This is a tough goodbye for me. Not only is one of my own children among this group, but also,
It is for this reason that great reflection is in order; reflection that can help our next generation of upperclassmen--juniors and seniors--as they navigate through similar waters and build upon their knowledge as IB scholars. So, here it is, advice from your seniors to you: those who have successfully reached the summit of IB Language and Literature in the DP program will give you pieces of the map and a compass to guide YOU on your journey. They have officially and successfully finished both years of study, so really take their words to heart! And to you seniors who are quoted here, please know that I have learned just as much, if not more, from working with you as you did in this classroom. I don't know what I will do without you after all these years, but I am ALWAYS and FOREVER in your corner, cheering you on, through all of life's challenges and celebrations! LOTS of love, gratitude, prayer and pride to YOU from me!
Do your best to turn your work in on time, it’s easy to fall behind or get overwhelmed.
You may not always like your FOA group, but just listen and try to work together as a team.
Use critical friends, they honestly see the flaws you can’t.
Ask for help when you need it! Don’t be embarrassed, your teachers are literally there to help
Keep your notebooks from both years. YOU WILL NEED THEM! and....Oh my God, do the blog! Set a reminder for blogs, they really impact your grade and you will forget.
Be creative and have fun with the Written Task 1’s!
Actually take the time to read the books and texts...you might be surprised at how much you enjoy them!
Don’t be afraid to voice your ideasGo to the plays, they are great and SO worth your time
If you’re sick, facetime someone in the class
If you aren’t enjoying the class, THEN YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG!
Enjoy the moment. High school goes by very quickly, so, take time to live in the present or else you’ll miss it.
Keep up with the reading assignments. It will help you with your assessments and your DP exam. However, if you have trouble reading quickly, find an audiobook and listen along as you annotate the novel.
Have a supportive friend group - Kassie
If I’ve learned anything today, it’s that anything is possible and you should always follow your dreams. - Thomas Cooke
Don’t put off your written task, the critical friends really helps and as much as you can bring to it, it will help your grade out. Mrs. Caraway appreciates it when you type up your papers in Times New Roman, pt. 12 font.
Stay attentive. The most regretful thing you could do is not to pay attention in class. Year 2 is incredibly fun and interesting. The topics that we talk about are things you bring home and talk about with anyone that just so happens to be next to you. So, do take my advice and pay attention.
Don’t be afraid to say what you want to say....and don't overthink things TOO much.
Always show up!!!!! Don’t wait until the last minute to do your Written Tasks you will instantly regret it… Trust me. Don’t be afraid to be outspoken. Pay attention to the outcomes for each part. Invest time into the books you read, you’ll like them more and won’t feel like written tasks are a drag.
I HIGHLY recommend actually buying the physical books, versus online! It’s so much easier to follow along, and remember valuable quotes if you have the book in your hand.
ANNOTATE YOUR BOOK. Mark where the quotes are with something so you won't be digging for them for the summative, or as Mrs. Caraway calls it: The Great Quote Hunt of 2019.
Do your share on the FOA or you’ll be hated by groupmates forever. Just put in some effort.
This course has taught me how to look at the plots
and characters included in these pieces of literature in many different ways, and has taught me
the importance of stepping outside of myself to analyze a situation. I have found a love for tearing apart
texts and trying to understand what the author is telling me, the reader, through going through the
list of important stylistic elements. Because of this, I am now able to understand the importance
of identifying the author’s intentions, but also how these intentions affect the reader and his or
her interpretation of the text.
Don’t panic about the IOC, it’s not as bad as you think!
Try to keep your notebook organized, you will get a lot of excerpts and papers you could use for the test or other things in class.
If you plan to go on a field trip, or miss class for ANY reason, talk to her first.
If you are planning Senior Ditch Day, or know when it is going to happen, TELL HER. She won't be mad if you give her a week's notice, so she can plan your class accordingly. EVERYTHING she plans in this class is honestly and totally FOR YOU!!
Be nice to each other and maintain a positive environment!!! Mean people make high school sad :(
HAVE A FANTASTIC YEAR!! You will LOVE this class...I guarantee, it will be a favorite. Mrs. Caraway is passionate about the literature and the language. You will get so much out of it if you put in the time and energy, I promise. :)
Okay, now it's time to reflect and respond!
Future Year 2 scholars: What piece of advice above really resonates with you? What advice or words of reflection would you like to add?
Year 1 Scholars: WELCOME!! What words of advice do you find most helpful? The most interesting? What do you see as your greatest challenges and fears, AND your greatest source of anticipation and excitement? Why are you here, and what do you hope to get out of this course?
I am SO excited to take Year 2 next year, this is definitely one of my favorite classes for sure. Like it says above, the things that are talked about in class are interesting to talk about! The subjects that are discussed pertain to greater things outside the realm of just literature. I feel like my class has some room to grow in that respect because we are all usually pretty quiet. So my best advice is to be vocal! Sure your thoughts on what is being discussed in class because it puts every learned into perspective and adds to the enrichment of the course.
ReplyDeleteI'm really excited for my second year of DP Language and Literature. I've heard from so many people that year 2 is when the class gets really fun (not that it isn't pretty rad already). The advice that most resonates with me is to turn in work on time, I've always struggled with procrastination and this year was by no means an exception. I plan to work on that more next year, my goal is no late work. I would say to any and all incoming Juniors, that participating in class discussion is critical to the course. It helps you to better understand the texts being studied. Additionally, it offers some new perspectives that can be helpful both in life and in your written tasks.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the advice, I agree that you should definitely keep up with your assignments. When you are assigned something try to do it as soon as possible because the work can add up really fast. With that being said, I highly suggest focusing on one thing at a time. I know that it is very easy to get over whelmed by all the work that has to be accomplished over the two year course, but just remind yourself that it's not all due at once. This class is so interesting and fun, so make sure you participate and turn your work in!
ReplyDeleteThe piece of advice that resonates with me is "Actually take time to read the books and texts... you might be surprised at how much you enjoy them!" I have found this to be true already in the first year of this class, as I was intrigued by Jane Eyre and Taming of the Shrew. Both of these books allowed me to develop new perspectives and learn about the cultural context that surrounded these works. I am excited to read the books for next year, as a lot of them have debatable messages that require personal investigation and thought. I would second this piece of advice! I would also add the piece of advice against procrastination, as it is something I personally struggle with and need to combat. Procrastination is not going to help and you need to find a personal way to fight through it! That is all I have :)
ReplyDeleteAfter taking the time to read through all of the wonderful advice that our seniors left for us and our incoming scholars, the one piece of advice that really stands out to me is to annotate, annotate, annotate! And if you have more time, annotate! Personally, I was one who was not very successful with doing this, and I personally felt the effects of not doing so. Since this is something that I need to work on and improve upon, I thought that it would be worthwhile to mention so others do not struggle in the same manner as I have when trying to read back and find key points that could have been found in a fraction of the time if I had just annotated a bit more.
ReplyDeleteOn a side not, I very much agree with the advice that Lauren H. chose. If you love to read the books, and you take the time to fully understand and annotate them, then you're golden :) I loved reading the books, the incoming scholars are going to have a blast!
Pssssst... don't procrastinate :)
I have to say that I am super excited to start Year 2 of this program! I remember my older sister talking about it. She always told me if I choose to take this class that I shouldn't procrastinate and to pay attention. Which I have tried to listen to both of these. As for the Senior advice of this year, I would say the advice that stuck out the most to me was to speak up and ask questions. I have to say that I have never been super good at doing this. Another piece that stood out was keeping up with your assignments. Seriously no matter what you do keep up with your work in all of your class or you are not going to be sleeping.
ReplyDeleteMy advice to those coming into DP L&L would be to stay focused, be there in class and to try your best! I would also suggest to not procrastinate and if you have critical friends don't show up with your work barely done, not having it done will not help you out at all.
I am very excited about my second year of DP Language and Lit! From what I hear, the second year is even better and I can't wait :). I liked the advice about the IOC. I'm definitely a little worried about it, but I'm hoping that as they said it won't be too bad. Another thing that stuck out a lot to me was the advice about not procrastinating. I definitely need to work on that, because I end up getting a little stressed.
ReplyDeleteMy advice would be to avoid procrastination completely. I definitely was way more stressed than I needed to be. This class is much easier when you are on track. Another thing, no late work! We definitely have a problem with this, and it's not pretty. It's not worth it either! The most important thing is to pay attention and enjoy the class. It is a super fun class and I have already learned so much. Mrs. Caraway is such a fun teacher and she makes the class so much more engaging :)
Definitely the fact that Mrs. Caraway creates course with the needs of the scholars in mind. She knows that in the long run, the skills being taught in DP L&L will be with us forever, even if we pursue a career outside the realm of literature. The same goes with due dates, it wouldn't be allowed in the "real world" therefore late work should not be okay now. Though, everyone has times where you absolutely can't bring yourself to work, where life just kind of hits you hard and I'm sure Mrs. Caraway would understand this as well as long as it's discussed prior to the due date. Your teachers are trying to make your grow, not break! Don't be afraid to ask for help. <3
ReplyDelete(joshuah DiGuardi ) I will say that the advice about keeping notebooks is highly underrated and sometimes even frowned upon .As someone who dose that for other classes I can honestly say that I'm able to finish a lot more faster compared to others . However to contradict myself:don't rush to finish your writings (unless you procrastinated then godspeed) take your time read the quotes and make through analysis they will help you a lot later on .As a piece of advice I'd suppose the best to give you is don't sleep during class Ms.Caraway did a huge speech to my class at the beginning of the year I listened I may have just not quite done it ....
ReplyDeleteexample :
Caraway(looks in my general direction ): "No ones going to sleep today because today's lecture is going to be exciting "
Me(who was totally passed out on the desk a day prior ) :"Yeah you know it Ms.Caraway"
But seriously don't sleep during class its a terrible idea
The words of advice that I find the most helpful was to keep all of your notes and papers from year 1. I find that most of the notes and papers that Mrs.Caraway gives us she typically will say this will come back in your second year or that these paper or notes are important. The most interesting books we read would have to be "Jane Eyre" and "Taming of the Shrew," they were not only filled with many amazing moments but they were filled with many literary devices. These books brought allowed people to talk on topics that many people don't agree on. My greatest challenges and fears are when it comes to doing Written Task 1 because I don't feel like the written tasks that I have written so far not been very creative and engaging. I wish to in the next year to improve my creativity and writing. My greatest source of excitement is everyone is involved in the conversions and when we get to do a fun topic for an FOA. The reason I'm there is to prove to myself that I am a good writer and that nothing is impossible, because Language + Literary were not my strongest subject in the past. From the course, I'm hoping to grow confidence in my writing and ability to write an engaging, yet informative paper.
ReplyDeleteWell heck, I really liked the advice that said don't stress about the IOC, because it's not as difficult as it sounds at first! I really hope that's true.
ReplyDeleteAdvice that I would give would be to not put off the summer assignment, and to finish the book soon so you can have a good amount of time to write the essay. I would also say that everything we do in class has a purpose, so even if it seems like it doesn't, do it anyway!
The advice about the IOC is really reassuring. I was dreading having to do it next year but knowing that it may not be as scary as I am imagining brings me some piece-of-mind. I also found the advice about video calling a classmate on days that I am absent to be very helpful. I did not know I was able to do this and really struggled during the weeks in which I was absent.
ReplyDeleteSome advice for the future year 1's, would be not to worry about the difficulty of this class. English has always been one of my worst subjects, and although I can't say that I wasn't tested, because I definitely had some hardships, I was never pushed past my limit. I was able to grow into a better writer and I finally, after 11 years of schooling, have some pieces that I am actually proud of.
The piece of advice that really spoke to me was about annotating your book. I am one to never annotate the actual book because it feels almost illegal to damage a piece of literature. I will annotate with sticky notes but sometimes those fall out of my book and get lost. With this in mind, next school year I will do my best to annotate better and to keep my annotations in a safe place because when it comes to writing written tasks, annotations can be life saving. Other advice that I thought to be very helpful was the one about organizing your notes and keeping your notebooks from both years.
ReplyDeleteI know for a fact that the notes we took on the literature we read this year will be crucial for year two and with that being said, before school starts in August you best believe I will be rearranging my notes and organizing everything to be as prepared as possible for year 2. Something I would add to the organization of my notebook would be color coordination because we take lots of notes and sometimes things can get lost, but if everything is color coded and organized I will no longer have to spend hours flipping through my English notebook trying to find the Part 2 Outcomes. There were many helpful and reassuring pieces of advice in this blog but these two seemed to be the most important to me.
I think the words that stood out to me most were the ones about the IOC. I have honestly been dreading it all year, and whenever Mrs. Caraway says them I flinch. I have really been debating taking DP 2 next year due to it, because it was really hard to understand some of the texts we read throughout the year because I became uninterested. I tried to participate as much as I could so could ensure that I was getting a better understanding which helped me the most (especially during Jane Eyre).
ReplyDeleteThe best piece of advice I could give to anyone is to make sure to use the website. It has everything for you and you don't actually realize how nice it is to know that everything is there. Another thing I would do is make sure you ask questions, especially when you feel like you have a dumb one because even though Mrs. Caraway might laugh at you she will most definitely help you. There are no bad questions when you are able to learn from them!! And lastly don't procrastinate this class. While I found it fairly easy this year, I noticed that it was also easy to slack off. DON'T DO IT! Just get it all done the night of, and you won't have to worry about it. Especially your summer assignment and blogs! Make sure when doing your summer assignment you don't just answer the questions (like I made the mistake of doing) because it looks really unprofessional for one, and it gets sloppy really fast. You can't read (even the shortest book) with 4 days left of summer and try to answer everything that is asked of you. It's stressful and already makes you fall behind in the very beginning of the year, which is very unnecessary and unneeded.
All in all, have fun in the class and participate. If you speak up a lot it will make your other classmates feel comfortable and want to participate too, because you get to be the first person to set an example. Especially if you feel really passionate about something, you could help even Mrs. Caraway see something that she never had before. Everything matters and happens for a reason. So relax and enjoy the class because it will be easy if you let it be!
(Jaquelyn Sanchez) I'm really looking forward to all the topics we're going to be looking at in Year 2 (especially A Thousand Splendid Suns, if the hype around it isn't exaggerated). I think the most helpful advice on here was certainly all of the advice on not procrastinating, asking for help, and not overthinking things too much. These are all things I struggle with still, and it's good to know that I'm not the only one who's dealt with these problems before. It's also really nice to know that I can always ask for help from the teachers, so I will do that more often. I think some advice I would give to the upcoming DP students is to utilize the class' website. It gives a overview of the week, any upcoming due dates, a list of supplies you might need, classroom resources, etc. It's super helpful! I would also say to not procrastinate on assignments (original, I know, but very important to keep in mind).
ReplyDeleteAll of the advice given is 100% true and I can definitely agree with every struggle mentioned in this class. Although I have not been in a bad FOA group yet, I've totally seen it happen before. Make the most of it! It'll probably only last for about a week and then you'll move on to the next assignment or even topic. Oh by the way, I still don't know what FOA stands for! All you need to know is that it's a group presentation that lasts for 10-15 minutes. It's totally not bad at all. I do fear the IOC though, but i'm hoping whoever said it's not that bad is right!
ReplyDeleteSome advice I'd like to give is just try your best! Participate in the discussions because they're so much better when you put effort into them! Also show pride in your work. Mrs. Caraway was just telling us about being proud of our work today and it's completely true! Why are you doing an assignment and what tells you that you're done? It makes it a million times more rewarding when you put everything into an assignment and then it ends up getting on Mrs. Caraway's wall! Nothing can make my day like that does! :) Just have fun in this class! I promise it flies right by so enjoy it while you can!!
Further Oral Assessment ;)
DeleteI am very eager for what Year 2 Language & Literature has in store! This year has been so amazing, and I've learned so much in class that is useful for both future language classes as well as life in general. The advice that resonates with me the most is to not panic about the IOC. I've always been extremely nervous when the name pops us in class. However, after receiving the advice from this blog and other seniors that I’ve spoken to, I've gotten a better understanding of what to expect. To incoming juniors, a piece of advice that I would like to add is to always turn in everything on time and to never be afraid to ask Mrs. Caraway any questions. She will also be open to help you with whatever you need. Mrs. Caraway is such a fun teacher and helps make the class more engaging for everyone!!
ReplyDeleteOut of all of the great advice the seniors have left in this blog, what most resonated with me was the fact that physical books make a big difference, but annotating them along the way makes the BEST difference. Unfortunately I learned this the hard way during our unit of Jane Eyre, which was a hOrrible decision especially considering the length of the novel. I will however make sure to use this as a valuable lesson in the future and advise any incoming DP students to do the same:))
ReplyDeleteOther than this, my excitement over the upcoming year has only grown thanks to the seniors inspiring words, and I seriously hope next year lives up to this one!!
I'm so excited for what's to come in the next year! I'm especially excited for reading A Thousand Splendid Suns as I heard it's a very emotional story. I'll be sure to bring my tissues! The piece of advice that I really took was "enjoy the moment." Seeing the seniors graduate now, I realize how many friends I've made in the senior class and how much advice they've given me. The last athledemics was very emotional for me as I said goodbye to some of my greatest friends one last time before they became official high school graduates. Looking back, I really enjoyed the time I spent in high school alongside them, and I look forward to the next year of Language & Literature with Mrs. Caraway! Hopefully, it'll be the best year of my high school career (though I don't doubt it seeing as Mrs. Caraway is one of my favorite teachers.)
ReplyDeleteI am so excited to see what year two has to offer! All of the seniors advice I will definitely take to heart, but the piece of advice that seemed to resonate with me the most was when they mentioned critical friends. In my first year of DP English I wasn't sure what critical friends would offer, but it has been one of the most beneficial pieces to improving my writing assignments throughout the year. Another piece of advice that really stood out to me was "to enjoy the moment". I tend to get caught up in the stress of grades and sports and don't enjoy some of the most beautiful moments right in front of me. My friends have grown to show me that the high school experience is what you make it, and that spending time with the people that make it so memorable is the best thing you could ever do.
ReplyDeleteYear 1 Language and Literature has truly been a really fun class! I am so excited to see what next year brings! I think the thing that I am most excited about is reading A Thousand Splendid Suns since all the seniors this year seemed to love it. The advice that resonates with me the most is actually taking advantage of Critical Friends since it can really help with making revisions and hearing what others think of your essay before you submit it. Another piece of advice that resonates with me is to not panic about the IOC. I must say I am pretty surprised at this since it seems very nerve-wracking however, after getting reassurance from the seniors, I feel that I have a better idea of what it will be like and what I specifically need to prepare for. A piece of advice that I would like to add is to always ask questions because Mrs.Caraway is there to help you and sometimes other scholars may have the same question so you can, in turn, help the whole class! It's always better to be 100% confident in your work and not second guessing yourself because you didn't ask for clarification!
ReplyDeleteThe piece of advice that resonated most with me was making sure to annotate a physical book. I had honestly never bothered to do it until Jane Eyre and it absolutely helped with the Written Task 2 and made evidence a lot easier to find.
ReplyDeleteGenuinely, the best piece of advice I have would be to read The Catcher in the Rye for your Summer assignment. The book is fairly easy to understand and you can perfectly answer all of the questions on the list. It's honestly a fantastic book to read and has tons of great examples of symbolism, figurative language, and has fairly easy themes to identify. I'll report back next year if I find another solid book for your year 2 Summer assignment.
I feel the pieces of advice that resonated the most with me were the ones about late work and the blogs. I personally know that procrastination will be your worst enemy in this class and in DP as a whole. It is very important to turn in work on time in this class because if you don’t you could miss out on valuable time with critical friends or you won’t do the blogs which are really helpful in buffering your grade in this class. The blogs are really valuable and an easy grade if done on time. They will help you if you do them and they will hurt you if you don’t. I can’t stress enough how easy it is to get behind on the blogs but they are really good things if you do them.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I really took away from the pieces of advice were the things they said about the class as a whole and Mrs. Caraway. This class is truly what you make of it and “if you aren’t enjoying the class, then you are doing it wrong”. This class is really fun, especially if you do all your work, pay attention in class, and participate in class. I would say to speak up and say what’s on your mind because it is a safe environment and a really fun one. Mrs. Caraway is there for us and she makes it very obvious every day. DP L&L is a great class and you should enjoy it before its over.
The piece of advice that most resonates with me is enjoying the class. DP Language and Literatures is super interesting and applicable in live and sometimes that can get overshadowed by the fact that it’s a class and what you’re going is work. I love learning and about intention in language and even in film; partly because of the passion Mrs. Caraway has for what she teaches (and Mr. Byrne in film). Thank you so much for the great year.
ReplyDeleteThe piece of advice that really resonated with me was the do the blog one where it said to set reminders for the blogs because "you will forget". This one in particular resonated with me because I'm actually doing this blog 3 days late because I forgot about it haha. The other piece of advice that I will probably hold on to is "if you're sick, facetime someone in the class". I just found this funny, but there is some seriousness to it because even missing one day, there is so much you can miss and a lot of it is conceptual, it's not exactly something that you can just copy someone's notes and understand completely what we did that day. To this blog, I would like to tell people to do the work in a timely manner, especially the things that will be looked at during critical friends. It's hard to give criticism on a paper that only has a name and a header.
ReplyDeleteThe piece of advice that I liked the most was about the IOC. All it said was dont stress about it and honestly that was it. At first I was confused and thought wow some advice but I may have taken it to a deeper level. That advice stuck out to me because It was short but straight to the point, the ioc is something im very nervous for but if I stick with my information and get right to the point I dont think I will do that bad! Also some advice, SET A REMINDER FOR THE BLOG!! I did really well with getting the blogs in on time and of course the last one I did 3 days late. Remember to have fun because honestly this class seemed way more fun aka funner than regular English. :)
ReplyDeleteThe piece of advice that really resonated with me was "set a reminder for the blogs". This entire semester I have been late on the blogs and doing them on time is something that I really need to do. Next year I am definitely going to be more punctual with the blogs and do them as soon as I can. I piece of advice I would like to add on is to take pride in your work and keep an open mind to other people's perspectives. CONTEXT IS EVERYTHING!
ReplyDeleteSomething that really resonated with me was the reminder for the blogs. Usually I can remember then, albeit last minute, but this one is late, as I completely forgot about it! I am going to do that for next year. Another thing that resonated with me was the advice to use critical friends, as it helped me a lot and I will continue to use it in college. A piece of advice I would like to add on is to always ALWAYS take pride in your work, and to start assignments the day you start reading the book- you know they're coming up, don't wait until the day they're assigned.
ReplyDeleteOne piece of advice that I would strongly encourage would be to organize your notes and keep any excerpts Ms. Caraway gives out in class. Adding onto to that, when you are reading books in class, keep a running list of quotes and character development. While this may sound tedious at first, it will help you leaps and bounds when final season comes around. If you do the work in advance, you will be a lot less stressed when it comes time to relay your knowledge and you will also do much better work! Good luck to the incoming Juniors and good luck to us as we enter our final year of high school!
ReplyDeleteYear one was such a blast and I can't wait for year two, I think that the one that resonated with me the most was the always get the hard copy of the book. I used to be so about saving money and not buying the books but there is nothing better than being able to read a book at 9pm when its purely silent and have no electronics around. I love the feelings of connecting with the book instead of reading it off a screen, theres just something about it. Something I will continue to do is take pride in my work, I have never submitted or given something in that I did not take pride in, why would you? This class isn't to make the grade, its go get the experience that comes with that grade. Mrs.Caraway you have been an absolute delight to learn from and I cannot wait to see what senior year brings to the table . Thank you for such a great opportunity!
ReplyDeleteThe advice that resonated with me the most is utilizing critical friends. Already this year the usage of critical friends has been great input in my writing, and they are able to see flaws I can not. While they can't always see EVERYTHING, using their feedback DOES help, and I definitely want to continue to utilize the input of other scholars, who only wish to help!
ReplyDeleteSomething that resonated with me is to make sure your turn your work in on time. This year I really dropped the ball, and everything does add up very quickly and cause a large amount of unneeded stress that could have been avoided. For the new Year one scholars, the work is not hard if you get it done early or set a detailed plan of attack, it also gives you the opportunity to go back and review your work to make sure that you get the best grade you possibly can!
ReplyDeleteThe one I resonated with the most is the one to paying attention to when blogs are up. I always forget about them and have for the most part turned them in late so yeah I need to pay attention to them more. I would like to add that everybody should annotate your books or basically anything that Mrs. Caraway hands to you because in the end you will probably need those notes.
ReplyDeleteThe advice that resonated with me most was to organize your notes. This advice is hitting hard currently because of finals and the panic which is studying all the year's material. I think if I organized my notes better along the way this would have been easier to accomplish. I'm hoping I can make more efficient note along the way next year so when I get to my DP exams I'm not as stressed and frantic.
ReplyDeleteI also appreciated the reassurance about the IOC. It is one of my biggest worries for this class and knowing that a lot of the seniors felt nervous about it too, but realized it wasn't as bad as they thought puts my mind at ease. I would like to add an emphasis on taking the classes that you care about! I've found myself not caring in some of my classes this year because they aren't my forte and honestly I wish someone told me to leave them when I could. Obviously some classes you'll always have to take but for those classes it's really just best to make the best out of them even if you don't particularly like them. Enjoy your classes and make the best of any situation you're put in!
The advice I felt I used and needed most was to do my assignments on time. Also to organize my notes I would write them in my laptop then transfer to my notebook so that I could keep these things in my mind. Reading the books is a great idea I read the books and you get this special connection actually having the book in your hand. I appreaciated all my notes they helped me out so that I could always have the notes I needed for my wrtitten tasks and my IOC. I suggest to keep up with the blogs most of the time I would forget and end up doign them late and that Is something I need to work on and will continue to work on. I learned to not stress about speaking during class and not being afraid of writing in my book. My advice to others is to take these suggestions and the advice seriously because these are things we really went through and things we feel could really help.
ReplyDeleteI think "oh god do the blog" really resonated with me as almost every blog I end up turning in late. I always impress myself when I forget and it is always the day after it's due or maybe even 20 days! It something I plan to take to heart and really kick it into gear
ReplyDeleteThe words I find most helpful and interesting are to “enjoy the moment” and the overall encouragement of how insightful and fun this class is. I am extremely worried about all the DP assessments, so seeing comments like that help me remember that you need to have a healthy balance of school and outside activities and also to make this the best school year yet. I am really excited about doing some more out of the box thinking and showing our knowledge through different types of projects. I am here because I believe this to be a class I am really going to enjoy and I hope to learn how to better enjoy analyzing information and writing about it in essay format.
ReplyDeleteYay! I definitely believe that you will enjoy it! Remember not to sweat the small stuff: we are all in the same boat. ;)
DeleteI think when they said have fun with written task 1's was very encouraging to me because I tend to stress and overthink my answers too much to the point where my work becomes too textbook like and not sounding like me. So hearing that from someone who is already completed this class helps a lot. The most interesting advice that was given was "If you're sick, facetime someone. If you aren't enjoying the class, you're doing it wrong!". I love both of these because there are different ways of being there if you are sick. I already know I'm going to have an amazing time in this class and I am so excited to read all of the books we will read this year and to soak up everything that she has to teach this year! My greatest fear for this class would be having a very important paper turned in late or stressing over every word and it turning out worse than how I started. My biggest challenge will be retaining all of this information when it comes to the tests that we will take. I am excited to see how this year will go and how my writing will take off throughout these two years. I am taking this class because I want to strengthen my writing skills and to be able to retain information easier than I do now. I am expecting to learn a different way of analyzing a text to help me throughout my life.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to overthinking! This is not always a bad thing - it can sometimes be a strength. But don't let it paralyze you. Remember to enjoy the texts -- wrestling with them can actually be fun!
DeleteThe words that I found the most helpful was to “ask for help when you need it”. I don’t always ask for help because sometimes I get nervous about asking questions. The overall encouragement and advice that they gave helped me with my nerves and made me more excited for this class. When they said “if you are sick, face time someone is class”, I found that really interesting. I struggle with procrastination a lot, and I am really trying to work on that this year because I know I cannot do that in this class or college. I am excited to start this class and work as hard as possible this year so I can be proud of the work that I turn in. I am also nervous to do presentations this year because I don’t know a lot of people in this class and doing presentations can be nerve racking. Once we start doing them and I do a few then I should not be too scared after that. I am here because I want to prepare myself for college and also I have always loved English or Language and Lit classes and it is my favorite subject. I love being with other students who also want to be there because they usually have a better attitude.
ReplyDeleteI love the optimism and tone of hope in your post! Especially when you confront your nerves about presentations by saying, "Once we start doing them, and I do a few, then I should not be too scared after that." That is definitely the right attitude! I think you will do great!
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ReplyDeleteThe advice that I found most helpful was that if you have trouble reading quickly you should get the audio book and annotate while listening. It was helpful, not in the sense that I read slow and that it takes a long time to read, but because I do not necessarily like reading for long periods of time. I get distracted easily and weirdly enough get bad migraines so using an audio book while I am at home will be more beneficial to me. I also found that you should listen to every lecture with curiosity to be very helpful. Depending on the topic and/or if it has been a long exhausting day sometimes I can “blank out” (more so of a listening without really processing anything that is being said). One of the most interesting advice I read was if you are absent to facetime a friend during class. I would have never thought about it but it is actually quite clever! The statement, “If you aren't enjoying the class then you are doing it wrong” I found to be very profound and interesting. I have never thought about it in that way so it was a different and positive way to look at it. My greatest challenge in the class I believe I will have is when we start the shakespeare unit. For me it was really a struggle to understand the conversations between the characters in Romeo and Juliet in freshman year so I expect it to still be challenging but hopefully I can improve my comprehension. One of my fears is peer review. I absolutely hate criticising other people's work because I feel as if I am being harsh or mean. I don't feel as if it is my place to do so, but in reality it is actually really helpful to other scholars. What I am most excited about this year in DP Lang and Lit is having fun and interesting discussions about language and literature and what is the deeper meaning verses what is on the surface. I chose this DP class because besides math it is one of my favorite subjects. I LOVE being able to have discussions with others about how they interpreted a piece of text or picture compared to mine. I hope to grow in my analytical skills and being able to “dive deeper” into a text along with being a better writer.I hope to have a fun time in this class while also learning a lot because who said that learning can not be fun! It is all what you make of it!
ReplyDeleteI got your back with Shakespeare! ;) He never meant for us to just sit and "read" his work. We will get up and act it out - and watch others act it out. I feel like that is the key to understanding and appreciating (even LOVING!) his work. :)
DeleteWhat I found most helpful was that Mrs. Caraway is a friend that is there when you need her and to just “Ask for help when you need it”. I always get nervous to talk and ask questions, overall i usually don't participate (something im hoping to change as a whole). However, after just a few days and the advice it, it has helped me want to enjoy myself in that class and be heard. What I found interesting was when they said if you aren't enjoying the class then you’re doing it wrong. My biggest fear is failing because I want to do well in this program so I can get into a good college, while my biggest challenge is going to be not stressing about every little thing on an important paper or assignment because I need to believe in myself and learn to reflect. However, i'm gonna strive to push those fears aside and have fun within class. I am most excited about getting to know my classmates more and seeing how this year goes. I am taking this class because I truly love English and want to improve on my skills as well as be with people who are going to work effectively but also have fun.
ReplyDeleteI find the people who are most afraid of "failing" rarely do --they may make mistakes, but I feel those are stepping stones to ultimate success. Don't be afraid to mess up...be afraid to miss out. This is your class and your learning --embrace and direct it. :)
DeleteBeing given the “sage advice” of past students is very helpful and I appreciate this assignment! I thought the most helpful piece of advice was to use critical friends to help you identify flaws you cannot see. This is very important when writing essays and extended written work because it helps you to identify patterns of “writing no-nos” that you tend to commit. It is also important to be the critical friend someone else needs- something I tend to be, to my own demise at times.
ReplyDeleteI thought the most interesting piece of advice was to keep your notebooks because you will need it. It seems like something so obvious, yet is worth giving a reminder about. As someone who takes pride in my class notes and keeps all of them to refer to, I think this is extremely important.
I foresee my greatest challenge in DP Language and Literature being navigating how in depth I should go when analyzing a text. I often get overzealous when it comes to literary analysis, and my perfectionism makes it so I can take a very long time to write about my analysis. I foresee my greatest source of anticipation being the amount that I will grow as a scholar, bibliophile, and person in this class. It demands the depth of thought that I have craved, which will allow me to expand my IB Learner Profiles through being challenged. Actually, I am excited for my assessments because I adore how IB gives leeway for creativity and originality in summatives.
Ultimately, I am in this class because I want to grow. At the beginning of high school, I had a fixed mindset- I believed I could not grow anymore and would write the same way I always have. This attitude has shifted and now I appreciate the value of growth. I fervently believe in all that IB stands for and want to never fall short of being a true IB scholar. The Full DP program is rigorous and requires a myriad of patience and hard work. Now, school will be less easy for me and the challenge excites me. I cannot wait to work hard, with a positive attitude, to reach my goals in terms of grades and test scores.
YES!! Great denouement! Challenge is opportunity. You will really love these classes. Give yourself permission (and even challenge yourself) not to be perfect all the time --or at least, not to demand it. Just come to class ready to wonder, and explore, and create. It will all fall into place.
DeleteThe part that I thought the message that stuck out to me the most and that I believe will help me later in DP English is to… “Not be afraid to say what you want to say… and don’t overthink things too much”. I really feel connected to this quote because all my life I have worried about what others may possibly be thinking of me and how I may be interpreted by another individual. This has heavily influenced both the way and act towards people, because whenever I interact with someone I always think to myself, “Don’t embarrass yourself” or “Don’t screw up”. So when reading this quote I like to feel like my words matter and that I don’t have to overthink about how I come across toward a person. I feel safe to speak my mind and don’t have to worry about being criticized in any way or form. The thing that I found to be the most interesting is the statement that claims that I will require my notebook for both Year 1 and 2 of DP. I found this interesting because I never was exposed to a form of education where I had to refer to my notes from the prior year and how they could benefit me throughout my highschool career. Both my fears and possible challenges belong to the same thing, which is keeping my equipment and supplies organized throughout the entire year, because I am not known for being the most organized person at Odyssey. I always somehow tend to have my backpack, notebooks, etc clean at one point and then all of a sudden an explosion occurs and my supplies are in places that I didn’t originally have them to be. However, I am not just scared about my experience in DP English, I am also pretty excited for many things such as the fact that I will be reading books that I have had no context about and I will not have any type of prior bias towards the book or how the story plays out. I am also excited because I won’t be just learning about grammar and pronunciation like most prior English classes, I get to look deeper into what the author wanted to say and how what he said could have any secret meaning which can make me think differently about the book, or even the author. Lastly, I joined this class because I wanted to continue my journey through literature and hopefully expand my knowledge and maybe even learn something new about the power of literature. I am very excited to learn what this class entails and how it can change and develop me as a reader.
ReplyDeleteGreat writing and reflection here, Eben! We all struggle with those inner voices of criticism at times. Make this year your opportunity to confront and challenge them. If you do screw up, give yourself some GRACE. We all do, and that is ultimately how we grow and get stronger. My eldest son loves to workout, and he explained when you go to the gym and lift weights, you are actually "hurting" the muscle (boy, do we feel it sometimes!) which then challenges your body to rebuild it so that it will be stronger (which is the end goal). The same is true of most things. Life is messy, we all make it so. Learn from the mess, get stronger, more confident, and wiser. :) You'll do just fine!
DeleteThe words of advice that I found most helpful are about our attitude towards the material and the encouragement to use your voice and stand up for your opinions. The most interesting piece of advice was facetiming if you’re sick. I don’t think that would work too well this year as we aren’t allowed to have our phones. The greatest challenges and fears I have for this class is the IOC and that I won’t live up to my own expectations. The greatest source of excitement for this class is delving into the meaning and analysis and being a part of the discussions. I’m here because I want to be a better reader, writer, speaker, and learner. I hope that through this course I learn something that I can take away and apply to my future.
ReplyDeleteI can appreciate and relate to your fears here! If I may say so, you probably won't live up to your expectations in the IOC. People rarely do on the first go. That is to be expected, not feared. You WILL grow as a result, and discover new strengths that you didn't know you had in the process. Give yourself grace, and permission to explore, take risks, and try things/ideas with regards to literary analysis. Wrestling with a text can actually make it yours for life. The IOC is just a moment --an opportunity--to try out and present your ideas on a text, and maybe you'll actually exceed your expectations in the end!
DeleteJust to add--the IOC would have terrified me, as well. Know that I totally realize it can be scary, and will do my best to help you through that. :)
DeleteThe advice that I find most helpful is the advice about telling Mrs. Caraway whenever you are not going to be in class. This is helpful because it lets me realize that Mrs. Caraway is willing to rework her schedules if we have a large field trip or something. My greatest challenges will be taking notes and annotating, however I am excited about getting better at both. I am here because I hope to get better at understanding and analyzing Language and Literature, individually and combined.
ReplyDeleteGREAT goals. I KNOW you will meet and exceed them!
DeleteThe advice that I found the most helpful is to not panic, just enjoy each class and have fun. The advice I find most interesting is what Grace Bronder said about actually listening with curiosity and not just listening to get a good grade. By listening with curiosity I know that I will be able to understand the lessons more clearly. My greatest challenge is forgetting what the teacher said after they move onto another topic right away. My greatest fears for this class are that I am going to get behind in work, but I know that if I keep working hard then I will not. I am excited to finally be in your class and learn what you have to teach because my brother and sister have been in your class and I feel like they had so much fun and learned so much! I am in this class because I want to extend my knowledge of Language and Literature. I hope to learn how to make my essays sound better and use better word choices to help my essays.
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to get the chance to work with you, too! I love that you chose Grace's quote about listening with curiosity because that is SO important --not just to increase understanding, but also to stimulate more questioning and more discussion. :)
DeleteTo start, I think it's awesome that Year 2 took the time to write this and give some advice! Overall, the advice that helped me the most was to speak up or ask questions when you are confused. Also, to tell Mrs. Caraway if you are going to miss class. I think my greatest challenge will be annotating. Mostly, because I struggle with being detailed in my notes. My greatest fear is falling behind in the reading because I'm a slow reader. However, I am thrilled to have the privilege of being in this class. I am in class because I love the course's outline in the syllabus and I have a passion for reading a wide variety of books. I do hope to learn how to read at a swifter rate.
ReplyDeleteThe words of advice that I found were the most helpful is to keep your notes/notebook organized and to keep the notes from both years. The most interesting would have to be is that when senior ditch day comes around to give Mrs. Caraway a one week notice to plan for it. My greatest challenge and fear is that I won't be able to find the deeper connections that I need to write a good paper. My greatest excitement is simply to start learning new things, which we have already begun to. I am here to learn more about the language we use in our everyday lives which most teachers do not discuss sometimes. But also to learn new ways to analyze a text. By taking this course I hope to be able to find deeper meaning and connections. As well as improving my writing skill.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry about the connections - they are always personal to you, the reader. You may not think something is a "deep connection," but once you express it, you surprise someone else who had not thought of it, and vice versa. It's all a super fun process wrestling with a text as long as you go in with that mindset. ;)
DeleteI think the piece of advice I've found most helpful is asking for help no matter what. I have a hard time with communicating what I don't understand so I think that by being reassured that I don't have anything to feel uncomfortable about, allows me to work on it as well as ensure I understand the concepts. I'm most excited for providing commentary on whatever topic we are talking about. I'm excited to look at different perspectives and make connections. I'm afraid of not understanding the material well enough and not annotating enough so I hope this year I can work on it and hopefully be better at it soon.
ReplyDeleteI'm mostly in this class because college is expensive and the more money I can save, the better, but also I love language. I love seeing the differences of languages.
I love language, too! Words are my favorite art medium. ;)
DeleteNEVER be afraid to ask for help! And remember that sometimes confusion is okay and even desired with regards to texts...it is actually the first giant step towards understanding. :)
The advice that I found most helpful was enjoy the moment.I can connect with this because I have noticed that when I enjoy something it goes by quicker and I do better work. The advice I find most interesting is keep your notebook organized because that is something that is so simple yet I overlook it a lot. The greatest challenge which I foresee is going to be remembering to annotate well because I will get so caught up in the reading that my mind just forgets to annotate. The greatest source of excitement is any group projects which we will have because I enjoy communicating with people.
ReplyDeleteI'm in this class because of my love for reading and for the college credits. I hope to deepen my knowledge of different types of literature throughout the next year.
YAY! I always get excited when I discover another person who proclaims their love of reading! :) We read all types of texts in here, and you will have many opportunities to work with others. You came to the right place!
DeleteThe most helpful advice I heard was said quite a bit which was to surround yourself with critical friends because they will help you reach the highest level. This encourages me to sit next to people who will and can help me succeed in the class instead of someone that I like to talk to. It is important for me to know who isn’t afraid of being critical of me so I can take their advice to improve myself and my work. I thought the piece of advice from Caleb Fine was very interesting; if you aren’t a fast reader to annotate along with an audiobook. I will definitely be using this because sometimes it is hard for me to focus in a quiet place where I am sitting still, and I think it might be easier to get an audiobook so I am able to hear the words aloud.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest fear for this class might be the blog posts because somewhere in the seniors’, they said that due dates will come fast and they are easily forgettable. I will really have to keep track of all of my homework this year, and always keep due dates in mind. I will definitely be utilizing the tasks box in my email for sure. I am mostly excited for everything because Mrs. Caraway has been such a blast and is so amazing to have as a teacher. I have only had her for four hours, and I know that she is going to make this class so fun and interesting.
Awww, thank you so much for your kind words, Reese! :) I love teaching this content, so having scholars who are also excited just makes it an overall fun environment! Glad to hear that after four hours, you are STILL having fun, lol!
DeleteThis response is from Kiana Charette. Kiana, I am so excited to see/hear your assessment of the course at the end of the first semester and then at the end of your first year! Some great reflections here!
ReplyDeleteKiana: Words of advice that I find to be beneficial would be “Use critical friends, they honestly see the flaws you can’t”. I despise being criticized as I have the terrible mindset of always wanting to be right. As the next two years come I should probably stop being so stubborn and listen to others as they can help me a ton.
I think the most interesting one would have to be “if you aren’t enjoying the class, THEN YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG”. That just makes me excited for what’s to come from this class and what I can gain from it.
My greatest fears and challenges would have to be voicing my opinion and managing myself. I chose to do the full dp program and I am very excited however a little worried just with how much will be occurring throughout the school year, however I’m going to try and stay optimistic.
My greatest source of excitement would be discussions, I know this goes back on what I just said however I have more difficulty voicing my opinion on specific questions rather than a broad subject or a fishbowl discussion. I’m also excited because looking around the class I’ve known these people for a long time and I enjoy having classes with them so I’m very excited to share this class with them :)
I’m in IB Language and Literature to be with similar minded people but also different people to help me grow my knowledge, strengths, and weaknesses in English and in writing. I’m not a very good writer because I assume people understand what I’m rambling about, so I’m hoping that through the critique I receive from my fellow classmates the way I write and the way I understand language and literature will grow to reach new depths.
The most helpful advice to me was when someone said don't be afraid to say what I want to say and don't overthink. I overthink a lot and tend to be quiet so hearing that it's okay to share when I have a comment is very encouraging. This is also one of my greatest challenges. I have struggled to communicate my ideas or words in fear that I will be made fun of or that it may not sound as important. Along with that, some fears come from past experiences of being made fun of and I have been more quiet with my words and keep them to myself. I do have the strength of being able to solve problems really well in my head, which is why I really enjoy math, but it also allows me to come up with the right words when I need and carefully pick them. I am very excited to dig through books and literature to find out meanings and more in depth analysis than just reading the book. Doing the reading review over summer really showed me how much can be learned from reading even a small book of 150 pages. I am excited to take this class because of the in depth review, analysis, and critical thinking that goes into this class. Understanding literature and books take more than the surface and sometimes you have to look at every little detail to come up with the answer and I enjoy that a lot. I hope to develop more skills on how to look at small details. We look at large books and passages and we get to dissect them sentence by sentence looking for the purpose of that literature. I have already had a great week in this class and I'm excited for more!
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy you have had a great week thus far! :) Good job! As far as being afraid to be wrong, or say something wrong....just read through the responses of your classmates. You truly are all in the same boat--many share your fear. So...let's all agree we are taking the plunge, and sharing our thoughts. Who knows where it may lead?
DeleteTo me the most helpful thing I read in these helpful tips was when the majority of them said don't procrastinate and turn in your work on time. A lot of the times I get caught up in other things in life and I either put off the work or a simply forget they were assigned. Another great tip was to stay organized and have some sort of reminder. This would help me tremendously because again I forget about work a lot a that can get me into some trouble. I also like a comment that stated something along the lines of sit by people that wont distract you and will help you understand the task at hand. A lot of times I like to just sit by my friends and get distracted and not understand what that can cause. I now understand that sitting by the right people will help me focus and understand better. I am also scared of speaking up in class and participating in class discussions, I am afraid that I will say something wrong. A lot of advice I was given and that I read was to not be afraid to speak my mind. Overall, I am excited to start this year off with a teacher I have heard a lot of great things about and will help us if we take the time to do so and also pay attention. I signed up for this course to challenge myself as I try my hardest to do every year and overcome my fears as I stated above. It is always hard to open up but as time progresses and you are surrounded by a class that actually cares what you have to say, it is a lot easier to open up and share your ideas.
ReplyDeleteGood for you in your decision to sign up for something that challenges you! That is the best gift you can give yourself. The only way to grow is to embrace discomfort and seek out challenges. Don't be afraid of saying something "wrong." Anything you can contribute to a discussion that helps you learn, test your theories, and explore possibilities is worthy of being heard. :)
DeleteThe words of advice that I view most helpful are, “Listen to every lecture with curiosity. View them as your chance to learn something new or to reflect on how it pertains to your prior knowledge” Also I find advice to annotate my book, mark the quotes so I won’t need to dig for them during the summative extremely helpful as well.
ReplyDeleteToo often I feel overwhelmed and schoolwork becomes a drag in my mind, just something I need to get done. I feel like this advice to really enjoy each lecture and to approach it with curiosity is very helpful. If I tweak my mindset and view each lecture and assignment as an opportunity to learn something new, the class will be much more enjoyable and I will be overall more happier. Also the advice to annotate books is extremely helpful and I believe will lead to greater success. Summative assessment stress would be significantly lowered as all my necessary citations could be found with ease.
My main fear and challenge would be annotating. Too often I get caught up in other classes course work or extracurricular activities that this very important aspect of Language and Literature gets pushed aside. I also fear not analyzing the text at such a deep level that this class requires. It’s easy to miss things, hopefully with the help of my peers we can all stay on top of things.
I am here because I feel like communication and writing is very important in all of our lives. This class will give me great insight on many famous literature and texts throughout time commonly known by many. I also hope to enhance both my literary analysis skills and learn tools to better understand authors which will benefit myself for the rest of my life. I also hope to grasp new writing, speech, and communicative skills that will help me with my future college and job careers.
YES on that last paragraph - I felt like you were pointing us towards the importance of cultural literacy. The more books you have read, the more future books you will understand. Great authors build upon the work of great authors. When we are well read, we can find allusions to past works and stories in current books, and peel away many more layers of meaning!
DeleteThe best advice I've ever been given was when someone told me was, as goofy as it sounds, is to be like a duck and let the words and actions of people roll off your back like water rolls off a duck's back. I find this specific piece the advice most helpful in my daily life when communicating with a variety of different people. The most interesting and overall meaningful piece of advice that I read throughout the blog was: “Enjoy the moment. Highschool goes by very quickly, so, take time to live in the present or else you’ll miss it.”
ReplyDeleteI see my greatest challenges and fears this year being staying organized and time management. Managing time effectively and efficiently is a great skill that I would really like to obtain in my two years of being in the DP program. This year I’m really excited to evaluate my academic and personal growth as well as learn new things.
The reason that I am taking this specific DP course is to grow my understanding of language in and pursuing questions of why language culture and literature are so important to the world around us.
I hope to help YOU in your inquiry about the importance of language and literature! :)
DeleteI believe that the words of advice I find most helpful have to be the ones that encourage us scholars to make sure to do our written work before the due date, as I have always had struggles trying to maintain an effective schedule and managing my time and work ethic. Another thing I struggle with is asking questions or answering them as I'm not sure the answer I give would be the correct one.
ReplyDeleteThe most interesting piece of advice to me has to be the one which mentions to keep both notebooks from both years, as I have never really kept my notebooks from another year during the next. It makes me want to organize the notebooks better as to not put down irrelevant information.
I see my greatest challenges in the form of deadlines, and other motivational issues slowing me down, which also contributes to my greatest fear, failure. However, those issues are also counterbalanced by my excitement to try out the new experience of a dp class, with my primary motivation being that I got this far in the first place.
I am here to help prepare myself for the more rigorous college courses that I would want to pursue, and that it may help me gain more confidence and good habits for them. I hope that once this course is over I would have developed the skills to help me continue in life and further beyond.
Great goals. If I may challenge you: don't worry about being wrong. Speak up--it is always the first step to deeper understanding. :)
DeleteThe words of advice that I find helpful are not putting off written assignments till the last minute, because I have trouble getting to assignments early on. The piece of information I found most interesting was facetiming someone in that class if your at home sick, because I never really thought of doing that before. What I see as my greatest challenge would either be getting my assignments done earlier than the last minute or asking for help when I need it, because I have never been good at either, my greatest source of excitement is getting to look more in depth into books. I am in this class because I think it will be fun, and I hope to improve my writing skills.
ReplyDeleteI think you will find it fun! :) This is the best year to tackle procrastination. You'll be glad that you did when you get to college and beyond - out there in the world!
DeleteThis is Emily Fleming to specify
DeleteAlso, this is marked as missing in the grade book, why is that
DeleteHere is a word from Rachel Dionne! Thank you, Rachel! :)
ReplyDeleteThe most helpful advice I heard was to ask for help always because sometimes I struggle to ask for help when I need it. I will definitely try to start asking those around me for help. The advice I found the most interesting is to keep your notebook organized and clear. The reason I found this the most interesting is because this is often put aside as something that isn't important but I will take this advice and run with it. My biggest fear is due dates because I am usually very good with turning things in on time but this year I will have more responsibilities and I am afraid I will become behind and stress out too much. I will have to start finding ways to remember things and become better with my time management. I am so excited to be in this class because my sister hated everything about English but then after having Mrs.Caraway she absolutely loves to read and she even loves writing essays now!
The advice that I find the most helpful is to have one day of self care every week. I tend to overwork myself and spend my week either dancing or studying with not much else in between. Self care is vital to keeping me and my mental health in check and making sure I turn in work that is up to par. As I have gotten older, especially at the fresh age of 16, people tend to ask me questions like,
ReplyDelete"Do you have a job?"
"Do you know what you are going to college?"
and my absolute favorite
"What are you going to do with your life?"
I Understand this is sort of the norm for most adults to ask teens these questions. Unfortunately, I personally have always had trouble with finding my purpose in life, so you could imagine how stressful these questions may be to me. I am the type of person to just take life day by day so one of the quotes that I have decided to live by is, "It's okay to not have a dream as long as there are moments to briefly feel happiness."
Besides my own personal struggles, I have always had trouble with comprehension. When reading, I sometimes end up having to read the same sentence about five times or more until I can fully understand, especially when the writer is being sarcastic or implying something. However, I have taken lots of interest in reading since last year and now I try my best to make time to read stories on wattpad or other free sites for fun!
Since eighth grade, I have been trying to get into honors classes, specifically the language and literature course. So after many rejected applications and hours spent improving my work ethic, I finally got put into a higher level course! I am anticipating rigorous work but that is fine, I am looking forward to being challenged and testing my perseverance.
So that brings me to my last question, "Why are you here, and what do you hope to get out of this course?" The sole reason as to why I applied for this course is because I think communication is such an important part of life. Whether that includes, speaking, reading, or writing, language manifests every art form, and I find that so beautiful. I adore every form however, my favorites are hip-hop dance, every genre of music, and modern art. Even though being able to execute dance and painting does not involve speaking, there is only one way to explain your craft, and that is language. Learning how to use communication to your advantage and using it effectively is extremely important in college and even life.
The words of advice I found most helpful was finding ways to enjoy the class even when you are stressed out about the work! I feel like that is a major thing I need to do! What I most excited for this class is getting to learn start reading good books and be able to dig a little deeper in to them and not just the surface of what the book is saying. What I am most nervous about this class is the essays. I have not always been the best at writing essays but I really would love to get way better at them. The reason I joined this course was because I have always grown up loving to read and I really want to learn how to grow that love even more to interpreting the text in more ways then what is just on the paper. I also love being creative and I feel like this is a class I can show that creativity! I am very excited to be starting this class!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading all of the tips and tricks left behind by the recent senior class, I have to say that I agree with everything written by them. I find it helpful to see that they make sure that you feel like you will get the hang of things throughout the year. I also find it helpful that they acknowledged things that I already do such as organizing all my notes and books to turning in work on time. However, the most interesting one that I noticed was "Enjoy the moment. High school goes by very quickly, so, take time to live in the present or else you'll miss it." I find this the most interesting because I feel like this is very impactful for a lot of students. When it comes to high school, we all get a sense of dread and stress when it comes to deadlines and time-management. The thing we don't realize, however, is the fact that we need to make every moment more enjoyable. If we get stuck up on all these stressful thoughts, we will have less enjoyable four years. Yes, it is important to focus on those deadlines and papers that we all have, but always remember to have fun and to make sure you don't overload yourself.
ReplyDeleteWhat I see as my greatest challenge this year will be overcoming my lack of ability to ask help. I can be stubborn when it comes to asking help, especially from teachers because I tend to attempt to find things out myself. This sometimes leads me to become more stressed when I can just ask for some help. I am really excited to journey through this year because I heard many great things about this class so I am excited to find out for myself. I am also excited about my successes in this class because I was not expecting to be in the class but I am here now for some reason and I want to see if I have what it takes.
The reason why I took this specific DP course was that I wanted to extend my knowledge of literacy and improve my argument making skills along with my critical thinking skills.
The pieces of advice that stood out to me the most and that I think will be the most helpful to me personally, are annotating, asking questions, and relying on friends as resources and critics for your work. I believe this is important as you will only get out of the class what you put into the class. I also feel that turning to your friends is also essential as they will assist in your growth and be honest with you about your work. The most interesting piece of advise was letting Mrs. Caraway know about upcoming school events so that she can adjust her teaching schedule. My greatest challenges in this class will be to remember to annotate and to cut out the "fluff" in my essays which is something I struggle with. I am excited to not just read text but to pick it apart and gain a new perspective on literature, language and the world we live in. I am here because I am creative and I LOVE to read. I hope to become a better writer and critical thinker throughout this course and I am so excited to start DP L and L!
ReplyDeleteThe words of advice I found most helpful would either be to find ways to enjoy the class, one quote said "If you aren't enjoying the class then you are doing something wrong". Mrs. Caraway is a very kind and fun teacher, DP lang and lit is a very fun and engaging class, I found this to be most helpful because taking in lectures or a class period the wrong way, would result in you not being mentally engaged. Another advice I found very helpful was to have a self care day every week. With school just beginning, there isn't too much work as it is still the beginning of the year. Although as the year progresses, there will be more and more work. Doing full DP and three sports year-long with other outside curricular activities can over time add up to be a lot and I generally don't take time often to myself. But finding ways to enjoy the class really stuck to me, this is because last year during sophomore year, my old teacher Mr. Hiatt once said, "I see scholars everyday with so many skills that are wasted and not put to any use. I know more than half of you hate to go to school, but hey while you're here might as well enjoy it. Going to school everyday with the initial thought of wanting to go home you wouldn't gain anything and would simply waste your time" (Randy Hiatt). This isn't exactly what was stated by Mr. Hiatt but going to school with just the urge or going home wouldn't benefit you at all in any way possible. But with DP Language I personally feel that I will love this class because of the teacher, finding a deeper meaning or purpose of a book and reading good books in my opinion. Taking an English class with books that aren't enjoyable is the best experience to me personally and this has happened in the past before with other Language and Literature classes.
ReplyDeleteWhat I am most nervous about this year would either be the essays or the blogs. I am nervous for the essays because as I learned in Mr. Hiatts class as well was that there is a difference between stating rather than giving analysis and perspective. I am not the best writer but not the worst either, I do work on writing essays and I hope to gain further skills in this area of writing this year.
The reason I joined this course was because well I wouldn't consider myself someone who absolutely loves books, but when it comes to books I like reading, I find them so enjoyable to amazing, interesting, and look forward to reading the book. Also so I will be able to read between the lines more and obtain more knowledge of a book when reading rather than not understanding. Lastly with the teacher I feel like this class will be so creative, the style of the class isn't familiar to me and learning in a new way from different teachers is always an amazing experience, I look forward to attending DP Lang. and Lit. with Mrs. Caraway
After reading all the advice given the thing that stands out most to me is “Don’t be afraid to say what you want to say ... and don’t overthink things TOO much.” This stands out to me because a lot of times I get worried about what other people will think if I respond a certain way, I also tend to be a textbook overthinker and when I do that, everything becomes more complicated. I’m excited to get the chance to work on both those skills this year. I am especially nervous for the FOA as well as the IOC, however, we're all in the same boat and we’ll get to all go through and learn together. I am in this class because I think it’s a great experience to be able to be in a college level course as well as get an idea of what college will be like. I’m very excited to start this class and one day be able to give advice to newcomers!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading all of these helpful pieces of advice, recommendations that really stood out to me were the fact that annotating is going to be very important, I need to try my hardest to turn everything on time and keep up with assignments, and that relying on my peers for constructive criticism is very important. I noticed last year that something I struggled with was my time management. After reflecting and reading this blog post I plan on always staying up to date with my tasks and never procrastinating. I also know now that I need to try my hardest to annotate my readings in order to pull out pieces that I can utilize for class assignments. I realized especially while doing the book report over summer, that annotating a book is extremely important and useful, and this blog post has only further confirmed that for me. Utilizing the people around me to better my work really resonates with me because I personally like to ask people for feedback and genuinely value honesty. I want to be able to not only receive this feedback, but learn and grow in class in order to be able to give useful and insightful feedback to my peers as well. I look forward to all the personal growth that I anticipate I will gain in Mrs. Caraway's class.
ReplyDeleteThe advice that stood out to me the most in this blog was to not be afraid to say what you want to say and to not overthink too much. I tend to get stuck in my head and overthink, not only in class but outside of it as well, and I know that if I follow this advice I will have a much more enjoyable experience with a lot less anxiety. I love seeing how most of the advice is simply to dive into the material and enjoy it. It’s not very common for students to have that attitude about a class. The students are sharing not only how to survive but also encouraging us to thrive. I also really love seeing that Mrs. Caraway cares about our lives and is willing to coordinate her own schedule for things like Senior Ditch Day, which is very inconvenient for the teachers but feels important to the students. There is a lot of mutual respect in this class and I am really looking forward to being part of that environment.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the biggest challenge that I will face this year is going to be time management. I have always struggled with using my time effectively and have never changed that because everything gets done anyway, so why change things? However, procrastinating everything adds a lot more stress and makes it difficult to live in the moment. My efforts this year are already focused on managing my time more effectively so that I can avoid unnecessary stress and do my work to the best of my ability.
I am looking forward to getting better at writing and gaining new perspectives on anything and everything. I look forward to more class discussions and the chance to read different types of books that I never have before.
I wanted to be in the course because I have always liked reading, but I have never enjoyed an English class. Usually this is because the teacher claims to be open to all ideas but refuses to hear any ideas other than their own. I have heard a lot about this class and I can already tell it is going to be a lot different. I also really want to improve my writing skills because I know it will be very important for college, and I hope to have the chance to enjoy more varieties of literature and be able to read into it into a deeper way.
The advice I found most helpful was to annotate your book. Honestly, I have a hard time with this because I hate writing in books so I try to put my thoughts on another piece of paper and they just get all jumbled up. It’s just a hassle I can fix easily by just directly annotating in my book. Another piece of advice I found helpful was to listen to every lecture with curiosity. I’m in 6th period, which is after lunch, so sometimes it’s difficult to pay attention. Moving forward, I will start to listen to every lecture with interest.
ReplyDeleteThe advice I found most interesting was if you aren’t enjoying the class, you’re doing it wrong. I like how you can see that people enjoyed this class. People can talk and have different opinions about things, but it seems people were really actually excited to take this class.
My greatest challenge will be the writing portion. I’m not the best writer so that will be an obstacle I will have to overcome. The thing I anticipate the most is analyzing the books. I like thoroughly going through books to find things I missed before or hidden meanings behind words.
I am here because this class really interests me. When I got all f the information at the DP meeting at the end of last year, I thought, “I’m looking forward to this.” This is big for me because L&L is not my strong suit. Therefore, from this course, I want to take away more knowledge about how to write better. I want to expand my writing style and see what I can improve. :)
Out of all the pieces of advice I saw, it was complete your work and don't put it off. I procrastinate terribly, but seeing those words made me really think about how I can begin to turn in work on time and plan ahead.The most interesting piece of advice was to keep my journals, since I throw away notes every year. My greatest challenge is keeping up with my work, since I do tend to put off work and do it at last minute. One of my fears is that I won't find my classes interesting anymore, and when that happens I might not put in as much effort as I need to, which is not something that I wan to happen.I'm most excited to start learning again, and I'm curious how much the workload in dp is, since so many kids say that its a lot of labour. I'm in this class because I've always loved reading and I wanted to challenge myself. I hope that out of this course, I can start to interpret literature in many ways so I can begin to notice more details not only in literature, but in every day life as well.
ReplyDeleteThe advice I found most helpful was the quote you added. To follow my dreams. I already know that if I work hard I anything is possible. Even then its nice to get reminded to follow my dreams just in case I lose hope. Also just in case I forget or end up going through the motions too much.
ReplyDeleteThe advice I found most interesting was that I'm doing it wrong if I'm not having fun in class. I'm accustomed to only using school to learn and get good grades. The concept of fun first in school is foreign to me.
My greatest challenge will be annotating. I have never found it helpful to me so I don't usually do it. If its mandatory in this class that could be a big problem for me. I haven't found a reason to actually want to annotate.
I'm here because I want to get college credits. Also I enjoy creative writing so I am hoping we'll be able to dabble in that. I hope to enjoy this class throughout the year. I got a good first impression from it already.
I think the best advice given is to turn in work on time and not leave it until the last minute. I have been the victim of this countless times in years past and it is my goal this year to make sure manage my time and be responsible.
ReplyDeleteThe most interesting piece of advice given by last year’s seniors is to enjoy the moment, and that high school goes by very fast. I think balancing the workload of full diploma program classes, a part time job, sports, and still trying to enjoy myself in highschool will be quite interesting.
What I see as my potential challenges and fears are probably the assessments and studying for them. I have always heard from older relatives and friends about how much work college is, and the fact that I’m only in my junior year of high school and I am already taking college level courses is quite intimidating.
I find that the greatest source of anticipation and excitement is getting to see my growth in writing and analyzing, as well as getting to see my fellow scholars grow and graduate alongside them.
Lastly, what I want to get out of this course is to strengthen my writing skills and get me ready for what I major in in college. English is one of my favorite subjects and I love to write. In my opinion, it is one of my greatest strong suits, and taking this course will both benefit me in the long run and I will enjoy it.
My favorite advice was "Have a supportive Friend Group," said by Kassie and "Mean people make High School Sad :(". That last one for some reason made me laugh because I imagined it being said in a funny voice. The most interesting one was that first one I chose because all while reading the words of advise most of them said have a support group which really caught my eye and made me think that if they really needed one then so do I. My greatest challenge has to be reading. I am a super slow reader and I may have to read the same thing a couple of times to understand it but that doesn't mean I am going to give up on anything. I do so much for my school and I love working hard and trying my best in the things that I love doing and I believe I have the ability to thrive and excel which I believe I can do in this class even if I read slow. My greatest excitement for this class is our first project really. I'v never been in and L and L class where you had to make a watch commercial for a project. The reason to why I am in DP Language and Literature is because I want to challenge myself to do more than just be in a regular class like I have done for the past 2 years as a freshman and sophomore. It's a pretty big step I do have to say but it is nothing I can't handle, after all I deal with the challenge of people not liking me for being gay and also being the Student Body President everyday so one more thing that should be honestly really intriguing won't hurt. Also the one thing I really hope to get out of this course is to have a better understanding on how to use more enticing language when I speak and that about it. Thank you so much.
ReplyDelete-Mason DoVico
Personally, the advice that had drew my attention the most was to enjoy the moment and try your best. As the school year goes on and the stress and work piles up I find myself overwhelmed and feel I am not caught up enough or not gaining enough knowledge as I should be. Coming into Junior year, I am expecting it to become more challenging, but what is life without a challenge? This year I want to remember that I only go through high school once and while I still need to work hard and finish strong, that I also need to enjoy the moment and not let myself get too overwhelmed with the tasks of junior year. I also need to remind myself to not demean myself when I did not receive a perfect grade. I need to remember that as long as I tried my best, that is what counts. This year, I am looking forward to analyzing and exploring the world of literature more and to really dive into books using literary devices. I am excited to learn more about the use of language and how I can improve mine and build an essay or story with more energy and skill. I am excited to compare and contrast language and literature with my life. However, there are a few things I am worried about concerning this year in L and L. I fear not being able to improve my writing and to expand my knowledge through analyzing texts. I fear the IOC and presenting in class. But, I am willing to face my fears and worries in order to be apart of this course. While taking this course, I hope to really be able to increase my love for writing and learning the depths of characters in texts. I hope to view the world differently and be able to become more open-minded, balanced, knowledgeable, and all the other IB attributes through this class. I hope for this course to have a positive affect on me and to take what I learned and apply it to the real world.
ReplyDeleteThe most helpful piece of advice that I read was to annotate your books so that when quotes are needed for a summative they aren't difficult to find. However the most interesting advice that I read from the blog was that if you are sick you should face time somebody in class, this is interesting since we aren't allowed to use our phones at all in class this year because of school polices. I wonder if there would be any acceptable alternative. My greatest challenge this year will probably be to annotate my book in depth, usually I start out annotating enough of the book to make good use of evidence and knowledge from the book however later on I get more invested in just reading and forget to pause and annotate. Right now since it is only the first week of school I don't know what to look forward to, however I am excited to make my own commercial of a watch. I am here because I wish to grow in areas I am not as proficient as I would like to be in language arts, such as annotating or organizing my thoughts and conveying them through strong word choice. As a note to end on I hope to learn many new techniques and skills to advance how I communicate verbally, physically, and in any other ways possible.
ReplyDeleteThe most helpful piece of advice that I read was to annotate your books so that when quotes are needed for a summative they aren't difficult to find. However the most interesting advice that I read from the blog was that if you are sick you should face time somebody in class, this is interesting since we aren't allowed to use our phones at all in class this year because of school polices. I wonder if there would be any acceptable alternative. My greatest challenge this year will probably be to annotate my book in depth, usually I start out annotating enough of the book to make good use of evidence and knowledge from the book however later on I get more invested in just reading and forget to pause and annotate. Right now since it is only the first week of school I don't know what to look forward to, however I am excited to make my own commercial of a watch. I am here because I wish to grow in areas I am not as proficient as I would like to be in language arts, such as annotating or organizing my thoughts and conveying them through strong word choice. As a note to end on I hope to learn many new techniques and skills to advance how I communicate verbally, physically, and in any other ways possible.
ReplyDelete-Matthew Kenison
(I already posted this once but on the wrong account, sorry)
After reading through the advice given to us from past seniors, I found that the advice saying, "Use critical friends, they honestly see the flaws that you can't." was the most helpful to me. I feel that it is very easy to surround yourself with people that you know will always tell you what you want to here, however, in the long run that is not going to be help you grow. Even though we may not like what is being said, we need the honest criticism from others in order to see and understand our flaws and improve because of it.
ReplyDeleteThe most interesting advice to me was about telling Mrs. Caraway about a ditch day in advance so that she is able to plan around it. It is very reassuring to know that everything that Mrs. Caraway plans in the class is for us and that she is understanding and can plan around certain events.
My greatest fears for this class is probably the literary analysis portion of the class. I always have not been the best at analyzing texts and finding meaning, however, this also excites me because I know that this class will be able to help me improve in this and become confident in my literary analysis skills.
I am in this class because I want to be with people with a similar mindset of wanting to learn and improve. I feel like this class will be a great environment for me to improve the skills that I am weak in such as writing and literary analysis.
-Terry Grabau
The advice that I found very helpful is the way you view the material and the responses that you give to it, as well as not to overthink. I tend to be afraid of how my opinion could may or may not be worth telling and that makes me not speak what I am thinking about when I see different pieces of any sort of material in front of me. The advice that is given is very helpful from asking for help, well it is a given just the matter of speaking up, but also keep in mind that staying up to date and organized with the classwork. I'm excited about this class because I feel that it will show different perspectives of looking at literature or any other sort of material given. The reason that I am taking this class is to widen my understanding of Language and Literature, and everything that goes into that. I just hope that I will stay organized with classwork, that is something I truly am wanting to work on in both my notes and classwork.
ReplyDeleteI found all the pieces of advice very helpful and useful from every scholar. The best pieces of advice I need to take personally is to not procrastinate and to make sure to pay attention. I tend to procrastinate often especially when other things are happening around me. One thing that I find interesting about reading these blogs, was the fact that most people are excited to take this class. I know many people who don’t like to school hence why they don’t like certain classes, but it makes me want to be more involved when others find it fun and interesting because there is a better chance I will too. The biggest challenges I will have is being able to do assignments early instead of last minute, but I do not fear anything in the class and I am excited and ready to take DP English this year and the upcoming year as well. I hope I have a fun and exciting year as well as learning lots of new things throughout it.
ReplyDeleteThe words of advice I found most helpful would be to keep my notebooks from both years. I often get rid of my notebooks after the school year, so it is good to know I should save them. The idea of stepping outside of myself to analyze a situation was most interesting to me. I had never thought about analyzing this way but it makes perfect sense. In order to truly analyze and understand something you need to view it from multiple perspectives. I feel like I will have the most struggles when it comes to time management and making sure that every assignment is turned in on time. I tend to procrastinate a lot and that is a habit I really need to focus on loosing this year. I feel that if I stay on top of my work in this class then there is nothing to fear. I simply have to do assignments as soon as possible and get them turned in. I am most excited for the discussions we will be having in class. I love that this class encompasses the communications and language aspect as well as just literature and I am excited to explore that. I am here because I like higher level and more challenging courses and to hopefully knock out a few credits as well.
ReplyDeleteThe words of advice I found to be the most helpful to me to follow in these next two years was to view the material with curiosity and as a learning experience rather than a lecture. I often find myself getting easily distracted and unfocused in class due to my set mentality that school is something I have to do and I just need to know enough for the tests. But within the first few days of junior year, I have come to see and learn for myself that the topics, no matter if they're about an undefined word from the dictionary or playing with a bean bag pouch while reciting the opening to Romeo and Juliet, is in fact something I haven't experienced before. Seeing things this way has made me much more engaged and analytical of what each teacher is saying and find myself understanding class and the topics we learn so much easier to grasp. The little connections teachers make in class to something we have learned in the past have shown me that it is so important to be fully immersed in class because in that 1 hour and 5 minutes, you could learn something that could potentially change your perspective in such a big or small way and broaden your understanding of so many different matters. I know that DP classes tend to throw a lot of necessary information to you at a faster rate and paying attention is crucial therefore hearing this from someone who made it through the class has instilled the thought that I shouldn’t let myself stray away from the content we're learning because I'll need to know every minute of it to fully succeed in the course.
ReplyDeleteThe piece of advice that I found to be the most helpful was to “ask for help when you need it”. I usually don’t ask for help because sometimes I feel like I might ask a dumb question or the teacher might come off as rude when I say that I need help. But this piece of advice reminded me that it’s okay if you need help with a certain topic and that teachers are always there to help. The thing I found the most interesting was to keep your notebooks from the year before. Usually after a class is done I throw all of my old notebooks away but I found it interesting to hear that it is actually beneficial to keep it. My greatest challenge is definitely going to be remembering to annotate. I always get caught up with other things and totally forget to annotate. My greatest fear is speaking in front of the class. I always get nervous and begin to stutter when I have to present in front of the class. I’m excited to get hear everybody’s different opinions on our assignments. And lastly, I am here because I really want to improve my writing and analyzing skills. I’ve also always liked to challenge myself :)
ReplyDeleteHere is a response from Carlyle Clayton....
ReplyDeleteAnnotate your book. mark where the quotes are with something so you won't be digging for them for summative or as Mrs.Caraway calls it: The Great Quote hunt of 2019.-Anonymous
This quote is important to me because I struggle with good annotations. This quote also makes the problem easier to prevent because of basic cause and effect ideas.The most interesting part of the quote is from Mrs.Caraway’s The Great Quote hunt of 2019 saying, the way its phrased makes me laugh because it causes me a lot of visual stimulation of someone frantically looking for quotes. My only challenge is consistency in my annotations. I don't have any fears other than the timed essays. My greatest anticipation is learning literature in a new minimally facilitated setting with lots of conceptual ideas. I am in this class because I want to face diversity and learn along the way. I'm a person that learns by jumping off the cliff in a way that I only gain skill through risk taking. I hope to get a wider understanding of underlying author's purpose.
The piece of advice I found the most helpful was to listen to the audio of a book while annotating to get the work done faster. I've never tried that method but I find it difficult to accomplish thing in a time crunch. The most interesting advice is to do your share on the FOA, because the groupmates would hate us. This is interesting because I don't know what FOA stands for or that a major assignment would be done in groups. My greatest challenge is expanding my ideas and elaborating them in a short amount of time. My greatest fear in this class is the future timed IB assesments. For this class, my greatest anticipation the discussions of books or topics that allow everyone to get a chance to relay their perspective. I am taking this class because I love reading and understanding the text or the author's purpose and I want to expand my vocabulary and hopefully improve my essay skills.
ReplyDeleteI love English, especially Mrs.Caraway's class! I'm so excited to move forward into next year's class and witness all the new learning experiences. Some words of advice that I found helpful in this article were by Grace Bronder. She states, "Listen to every lecture with curiosity. View them as your chance to learn something new or to reflect on how it pertains to your prior knowledge." This quote speaks to me in many ways. I know personally, I love to debate and talk about things out loud. The group conversations seem very intriguing and that is one thing that I am excited to be apart of. Some challenges that I believe that I might face consists of making sure that I don't fall behind in this class or any other class. I need to stay on top of all my work and I need to not be afraid to ask my teacher for help. I am taking this DP class to expand my knowledge about the Language World and learn more about my favorite subject! I hope to get a better understanding of what everyone and everything in our world uses to communicate. Our world consists of so much language, all day and everyday and that just amazes me and I love to learn more about it all the time!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with every piece of advice. Especially, taking the critical friends seriously and actively participating because it DOES help and they DO see things we sometimes don't catch. Also, always being creative with the Written Task Ones, I always had a lot of fun with mine, but it's an opportunity to do something unique and have fun writing.
ReplyDeleteThe part that resonates with me the most is about turning work in on time. I am practically the best at procrastinating and putting things aside for later and never getting to them. For some reason, I feel anxious as deadlines close in, but by the time they arrive, the feeling is completely gone and I just stop thinking about it. I know I am capable of doing the work on time, but I won't wake up early enough to do the work or stay up late finishing assignments after a certain time. I know that this is an issue I need to fix, and it will be a difficult thing for me to do. Procrastination is not something I want to take to college with me.
ReplyDelete