We were supposed to start commenting this week, but the nature of this blog won't really allow for that UNLESS you have some helpful advice for your peers. So, we will start the list for comments next week.
OK, ladies and gentlemen. You have done it. Well, almost.
The year is 3/4 over-and even more than that for AP folks because your year ends sooner than everyone else's.
So, now is the time for some introspective reflection. And, while this is not the original blog idea (the words for the other idea I have aren't arranging themselves in my brain so I need more time with them), it is equally if not more important.
As you answer the questions, I want you to keep you in mind: how you learn, what shuts down your learning, and what you can do or I can that will improve upon, and remedy those things.
What do you know now that you didn't know on September 1?
What kinds of things still give you fits because you can't seem to grasp the concept?
What would you like to focus on moving forward?
What would you like to see more of? (might be the same as the last question--might not)
Do you feel like your getting the most out of the class?
Are you living up to your own expectations?
What can you do better, differently
And, most importantly--are you learning?
Take your time, think about your answers and tell me how you feel. I will use your responses as a means to plan out the rest of our year. If there are other things you would like to say, tell me, vent about (respectfully) etc feel free. If you feel you cannot do this in a public forum, you know what to do.
PS--this is still a blog--it's not a worksheet--please don't answer the questions one by one.
I have learned a lot of stuff since September 1, one being that everyone makes mistakes. Let’s play a game of “I Spy”: “I spy with my (little) eye grammar mistakes in questions seven and five!” I have learned other things, too; however, most of the things I know I taught myself. This school year, I taught myself about fine art (I especially like the works of René Magritte and M.C. Escher) and am working on learning some literature now (so far, I really like the work of Isaac Asimov). I also learned a lot about scientists (one of the best ones ever being Gregory Goodwin Pincus) and calculus. However, the most valuable lesson I learned was perhaps in my “AP” Chem class: that life sucks much more than I already thought it did. I liked Ms. Michener, the long term sub covering for Mrs. Rich while she was busy manufacturing a human. Michener was awesome; she (almost) had it all: the looks, the personality, but where she had everything in some aspects of her being, she had absolutely nothing in others: the lady had no organization and the brain of a lump of coral. She taught chem in the same way that someone would teach blind children the colors, and it was really sad. I cried a lot in that class, sometimes tears of joy, but usually not. I learned much in this class too, though: mainly lit terms and sat vocab although—if I have permission to critique a teaching style—when the vocabulary lists were called “SAT Vocab Lists”, I had no desire to learn them because I do not believe in teaching to a test, and calling the vocabulary “SAT words” really makes it seem like the SAT is their only purpose. (Although, “verisimilitude” was the answer to one of the questions on the recent SAT—wait, I was not supposed to say that; nevermind. I don’t want the PARCC Rangers to come and get me,)
ReplyDeleteOnly one thing gives me fits because I cannot grasp the concept: social interaction. Someone says, “Bless you”; “bless you” has religious connotations, and I’m a freaking atheist: what do I say back? If I follow the social construct and say, “thank you”, I just went against my own beliefs, but if I say nothing, the person who said, “bless you”, knows without a doubt that I am, indeed, an asshole. What do I do? This is what keeps me up at night and “gives me fits”. (This also happened to me in “AP” Chem two months ago; I sneezed, someone (I will not embarrass that person by stating her name) said “bless you” and I did not say anything. Then, Donna gave me an attitude and I did not know what to do.)
I would like to focus on writing moving forward. “Moving forward” is difficult to spell without Spell Check, so I would like to focus on writing it over and over again to practice my spelling. Moreover, I would like to focus on writing in general. If I get a two on the AP exam, I will not care, but if I got a two on the AP exam despite all this practice with AP practice questions, then that practice would have been in vain. We need to forget the test. We need more homework; why else would I do blogposts so early? With six AP classes, one would think that I would be busy—I wish. When I do homework, I am happy, and now that homework is gone, I am sad, so I try to make the work last by writing unnecessarily long blogposts and essays. Thus, I would like to see more writing homework.
I am not getting the most out of this class. There are many classmates of mine that are getting more out of the class than I, so I am not getting the most out of the class; one of them is. For example, sometimes one of my classmates does not show up to eighth period (AP Macro); where could this classmate be? It seems, sometimes, people have AP Lang more than once per day; these people get more time out of the class than I do.
The day I live up to my own expectations is they day that we find out that Barack Obama really is from Africa and has a couple of cousins in Angola raising Donald Trump’s father, who is an orangutan (so it is not impossible). My expectations are too high, so I give up on reaching them.
DeleteThere are many things I could do better, one being to score higher on the SATs; the only problem is that I do not believe in studying for it unless I am in school. I take the test having slept little the night before, and, at least last time, I ate nothing that morning of testing or the entire day before: some days I just forget to eat—especially when someone leaves the freezer open and all of the ice melts. Also, I know I could perform better on the SAT Vocab quizes; I do not do well because the first time I look at the words is the day of the quiz. Maybe this is because the “SAT” in “SAT Vocab quiz” makes me treat the quiz with little respect, but the reason I do poorly is probably more because I am lazy than anything else.
I am most certainly, definitely, without a doubt, positively, surely, probably learning. Even when I zone off in class (which I do not think has actually happened in AP Lang), I learn more about myself. I am always learning. However, it is difficult to pinpoint exact things learned in any English class because much of point of the class is to simply build off of past-learned skills, whetting artistic and persuasive competence is the word of writing. RIP Harper Lee (that ryhmes!).
Looking back to the beginning of the school year I honestly can see that many things have changed. I remember the first day of school being fun because I saw all my friends again after being a potato couch all summer; yet, stressful in some degree. I was a nervous rack coming into my junior year because I didn’t know what to expect from all my teachers. Weisback dumped loads on us when he told us all the readings and essays that were coming straight at us. Richardson scared the crap out of me when she said to us how she would be leaving a month into the school year. And you, the ever so lovely Bunj, intimidated me to the core with the high expectations and workload you had for us and. But honestly, all that stress disappeared within the first few days. I started to see that things would go by smoothly and there really wasn’t anything to worry about (except, you know, Chem).
ReplyDeleteThis far into the school year I can truly speak for myself and say that I learned so much both pertaining academic life and life in general. And a lot of those things I’ve learned, I’ve learned thanks to Room 204 alone. Thanks to spending a month on Abigail Adams, I now know how to write an analysis essay. Thanks to SAT Vocab, I now know the meaning of words that I previously have either never heard before or just simply didn’t know. Thanks to studying lit terms, I now know and can detect them in readings. Thanks to staying with Bunje during eighth-period study hall, I now know some important life lessons. Yet, as great as I understand all these things, you can’t truly learn unless you know what you don’t know. Sometimes the concept of tone trips me up in the way I can’t put a tone word to a whole paragraph. Sometimes I can’t seem to one hundred percent understand the idea of a text that we’re reading. Honestly, there are more things that I know that I don’t grasp, but at the moment, I can’t seem to remember them.
There are only a limited amount of days in a school year, and as much as I would like to learn a ton of different things every day, I know that it’s just not possible. But, for the things that I do learn and all the experience I’m getting, I feel like I am getting a lot of this year as a whole and especially out of this single class. Ideally, I would like to be able to grasp the concepts that seem to slip right out of my hands but knowing how there are about sixty other kids who take AP Lang, I know the focus can’t be just on me. I don’t know many things in life because I don’t have the opportunity to experience much but for what I’m getting from just sitting in Room 204, I do feel like I’m learning a lot of valuable things for college and for life in general. So I guess I can say that I am living up to my own expectations in the way that I’m directly learning new material every day for my academic life; while also indirectly acquiring advice about life from my peers for my personal life. My goals for this year simply consisted of the following: 1) get involved and experience new things, 2) make friend with people I wouldn’t usually talk to, and 3) figure out what I want to do with my life. It’s safe to say I’ve accomplished the first two of my three main goals. I’m still trying to figure out the third one, but I know that at the rate that I’m learning things in Room 204, hopefully, I’ll be able to check that off of my list by the end of the year.
This year was probably the most fun and crazy yet the most stressful and tiring. I went into junior year thinking I would hate it but we're now ¾ into the year but I swore it just started last week. This year has flown by faster than any other year and I’m not really sure why but I’m deff not complaining. Although, throughout this, what seemed to be, short year I’ve learned a plethora of new things, not only things in school but even things about myself. For example, I've learned lots of new words, I always forget to use them, but if you asked me what they meant I could totally tell you. I’ve also learned how to calculate the area of a drawing of my body, pretty cool I know. I even know almost every bone in the body which is really interesting since I want to be a doctor. I even learned that Absegami has only one driveway which really sucks and I hope one day they will soon have 2 so they won’t have to deal with all the issue they encounter with this 1 driveway. Yet the most important thing I’ve learned is that other than my few close friends, everyone's low key fake but it's okay because I realized that all I need is myself and I can’t let anyone else slow me down. Prior to September 1st I did not know any of this and that was only 7 months ago, and compared to the almost 200 I’ve been alive, it's a very small time period to have learned so much.
ReplyDeleteWith all of the great things I’ve learned I still know that some things I just can't get over and it makes me so upset. I just don’t know why but I freak out over the smallest issues. Then I freak out because I’m mad that I’m mad and then I get even more mad. Like today, I went to the doctors at 4:15 and didn't see the doctor until 7:45. I all of a sudden started crying and it wasn’t even because I wasted 4 hours of my day, it was because I was cold. Then I got mad because I was crying over something so frivolous and I started crying even more. This makes no sense to me, like why? I just don’t get it.
I, hopefully, have a long life ahead of me, considering all of my medical issues and injuries. With all of the things to come I hope to focus only on the important things, things I will remember later in life, not the things that won't impact my future. I want to focus more on learning material instead of just memorizing it. I usually find myself just memorizing things for tests which does not help me in any way because after I take it, it’s all gone, and I really hate that. I hope I can focus more on focusing and learning instead of just memorization because I always like to actually know things so I can show my family how much I know, if I just memorize things for the short period then I can’t tell them anything because I probably forgot it. To fix this I just want to see more building information, even though most of my classes, especially calc, build on previous material, I want to be able to constantly be going over previous material just to make sure I don’t forget it, because that's usually what happens.
Ever since I’ve started Lang I’ve been more comfortable in most aspect of english which has never happened before. For example, in the beginning of the year I had the writing skills of a 6th grader, now it has at least moved up to 8th grade level which is a huge jump considering how horrible it was before. And even though I rarely use them, I really like learning the different ilk of SAT vocab to expand my vernacular. But the thing is, I could probably be so much better with it if I just went over it more and studied more. I know i'm capable of a lot more but I just have so many restrictions that I let get in the way of me and my goals. I just have to get past all of it and realize that I can’t let things hold me back and keep making up excuses for things I don’t do. Once I do this it will make me realize how much I need to start doing and I’ll probably get upset about it and right after I cry a little I’ll be able to change my ways and become better in all areas, but until then I’ll just be taking naps and crying over things that make no sense.
DeleteAfter putting aside all the crazy things that happen in my life I can gladly say I am definitely learning. I mean how else would I have gone from a 3/10 to a 9/10 on the AP multiple choice questions? I’m not a very good guesser so I must be learning something, and to think the school year isn’t even over.
I know a lot of things that I didn’t know on September first. I know, now, that I should be the most important person to myself, whereas before September first I believed that one person was more important than me and therefore more deserving. I called that love, and now I know that it wasn’t. I know now that I have to get comfortable with being alone. At night, after a certain hour, we’re all alone with only our thoughts to keep us company (and maybe our animals). I believed, before September first, that staying up all night with people who didn’t respect me doing things that proved that I had no respect for myself would help me avoid loneliness, but really, all of that was just a distraction; a way to put off confronting loneliness, the kind that everyone experiences. I know about active voice and reading comprehension on standardized tests compared to reading comprehension in general. I know more words than I’ve ever known, thus I know how to write with a more varied vocabulary. I know that there’s always room for improvement. I know that everything takes time. I know that I should follow my own dreams rather than striving towards people’s dreams for me. I know where I want to go and what I want to do and who I want to surround myself with and what I need to give up.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I still don’t know how to trust. Whether it’s other people, my family, my friends, the law, myself, I just don’t know how to trust. I don’t understand why I should trust anyone, or anything, because, to me, there’s more logic behind not trusting. And maybe it’s because of my past or just because of who I am, but either way I still see no reason to trust. In the end, the trust becomes regret. I feel like I need to know how to trust, but I don’t want to. And maybe that’s why i feel like I can’t. As far as school goes, I obviously still don’t get math but that’s definitely something that I’ll never get. I don’t entirely understand what test scorers look for as a whole. I’m not really good with timed writing and word limits. And I’m really bad at reading something and picking out which parts I need to really remember and deem important, whether it’s a description of a lit term or a large body of text that I have to annotate. I get nervous that what I find important might be different than what is meant to be important. I think my own personal stress affects how I perform; once I feel even slightly wrong, I kind of discourage myself and start telling myself that maybe I just don’t get any of this. My mom always tells me I don’t give myself enough credit, and I think she’s probably right.
I want to focus on timed writing, and word limits because I really do suck at both of those things. I literally wrote two paragraphs on the SAT essay, and they weren’t even long. They were really good but the essay wasn’t finished. I don’t know if two really good paragraphs outweighs a complete essay, but I don’t think that’s how it works. And word limits, since like seventh grade, I haven’t been able to stay within the word limits. I don’t really believe in them, and maybe that’s why I can’t seem to stay within them (the same reason I suck at tests), but I’d like to get better at it. Also, annotating to find what’s actually important is something I need help with. I tend to pick things out that appeal to me, and I’m bad at finding things that appeal to test-writers or whoever is grading whatever I’m doing. I’m not sure why I do that, or what could help?
I feel like the only class I get anything out of worth remembering is Lang. I end up thinking about myself, my views, how I can improve in areas other than writing, and I mean the list goes on and on. I learn so much in lang and I don’t know, I usually learn more in english opposed to other
classes probably because I just get the content. I like worldly conversations because it does improve my writing by improving the way I think and the way I put thoughts together. I find myself thinking “yes, I believe this” and then thinking about all the reasons why I shouldn’t believe it and then re-thinking about all the reasons why I do and comparing them and coming up with “I guess it’s complicated”. Just like Wallace, in “Consider the Lobster”. I didn’t do that before this class, and I feel like it is this class that helps me do that. Which, in turn, translates into my writing and makes it less biased and more open.
DeleteThere’s always room for improvement. I can improve myself by loving myself and forgetting the past and continuing to forgive people and being positive. I can seriously put myself first and respect myself. and I’ll always be able to become a better writer. Becoming a better thinker translates into writing and there’s no denying that everyone can always gain thinking skills, from children to adults to the elderly. I can also improve myself by not procrastinating lol.
As far as this school year goes, I have learned a lot, especially in this class. I feel as if I learned more in this class than any other class I have attended in my whole educational career. For example, I am learning how to write the correct way: using sentence cohesion, using ‘doing’ verbs, and analyzing correctly, I never had a full grasp on these things until I entered 204 on September 1st. I also learned how to think differently, rather from my own personal perspectives, which I thank Ms. Bunje’s teaching style and her idea of the writing groups. One other thing I learned is how to identify lit terms in everyday life, whether I am reading a book or listening to people interact, there is at least always one lit term I stumble across.
ReplyDeleteMoving forward for the rest of the school year, I would like to discuss and write more about modern day issues that affects us presently and will affect us in the future. Just like when we wrote AP style essays based on topics that interests us, I would like to do more of those essays to improve and strengthen my writing. Even though I understand there is a slight chance of having interesting essay prompts on the AP Exam, if we do half interesting and half boring essay prompts, we will still be strengthening our writing due to all of the essays we’ll be composing.
As of AP Lang, I do believe that I am getting the most out of this class. This class is preparing me for college, when it comes to either reading or writing, I believe I will be well prepared on my first day of college. Also, this class is not all academics, we discuss about legitimate topics that should be talked about with teenagers. Therefore, whether academically or in general, I do believe I am getting the most out of this class.
I do not personally believe anyone can truly live up to their own expectations because there will always be barriers to overcome. Therefore, I know I can try even harder in this class, and in others too. But, you should always live day by day, or conquer each barrier one at a time, because living up to your expectations for the present day is the most important.
There are some things I can improve on or do differently. For example, strengthening my work ethic or dividing up my time differently to accompany homework, studying, sports, eating, and sleep would be my number one priority. In fact, our Lang calendar helps a lot with this issue because then I can figure out what day I should which homework assignment, (only if my other classes had a calendar, then I would be set).
I can guarantee that I have learned so much this school year. The most important thing I have learned so far, is viewing or learning things from different perspectives. In the past, no one has ever challenged me to look at things differently, so coming into this school year I learned how to study or write a different way. Therefore, I believe I am getting the most out of this class because of all of the things I am learning.
ReplyDeleteI’ve actually been thinking about this for a while now. I’ll be a freakin’ senior next year. That’s crazy. And here I am, lookin’ like I belong sixth grader. My mind can’t even fathom the amount of things I’ve learned since September 1. From running to writing to math, this year has been one crazy year; and it’s not even over yet! Before this school year started, I loved math. Mr. Prince and Mr. A taught me so much, I mean, no other math teacher could ever compare to them. And I was right. Don’t get me wrong, Mrs. Rosen is a very nice person; she just sucks at teaching. And now because of her, I “leaned” that I hate math. But it’s okay because she sells Girl Scout Cookies, so I can just eat away the pain during her class.
Chem is another story though. I don’t understand a single thing in that class. Even to this day, February 24th, I ask myself, “Why am I still here?” But then I remember that Mrs. Klein will just give me reasons to not drop the class and I honestly don’t have the time to hear all that.
But despite some minor setbacks: Of course I’m learning! I now know how to write properly, and big, prestigious words I never knew existed (Love lang!). I now know more about the world and views I never even thought of. I especially now know how to invest in stocks (kind of). I came in this year thinking it’d be tough, but it’s actually not that bad. You just gotta take things one day at a time. In all honesty, I just want to learn more. I want to learn things I’ve never knew before. I want to see things in a new light, a new perspective. I want to figure out what I want to be and how I’m going to do it. I want to test my limits (aka see how far I can run w/o dying). I don’t know, I just want to learn. I’m like the little spec on that one dandelion Horton carries around. It’s a bigger world out there.
ReplyDeleteOver the past 6 months of school I’ve learned and also grew a lot as person. Just from Ap Lang I can say that my vocabulary has broadened and I’ve learned new writing techniques, lit terms, and how to analyze text deeply. Besides the academics of lang I also learned key lessons about life that will help me in the long run. I’ve learned in 204 that procrastination is never a good thing and that you have to work hard in order to succeed. And just throughout this year in general I’ve had experiences with other people that really taught me valuable lessons. It really sunk in at the beginning of this year that I need to think about the decisions I make before I make them. After figuring that out I felt more mature and responsible as a person.
However, in school there are still things in each subject that I just can’t seem to grasp. In lang I still sometimes find it hard to deeply analyze the text and find out why the author did what he did. But I think I will get better at this with repetition of doing it over and over again. In calc the whole year has been a struggle because when the teacher teaches the lesson I usually never understand it the first time and I end up having to go home and look up videos on the lessons. But who really needs math anyway?
I am happy to say that even though some of my classes are challenging, each and every day
I can always come out of that class saying I learned something new. If you didn’t learn at least one new thing in class everyday then what are you actually doing in school? When I came into school on September 1st I told myself that this school year I would strive to get straight A’s and really grasp the concepts I’m taught, not just to pass a test but to use it outside of school when it really matters. So far I'm doing okay with the straight A’s goal but I need to focus more on learning things for the long run instead of just learning them for a test.
Overall I can proudly say that I’ve learned a lot so far this school year. A lot of my grades in each class are improving because I now know what it takes to pass a class. Also all the repetition of things we do in lang definitely paid off. If I wasn’t learning this year I wouldn’t be able to tell you 60 SAT vocab words we learned or the parts of the Toulmin method.
This class has given me confidence in my writing and has expanded my vocabulary. My essays are probably 50 times better than they were last year. Last year (because I had Pohlig) I had no idea what the difference between passive and active were. I feel as if I have learned so much in this class. I still have a long way to go but my writing has improved drastically because of this class. I learned to analyze better, what rhetorical strategies are, powerful verbs, and literature terms that I had no idea even existed. When providing evidence in my essays the words I constantly used were “says,” “states,” and “explains.” With powerful verbs I have so many options to choose from I avoid using any of those three. Although I have learned much, I still cannot find diction or syntax in writing. I know what they mean (diction is word choice and syntax is structure), but I do not know how to spot them in writing. What I did for the Abigail Adams essay on rhetorical strategies for diction is pick out words that when reading them I asked myself, “Why did she put that there?” and than try to explain it the best I could in the essay. I have no idea if I was right or wrong by doing that.
ReplyDeleteBunje made Taylor a writing coach, and she says “because she has good syntax.” What does that mean? Does it mean she structures her writing well? How the hell can I see that? If there is formulaic writing on the AP exam for essays, how does everyone not have good syntax if you follow the formula? Another thing I am not so good at is the MC quizzes. In my opinion, I do horrible, getting a 7/12 but get a smiley face next to and it says “good job.” Mind you, a 7/12 is a 58%. How on earth is that good?! Someone told me she was going to grade it out of 10, that is still a 70%, which is okay. How do I get better at it? Strategy? What if I don’t get the strategy?
Something I can do differently is study more on my own, even if there is no quiz. If I don’t get a concept, I shouldn’t wait until Bunje briefly explains it thinking we know it, I should find out what it means on my own. I do that sometimes, but that’s if I have no idea what the concept means. I am going to do this so I can say I don’t have any concepts I can’t grasp.
There is nothing I really want to focus on because MC quizzes will come at us hell of a lot more soon and I think I’m the only one who really doesn’t understand diction or syntax. Meaning, she can’t give a lesson just for me. And I probably wouldn’t understand it after she gave it. Although I stress about the 2 things, this class has benefitted me in so many ways. Not only through English, but just about life in general. To be honest, I’ve benefitted from this class more than I benefitted from any other I’ve taken in the past.
In the beginning of September, I set an expectation to get a C average after I heard this class was hard. And as of now I have overachieved my expectations because I had a B++ (89 I have no clue why she couldn’t give me one extra point for an A bms) first marking period and a 91 second marking period. I hope to keep having a grade like those or maybe higher. Taking this class was probably one of the best school decisions I have ever made and I am glad I took this class.
This year has been an eventful one for me, especially in AP Lang. I have been taught some incredible things that I wasn’t aware of. Especially things about myself which I believe has been the most beneficial to me. This class has taught me so much more than just the basic curriculum. Along with those beneficial things, I’ve learned how to speak properly when I talk to people and it’s also helped me notice whether or not people are listening to me while I talk. Respect is a big deal in 204 and it’s helped me learn that no matter our age, we should always get respect. One of the huge reasons why I love AP Lang so much is because you can be yourself and tests don’t determine who you are and neither do your actions outside of the classroom. Going into the year I was so nervous about the amount of writing we would be doing because my writing has always been average. Since I’ve taken this class my writing has improved. It’s definitely not perfect but I’m happy I’m at least making progress. The worksheets that we are given in class that explain different methods of writing have definitely helped me. Also, worksheets that focus on reading questions and how to identify different types have helped to improve my multiple choice quizzes. I’m happy I’m improving but there are still some things that I need to get better at. I would really benefit from learning how to improve my writing even more. Syntax is still a confusing concept for me because I’m never sure how to choose what sentence type a writer of an article uses. So, moving forward this year I would like to work on syntax because it will improve my writing even more. The worksheets we’ve received so far have helped me. This class has improved my writing and reading comprehension. While reading, I try to take note on the tone and the author’s word choice. This class has not only bettered me as a student but also as a person. It makes me look at situations from every angle and I’m more open minded than I was at the beginning of the year. I’ve surprised myself from how much I’ve been learning but also understanding in this class. I can always improve and I want to improve my writing and reading comprehension. They have both gotten better but my skills in both aren’t where I want them to be. But if the end of my year keeps going how it’s been so far than I have no doubt that my writing and reading comprehension will improve. This class has already taught me so much and I enjoy how it involves a deeper level of thinking.
ReplyDeleteI’ve learned a couple things since September 1st, definitely some new vocab and some new lit terms. But, I’ve improved immensely on interpreting text and having the capability to write about it because of the many different ways you make us do it. I love integrating quotes rather than putting a full one and I know that sounds so nerdy to say, but whatever. Clark used to say I was asscheecks and that he was just a god given writer since the womb, so I definitely think being told that I wasn’t that bad helped. I’ve learned better studying techniques which has not only helped me, but other people that I try my best to help at all times of the day. Additionally, I’ve improved somewhat on taking multiple choice tests, although I’m still ass, I have definitely seen a difference from this to last year.
ReplyDeleteI hate quickly reading texts and having to interpret them just because I suck at focusing. But, as for the concepts in Lang, I think I have a pretty good grasp. I haven’t really struggled with any of the writing we do or any of the precis, questions, TS/TD, or responses they just take me awhile. I guess I can’t grasp time. Whenever I think about the AP Lang exam, I think “ok, I get it” but I know that any work I do for Lang takes me longer than it should because I have a hard time focusing and letting whatever I read or whatever I’m doing sink in. I need to practice, I guess, working faster. I like not having as much homework, I’ve been getting so much sleep. I love it and you. Thank you, seriously, my body loves you too. Maybe in class,we can start hammering my ass with some timed shit.
Even without homework, I feel like I still get the concepts and working hard none the less. I still put in enough time to study, help others, and put in enough time for the lil homework you assign.
I definitely think I walked into junior year wanting to be a better writer and better at reading comprehension, and I definitely got that. Maybe, I always knew how to do it, but I always had to do under a time constraint or never got the chance to express it because all the deeper comprehension was explained before anyone could come up with it. Moreover, I yearned to actually learn. Rather than just learn a bunch of facts or memorize a bunch of shit, I wanted to get concepts and understand why. Once you can do that, you can apply it and understand longer and more thoroughly. This year, I feel like I am learning in calc and lang (Chem, kinda, now) for sure and properly applying all the knowledge and skill I know into my work.
This year is ¾ of the way over?? CRAZYYY. I feel like I just read Abigail Adam’s yesterday. I’ve learned so much since I’ve stepped into 204 as I expected. To be honest, I didn’t know what a Text Says Text Does was and now that I know I use it more than just in Lang. I use it reading text messages when I’m arguing with someone or just when people are trying to get a point across without being direct. Or when I listen to songs. I know so much more about passive voice and how to identify it. I still have trouble not using it because I just write my thoughts down so quickly but I recognize it so easily. When people use to much of it, I cringe. Everyone can say they their vocab has become so much stronger since we have over 100 new words embedded into our brains. Also, can’t forget about lit terms. Ever since we’ve been taking the quizzes on the list of selected words, I’ve learned the and easily remembered them and my scores are so much better. This past week I realized how much I’ve improved along just in reading comprehension. Maybe it was SAT prep, or just learning how to analyze properly but my scores jumped and I’ve never felt confident with those multiple choice suckers as I do now. I can also truthfully say I felt 10x more confident on my second SAT this past week vs my one in November. Underlining each sentecne in a passage literally saved my life. I still have a lot of trouble putting my thoughts into well written sentences and I ramble a lot but that will come easier after practice. So I guess moving forward, I need to focus on my writing skills. I’m just not confident in anything I write because I feel like I can do better but sike myself out. I can honestly say this class is one I look forward to. I don’t get bored of learning and I don’t mind putting all the work in for good results. Like in Pre Calc, I just go with the flow. but in Lang I have to work hard and it helps me learn more. It's a different side of my brain I don't use very often. I, a lot of times, ask people for help because I don’t trust myself to have the right answer so I need to work on that. I don’t comprehend things quickly if I see it, but if someone else does I trust their thought more than my own. The fact that we haven’t reached death month yet and hard core started preparing for the big test I have hope that I’ll be okay and my scores will be where I want them to be. I learn so much in Lang and never felt so comfortable to learn and actually feel like it's being applied to my life.
ReplyDeleteJunior year has been a roller coaster to say the least. As a sophomore, I was told told that this would be the hardest year of high school and I went into junior year super scared. I’ve never taken an AP class before this year, and now I am taking two so that say’s something about my roller coaster of a year so far. I’ve honestly learned so much from AP Lang this year-- more than I learned last year in honors English 2 @Pohlig-- but there are are distinct things that I know now that I didn’t know on September first. I had no idea what any lit term besides a handful of the ones I learned in middle school, and now I know a bunch. Now I know how to identify and write different types of essays, when before I usually just rambled and made my point the best way I could. I also have to say that I had a year off of writing and vocab and pretty much English class, and this isn’t to come crazy at any certain English teacher, but in all honesty, besides the little I learned, comprehended, and remembered from freshman year, I really didn’t know much because of this year off and Lang and Clark’s kids were super intimidating to me. And for one thing that drives me crazy is having to interpret a piece of writing. Whether it be a sentence or two, a paragraph, or a whole passage-- forget about it, I read it and it’s as if every word gets deleted from my memory after I moved onto the next word, making it impossible for me to comprehend. I’ve always had trouble reading and completely comprehending what I read and until this day I still have that problem after being forced to read and practicing on my own. I don’t know if anyone else struggles with this but let me tell you, it’s hard because it makes me feel stupid to be honest.
ReplyDeleteA made a goal for myself recently, and it’s funny that this question came up in this week's blog because my goal is to move forward and accept every situation for what it is and not what you think it should be. Although there’s way more to my goal than just what this blog is asking, moving forward is important to me. I’ve been doing pretty well in Lang so far this year and to move forward in Lang I’d like to focus on writing, but not “here’s an essay/ a prompt and you have one night to finish it with a 400 word word count in Times New Roman size 12 font double spaced with a correct MLA heading” type writing, more like blog type writing in class. I enjoy writing 1959737574x more than I enjoy reading-- I HATE reading, mainly because it makes me feel stupid. I’ve been told I’m a fairly decent writer and it would be nice to focus on improving my writing, not only for the AP exam, but just in general because I enjoy it so much. I’d also like to see more of writing in Lang. The type of writing im talking about is blog type writing like I mentioned before. To maybe incorporate lit terms and such to practice while also writing formally about the things we enjoy writing about in different types of essays.
In 204 I feel as if it’s impossible not to learn at least a little something, even if you're just in the room for Bunje and the couch, there’s always something to learn even if it’s a life lesson. The atmosphere is a good one, and that’s what I enjoy about Lang because I don’t feel pressured or intimidated, and I don’t think anyone else is either. This makes it so much more easy to learn because no question is a stupid one, and we all laugh off stupid remarks. I’ve 100% learned so much this year in general, but in Lang especially. Now would I go as far as saying I’m living up to my own expectations in school and in Lang… hahahahahaha I don’t exactly know how to answer that. Like, I’m not disappointed in myself or feel as if I’m doing a bad job, and my grades are where I expect them to be, but of course there’s room for improvement. Although I’m not currently living up to my expectations, I’m sure as hell doing a good job getting to that point. I mean I don’t know if my expectations aren’t realistic for me at this point in my life or the school year or for anything at all or It’s just me that’s keeping me from reaching the point I wish I was at but there’s gotta be something. If I’m my own issue in this equation-- which I bet I am-- I would change my motivation level from 0 out of 100 to at least a 75. The amount of motivation I lack is a big issue in anything and everything I do and I know that and I’ve tried working on it but I can’t seem to do it that easily or as fast as I would like to. I’d also change the fact that if I don’t HAVE to do something… I don’t. But in reality, I should be doing things I’m not forced to do for the experience and practice, but this is where my lack of motivation comes into play and I don’t get shit done. But, no matter what level my motivation is at or how lazy I truly am, for the first time in a while I can definitely say that I am in fact learning and it’s a good feeling.
ReplyDeleteWow time really passes by fast. I will be one year older (ewww growing old) and it is almost the end of junior year. I still can not grasp the fact that after this year, I will finally be a senior. Well, I would say I have come a long way from September 1st. I was a new student at a new school on September 1st and I was deathly afraid of everyone. As the school year went on I met a lot of new people and I, now have a handful of friends. There was a lot of things I learned this year. Well, number one, I learned that taking AP Chem when the teacher is scheduled for maternity leave is never a good idea. I mean Ms, Michener was a nice lady but she just did not know what she was doing. Number two, Bunje is nothing like I imagined from the first day of school. I thought she was one of those wicked teachers who likes to see kids suffer. That was totally wrong, Bunje genuinely cares about her kids and I am grateful to have a teacher like her because there is a minimal amount of teachers who genuinely care for their students. One thing for sure is that I did learn a lot of SAT Vocab, and now I actually know words on the SAT thanks to all those vocab quizzes.
ReplyDeleteEven though I did learn a lot of things in 204, I still struggle with writing essays. I am not a strong writer to begin with, and I struggle simple things like diction and syntax. Also analyzing is also one my weaknesses because I always misinterpret the meaning of a passage. But aside from writing, I simply cannot understand why people stand in the middle of the hallways and do not move. Like what is going to happen when they stop in the middle of street because someone said hi to them from across the street? They will get hit by a car or even better, a massive truck. Like come on people MOVE!!!!!!!!! As I move forward into senior year, I want to get better at writing and I want to try harder. I admit I sometimes slack off because I am stressed from all the loads of homework teachers dump on me. But I need to learn to try harder now because in college there is not going to be a Bunje there next to me to tell me to get my shit together.
Junior year was a good year for me because I learned a lot from my different classes. Well aside from Chem because that made me cry. Also I did not learn much from APUSH because we learned history since elementary school and history stayed the same ever since. Although I did learn that in a DBQ, I need two SOAPS for each document. I did not know that before which explains why I failed my first DBQ. I got a lot of information out of Lang because I learned a lot of valuable things about life and also about college. My expectations and my parents’ expectations are two very different things. My expectation is that as long I learn things from a class, it was worth my time. My parents’ expectation is that I need to get an A++++++++ in every single class. It does not matter to them if I like the class or not, they just expect me to do good. Well by my expectations, I have achieved my goal. Judging by my parent’s expectation, I have failed miserably.
Thanks to the good teachers I have this year (I am still debating about Ms. Michener) I learned a lot. In Lang especially, I feel like Bunje drills writing techniques, lit terms, and sat vocab into our brains because she does not want us to fail in life. So in the end, I would say I did learn a lot this year. I learned that Bryan eats ice. I learned about GDP and the economy. I learned that Weisback almost shot his mom when he was younger. And most importantly I learned that no matter where 204 moves to, I will always be welcomed to 204. Although I have come far from September 1st, there are still things that I would like to change about myself. I wish I could look at the world more positively, although that might not happen if Cruz or Trump wins presidency. I want to continue learning about writing, although writing is not my best interest. Last but not least, I want to learn more about life in general because I want to prepare myself to face whatever is coming in my direction.
Before my junior year I was horrible at reading and comprehension, I still kinda am but I definitely noticed that I improved tremendously. It was always tough for me, but I am now able to pull information from a text easier than before by all the ways you showed us how to. TS/TD helped me learn the best because for me it is easy to break down readings by paragraph and ask myself what it’s doing and what it is saying. I would also say my studying skills improved as well as my time management skills. Before, I would wait until the last minute to do things as all the work continued to grow causing me more stress. I also learned plenty of new vocab and lit terms that will probably benefit me the most. I am just glad to say that unlike any other class the material I learned from you will most likely stick with me forever and not just for the time being so I can pass.
ReplyDeleteI have never been good at writing essays, especially timed ones. I could have all the information I need to put but they would always just come out basic. It could be the fact that I just don’t like writing them but still I always struggle. I also have a hard time with multiple choice questions, after reading something. I know I said I can comprehend readings better and I can like I understand what the text is saying but once it asks questions about it I’m lost. The way they try to trick you really works because I always fall for them.
Moving forward I would prefer to focus more on writing essays and how I can somehow become a better writer. You have provided us with much information for that but I am still not quite there yet. Other than that I would like for you to continue how you are teaching us and giving the material you do. I have learned to do things I haven’t even noticed, if that makes sense. In other words, I am learning more and more each day and I am so thankful:)
There is no doubt that I am getting the most out of this class because I really am gaining so much knowledge. I do try to do my best in your class and work as hard as I can but I do believe I can do better. Well, I always think that but honestly sometimes when I get so stressed out by classes I don’t do my best on the homework and assignments. At the time I just worry about completing it so because of that I do believe that i am capable of doing a lot better on some things.
Junior year has been the most demanding, stressful yet educational school year so far. This year I’ve learned lots of valuable writing tools, sat vocab words, lit terms and better yet, I’ve learned more about myself. This year I am more confident and independent in my school work. Looking back on past school years, I never trusted my own answers and ideas. Thankfully, junior year has taught me to feel more confident in my work and not doubt myself as much. I feel capable of doing everything by myself. I especially feel more confident in my writing ability and in english overall. I never looked forward to english until this year. Not only do I like and learn the material but, I like the atmosphere and people of 204. Even though I’ve grasped a lot of new concepts this year, I still can’t get myself to stick to a reading schedule for APUSH and AP Psychology. In APUSH I have fallen 2 weeks behind on the online reading and in psychology, I’ve only read 3 out of 10 chapters thoroughly. Since reading these textbooks aren’t homework that teachers can physically check for completion, they always fall last on my to-do list. I need to make time and uphold the importance of reading these textbooks, especially because I need to do well on these AP exams. With all of this considered, I’m pretty stressed out and I guess I’ll attempt to get back on my reading schedule although I’m likely to fail once again. It frustrates me that I always tell myself “I’m gonna read tonight” yet I either end up falling asleep reading or I don’t open the textbook at all. It’s mostly because I’m tired, and completely because there’s not enough time in the day. Moving forward, I would like to work on reading my textbooks of course, and also do more in preparation for the AP exams. Since my parents are paying $249 on AP tests, I feel even more motivated to do everything I can to do well on them. Even if they were free, I would still care about my success but since my parents are paying their hard earned money on the chance of me receiving a 3,4 or 5, I feel as though failing is not an option. On the topic of what I would like to see more of, I’d like to see more couches in 204. I agree with Haley Crispell when it comes to the 204 furnishings and I definitely think that a couch and side table would provide students with comfortable yet, avid learning. Other than that, I would just like to see more of everything we’ve had all year. More ops, more group work, more writing, more ap exam preparation and more lang love :-) I feel like I am getting the most out of this class. Not only have I learned english skills but, I’ve learned life lessons and I’ve found a school fam. Lang is my favorite class of the day because I learn the most. I like how lang incorporates family, life skills and learning all at once. I’ve never liked english that much until this year. This year is so much different than my past english classes because I feel engaged, intrigued and prepared. I feel motivated to learn because I know bunje wouldn’t teach us some bull #%&@ that we don’t really need in life. I value this class because I know it’s beneficial and useful. I know I’ve learned so much in lang because when I read my old essays I cringe. I never recognized passive v. active voice, tone, diction, lit devices or even purpose of writing until this year. Overall, I appreciate lang and junior year all together for teaching me and opening my eyes to things I didn’t realize/know before.
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ReplyDeleteOn September first I came in scared as hell. I didn't think I was going to be able to keep up in this class. I now know that I can. While there are times when I struggle and consider giving up all together I've figured out that if I really give it a try and actually put some effort into it I can do it. I think thats one of the most important things I've taken from this class. Ive gained a confidence in myself that I did have before. I think what I really have trouble with is writing when I don't care. If I don't think about the topic in my spare time I cant write about it. Ideas don't flow as easily and when they do they're full of lame vocabulary and basic concepts. I think I need more practice in writing, as much as I hate Abigail Adams, I need to be able to write about her and all the other boring AP things. I need to learn how to put together ideas in a logical flow and not end up with a mess my brain threw up. I think I'm getting a lot more than I expected to get. I never thought Id be good at AP style multiple choice quizzes but my scores say different, and while Im not so good at putting SAT vocal into sentences, for someone who can barely spell their name, I've learned to spell the shit out of those big never before seen words. Im pretty proud of myself, this class is the only class that I let my phone charge in because I don't have to be on it to keep myself busy. Sometimes I distract myself with my out-loud thoughts about…everything, but other than that Im really trying and I put in actual effort. I think I am learning, my vocabulary has grown, I've become much more persuasive, and I like to think Ive become a much better writer…except when it comes to Abigail Adams.
Looking back from the first day of school until now, I can honestly say i've learned so much. I've learned different writing techniques to help my writing, better vocabulary, and how to analyze deeper into things. 204 has also taught me life lessons that I think about and use almost every day. I've learned how to think in many different perspectives and how to comprehend things better. There are some things that's till give me a hard time and that's reading comprehension and analysis. Reading comprehension is something that doesn't come naturally to me. I can read something repeatedly and it flows into one ear and out the other. I find it easier when I read something I like and I understand it a little more. It's nothing that can be fixed I just take more time than others to fully understand a reading but that's probably because I'm dumb. Analyzing things has always been something I found a little hard. I guess it just takes me a longer time to break the topic down into smaller elements and go through how and why the author did something. I've gotten better at both of these things since I've been in AP Lang but I could use a little more help on analysis. Moving on I would like to focus more on reading different things and going deeper into them as we did reparations and consider the lobster. I like how we got into groups and talked about it. It made me understand the articles a little better. I would like to see more of us getting into groups and doing different activities as we've been doing. With this class, I feel like I'm getting the most out of it. I now know so many things that I didn't know last year or the years before that. I learn something every single day in this class and to leave actually understanding what I learned it such an amazing feeling. I am living up to my own expectations. Everyone talked about how hard and how much work this class is which put me into a lot of stress. I told myself going into this class that nothing was going to get in the way of me learning and doing what I need to do to stay on top of my game and that's what I've been doing. Honestly, this has probably been the most educational year. I am learning and the things I have learned so far will most likely stick with me for the rest of my life. I actually remember a lot of the vocab word and previous lessons we've learned. Usually vocab goes in on ear and out the other and I am shocked these have stayed. I now use some of the vocabulary when I talk to certain people and it feels so good to put something you've learned to use. I'm so glad I ignored everyone who told me not to take this class because it's been such a great experience being a part of 204.
ReplyDeleteThis might just be my favorite blog because of the simple sentence, “The year is 3/4 over-and even more than that for AP folks because your year ends sooner than everyone else's.” I cannot wait for this year to be completely done with, and when the whole 4/4 comes around, catch me back flipping off of the moist walls of the nest. I’ve struggled, well not necessarily struggled, more of stressed the hell out this year more than usual. I believe it’s because I’m still unaware of my abilities, limits, and learning strategy. As we move closer the 4/4 I really hope I figure it out. Despite, not knowing how I learn, I have learned tons in 204. In September, if you asked me what a subordinate clause was I’d probably say something about the marines or underwater traveling. I’ve also learned tons about my classmates, people I’ve seen every day for 14 years, I learned more about them in 204 than I ever would anywhere else. Although, I’ve learned so much there are still things that I’d rather throw myself down a flight of stairs than do simply because they’re challenging, and who doesn’t want things to come easy to them? It was the IR’s, I’m not really sure why but I dreaded them every Friday. Honestly, they did improve my writing analyzing skills tremendously, or I think so.
ReplyDeleteIn AP Lang I feel like I’ve been taught everything I need to know about English, people, and the swag wall. We touch in everything in that class which is what I really like. It’d be fun if we had more open discussions in Lang. I was actually kind of upset the day you announced we wouldn’t talk about white privilege, because it was one of the first discussions we were actually planning to have. I wish we did have it, and more like that. Talking and debating on things of that nature are always fun to me so if that were to happen more often I’d be a little ball of sunshine rolling into 204 every morning.
The first day of school when we made our stars and put everything we wanted to achieve, I never thought I would accomplish it, but somehow I made it happen. It was probably the fear of Bunje beating my ass if I didn’t, but that’s not important. I went home every day and did my Lang work and always had everything done which is a first for me and I’m almost positive this transition shocked all of my friends. But I’m really proud of myself for sticking to it and working this hard, I’m living even a little bit past my own expectation out in these necks.
I came into AP Lang knowing that I was going to learn a lot. I knew that I was going to experience learning like never before, but I never thought I'd learn this much. One thing I can say I learned the most about is how to effectively make an argument. The toulmin method has taught me how to organize my argument in order to display it in a sophisticated way. Although I learned a lot, I still can't seem to effectively analyze a piece of text. When I read a text, I seem to get the wrong information from it. I'm not very good at choosing information and deciding what the overall theme of the text is. In order to move forward, I would like to focus on analyzing text. It is an important part of being able to interpret it and answer a question that is being asked. I would like to see more text, but I would like to take small excerpts, rather than long ones. I would like to take a day or two to interpret a small text. I believe I am getting the most out of the class. I've never learned so much in a class before. I've learned vocabulary that I never even knew of. I believe I am living up to and possibly exceeding my own expectations. I believe if I spent less time worrying and more time actually doing, I would succeed more, but I am learning. I've never had a teacher that spends so much time worrying about my needs, rather than the curriculum and I appreciate that. I believe I am in a perfect learning environment.
ReplyDeleteI already know that I’m going to forget about some things that should be in this blog, but there are just so many things to say. I have learned so many things in Lang, such as toulman, over a hundred fifty SAT vocab words, and many different ways to write. Some of the toulman method still trips me up, but I’m beginning to understand the differences between each part. I have learned many things in my other classes also, but not nearly as much than in Lang. However, I have learned many things about myself, too. I went into Lang knowing that I would struggle, and I was not positive that I would be able to handle the stress of Lang and all of my other classes. Although the year is not over, I am very close to the end, and I have learned that if I set a goal, if I try hard enough I will reach that goal. I like analyzing arguments and reading the types of readings that make you change your opinion on things. I never thought that Lang would consist of as much work as it does, and I never thought that the work would be as beneficial as it is. I certainly believe that I’m getting the most out of the class. The way that the material is thought is perfect, Lang is certainly not like chemistry where I frequently use the phrase, “Free Matlack.” And teachers like that do not ride into town on any old turnip truck. I may have learned more this year in Lang than any other year of English, and it’s not even over. The things that I’m learning now make so much sense. Normally after a while I start to forget things I have done in my classes, but Lang is not like that, I retain the lessons more. The only thing I would change about Lang, is the length, it should be two periods, running right into 8th period Spanish.
ReplyDeleteOn September 1st, I didn’t know how hard it would be to motivate myself. I didn’t know that I would come home from school everyday feeling like absolute crap, or that for once in my life I wouldn’t want to learn or that SATs were going to suck the life and soul out of my cold, (almost) dead body. Before the year started I was ready to get learning and get working and I even used my planner religiously. Now my planner has become a place to scribble down SAT vocab and write about how much I despise SAT vocab. To be fair though, I now know a few more “big” words, a little bit about lynching and The Civil War, the medulla regulates body functions that I cannot consciously regulate, like dissolves like, and the derivative of natural log is 1/x.
ReplyDeleteBesides “like dissolves like” however, AP Chemistry has taught me nothing. I sometimes wonder what I did to the world that caused it to subject me to the failed teachings of Ms. Michener, who was nice enough, but not good enough at chemistry. I pray to God that someday I will understand chemistry, but that day has yet to come, so for now I’m left swimming in a river of my own tears as Ms. Richardson tries to start teaching again. It’s especially annoying that I learned nothing in AP Chemistry because I’m supposed to be taking SAT Subject Tests, but besides the Math one, I don’t know what else I could take. If the failures of GEHRHSD to provide me a competent teacher costs me an acceptance to a school that for some reason really wanted me to take the Chemistry Subject Test, I will light myself on fire and then proceed to defenestrate myself.
Not counting the subject tests, I took my last SAT on February 20th, and saying that I’m ready to move on would be an understatement. After Section 10 I felt the overwhelming urge to leap over tables and desks and cartwheel out of the building as “We Are the Champions” plays in the background of my grand exit. In reality, my parents took me out to Applebee’s where I stuffed my face, and then I went home and just laid facedown on the carpet and slept. I don’t have to think about SATs for at least another month. That sentence alone brings hope back into my days and makes me feel as though there is a life worth living. Without SATs to worry about though, I finally have time to start worrying about AP tests. Dare I say it... I think AP tests are worse than the SATs. There’s a long suspense that leads up to the test, they’re cumulative throughout the entire year, and they’re more expensive than the SAT!! Retaking them is also such a husk! So along with the wonderful news that I never have to take the SATs again, I now have to start focusing on AP tests.
I find it quite sad that standardized tests are the crux of my worries right now. I wish mock trial was still around. It still hasn’t hit me yet that I have tons of time after school to do all of my homework. But it seems like the more time I have, the more I procrastinate. I never used to procrastinate, but junior year converted me and now you could find me at procrastination station everyday. I’d like to get back on the right track, and get back to being organized and motivated and excited to learn. I usually have high expectations for myself, but as of late, I’m not meeting them. Besides gym and Lang I don’t look forward to any classes anymore. Not even CADD! I suppose gym is tolerable because I get to hang out with my friends, and Lang is tolerable because I have an A+++, 10/10 would recommend, bomb teacher. I always feel like I’m doing something important in Lang, except when we have to learn to the test. Those AP MC quizzes really make my head spin. Otherwise, I like writing, reading articles that are relevant to my life, and then writing some more.
It’s hard to measure how much I’ve learned this year without taking a “progress assessment” (haha) but I know for sure that I’ve learned in 204-- academically, and about myself. Moving forward, I have to start figuring out what I want to do with my life. College is fast approaching, and I’m not ready for it at all. But if there was any class that I could count on to prepare me for my life after Oak, it would be Lang.
DeleteThroughout the past three marking periods I have learned a lot about myself through the blogs and discussions in class. Of course, I also learned a lot of new vocab, but I think learning about myselfwas the best thing that I could have learned in any class. Lang has helped my find out who I am and what I need to change about myself so I am very grateful for that.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing that I can't grasp, no matter how hard I try, is calc. I have done well in every other math that I took so I thought I would do well in calc. I was definitely wrong. Taking calc is probably the worst academic choice that I have made (besides staying in chem). Lang wise, I don't get angry because I don't understand something. Everything pretty much clicks when you explain it.
Moving forward, I would like to focus on reading comprehension. Since my SAT score is the lowest in reading, I think this would be a good subject to work on. I feel like the multiple choice quizzes are helping out a lot in this category, but I feel that having more to read and answer questions about would be helpful.
I feel like I'm getting more out of Lang than I am in my other classes. I feel that Lang is preparing us for things that are beyond school, and that we use the things we learn in everyday life (unlike calc which I will never use). Coming into Lang I wasn't sure what to expect because English has never been my strong suit. With that being said, my expectations for myself weren't that high. I easily passed my expectations that I set on September 1st. A few weeks into school I told myself that I would widen my vocabulary and become a better writer this year, and I have done both.
There are a bunch of things that I can do better in Lang. Bettering my study habits is one of the main things that I need to fix. Normally I just read the vocab words over and over again until I remember them, but this could take awhile. Recently I started to use quizlet, and I think it's a much more efficient way to study. I also feel like I learn the words better. I'm definitely learning in Lang. I've learned many new vocab words, I have become a better writer, and I feel like I'm better prepared for after high school.
ReplyDeleteThroughout this year the amount of knowledge I have obtained is honestly crazy. I never thought I would learn so much in one class from one teacher. Your class is the only class I really learn in, besides psychology just because I love that so much. So far this year I have learned how to write so much better and all about passive and active voice. I never knew what that was until this year(yes i am writing passively right now but ignore that). I have learned vocab and just so much about writing. And forget the school aspect, I have also learned so much about life. I came into school september first a broken girl. Now I am a completely different person and have learned so much in such a short time it is crazy. However, what I still really have a hard time with it vocab and lit terms. I am an awful test taker, like I literally just cannot take tests. I always fail. I think my problem is not that I do not study enough, because I study alot, I think I misunderstand the definitions or something because no matter what I do, how hard I study, I always fail. But it is okay I am used to it I am just not a test taking person. I would like to focus on trying my hardest to be a better writer when it comes to formal AP writing, and obviously vocab and lit terms because we both know that is not my strong suite. I would like to see more of bunje essays i think you call them? I love writing essays about like life and personal things because that is when I feel like i am not an awful writer. Like blogs and stuff I love doing I don’t know why I just find it fun. I am not living up to my own expectations because I for once, just want to do to well on a test. It sucks but I guess it is my own problem. I will just continue to try my hardest and I will be happy as long as I know I am trying. Am I learning? Is that even a question? Like I stated before, I am learning so much. Like seriously your class is the only one I really care about and learn. You teach us and do everything for us and it pays off because I really have learned so much in such a short time.
I was very hesitant to be in this class because I thought I couldn’t handle it. I’ve heard different opinions about this class on whether I should take it or not. The first day of spending my 1st 45 minutes in 204 was nerve racking. To be honest, Bunje stressed me out with her presentation on what to expect from this class and what she expected from us. I remember sweating during the very first vocab quiz we ever took in that class. That was the first time I ever had one that was timed. I almost had an anxiety attack and still to this day, these quizzes give me that feeling. But as the weeks went by I became comfortable to the atmosphere in 204 and thought ‘wow this isn’t too bad’. I am so thankful to have taken this class because I’ve notice great improvement in myself and I applaud myself for hanging on and Bunj teaching me the necessities for the future ahead of me (aka SATs and college). I’ve learned that the skills she teaches us not only prepares for an important test or college, but in life. We need to know how to communicate and understand people in our lives. I’ve struggled with comprehending a piece of writing of what the writer is trying to do and say before I came in 204 because I wasn’t properly taught how to.
ReplyDeleteLast year I had Mr. Pohlig and that was sort of a pointless class to take because we didn’t learn what we needed to learn. All we did was read books and answer questions on it. It wasn’t ‘Honors English’ it was more like ‘Reading’. Now, I’m not intentionally belittling him or the class, it’s just the truth. It’s a good class if all you want to do is read. Anyway, now I know the Toulmin Method to break a piece of writing down and recognize some possible vocab words that we learned and literary terms that the writer uses. I like taking an AP essay (that’s interesting) and analyzing it. I feel that help me more with understanding essays. Same thing with the Toulmin Method. I definitely have the potential to do mc better in this class since my grade is not even close to where I want it to be but I am focusing more on understanding the concepts of these skills being taught.
I like so many things we do in this class; blogs, OPs, talking about the stupid meetings Bunje went to and the stupid new changes this school made, life lessons….scratch that, I LOVE everything we do in here. Not only that I’m actually learning something but I’m learning and having some fun with amazing people, my lang fam. There’s nothing better. 204 is lit!
This blog makes made me think about the start of this year a lot. The year went by so fast and there is so much in this class. There are so many things I didn't know about that obviously Bc of the nature of learning I do now. However if there was one thing I had to choose that I have a grasp on it would have to be, active and passive voice. Before this class I could not seem to grasp the concept of it and frankly I didn't even know it existed. After a while thought it seemed like I had it all under control. My papers seemed to be 100% passive voice even though, I know it shouldn't be that way. I guess I just got a little too carried away. Something though that I can't seem to grasp the concept of is how to analyze something. Maybe not how to analyze something but the meaning behind it. I know it's kinda weird but at times I can't seem to grasp the back meaning to something quick although I'm sure I will soon. Moving forward I would love to work on my essay writing skills but timed. Although I don't have any testing to do any time soon I feel like something like that would help me in college. I honestly don't know if that is even something we go over in this class. The quality of my writing when I'm timed though goes down so much. I just wish that my writing would be better when I'm timed. That's why I would love to work on that. I would love to analyze more things. I know we do that enough to but I really like it when we get into class discussions. I think looking deep into a piece of writing makes me understand all kinds of writers more. I think just by looking into a piece of writing just opens up my mind into other things I've read and I get a deeper look into it.
ReplyDeleteThis class has made me realize so many things. I have learned about things I would have never heard of if I didn't take this class. On Top of it learning these things, the way that Bunj runs the class I feel like gives me more of an understanding and that's why I do believe that for the most part I have been getting the most out of this class. My expectations for this class however were different. I swore I would do better and try my hardest in this class. Being a senior though, I feel like my motivation is not there. I wish I had more because this class really does teach you a lot. I am 100% learning but I feel like if I were to be a year younger I would take this experience more seriously. I wish I had taken this class last year but I never thought I was smart enough. I know now I am but I wish I had known that before. Other than that, I love everything about this class. I learned so many things not only having to do with AP Lang but also about myself. So overall this class is the bomb and although I wish I had taken it last year, I have gotten so many things out of it that I'm glad I took it this year.
Compared to September 1st I now know how to prioritize. In years past I used to always watch netflix and stay up super late to get things done. I always used to do two sports per season which this year I am not. I only watch netflix when I either have no homework or it's the weekend. I prioritize better with being less distracted by social media and more concentrated on doing my homework, getting done what I need to get done and getting my sleep. Last year especially I could not grasp anything from chem but just attempted to keep up but this year in anatomy I'm taking my time with studying and learning and I know the information. Reading is one of my biggest problems. In lots of my classes we either have to read a textbook or a mini fable in French or just something that needs my full out concentration and I just never seem to have that time to do it. I can get my studying and homework worksheets done but when it comes to reading things unless I'm annotating on the sides I can not grasp what I am doing. Moving forward I want to focus more on studying a little each day so I can understand the topics in their entirety. I would like to see more group or partner activities. Not because I do not want to do the work alone but because when I am in a group and I do not understand something I can ask to see what my partner did and then do the rest on my own. With math I like the seats because they are tables of two. This allows me to look at how my partner did a problem so I know how to do the rest on my own. Having partners allows me to understand what we are supposed to do and then do the rest instead of sitting there lonely in confusion. In ap Lang I have learned more than just English skills, I've learned life skills and so many other things. Also 204 for me is such a safe environment to go to if I ever need too. I can honestly say ap Lang is the only class that I do not zone out in no matter what we are doing. The only time that I have ever zoned out is when Hearn is blasting his dumb movies that have no correlation to his classes. I am living up to my expectations in some ways. In eighth grade I graduated in top ten which has always been a mini dream of mine to prove people wrong because when I was younger all I heard was the dumb stereotypes that blondes were dumb. However this year I am like 14th in my class which annoys me so much but at the same time I learn to just ignore it because top 10 is so whacky and so much different than it should be and most likely will be taken out. Other than that I think I've been doing pretty well with my goals and expectations I just always wish there was more time in my day and more days in the week to allow me to get more things done. The major thing I could do better with is putting my phone down and stop getting distracted by social media and just getting my shit done quickly and efficiently and then having time to study for my classes. Everyday in almost every class I learn something new.
ReplyDeletePrior to September 1st, I hated writing and english class. I hated the timed in-class essays and the 3-point thesis and the restrictions of only writing research papers and other impersonal “curriculum-approved” papers. But lang made me realize that writing can actually be enjoyable, and I can honestly say that english is my favorite subject now. I love the blogs and occasional papers and even our passage-based response homeworks because I feel like I’m writing to better myself, not just my grade. Before taking this class I knew nothing about lit terms or toulmin’s method or basically anything else related to lang, so I’d say I’ve learned quite a bit.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I’m still having trouble with the whole rhetorical analysis thing. I know we spent 35 years on the Abigail Adams essay, but I feel like I was only able to write the essay because we spent so much time on it. I don’t know how I’m going to write a rhetorical analysis in 45 minutes for the exam because I’ll have to read it, annotate it, think up a thesis, and actually write the whole thing by myself. I’d like it if we could maybe do a rhetorical analysis prompt in class so that I could be more prepared and know what to expect. I’m actually just scared for the whole exam in general but I’ll probably feel more confident once we start reviewing.
Sometimes I honestly feel like lang is the only class I actually learn in (Prince is a pretty good teacher, but math is useless so that doesn’t really help me in the grand scheme of things); Ms. Rich went MIA for a few months, so I have learned absolutely nothing in chem and we basically have to teach ourselves the entire apush course by reading those chapters out of the online textbook (sorry Weisback ily). But lang is so much different because I know that the information I’m learning is useful, especially in everyday life. I seriously can’t read a news article or op-ed without recognizing some lit term/rhetorical strategy. I get so excited when this happens because I know that I’m actually learning and applying what I learn to help me better comprehend important information.
Going into this year I was so scared because I thought I’d really struggle with the whole writing aspect. I had taken honors english sophomore year and my teacher literally never praised her students for anything; She’d just correct papers and tell us what we were doing wrong. While this teaching technique wasn’t necessarily bad, it definitely led me to believe that I was a lot worse of a writer than I actually am, so I seriously reconsidered my recommendation for lang. In the end, I made myself take the class because I knew I’d at least learn a lot, and I reasoned that even if I did receive a not-so-good grade, it wouldn’t look too bad on my transcript considering the fact that it’s an AP course. But taking lang was honestly one of the best decisions I have ever made. I can’t imagine my day without it, it’s 90% of the reason why I drag myself to school every morning.
Even though I’ve done a lot better in this class than I previously anticipated, I could still look to improve by not letting my bias impact my reading comprehension. I sometimes tend to let my beliefs influence the way I perceive an author’s writing, which prevents me from seeing something from a different point of view. I know that if I can just put my feelings aside while reading a passage or article, I will be better able to interpret its entire meaning rather than prematurely deciding against it.
I honestly can not believe I’m a junior in high school. Last week, my peers and I were in the cafeteria getting into alphabetical lines for our 8th grade graduation. Now, I already have my classes picked for my senior year. It amazes me how much time can fly. When I walked into room 204, I was very intimidated. I’ve heard about the work in and how much stress it puts on you, but I can say-truthfully, I am so happy I picked Ms. Bunjes AP lang class. There is no place I would rather be 2nd period. I’ve learned so much from this class. I opened my brain to my vocabulary, (confusing my parents when I use an sat vocab word in a sentence because they have no clue what I’m talking about), I’ve learned much more about lit terms and passive/active voice. I feel like if someone would want me to bust out an essay, I can, because my writing has improved. I’ve learned a lot from my other classes, but I feel this class will bring me further and be more helpful to me in life. Over the course of the year, I have noticed that I need to study the whole week to prepare for my vocab quizzes. Monday, I come home and make my note cards and quizlet and start studying. I do that everyday until Friday. It has definitely helped me tremendously. My scores have gotten higher and I’m so proud of myself because of it. I’m not one of those people who can look at the list a period before, and get a 100 on the vocab test. I have to study my butt off. I’ve learned to be okay with that. It strengthens my brain and it pays off when I do good on tests. This year, I feel like I’m learning more than I have in high school. Studying, preparing, asking questions, has helped me so much. I feel like when teachers ask if there are any questions, I have the confidence to ask. The one thing I still struggle with are the declamations. No matter how much I think I know it, I don’t. I think that I just need to relax and take a deep breath before I go up and remember everyone else is in the same boat I am. But, this year will also be a memorable year.
ReplyDeleteHonestly Bunj, AP Biology and AP Lang are the most meaningful classes that I’ve taken this year. These two classes motivate me to get out of my cozy bed at 5:15 every single morning, and that is no bs. Oh, and the fact that Jeneé and Cliff are crazy as hell, and would never let me miss a day of school. I remember the first day I entered your classroom like it was yesterday. I remember sitting in the front row, right by the podium, and staring into your eyes (definitely almost crapped my pants). You were so intimidating, and I was so nervous, because I honestly didn’t think that I would survive in your class. Your expectations were so high, and I was afraid that I would fail you. You warned us about all the hard work we would receive, and I didn’t think I would be able to handle it. I also knew that you were nothing like Clark (not in a bad way), and I wouldn’t be able to stay after and get help from you on my essays, because you would already expect me to know everything. Turns out though, I was wrong, and my thoughts were absurd. Yes, you assigned us a lot of work, and of course, I spent hours and hours completing it, but in the end I benefitted from it. I can honestly say that since the first day of school, my analytical skills have greatly improved. Now, I have little to any trouble analyzing pieces of writing. As a result of completing a Précis/ IR Log every Friday and spending an entire month on Abigail Adams , I finally learned how to properly analyze a piece of writing, and also how to think deeper about the text when I read.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I need to focus on timed writing, and new test-taking strategies(since I fail almost every AP MC Quiz and SAT Vocab Quiz). Timed writing has been an issue for me since eighth grade on the NJ Ask. As you already know, I have test anxiety, and on top of that I suck at timed writing. Well, let me rephrase that last part. I probably don’t suck at it, but my expectations are extremely too high when I try to write a timed essay. Then, when I can’t write what I want, I panic, my mind goes completely blank, and then this certain look takes over my face. Bunje knows what look(s) I am talking about. That look of stress, panic, and confusion, all in one facial expression. I already paid for the AP LANG exam, and I am not too confident about it. I feel as though no matter how much I study, I will fail, and be a disappointment to you and my parents. I am afraid that I will have a meltdown. I am afraid that I will not produce a well written essay. I am afraid that my score will not be an accurate representation of who I really am or what I am truly capable of. There I said it. *exhales*
I can’t really think of anything specific that I would like to see more of, but honestly, I would take anything you have to offer me Bunj. You have been teaching AP Lang for a very long, and I am positive that any work you assign me will have value and/or a purpose. The information you provide me with is not only useful in school, but life.
There is always room for improvement. I struggle most with test-taking, so I will definitely need to come up with some better test taking strategies, especially before the AP Exam.
No universe exists in which you will ever disappoint me because of a test score, K. You are magnificent in every other way, in addition to being a stellar student.
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ReplyDeleteOmg ¾ of the way done of junior year, I can’t believe it. Not gonna lie, it was a little slow at first but with a blink of an eye spring sports will be here soon and that means school is slowly but surely coming to an end. I’m kinda sad it’s almost over. All the memories, all the “educational” lessons, and my beautiful bffs have left a huge impact on my life. I quote educational because according to the curriculum, we have to learn shit like 'SOHCAHTOA' and not something relevant like how to live a life after high school/college.
ReplyDeleteWhen we were scheduling our classes last year, I was very concerned about this class. I knew the workload was going to be much larger than what I was used to. (Not trynna gas but..) I knew with your help, Bunj, that I could make it. Throughout the course of this year, I grow more attached to 204 and for once in all my 11 and ¾ years in school, feel safe and at home. Safe from the pressure of my parents’ constant reminders to get good grades. And in previous years, I never had that one teacher to go to when I want to ditch class, but now I have a home to go to every 7th period (which is not my lang period btw to the one reading and doesn’t know my schedule). Anyways, since September 1st, one thing I know now is the lit devices. I would use a good majority of them in my writing before but I never knew the names of it. Honestly, as dumb as it sounds, I never knew they were a thing lol.
I love going into lang in the morning and I especially love when when we just sit and listen. I’m usually more a hands on person, but when Bunj explains things in detail like Abigail Adams and Toulmin, I understand it more. Yes, my test scores are still low but I’m not the same student I was sophomore year. No matter how hard I study for SAT Vocab, I can never get anything higher than a 70. I hate it because I know the words but I either spell it wrong or don’t change the ending and it gets me heated. Same with other tests. I know the concepts but I can’t get a good score. I want good test scores but I know that’s not going to happen over night. I still learn everyday though. In my past englishes classes, compared to AP Lang, I learned N O T H I N G. I won’t say any names but I honestly don’t remember them teaching whatsoever. At least in math I learned some algebra and in financial lit, I know how to write a check. Overall I feel I’m progressing pretty well, but not the way the curriculum wants me to.
I want to show my parents that I’m a good student and my final grades doesn’t define who I am as a person. (If that makes sense. I can’t explain my thoughts correctly sometimes lol)
Since September 1, my grammar has improved exponentially and so has my overall writing ability in terms of style and syntax. Furthermore, the imaginary “pouch” of vocabulary words—words that I can use comfortably without sounding too bombastic— under my belt and at my disposal has become a stylish “Coach purse.” Not only that, but techniques like the Toulmin Method now help me dissect and analyze documents so that I can, to the best of my ability, comprehend every aspect.
ReplyDeleteMoving forward I would like to focus on writing essays that hinder my style of writing. I can turn almost every trivial and unexciting topic into an entertaining one; that is my specialty. However, there are some topics (Mind. Unable. To think. Of example.) that I just can’t seem to/I have difficulty with writing about. Typically those are topics that I truly do not care for at all. Sure, you can collect snowglobes but once you collect something that is not worthy of being collected, like a hammer persay, you have gone from being boring to being undoubtedly stupid. It seems unrelated at first but I wrote about both. At least with the snow globes I could make a joke about how the collector lives in their parents’ basement but when you make fun of a person that collects hammers; it’s like making fun of a kid with down syndrome. It’s just not right.
AP Lang and AP Biology are literally the only two classes that I feel like I learn in. All of my other classes are either too boring to fully care about or have horrible teachers. In terms of my own expectations, it would be a “no” to “Are you living up to your expectations?”. I believe if I truly applied myself I could have a better grade in every single one of my classes, not just Lang. Unfortunately, my priorities always go elsewhere and the epidemic known as “Procrastination” courses through my veins and through most teenagers. Sucks.
Last year, when it was time for teacher recommendations, Mr. Clark told me right off the bat that there was no question, I was going to AP Lang. On the outside, I just shrugged and said, “Oh okay,” but inside, my mind was racing. “Clark, are you sure about this? Are you really that confident in my abilities?” I heard scary things about this class and 15 year old me was not looking forward to Lang. Honestly, no one is ready for Lang. We all just jump in and write a lot and our writing is horrible but we talk about why it’s horrible and our papers become stronger and stronger each time. This class made me read and interpret differently. It’s not just about absorbing information anymore, I can think about why the author put this in instead of that and what they want from the reader.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I believe might hold me back sometimes is tone. I read and I can not imagine if the author is sarcastic or not, or to what degree they are praising or demeaning. In theory, I should understand this by now because this is not a new concept this year. But I am never confident in my answer when it comes to tone. Sometimes I am wrong and sometimes I am right. I feel a little embarrassed asking for this but if we could go over tone with some readings, that would be great.
I’m getting more than I expected out of this class. Sure, analysis and vocabulary are important, but we don’t just focus on Abigail Adams and old writings. We look at current article so while we are analyzing, we are also learning and discussing things relevant to us and the world today.
Going forward, it would be beneficial for me personally to annotate more. Not only just to find where the author wrote about so and so, but to force myself to think and respond more to the reading. I can read pretty fast, but I can end up missing out on a lot, especially with these complex articles. Instead of reading the same passage over and over again, I can read it once if I just annotate.
While school should be about the pursuit of knowledge, we are forced to stress about our grades magnificently. In terms of my grade in this class, I am comfortable with where I am right now. There is always room for improvement, but I am content with what have now. In English, I don’t have a checklist like “Oh, I have to master derivatives and know trig identities...” and so on. If I compare my older essays to something more recent, I see lots of improvement. I know I’m learning in this class, and that’s enough for me.
Deciding to do AP Lang was one of the best choices I could’ve made. After the first 3 weeks I thought that I was going to switch out. I thought I was too stupid to be in AP Lang, and occasionally I still think that. But coming into junior year from not learning anything my entire sophomore year in english to lang, had me like a deer in the headlights. Mr. Po taught me Johnny Tremain and the Scarlet Letter, and that’s honestly all I can say what I learned last year. Lang was soooooooooo much different. So much faster and harder, maybe because we were/are actually doing work. Now because of Lang, I know Lit terms and majority of the time how to detect them from readings. SAT vocab, and learning words that I didn’t even knew existed. I know how to make my writing more powerful by using doing verbs, and taking passive voice out. I know when and when not to use passive voice, and I’ve learned how to comprehend and understand readings(most of the time haha). I still though do struggle a little with comprehending the readings, and making my writing flow more. Sometimes I have too many ideas and I don’t know how to put those thoughts into proper organization. To be honest my writing for this blog is probably bad and wacky just like my other writings. I also have a bit trouble with the whole Toulmin method, but I think that’s because I have trouble with comprehending/analyzing and the two correlate.
ReplyDeleteStuff I would like to keep focusing on is writing and comprehending. That’s just my personal preference because almost everyone else in the class understands it but me. I feel like I need a lot of help with my writing because half the time I don’t know if I’m doing anything right. And I need help with timed writing because that’s one of my downfalls. I just can’t think in such a short amount of time, and then execute a perfectly written essay. Although I’m struggling in lang, lang has provided me with so many learning tools, that it outweighs the accumulation of all the english classes I’ve taken in high school. Because I learned nothing the last two years. Seriously, nothing. I’m happy I took your class Bunj because one: I have you as my kick ass teacher, and two: I feel like I’ve learned so much. So much, that right now I can’t define everything I’ve learned. Whoops. I think I’m living up to my expectations though. Because even though I don’t know if what I’m doing is right, I still do my work. And I work to the best of my ability to make sure I do an okay job, even if it turns out to not be okay. But I think I can give myself more time to study Lit terms. I usually study in a day or really really last minute. It’s hard to study because of crew, and I’m exhausted and fall asleep as soon as I get home. (Which I know is not an excuse because I’m a student athlete, and choose to do vigorous classes and do sports). But life does get hard sometimes, and lately it’s kicking my ass. But Bunje I thank you for being an amazing teacher and actually doing your job and then some. If it weren’t for you I probably wouldn’t pass my SAT’s because the multiple choice would kill me, and I wouldn’t have learned anything, or have someone I know I can go to for literally anything. Love you mucho<33333333
On September 1st, I wasn't really all that bright. Yeah, I knew a thing or two about transcendentalism, but I was still dim. Now, I'm smarter. And thanks to the combined efforts of my sister and my beautiful Lang teacher, I can now identify when someone is wrong, confused, or flat out stupid. Now I know how to communicate in ways where I'll be able to get my way and prove that I'm right. I'm learning important skills that will get me through life.
ReplyDeletePRE CALC GIVES ME SEVERE HEADACHES. I actually always have a headache which makes me angry and then results in a larger headache so I lose in every way possible. I can't seem to grasp lit terms, but it's a work in progress. I also can't grasp why I decided to sit diagonally across from Kartik in physics; he refuses to admit he's wrong even when the whole world, under world and the heavens are yelling at him to shut the fuck up and sit the hell down. I don't grasp all concepts of Lang either, but I can't exactly pinpoint what it is that I don't grasp. Like, I don't know why I need lit terms. I probably do need to know how to identify them, but I want to be an FBI agent, so I don't know when I'll use those.
Moving forward, I just want to grow. I like SAT vocab because I think that it's very important to be able to say something in more than one way and it broadens your horizons. I want to remember all of the words, but due to multiple head injuries, I can only remember a few at a time and I want to remember all of them.
When it comes to things lacking, everything is where it's supposed to be. I think that in Lang, there can't be anymore of anything because I learn something new everyday. I'm getting the Lang benefits that I thought I was going to; I learn a lot and leave with either a headache (which is no one's fault) or feeling like I've gained something, or maybe both.
I didn't really go into Lang on the first day of school with any expectations of myself. My reading comprehension, although it has gotten better, needs to be a lot stronger. All I wanted to do was be a better writer because I sufficiently lack skills in every other spectrum of life. I need to get better at being organized because I have little to no organization skills.
This class really means a great deal to me. It's probably the most important class I'll ever take. My parents didn't really apply themselves in school so my mom pushes me onto the AP track, and I'm glad she did because I've arrived in a box on your doorstep like a little unwanted puppy. But you want me. I know you do.
The quote “The Greatest Enemy of Knowledge is not Ignorance it is the Illusion of Knowledge” by an inspirational man named Stephan Hawking came to my mind when I first read this blog. Since September 1st 2015 I have learned quite a few thing mostly unrelated to school. Although, I have come to the conclusion that passive voice is far more difficult to write when forced to. But when not expected to write in active voice, all I write in is passive voice (Examples can be found throughout this blog). At times the halls of Oakcrest are magical and filled with mindless yet meaning conversations that teach you a lot about the rapid changes in society. Sometimes I think I need my own personal urban dictionary, but if you just take a second and let your mind wander you are bound to pick up on the lingo. Standing in stillness and just admiring the interaction of others around me has sadly taught me many have lost hope in the future. I have realized those who choose to live in such a way that impacts the outcome of a bright future cannot see past their reality of high school. An unfortunate habit I have noticed is the mass of sagging pants along with the variety of different ways to curse someone out.
ReplyDeleteIn Lang I have learned that glitter is also classified as a type of herpes. And although my love for it will be long lived, I will always remember the endless trail of sparkles as a disease in 204. Also, beware, Bunje is allergic to COCONUTS, which is helpful information for future reference. In addition I have learned that students are more willing to share their life story, especially in 204, which came as shock to me. But it’s nice knowing, people are trusting in the right environment. Since September 1st, Lang made me acknowledge the disappointing fact that passive voice is far more difficult to write when forced to. But when not expected to write in active voice, all I write in is passive voice (Examples can be found throughout this blog). Lastly this year has taught me that I care way too much about people and cannot imagine how I am ever going to be able to survive without them the years following high school. People I only met my freshman year greatly influence my life and cannot imagine the difference it will make when we are all separated.
I guess I should start with my lack of understanding of this “fashion trend” known as “sagging” pants because someone needs to explain to me how or even if people find this way of wearing this article of clothing as attractive. I personally do not see it as proper and quite distasteful, it might seem like character or style to others but unfortunately I do not. Next is the matter of profanity at teachers, at other students and just in general. Cursing, at most times I deem to be unnecessary, especially in the cases in which such language becomes all of one’s vocabulary. In addition the saddest thought I have had to consider and accept but still truly cannot agree nor consent with is that many of the students of probably all the schools cannot see past the next day. People forget there is a whole life ahead of them just waiting to start. All of the cursing and drama impact some a little too much which blinds them from the bigger picture, that after high school there is a world filled with a million people that can make you happier than you should be. Lastly school-wise grammar, essays, writing in general is a concept I will never fully grasp and I’m totally okay with that.
ReplyDeleteI want to continue to grow and discover myself to try and focus on the depressing future. One of these days I am going to have to figure out what I want to do with my life. And my one goal is to not to let the influence of others affect my decisions. I want to be content with my choice that I figured out myself and not have anyone question it because it will only make me doubt myself. In a Lang related answer I would like to see more of the AP multiple choice quizzes. I know that a lot of us dread them but for those who are taking the test the practice would be great.
The class provides me with all that it has to offer and I see it as my responsibility to ask a ton questions until I sort of understand what’s happening. So, sorry in advance for my comments and questions. For this year in particular, I had no expectations. Not one. I knew it would be a rough 180 days the moment I scheduled my classes at the end of last year. Therefore nothing was planned I had no limits or goals to overcome except to survive the “year that changes you forever” However I have to say I surprised myself in the way I present myself in front of crowds. Each OP and declamation causes me severe anxiety and stress. I may look completely poised, as Bunje put it, my insides are screaming to run away into a corner. And even though I most likely black out since I cannot seem to recall anything that happened in what seemed like two hours, the second after its over I feel accomplished and satisfied at my own progress.
ReplyDeleteI am definitely progressing with just life in general. I never had an interest in being interactive and social, yet this year I find myself wanting to talk to new, different people who can also help me figure out myself. I learn from others, other’s advice or own bad choices help me make a mental note of all the things I should/shouldn’t do to better myself. The saying goes, people learn by making mistakes, and I completely agree but if I can avoid the silly ones all the better because I can already see the mess I will make in foresight.
There are many things that I have improved in my writing, test-taking, and reading skills since September. Although, I never understood passive and active voice before this class. It was all confusing to me! I thought that when I wrote passively, that I was using my voice and making my paper longer. Boy was I wrong! Now I understand why Mr. Weber marked a lot of my sentences with “awk” in his red pen. It was because passive voice is so weird, and not to mention, hard to understand. Another skill that I have become efficient at is analyzing text. But I have found that just because I analyze the text “correctly”, I still may not understand it or what it means.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing that I have not really gotten better at, is formal writing. I have obviously gotten better at over the years, but I feel that I am not at the same level as everyone else. So, whenever we have to write AP essays, I feel like I’m ripping out my hair trying to figure out the right things to say. Another thing that ticks me off, are the AP multiple choice. I can do all of the analyzing and annotating, but still not get the right answers to the questions. Now, I don’t know if that has something to do with me, but sometimes I’ll look at a question and just sit there saying “wtf” over and over again. I’ll go back to the text and try to match it up or decipher it, and still end up with the wrong answer.
Now I already know we are getting into the strategy of the AP MC Section, so I’m not too worried (yet lol). I honestly don’t know at this point what we could do other than strategy, essays, SAT Vocab, and Lit Terms.
I really feel that you are doing the absolute best so we have the best and the most resources, which is great. I feel like I am using these resources and sucking every little bit of information out of them. But I do not feel that I am at the same level as other students, which honestly concerns me. You may think different, lol. I do not think that I am living up to my potential writing-wise. So I guess the thing to do would be to completely reassess how I write. Formally, I am not very strong at all.
The assignment that I have learned the most from is this. Blog Posts! They are not the bane of my existence, and I actually look forward to them from time to time. They helped develop my distinct character and voice in my informal writing, which I have struggled with throughout school. I believe that I have learned an immense amount of skills and methods that will help me attain a high score on the AP Test, good grades in school, and even a good SAT score. I call that a win-win-win. :)
Coming into my junior year was very intimidating. I decided to take AP classes for the first time and I knew that it would be a lot more work than I was used to. Since September 1st I have learned an innumerable amount of lessons, pertaining to both academics and life in general. I’ve learned almost everything I should’ve learned last year in English, including how to have a formal tone, an improved vocabulary thanks to SAT vocab, and I’ve also begun to learn how important the art of persuasion or rhetoric is for helping me in life. Even after everything you have taught me bunj, I still find myself struggling with writing. I can write obviously, but I can never find the right words to make it sound “Langy”. ¾ of my junior year is over and I still find myself having fits whenever the topic of college or careers are discussed. I can’t seem to grasp the concept of how little time I have left to figure all of this out and I know if I don’t start preparing I will definitely be going to 204 next year to have a meltdown(s).
ReplyDeleteMoving forward I would like to start paying more attention to my other classes. Since the work for my other classes is easier I always find myself not getting the education I can get out of them. To be specific for Lang, I would like to see and discuss more tone words besides positive, negative, and neutral. I think I am getting as much as I can out of this class, and for this class I am living up to my expectations, actually I’m surpassing my expectations for this class, in other classes not so much but in this class I am learning about life and more than just how to pass a test.
When I graduate I’ll have a full perspective of each year at Oakcrest. However, from where I’m standing right now, mid year in junior year, I am confident saying that my sophomore year in english class was a total waste of my time. In that whole year I can only recall learning one thing, a small trick you would see on the SATS. Basically my point is that everything I’ve learned after Mrs. Rock’s class was in Lang and that’s a long list of things. There are so many skills, words, and ideas that I have learned over the course of this year but the one concept that only Lang has taught me was analysis. Not that I didn’t know what it was at all but I never really thought about it nor did I think I’d ever use it. But after digging deeper and deeper into analyzing poetry and articles it became clear how relevant analysis is to any piece of writing I may come across. I’ve learned so many things in analysis but at the same time it’s still the number one thing that kills me. Most of the time I understand what the author is trying to convey but then there will be a time where my comprehension of the piece is way off. The biggest culprit is sarcasm. I can’t catch sarcasm in writing, maybe because I’m looking for it to sound similar to the way sarcasm is spoken. Then again maybe that’s just a sense that people have that I do not.
ReplyDeleteI feel everything I do revolves around a count down. All I can worry about is the time limit and as each passes all I think about are my AP exams. I only pray to God that I’ll be ready for these test because otherwise I’d go insane. The one thing that’d help me prepare most for the Lang exam is more focus on is analysis. If you misinterpret a piece of writing all your answers to the questions will be thrown. It may help to analyze pieces of writing in groups of people. It opens up my mind and I’m able to see how my classmates get their info and that seems to help build upon my skill.
This class truly has provided me with so much knowledge that I didn’t know I didn’t have. I understand the roots and reasons behind articles, poems, even movies that totally slipped my mind before Lang. And no exaggeration was Ms. Bunje says that “Lang is everywhere, Babies.” There are so many literary devices that I already used with no clue that it had a name. Young Laine was a Langer since day one. When I am trying to persuade my mom to buy me chocolate and remind her of the times that she desperately craved chocolate when she was pregnant is an emotional appeal or pathos. Throughout this year I have definitely reached my expectations. My writing improved and how much time it takes for me to write. The activities and school work that I balance taught me to pace myself and to form ideas quickly and effectively. It’s a vital skill that I’ll never lose from this year.
Personally the one thing that I can do differently from this point on is get more sleep. My five hour naps just aren’t cutting it. This year more than ever I lose my focus quickly and my vision blurrs quicker when reading small print. I usually don’t struggle with focus but this year it seems sleep is never a priority. So before I make changes to how I learn things I need to make a change on how I am treating my body. Without a healthy mind I cannot learn and absorb everything that a healthy mind could. But without a doubt I have learned so many great things in lang. I see writing in a whole other way. Writing isn’t just an obligation anymore, it’s also way to convey your thoughts. It may sound stupid because that’s such an obvious statement but up until this year I only saw writing as a school assignment. Now writing is for my own personal use and enjoyment, as well.
For some reason, I felt like formatting this “interview-style”:
ReplyDeleteWhat do you know now that you didn't know on September 1?
No one should ever say that they know everything. No single soul can ever know everything there is to know about everything. I learn something new each and every day. Heck, I memorized most of a script for The Little Mermaid the Musical. I learn about acting, I learn lines, I learn songs, I learn dances. Last weekend I learned a 20-page German song in 4 hours. The amount of information being crammed into my brain seems unlimited!
What kinds of things still give you fits because you can't seem to grasp the concept?
I really can’t comprehend how fast these past few months have zoomed by. It feels like just yesterday, I was shaking in my shoes with fright on the first day of school. I knew junior year would be hard, but now that I’m in the moment, all is well. Yeah, there is stress. Yes, there is work involved. But how else would we learn? I’m grateful for all of the reading logs, TSTD’s, SOAPStone’s, and analyses you assigned us. Even though I’m still not a prolific writer, I can now identify Lit Terms in writing easier, analyze rhetorical strategies better, and memorize information in a more time efficient manner. I know the stress will be real closer to the start of May, and so I’ve decided not to worry about Lang too much and to just “go with the flow”. Now, my other classes: those are another story. Choir, easy. Latin, easy. EPA, copies, copies, copies. Gym, easy. Precalc, eh? Okay not too easy. Apush, doable.*sigh*...PHYSICS. What is it about physics that is so difficult for me to comprehend? I’m okay with math (when Mr. A is there to give me a few pointers) but Physics just blows the barnacles off my brain. In certain problems, you have to analyze the situation, create your formula from a mere given of “Eo=Ef”, and then solve for one variable. For some reason, my noggin has trouble putting together the puzzle we call “Physics”.
What would you like to focus on moving forward?
Regarding Lang:
I’d like to write more and more essays in class. I used to HATE writing persuasive essays over and over again in grade school. But the practice helped me get used to the (unfortunately) stressful and timed environment of standardized tests, such as the NJASK. In Apush, Weisback assigns us DBQ or a Long Essay on the topic we are learning about. At first, I dreaded the walk to 8th period because of essays such as these. Though, the more we write the more my grades improve. On my last long essay, I earned a 90%, which is pretty good for moi.
Regarding Life:
Well, I love learning. I know this may be weird, but I loved studying for the old SATs. I made an account with Khan Academy and dedicated one hour each day to study. It’s kind of like a mental workout. When you are doing it you want to collapse and die, but afterwards you feel motivated and get to see your great progress! So, in the future, I’ll definitely continue to learn new words and improve my knowledge just for the sake of growth. Because I plan on being a physical therapist, there is quite a bit of schooling involved in the process. I love learning about the human body and because of my career choice, my main focus for Senior year and “forward” is to fully understand how to be a Physical Therapist.
What would you like to see more of? (might be the same as the last question--might not)
DeleteLang:
More in-class essays. I need to practice piecing the puzzle together in my head and presenting them presentably on paper. (alliteration galore!)
Do you feel like you’re getting the most out of the class?
Am I getting the most out of Lang...hmmmm. No. This is entirely my fault and none of your own, Bunje. Because I can be shy in certain situations, I don’t speak up too often. And I promise, I have good ideas here and there. I just can’t force myself to raise my hand, draw attention to myself, and say what I need to say.
Are you living up to your own expectations?
I vaguely remember writing on my star that I was striving to get straight A’s. Well, I am succeeding in 6 out of 8 classes. And it so happens to be that one of those 6 classes is Lang! I have never received lower than an “A” in an English class and I am satisfied that (so far) I haven’t broken the streak.
What can you do better, differently.
If I know I need more practice, I can always find time outside of school to write extra essays. I’m sure I can find some practice AP Essays online somewhere.
And, most importantly--are you learning?
I learn every day. In class, at home, with friends. I learned a new word from my friend Mitchell today! I know that counts :)
My brain is fried right now, but I think it’s from all the learning that I’ve done in the past 6 months, so it’s okay! People have always complained that Junior year is the worst year in high school and that it will drain your soul of all your energy. It’s true, I’m extremely tired right now, but I can honestly say that I appreciate most of my classes. I can now sing the process of Cellular Respiration to the tune of “What do you mean?” by Justin Beiber, I can now analyze literary works and figure out the reasoning behind an author’s writing style, and I can now identify all the different types of sentence errors one could possibly make. I’ve also made an important self-discovery — I want to be a dermatologist. For the longest time, I had no idea what career I wanted to pursue. I knew that I was interested in the medical field (thanks Greys Anatomy), but that was the extent of my interest. It wasn’t until this year, when I was giving Kennedy Hawkins a little facial, that I realized that I love trying to help people out with their acne and poking out their blackheads. Yay!
ReplyDeleteI’m struggling in calculus. I always thought I was pretty good at math until this year when I started studying for math and watched all the possible derivative videos from khan academy, but somehow still ended up failing my test. I try so hard to learn a concept, and when I finally understand it, I have to learn ten other concepts and somehow know how to use them all together. It’s funny because I’m terrible at derivatives, but I love integrations which is the opposite process.
I need to stop sleeping and start getting my homework done. I am the worst at keeping track and starting my homework, and if it wasn’t for Kayla, I would have received a couple 0s this year. If you didn’t know, I always take naps after school. I lie in bed after every dinner, which is extremely terrible, I know, so I never start my homework until around 8-9. But whenever there is a writing assignment due, I get out of bed early because I know that Kayla is waiting to FaceTime me and I don’t like to disappoint others. Additionally, I need to learn how to write in a timely manner. It’s taken me a whole hour just to type up what I have so far. I’m always thinking about different ways I could phrase a sentence or incorporate “fancy” vocab. Before I have all my ideas down, I will start revising and rereading my work, wasting time on things that don’t really matter. I’m easily distracted too, so I can literally sit for hours at my desk without having anything done. It’s only under extreme pressure to finish that I can bang out an essay in 40 mins (which I’ve done for a couple of the precis/IR logs in the library).
September 1st was a very strange day if I can recall, I had just found out that in most of my classes I had friends. I had been overly stressed about having my brother in the school and hoping he would be fine making the adjustment into high school. Also coming from APUSH which could be described as an oven into a room that seemed to be just as hot if not hotter made learning extremely difficult for me. In all honesty, I have learned a lot from the time spent in Lang but the most important thing I learned was about myself, the realization that I really couldn’t care less about grades and along as I’m not failing then I’m fine. I have difficulty trying to understand why grades are important which could be the reason why I’m terrible at vocab quizzes. Grades really don’t have any sort of measurable value, for example, our school drastically changed the way grades were measured proving that there is no standard for them. If there is anything that I must change in order to move forward it would be my ethics, but that would be difficult for me, simply because I’ve thought hard about who I want to be and someone that constantly stresses over grades isn’t someone I want to be. In general I would like to see less of an importance on grades, I just believe that the emphasis on grades only impedes the learning process rather than enhances it, it’s like trying to work with your boss constantly watching you while you do your job which only adds unnecessary stress. I enjoy coming to a class that I fail most quizzes. I enjoy having class periods that are just discussions about relevant topics to our generation. I absolutely loved analyzing “The case for reparations” and “consider the lobster” then relating both of them. I came into this class purely on the suggestion of Clark, I heard it was going to be a lot of work from previous students which stressed me out for the first month. This class holds my lowest grade on my report card but yet is the one that I have gained the most from. I just cannot forget to have fun with class, with the essays, and the readings. Without enjoyment, the class just becomes another part of a seven and a half hour day until I can leave. If I could change anything about myself it would be the way I study for things such as SAT Vocab, I’ve tried multiple methods of studying which all have seemed to fail (I am open to suggestions because this is seriously the thing I am worst at). I am happy to say I am learning whether it’s about myself or Lang, from the Toulmin Method to how I handle stress, I can safely say that I am learning.
ReplyDeleteShit, ¾ done the school year, and only one year left of school? Chill, fuck graduating, fuck growing up, fuck life progressing. Oops, I just hit my profanity maximum in the first two sentences, well, I got my point across at least. Seems like yesterday I was roaming the halls very confused freshman year, and just a few hours ago I was feeling like a big guy finding my classes and friends with ease first day of junior year. Damn it really does go fast.
ReplyDeleteNow, like most of you already know, I did not begin the year in this class. I was in Ms. Carr’s Honors English 3 class, mostly because Mr. Pohlig (just saying that name makes me angry and I’m holding back cursing him atm) did not reccomend me. EVEN THOUGH I HAD A 91 AND HE SAID ANYBODY OVER A 90 GETS RECOMMENDED FOR AP, I “don’t display AP conduct,” god I hate that guy. Sorry, back on topic. About two weeks into the school year, I thought to myself, I’m smarter than these people, I hear all my friends complaining about the work while I’m just chillings, and tf do I look like reading books and doing study guides on them. So after some hard thinking, I chose to switch my class to AP Lang, and it was the best decision I can find my memory. I love Bunje, I love how close everybody is, I love how lit the parties are, I love how the class is run, I love how I have a class I am always welcome even if cutting class, and and on top of all these things I love, I actually learn stuff. Accelerated English I with Ms. Adair, all I remember is a little bit of Greek mythology, Honors English II with Mr. Pohlig, I remember him telling me to read and answer questions and nobody every complying. This year, i’ve learned too many crazy looking vocab words, a bunch of lit terms I thought were just random occurrences in writing, and I learned A LOT about essay writing. Idk what my SAT scores are gonna be, but I guarantee they would have been substantially lower in the english category if I stayed in my other English class. The BEST part of the whole 204 scene, would probably be blogs, OPs, talks in class, and anywhere else I can get my point across without restriction. I have a filter on my mouth unlike a lot of people, but i do not like to do that, and 2014 is the only place I do not have to. I don’t wanna say, “I had a previous teacher that did not teach me very well,” I wanna say “Fuck Pohlig, I learned nothing in that class he screwed me, I wasted a year of english.” I don’t wanna get told, “watch your mouth,” or depending on the teacher get yelled at for letting one slip out of frustration or because I was in the moment. (Those of you who know me well know I like to use profanity so it is very hard for me to hold back.) Most of all, I do NOT want to “rant” about a topic I do not care about in active voice (another thing I learned from Lang) and perfected grammar for it to be seen by my eyes and the teacher. (Peep the passive) I want to really rant for two pages without restriction on a topic I come up with myself, getting all my points across the way I want to, and read it aloud to the class for a 100 test grade.
DeleteI cannot seem to get a one hundred on an SAT Vocab Quiz. Whether I spell a word wrong, forget a synonym, or get two similar words mixed up, I cannot seem to get that one hunnet. I did receive one “one hunnet”, but it was that easy one where the words were given and we had to define them, so I do not count it. Now that is me worrying about a petty twenty points or so on some quizzes, but as a whole these lit terms and SAT vocab words do not stick with me. I wish we applied them more often than a quiz. I feel I have a good grasp of what everything is, i can identify the lit terms and use all of the vocab words properly, but once the next quiz comes around, I have already forgotten the content of the last. I feel as though it is simply memorization and not learning. The essay writing, I have actually learned concepts and methods to better my writing, but when it comes to quizzes on words, I know what they mean, i recieve a decent grade on the quiz, and it’s gone in a week. If we applied them more than quiz, it would probably stick with me more. Although, it may just be the sheer number of the words and I find it hard to maintain all of them, I am not sure.
As a whole, I have exceeded my expectations both inside and outside the classroom. I have become an overall better person. I’m much more outgoing and have a much more extrovert personality, I think of the positive side of things more often, and I’m a lot happier with where I am. I didn't expect this change, I thought I was going to be the same sophomore year Manny in junior year but nah, I’m a better version of Manny. Now in the classroom, my grades have been like that. All last year and freshman year, I have maintained solid Bs and As, usually split down the middle with about a C or two per year. This year, I finished the first marking period with all As, and the second with 2 Bs and the rest As, now some of you are like that’s just normal stuff, I’m quite proud of myself. My GPA has went up 2 points and my class rank 9, shoutout to AP classes. I also feel like, despite my grades, I am performing better in class. Beside physics, everything is doing very well. My essays are better, my grasp of math concepts are much better, I’m doing much better. Lemme stop gassing myself, I’ve exceeded my expectations, this blog is now over.
I honestly cannot think of something that I learned that I didn’t know on September 1. I came into junior year thinking that I all my classes would overwhelm me but ¾ into the year and looking back at it now, it wasn’t that bad. In latin there’s nothing significant that I really learned. Maybe how to translate more complex sentences. In chemistry my teacher was pregnant for almost four months and her substitute made us do one lab for two months. We still never figured out how to separate sugar and salt. Culinary is an easy one hundred because all I have to do is follow the recipe. I don’t do much in APUSH because I’m doing dual credit so I don’t have to take the test. Looking back at it now, I didn’t learn much in most of classes. Out of all my classes, I’ve learned the most from Lang and Calc.
ReplyDeleteSo I take that back, I did learn something that I didn’t know on September 1. I like to think my writing improved. Ever since we did precis I started using doing verbs more. I think more about what I write before I write it. I recognize whenever I use passive voice. I know I still use it but at least I recognize it. I analyze readings and texts more closely so answering readings questions have gotten a lot easier. English still isn’t my thing but I’m getting better at it. What I still haven’t gotten down is developing ideas, transitions, and vocab. When I have to write an essay on a piece of reading, I get the general idea of the reading but I can’t elaborate on that idea. It seems stupid but I also have trouble with transitions. They just seem awkwardly placed whenever I try to use them. Maybe I’m doing it wrong but that’s why I don’t really use them. Vocab is hard because I don’t want to sound like I’m just using big words but I also don’t want to use simple words.
My expectations for junior year were basically to get good grades. I had more specific expectations for each class but as the year went by I kind of lost some of my motivation for some of the classes. For lang though, it met some of my expectations. I came into lang hoping that my writing would improve and it has, hopefully. I can see how I improved so I’m pretty proud about that.
Coming into junior year I didn’t have much expectations for myself besides getting good grades. For Lang I wanted to improve my writing more. Which I somewhat did.
ReplyDeleteEver since freshman year, English was one of my favorite subjects. I liked writing about different topics and talking about pieces of literature. Therefore, coming into Lang I was very excited, but also nervous because of how difficult I heard this class was. Now, into the 3rd marking period of my junior year, I can honestly say I’ve learned so much in the class. Not even just Lang related things, but also valuable life lessons. Prior to September 1st, I couldn’t really analyze text as well as I do now. With our frequent TS/TD assignments, I’ve become way better at analyzing writing. I can easily point out what the author was trying to say and do with each line. Now, I have a habit of analyzing everything, not just with writing. It’s kind of weird.
Out of everything we learned, I still have trouble with analyzing arguments with the Toulmin method. I understand claim and all that, but I have trouble identifying the warrants. When I read an argument, I am always unsure what is the warrant. There are times where I think I got it, but then I find out later I’m completely wrong. I guess I just have to keep practicing. It would really help if I got to see more examples of arguments so I’d get a better understanding of breaking it down into the claim, data, and warrants. On the other hand, Lang did exceed my expectations. It is indeed a challenging class, but I learn so much in it. And, most of the things I learn I find value in; not like some other classes. (sneak dissin) But, I didn’t think I would make it this far in this class. I’m proud to say that I am at least keeping my head above water. The only thing I need improvement on is definitely is the SAT vocab quizzes. I always study for these quizzes it’s just that I choke every time I finally take the quiz. All in all, taking AP Lang is very beneficial to me and I’m glad I decided to take this class.
Firstly, I learned that I can actually, genuinely hate a person. It was not until Mrs. Richardson, the Chemistry teacher, left and we got Ms. Michner as a permanent substitute for a few month. That won had a great talent. That won could drive anyone crazy in one minute, even herself. I think she deserves an Oscar.
ReplyDeleteBut, on a serious note, I probably learned more things than I can recall because they are probably some puny things. I cannot recall everything that I have learned since September the first, but I know for sure that I have become much better in Calculus, I have become a better writer, learned that crew is harder than I ever thought last year, and I learned about colleges more in Computing for College. And between all these things, there are dozens of smaller things that I have learned about my personality and how I am changing and have become more aware of the people around me. For example, just a few days ago I learned an important lesson to not assume things about people and what they are like. The reason is that because you might end up being completely wrong about them and risk being emotionally shocked when you find out who they truly are and what kind of activities they participate in. Personally, few days ago, I found out that a certain person that I have know for over a year partook in a small, "harmless" activity of drinking. Even though this person has not done it frequently, but just a few times, I was still alarmed because I never expected that person to be the kind who would even try to participate in activities like that. But I apparently was wrong and I accepted and learned from that.
All in all, I am doing fine academically and I manage to, kind of, balance my school work with crew, though it is will-breaking sometimes. But I still lack discipline. I'm lazy. I don't like it, but partially the reason for that is that I'm so tired after practice and don't want to do anything except hate my life and go to sleep. But I usually don't do that until I finish my homework as best as possible. And also, I dislike how things like YouTube becomes a daily priority to me to watch. I try not to waste my time on the internet too much, but sometimes it becomes too much. I'm starting to lay off it a little by the day and I'm hoping the internet can stop being a big distraction to me. Other than that, I want to simply learn more and become more disciplined. I want to get some valuable lessons out of each class and I need to get myself to prioritize more, I know I'll need it.
Coming into AP Lang was intimidating to be quite honest with you Bunj. From the day I stepped foot in 204 I have not stopped learning English skills, life lessons, improvement skills and how to deal with learning more about myself. Today I know more than I did yesterday and yesterday I didn't know as much as a do today and that is because of you. Although there are times where I catch myself clueless, I'm not gonna lie I've always had a hard time with English, it's never been my strong suit. I try so hard to achieve the things you want us to as a class and I feel as though I'm not. I know that each and every one of us are different in every way and some of my class can do things with reading and writing that I dream about doing. I look at Kayla and see the manner in which she carries herself and the way she explains and speaks and I find that so very appealing that she is good at that. I see Janet and she impresses me with the full understanding and grasp she has on so many things. Then there's Bryan, I don't know how to say this but if there was a female version of him I'd love to be her. I admire the way Bryan writes his pieces, they all amaze me and give me a different reaction every time it is so impressive. He could write a paper on absolutely bullshit (mall tiles) and it could be absolutely incredible but I feel as though I can write a novel on something I'm passionate about and it could be absolutely shitty. There's no way in hell that I can say I have not learned anything since September but I haven't absorbed as much as I want because I feel as though I haven't found those traits within myself to use or they are not strong enough to show and I don't know how to ask for help.
ReplyDeleteThis may come as a shock to most of you and I can totally understand that but I've always wanted to be a writer. Not an author of a book but an author and writer of my own stories to share with other people but I've never been confident enough to show anyone because I'm embarrassed with my writing. I want so bad to be able to use more scholarly words, find meaning in my writing, write grammatically correct and be confident with my work but all I feel I write is bullshit that you can't understand. I want more help with my writing but not only for my college and future encounters but also for myself. I want to pull out the skills within me and be proud of my work and accomplishments on a good piece of writing and I've never felt that. I would love help from my peers As they help me communicate, understand and show me how to use the skills they all have. Each and every one of the students in my class has a strength of some sort when it comes to writing like kids with great word choice, understanding, transitions, flow, humor, and many more and I want to know how to enforce these things on my own and hear from them where their knowledge come from. I expect more of myself but there is so much I can do with the little I let myself be exposed to. There is so much more to writing than I know and I learn something new every day with lit devices I really want to learn how to interpret them into my own writing now. I want this class to help me excel in my other classes and in life. My goal is really, to improve my understanding of reading and interpretation, writing phenomenal pieces I can be proud of, public speaking and group conversation, self-awareness and proper English.
Man, it is hard to believe that we almost finish ¾ of the year already. Time flies fast and I clearly remember my first day in Lang. Now I grasp a good concept on how writing works and how to analyze writing. Toulmin, TS/TD, and active voice are a couple of things I know now that I didn’t know on September 1. Out of everything we learn, I still struggle with creating a good thesis statement. I get why thesis statement are important and how it is essential for every essay, but I suck at creating them. All I know is that thesis statement appears at the end of the intro paragraph and it is about the author’s point of view on things. I guess I suck at expressing my side on things.
ReplyDeleteI like to see more timed writing like the essay prompts on the SAT. Out of every section of the SAT, I am not proud of my written essay. I wrote only 3 paragraphs and two paragraphs makes no sense. I want to learn more on timed essays. Like what are the questions to ask when being under pressure and reading a prompt?
In AP Lang, I feel like I get the most out of the class. Almost every day, I learn something new. Not only does the class helps me with my writing, but also help me get an understanding of how our world works and exploring important topics in depth rather than briefly talking about it and forgetting it. This helps me with writing in college and life in general. If I don’t understand a lesson, I would ask other classmates or stay after and ask Bunje for some help. I am sort of living up my expectation. I ask my other friends about AP Lang and most of them said positive things. From the very start, my goal was to get better in writing and earn at least a B. Now my writing is better than it used to be but I don’t have a good grade in the class. My first marking period is 70 and my second is 79. I am slowly increasing my grade up and hopefully, I can get it to an B at least. I am glad that took AP Lang.
You might be surprised at how much i learned over the past 5 months. I can proudly say that I learned more about life, college, and the world in the past 5 months than I ever did. The only classes in which I learned concepts in depth were AP Lang, AP Calc, and AP Macro (Weisback goes over the basics only). Because of AP Lang, I realized how much fun I was missing out in English. I mostly learned about Tituba, Julius Caesar, and a group of crazy teenagers stuck on an island in Honors English II with Clark. Reading (not analyzing) and vocabulary were the only aspects of English I liked. I despised writing so much. I would occasionally get lucky and somehow come up with a great idea for an essay, but otherwise, I was horrible. That being said, I learned to respect writing even more, I realized how to make writing essays easier (which helped me to realize why Bryan enjoys writing), and I learned how to overcome the monstrous passages which are made to destroy the minds of high school students. I also realized something that police officers and Langers have in common: a warrant. Both groups need a warrant in order to analyze the other person’s things. When it comes to AP Chem, I only thing I learned in Mrs. Michener’s presence was to not use pure Hydrochloric Acid, not to sniff it, and not to dump it down the drain. I probably destroyed my nostrils and the Oakcrest water system (not that it was in a good condition). From AP Macro, I learned that business cycle is gradually increasing, that there is a difference between a Real GDP and Nominal GDP, and that whatever comes out of Kartik’s mouth is trash.
ReplyDeleteWhat still gives me fits is the fact that I am not ready for science in college which is going to be my main focus since I am planning to be in the medical field. “GEHRHSD, you have failed the AP Chem students”. My cousin once told me how hard science gets at the college level and that is why having enough background knowledge can potentially put me ahead of the race. All I can do is hope to learn as much as possible in the remaining time.
Since I struggle at writing and analyzing passages, I would like to focus more on that because even though I will be focusing more on science and math in college, I would need decent English skills to be able to write research papers and such. I would really like to see more of SAT Vocab, maybe until the end of the year because not only does it help with SAT, it also helps with the AP Exam which will be the core of AP Lang for the last few months. I also really like the essays and articles in the Readings for Writers by Bunje so I would like to see more of those. I feel like I am getting a lot out of this class, if not all. I have learned many concepts such as Toulmin’s method and lit terms which would improve both writing and analyzing skills.
To be honest, I am not living up to my own expectations, let alone my parents’. I have gradually become better at time management, and getting rid of procrastination and other bad habits. This is not how I projected myself back in freshman year, but I still have so much time to improve myself which is what I will do. Humans are always learning in many different ways. Therefore, I am learning.
The beginning of junior year. I was nervous about everything and was very shy. Luckily my friends were in my classes. Taking Lang has done so much for me, more than just the words and different writing types. Bunje, you’ve taught to me so much more about myself and how to deal with current situations and you teach us about the world today. In which I think needs to be talked about. Even in my relationship, the things I’ve learned from your class has helped with my relationship. Now I didn’t use passive voice in my relationship to deal with problems, but I did learn that this year.
ReplyDeleteOut of all my classes, learning wise; Lang and Physics are my easiest classes to learn. Bunje you make learning fun and enjoy the occasional f bomb here and there. And for me, the learning environment is much more relaxed. Physics is pretty easy, because I enjoy it. Also I want to be a Mechanical Engineer as my career.
There’s definitely room for improvement. For myself would have to be better organization and less procrastination. My organizing skills are horrid, and Bunje, you would probably a rings at my organization. My lack of organization leads to my procrastination, perfect example this blog. To better myself, I think I need to have reminders to help keep me on task and focused.
This school year is almost over, and so far I think I'm doing okay. I was shocked that I passed with an A the first quarter for Lang, and I strive to keep that up. Thank you Bunje for all you’ve done so far me as a student but more importantly a person.
ReplyDeleteComing into school on September 1st I knew a good chunk of things but mainly things like the definition of transcendentalism, I knew ethos pathos and logos because of Julius Caesar last year, I knew facts on Brigantine and I knew some famous court cases but not really too many things that are super important. But there are some things I wish I knew before this year. Now I can say I know a lot more now. If I went on listing everything I have learned so far this year whoever is reading this would go insane so I will just list the main things the things that stick out to me and pop in my head right a way. Passive voice is for politicians and lawyers it sucks, but in saying so I know it is bad but I do not know how to write not in the passive voice, not without sitting and trying to change the way I do everything for hours upon hours. Oh wait, I know new words. I know that curmudgeon people suck, I know that to blight a test is like slang for did good, cause you know you damaged it and oooh jingoism is pride in one's country often I find myself lacking that. But my favorite thing I have learned this year is how to use twitter. I made one for the mere fact that on that first day of school you said sometimes you post important things about homework and quizzes on it. But now I use the twitter to do twitter things which is really just reading other people's twitter fights and trying to figure out who people are “subtweeting”, I not long ago learned what that meant. Even with my vast new knowledge of strange things there's still a couple of things I wish I could actually undstand. For instance moles, we worked on moles with Ms.Michener for 2 and a half months, I still do not know what a mole is. As well as AP Lang terms I get them all mixed up, why I do not know but I just can not seem to learn the stinking things to save my life. Who invented them and why are there so many!!!!! Maybe if I focused on my AP Lang terms harder my grade would probably go up though. Knowledge of Lang terms is on my list of things that need some work Lang Terms, grades and my personality needs a little. In saying that though hopefully I'll see some change in them soon once I focus. So I'll be seeing more happy grades. But the thing that would make me absolutely the happiest girl alive would be to see more boys with their pants not sagging in the hall, girls dressed more modestly, quite kids talking more, kids in the halls actually listening to good music as well as less vulgarity and profanity down the halls, yep if all of that changed man would I be happy. I think I would get the most out of school if all of those things changed right now I don't think I am because how can one be serious In A school where so many are not. Except for Lang class everyone is pretty focused in there. I would say the only reason I don't get the most out of Lang is because I don't pick up or understand the material that we are working on right away and I'm usually too nervous to ask a question on what I don't understand because my class is pretty smart and my questions aren't.. But in saying so I still learn it just takes a little while. I just have to work on being better when it comes to not procrastinating that way I can focus on the work that I need a little more time than usual to grasp. Once I do so and I start doing better in school and picking up things faster than maybe I will begins to head down the road of meeting my expectations that I have for myself.