Participation for 4th Quarter

    I feel like I did well this forth quarter.  The topic I did the best in was general procedures.  I always came prepared to class everyday, did my homework every night, and checked the website/email every day.  The next topic I think I did well in was Individual and Group work.  In group work I made sure we were kept on topic, and individually I made sure I did my work.  The last topic, Lecture, Announcements, Class Discussion I didn't do really well.  I took notes well, and listened to classmates and Dr.D, but I did have a lot of side conversations.  It is something I need to work on for next year.
  Overall, I feel like I have grown this year.  At the beginning of the year I didn't do to well in group work, but now it is one of my favorite things to do.  I also think that I take better notes and listen to the class in whole way better.  The only thing I really need to work on is talking in class.  I think that this year I have grown, and want to keep growing as a student throughout my high school years.  

Letter

Dear Block 4 English,
      I can't believe we have almost finished our first year of high school! It has been a really good year because I have learned a lot of new stuff and I feel like our grade has come closer this year.  We had really good teachers this year, and have learned a lot, especially in English.  This year I came into English I not knowing how to write at all.  Last year whenever we did papers, I never did good.  Now at the end of the year, we have written so many kinds of papers, like Profiles, Literary Analysis, and a research paper.  When I came on the first day of school this year, I would of never thought that I would know how to write those kinds of papers at the end of the year, but now I can say that I do.
     The thing that I really enjoyed about English I was our class.  This was my favorite class because of how much we learned and especially the people in the class.  From the first day of school, we were a talkative class, and always wanted to have fun.  When it was time to learn, we did what we needed to do, but in a fun way.  We have gotten really close now!  It is really bittersweet towards the end of the year, because I'm going to miss being a freshman, but I'm ready to start my sophomore year.  

Outside Reading This Year

This year I found out a lot about what I like to read.  Coming into the year I had a closed mind about only reading "chick flick" books.  The first book I read for outside reading was the second book in the Shiver series, then I read the last book in that series.  Then we had a break from reading because we were starting the literary analysis.  During the second semester I wanted to open my options for a new type of book.  So I started, A Stolen Life, by Jaycee Duggard.  It was completely different from what I was reading.  This was an autobiography about a girl getting kidnapped.  
After reading that book I realized that I do enjoy other books besides books about a girl falling in love with a guy.  I still enjoy those books, and they are probably my favorite genre to read, but this year I learned that I like some books that are not in the genre.  I also thought that writing two paragraphs about what you read every week was a good idea.  It helped me to think about the book besides the story line.  It showed me what kind of writing I like, and what I like about the authors.  Overall, I think this was a good year for outside reading.


Reading Times:
Saturday: 1 hour 50 pages
Sunday: 1.5 hours 68 pages 

Macbeth's Perspective

In class we are reading the play, Macbeth. The last scene we read with Macbeth in the scene is 2.3, when we find out that Duncan and the guards were murdered.  During this scene, Macbeth is very nervous about the killing of Duncan.  He sees that some of the people like Malcom and Donalbain are suspicious.  He then tells everyone that he killed the guards because he was so mad that they killed Duncan.  The real reason Macbeth killed the guards was because the guards might of remembered Lady Macbeth giving them wine, and them passing out.  
I think the overall feeling that Macbeth has during this scene is nervous.  He is afraid that someone is going to try and find out if he killed Duncan, and why he really killed the guards.  Lady Macbeth then "passes out" to distract people from asking Macbeth questions about the murder.  I think whats going to happen in the end of the story is he is going to tell everyone that he killed Duncan because of guilt.