(I tried to post a picture, but it wouldn't work, so I will try at a later date)
This week I learned that it is okay to take a break from everything by take a day for yourself. Last weekend was really busy for me so I was exhausted coming into this week. I intended on being at school for 1st and 2nd hour on Monday, however I slept in way too late and ended up coming for the last part of the day. Tuesday was a blessing. I took the entire day to myself, I only did what I wanted to do, and did it on my own schedule. Honestly it was one of the best days I have had in a while and I wish I could have more days like that. It was just really refreshing to have a day to myself and be able to choose what I wanted to do instead of being on a schedule. Tuesday just helped me to realize that it is okay to take a day off if you need it. It is better to be rested, calm, and centered, rather than pushing yourself to your mental/physical limit. As for the academic side of things, I learned more about revising writing. I already knew that revisions and editing were important to the writing process, but this week really engraved that into my mind. Editing and revising are probably the most important part of writing an essay. Whether it is doing it your own work, or having someone else do it, a lot of time should always be set aside for this process. I feel that just in these past 6 weeks I have gotten better at editing my own work, along with other people's work. I feel that I learned a lot during the process of writing my college application essays. Seeing the revisions that Ben and my sister made on my essays helped me see what I need to work on. Their suggestions also helped me learn how to revise other peoples essays, and showed me how to critique.Overall is was a really productive week. Time management and editing skills are being worked on and perfected (which I am really excited about). And taking more time for myself is on my radar as well.
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This week was interesting. I was gone for 2 out of the 5 days, and we worked on our essays everyday. It was a good week for working, and I really liked the time we got in class to work on the essays. I didn't have a lot of my own time this week, and with the due date being given on Monday, I really appreciated the time we had in class.
This week I learned that I can write an essay that I was not prepared, for by myself, in less than a week. Needless to say, I am proud. This week I learned that It is okay to ask my peers and my teachers questions. When I am confused or don't feel confident in what I have written, I found that it is better to ask, then to walk blindly into the essay. I found it really helpful working with Ben, he explained things really well. However, if I was still confused or wanted a better example, I leaned on my classmates for help. This helped big time, we all seemed to be confused in certain areas, and we pushed through together. The first essay of the year is usually really hard for me, I'm not sure why, but I always struggle with it. Working on a "group essay" scared me at first. However when we got into writing it, and I didn't have to write it directly with another person, it made the task easier. I didn't want to struggle with another person over what to put in the essay, and end up with a horribly written essay. I liked that I could work on it by myself, but I also had the help of the other two girls in my group when I needed it. Overall this was a really chill week. It help build my confidence in asking questions when I need help, as that is something I have always struggled with. I am excited to jump into next week. This week I learned that it’s okay to have a different opinion than everyone else and that opinion should be shared. It’s okay to interpret things differently than other people with poems, as they can mean different things to different people. With the poem of the week, I disagreed with what most of the class was saying. They felt that the poem was actually abusive, and not a sweet bedtime story. My first impression of the poem was that it was a father coming home a little bit tipsy and started dancing with his child. They were having so much fun it got out of hand and tore up the house a little bit, and the father wasn’t dancing his usual rhythm. Then the child went off to bed after the “waltz”. This was against what everyone else was saying, and I felt that I shouldn’t bring up my opinion because it was “wrong”. Although when we started talking about it yesterday in class I had the same view of it as another person at my table, and a few others throughout the room. I realized that it’s okay to share my views of things even if everyone else has a different one. It might help others with the same opinion speak up, and it would help with the discussion as well.
This week during creative writing, I liked going back over my own writing. As I was working on it, I saw things easily that I needed to work on and fix. I just really enjoyed the process of fixing something, and then rereading it and having it sound perfect to what I pictured it sounding like. This next thing that I learned this week is going to relate to my creative writing. I learned from author James Jackson that not everyone will like my writing, and what I have to say. In return I should listen to their opinions and criticism and take it in a positive way. I like how he got a really bad review: “This reads like a bad movie” and that made him happy. He wants his book to be a movie eventually, and even though it was a bad review it still touched on his overall goal. That two star review made him happy because he looked at it in a positive way. I really liked what he had to say, and I like how passionate he is about writing, I also learned from that. Overall this was a really positive week in learning new things. I took away a lot of really good things from this week and I am excited to use them, not just in the classroom, but also in my personal life. This week we really focused on revising our own papers, and other writing. It is it was a good experience to see it being done on Ben's poem and have that example as a reference. I didn't do much revising just because I didn't really have a good essay to base it off of, and I didn't have many stories to start revising for the 750 word assignment. I am excited to start revising my own work next week, and seeing what I can turn my writing into.
I learned this week that I need to be better about reading my book. It is honestly so hard to get my reading done, especially this week with homecoming things going on. I am constantly busy in the fall trimester with the swim team and getting back into the school year, so I am finding it extremely hard to get reading done. I am trying the best I can and reading in class, but it doesn't seem to be enough. I need to manage my time better and prioritize the things in my life. I also learned this week in my personal life that I need to be better about random things that happen. I need to be more laid back and think things through before I bring up controversial topics to the people I love and trust. I also need to be more trusting and let myself fall onto that trust of the people I love. It is hard but it hurts them if you don't show them the trust you have built for them It was a hard, crazy, fun, and overall amazing week that I wouldnt change for the world, given all that I went through. This week we worked a lot with poetry and how to write the poem of the week essay. This weeks poem of the week was a lot easier to analyze than last weeks was. Having a longer piece and something with more meaning behind it was really helpful in trying to figure out how to write the 40 minute essay about the poem. It gave us more to work with. Going along with this, figuring out the poem was easier. I felt like we had better discussions with this poem which helped the thought process of figuring it out. We also knew the context of the author writing this poem which helped with metaphors. There were more poetic elements to talk about, which helps in writing a good piece that explains the poem well. I just feel like I wrote a way better essay for this weeks poem of the week than I did with The Eagle.
The art as a window into literature document that we did this week was also helpful in learning how to analyze and look past what is right in front of you. Finding the story inside of a painting was a good exercise that we did. I liked looking at the paintings and trying to see what the artist may have been seeing or what they had been thinking of. I also liked the Ted Talk that we watched and how she explained her process of putting stories to painting and looking at them more in depth. This Ted Talk that I linked, I thought was very interesting. I like how she talks about how reading opens minds and does more for you than just something to pass the time. It helps people share ideas and experiences and learn from others. I think that this is a good Ted Talk for what we did in class this week. It goes along with opening our mind to the art within literature and looking at things with an open mind. This week I learned about myself and the abilities that I need to work on in the classroom. During the How to Read Literature poster project, I realized that I don’t analyze things the way I should. I take things very literally, and don’t look into depth with things all the time. I have known this is an issue for a while, but I realized that it will quickly become an even bigger issue if I don’t start to work on it. I need to work on thinking about things in a more abstract way, and learn how to analyze things on a deeper level, not look at just the big picture or what is right in front of me.
Visual metaphors where a big help in showing me both the big picture and work on analyzing things in detail. The visual project that we did in class was the assignment that showed me that I need to practice my analyzation skills. I spent too much time looking at the big picture of it, but once I got some help I started seeing things on a deeper level. I also learned how to put out grease fires, both literally and metaphorically. With the recent events in our student teachers kitchen, it brought up the question of how to actually put out a grease fire. I think that that is some really valuable information to know throughout life. The metaphorical way of looking at a grease fire is learning how to manage your priorities so they don't get out of control and end up burning you. You need to keep things under control , getting things done and not letting things over whelm you and drag you down. I also learned that all of us are smarter than one of us. I usually don't like working in groups because I don't always trust the people in my group to do their part. I also like to just get things done by myself. Although with this class I am learning that all of us working together is way better and I am truly enjoying it. I love hearing everyone's ideas and I like talking about all of our opinions. It is helping me learn better, and get a better understanding on things. It is also really good to hear everyone's ideas, explain your own and then work to expand upon them together. This week was mostly a lot of learning about my own schedule and how to manage my time, along with the things we did in class this week. For me it was a rough transition week with finally getting homework in classes and having swim meets. I learned that I have to have better time management this year than I have had in the past. Senior year brings many new deadlines that are very important, although I do see that they are mixed in with fun things too.
As for the things we learned in class, it mostly had to do with writing and poetry. I learned that even though a poem may be very short, it has a whole lot of meaning behind it. I learned that even when you think you have dug deep into processing the poem there is always more to think through and try to understand. I also realized that I still enjoy writing about anything I choose to. I have not been able to creatively write in class in years, and I don't do it on my own time, so I truly enjoyed the time we got in class and am excited to continue it throughout the year. I also really like that the creative writing it is such a safe place. I can write whatever I want and I don't have to share it with anyone, I can share as little as one word which I really like. I started to realize that this class as a whole is a safe place. I don't feel totally open, but I realize that it is okay to be yourself and do what you need to do in this class, and I really appreciate that. The first week of school can be either the best or worst week of school. It is filled with figuring out what kind of teachers you are going to have, which friends are going to be in you classes, first impressions, what you will be learning throughout the year, and many other very important firsts.
The first week of school got me excited for AP Lit. It gave me a first great impression, and I hope it stays that way for the duration of the school year. The first week of class opened my eyes to how much time I have; it showed me different ways to fit the important things, such as reading into my schedule. I learned that I have time everyday to read, I just need to use it wisely. I realized that reading and writing are at everyone’s own pace, and I saw that I am not as far behind my peers as I feel, I am actually right alongside them in my reading, and writing. This week also made me think about why and how I got into this class, and at this point of my life in general. It made me think about my actions both academically and outside of school. I grew a greater appreciation for the things I may have been taking advantage of, in just the course of one week. I also realized that even though it is senior year I need to watch my academics closer than I had originally thought. I am going to continue what I have been doing, and pick up the slack where I have let things slide. This was a good first week of school. It matured me more than any other first week, and I am very grateful for the things I have learned, and will continue to learn. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
November 2017
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