Final Reflection

Prompt:

1- What are the three most important things you learned this year?

2- What is something we did this year that you think you will remember for the rest of your life?

3- What was the nicest thing someone in our class did for you this year?

4- What is something you taught your teacher or classmates this year?

5- In what area do you feel you made your biggest improvements? What is something you accomplished this year that you are proud of?

6- What was the most challenging part of this year for you?

7- What was the best piece of writing that you did this year? Why do you think it is your best?

8- Of the books you read this year, which was your favorite? Why?

9- What advice would you give students who will be in this class next year?

Three Most Important Details, Lesson for Life, and Nicest Thing

  I think that the three most important topics we learned were the importance of having a voice/to make a change around the world. I would say that the runner up would be learning in depth about the Holocaust and how it still has a physical/emotional impact on different people. In my opinion the third most important skill we learned throughout these past two years is being able to annotate to the fullest and which helps us understand the text to a higher level for my future. I feel that the butterfly project will stick with me for the rest of my life because it was unique to our classroom a true representation of Mrs. Larson's class room. We are lucky to have done this project not everyone around the world is able to do such a marvelous project like the butterfly representation of the Holocaust. We were able to bring out the artistic side of our personality and it will truly leave a mark for the rest of my life. I think that the nicest thing someone in our class did for me this year was when a group of people accepted me into their group for a vocabulary skit. I was quite surprised due to the reason I usually wasn't picked to be in anyone's vocabulary skit, sot I felt special/unique in my own life.


                         What did I teach Mrs. Larson, Biggest Improvement, and Challenging Part

   I didn't specifically teach my teacher anything from the regular literature studies/language arts class but I did teach her something in my passion project. I taught her more about my culture and numerous cultures around the world. I was able to give her insight in different parts within Mexico and was able to give her a brief lesson on the traditional Mexican culture and cultures around the world. I feel that I improved a lot in my writing from simple little improvements such as run-on sentences to writing a formal argumentative essay with having an almost exceeds grade. When we looked back at our blogs from 7th grade I could easily tell that I did not write with fluency or even with proper grammar. I was able to improve not only my fluency/grammar but also incorporating higher level vocabulary in blogs along with a paper. If I had to look back at my grades I am extremely proud of getting higher than a B on my argumentative essay because honestly I thought I was going to do terrible with Blackfish/SeaWorld. There have been many challenging parts within this year but I feel that the butterfly project was a bit over the edge than a paper. I found it shocking that I received an A+ on my project which made my day and also taught me that I should have a bit more faith in my schoolwork.


                                The Best Piece of Writing, My Favorite Book, and Advice

  Although writing has never been a major skill in my life I feel that I have improved in my text structure not only in Lit/ELA but also in another class within my schedule everyday. I would say that my TKAM Thematic Paper was my best piece of writing even if I had to make a little change to my original essay but at least I received a 95%. In my opinion I feel like it was the best due to the reason that I added a lot of challenging words, more quotes, and being able to make only one mistake on the Works Cited page. I didn’t read as much as last year but I would say that my favorite book was a surprising yet funny novel called Schooled by Gordon Korman. I enjoyed this book so much because it discusses how we must appreciate a person for who they are instead of “judging a book by its cover.” I would recommend that students next year try their best instead of complaining about how much work because they never know what we learn can be extremely beneficial for people in the future.

Morrie Aphorism Project

Prompt:

1- Explain the aphorism in detail. what was Morrie's main message?
2- Relate the aphorism to a movie, song, historical event, current event, personal experience, etc. and explain in detail how the example you have chosen relates to the aphorism.
3- Evaluate the aphorism by explaining why you agree/disagree with it. Give specific reasons for your position and specific evidence from the text to support your position.
4- Take a picture of your aphorism to use as your graphic.

Aphorism: "Three materials will help you progress in life kindness, determination, and faith." - Abdiel De La O

                             "Learn to forgive yourself and to forgive others" in Detail

  This aphorism was created prior to the lessons with Mitch and Morrie.  I learned that it was written down by Morrie in "the Audiovisual". Mr. Schwartz would write numerous aphorisms within his notebook to get rid of his boredom and to understand the main philosophies he was going to speak about in "Nightline". I feel that this quote connects more with "love each other perish." He wants people to understand that if we are not able to forgive those who have hurt us in the past we will never able to move forward in life like Mitch Albom. In the sentence prior to the aphorism list Mitch mentions a detail about  Morrie writing down these mini life philosophies. Mitch says that Morrie was living next to the shadow that will eventually take his meaning at the end of Tuesdays with Morrie. In this time period Morrie was already in a wheelchair full time with the early stages within the ALS disease and he would jot down his major philosophy which would appear "Nightline". I think that Morrie's message is we as humans must forgive others/be clean before we leave like Morrie.


                                                         Aphorism in Real Life

  I have heard this life lesson numerous times throughout my life especially in places like church and  I try to incorporate it in my everyday routine like Morrie. In numerous religious classes I have learned this life lesson extremely useful due to the reason that we turn to violence as an answer for a major problem like bullying. I usually attend a youth group every Thursday in which we talk about numerous life lessons, but forgiving others has always had a major role in the Catholic religion within my life. I have seen an example of this aphorism in television and a novel which led to having a major impact on the main character. In Battle of the Books we read Schooled which talks about the life of a young adult named Capricorn. I noticed that in the first few days within school they used to bully him a lot but in the end he was able to forgive them in “C” Average the nickname for his actual school made by Zack. In a show called La Fea Mas Bella the main character Lety is bullied by her neighbors but recently she was able to forgive them which led them to having a bit more kindness in their heart like Mitch.

My Opinion on the Aphorism

  There were numerous aphorisms to choose from, but I felt that this specific life lesson has made a large impact on my life. I completely agree with the aphorism due to the reason that having the ability  to forgive others will relieve you from guilt and problems which might occur in the future for numerous people. I think that the first specific reason to support my claim was when Mitch was able to forgive himself after not visiting for over an decade and forgetting to give his full attention to Mr. Schwartz a.k.a Morrie. He didn't do such a great job keeping touch with his friend but in the end he felt better knowing that his old professor would always love him just like the other aphorism "love always wins." I noticed that the other most notable example in the book was when Mitch finally decided to call his brother and forgive even after not speaking to him for over a decade living in Spain. This book was excellent but overall the main detail that makes Tuesdays with Morrie fantastic is that Mitch was able to forgive himself and finally being able to start a relationship with Janine.