Well hey there, this is a sad but at the same time, very happy post! I'm sad the year is over but I'm also REALLY happy because its almost summer! I'm writing a letter to my fellow classmates and to the rising 9th graders who may enjoy to know what high school is all about considering the fact that none of us never got anything like that. This was such a fun year and I really do love high school but it was so much different than last year or any previous years. In that sense, i'm talking about friendships, work ethic, amount of work to do, what is expected of you and the fact that now, it actually counts... Last year (in 8th grade) I really didn't try very hard, I made horrible grades all year long except the first quarter. I guess I just didn't have the motivation that I now have. I mean, it didn't count for anything later on in life so I just didn't feel like I needed to try very hard. That was a very big mistake...
I don't know what happened over the summer, but I guess I had a reality check because the first day of high school I really had it set in my mind that I wanted to succeed in life, so in order to do that I needed to work my butt off! English I was probably one of my favorite classes, I learned so much and I improved greatly from previous years. I thought I was a good writer before, but now I actually do feel like I know how to write! I mean, freshman, ya'll are going to learn a lot so be prepared. Some things ya'll should know. I recommend you get either one big binder or you get notebooks for every class and a binder for handouts; I say this because I got a different binder for every class and it took up so much space! My backpack was so heavy every single day. Also I am telling you now, do not throw anything away. I never had any problems with this because I have always kept everything I have ever been given in class or have written in class; but I promise if you don't keep it, it will come back and bite you in the butt because you will need it for future things, if not then for sure for the exam. Another thing ya'll are probably all worrying about is that you aren't going to get a school supplies list. It's OK! I panicked too, but all you need is pencils, pens, paper and binders or notebooks. Something else to keep in mind for english I next year, when Dr. D tells you to annotate, DO IT! When the test comes and you've forgotten chapters 1 and 2, if you've annotated then you can go back and look at your annotations and see what questions you had and what words you didn't understand or what connections you made. I promise, it seems stupid now but it really does help. Especially if she lets you use your book for part of the test, then you're really going to be glad you did it!
Classmates, you guys this has been such a fun year! I enjoyed so much being with yall and understanding how you work best. It was fun teaching each other different study tricks and helping each other with homework or studying. I got to know so many of you guys really well and it was super fun! I will always love my block 2 english class(: I hope we all have so more classes together next year when we're sophomores! ahhh thats so weird to say...
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Participation In English Class This Year
General Procedure: I thought that my general participation was pretty good throughout the year. I have never not brought any of the books we needed to class, such as Lord of the Flies, or Macbeth. I've also always had my pens and pencils ready to go with plenty of paper to take notes with. I also, rarely ever ask to leave class for bathroom or water breaks unless it is an absolute emergency. I am very good about checking my email consistently so that wasn't a problem either! So, overall I think I did very good in this category!
Lecture, announcements, and whole class discussion: I've always been pretty good about staying focused and paying attention to the teacher without having side conversations so I did good with that, with a few exceptions here and there but nothing out of the ordinary! I also try to always ask as many questions as I can, in order to get involved in the class.
Individual and Group Work: This one is probably my worst category because I am not very good with group work, I am best with individual stuff; so I did good with that. But I didn't do the best with my group work because its really hard for me to stay focused when I'm on my own without a teacher, so adding a bunch of other students just makes it worse... But I at least tried to make myself and my group stay focused which is a big improvement from previous semesters. I am a perfectionist so aiming beyond minimum came pretty easily to me.
Growth: I think that I participated really well all year long but I definitely improved in the last semester. I got much better with group work as I said, and I learned SO much! This was a great year in all my classes and I grew in so many ways, I couldn't even explain them all to year. Thanks for an awesome year Dr. D!(:
Lecture, announcements, and whole class discussion: I've always been pretty good about staying focused and paying attention to the teacher without having side conversations so I did good with that, with a few exceptions here and there but nothing out of the ordinary! I also try to always ask as many questions as I can, in order to get involved in the class.
Individual and Group Work: This one is probably my worst category because I am not very good with group work, I am best with individual stuff; so I did good with that. But I didn't do the best with my group work because its really hard for me to stay focused when I'm on my own without a teacher, so adding a bunch of other students just makes it worse... But I at least tried to make myself and my group stay focused which is a big improvement from previous semesters. I am a perfectionist so aiming beyond minimum came pretty easily to me.
Growth: I think that I participated really well all year long but I definitely improved in the last semester. I got much better with group work as I said, and I learned SO much! This was a great year in all my classes and I grew in so many ways, I couldn't even explain them all to year. Thanks for an awesome year Dr. D!(:
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Reading Reflection
wow, hard to believe the year is almost over... We're almost sophomores guys! In terms of reading, I have come pretty far. I have read only a few books but i've learned how to read which is the important thing. I have learned about theme and how to read between the lines and many other things. A book that I have just finished was the Hunger Games. It was extremely good and I plan to read the rest of the books soon then I want to read a few nicholas sparks books.
Something that I have learned about myself as a reader is that I don't comprehend what I am reading very well unless it is very intriguing to me, therefore I have learned that I have to conciously remind myself to pay attention and stay focused; and when I am reading something with imagery, I picture the words that I am reading in my head as a scene like in a movie. Or if I have seen the movie I picture the scene for that particular segment. Something else I have learned is that you really have to think about what your reading in order to accomplish the goal of reading in between the lines which is what I have worked pretty hard on this year in my outside reading assignments. I want to get better at that because I know that next year we will be doing a lot of reading in English class and I want to be able to understand the hidden meaning of the text. In the end, I really do truly believe that I have come a long way in my reading because I have become a much better reader and I have increased my reading level. But I plan to get better next year!
Something that I have learned about myself as a reader is that I don't comprehend what I am reading very well unless it is very intriguing to me, therefore I have learned that I have to conciously remind myself to pay attention and stay focused; and when I am reading something with imagery, I picture the words that I am reading in my head as a scene like in a movie. Or if I have seen the movie I picture the scene for that particular segment. Something else I have learned is that you really have to think about what your reading in order to accomplish the goal of reading in between the lines which is what I have worked pretty hard on this year in my outside reading assignments. I want to get better at that because I know that next year we will be doing a lot of reading in English class and I want to be able to understand the hidden meaning of the text. In the end, I really do truly believe that I have come a long way in my reading because I have become a much better reader and I have increased my reading level. But I plan to get better next year!
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Macbeth's prospective
Recently, we've been reading Macbeth, a shakspearian play. It has really interested me! I have really noticed a lot about Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. But Macbeth has probably caught my attention a little more than Lady Macbeth has. Lady Macbeth is just so rude and as a reader, I interpret her to be a mean, impatient rude person. She has no patience for Macbeth and if he doesn't want to do something she wants, she says he's not a man. Macbeth says I don't want to kill Duncan and Lady Macbeth tells him that he isn't a man. I think that Macbeth is a little stubborn but he is also very cautious and I guess what you would say as, innocent.
Macbeth has a sense of goodness to me. As a character, I think he feels like he is pressured into doing things by Lady Macbeth and he feels like if he does not do as she says, something bad may happen to him or maybe even be killed. I think that Macbeth is a patient, and cautious man. From Macbeth's prospective, he probably feels like hes not even loved very much by lady Macbeth. I predict that Lady Macbeth is going to try to kill Macbeth. She is a bad woman and I think that she is bad to Macbeth and she doesn't treat him well.
Macbeth has a sense of goodness to me. As a character, I think he feels like he is pressured into doing things by Lady Macbeth and he feels like if he does not do as she says, something bad may happen to him or maybe even be killed. I think that Macbeth is a patient, and cautious man. From Macbeth's prospective, he probably feels like hes not even loved very much by lady Macbeth. I predict that Lady Macbeth is going to try to kill Macbeth. She is a bad woman and I think that she is bad to Macbeth and she doesn't treat him well.
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