Wednesday, August 12, 2009

This is NOT education as usual

Guess what? You are seniors! Because you are so learned in your ways and I can't teach you anything you don't already know ( I am being facetious- look up this word if you don't know what it means), I want you to think about what you want your last year of high school to look like. THINK BIG!

What do you hope to get out of this class?
What do you want to learn?
What do grades mean to you?How do you learn best?
What activities have you previously done in other classes that have been meaningful or interesting to you?

27 comments:

  1. Throughout this class i hope to further develop my English writing skills while doing this in a fun and positive environment. This year grades are much more important to me than the previous years since I need the good grades in order to get into college. i usually learn the best once i am involved with the learning as apposed to lecturing. In the previous years fishbowls have always made it easier to take part in the discussion, this often makes it easier for me to learn

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  2. I want to be able to improve my writing skills and vocabulary. In addition, I would like to be able to implement more information that I've learned in a more subtle fashion rather than rambling on in black and white about the stories great grandpa Sullivan passed down. I want to go more in depth of what makes a character a hero or a villain who they are and what causes a character to fall into that particular path. Grades mean almost nothing to me. I value getting an average or higher grade, but my priority is to collect knowledge rather than regurgitate the information that has been spoon fed to me. Irish dancing is my passion. I have been a dancer and an athlete for close to ten years. It's a sport where I both fellow dancers in ceili (team) dances and also in solitude.

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  3. I want to be a stronger writer especially when it comes to college essays and requirements. I want to be able to whip out a strong essay through strong writing skills. Grades do mean something to me. It is only a letter, but I think it shows something about a student. I learn best through constructive work. I extremely dislike busy work. I have to be interested in what I am doing in school. I do like fishbowls or other discussion activities. I also enjoy creative activities. Writing one essay after another seems tedious. Constructive, but tedious. I'm super excited for my senior year!!!!

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  4. I seek to further my intellectual capacities and punctuate my ability to create the uncreated. I love writing, I do Slam Poetry downtown, so communication is very important to me. The world seems to be made of words, it's how we attempt to express our inner feelings...as well as all the trivial aspects. I want to know the words which the world is made of. "Only through new words may new worlds be called into order" -Saul Williams.

    I want to get a good grade in this class. I'm seriously looking at Naropa University. I consider every transfusion of moments to be a lesson, so all I can do is learn...do my best.
    The challenge for me is managing time and channeling my creative energy in the right places. My mind is on fire, I'm constantly morphing concepts and rhyme styles in my mind. I just want to raise peoples level consciousness while raising my own.

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  5. I hope to improve my writing this year and even though I've read all the books planned out already I think taking a second look at them will help me see things that I missed last time. Grades are VERY important to me, I finished AP Lang with a "B" so I see no reason why I can't get an "A" in this class. My only worries are getting an "A" along with keeping up with all the other classes that I have as well as work because this is my hardest year yet.
    As far as English classes go I really love talking about the books as a class. Last year in English the teacher did WAY too much talking abou the book and the class only got to get into things once!!! I like to be talked to, I'm not a fan of group work but I do really LOVE being able to talk about a book as a big group.

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  6. I hope to improve my reading and writing skills before I enter college and I also hope that I get something out of the books that we read. I want to learn how to write a stronger essay and how to make it easier to start writing one. I would also like to learn how to better understand what I read and be able to analyze it better. Good grades are important to me because I want to be able to get into college and they have always meant a lot to me. I learn best with hands on activities and also having a variety of things that we do. I think that small group discussions have worked well for me in other classes because big fishbowls can sometimes be overwhelming and not everyone gets to speak. I also think creative projects work well because they let you express yourself and also connect what we're learning to the world.

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  7. Well hopefully I get out of this class with a decent grade. :) I am really bad at writing papers and that is definitly something I need to improve on before I go to college. Grades do mean a lot to me because I would like to get into the school of my choice. I find that I learn the best when there is a visual of what we are learning. For example if we are taking notes it helps to have a power point of maybe just the guidelines of what the teacher is lecturing about. I feel like projects help me out a lot becuase when I do a project I have to research the topic and learn a whole lot more than I would taking notes in class. Also it is really cool to see how the other students created their project and what they learned.

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  8. I hope to understand classic literature better, like Shakespeare and Greek mythology. I want to grow as a writer and be able to say what I want through my writing. I'm only a junior, so I'm not really worried about college yet, but I hope this class gives me a little head start in preparing for college. I think grades reflect how your work compares to everyone else's work, so I think they are important but are still only a letter. I learn best through group discussions. I really like Fishbowls because I like listening to other points of view on something and I feel like you get really in depth discussions from it. Last year, we read the Great Gatsby and I really loved the whole unit because everyone connected to the book. All of our discussions were really strong and we found more to the book than just surface level stuff. I also had the Whole New Mind project my Freshman year which was really cool because we were doing something nobody had really done before.

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  9. I hope that this class helps me look at English literature in a new way. I am only a junior and am not too concerned about college at this point but I still want to learn what colleges expect from me in the form of an application essay. I want to learn how to take my writing to a new level and have what I write make an impact on the reader. To me, grades are a reflection of how much time and effort you put into an assignment. I think that when you do your best work on a paper a higher grade is deserved as opposed to when no effort is put forward at all. I see grades as a guideline as to your dedication to the class rather than the most important feedback a student can receive. I learn best when I am working with other people. We all have different perspectives and therefore we all have different ideas and different viewpoints. I like small group fishbowls or collaborative projects.

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  10. I hope to come out of English Literature at the end of the semester as a better writer and to also have a greater appreciation for good literature. My essays in the past years have never been anything special but this year I plan to change that. With your help, and my new found focus I think that this is a very obtainable goal. I enjoy doing creative projects that allow the student to think freely and express how they view things, not how others want them to view it. I would love to walk away with an A and hopefully get straight A's in all of my classes so I can put new rims on my car. I realize that this will take a lot of effort on my part but I'm going to give it all I've got.

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  11. I hope to improve my writing for the future. I'm already a pretty decent writer but I want to be better in each area, not just a specific one. I hope that this class will help to prepare me for college and just the future in general. I want to learn how to be more versatile with my writing. I'm a good writer in some areas and an amazing one in others so I just want to make it all even. Grades are very important to me, in my family if you don't get good grades you aren't smart enough. So grades are a reflection of your intelligence. I learn best visually. If I have something to look at while the teacher is talking, I'll be in good shape. I love everything about english; writing, reading, vocabulary, everything. I'm looking forward to seeing what this class has to offer.

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  12. I hope to come out of this class with better writing skills, and a better understanding od english literature. Essays that i have written before havent been all that great. To be honest grades are important to me. Im going to do my best to finish high school with a good gpa, good grades, and im going to do my best. I am a visual learner, so dealing with the laptops is something i will enjoy. Activities from previous classes involve class discussions, where everyone is involved, and we talk about the book that we are reading. Lectures are pretty boring but getting everyone involved makes it fun as well.
    -sean s.

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  13. This semester in English Literature, i hope to greatly improve my writing skills and also be prepared for the next step in my life, which is college. I hope to learn what it takes to go to college and not struggle with my essay writing abilities. Grades are important to me, mostly because how i do in school effects me later in life. I tend to learn best when i do big projects, it helps me to get the big picture of things. One project i have done in my high school career that sticks out in my mind was when me and a couple of friends made a movie about Death of a Salesmen........and any project I did in Mrs Smith's freshman english class of course.

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  14. I hope to gain more writing tools in this class and how to analize and revise papers at the college level to prepare me for next year. I want to learn how to write an essay that would blow away a college profesor. My grades mean a great deal to me because i know that if i do well this semester i can boost my gpa in hopes of going to a better college. My previous teachel was Mrs.Moritz and in her class we use to write alot and we would analize short stories which i think will help me in this class.

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  15. I would like to learn how to become a more proficient writer, specifically how to organize my thoughts onto paper. I want to be prepared for college writing so that I am not overwhelmed. Grades are very important to me because they determine my future. I want to get into a good school so I need to make sure that I work hard to keep my grades up. I learn best in a positive environment where I am being challenged to make myself better. I also learn better when things are thoroughly explained and directions are very clear.
    I have found that I like my classes better when I feel like I am able to put my voice into what I’m doing, as opposed to researching topics that I am not interested in. I like discussions where everyone can express their different opinions and I also enjoy creative projects.

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  16. I hope to come out of this class with a better understanding of english and more tools to write better essays. I would like to learn to learn how to write an essay that is over the top good . My grades mean a ton to me so that i could possibly raise my GPA and have the ability to get into better universities .My teacher from American lit was Mr. Krause and in his class we read alot and fish bowled i believe that doing thees again would help me tremendously.

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  17. At the end of this class, I hope to have a better understanding of how I write and am able to create a better piece of work. I want to be able to have an idea and write it fluidly so that it makes sense and communicates the desired emotion to the reader. I want to learn about all sorts of themes in writing, for instance the stages of a hero we took notes on in class on Wednesday. Grades are important and I’d love to get all ‘A’s’ in my final year but (I don’t mean to sound abrasive) I believe grades are unimportant and shouldn’t be apart of school life. They’re demeaning in the aspect of writing and can be disheartening. I learn best when I am in a group atmosphere among people I trust to tell me the truth and accept the truth but do not impede upon my ideas just as I won’t upon theirs. Group discussions and projects on books we read in my previous classes have been of the greatest help. They orient you in a way that lets you see how other people interpret the writing and allow you to better develop your own thinking. It was interesting to find out that you think like someone or are complete opposites of them.

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  18. At the end of this year, I hope to have better writing skills and be prepared and fully ready to go to college with my skills. Grades mean a lot to me, especially since colleges will soon look at them. As well as Jake, I would like to do fishbowls, as they help me greatly to understand the text of the story better and enjoy it more. Also, the ways that I learn best are by doing things hands-on and have enjoyed doing hands-on projects in former English classes.

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  19. I hope to learn more about writing and how English literature can be applied to everyday life. In doing so I hope to learn to write beetter essays. I want to learn more about how I can apply english into not only my everyday life but how I can use it to fix myself into a steady future to help out future generations. I think that grades are just the schools way of seeing how much they can keep us out of colllege. In all actuality grades mean nothing more to me than how well a teacher likes what work and effort is put into our project. I think it should be based on the attempt and not on the effort. I learn best as a visual learner and so the laptops will be a fun experience as I have yet to get to use them in a class. I also like to be challenged in thinking as I believe that it pushes a student to do their best nd apply themselves. I like to have class discussions where the class is split and has to take a side on a subject and then we flip viewpoints and try to defend it from the other side. It challenges the students to not only think logically but feel emotionally and that betters all.

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  20. I hope to come out of this class with better writing skills so that I am completely prepared for college english courses. I would love to learn how to write essays that express everything that I feel. Grades are very important to me, especially now that I'm a senior and looking at colleges. I didn't try my hardest in my freshman and sophomore year, and now I really need to make up for it. I've found out that I learn best just by talking about the material in class discussions. In previous english classes I've had discussions where anybody can express what they feel on the subject, which is very interesting to me because I love hearing what others have to say about the subject, and it gives me different views.

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  21. I hope to come out of this class with the preparation for any college English courses that I decide to take, Because I feel that my writing and reading skills need to improve. I want to learn new reading and writing skills that will help me beyond the classroom, because some of the majors in college I am considering involve either heavy reading or writing. Grades are not important to me as long as I learn all that I want to from the class. However my parents won't accept anything lower than a B. I usually learn best from teachers explaining the material. Some activities in the past that have been interesting to me are, fish bowls and short plays about material we've read. I'm looking forward to a fun, but challenging semester in your class!

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  22. What I hope to get out of this class is to learn how to write better and learn how to write a great college essay. I want to learn more about myself and how to become a better writer. Grades are important but I rather learn important information that will help me in the future. I learn best by using visiual aides. I am not well at talking notes and trying to talk in class at the same time. I learn better with hands on activities and working in groups. There is something about groups that help me understand ideas better. In other English classes the class has been able to voice their views by posting it on the chalk board and we all talk about each others views.

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  23. This year I would like to improve my thesis writing. After three years of high school you would think id have that down but still end up writing topic sentences. I loved how last years english class realy made me think about who I am as a person and my place in the world. Alot of classes give us just information but dont realy apply it to our everyday life and I like how english did that and REALY made me think. I think fishbowl disscussions are alot of fun and a great way to discuss readings and get a different perspective. Grades are very important to me expessialy this year. I am an average student so Im hoping that I do very well this year to maybe help get a colleges attention.

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  24. This year I would like to improve my reading skills to prepare me for a college reading level. I honestly feel that I am not ready for college reading material. I would also like to focus on my writing a little bit more because I tend to slip at the end of essays. Grades mean alot to me of course and english seems to be the course that colleges want 4 years of so achieving a good grade would be awesome in your english lit class. I felt that when we discuss a book together as a class (fishbowl), it really helps me comprehend alot better.

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  25. This year I need to improve my writing skills. I do a really good job analyzing and discussing issues/literature or just getting the "right answer" such as in math. But one thint I really struggle with is writing my thoughts down, especially when writing stories. I know that I will need to write a lot in college so this is one area where I really need to improve. Everything could be improved with my writing but I really need to work on my introductory paragraphs, making things flow better within the paper, and finishing with a better conclusion. One activity which I tend to do well at and enjoy are fishbowl discussions because I can orally explain what I have learned in the material we are studying and listen to what others have to say, either agreeing or disagreeing.

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  26. I would hope to take away a respect for english, because that is my weaker subject and I truly do strive to be a well balanced out student. I want to go back through Hamlet and analyze it with more detail then when I read it previously. Grades mean a whole lot to me, I am big on having good grades and showing that I am doing well, so I highly respect them. I learn the best by being engaged and participating with what else is going on. I do enjoy fishbowls, but more so on the outside, I enjoy to watch the convorsaions and battles go on in the center, it's entertaining.

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  27. I want to become a better writer. also how to use correct grammer so I do well on my college essays. I like leanring about ancient literature fromm the greeks etc. I use grade to determine my work ethithic, if they are good I am working hard and if not then i need to start working harder. I am not really sure how I learn best I learn well in all environment. I am also unsure about this which activities I like I just do what is assigned and I make myself like it.

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