It’s the end of the school year, and students are preparing for finals, in anticipation of moving forward in their education. English students are perfecting their portfolios, looking back on the hard work they had done throughout the year. The teacher begins to hand out papers for summer work for AP English Language and Composition. A student looks over at his peer’s paper and raises his hand. “How come only some of us are getting these papers?” he says. “I’m also taking AP English next year.” “I’ve just been informed that only current sophomores will be able to take this class next year. The freshmen will be placed in Honors American Literature,” she answers apologetically. The class is shocked into silence as they digest the implication of this new development. Students should be able to take AP English Language and Composition based on the completion of prerequisites as opposed to grade level. It would enable students to follow the career plan they have already created for high school, and allow students to pursue deeper knowledge in their field of interest. Consequently, if no sophomores are allowed to take it, the initiative for middle schoolers to take Honors English 9 early will be reduced, along with academic rigour for advanced students. Most students have already created their four year plans based on the assumption that they would be able to take AP English Language and Composition as sophomores. For example, “Astrid,” currently an honors freshman, plans to study science in college. She built her four year plan around this, focusing on advanced math and science courses to fit her major. Astrid took Honors English 9 in eighth grade to challenge her and to allow her to fit all of the classes she is interested in. As s... ... middle of paper ... ...nors English 10. However, according to the new system, only sophomores will be properly rewarded for their work in this class. Changing the qualification to take AP English Language and Composition from a grade level requirement to requirements based on ability would have many benefits. It would allow all qualified students to challenge themselves academically instead of hindering some students with an unnecessary intermediate course. Students would be able to follow their already made four year plans. Furthermore, making some sophomores take an extra course could reduce the amount students are challenged and could damage their motivation to take English classes earlier. Therefore, qualified incoming sophomores should be allowed to take AP English Language and Composition as their English class, as they are currently competent and mature enough to take the course.
Recently the guidance department of Boston Latin School has instituted a new policy that limits the number of Advanced Placement classes students can enroll in during junior year. Previously students after being granted a waiver could take a maximum of four AP classes. However under the new guidelines all juniors are restricted to three. This is unfair to students who seek to reach their full academic potential.
For many first year college students, the idea of sitting down in an English class and being asked to write an essay conjures up anxiety and stress from their high school experience. Many students bring a secret of reading and comprehension illiteracy with them to college. There is a shifting definition of literacy occurring in the United States with the advent of technology. School districts are assuming that the issue of reading will be addressed in the home and are leaving many students behind in reading goals. Many educators assume that when a student enters the first day of their English 1010 course that their reading level is sufficient to complete their coursework and produce coherent compositions. It is only after the initial class meeting and composition assessment that the instructor is able to view the bigger problem of reading illiteracy in English 1010. How does the instructor address the literacy of each individual student without affecting the learning environment of the students who are able to read and write a coherent composition? The problem in regards to reading levels should be addressed before the student even arrives on campus. There can be many reasons for the cause of reading illiteracy: learning disability, poverty, and education of parents to name just a few. The school systems are placing the burden of reading comprehension in the home and not at the educational level when all parties should be a part of the issue. Administrators are assuming that students are read to from infancy and receive encouragement to read from their parents. The school systems also assume that children have abundance of reading materials in their homes and have initiative to pick up...
Throughout high school, the English courses were very time consuming and over whelming resulting in me disliking the subject even more. The assignments and readings that were usually given took up the majority of my time; this resulted in work from my other courses being left unfinished. My last two years of school consisted of research papers and in class compositions. But nothing compared to the tedious work that I encountered my junior and senior year when I decided to challenge myself by taking AP English courses. Many people said it was just like any other English course with a little extra writing involved; my view was completely different. The AP English class...
As a senior in Cristo Rey, many people ask “How does it feel to be a senior? Aren’t you excited?” and I respond no with a smile on my face. As many people don't know being a Cristo Rey student isn’t easy for many reasons like academics and time management. A typical Cristo Rey student has fifty days less than any high school student in Philadelphia. Given these points, the school has to make sure the students are where they're supposed to be or higher. Yet, I’m hoping all the work each student puts in at Cristo Rey pays off in college. In addition, Cristo Rey students have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement Literacy their senior year and I am currently in the Advanced Placement Literacy class. I am striving to enhance my reading and
My development as a writer has flourished throughout this semester. The first week of this fall semester started out with writing responses from our readings in the textbook. Looking back through and analyzing my reading responses at the semester to now; I noticed a substantial improvement in not only my grammar skills, but also my summarizing, and in-depth studying of writing adeptness. Another way I have progressed this semester is the vocabulary of my writing has significantly improved and become more scholarly. Another advancement I noticed was that the content of my work has matured, along with my organizational adeptness.
I am Stuart Keith from your B-day third block AP English 12 class, and I am looking forward to a great senior year in your class. This year, I am planning on dual enrolling in AP English in addition to taking the AP exam in May. My goals for this school year include maintaining straight A's as I have throughout my entire high school career, get into college, and fix my studying and procrastinating problems. After high school, I want to attend college and intend on majoring in civil or mechanical engineering. In school my strongest subject is math. Meanwhile, I have found that I struggle the most in English because I procrastinate when reading books and need to improve my writing. The one thing that worries me the most about this year is the
To reiterate, the English Board should remove the English 100/101 Capstone and use a more well-rounded method. Using a method, like used for the ACT, to where students come in at a scheduled final time and are asked to write a paper on a topic using the material that they learned throughout the semester right there in class would do a few things to help. This method would just add the final paper into their overall scores so that it is like another class. It would also insure that everything they turn in is coming from their own heads and not from someone else’s. The English Board should take these into consideration. This would make English 100/101 more enjoyable and less of a stressor.
Tim, for example, is a student who has always enjoyed writing. Next semester Tim wants to take the advanced English Composition course offered at the high school in which he attends. He knows the course will help him in attaining a scholarship from the school in which he has chosen to attend, but in addition, Tim really wants to become a writer. Tim perceives the advanced English course as being very useful to him in his quest to become a future journalist. He understands the course will be difficult and at times very mentally challenging but in return he will learn a lot of new writing techniques to make his writing more ...
Like all of us did, “many high school students spend the spring semester of their junior year preparing to take the ACT or SAT.” (Streetman)
Throughout the semester i only learned few new things but i did improve and solidify my skill of writing. Before my first year of college my skills have always undermined by other high school english teachers and with that came disappointing grades. I am writing this paper as a reflection of the semester and the progress i have made as a writer. I now understand many things that my high school teachers have done a poor job demonstrating and i am grateful that i decided to take my own route in my education instead of their syllabus. I entered the semester with anxiety that i would perform as i did before but i clearly outdid my own expectations by receiving top grades on my essays.
Although our schools had eleven out of the forty existing AP classes, most of the classes that are offered are higher math, science, history and language classes. Students need a variety
In today’s advancing society, knowledge has become an essential aspect to achieve a successful lifestyle. It is important that one demonstrates scholarship from the early ages to attain knowledge and understanding for the future. I like to challenge myself in my education by taking tough classes so it helps me to establish an effective work ethic that I can compliment with my career later on the road. Taking rigid classes and still maintaining an exceeding 4.0 GPA helps me to feel satisfied and pleased for my future. In my first two years at Westerville Central, I took all honors courses, which include Foundations of and American Literature and Composition, U.S and Global History, Geometry, Cell and Environmental Biology, and Honors Spanish II. Currently, in my junior year, I am taking Honors Algebra 2 and Honors Chemistry as well as AP Language and Government and still maintaining an above 4.0 GPA. All of the classes that I have took or I am taking right now were all challenging in their own way and required extensive studying. Going beyond grades, all of those classes also helped me to form a promising work ethic that will defiantly prove worthy in the...
After reading our mentors notes and analyzing what we have learned through this term, I have read all assignments that were submitted before our midterm exam. This gave me chance to follow up with how I advanced my writing skills from the beginning. As it was interesting to see how I can point out the missing qualities of these essays, it was nice to see our mentor’s notes justifying my points.
In life, people come across challenging obstacles’ when trying to achieve their goals. College, like that of life, has a variety of challenges that appear in a student’s pathway to their goals. For most college students that are just starting out in the basic classes, such as Mrs. Fox-Angerer’s English 101, problems can arise due to classes being much harder than the prior high school classes the students are used to. Mrs. Fox-Angerer’s class is hard because it has an online portion, it creates stress, and it is a required class.
In high school, my AP English and Economics courses have been the most challenging, yet rewarding. The number of homework, classwork, and critical thinking honed my ability to focus and converted me