I'll go first

Of course I've had many aha moments, but I'm going to attribute this one to Alyssa. Hopefully she doesn't mind me talking about her. She was concerned that they way she wanted to organize her essay was different than I suggested...and you know what...this is completely okay. I encourage creativity..and remember, I'm just giving you mechanical formulas here. And we all know, mechanical is a word with negative connotations, right? Feel free to be creative, kudos to Josh and Taylor for already thinking outside the box in terms of essay organization and pre-writing! Thanks to Alyssa for making me realize that I need to frequently remind you that I'm just teaching you a basic formula...a place to start...now it's up to you to fill it all in...and how you do the filling in is completely up to you.

Just remember to:

•  completely answer the what
•  remember to name drop when you answer the how
•  have a game plan to look back on as you're writing your essay
• write a solid thesis (that answers the what and how)
• use tons and tons and tons and tons of supporting details (exact quotes are great)  to back up every assertion you are making

What am I stressed about...lingering thoughts and questions...

• Was it a good idea to teach those reading comprehension strategies? More importantly, will you actually use them when trying to "think" about a text?
• Do you have a sense of what a instant-replay moment is in a passage/poem?
• Are you now more or less confident about passing the test?
• What was I unclear about? Where was I confusing? What did I teach well?

Posting

We are coming to the end of the Introduction to the AP Test section of the 9 weeks. Blog about at least ONE  "I get it" or "AHA" moment you've had since the beginning of the year. These moments could have occurred during class, during independent homework time, or during conversations with classmates.  These moments can be big or small but are symbolic of some sort of mental victory!

Then reflect on something you're still concerned about. What's stressing you out? What lingering questions do you still have? Do you think/feel you need more practice with some specific task?

Then read and respond to at least two other classmates moments and concerns.