Letter to Block 3

Block 3,
   We've had a pretty interesting year in English. It was a little rough at the beginning, but I think we've grown closer as a group from it. Our class had some trouble starting off, but that's just because we are a very sociable group!! As we got use to Dr. D's class, we calmed down a bit which made it easier to learn. I enjoyed being in a class where people enjoyed talking about the subject and learning together. In some other classes, everyone is just silent and the teacher gives a lecture the entire class. English is different because we actually get to be a part of class, not just listen to it. I also like how if one person in the class understands something, they help others too. We all just share what we understand and learn together as a class.
   Before this year, I've never had an English class that I enjoyed being in. We learn and still have fun with each other. I think our class has grown to be more enthusiastic (mostly when we reenact Macbeth) and it's always entertaining. It's going to be weird not being in English class with yall, but I think we've been well prepared for sophomore year.

Participation Evaluation

   My participation in the 4th quarter has gotten a little bit better. I speak more in class conversations and volunteer, but my only problem is side conversations. I'm usually prepared and rarely have to go out of the room to get anything. I've forgotten my outside reading book once or twice, but that's all. I usually wait to be dismissed before I pack up, but I've packed up early for lunch before. I rarely leave the room to go to the bathroom, go to my locker, or get water. I check my email and the ehs website at least once a day if not more. I think I email appropriately and formally, but I may forget to enter in a subject from time to time.  I turn in everything on time and I try to stay consistent in that. My attitude has gotten better in class since the beginning of the year.
    I try to listen to Dr. D, but I get distracted at times. I always take notes in class and I try to contribute relevant comments into the conversation. I never ask irrelevant questions that have nothing to do with what we're talking about because that would mean I wasn't thinking about the topic at hand. If someone is talking I try to listen and think of a response. My biggest  problem is side conversation and that's why I've tried not to sit by someone that I know I will talk to and will get in trouble with. I've been trying to sit by people who will stay on track, but it is still difficult.
   I think I do better in individual work because I focus more and get my work done faster. Although, I do enjoy working with other friends because they make the experience more enjoyable. When I do work in a group, I try not to distract people and stay focused, but again, it is not easy. In the end, we usually get the work done and still have fun with it.
   I think my participation in the 4th quarter has gotten better because I've gotten use to the class and the people so I talk more. Since we've been acting out scenes in Macbeth, I've volunteered multiple times and try to stay in the discussion. For next year, I will try not to get involved in side-conversation and stayed focused in class.

Outside Reading 2011-2012

   At the beginning of this year, I wasn't too excited about having to read 150+ minutes weekly, but it's not so bad as I thought it would be and taught me a bit about myself. I've become used to the weekly reading and slowly I started to like it more and more. Throughout the year, I got to explore all sorts of different genres and see which ones I preferred. I read mystery, autobiography, and romance! I enjoyed all of the books and plan to read more of them. I'm already planning to read the other Ellen Degeneres books and the Hunger Games series in the future.
  The outside reading also helped me develop my reading comprehension skills. Now, I can pick out details in a book that couldn't have without learning how to annotate. It comes easier now that I've done it for a while. I think I've become a more encouraged reader and I have a good idea of which books I'm interested in.
Outside Reading
Macbeth- 30 min
Biology textbook- 2 hours
 

From Macbeth's view...

   I'm still in shock from what happened. The Thane of Cawdor has been sentenced to death after being called a traitor and the King has now given me the position! Then three weird women told me that I was to be king!! Maybe it's just because I came back from a bloody war or just my wild imagination. I told my wife, Lady Macbeth, about the witches and their prophecy and she started to frighten me with her plan to fulfill the scheme. She kept telling me that I had to murder the king and anyone else who stood in the way. Of course, I never wanted to kill anyone, but she kept questioning my desire to be king and my manliness which bothered me a whole lot. I always wanted to be king, but not this way. But I did it. I killed Duncan and now I'm one step closer the being crowned king.
   After all of this, the guilt has been slowly growing inside of me and my wife has been trying to calm me down while still seeming very crazy to me. I feel like sometimes she wants to be queen more than I want to be king. After all, Duncan was a kind friend to me, but it's too late...Now that the plan has started, it can't be stopped. I will soon be king.

Writing Reflection for English l

English has always been a more difficult subject for me as a student. I’ve never been a great writer overall and I find writing stressful sometimes. It is difficult to for me to get an idea that is in my head into words and down on paper. I knew that freshmen year in English would be a huge jump from my middle school English experience. The amount of writing would be increased and graded harder. I was definitely correct, but I soon found out that the challenge wasn’t such a bad thing. 

This year in English class, we have written a variety of types of papers. These include Profiles, Literacy Narratives, Research Papers, and Literary Analyses. These genres of papers were newly introduced to us and we found that some were easier than others. For me, the Literacy Narrative and the Profile were not difficult to write. I find it is easier to write about past experiences and people because I know them so well and they are interesting to me. The more interested I am in the topic I am writing on, the better I do. I enjoyed writing those papers. The only difficulty in these two essays was Voice. Since I had a personal connection to the topics, I was sometimes less formal than I should have been. I used exclamations and got some points taken off. I’ve learned from that and I only use appropriate punctuation and I’ve made my writing more formal.  

On the other hand, I had some trouble writing the Research and Literary Analysis Paper. They were the first papers that we had ever had to make theses for. It was challenging to try to think of a thesis and ideas to support it. That’s where I got lost most points. Out of all the Traits of Good Writing, Ideas was the most difficult category for me. The Literary Analysis wasn’t as challenging as the Research Paper because I understood the short story, but I had to learn about a subject that I didn’t know too much about for my Research Paper. It was hard to support a thesis about a topic that was new to me.

Citing our sources was troubling because we have never learned before. There were a certain number of ways you could cite sources and they had to be done a certain way. It was tricky for me because I had to remember to put my punctuation after the citation if it’s in the body of my paper. The Works Cited at the end of our papers weren’t as difficult because we had noodle tools to help us. Now, thanks to Dr. D and a lot of comments about citing, I know how to cite my sources correctly.

When I looked back at all of my papers, I found out strengths and weaknesses in my writing. My strengths were mostly in Organization, Word Choice, and Mechanics. I believe that was why the Profile and Literacy Narrative where easy to write. I organized them like a story and chose words that described them in a way that the reader could understand. But my weaknesses were more important to look at and develop. I saw that my weaknesses are in my Ideas, Support, and Sentence Structure. Ideas are very important in writing and I’ve been trying to improve that. I read in my comments about how I repeat my ideas and support that I’ve already shown and so I definitely have to work on that. As a read my papers and comments again, I saw that my sentences don’t flow very well and sometimes paragraphs don’t transition as well as they should. These traits are crucial for me to improve to become a better writer.

             Along with some of the broader categories of writing, I also have to work on some specifics of writing as I mention in my Common Errors List. I saw that I repeat a lot of words that begin sentences such as “There”, “This”, and “These”. I need to find other words to use so I don’t become repetitive. I also use the words “very” and “really” a lot to stress something, but I need to find better adjectives that are more descriptive and less informal. The last trouble I have is with commas and colons. I never learned how to properly use colons and semicolons and so I try not to use them that often. I should learn to use them to make writing easier! 

            When I got the WrAP back, I wasn’t surprised in the scores in each category. Although I did better than I thought I would, it really highlighted the struggles that I have with writing which I’ve mentioned throughout this reflection. After this whole process of reading my papers, the WrAP, and all the comments again, I have a good idea of what I can improve for next year in English ll. I plan to take everything I’ve learned this year and put it into use to develop my writing. If I achieve these goals, it will make writing easier and a more pleasurable experience for me.                                                                                   

Common Errors List

Common Errors List:

1.       Some trouble with citations and putting punctuation where it should be

Ex. “Play the most popular games, and your personal information - and in some cases, your list of friends - is sent to app-makers and their allies in the advertising and data-gathering trades.” (San Francisco Chronicle).

2.       Over-use of some words that begin sentences

Ex. There, this, these

3.       My voice wasn’t formal enough sometimes (using exclamations)

Ex. Alida was never shy and could talk to anyone she wanted to!

4.       Adding things that aren’t needed (repeating ideas)

Ex. She also has a real passion for drawing. All of her notes and sometimes even her tests are filled with doodles. She doesn’t draw the normal girly stars and heart, but wolves. She’s very artistic and filled with talent.

5.       Missing commas

Ex.  Red chief is actually controlling them, which is ironic in this case.

6.       Missing colons

ex. The reply they receive is not what they expect: “If you pay me two-hundred and fifty dollars, I’ll take back the boy.”

Outside Reading

Outside Reading~
Tuesday: 25 min
Wednesday: 45 min
Thursday: 30 min
Saturday: 20 min