Now that the year has come to an end and we are about to advance to our junior year, it is time to look back and reflect on the past year. This year was definitely an enormous amount of work, however, I think it will help me next year when I am once again overwhelmed with work. After this year, I think I have grown as a speaker, reader, listener, viewer, and writer.
I have become more comfortable speaking in front of my classmates and presenting my own opinions. Even if it's just in small groups, I have been able to clearly present my ideas without feeling shy or timind. I think this is because the atmosphere in the classroom was very open and everyone was friends with one another. For example, it was very easy for me to present my Oedipus Translations in front of my classmates.
As a reader, I have grown immensely. I think I have read more this school year than any other year. To see the list of books I have read, click here. In addition to numerous novels, we also read more plays than I have read in the past. This amount of reading has forced me to increase my speed in order to be able to fit it into my schedule. Reading has also helped me by making me familiar with words that I wouldn't normally have come across. If I found a word that I didn't know, I would have to figure it out by using its context or a dictionary.
I have developed my listening skills as well. I have gotten better at picking out the important topics in lectures so that I don't take notes on everything I hear. When we read novels and plays out loud, I had to listen intently when my eyes wandered from the book so that I could find my place again. I also had to listen to the Oedipus translation presentations because if I wasn't careful, I would miss something.
This year I have taken part in many viewing experiences. I have watched and listened to webpage presentations and Oedipus translation presentations as well as "A Raisin in the Sun," "The Chosen," "The Crucible," and "Julius Caesar." If nothing else, viewing these movies and presentations has allowed me to practice patience. Viewing some of these also gave me the oppurtunity to visualize what we were reading about in class.
I have grown as a writer this year as well. We have done many papers and each one helped me improve my skills in different ways. For example, the research paper I wrote toward the beginning of the year helped my research skills, note taking skills, and analytical skills. The narrative forced me to draw upon an actual experience to write a fictional story. The short story I wrote for the Asher Lev project was the first historical fiction story that I had ever written. Even more recently, I wrote my first drama this year.
In the beginning of the year, I had said that my strengths were my writing skills and my weaknesses were my speaking and listening skills. I think that I have become stronger in all of the areas mentioned above, but I think that my actual strengths are planning out my work and putting it online into my portfolio. I think I have become much more familiar with my computer, the internet, and how it is all put together. On of my weaknesses is that I procrastinate. I always plan out what I'm going to do, but I never actually do it until right before it is due. This conclusion, for instance, is a perfect example.
I had expected to improve upon most of the skills I possessed and learn things that would be useful in my everyday life. Looking back through what I have written in this conclusion thus far, it appears as though my expectations were met. I have expanded my skills in the five areas of English, one of which includes speaking skills, which is something that I can put to use in my everyday life.
Although it didn't always seem to be productive, comparing it to my introduction, I now think that I've had a very successful year. Hopefully next year will be just as successful. Farewell 10th grade!