Biggest piece of advice to next year's writing students
Be thoughtful about this one! And you can't say "run screaming in the other direction--save yourself!" Not fair! :-). What did you realize at some point in this year that sincerely helped you thrive with this curriculum?
The biggest piece of advice I can give is to not be scared to try new things. I held back in my papers and it showed, but once you try something new, it can help you and give you more confidence in your writing.
My advice is to take advantage of the feedback that Mrs. Gahan gives to your writing. This year is probably the most help you will get with your writing. It may take more time to fix, but it is worth it for what you will learn about your problems in your writing!
Always remember to be concrete in description! Do not use words like "good" or "hard" without explaining more in depth about why and how it is good or hard. Be sure the reader will be able to picture what you are describing, whether it is a task or an object. Do not use words that do not give much substance to the paper- again, be concrete.
My advice would this: Always participate in class. Especially during graded seminars and class discussions. It is really easy to learn something new by hearing other peoples perspectives on something. So, listen to what your classmates have to say and let them know what you have to say as well.
My advice to the 10th graders next year is to really work hard to make an A on their papers. Make sure you completely understand the paper before you start to write it. Also, have more than one person peer edit it just so you can have more than one persons opinion on it. This year has been filled with lots of writing and you need to prepare yourself to be a better writer. Though English for your 10th grade year is mostly writing, in the end it shapes you into a better writer. -Olivia Fine
My biggest peice of advice is to not procrastinate on papers assigned throughout the year. It's extremely stressful when you put it off until the night before and your work ends up being choppy and poor. If one does a little each night it really helps and gives you more time to revise and correct errors you otherwise would not have seen.
Ask for help. If you don't understand something in the rules or anything about the assignment, ask Mrs. Gahan for help. She is willing to answer any questions and she keeps the atmosphere of the class comfortable enough for you to be able to ask questions. Do not just assume you will be able to figure it out later. You won't. Also, always, always, always revise your papers before turning them in. Correct all grammar, spelling and punctuation errors. For extra confidence in your paper, ask a friend to peer edit it. Friends are always a good source to help with ideas and corrections in your papers.
Don't be afraid to say what you want to say! Even if you aren't the most vocal person in the world, your opinion still counts! Make sure that you get your thoughts out at some point, or you'll miss a golden opportunity to add to the class' thoughts! Don't get down on your opinion just because people differ from you.
Do not put off your writing! It's easier to just go ahead and get something down onto paper as soon as you can, and you can spend the rest of your time making it awesome. I can't say that I followed this advice all year, but I really wish that I had. Also try and enjoy what you're writing, even if you are feeling lazy. That really will help the words flow. You can be surprised by your own writing!
A lot of the pieces you will write, you have some flexibility of what you want to talk about. Your descriptions, your narratives, your media analyses (which commercial, billboard, magazine article, etc., the topic of your research paper, the focuses of your literary analyses and more... Write something you are interested in, something you want to talk about it. This will make your english year so much more fun and you might find that you like, yes maybe even love, to write certain papers!
Also, take the time to annotate! It is SO worth it.
Use your time well. Something in Word is better than a blank document and that infernal blinking line. Once you have something written then you can edit it until the deadline. Remember that writing can be really fun as long as you are not writing it the night before it is due. Good luck and have fun with your words!
If you are only given a final date to have a book read by then don't hold off reading it until the night before. It will KILL you. Spread out your reading time, and get it done ... that beats reading 200+ pages during an all nighter.
The biggest piece of advice I can give is to not be scared to try new things. I held back in my papers and it showed, but once you try something new, it can help you and give you more confidence in your writing.
ReplyDeleteMy advice is to take advantage of the feedback that Mrs. Gahan gives to your writing. This year is probably the most help you will get with your writing. It may take more time to fix, but it is worth it for what you will learn about your problems in your writing!
ReplyDeleteAlways remember to be concrete in description! Do not use words like "good" or "hard" without explaining more in depth about why and how it is good or hard. Be sure the reader will be able to picture what you are describing, whether it is a task or an object. Do not use words that do not give much substance to the paper- again, be concrete.
ReplyDeleteMy advice would this: Always participate in class. Especially during graded seminars and class discussions. It is really easy to learn something new by hearing other peoples perspectives on something. So, listen to what your classmates have to say and let them know what you have to say as well.
ReplyDeleteMy advice to the 10th graders next year is to really work hard to make an A on their papers. Make sure you completely understand the paper before you start to write it. Also, have more than one person peer edit it just so you can have more than one persons opinion on it. This year has been filled with lots of writing and you need to prepare yourself to be a better writer. Though English for your 10th grade year is mostly writing, in the end it shapes you into a better writer.
ReplyDelete-Olivia Fine
My biggest peice of advice is to not procrastinate on papers assigned throughout the year. It's extremely stressful when you put it off until the night before and your work ends up being choppy and poor. If one does a little each night it really helps and gives you more time to revise and correct errors you otherwise would not have seen.
ReplyDeleteAsk for help. If you don't understand something in the rules or anything about the assignment, ask Mrs. Gahan for help. She is willing to answer any questions and she keeps the atmosphere of the class comfortable enough for you to be able to ask questions. Do not just assume you will be able to figure it out later. You won't.
ReplyDeleteAlso, always, always, always revise your papers before turning them in. Correct all grammar, spelling and punctuation errors. For extra confidence in your paper, ask a friend to peer edit it. Friends are always a good source to help with ideas and corrections in your papers.
Don't be afraid to say what you want to say! Even if you aren't the most vocal person in the world, your opinion still counts! Make sure that you get your thoughts out at some point, or you'll miss a golden opportunity to add to the class' thoughts! Don't get down on your opinion just because people differ from you.
ReplyDeleteDo not put off your writing! It's easier to just go ahead and get something down onto paper as soon as you can, and you can spend the rest of your time making it awesome. I can't say that I followed this advice all year, but I really wish that I had. Also try and enjoy what you're writing, even if you are feeling lazy. That really will help the words flow. You can be surprised by your own writing!
ReplyDeleteA lot of the pieces you will write, you have some flexibility of what you want to talk about. Your descriptions, your narratives, your media analyses (which commercial, billboard, magazine article, etc., the topic of your research paper, the focuses of your literary analyses and more... Write something you are interested in, something you want to talk about it. This will make your english year so much more fun and you might find that you like, yes maybe even love, to write certain papers!
ReplyDeleteAlso, take the time to annotate! It is SO worth it.
Use your time well. Something in Word is better than a blank document and that infernal blinking line. Once you have something written then you can edit it until the deadline. Remember that writing can be really fun as long as you are not writing it the night before it is due. Good luck and have fun with your words!
ReplyDeleteIf you are only given a final date to have a book read by then don't hold off reading it until the night before. It will KILL you. Spread out your reading time, and get it done ... that beats reading 200+ pages during an all nighter.
ReplyDelete