Final Reflection

1. The three most important things I learned this year is the TIQA format, how to annotate, and how to write objective summaries. I think that the TIQA format is one of the most important things I learned this year because it is an easy way to write a well structured paragraph. It has helped me so much throughout this year and it is going to help me through out high school and college. Knowing the TIQA format not only means that I can write good formed paragraphs but makes an essay better developed as well.

    

     Before, I knew the basics on how to annotate and what annotations were. Being in this class has improved my annotations by so much. Now I use annotations to not only help me understand more what I am reading but also to look for certain things in the text. If I am reading a poem I will annotate for rhyming, figurative language, and sound devices that help the meaning of the poem be more visible. If I am reading an article I will annotate for important details, unknown words, questions I have, and anything that help me understand what the article is explaining. All the annotations I do on any kind of text is to help me understand what I am reading and what the author/poet is trying to display through the text.

    

     Prior to being in this reading/language arts class I had no idea what an objective summary was. I was so used to writing a summary that was about five sentences long or longer. I was taught that a summary should have the main idea and key details. When I was introduced to objective summaries not only was I mind blown but I knew my way of writing summaries would change. Objective summaries stayed on the main topic not details and it's only about three sentences long. I know that this is definitely something that I am going to use not only for high school and college, but for the rest of my life.

2. Something we did this year that I will remember for the rest of my life is the parties we had. It was a different way of rewarding that I had never experienced. These celebrations reminded me that I had worked hard, even though, I didnt think I did at times. They made me not only look foward towards the next one but work hard for it too. I was complacent with all of my work leading up to these celebrations.

3. The nicest thing someone did for me this year is let me borrow materials when I needed them. Sometimes in class I didn't have a pencil or highlighter and I would ask somebody close to me, they were nice enough to let me borrow one. If it wasn't for those students I wouldn't have been able to do my work. They saved me from not being able to do my work and/or getting a falcon faul for being unprepared.

4. I think something I taught my classmates this year was that you always have a choice. At times it may seem like you don't but you really do. Not everything in your life is controlled by somebody you can always take action. Right now we are underage and it may seem like we don't have a choice in anything because we aren't adults. We always have a choice even if it is the smallest of things, like picking out what to wear or what game to play. No matter where you are in your life you always have a choice.

5. The area I think I made the biggest improvement on is grammar. I think I made the biggest improvement in grammar because before being in this class I knew how to make a basic sentence and what grammar is. After being in this class I have learned how to properly use commas, semicolons, colons, quotations, etc. Not only have I learned how to use those but I also now know how to write an independent clause. I now know the difference between a fragment, a phrase, a dependent clause, and a dependent clause.

   Something I accomplished this year that I am proud of is writing poems. I believe that I am horrible at writing poems; I can't put my feelings down on paper and make sense out of them. We did so many poems this year and I don't think mine were the best but they were understandable. I am so proud of myself that I could write a poem and present it in front of all of my classmates.

6. The most challenging part of this year for me was time management. At the beginning of the year I certainly did not manage my time well. I would get home and be lazy, I wouldn't do my homework until around eight or nine. This class was the one that gave me the most homework out of all my other classes, so I had to manage my time well in order to finish my homework. It was challenging to get out of habit that I have had for so long but when I did my homework was done at a reasonable time.

7. The best piece of writing I think I did this year was the AoW #6: China. I think that Article of the Week was my best piece of writing because I got a four on it and I honestly enjoyed writing it. I know when we did that article it was a long time ago and we have learned so much since that time. We know more about grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structure. Another reason why I think that was my best piece writing was because I enjoyed the topic the article was on. China's well known one-child policy is very interesting to me because America doesn't have that, so it's different from what I am used to. I enjoyed writing down how I thought China's new law would affect their citizens.

8. Out of all of the books I have read this year my favorite one was Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. This was my favorite book because it was suspenseful and it made you want to continue reading and not stop. Even though it was short, so many things happened in one day. I liked how the characters were different but similar in some aspects. You would of thought that they would be different from the people of today but they're not.

9. Advice that I would give to students who will be in this class next year is to always be prepared, manage your time, and listen in class. New students should always be prepared for class because that is the fastest way to get a falcon foul. Make sure to always have your homework done on time and turned in if needed. Always bring everything that is needed to class don't forget anything in your locker or at home. Another thing that I think is important to do for this class is to manage your time well. Time management is very important for this class because if you don't manage your time you will not be prepared for class, both go hand in hand. The most important piece advice that I can give to new students is to listen in class. Listening is so crucial because some of the work we do can be complicated so when Mrs. Larson explains what we are doing you should pay attention. If you don't listen in class then you will be discombobulated.