Self Evaluation 5.14.12

English I Second Semester Self Evaluation

  In general procedures I think I do very well. Up until these last two weeks I've brought my free read to class every time, because my nook broke & I read 'Macbeth' in two nights and forgot it at home for a few days. I'm very good about getting water & going to the bathroom before & after class. If I ever have a question I send Dr.deGravelles a formal  email in a timely manner so I do well appropriately emailing. I always to have positive and helpful attitude but some days are better than others, as we all know. During Dr.d's lectures I am very focused and attentive but I do slip when it comes to relevant comments & side conversations. I do feel like I contribute a lot to the class in a relevant way, though. 

  In my personality it's hard for me to stay on task even when I'm home alone in my room doing homework so when I get to work with other people I have to try really hard to focus & it's really hard. But I try! I know this sounds bad but if I'm not truly interested in our project I won't have any motivation to focus which I will have to work on because not every-time we do group work will I like it. I do try to get above Dr.d's minimum in her assignments, especially in individual & group work. I think that I've started getting harder on myself throughout the past few weeks compared to in the beginning of the year. I'm very proud of all the work I've done this year in my English I class because it's been a roller coaster of a class for me! I'll keep up the good work & work hard for an A for this English exam next Thursday. 

Free Post 5.14.12

Dear Freshmen block 4 English I class,
  I think that this was one of the most fun group of people together in a class that I love! I had so much fun this year getting to know our new students Anna Lee, Jared, Jerry, LeLe, & Peyton. I'm so grateful to Dr.deGravelles for putting up with us because at times our talking with the butterfly flapping its wings could get us seriously off track. I'm pretty sure we were the block with the best grades for every test, correct me if I'm wrong Dr.d, which is super positive! I enjoyed having a sitting partner one day and having three new partners the next day when Dr.d changed up the seating and gave us group in class projects. 

  One of the saddest moments of our class was when Mary Michael had to switch out after first semester. MMQ you are greatly missed in class everyday! I learned so much more than I thought I would this year from you, Dr.d. I honestly didn't know what to expect your class to be like especially since you were new to the school. I will be so prepared for my English classes in the future because of the difficulty level & rigor of your class. Even though I complain all the time about how hard I have to work for your class lately I've been seeing how much everything be do is important in my English writing & literature career so thank you for that Dr.d. I have block 3 English next year so I hope some of yaal are in that class with me.
                                         Thanks for a great year Dr.d & classmates
                                                       I love yaal all,
                                                                   Lauren E. Scott

Reader's Response 5.6.12

Outside Reading Freshman Year Reflection

Over the course of this school year I have read a lot more than I expected I would. I do love reading but I get unmotivated very easily so having be graded on my reading was a great motivator for me! This year I read a wide variety of books. A few of the books I read were nonfiction which was very new to me this year. My grandfather, Henry, always told me that once you read nonfiction fiction is for everyone else. But I did also read a good amount of fiction books just because I love them too much to not read them. 

One of my favorite nonfiction books I read this year was A Stolen Life by Jaycee Lee Dugard. A Stolen Life was such a powerful piece of writing I truly enjoyed every page of it. I also really enjoyed Fifth Avenue, 5AM: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's by Sam Watson. I found that I loved that book because of the perspective of the story. The book is a biography but in a chronological time line. So whenever you start a new chapter you're on a new point on the time line of Audrey's life and you get a quote that she actually said around that time of the point on the time line. It really kept me interested in the story line plus I love Audrey Hepburn!

My favorite free read fiction book that I read this year was The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han. I know everyone has seen me post about how much I love this book! But my favorite in class book that we read this year so far is MacBeth by William Shakespeare. I love Shakespearean writing and I love focusing in the details of the writing in English classes! Next in my reading I'm going to finish We Bought a Zoo by Benjamin Mee and then I think I'm going to start a book that my grandfather gave me called The Game of Silence by Louise Erdrich.

So as my freshman year comes to a close I've noticed a pattern in my reading. I've noticed a pattern of reading three books in one week to having to force my self to read six chapters in a week. I guess it all depends on the week I'm having. I've used outside reading to think about issues in class whenever I read poetry ,for my free read the week my nook wasn't charging, and I noticed all of our patterns that we talked about in class in the poems.

~Reading Times
4.30.12- 90 minutes
5.1.12-20 minutes
5.2.12-15 minutes
We Bought a Zoo by Benjamin Mee

Free Post 5.7.12

MacBeth's Perspective

How could I kill a man? Though I dream of being king... I cannot kill my king. I am his noblemen. I'm his thane of Glamis and now of Cowador. We are almost one in the same. But when will fate cut in? As of right now all I see is person after person in my way for what fate has promised me. Did these witches lie to me? Am I not to be crowned king of Scotland? My wife, my lady won't leave it be. She makes me anxious about playing with death. I have to make her happy...we said it in our vows but isn't there a line between happiness and foul play?
Will anyone suspect me? Do I show the face of an honest man or not? Once the deed of death is done it cannot go undone.

We've done it now. We've killed the king. I killed the king. My wife killed the king. The guards as witnesses to our wrong doing were killed. We killed three men in one night. How will the scene of the deed be found? I must stay calm and collected. But can I keep it together? This is something I'll have to live with forever. My wife and I will always know that on this night we killed Duncan king of Scotland. What will his sons do when the receive the news? What will my collages say when they find this deed? I will surely fall apart. My wife cannot cover me forever. All I wanted was the crown. But I took fate into my own hands...what have I done...