Caroline's English Blog

 Prompt Response: One thing I did well was finding evidence. However, I need to improve on explaining my evidence rather than just connecting back to my thesis. I will improve next time by making sure that I explain why my evidence matters before connecting to the prompt. I have been having trouble explaining my evidence, so it makes sense to me why that was what cost me points. I will read other examples of essays that got a six out of six to see how I can improve. Summary: Today in class we began writing a poem on Adobe Classroom and making a visual to compliment it. Reflection: I am enjoying writing my poem, but the topic I chose is making it a little difficult to find a background for it. This is my first time using Adobe Classroom, so I have also been having a bit of trouble navigating it. I want to make sure I have a good, strong poem- so I'm definitely feeling what Ferlinghetti was talking about!

  Prompt Response: A conversation that I feel changed me was the conversation my parents had with me when we left the church. My family used to be very involved in the church, but after a bad priest, we decided to leave. The priest had started preaching things that we did not agree with, and after leaving the church my parents kind of decided they didn't want to be in the church at all. They allowed me and my sisters to choose our own path, but the conversation that we had was kind of life changing as it marked the beginning of my views changing. Having been so involved in the church we were at and having so many connections within it made it a bit of a confusing conversation for me. Nonetheless, I was able to figure out my own views, which wouldn't have happened had my parents not had the conversation with us. Summary: Today in class we answered questions about the poem we read and annotated yesterday. Reflection: I felt pretty good about the questions because the notes we t...

  Prompt Response: One time i wrote a poem was for a writing competition at my summer camp. I had written about camp and how it is special to me. I ended up being pretty proud of one of my poems and was hopeful that it would place. I ended up winning second place and got a medal. I was surprised at the poem that did win. I had imagined it would've been a different one, but I was happy nonetheless. Summary: Today in class we annotated a poem about poets and their careers. Reflection: 1 really enjoy writing poems, but sometimes I find it hard to understand the intricate wording of them. I feel that poems are a beautiful way to get a point across. However, I did feel that the comparison of poetry to acrobatics is a little much.

 Prompt Response: I found the clustering strategy to be really helpful for brainstorming ideas for prompts. I had found it challenging to come up with various reasonings for my topic in the argumentative essay, so this will be a very valuable tool. It made it easier to organize what I wanted to say. I also appreciated how I was able to actually come up with topics faster, likely because I had it laid out in front of me. I will definitely be using the cluster method in the future.  Summary: Today in class we responded to a prompt using the clustering method. Reflection: I found it helpful to go through the process as a class, and was able to get the hang of clustering pretty quickly. I am excited to have a useful tool for future writing. The cluster method is pretty easy to figure out and takes little time, which is super important.

  Prompt Response: I would say the most challenging part of the argumentative essay for me was the commentary. I found myself feeling as if 1 was repeating the same thing over and over again. The easiest part was, as one would think, the introduction. I was able to come up with my reasoning and thesis pretty quickly. Next time, I would like to make sure I focus on my commentary and evidence more, as that is where most of the points stem from. Overall, I definitely feel that I could have done a better job. Summary: Today in class we wrote an argumentative essay on the topic of selfies. Reflection: I don't feel terrible about my essay, but I am not fully confident either. I am a bit worried about repetitiveness in my commentary and the strength of my conclusion. Overall, however, I am kind of unsure about my grade.

  Prompt Response: I feel that I truly belong at my summer camp. I have gone to the same summer camp for my whole life- about eight years, and I have been a camper, CIT, and counselor! The camp is pretty small, but it is where I have found my people. My mom, aunt, cousins, and sisters all went to the camp, so have always felt connected to it. Camp is where I have found my best friends, discovered my favorite activities, and made some of the best memones. Summary: Today in class we completed a CommonLit about the human need for belonging. Reflection: I enjoyed reading the article and was fascinated by a lot of the studies. I have been fortunate enough to find belonging in my life a lot. I completely agree with the idea that belonging coincides with identity, and you have to find your people.

  Prompt Response: The vocabulary word that we learned today that I think will be the most useful in the future is perspicacious. I think this because as I am going through junior year, it is perspicacious is a trait that would be beneficial for me to adopt. These experiences will give me opportunities to use the word. For example, if were to describe how i want to be characteristically, I would use the word perspicacious to describe my wish. Summary: Today in class we learned new vocabulary words and applied them to exercises. Reflection: I thoroughly enjoy learning new vocabulary. Today I was happy when I recognized many of the words. I appreciate reviewing vocabulary because it is useful in all walks of life.

  Prompt Response: One big takeaway from today was that I need to focus on my evidence and commentary because they are most important for getting a lot of points. The evidence and commentary are worth four out of the six points. I also learned that I have to make sure that my commentary connects back to the thesis statement. A strong commentary is one that connects back to the thesis and answers the "so what?" question. Correcting other students arguments allowed me to use the rubric in real situations.| Summary: Today in class we used our rubric to grade past argumentative essays. Reflection: This helped me understand how to write a strong evidence and commentary. I also was able to grasp how the point for a thesis should be easy, whereas the evidence points needs more attention. I will be able to use what I learned when we write our argumentative essay.

  Prompt Response: Usually, I use the rubric as a sort of checklist that I can use to "check off" the tasks as I write/work. I plan on using this same tactic tomorrow with the argumentative essay.  The rubric will be like a roadmap if I follow this strategy. I hope this allows me to successfully complete the essay. The extra notes we took will also be helpful for this. Summary: Today in class we prepared to answer our FRQ and argumentative essay. Reflection: I feel a little bit nervous about the argumentative essay. While I feel prepared, I am still nervous because of the time management factor. I am hoping that the rubric will allow me to excel in the essay.

  Prompt Response: Knowing the "ins and outs" of an assignment is definitely helpful to completing the assignment correctly. A rubric is a very helpful tool for this as it outlines all the criteria that needs to be met. Oftentimes, however, rubrics might lack depth and fail to answer questions that students might have. I feel that the rubric we were given today was helpful. I hope that it allows for the writing of the argumentative essay to go smoothly. Summary: Today in class we went over the rubric for an argumentative essay. Reflection: I feel that I am mostly prepared to write our argumentative essay, but I am still a bit nervous about some things. I am going to make sure that I pay a lot of attention to time, as 40 minutes doesn't sound like much time to me. I will hopefully be able to follow the rubric smoothly and do well on Wednesday.

  Prompt Response: I found it interesting to see all of the different writing styles within our classroom. I noticed that some people focused on using intricate vocabulary, while others focused on telling stories of their own experiences. There were some arguments made that I didn't fully understand or agree with, but there were a few that I did agree with. For example, the topic of if you should or should not celebrate the birthdays of deceased loved ones was something that I had trouble understanding. I felt this way because I feel that everyone experiences grief differently. Overall, 1 found it interesting and also learned a few things as well! Summary: Today in class we read, reviewed, and corrected the argumentative paragraphs of each group. Reflection: 1 appreciated this activity because correcting and evaluating others' work allowed me to understand and process the correct way to write an argumentative paragraph more. When I was reading other paragraphs, I both learned...

  Prompt Response: One time that I have used informal language when formal language would have been more appropriate was when 1 was presenting a project last year in my literature class. I was making a presentation about the book we had been reading, and I had used the word "like" a lot when explaining my discoveries. While the word like" is not an informal word, the overuse of it made my description sound much less professional. I still find myself doing this often, but the difference is that now I notice it whereas before that presentation, I didn't notice it as much. I have gotten a bit better about this overuse, but I will continue and try harder to use it less. Summary: Today in class we went over formal versus informal language and when to use either bf them- as well as applying it to our group argumentative paragraph. Reflection: When revising our argumentative paragraph, my group did have a little trouble with our commentary and evidence. We figured it out ...

  Prompt Response: One suggestion that one of my group members made was switching out words with new words that made the writing sound more professional. This change helped me feel more confident about our paragraph. It also reminded me of the importance of using vocabulary words that are more intricate or descriptive. Switching out words from words that might be overused with words that are more sophisticated can help with one's writing a lot. I hope this change benefitted our paragraph as much as I felt it did. Summary: Today in class we went over vocabulary words and did exercises on them. Reflection: I was pleased with my recognition of most of the words that we learned today. However, I was happy to learn some new words that I hadn't known beforehand. On one

  Prompt Response: Something I've always been curious about is the concept of outer space and our universe. This idea has been astounding to me ever since I was in 3rd grade, learning about our solar system and galaxies and such. I find it so interesting that there are trillions of galaxies, and possibly of universes as well. The fact that every star has its own solar system- yet there pre more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand on earth- is something I always include in the debate of the possibility of aliens. To think that we are the only beings in our universe(s) is something that sounds almost impossible. This concept is something that I have tried to wrap my head around for my whole life. Summary: Today in class we went over our argumentative paragraphs and how to make them strong and convincing. Reflection: I felt that there are a lot of adjustments I need to make to make my paragraphs stronger. For example, I need to make sure that I refrain from using ...

Prompt Response: I find establishing a strong claim most difficult in the process of creating an argument. I often have trouble finding the words to establish my position. However, it's not simply a means of vocabulary- I also have trouble remembering how to write a strong claim. I know that practice makes perfect, though, and I must continue working toward making stronger claims and therefore stronger arguments. After all, you can't have an argument without a claim! Summary: Today in class we went over how to create a clear line of reasoning and we looked at the structure of it as well as making our own. Reflection: I was a little confused on the structure when making a clear line of reasoning. I figured it out for the most part, but there are still some gray areas within my understanding. I can fix this problem by reviewing my notes.

 Prompt Response: One fear I have overcome is my previous fear of thunderstorms. I used to have terrible storm anxiety- to the point where I would have panic attacks. I was terrified that my house would get struck by lightning despite the very low chances of it happening. However, I now absolutely love storms, and I even sit outside during them most times! I am proud that I overcame this fear, because it is not fun to be scared of storms in Georgia! Summary: Today in our shortened class, we went over our argumentative paragraph and things we can improve on. Reflection: I was pretty proud of my score on the argumentative paragraph, however I am frustrated with the points I got deducted because I feel that they were dumb mistakes on my part. However, when writing it I hadn’t been fully confident. For this reason, I was happy with my score.