Should I take Photography Classes?

This is a question I see on all the major sites in the "question & answer" areas. Oh Yahoo questions there are always nurmerous posts about this topic. Well, here's my take on it...and even though I'm an instructor (roushphotoonline.com) I'll try to give an unbiased opinion.
Through the years I've taught students at many different skill levels, lots of amatuers and a fair amount of "wanna be pros". The thing that is common among all of them is the their lack of knowledge. It's not that they can't expose properly, it's not that they can't operate the camera. Knowing how to use all the components that are available and how to apply them to different shooting situations, different lighting environments, and effectively delivering a message in a visual format is where the "lack of knowledge" becomes evident. Most studentes look at a pro photographers photos and say "I want to do that!". Well, to DO "that" it takes a very complete understanding of lens choice, speed choice, Depth of Field choice, and then be able put this together in a properly and powerfully composed visual layout and design that impacts the viewer.
That's where most photographs fail. When I critique portfolios, and I critique hundreds, it's always the same ... the same reasons and problems in the execution.
So, yes, photography classes will enlighten you to things you might not know you need to do, or need to think about when doing photography.