Recap

After completing AP Pre-Calculus, my class had to write a massive paper summarizing all of the information gained throughout our junior year.  The topics we had to write about were the basics of functions, the basic properties of graphs of functions, and advanced properties of graphs of functions.  Writing this paper helped me to recap on everything we have learned in AP Pre-Calculus, thus getting me ready for AP Calculus my senior year.

 

To read my paper, click here.

 

Standards Covered:

 

• Writing:  Process:  Students shall employ a wide range of strategies as they write, using the writing process appropriately
• Writing:  Purpose, Topics, Forms, Audiences:  Students shall demonstrate competency in writing for a variety of purposes, topics, and audiences employing a wide range of forms.

Who Knew!

Who knew that rhetorical devices are everywhere—even in magazine advertisements!  This advertisement for Dove is with Wilma Flintstone.  One major example of a rhetorical device in this ad is the simplicity of it.  By using Wilma Flintstone, wife and mother, and a simple, white background, mothers everywhere can see how easy and simple this product is to use during their busy, hectic lives.

To see this power point presentation, click here.

Standards Covered:

 

• Oral and Visual Communications:  Speaking:  Students shall demonstrate effective oral communication skills to express ideas and to present information
• Oral and Visual Communications:  Media Literacy:  Students shall demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media as a mode of communication
• Reading:  Comprehension:  Students shall apply a variety of strategies to read and comprehend printed material
• Reading:  Variety of Text:  Students shall read, examine, and respond to a wide range of texts for a variety of purposes
• Creativity and Innovation:  Create original works as a means of personal or group expression
• Communication and Collaboration:  Interact, Collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media
• Communication and Collaboration:  Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats
• Communication and Collaboration:  Contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems

Having trouble?

 

Troubleshooting has been a main issue in learning how to create our own blogs and our own ePortfolios.  When trying to decide what to write, how many pages we need, who to add to our blogrolls, and what our theme will be and look like, my class asked many questions and figured out many answers ourselves.  One main problem I faced was putting widgets on my blog.  At first, everything was fine.  I was able to add everything on there that I wanted to.  But when I got to adding a ClustrMap, I had some trouble.  I needed some outside help.  First I used Yahoo to search how to set up ClustrMaps, and I found a blog that shows you a step by step process to set up ClustrMaps.  Using this site really helped, and I advise to never give up.  With a little drive and want to, you can accomplish anything with just a little help.

 

Standards Covered:

• Technology Operations and Concepts:  Select and use applications effectively and productively
• Technology Operations and Concepts:  Troubleshoot systems and applications
• Technology Operations and Concepts:  Transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies  

You Are Where?

 

ClustrMap, an available widget on blogs, is a great way to see where the people that visit your blog live.  I look forward to seeing how my ClustrMap grows with viewers as I add more commentary to my personal blog and others.

 

Standards Covered:

 

• Communication and Collaboration:  Develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures 

Keeping Our Eyes Open

During the first semester of our junior year, my class had to read The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.  As we read, we had to complete a reading response journal.  This journal consists of the quotations, a paraphrase or summary of the quotations, the rhetorical strategy or style element, and the effect or function of that rhetorical strategy or style element.  These journals were used to help us become better readers, writers, and thinkers.  They will also help us when we take the AP English 11 test, because it has helped us to learn to keep our eyes open for any rhetorical devices the author might use.

 

To see my reading response journal, click here.

To read The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, click here.

Standards Covered:

 

• Writing: Purpose, Topics, Forms, Audiences:  Students shall demonstrate competency in writing for a variety of purposes, topics and audiences employing a wide range of forms
• Writing: Conventions:  Students shall apply knowledge of Standard English conventions in written work
• Reading:  Foundations of Reading:  Students shall apply concepts of print, acquire knowledge of spoken words and understand the relationship of speech to print as they develop a foundation for literacy
• Reading: Comprehension:  Students shall apply a variety of strategies to read and comprehend printed material
• Reading: Variety of Texts:  Students shall read, examine, and respond to a wide range of texts for a variety of purposes
• Reading:  Vocabulary, Word Study, Fluency:  Students shall acquire and apply skills in vocabulary development and word analysis to be able to read fluently
• Creativity and innovation:  Create original works as a means of personal or group expression

 

 

 

Reading, Thinking, Writing…

All year my class has been learning how to become a better reader, writer, and thinker.  Just recently, my class put these accomplishments to the test.  We read, we thought, we wrote.  We participated in group discussions, and presented our ideas to the class.  This demonstrated not only our speaking skills, but our listening and writing skills as well.  After marking up the text that we read, Professions for Women by Virginia Woolf, we wrote a style analysis essay over her work.

 

To read my essay, click here.

To read Professions for Women by Virginia Woolf, click here.

 

Standards covered:

 

• Oral and Visual Communications:  Speaking:  Students shall demonstrated effective oral communication skills to express ideas and to present information
• Oral and Visual Communications:  Listening:  Students shall demonstrate effective listening skills in formal and informal settings to facilitate communication
• Writing:  Process:  Students shall employ a wide range of strategies as they write, using the writing process appropriately
• Writing:  Purpose, Topics, Forms, Audiences:  Students shall demonstrate competency in writing for a variety of purposes, topics, and audiences employing a wide range of forms
• Writing Craftsmanship:  Students shall develop personal style and voice as they approach the craftsmanship of writing
• Foundations of Reading:  Students shall apply concepts of print, acquire knowledge of spoken words and understand the relationship of speech to print as they develop a foundation for literacy
• Reading: Comprehension:  Students shall apply a variety of strategies to read and comprehend printed material
• Reading:  Variety of Texts:  Students shall read, examine, and respond to a wide range of texts for a variety of purposes

Different Solutions

While contemplating how we would design and create our ePortfolios, my class came up with some very interesting thoughts and ideas.  Since our ePortfolio is our semester test grade and a way to possibly receive some scholarship money, we all put our ideas together to craft an infinite number of possibilities.  Some of these possibilities include:  Moonfruit, a quick, visual, and easy way to form an excellent website, WordPress, a website designed to help one set up their own, personal blog, and PbWiki, an “online collaboration tool” that many teachers, students, and businesses use to communicate.  As you can see, the strategy that I have chosen to use is WordPress to create a new blog designed especially for my ePortfolio.  Because our class is the first to perform this project, our ePortfolios will be showcases in and of themselves for the AP English classes—and who knows, every class—to come.

 

Standards Covered:

 

• Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making:  Plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project
• Creativity and Innovation:  Create original works as a means of personal or group expression
• Communication and Collaboration:  Contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems
• Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making:  Use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions
• Digital Citizenship:  Exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity
• Digital Citizenship:  Demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning
• Digital Citizenship:  Exhibit leadership for digital citizenship

Comments: Connecting Around the Globe

Commenting is a great way to connect, share, and learn what other people think about a certain topic.  One week, my AP English teacher asked my class to take a week off from blogging and comment on six other people’s blogs:  three from my class and three from out of school.  As you can see in the pictures above, commenting is a wonderful way to communicate with those whom one may not even know.  Also, not only is one able to find people with the same viewpoints as her, but she can see issues in a whole new way.  After this assignment, I have found that commenting is a new and great experience to learn from others in a world full of different ideas and viewpoints. 

 

Standards Covered:

 

• Oral and Visual Communications:  Media Literacy:  Students shall demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media as a mode of communication
• Communication and Collaboration:  Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media
• Creativity and Innovation:  Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes
• Communication and collaboration:  Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats

The Essentials

Vocabulary:  essential for an outstanding reader, writer, and thinker.  This list shows what my class had to learn during our first quarter of our junior year.  As an AP English Language class, we had to start with the fundamentals:  knowing our vocabulary.  It has truly developed to where we are able to read fluently, think critically, and write complexly.  Vocabulary has helped us come to understand rhetorical devices—something we use daily as AP English Language students.  Vocabulary has helped us come to understand words that will possibly be on the AP English test—something we all hope and want to pass.  And finally, vocabulary has helped us come to understand better writing techniques—something we will use for years to come.   Vocabulary is necessary.  It is essential.

 

Standards Covered:

• Reading:  Vocabulary, Word Study, Fluency:  Acquire and apply skills in vocabulary development and word analysis to be able to read fluently

 

 

Highly Recommended!

Google Reader, a device available with a Google account, creates a quick, easy way to see when the people I subscribe to have added something new to their blog.  There is no limit to your subscriptions.  You will notice that I have a range of different subscriptions that consist of my teacher’s blog, my classmate’s blogs, my class wiki, and so much more!  One will find that Google Reader will convey who changed their blog, when they changed it, and what they changed/added.  It is a great timesaver, and I highly recommend it!

 

 

Standards Covered:  

 

 

·    Reading:  variety of texts

·    Research and Information Fluency:  Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tacks

 

 

Problem Solver

To follow up on my first achievement in AP English, an essay on blogging, I will continue with one of my actual blog posts.  This blog post, “Sleep Deprived”, identifies and defines a problem which not only my school faces, but other schools around America as well.  Included in this post is the ability to hyperlink, and therefore, establish my credibility.  To produce this post, I used critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research to solve this problem.  Sleep deprivation is one of the many problems teens face today, and I wrote this blog post directly to BHS to provide what I think is one solution to this problem.

 

To see this post, click here.

 

Standards Covered:

• Inquiring/Research:  Research/Inquiry Process:  Students shall engage in inquiry and research to address questions, to make judgements about credibility, and to communicate ideas in ways that suit the purpose and audience
• Creativity and Innovation:  Identify trends and forecast possibilities
• Communication and Collaboration:  Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats
• Research and Information Fluency:  Process data and report results
• Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making:  Identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation
• Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making:  Collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions
• Digital Citizenship:  Advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology
• Technology Operations and Concepts:  Understand and use technology systems

 

 

 

 

Blogging 101

Since the beginning of AP English 11, I have accomplished more than what I thought was possible:

 

• I have learned more about the world
• I have learned more about rhetorical styles and devices
• I have learned everything there is to know about blogging (translation:  I have never heard of blogging until I entered this class)

 

This is where I will begin my collection of achievements made during my high school career:  my very first AP English assignment—an essay on blogging.

 

As you will notice, the skills used in this project include researching, creating a works cited page in MLA format, planning, hyperlinking, and—of course—writing an essay.  As I said before, I have never heard of blogging until I entered AP English 11.  Since then, I have come to find that blogging helps one become a better reader, writer, thinker, and technology user.  Not only have these accomplishments been successful, but I have entered a close community of learners.  However, this community of learners is not only with my classmates, but with others around the world as well.  Just think:  these accomplishments all started with the understanding of blogging.

 

To read the essay, click here.

 

Standards Covered:

• Writing:  Process:  Students shall employ a wide range of strategies as they write, using the writing process appropriately
• Writing:  Purpose, Topics, Forms, Audiences:  Students shall demonstrate competency in writing for a variety of purposes, topics, and audiences employing a wide range of forms
• Writing:  Conventions:  Students shall apply knowledge of Standard English conventions in written work
• Research and Information Fluency:  Plan strategies to guide inquiry
• Research and Information Fluency:  Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media
• Research and Information Fluency:  Process data and report results
• Digital Citizenship:  Advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology