, because of the way the class was
structured.

The way the classroom is structured helped students learn in this

space, it was not like a regular class. This space had many desks for
students, but the desks were in a circle. This space helped me learn

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because all students can participate. What was interesting was that
Cristina (professor Ayala) sat with us. She sat with us, so that she can
learn from us and we can learn from her. In this space this class didnt
just have a chalkboard and a white board the whole class had murals
all over the class. Murals that symbolized how Chicanos have suffered
for their inequalities. The murals also show how CSUN tuition goes up
every year. The way Christina thought the classroom was a space that
we al built where we felt confortable. We learned because we were all
equal in her class though she was a professor. The class was small,
but full of students yearning to learn. The types of people that would
only like this class would be Cristina and the students in it. Our first
test in this class was to learn every single persons name in the class
because everyone mattered. We were about 43 students, which
demonstrates, how Christina was a professor that actually cared about
her students. We did not have a midterm or final in her class, but I
leaned more than I ever had in other classes. The place was
confortable because we all knew each other, un like other classes in
college. Our space was also always hot because of how close our
bodies were in the circle. The class felt like a home and a safe
environment to learn in.
In our space reading and writing actually worked as a learning
method. In this space its clearly proven. We read articles and books
that had to do with equality, and with human mistakes that should be

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forgiven. For example we read tattoos on the heart by father Boyle,
were we got to see how gang members changed their lives around. We
learned through these readings about equality and human mistakes
that should be forgiven. In this space like the reading we learned
everyone makes mistakes not just gang members, blacks, Chicanos,
and everyone should realize not because you make a mistake in life
means you are less than someone else. We all shared in this space how
we have all been through similar experiences as the gang members,
we have all made mistakes just not to there extend. In this space we
matured and learned to try to look at both sides of someone, though it
may be hard sometimes.
On the other hand, some people may not agree with our space
because its not classroom material. In reality in this space I learned
more than I would have if it were structured like a regular classroom.
The space we built was unlike no other experience. Everyday I pass
through this space located in Jerome Richfield at CSUN and I dont get
the same feeling I use to. I sometimes peak in the window and I see a
professor lecturing their class in rows, I see text books and in my
Chicanos class all our reading were posted on Moodle. I do compare
how in a safe environment, you learn more. I also see how sometimes
not going the way the district wants us to learn works.
Moreover, people learn more in a safe confortable space. Who
can say me a student at California State University Northridge that can

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speak for other students. Most college classes are exams and lectures.
Most of students get test anxiety and cant even preform to the best of
there knowledge by a test. Why are all these ideas in our head? Why is
someone not smart if they cant preform good on a test? Why do
people only say people that are smart have to know math? Why must
we learn in theses ways? Why must we learn a certain way? Why must
we follow a certain curriculum in order to learn? Why do we say that
every year people cant be college material and dont even bother
going. Yes, the way schools have worked for many of us I am in college
and many other people are, but I learned in this class more that other
structured classes. A space where students are afraid to ask their
professors for question when in reality they get paid for students to
learn. We should have a safe environment.
Chicanos Studies 100 with Christina was a new method of
actually learning in a general required class because of the way the
class was structured. What I want for people to learn from my essay is
that I know how you feel when you constantly take general classes you
dont need for your major, but you must take them and hopefully you
get a professor like Christian. Keep in mind if you dont do well in your
classes it does not mean you are not smart .Not because you didnt do
well on a test means that will determine your whole life. Because of
the way the district/ government structures the class just means that is
one way and dont forget there is many other ways to gain knowledge.

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People from all over the world are intelligent in different ways and we
are all equal. I never thought I was the smartest student in class, but I
never thought that my opinion didnt matter because with everyones
intelligence that is when greatness happens. And that is what professor
Ayala thought us, that everyones opinion matters. That even though it
was a general required class we did learn; and for me personally I
learned one of the most important moral lesson in life. We are all equal
though we are all different colors. It was not a classroom setting that
the government/school district usually is, it was a sanctuary space I
enjoyed learning in. Many spaces can be more than just a place it can
be a place with an issue. This space I will never forget because it
meant equality to certain people, community, and sub culture, we all
felt the same way and all contributed in this class.