Joshua Strange Assignment 4

By studying the liberal arts, I can become more exposed to different emotions and expressions of those emotions. I become more empathetic towards other, and my ability to learn by listening and reading becomes stronger.  I am better able to understand people's emotions by the way they describe it because I read from authors who described emotions in the most extreme and pure form. I can become a better listener- which also helps me learn in a classroom setting and helps me better adapt for many other situations in the future. If I am learning to listen and respond to the literature instead of just reacting, I am able to become a much better analyst and conversationalist (which helps round-out my education and my character).  It is much easier to understand something if you study it, so by studying literature I will become much better at understanding language and how people use it.

Help - Meagan Hale

As classes go, english is one of my favorite. I'm certainly not strong in all aspects of the subject but I love to learn it. This year was different than previous years because rather than reading books I was taught and prepared for an AP test. I thought I was prepared quite well for the essay portion of the test. Writing and breaking down each type of essay was very helpful in that when I took the test there were know surprises. I actually enjoyed reviewing our personal essays in class and hearing what my teacher and peers thought of my writing. Not only that, but I was offered advice on how to improve and critiqued on areas I needed to work on, all of which was helpful and I believed taught me to write better. When I was taking my AP test, I realized that I felt much more prepared for the essays and felt a little stressed throughout the multiple choice portion. We took a few practice multiple choice sections in class but I think we could have spent more time with it. I think most people, including myself, made the assumption that the multiple choice section would be a breeze and then were somewhat surprised when it was a little more challenging than anticipated. Essays take much longer to complete and review which I understand but I would have liked to have gone more in depth with our multiple choice reviews. Breaking down each section and explaining why answers were correct would have been very helpful. We did this some but not nearly as much time was spent on this section as were the essays. Other than that, I felt that every other aspect of the class was beneficial to my overall understanding of the subject and enjoyed the way it was executed.

Stress - Meagan Hale

High school is very stressful as is life. Tests and assignments are constant in high school and those turn into college work and careers later on in life. We will always be stressed about something so having a way to deal with it is important. Music helps me a lot when I'm stressed. It relaxes my mind and allows my brain to be overridden with lyrics, instruments, and beats rather than the stress. While I'm doing homework or some other activity that may be stressing me, I've found that if I play music while doing it then I'm much more relaxed and can finish easier. If the stress becomes overwhelming I will just take a step back and do something else then return to the task later. I will go for a drive or watch a movie or read a book. This helps me to calm down and clear my mind for a little bit. Stress is a powerful force and too much of it will cloud your mind and make anything you are working on that much harder. I learned very quickly that if I'm too stressed the work I produce will not be as good as it could be so there is no point in continuing when I'm in that mindset. Listening to music has been scientifically proven to reduce stress and I can confirm this because it helps me constantly. There are so many songs that are upbeat and those songs put me in a better, more positive mood which in turn alleviates stress and allows me to work more productively.

Help!- Max Kaufman

Overall I think your class was very effective in preparing me for the AP test as well as the ACT. I'm positive that I would have in no way passed the test if it weren't for the help that you provided. I thought that the multiple choice prep was extremely effective. One thing that I still however feel not so great about is my essay writing. That being said I went from writing 3's to 6's, but I think it would have helped me more if we spent the last month or two weeks reviewing all the types of prompts because I think my retention of the literary analysis essay for example was lacking. On a similar note, I think that the Socratic seminars were good, but I think they would be put to better use if they occurred during that period of time spent on the literary analysis essays. I think that they really helped me be able to effectively analyze a passage, and in retrospect those skills could have really helped me more towards the beginning of the year rather than the end. Other than this I really cant think of any other suggestions.

Stress!- Max Kaufman

Stress is a reoccurring theme in my life, so naturally I have found a couple ways to cope with this stress. My go to for stress relief would definitely have to be slipping my shoes off and playing piano or bass. I have found that for me, the best way to alleviate stress is to be very loud. This is a fairly effective method, however I generally end up getting sucked into playing for an hour plus, so as far as my stress level in the bigger picture going down this is not a terribly effective method seeing as playing piano doesn't do my Spanish work. Another thing that helps me is if I do all my enjoyable work first to make it a little easier to get that Spanish work done, versus just plunging into the work work can be counterproductive in my case. So I guess it is fair to say that I would much rather walk into a pool than jump straight in.

The Future- Max Kaufman

It might sound cliche when I say that junior year flew by, but I couldn't have though of a better way to put it if I tried. Something about school or perhaps just life in general that I have always found interesting is the perception of time. But I gained the most appreciation for this concept just this year. It is very funny to think that in about a years time I will be no longer living at home. Another significant event this year was me becoming a band member. I think that I need to be much more open with my interests and pursue them much more than I currently do. I began to realize that it is really stupid for me to only play by myself if I like music as much as I do. As far as goals for senior year go, I would have to say that I want to gain some life skills. I plan to do this by holding down a job and being able to experience that. But as for now I don't really have plans for summer I would like to fund a small trip to New York if I can with some odd jobs.

Help!- Silvia Todorova

Your class this year has really helped me improve as a writer. It really helped me prepare for the AP test. At the very beginning when we did the first AP test I got a really bad score but then because we did so many though out the year it really helped me improve my score. I also improved a lot on the essays thought out the year. I like how we got a lot of feedback but I did think that it was a little too time consuming at times especially because a lot of the students wouldn't take it seriously, and the comments they would give weren't very helpful. But other students, especially those who were really good writers would give really helpful feedback. I liked it when we would do the essays in the small groups because it was less time consuming but also helpful. As for the Socratic seminars I would suggest to split up the class in half or small groups and do the Socratic seminar within the groups. Whenever we would do the Socratic seminars in class a handful of people would dominate the conversation and it was hard to find time to talk. I think if the groups were smaller more people would engage in the conversation. Overall I liked the class and I feel like it prepared me well for the AP test.

(assignment 25) Beatles Reference - Kevin LaZur

Freedom is the main theme I got from this class. This can be seen in the "2 feet/2 legs" (I don't remember) rule where we could use a hall pass whenever we wanted, the leniency on cell phone usage in class, and assignments such as blog posts where the content has very broad boundaries. I really like these parts of class because it's comforting to have a course where I have most of the control over what I'm doing for the assignment. I also believe that this is your way of getting us prepared for our futures, where these liberties turn into responsibilities that we must face to have control over our lives. The funny thing is that I can't tell if I'm on the right track about this, or just over thinking your laid-back style.

Whatever the reason for your teaching method, it created an enjoyable class. I also found the timed writings to be an effective way to prepare for the AP test. At first I felt uncomfortable about facing the firing squad of my peers. Then we eventually finished doing them, and I was happy. I get embarrassed at the idea that someone may tear my essay down remorselessly, then I got critical of myself for being embarrassed at something constructed to protect me from the spotlight.

I feel like high school is the worst setting for the blind scoring procedure. I, for one, feel like it creates a hostile environment because I'm not mature enough to handle criticism that will never backlash on the speaker. As with a firing squad, each shooter doesn't know if he is shooting a blank or a real bullet. But I am also past the point where I can naively laugh off this discomfort. All this being said, It's a very effective exercise in getting perspective when thinking about the AP essays.

Assignment 25 - Help! - Gates Sweeney

Not going to lie, English has never really been something I was good at nor usually been one of my favorite classes. I've always been bad at spelling and never understood grammar or been extremely talented at writing yet this was a class that I actually liked this year. I don't know if it's because I enjoyed the small class size, the people in the class or the things we did but sixth period was always something I could look forward to as a way to end my day. Although I can say that one of my favorite things that we did class was the Socratic Seminar, I enjoyed being able to talk about essays in class and discuss things with other people. It’s one of the few things I really wanted to contribute to this year. I also thought that writing all the essays in class was helpful for the AP test. Although spending more time on all the individual types would have been more helpful as well as reviewing the types before the test.

Assignment 24 - Gates Sweeney "STRESS"

Many of my friends would agree that I deal with stress quite well. This is a blessing and a curse. There are times when stress is good for your work ethic, and there are times when it is so overflowing that you cannot think straight. Stress is the human body's way of keeping you alert of the things you have to do. For me, dealing with stress is very simple. If you can't do anything about it, don't worry about it. The curse there is that sometimes that threshold gets shifted and the things that I could do something about never get taken care of. I throw things in the "stress free" category that belong in the stress category. Finals matter, and occasionally I'll convince myself that I'm prepared when I might not be, resulting in a stress free environment with a bad grade. Other times I am prepared, and that's a great feeling. Strive to be stress free with true confidence in your preparation, and that's how you deal with finals.

Assignment 24 - Gates Sweeney

Junior year has been an amazing year. I have learned what feels like my whole life's worth of information in 9ish months. Some of this was academically, but most of it was really the real world lessons and experiences that I have gained. With mentors that I have picked up throughout the year, I have learned about how other people think, outside of my family. I have learned the realities of a business. Music has seriously entered my life, and taken from my wallet, but that's okay because I was able to learn how to make more money than just mowing a couple yards. The only thing that remains are the new friends that I have met. Socially my life was accelerated thanks to the little plastic card called the drivers license. I met more people and got to be better friends with many people throughout the year. Junior year has been great.

Help!!- James Jones

          Overall I would say this has been one of the better English classes I have ever had, it was definitely enjoyable and I feel that I, as well as my classmates, have benefited in the long run. However there are a few things that need some fine tuning, most of all essays. Trying to do small group grading was a great idea however it seemed that we more or less just went through and agreed on the grade to get the job done opposed to having much specific commentary on each essay. But I still think that future students may benefit more from small group grading than as a whole class because having the entire class grade your essay at the whole time is embarrassing, whether the essays are anonymous or not. And that embarrassment leads some people to zone out or even leave the room to avoid hearing their classmates critique their work (even though the commentary is helpful.) Everything else was pretty good and I feel that most of us were definitely prepared for the AP test.

Help!- Olivia McCrary

I think I was mostly well prepared for the AP test. The timed writings we did in class were incredibly helpful. (I preferred when we graded them as a small group instead of as an entire class.) Though, I think we should have done more multiple choice practice or at least an in-depth discussion of the specific questions and answers. Overall, the biggest issue I had with the AP test was not having enough time on both the multiple choice and writing sections. But, I think this is probably just a personal issue.
I really like these blog post entries. Though not all them were interesting to me, I found that quite a few of them really allowed me to express myself in writing.
I honestly don't have too many complaints. My least favorite thing overall would have to be the Socratic seminars. The reading was fine, but the writing and discussion didn't really help me.

The Future- Olivia McCrary

Junior year was definitely the most stressful year of my life. Honestly, it was mostly my fault because I decided to take 5 AP classes. I don't know why I thought this was good idea. But, in the end, I made it. I survived. Hopefully, I'll score well on those AP tests and it will be worth it. Despite the chaos of junior year (AP, ACT, seminar), it went by pretty quickly. I can't really believe that I will be senior this August. I'm not willing to accept the fact that I will be going to college in a little over a year. The main lesson I learned this school year is to not get stressed over everything. Stress always makes things worse. I hope senior year will be less tedious than this year and that I will have more free time. I hope that I will also be able to relax over the summer and possibly travel.

Help!- Isabelle Rinker

I feel as if this class has prepared me well for the AP English Language and Composition exam. It has been evident in my improvement with the timed writings and practice tests that I have learned a lot in your class this year. I felt especially confident with the essays on the AP exam, as I was receiving scores of sevens and eights in class, and felt as if I could use the "organic approach" to develop my essays. My writing has gotten much stronger throughout the year due to the timed-writing exercise, and I really have appreciated receiving feedback from both you and my classmates. As far as preparation for the AP exam is concerned, I feel as if you have done a fantastic job in preparing me to get the best score possible. One thing that could be helpful for future classes would be discussing test-taking strategies. I managed to keep my focus throughout the exam, however, the first passage seemed a bit tedious to me, so I skipped it and came back to it at the end, which I feel really helped me as far as time management was concerned, Discussing test-taking strategies in class, even if it is just for one day, could be helpful to students in the future. Overall, I have enjoyed English class with you and look forward to working with you next year in Advanced TV/Radio. :)

Help! - Jeb Brumley

Overall, I have enjoyed english class this year. I feel like we avoided spending time on busy work and had a real reason behind everything we have done. I thought that reading the essays in class was helpful, as I got input from many people on my essays. I also thought it was helpful to hear the feedback given on the other essays, but I think that sometimes we spent too much time in class reading them. I felt like I would lose focus easily after we had read my essay or had read fifteen or twenty. Although I thought that when we got into groups of about four or five and discussed several different essays, we had the same effectiveness but with  slightly more productiveness. I also liked how we talked about the types of essays separately and also thought the vocab we did during first semester helped some for standardized tests.

The Future - Jeb Brumley

The junior year has been a pretty tough year. Although there were some rough times, they came with their share of good things. The recent testing that I and many others went through, was a way for us to show how much we have achieved in our many AP classes. Near the beginning of the year I worked on fixing my procrastination problems, and although it started out well, I have failed to continue with those good habits in the recent weeks. This summer I will try to relax as much as I can between working and playing golf. The golf season starts in the late summer so I will be spending a lot of my time preparing for my senior season. Overall, junior year was pretty good and definitely better than sophomore year. Once senior year of high school begins, I will try my best to do well but also enjoy it as best as I can before I move on to college.

Fictional Character, Fictional Life- Josh Strange

If I could be any fictional character I would be Luke Skywalker in Star Wars.  I would want to be Luke because I could use the force- which is awesome.  Also having the coolest weapon ever, the lightsaber, by my side would be pretty cool too.  I would be able to win any fight, and playing sports with other people would be pretty funny when I use the force to make a basket or shoot a soccer ball and it goes in the corner of the goal-even though I'd be the goalie.  I'd also like to be Luke because he gets to travel through space a lot. I think space is pretty cool and it'd be awesome if I went to space one day.  Luke Skywalker is a pretty cool dude and a lot of people respect him, which is another reason why I'd like to be him.  Overall Luke Skywalker is just about the coolest character ever made, and that's why I'd like to be Luke Skywalker

Perfect Playlist- Josh Strange

My playlist is the perfect playlist to listen to when you're by yourself and you have nothing better to do.  I chose this playlist because whenever I need some alone time or I'm really bored, music allows my thoughts to wonder and allows me to relax by myself.

My first song is "Let it Be" by the Beatles. This song is not only excellent, but the lyrics promote a positive message as well.  It's easy to get caught up in this song and forget about the problems and frustrations around you. It's easy to sing along to as well.

My second song is "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke.  This song is extremely catchy and can also by sung (with a little bit of work) fairly easily.  It's also very fun to dance to, so you'll probably find some lame chore to do, and - with a little bit of time - will be dancing while vacuuming the stairs or doing laundry or something, only because this song makes you want to move. (I may speak from experience.)

My third song is "Come With Me Now" by Kongos. This is a good pump up song too, and if you want to get excited over nothing, this is a great song. I chose this song because it is constantly loud and doesn't really allow the listener to think about anything else other than the song.

Help! - Amelia Caldwell

Overall I feel like you did a good job preparing us for the AP tests. I really benefited from reading everyone's essays in class because I could see what worked and what didn't work. I was able to improve my writing by looking at other's. I also found that taking the number of practice AP tests we did was extremely helpful because when I got to the test I was not stressed about time because I had practiced a multitude of times. I do feel as though the analytical essay was my weakest. Maybe if we had done more socratic seminars I would have felt more comfortable. I say this because I know socratic seminars involve analyzing the piece and I feel like I would have benefited from more practice. Also, instead of practicing one type of essay, then the next, then the next, I feel as though switching out which one we practiced each time would have been helpful, that way we wouldn't have forgetten any details about the first type of essay we practiced when we got to the AP test.

The Future- Josh Strange

One success that I had was that I was consistently part of the soccer team in all competitions. I played in important games and in important moments. I was able to have success on the field and make good contributions to the team while I was on and off the field.  One failure that I had was making it to state competition in soccer.  Our goal this season was to win state, and that was extremely possible.  Unfortunately, we lost in a big game and failed to reach expectations.  This summer I plan to work at a summer camp for 6 weeks and then return to play soccer.  We will go on a few trips to the lake as well, a great place to be able to relax and get my mind off of things. Next year I plan to raise my GPA so that I am able to seriously compete for top scholarships, and I plan to not only get accepted to, but also be offered many scholarships to my top schools- which are Clemson, Purdue,  and Auburn at the moment.  I am not really sure where I want to go to college yet, as I have been invited to the Army Military Academy, a serious opportunity because it doesn't cost any money.  I plan to become an engineer, and I want to work hard senior year so that I am able to go to the college that allows me to excel in what I want to do.