Emmanuel’s AP Blog

 Today in class we did groups work for our project. We were assigned our teams and I was disappointed. Not because of who was on my team, but rather because I did not get either of my choices despite my second choice having only 3 people. I actually had a strong interest in Security and Privacy, yet I was put into a group that I have no interest parenting styles. Maybe it will get me out of my comfort zone, so I guess it's a good thing. Todayy we had a bellringer that asked about strength and weaknesses. I don't like being asked this question (especially on interviews) because I think it's naive to assume that I am a significantly good at something, as well as the fact that I don't even know if I have strength or weaknesses because I don't think it's possible to assess yourself without bias. The question should instead be something that allows the person to feel as though they're not being arrogant and allows them to answer with a little more honesty instead

 Today we did not have class. It was somewhat of a free day, but we still had work to do. I was able to complete the work pretty quickly and I enjoyed it. I wanted to take a nap instead of do work but I'm glad that I did not procrastinate. The assignment was vocabulary words. It wasn't hard but it wasn't easy. The paragraph part especially was pretty hard because we had to use each word and make it coherent. Overall I am happy with today.

Today in class we viewed people's videos on their vocabulary words. It was very entertaining and informative. I think I have a better understanding of the words. After that he discussed the upcoming project. Although he did say we'll be taking it step by step the large amount of words did scare me a lot. Hopefully it is not as hard as it appears. Luckily we can work in groups.

Today we went over the things everyone was having trouble with. We went over a few of the body paragraphs.We then went over the body paragraphs we've constructed. Most students didn't do very well. I don't think I did perfectly, so I'm glad he went over them. Luckily, today was a half day so we got out earlier. I definitely improved in writing body paragraphs this week.

Today, the teacher let us pick the lesson, out of three, using a poll. I found this fun even though I picked synthesis essay practice.  Analyzing a prompt had the most votes surprisingly. I'm guessing people thought it'd be the easiest which is understandable. The lesson was very informative and helped me with prompts. I somewhat hopes he lets us choose again in the future.

 In class today we went over our image analysis answers. Most of the answers were very similar to mine so that was nice to see. After the analysis we then were tasked on an assignment in AP Classroom. We had a prompt that required a position, thesis statement, and body paragraph.I am actually really glad that he did not ask us to read the entire document because I probably would give up right there. Thankfully, he only needed us to refer to an image. I do appreciate hard work as well but an overabundance of work can be detrimental, so overall today was a good day.

 Today in class we went over more synthesis essays. We looked at images and made claims about them. We learned that you can analyze images and make claims using the images alone or use the images as evidence. We also learned more about sources. To be honest, I am having a few issues with the recent prompts. They're pretty hard to understand without rereading them a lot. Of course I won't have time to do so during the exam. Hopefully he goes over them more or reexplains methods to comprehend the prompts.

 Today in class we discussed a bellringer about whether education is boring or not. In my opinion, education isn't boring if you're looking at the bigger picture. But the work involved may be boring. There's also other factors. I actually enjoyed today's lesson a bit because he went over sources which helped. I was able to write a good claim and back it up with evidence from the provided texts. Overall a really good day.

 Today we discussed a synthesis essay.The prompt was about public libraries and whether they will remain relevant as we reach a more advanced future. My initial position on the matter was that the public library would need to adapt. I quickly realized that this is incorrect. Public libraries will always have value in the way they are. Theyre a quiet place to study and many people prefer physical copies of books. But the prompt reminded me that I need to start reading more. I haven't read a book in a while nor have I been in a library in a very long time.

 Today we discussed our essay scores. And now we know what we need to improve on. Because today we were let out early I will keep the reflection brief. Overall it was a simple day.

 Today in class we discussed a prompt. The prompt we went over dealth with college and if it is worth the cost or not. Personally, I believe it is fdefinitely worth the cost. The riskl is entirely too high for those who wish to go into life without a college degree. That much is obvious however. I'm glad he touched on which degrees are pointless and not. It would be very pointless to spend 36k on a Liberal Arts degree if you're not even going to get a job afterwards. I plan on getting a degree in either finance or mathematics which I hope can get me a job right after I'm done with college.

Today we learned more  about grammar laws. We learned about apostrophes. Well we went over them at least. It was very helpful. A very helpful review of apostrophes because it cleared up the things that I had problems with. Although I will say that I didn't have a lot of problems with apostrophes but now I know for sure that I  do not have any problem with them. If I did have any problems with apostrophes before, they're definitely gone.

Today we went over grammar laws. Specifically, comma laws. I must say that comma laws may be one of my weak points. Luckily, I did learn a few things by going over them. I'm actually really glad he's going over grammar now because I have trouble with it on exams. I did learn a lot today. Overall, today was very good.

 Today in class we went over our essay thesis statements and we had a bellringer. For the bellringer, it was basically just a review of the things we've been learning this past unit. Surprisingly, most of the class got the questions wrong. I myself, only got 1-2 correct answers. I'm glad he did give us this bellringer however, because it corrected my misunderstandings. When going over our thesis statements, I realized when he reviewed mine briefly, that my thesis statement wasn't as good as I thought when I wrote it. The 3 reasoning's weren't very good at answering the prompt. I'm glad he did this and I think it's very supportive when he covers each of our responses. I'm a big fan of feedback.

 Today in class we did our essays with a prompt that. in my opinion, was very difficult initially. But, after rereading and taking a position, I found myself able to think of a lot of information. It was nice applying what we recently learned to the essay. And I think I did a pretty good job of applying. The only problem is that unfortunately, I started late which cut my time almost in half. I could've definitely finished the entire essay if I had the full 40 minutes.

 This time in class we discussed evidence and how to properly explain the evidence that you've collected. We learned that evidence alone in pretty much meaningless without a thorough explanation that provides context. Something interesting that I remember him saying is bringing up the fact that the evidence needs to be "without a reasonable doubt." This makes sense because reasonable doubt can make the evidence very flawed. So you need to explain the evidence in a way that rids it of any possible doubt that is reasonable. I also appreciate the crime example he provided. It was very interesting.

Today we went over our writings for the body paragraph. I feel that I did a pretty good job. Luckily the feedback was very helpful. I think I need more improvements but at the time I did my best. It was interesting seeing what other students wrote as well. By seeing their mistakes I can remember not to make the same. I'd actually like it if he did this more often because I think it helps a lot. Probably most helpful thing in this virtual learning.

On this day we went more into detail on thesis. Writing a thesis isn't very difficult but I still need work. Today's lesson was definitely helpful because I learned how to write a thesis properly. I used to add too much information in my thesis statement. Now I'm able to write it with a perfect amount of information that captures all the requirements for a perfect one. Now all I need is more practice.

In class we discussed and learned more into detail on body paragraphs and thesis. So far, I'm pretty decent with writing both of these. I know that I need a lot more help despite today's lesson. I really hope that he does go over it again. I do feel like I learned a lot though. That I'm able to do better than before.