Many people just missed this question and would have liked to make their own because they did not like the other options. A couple people did not see this question because it was at the end of the sheet. Personally I was thankful that there was this option because I did not want to/ was not able to do some of the other choices. We (honors folk) think that this is an important thing to keep on the list.
My topic was what people thought about the distribution and dude dates on assignments. The unanimous agreement was that the due dates were a little concentrated in the beginning so that some people where a little swamped then. They also said at the end the due dates where a little spread out so some people forgot about and had to whip up something last minute. Which I think is more their fault. But over all no one thought the work was to difficult.
My topic was what people thought about the distribution and dude dates on assignments. The unanimous agreement was that the due dates were a little concentrated in the beginning so that some people where a little swamped then. They also said at the end the due dates where a little spread out so some people forgot about and had to whip up something last minute. Which I think is more their fault. But over all no one thought the work was to difficult.
I did the first question and we all have some things to say. Firstly, we felt that we were just told to do it, that you didn't lead us at all. In a way, we understand that is what you ment to do. You didn't hold our hands through it, so kudos. It WAS very self led, as was intended to be. Izzy said that while the idea of honors was to get us to step outside of our comfort zone, she didn't because the things we did were things she already did. Everyone agreed that the YWP things were a very good idea. Not only did we get to write things of intrest to us, but it was also very fun and education (no pun intended). We all did this to get the credit, no other reasons were presented. More things Izzy had to say. When we took the PSATs, we didn't really know the words on the vocabulary sections. As it is English class, we feel that the people in English honors should have some fair game at getting them right. But I'm with her, I had no idea what those ment. Side tracked a little, but we thought that perhaps there should some more vocab learned. George said that it gave him more ways to learn. The lectures, leading the discussion, the presentations, were all ways that we were able to get more out of what we learned be differing the way in which we learned it. Also, everyone thought the blogging was neat and swell and a very good idea. We all agreed it worked well as a teaching tool because it got us to have to say what we thought and not build off of the teachers ideas.
I led the discussion about presenting on an author or leading a class discussion. Some people thought that is was very easy and should have been for the entire class instead of just honors. Other people felt as though it was hard to use the full time and were counting on other students talking for a while to take up time. Some people said that it was hard to not get embarrassed if they messed up because they were in front of their friends and classmates. I thought that researching about an authors life was very interesting and fun. I think that many authors have had really interesting lives and it is nice to know about the people who write the books that we read.
My topic was the line memorizing for the short plays that we performed. I (Nic) was the only one who participated in this activity, so I asked what other people thought about the activity and why they chose not to do it. Many people believed that the project required too much memorizing in a very short amount of time. Some people also thought that you should have been able to choose who you work with, so you would feel more comfortable acting onstage with the other actors.
Some people also wished that they could have memorized the play, but because of the factors listed above, they did not. If they did have time to learn the lines fully, or to choose their partners for the play, then they would have participated in the line memorizing.
I, personally, think that for next year’s honors class, the play for the english honors students should be a little bit longer than the ones used this year. They could be a project that runs independently for about three weeks, until they are presented to the class and/or grade. That would allow for more emotion in the acting, and a more complex play to be performed. Perhaps a short 10 minute play would be good (I know of some that are very good for high schoolers and are only 10-15 minutes long and only have 2-3 actors in them)
I lead the discussion on attending a lecture and the experiences that were had. I heard that quite a few of the students who attended a lecture did not enjoy it. The reasoning for this was because of the lack of knowledge on the topic before the lecture. Some students found it hard to follow and did not understand what the lecture was really about. If there was context given, or if research was done before or after the lecture, it was easier to understand. A few students said that they thought the lectures were 'stupid.' On the other hand, the minority said that the experience was fun and enriching. Feedback on improving the experience was to not procrastinate less on choosing a date to attend a lecture because by the time they decided to go, there were no more lectures of interest because so many had already passed. Also, if a lecture was required for class, and possibly related to class, it might have lead to more attention and understanding.
There were lots of different prompts people chose to write for the YWP assignment. Many chose the perspective piece, but some chose other various options. However, some of the students, after choosing a prompt, had a hard time choosing something interesting to write about. One student made the analogy that it was like going to the fridge and there's a lot of food (ideas), but 'there was nothing good to eat'. Another student felt it allowed him to express his ideas in a more creative manner than a simple essay. Personally, I enjoyed the creative writing, but that is because I like to create vivid stories and details. Some of the students who did not prefer creative writing were not as enthusiastic about the assignment.
About half of the class not was satisfied with what they wrote. Some of the students felt like they tried hard, and wrote a lot, but it did not feel like it had the essence of a story. The students also felt like there was a narrow range of prompts and that more prompts might have been able to fuel their creativity better.
All in all, I think the YWP assignments was productive, but perhaps more selection in ideas may have made in more enjoyable for some.
I lead the discussion on what people thought of the work load: Everyone thought it was fun, and some people even said it was hip. Also people commented of how it was mostly technology based. Many people thought that the deadlines were clustered at first, and a lot more spread out near the end. Also people thought it was going to be much more work than it was. Also people thought that was odd that we were doing honors work that had nothing to do with the classwork. We expected it to more of an extension of the existing class. ------Julian Greene
The Color Purple was not a big favorite of almost everyone who read the story. Many people felt that it was it was too slow and at times hard to read. I think this story was too just too different than what most people usually read and enjoyed. They wished that the story connected more with what we were doing in class because it felt so random to us. I also would not have usually read the book but I liked it. I thought it was good story and agreed that at times it did feel like it was going very slow. People also felt like reading the book was very rushed and wished they had more time to read it then they did and maybe they could have liked it better than they did.
8) "Propose your own idea" option.
ReplyDeleteMany people just missed this question and would have liked to make their own because they did not like the other options. A couple people did not see this question because it was at the end of the sheet. Personally I was thankful that there was this option because I did not want to/ was not able to do some of the other choices. We (honors folk) think that this is an important thing to keep on the list.
My topic was what people thought about the distribution and dude dates on assignments. The unanimous agreement was that the due dates were a little concentrated in the beginning so that some people where a little swamped then. They also said at the end the due dates where a little spread out so some people forgot about and had to whip up something last minute. Which I think is more their fault. But over all no one thought the work was to difficult.
ReplyDeleteThat would be "due dates" not "dude dates"
DeleteMy topic was what people thought about the distribution and dude dates on assignments. The unanimous agreement was that the due dates were a little concentrated in the beginning so that some people where a little swamped then. They also said at the end the due dates where a little spread out so some people forgot about and had to whip up something last minute. Which I think is more their fault. But over all no one thought the work was to difficult.
ReplyDeleteI did the first question and we all have some things to say. Firstly, we felt that we were just told to do it, that you didn't lead us at all. In a way, we understand that is what you ment to do. You didn't hold our hands through it, so kudos. It WAS very self led, as was intended to be.
ReplyDeleteIzzy said that while the idea of honors was to get us to step outside of our comfort zone, she didn't because the things we did were things she already did.
Everyone agreed that the YWP things were a very good idea. Not only did we get to write things of intrest to us, but it was also very fun and education (no pun intended).
We all did this to get the credit, no other reasons were presented.
More things Izzy had to say. When we took the PSATs, we didn't really know the words on the vocabulary sections. As it is English class, we feel that the people in English honors should have some fair game at getting them right. But I'm with her, I had no idea what those ment. Side tracked a little, but we thought that perhaps there should some more vocab learned.
George said that it gave him more ways to learn. The lectures, leading the discussion, the presentations, were all ways that we were able to get more out of what we learned be differing the way in which we learned it.
Also, everyone thought the blogging was neat and swell and a very good idea. We all agreed it worked well as a teaching tool because it got us to have to say what we thought and not build off of the teachers ideas.
I led the discussion about presenting on an author or leading a class discussion. Some people thought that is was very easy and should have been for the entire class instead of just honors. Other people felt as though it was hard to use the full time and were counting on other students talking for a while to take up time. Some people said that it was hard to not get embarrassed if they messed up because they were in front of their friends and classmates. I thought that researching about an authors life was very interesting and fun. I think that many authors have had really interesting lives and it is nice to know about the people who write the books that we read.
ReplyDeleteMy topic was the line memorizing for the short plays that we performed. I (Nic) was the only one who participated in this activity, so I asked what other people thought about the activity and why they chose not to do it. Many people believed that the project required too much memorizing in a very short amount of time. Some people also thought that you should have been able to choose who you work with, so you would feel more comfortable acting onstage with the other actors.
ReplyDeleteSome people also wished that they could have memorized the play, but because of the factors listed above, they did not. If they did have time to learn the lines fully, or to choose their partners for the play, then they would have participated in the line memorizing.
I, personally, think that for next year’s honors class, the play for the english honors students should be a little bit longer than the ones used this year. They could be a project that runs independently for about three weeks, until they are presented to the class and/or grade. That would allow for more emotion in the acting, and a more complex play to be performed. Perhaps a short 10 minute play would be good (I know of some that are very good for high schoolers and are only 10-15 minutes long and only have 2-3 actors in them)
--Nic Buonanduci
I lead the discussion on attending a lecture and the experiences that were had. I heard that quite a few of the students who attended a lecture did not enjoy it. The reasoning for this was because of the lack of knowledge on the topic before the lecture. Some students found it hard to follow and did not understand what the lecture was really about. If there was context given, or if research was done before or after the lecture, it was easier to understand. A few students said that they thought the lectures were 'stupid.' On the other hand, the minority said that the experience was fun and enriching. Feedback on improving the experience was to not procrastinate less on choosing a date to attend a lecture because by the time they decided to go, there were no more lectures of interest because so many had already passed. Also, if a lecture was required for class, and possibly related to class, it might have lead to more attention and understanding.
ReplyDeleteThere were lots of different prompts people chose to write for the YWP assignment. Many chose the perspective piece, but some chose other various options. However, some of the students, after choosing a prompt, had a hard time choosing something interesting to write about. One student made the analogy that it was like going to the fridge and there's a lot of food (ideas), but 'there was nothing good to eat'. Another student felt it allowed him to express his ideas in a more creative manner than a simple essay. Personally, I enjoyed the creative writing, but that is because I like to create vivid stories and details. Some of the students who did not prefer creative writing were not as enthusiastic about the assignment.
ReplyDeleteAbout half of the class not was satisfied with what they wrote. Some of the students felt like they tried hard, and wrote a lot, but it did not feel like it had the essence of a story. The students also felt like there was a narrow range of prompts and that more prompts might have been able to fuel their creativity better.
All in all, I think the YWP assignments was productive, but perhaps more selection in ideas may have made in more enjoyable for some.
I'm posting the following for Julian:
ReplyDeleteI lead the discussion on what people thought of the work load:
Everyone thought it was fun, and some people even said it was hip. Also people commented of how it was mostly technology based.
Many people thought that the deadlines were clustered at first, and a lot more spread out near the end. Also people thought it was going to be much more work than it was.
Also people thought that was odd that we were doing honors work that had nothing to do with the classwork. We expected it to more of an extension of the existing class.
------Julian Greene
The Color Purple was not a big favorite of almost everyone who read the story. Many people felt that it was it was too slow and at times hard to read. I think this story was too just too different than what most people usually read and enjoyed. They wished that the story connected more with what we were doing in class because it felt so random to us. I also would not have usually read the book but I liked it. I thought it was good story and agreed that at times it did feel like it was going very slow. People also felt like reading the book was very rushed and wished they had more time to read it then they did and maybe they could have liked it better than they did.
ReplyDelete