ANSWER ALL OF THESE QUESTIONS
The most engaging activity in ELA is seminars, as always. The reason for this is that it's intriguing to hear everyone's opinions and their contradictions and similarities. I liked the silent discussion a lot and would like to see the two cent discussion used in a seminar next year.
There are two ties in this. The first is annotating because it took away from reading the book and made it difficult for me to become as involved with the book as I would have otherwise. That, and it's so easy to forget annotating and when I have to consciously remind myself, it distracts me from reading and makes me almost not want to read, which is pretty rare for me as an avid reader. I think reading the Odyssey out loud during class was the second most boring activity we did because of the way it was read out loud, specifically being read off-beat and in a monotone tone with the mispronunciation of words; because it's a classic work resulting in it being harder to understand when listening rather than when reading; and because it was our job to read it outside of class and not in class, where it took up quite a bit of time. I would rather us have a summary of what went on then read it. I know we only read chunks in class and not all of it, but it was really boring for me.
Honestly, I love all of the books we read this year except the Odyssey but that's because I need to reread it to really wrap my head around it. The tie is between the Alchemist and Maus. The Alchemist was wonderful in its ideas and theories. It really made me think, and so did Maus. Maus was wonderful because it was able to describe the horrors of war without the emotional heaviness of it. They're both brilliant and I love them to death.
I'd have to say Odyssey, not because it was a bad book, but because I needed more time to understand it and read it. I know the readings were short, but it was still difficult for me to comprehend completely. It's a beautiful piece of literature, but my brain needed more time to get through it.
There's nothing horrible about this class that stands out. Everything was great for the most part. I'd say keep seminars, open response projects, and your methodology for choosing books, as well as the variety.
Blog posts and responses are the banes of my academic existence. I understand that it's how you make sure we read, but they're so easy yet they count for so much of our grade. I've noticed that there seem to be more standards put on blog posts when I miss them then when I actually do them and you grade them, at least recently. I don't think that's fair. Like on my last blog post, I did and was only graded on timeliness (5) and it was very thoughtful and long but on the one I didn't do before that, you put three standards as 0. Honestly, blog posts drag my grade down more than anything and I know because I do everything else even if it's late. I forget twice or three times in the middle of the school year and it makes it near impossible for me to achieve an exemplary in that class. Just... If you're going to keep blog posts, score them somewhat evenly and don't make them count as much. Forgetting to write a handful of sentences a week two or three times should not be able to trump writing five couple page essays, as well as their drafts and outlines.
Is there anything else that you would like to tell me about your experience in ELA? If so - please put it here.
I'd recommend making students more aware of the half analytical half creative response requirement.
- What was the most fun/engaging activity that you did in ELA this year? Why was it fun/engaging?
The most engaging activity in ELA is seminars, as always. The reason for this is that it's intriguing to hear everyone's opinions and their contradictions and similarities. I liked the silent discussion a lot and would like to see the two cent discussion used in a seminar next year.
- What was the most boring activity that you did this year? Why was it boring?
There are two ties in this. The first is annotating because it took away from reading the book and made it difficult for me to become as involved with the book as I would have otherwise. That, and it's so easy to forget annotating and when I have to consciously remind myself, it distracts me from reading and makes me almost not want to read, which is pretty rare for me as an avid reader. I think reading the Odyssey out loud during class was the second most boring activity we did because of the way it was read out loud, specifically being read off-beat and in a monotone tone with the mispronunciation of words; because it's a classic work resulting in it being harder to understand when listening rather than when reading; and because it was our job to read it outside of class and not in class, where it took up quite a bit of time. I would rather us have a summary of what went on then read it. I know we only read chunks in class and not all of it, but it was really boring for me.
- What was your favorite book this year? Why?
Honestly, I love all of the books we read this year except the Odyssey but that's because I need to reread it to really wrap my head around it. The tie is between the Alchemist and Maus. The Alchemist was wonderful in its ideas and theories. It really made me think, and so did Maus. Maus was wonderful because it was able to describe the horrors of war without the emotional heaviness of it. They're both brilliant and I love them to death.
- What was your least favorite book this year? Why?
I'd have to say Odyssey, not because it was a bad book, but because I needed more time to understand it and read it. I know the readings were short, but it was still difficult for me to comprehend completely. It's a beautiful piece of literature, but my brain needed more time to get through it.
- What should I definitely keep the same for next year's ELA curriculum? Why?
There's nothing horrible about this class that stands out. Everything was great for the most part. I'd say keep seminars, open response projects, and your methodology for choosing books, as well as the variety.
- What should I definitely change for next year's ELA curriculum? Why?
Blog posts and responses are the banes of my academic existence. I understand that it's how you make sure we read, but they're so easy yet they count for so much of our grade. I've noticed that there seem to be more standards put on blog posts when I miss them then when I actually do them and you grade them, at least recently. I don't think that's fair. Like on my last blog post, I did and was only graded on timeliness (5) and it was very thoughtful and long but on the one I didn't do before that, you put three standards as 0. Honestly, blog posts drag my grade down more than anything and I know because I do everything else even if it's late. I forget twice or three times in the middle of the school year and it makes it near impossible for me to achieve an exemplary in that class. Just... If you're going to keep blog posts, score them somewhat evenly and don't make them count as much. Forgetting to write a handful of sentences a week two or three times should not be able to trump writing five couple page essays, as well as their drafts and outlines.
Is there anything else that you would like to tell me about your experience in ELA? If so - please put it here.
I'd recommend making students more aware of the half analytical half creative response requirement.
Isabella - I haven't finished grading the last few blog posts yet. I actually assess the same (or sometime less) standards when you don't do the posts than when you do. Often, before I finish assessing the blog post, I'll just go through and mark whether you did it. Then later I go in and actually assess the post.
ReplyDelete