First Quarter

What can I say? The first term of AP Comp. was not nearly as intimidating as I originally thought. If anything, I enjoyed it. From the essays, to the class discussions, to the movies, and to the random tangents that we fall into, I'd have to say that this was a pretty good class.

During the summer I almost dropped. The course work seemed outrageous and unmanageable. The biggest thing that kept me going was that I could find any other English classes that I would be willing to take! From my previous blogs I have made it apparent that I have the reading ability of a fourth grader, so that kicks out a lot of the other English electives. On top of that, I already took Comm. Arts, which by the way is in my top three classes ever taken, and regular Comp. so I felt stuck. However, sometimes it's best that we don't get what we ask for. This class definitely proved worth the struggle.

A major facet of this class that I enjoyed were the class discussions. It was interesting to see the true colors of my classmates when they expressed their reactions to some pressing topics. For example, the "N" Word article. I have never heard that word spoken so much in a class room. Looking back at it now I laugh a little bit. It was just one of many discussions that we had that made this class unique and enjoyable.

The biggest thing that I will take away from first term is how it was taught. Most other classes ram information down our throat and hope that we retained some of it. With this class the information just seemed to settle in. It was a relaxing, low-pressure method that actually helped me greatly. My reading ability went from fourth grade all the way up to the sixth grade level! Also my first essay was a 5.5; my most recent essay was a 7 that is a jump of 16 percent in about 7 weeks.

All that is left for me to say is that I am looking forward to the third term. I know that I will become a better reader and a better writer. Hopefully I will be reading at the seventh grade level when all is said and done.