End of The Year Reflection

1- What are the three most important things you learned this year?

         Over the whole year there were many, many things that I’ve found to be important, some more than others. Despite learning so much this year, having to choose three of the most important events was fairly easy. One of the important things I learned this year has to be focused on the Holocaust. The Holocaust was a very devastating event and learning about the casualties and pain everyone went through was very impactful. It taught me that the world was once, and still is, a terrible place and an event such as the Holocaust should never happen again. Another really important thing I learned this year was that books written decades ago can still be found to show social justice issues in the world today. The last most important thing I learned this year was that you don’t have to be good everything. Being in the accelerated class the never ending demands to be a good student academically put a real strain on me. I didn’t feel good enough to be in the class and felt below everyone else. If I’ve learned anything this year it was that I don’t need to be good at everything, we all have our strengths and weaknesses.

2- What is something we did this year that you think you will remember for the rest of your life?

     This year has been really impactful to me but the thing I’m likely to remember for the rest of my life is how much I learned to grow. My classmates were so amazing this year, it is one of the best classes I’ve ever had. They taught me to be a better person and they accepted me for who I was. Not only were my classmates influential but so was all the work I had to do. There were so many things that I learned that will be apart of my life for a long time. Although everything else I stated is beyond true the biggest thing I will find myself remembering is my teacher, Mrs. Larson. Over the past year she has been the key to helping me learn and grow. When I didn’t know something I could trust to ask her and if I was ever feeling overwhelmed she was there for me. I’m so grateful to have had her as a teacher and I was so lucky to have had the class I did.

3- What was the nicest thing someone in our class did for you this year?

  The nicest thing anyone has done for me in the class was to listen to my ideas. Over the year my other teachers would have the class share their ideas and people wouldn’t listen all the time and I would often feel judged for thinking a certain way. When asked to share ideas in my ELA class or to discuss certain things I never saw that to be an issue. My class and table mates listened to my ideas and never judged me for thinking about it in a different way they did. Although you wouldn’t think that having people listen to you is a big thing, it always was for me and I thankful to have had such nice classmates.

4- What is something you taught your teacher or classmates this year?

   I taught my classmates that “My house isn’t on the market, but I am!” Haha. To be more serious, I think that if I taught my class anything this year it would be that annotations can really help people understand things. When reading To Kill a Mockingbird my book was overflowing with annotations. It took me a long, long time to write all of the annotations but they really helped in my understanding of the book.

5- In what area do you feel you made your biggest improvements? What is something you accomplished this year that you are proud of?

   My biggest improvement had to be with MAP testing. I’ve always felt unhappy with my scores, like they weren’t good enough. I would compare myself to my other classmates and question why I was in the accelerated class. After spring testing I felt much more confident with myself and I actually believe that I am good enough to be in the accelerated class. Accomplishing a good MAP score was really rewarding because I don’t take it lightly and to grow really made me proud of myself.

6- What was the most challenging part of this year for you?

   The most challenging part of the year was our argumentative unit. In earlier years I found the unit to be fairly easy, but this year I struggled. I had a hard time keeping up with the rest of the class, if I didn’t know something I would usually ask but it got to a point where I was afraid to be judged for not knowing something the whole class seemed to know. When writing my essay I criticized my work and pushed myself down. Not only did I have trouble understanding and keeping up with the standard but I didn’t believe in myself.

7- What was the best piece of writing that you did this year? Why do you think it is your best?

     My best piece of writing had to be my argumentative essay. I am well aware that my essay was not the best piece of writing I have ever written but the part that made it the best was the fact that I improved the most in our argumentative unit. I find myself to be a good writer but writing my essay proved difficult to me. There are still areas where I need to improve but, overall, the improvements made on my essay and my understanding for arguments are overwhelming compared to other pieces of writing that I wrote.

8- Of the books you read this year, which was your favorite? Why?

     My favorite book I have read this year was Night by Elie Wiesel. I really enjoyed reading this memoir because it shows you what so many people went through. The Holocaust was a terrible event but it was really interesting to see how it affected him and his family.

9- What advice would you give students who will be in this class next year?

        The advice I would give to future students would be to be prepared. This class was very challenging and the workload was heavy at different points of the year but overall I’m so glad as to have been in this class. The amount I have learned in my other classes is nothing in comparison to what I’ve learned in ELA. There were moments that I wished I weren’t in the class, that I wished I didn’t have as much work but, in the end, I’m so grateful for the opportunity to have had Mrs. Larson as a teacher. The workload and the challenges this class has presented to me has been monumental and I will continue to remember it for the rest of my life but if I’ve learned anything it was that you should be prepared for everything coming your way.