CONGRATULATIONS! You made it to the last blog of the year!!!
Give next year's AP Language and Composition class some practical advice for next year!!! Use rhetorical devices and appeal to logos, pathos and ethos.
I joined the AP English class because my mom made me. I am a painfully slow reader and have an extremely small vocabulary because I read crappy teenager books, if any, in middle school. I was afraid of the class because I heard that Dr. Pam was a very challenging teacher, and I almost cried during the philosophy unit that started the year. I know now that all of my hard work paid off and I also know that anybody can complete this course if they listen to these tips, wether English is their subject or not. First, get a big binder. I started out with a one inch binder and a pack of loose leaf but had to go back to the store to upgrade to a five-incher after it was filled in one month. Although I did not use my binder after Dr. Pam left, I could have stayed much more organized if I did. Since the class next year will have one teacher, I would strongly suggest a binder over a folder. Next, one should avoid fighting with the teacher for their own mistakes. It is often hard for a person to admit their mistakes in front of a teacher, but it needs to be done. If a person forgets to print their paper to hand in and it is not accepted after the due date, do not fight and make excuses. It is easier to take the zero than to get the entire class rallied up about it. The teacher has reasons for what she does and will teach you to be responsible. Although a person should not fight with the teacher, he or she should form their own opinions and express them through their writing. Writing is powerful and can persuade someone in amazing ways. A person is not supposed to write to impress with a style that is not their own but should instead throw out their ideas onto paper and learn throughout the year to put them in order. A person must be themselves and write in their own way. The most important advice that I can share with the upcoming class is that learning is not about grades. Learning is about finding talent and using it to help others later in life. I have 142 Pages documents, two folders, and a four inch binder filled with grades. Besides the blogs, I rarely ever got a 98% or above but I am certain that I learned more than I ever had in classes where my grade is higher. Grades in this class will not be lies, but the learning is what matters anyway. I know a person who took the AP Language class in a different school and had an average of 97% in the class. This person went to take the national exam and got a 1 on it, which is a failing grade. This shows the lack of knowledge gained from the class experience. For our practice exam this year, nobody got a 1. We all learned something despite our treacherous grades! I am so happy that I took AP language! It was hard for me to get used to the classwork and switch teachers because of their different styles, but overall it was a wonderful and exciting experience. I got to know my classmates a lot better and have also adjusted my attitude towards learning. I hope that this blog will teach next year's class what I had to find out the hard way.
I like how you included a paragraph about arguing with the teacher about accepting a late paper. I think it is important to accept mistakes, even if it means getting a zero. The responsibility to turn in homework assignments rests with the student, and they must follow the teacher's rules. If teachers accepted late work, there would be no reason to even assign due dates. I also liked how you followed this paragraph with one about arguing through writing. It made a clear distinction as to where it is acceptable to argue with a teacher. Writing is definitely the place to express your ideas and opinions, and to argue about your beliefs.
You had many great points for the future students Grace. Many of us talked about how having a binder will keep you organized and it make everything easier on them. Something very important that the future class needs to know is that it isn't not about the grade, it is what you get out of the class. I'm sure this is the hardest to adjust to because everyother teacher is all about the grades. I know for a fact that each and everyone one of us got a lot out of the class, and hopefully the future students will too.
It is true that writing one's own opinions is important. So many students simply write what they think their teacher wants to hear, but this is not the purpose of writing. One should write to present innovational perspectives that cause another to think in a different way. If a piece of writing is convincing enough, it should at least cause the reader to inspect the opposing side of the argument. It is okay for a student and a teacher to disagree. In fact, I remember how often Dr. Pam told us that. She would always say, "I love when students disagree with me!" We all laughed when she said it, but then we realized how much she meant it. Good writing should influence people to seek alternate explanations, and to formulate their own opinions based on another's work.
(I just realized that I keep reminiscing back to the good times with Dr. Pam as if she "is no longer with us." It seems like this is some sort of memorial blog. Hehe.)
Grace, creating a binder was the best thing that I ever for this class. I am not naturally organized so by doing this I avoided losing anything. Being organized is pivotal in this class and that would be one of the points that I would stress to the new members of the class. Losing papers and being unorganized can only only have negative impacts.
Well, I guess I should start off with the fact that I only took AP Lang because I was going to take it at Dutch anyway. I had no clue who taught it at ECC or that we had to do summer reading. Boy, was I in for a rude awakening! As soon as I got to school, we started talking about these philosophers, like Plato and Socrates. I had never heard of them until now! You should get a binder for AP lang because pretty much everyone gets them. And, you get tons of papers, worksheets, essays and projects. You have to find a way to organize all this stuff, and a binder is helpful. Dr. Pam requested us to have a binder, so I got one. Oh, and if you are afraid of taking class because of Dr. Pam, don't worry. She only substitutes sometimes; and its not that bad. When Mrs. Messineo came I lost my organization a bit! But, you will have her all year round so you can organize your binders by unit! That way you can just look up a unit and find out about what you learned. You all have probably heard we do a lot of writing in this class, and that's true! I remember the first paper I got back was a 78%. I could not believe it! I had never done that bad in English before! But, what you need to know about is that this class really isn't about grades. Both Dr. Pam and Mrs. Messineo stressed that this class was about learning. And as long as you learn, your grades will go up! It may seem like the first few failures are a tell tale sign that you can't do it, but eventually it will get better. Remember to make mistakes, but learn from them. You can cry a little if you need to, but be ready to be back at it the next day! And remember, you will be given a lot of work. But, think of it as you will learn how to manage a difficult course load, which you will no doubt encounter in college. So really, it is just preparing you for your future. Unlike this year, we did not have to pay $50 to take the class, and we weren't required to take the exam, but you are! I was very prepared for the exam. On our practice exam (AKA final), everybody scored higher than a 1. A 1 is falling, so our class did pretty good, especially when we still had 2 weeks to work on it and practice it more. And if you are really worried, the college board has some free practice materials for you. When in doubt, ask Mrs. Messineo, because she is always there to help you. And if you ever would fail the exam, the worst thing that could happen is that you have to retake the class in college. But, the college course can't teach the experience you have from AP Lang. So look at it as an opportunity to prepare for college and sharpen your skills. Good Luck to all of you!
I like how you mentioned the summer reading and philosophers. Summer reading is a critical way to prepare for the class. If students don't do it, then they will probably struggle for the first few days. They will not be prepared for the other readings they are sure to encounter. In addition, philosophy is a subject that doesn't appeal to very many people. The philosophers' writings are complicated, and require extreme critical thinking. They seem archaic and impossible. However, summer reading an philosophy are the two first subjects that students will learn about, so it is important that they are ready to face them.
It is true, the more you fail, and if you learn from your failures, the better you succeed. That is something many students need to realize for this class. They need to understand that it is very important to learn from your mistakes no matter how bad the grade was on the paper. Honestly, rewrites are your best friend. They allow you to learn from your mistakes, fix them, and receive a little bit of a better grade. I think that next years students will be very ready for the course.
Olivia, I loved how you mentioned that it's ok to get a 78 on a paper. Grades really don't matter in this class. Well they do, but it's more important to learn than to get good grades. If you get good grades, but do not learn the material, then the grade is really pointless. Grades are really stupid because school shouldn't be about a percentage, it should be about how much someone has learned.
Going into AP Language is not something anyone does without a little advice. Good advice will help prepare you for what you're getting into and ensure that you are grounded at the beginning of the year. This course is very different from any other English course offered at school, and requires a different kind of preparation. The first item you will want is a very large binder or several smaller binders. Over the course of the year, I filled two two-inch binders, one one-inch binder, and a folder with papers from this class. A binder will allow you to organize your papers so you can easily find them when you need them. Organization is imperative in AP Language because if you lose a paper, you will not be getting it back. Binders are the easiest form of organization because they can house any amount of papers that you are willing to cram inside without breaking apart. If you don't want to put holes in your papers, sheet protectors are a lifesaver. I preferred this method because it was easier to put papers into my binders quickly. In addition, binders can easily be divided into sections. There are specially made dividers, but a folder is a great way to divide papers and get a little storage space too. Be prepared to struggle. Your first few grades will not be pretty. Mrs. Messineo constantly tries to "push you one more rung up the ladder." She is not afraid of a red pen, and you should get used to seeing it on your papers. No matter what level you write at, she knows you can do better because there is always room for improvement. When she corrects a paper, look hard at what she writes on it. She is making these corrects for your benefits, so take advantage of them. By understanding how your essay could be better, you will know what to do on the next one. Her guidance will help you learn, and learning is the ultimate goal of this class. This is an AP class, and in such a class grades don't really matter. Your grade is absolutely nothing compared to what you learn and whether you can use it. Learning is the fundamental goal of any class. In this course, it is the only thing that matters. If you learn everything you can, you are sure to succeed on the AP exam. The exam is a cumulation of everything you know, and requires you to utilize your skills. Taking the exam makes you realize how much you've progressed throughout the year, and how much stronger your writing is. In addition, you will have learned other valuable skills. These skills are also used in college and throughout the rest of high school, so they have unlimited potential. Writing is a way to personal communicate, so never write anything that does not reflect you. Mrs. Messineo does not ever want you to write something that you do not believe. If a paper is an opinion paper, write what you think. She couldn't care less if you don't think like she does; she just wants you to support your opinion. Through your writing, she will get to know you extremely well. This was something I found disconcerting. On the first paper we wrote for her, she handed it back with a paragraph written at the end of it. It was a description of who we were, and what our personalities were like. It was perfectly accurate too. She knows you, so just write what you think. Writing anything else is simply writing badly.
I have never had to work hard to pass any English course that I have ever taken. Except, of course, AP Language. In other English courses, I was always able to write great essays, understand pieces of writing, and memorize vocabulary words. Looking back, all of these attributes seem insignificant when I compare them to what I can do now because of AP Language. If anyone is taking this course because they think this class will be another English course to excel at easily, I am here to tell you to wake up. AP Language will challenge you, and make you think hard about subjects that are wonderfully complex. Be prepared to struggle sometimes, but also be prepared to succeed in the long run. I hope you can use this advice to make the class a little less intimidating.
Ashley, I agree that organization is key to this class. Having a binder for this class was one of the best decisions because you have access to all essays and can stores additional papers. I remember how easy it was to know what essays needed to be in my portfolio because they were all there and in order. Another organizational tip is to label essays in Pages because I did not and that made it quite difficult to find. I believe organization is really important in this class.
I decided on taking AP English as a challenge. I heard from all the people that said how much work it was, and I was ready to have a busy Junior year. I guess you could say that I knew it was going to be busy, but I did not experience it like many others did. I came home from school everyday and sat down right after school and did all my homework. I also worked ahead. This allowed me to not stay up in the long nights of the hour like some of my fellow students did. When I was uneasy about a topic for a paper, I took the extra time and looked up some information to get myself to be known with the subject. This helped me a lot. When I was done with a paper, I would print it out and say "this is the best I could do." This allowed me not to be upset when I received a bad grade, but that did not happen very often. This class taught me to be organized. I started out the year with a binder with nice page dividers and now I plan to use binders all the time. They really help for staying organized. I came from Public School like many know, but what I didn't know was that my background in sentence structure and what verbs and everything we're was really bad. I don't recall every leaning about anything like that in middle school, so this was a major struggle for me. Looking back, I'm so glad that I took AP Language in order to help myself in learning sentence structure and everything wrapped inside it. With taking AP Language I also took AP Biology. Many told me that I was going to have a really hard time with both of these classes. Time management was key. I knew that I was going to have to give up some of the things I loved most in order to do my best in both of these classes. So I didn't participate in winter cheerleading. This was a terrible decision on my part and I regret it almost everyday. I know now looking back on the winter season that I could surely have made my grades and do cheerleading, but what is in the past in gone and the future is ahead. This class prepares you for the college level. When it is said that everyone going to college should take the course, it's 100% true. It will let you leave high school with a less worried mine set becuase AP classes prepare you for this. It's hard to believe that this year is over. What am I supposed to do everyday in the summer? No homework? No random group messages about what party we can have in the morning. No more of Nick's delicious snacks. No more of the wonderful AP language class that we had every second period together. Goodbye AP Language 2nd period. We will miss you. To next years students, treat our second period class well. We believe in you.
We do believe in them! I liked how you mentioned the fun parts of AP lang, because sometimes I think the sophomores just associate it with tons of writing everyday and no fun. But we do have some fun, and it really isn't that bad. This class is great for teaching time management, which everyone will need. I too had some problems with sentence structure and I also had problems on what person to write from. But this class has helped me with that a lot!
Throughout our lives, we all hear some bull crap, cliche lines about taking the road less traveled and not jumping off bridges even if our friends are. I really love writing, but I was hesitant about taking AP Language because most my close friends were all taking accelerated English instead. I am really awkward In situations without my friends, but I decided to not jump off the AP Language bridge. It was certainly the less popular choice between the two with a whopping eleven people in class, but the road does not matter. The destination is what matters, and AP Language dropped me off at a destination where I am smarter and the grass is greener.
Be ready to have everything you thought in text citations were and completely learn it differently. Thankfully, Mrs. Messiness taught me how and when to correctly use in text citations. This is a very good skill because I could get kicked out of college for plagiarism if I did to learn this skill. Considering three of the five college I am considering are 1,530 miles away,700 miles away, and over 5,300 miles away. I do not think my parents would be too overjoyed to get a call from me to pick me up at the airport without sending me back. In fact, I would probably just have to turn my into a hermit and retire into the forests there and never be heard from again. So I suggest learning this useful skill or perhaps you will be forced into the recluse life.
Be prepared to not be able to wing everything. This class has also taught me a lot about time management. My natural style of managing is to usually just wing it, but that never ever will work in any AP course. This is personally beneficial to me because I will be able to adapt easier to doing college work along with extra activities. I want to be able to do cheerleading and possibly a few clubs. Now, I am more accustomed to a more vigorous work load and I know how to manage time instead of just randomly going with the flow until it felt convenient not to.
It is also important to prepare for not being able to go out with your friends as much as you did before, but there will always be summer, as long as summer reading is a priority at some point. There were times I sadly had to bail on plans with my friends or not plan on going to assure papers got done correctly and were not rushed or procrastinated. This is not a bad thing. It taught me how to prioritize.
Most importantly, it is imperative to keep an open mind in this class. Everyone is going to have slightly or drastically different opinions. Learn why they think this way because it will make you a more educated and open citizen. It is important to learn how to respectfully deal with different opinions and beliefs without wanting to eradicate them for it. That would make you like Hitler, and that is not cool at all. This will also broaden how you view the world and allow you to see beyond your previous capacity.
These are my wise opinions I have formed from taking this course through the year. I wish I could give organization tips, but everyone knows that would be a joke because I could not organize anything to save my life. This class is not all the horror stories it is made out to be. Certainly not with Mrs. Messineo anyways. There will be times you love this class but also times you hate it and want to just float yourself down the Elk Creek, but the outcome is worth the work and struggle. Not only will it benefit your mind, but colleges absolutely prefer a lower grade in an AP class over a lower grade in a regular course. Seeing you challenged yourself is appreciated by colleges. When I did a preview program at Kent University, the woman in charge of admissions stressed this point. So be open to the criticism to make yourself w better rude to and citizen. This course may start out seeming like a speeding car out of control, but just hold on and buckle up! You will be safe!
Lauren, I love your imagery in this blog! When I started, I did feel like a car a spinning out of control. I feel a little bit like this now as I study for finals and near the end of year, because I feel like it always gets hard again at the end. But like Kent State said, it is better to have challenged yourself and not have done as well as you would have liked then to take an easy class and ace it. You always learn more about yourself when you have a little bit of struggle, and that was the case for most of us in AP lang.
I remember how big of a deal it used to be when we had to intext cite a paper! I thought it was so hard and time consuming! Also, I definitely agree that you cannot write a crappy paper the night before it is due because it will be completely annihilated. I remember when Dr. Pam corrected my first paper and it had so many purple pen marks on it that I could not find the grade. My favorite point that you made was the one about listening to other's arguments. Learning how to express my views made me listen more to the thoughts of others, which is really important. I knew everyone in the class before it started, but by writing with them and going through terrible projects and classes with everyone, I got to know everyone a lot more and respect what they had to say.
My first impression of AP Lang came when I received an email containing the syllabus for the class. At first, I panicked, but after thinking abut it extensively I realized that I could do this. Also, I did not want to take a step backwards in my education by staying in a normal level English class. I was ready to take on the challenge of the class because I knew it would be a learning experience and could only help me improve. I would advise upcoming students to step out of their comfort zones. Some of my best papers came when I took on a topic that I was uncomfortable with or not yet educated on. By doing this I was able to learn something new about the topic and myself as a writer and thinker. Also, thinking outside of the box will help an individual develop their own thoughts and help them as a citizen in our society. Of everyone wrote the same papers and pretended to have the same idea, nothing would be accomplished. It's very obvious that everyone in our class did not have the same ideas, so why pretend like we did in a paper? This class is all about thinking and that can't happen when we pretend to believe only what we think we are supposed to. In AP Language, I discovered quickly that I wasn't always going to get a perfect grade. At the beginning, Doctor Pam kind of wrecked my lifestyle of always getting A's on assignments. However, this is a college class and I do belief that if this would not have happened I wouldn't be where I am at in my writing now. As Mrs. Messiness has said many times, colleges would rather see that you challenged yourself by taking a college level course and gotten an average grade than if you had taken a regular English class. I guess the point I am trying to make is challenge yourself. You can't go forward if you don't take the first step. If you look at this class as a whole, you only see the pile of work and the pages of the syllabus filled with assignments you have to do. But this class takes baby steps, moving from one point to another and building off the skills you learn. Just be open to what you will be learning and approach every assignment and situation with an open mind. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE NIGHT BEFORE TO WRITE A PAPER. This was the lesson I learned the fastest. Before taking this class I was used to think that all my homework could be done the night before. After many late nights and bad grades I realized this class was much different. Even if it means only outlining or prewriting a paper,cod some type of work on an assignment a few days ahead. Because in the end, the teacher is always right and they will not accept a late paper. Don't try to argue them on this point. Lastly, realize that this class is an amazing opportunity. I was able to learn so much about myself and many aspects of my life that I would not trade this experience for anything. Threw all the work and many late nights I was able to walk away unscathed with so much knew knowledge. I learned to love this class and I know you will too.
I completely agree with the fact that it is nearly impossible to write a paper the night before and receive a decent grade. With Dr. Pam, I quickly found out that time management was going to be completely essential in order for me to make it through the class. I absolutely loved the syllabuses that she gave us, because that is simply the way that I like to organize everything. I was able to plan around my work schedule, my tennis schedule, and any other events that would require me to complete an assignment early. I learned so much about planning and making sure that each assignment was completed on time. But not only did this allow me to complete everything on time, but it gave me enough time to arrange my thoughts instead of cramming everything together. Learning to manage a schedule is definitely one of the most rewarding lessons that I have learned this year.
As a student who has just completed the AP Language course, I can honestly say that, despite the struggles I faced during the year, the class has been an incredibly awarding experience. However, there are a few things I wish I had known prior to taking the class, and I think that this knowledge should be passed on to prospective AP Lang students. Firstly, do not be afraid of the class. The more you worry about it, the worse the experience will be for you. Enter into the year with an open mind, and be ready to learn a lot. Ultimately, you will find yourself becoming much more prepared for college. Numerous studies have shown that students who take AP courses in high school adjust much easier to the rigor of university courses when moving on to college. Looking back, I realize that I made the class out to be much more wretched than it actually was in the beginning. While AP Lang is much more advanced than most high school classes, it is certainly not impossible. It is normal for you to feel stressed out at times, especially when you feel as though you are drowning in 5 page essays and rhetorical appeals. Nevertheless, you have to know that you are capable. As my mom always says "you can only do what you can do." Don't expect everything to be perfect all of the time - there's no room for learning that way! Secondly, it is imperative that you leave your bad mood and contempt for past teachers at the door, because there is simply no room for them in the AP Lang classroom. The teacher is simply attempting to challenge you, and if you choose to spend your days complaining about how everything is "unfair" and how the teacher simply "hates you," you can't expect to get very far. It's all about your attitude. Giving up just to spite the teacher is not going to prove anything. It is only going to hurt your grade, and more importantly your ability to learn. Ask the teacher for help if you need it - she really does want you to excel! The final piece of advice I can to give you is to stop complaining about everything and just do it! Sitting around agonizing about all of the homework you have is not going to get it done any quicker. I admit, my classmates and I spent a good sum of the year complaining about all of the "stupid philosophy essays" and the "boring, repetitive bookwork." However, when we finally accepted the workload and engaged ourselves in it, we ended up learning so much more than we ever intended to. And it was all because our perspectives changed. And PLEASE do not use the excuse that you don't have time. You ALWAYS have time. The key is to prioritize. Maybe this means sacrificing the Pretty Little Liars season finale, or waking up in the morning with only four hours of sleep. But you do have time, you just have to make room. This year's AP Lang class was certainly an experience, with both its high and low points. However, I am confident now that I will be able to move on to my senior year and beyond, using not only the knowledge that I have gained, but also the skills and work ethic I have developed to navigate my way through.
You gave some excellent advice, Mary, and I decided to comment on your blog the last time because I saw that nobody else did yet and did not want you to be upset for the whole summer! I was so worked up about this class that I started to cancel my plans before the year even started. I looked at the major works data sheets and panicked to the point where I completely redid my schedule to make the other classes easy(which was my biggest regret because senior year is going to be terrible). I worked myself up way too much. My favorite piece of advice that you gave was when you said that complaining was pointless and that it is easier to "just do it." You can get a lot more out of this class if your attitude is not in the gutter. I did complain a lot about school and still do, but that is natural. I complain but it is not real; I do not try to get out of what I have to do. I am so happy that I am done with this my last blog comment this year! Yay! P.S. This does seem like a memorial with all of the Dr. Pam talk. I do not like it.
Mary, I really appreciate your advice about not letting teachers getting to you and not being spiteful towards them. I will be the first one to admit that Dr. Pam has hurt my feeling in the past and I hold a grudge towards her, but at the same time I believe that she did what she had to do as a teacher and make everyone a better writer. I appreciate her a lot more now than I did in the past, that's for sure. I think that we all went into this class scared as well, when in reality, it is just a harder English class. It is simply preparing us for college. This class really has done so much for me and I don't think I will ever forget it.
I joined AP Language and Composition because I knew I was good at English and I love to be challenged, because I knew that if I truly put my heart and soul into something, I could succeed in it. I was right, because even through some moments of doubt, I believe that this class has made me not only a stronger writer, but a stronger person. The first piece of advice I have to offer is to not take yourself too seriously. Just because you are taking an AP course does not mean that you have to be a perfectionist in everything you do. If you never fail, you will never benefit. Also, when you think that there is only one way to do things, you completely ignore the main purpose of the class, which is to think critically. The second piece of advice I would make is to never let anyone set your worth. I started out as an under dog in this class when I was blatantly told that I was not someone who should take an AP English course. I proved them wrong by taking it anyways. I was told that my writing was only subpar by Dr. Pam and I let that destroy me inside. I let her define me as a writer when I should pushed my anger towards something productive. I learned, though, that other people's comment should not impact you unless they are hopeful. Never let criticism get to your heart. The third piece of advice I can offer is to fake it until you make it. I heard that phase for the first time this year and I honestly believe that you can center your entire work ethic around it. For example, I do not think I could have cared less about Socrates and his allegories, but I pretended that I knew what was going on and that I liked it. It made it easier to get through and it made me feel smarter. I learned so many things from this class. If someone were to tell me that I was going to become so attached to a class, I would have laughed at you. It is true, however. In a way, we are a family. Mrs. Messineo is our mom, Dr. Pam was that aunt who constantly pesters you at family dinners about where you are going to college and why you are single, but we love her anyways, and that class becomes your illegitimate siblings. Once you are in that class, you form such strong bonds with people who will only get your jokes about the AP Exam, among other things. The last piece of advice I have to offer is to cherish time with your "family" and to get as much as you can out of this class.
Jenna I like how you said "if you never fail, you will never benefit" because by having marks and errors on your essays and papers you will never learn the correct methods. In previous years I would receive high grades on my essays so I always thought that I was a decent writer, but when a first wrote and essay in a AP Language and Composition I had marks all over my paper and the grade was not the norm. But after making corrections and learning from my mistakes I have become a much better writer than I was before. I believe that these small failures end up being successes because you are learning from your mistakes.
When I first signed up for the class I was prepared and ready for the AP Language and Composition class to start in the fall of my junior year. I was ready to improve my writing and to prepare myself for a college course. That was until I told some of my upper class men friends. They told me stories upon stories that made me think about what I was getting myself into. I tried not to let them get into my head but deep down inside, I knew they were right. In the first part of the school year, I had a bit of adjusting to do because of the advanced level of the class. I remember getting my first paper back and I was mortified! The grade I received was nothing like what I usually receive. I did not know what to do. My essays were low scoring, my stress level went up from the work, and I began to believe that I was not ready for such a course. That was until I learned key strategies and mindsets to help put me on the right path to learn and develop my skills as a writer. First thing to success in this class is organization. Get a big binder and some folders because there will be a lot of work being done and many times you will need to reference to old papers for guidance. Also, another organization tip, label all of your essays and blogs!! I did not do this until the end of the year, and let me tell you trying to do my semester portfolio was a long process because I could not find the right essays. Organization is very important and vital! Time management is also very vital in this class. With a lot of work, every student needs time management to allow themselves the proper balance between homework and enough hours of sleep because no matter what there will be some late nights, especially if you are taking other harder course such as Human Anatomy and Physiology. Do not do an essay the night before it is due! It is very stressful and you do not get out as much as you can from writing the essay quickly. Writing is a process to learn from, not something just to get done because it is due. Use skills you have developed over the year to assist you throughout the year such as note-taking, outlining, and proof reading when writing essays and doing other homework because these skills become further developed in the process and new skills will take off. In the beginning it is hard to get used to a new time management. I received very little sleep but as the year progressed my skills in management allowed me to have reasonable hours of sleep. Lastly, the mindset you have to learn is key to success. Mindset is everything. You must have an attitude to learn and must accept some failures because they are inevitable. Grades matter but what is more important than the grades is how much you learned and how much you took in from this course. That is why there is such a weight on this course. Each quarter I could see my grade improve because I am learning. In years before I would get "A"s on my essays, but the first essay I received back it was in the 70s. I was very upset, but I learned from that and learned that writing is a process and that you must "lose some to win some." Good luck to all upcoming AP Language and Composition students! May you learn a lot and may you draw great and meaningful experiences from this class. Good luck, have fun, and learn lots!!
Sydney, I think that time management was one of the most important aspects of this class that I needed to conquer sooner. I, too, had to try and figure out HAP in addition to AP Lang, which led to a lot of long nights. I also agree that it was a win some, lose some situation with this class. Sometimes, it was just harder than other times to get a paper just right, but in the end I feel like the grade did not matter as much as what I got out of it. This class taught me so many things, but I feel like the grading importance was the most important.
Sydney, time management is key. I used to just write essays at midnight and finish them in a matter of like half an hour. This class though changed that entirely. I tried it twice, and each time I was up until like three am. Not a good time. And amazingly, as soon as I started doing essays at like 7:00 pm two days in advance, I'd get much better grades. I also like how you pointed out how important mindset is. If you have a terrible mindset, you will fail. There is no question about that, I know I had to change my mindset multiple times in order to succeed. So all in all, that was great advice. And...well...this is my last reply of the year. So I'm kind of throwing a party in my head. This great. Can't wait till next year to do them all again.
Sydney, time management was also very hard for me to figure out at first. Because this was my first year taking AP classes, I struggles with finding time to do all my work for the class. It took me several weeks to figure out how to manage my time between AP Language and AP Biology. One of my biggest points to upcoming students is that they need to manage their time correctly if they expect to succeed.
Well...this class is something else. I was actually just reading a paper on transcendental numbers, and how they seem to sort of "transcend" mathematics. In the same way, this class seems to almost "transcend" other classes offered at ECC, as it seems only AP Bio and HAP rival AP Lang on a difficulty scale. When I was a sophomore, I heard the warnings. All of the juniors told me how awful it was and how I was going to fail. I pretty much just rejected everything they had to say because I had cruised through all of my previous English classes. This class really provided an eye opening experience. The first piece of advice I would like to give is just to not give up. The going will get tough quickly. The first day of AP Lang, Dr. Pam gave all of us a giant syllabus outlining exactly when all these different assignments will be due, the dates of exams, and all this other stuff. It was actually really scary to be handed the giant syllabus. Most other class' syllabi are only a page or two long. This one was multiple front and back pages. Then, our first paper was due the next day, which I proceeded to fail. A paper was due two days later, and I failed that one. It wasn't until my fourth paper that I finally got a passing grade. Eventually it did end up getting better. I didn't end up failing ap Lang. So you just got to hang in there. The next thing I want to say is to use a binder. I used a folder, but that quickly broke after being overly stuffed with papers. I never did end up getting a binder, and I'm really quite depressed that I didn't. I still am super unorganized and I just probably would have been so much better off if I had heeded the advice given to me on day one. The next thing I want to say is just to be in class as much as possible. If you miss too much class, it will be very tough to ever get made up. There is so much work involved, missing a couple of assignments will drag your grade down very quickly and you don't want that. Passing ap Lang with flying colors is always the goal, but if you don't do assignments or just miss too much class, that will not happen. I have two more pieces of advice. So just hang in there with me. So, this may be tough for you to swallow, but you should definitely take the AP Lang Exam. It was really tough, yes. I would never do it again, yes. I cried a little inside, yes. But you should still take the freakin exam. For one thing, that's the only way you'll get 1.1 weight. And secondly, it is a really good experience. You have to take a practice exam for your final, so you might as well take the real thing to maybe skip an English class in college. Finally, have fun with the class. It sucks at times. There will be times when you just want to chuck you're books across the room and then flip the table you were working on. That's understandable. But you learn so much about writing and yourself that it's actually quite amazing. It's like an English class and a psychology class all in one. Ou learn exactly what you are made of and whether or not you actually are college ready. So at one point, you just kinda say, I am ready. Then you stop stressing out and you just do your work. If you spend all your time dreading the class, it'll just be worse. So just have a positive attitude about it and you'll end up being fine. So with that, I'm signing out from blogs for the very last time. I wish you all the best of luck, so have a good time with it.
Well Gizzy, unlike you, I had no prior knowledge as to how hard this class was going to be. No one ever told me that this class would be almost impossible. I never talked to the juniors to ask them how hard the class was. I literally walked onto a minefield without knowing it. I struggled for a really long time and I thought that I was going to fail, until Mrs. Messineo came back. I'm both happy and sad that this class is over. I'm happy that I don't have to do any more work, but I'm sad that I won't get to have any more inside AP Lang jokes. No more Cowboys or snails, no more Joice Carol Oats, nothing. I just want to say thanks for everything everyone. I have no regrets.
I agree, Gizzy, it really is like a psychology class and an English all in one. I can definitely say I learned a lot about myself and even my classmates. It allowed me to dig deeper into other people's minds and see other people's thinking processes. Not only this, but I have really noticed how people's different lives change their opinions and arguments. It is quite amazing to be able to look beyond the smoke argument and find out why the minds think the way they do.
Dear next year's AP English Language and Composition class, I can personally assure you that next year's English course will be the hardest class you have ever taken in your high school career. If you are not prepared for this class, you are most likely going to fail. I am writing this letter to you to make sure that you do not have to deal with the problems that I dealt with. First thing's first, DO NOT WAIT TO DO THE SUMMER WORK!!!!! I swear to you if you don't read the books durning the summer and wait till the last week to read them, you are setting yourself up for failure. And trust me, they aren't of sparknotes... I've already looked. I waited till the last minute to read the books. I think that Seabiscuit is the only book that I finished. I read the books... But I kinda skimmed over some of the chapters. Trust me, if you want to start off good in this class, read the books the moment that Mrs. Messineo gives them to you. Oh, and if you don't understand how to do the Major Works Data Sheets, don't worry. You can email Mrs. Messineo and she will help you with them. If you still don't understand how to do them, that's ok because I didn't either. So please, don't wait until the last minute to read the books. Second thing, go out to Walmart and buy several boxes of tissues. There will be nights... that you... will cry... for HOURS. This does NOT exclude the boys. Boys, let me tell you what, you think that you're too "manly" to ever cry, that idea stops here. This class could seriously take an atheist and make them cry to God. You will be up at all hours of the night trying to finish the homework that was assigned. You will be so stressed out that you will cry. You will be sleep deprived. You will no longer get to hang out with your friends because this class consumes your life. You will get into fights with your parents to try and get you out of the class, but they'll be like "you signed up for it, now you have to finish it." You will, however, start an AP Lang group chat and talk about Cowboys riding snails, only then to have iMessage removed from your iPads by the tech team. Trust me, you will need tissues. Ok, so far I've only mentioned the rough times in AP Lang, but I assure you that this class will change your life for the better. Firstly, once you pass the class, it will count for college credit so you won't have to take it when you are in college; #noenglishclassthefirstyearofcollege. Other than that, this class will increase your intelligence level by a lot. You will be smarter than all of the other people who did not take AP Lang. You will be able to pick out their logical fallacies when they are speaking! Isn't it great knowing that you are smarter than the others in your class?It will also help you to write papers better and faster. If you use to write a two page paper in one to two hours, now you can write it in thirty minutes, yay! So if you just so happened to forget that you had a two page paper due for AP Lang witch is second period, you can easily get it done during AP chem. But I recommend not waiting till the morning that it's due to type the paper, it would be less stressful and you wouldn't need your tissues for that day, until more homework is assigned. AP Lang will really help you in the long run. So, next year's AP Lang class, I wish you the best, and if you follow this advice you'll do just fine. One last piece of advice; express your opinion and just have fun. This class isn't made to make your life stressful, it's made to help you in the future. Have fun and good luck.
Well Buchs, I wish I would've actually read the summer books, because that got me started off really bad. I actually did read Endurance. I kinda skimmed through Angela's Ashes. I just could not read Seabuisuit. But I really did feel bad I never ended up reading it...anyways I liked your shout out to the boys who think they will never cry during this class. I thought the same way...but that ended up changing really quickly as...yeah...just that was a bad time. And wasn't it fun to write papers during ap Chem? Just...good times haha. And thanks buchs. I'd like to think I did something that affected you positively in this class. So...what you said on my blog, I would repeat. But...no. So it's been a pleasure buchs. Have a great blog-less summer
I agree, Buchs! Tissues are a necessity. There were many times I cried all night and had a kingdom of used tissues. But I bet everyone did not notice the physical signs because what toy forgot to mention is the tip to keep spoons in the freezer. Then in the morning when your eyes are swollen to the size of an alien's, you can grab them, put them on your eyes, then the swelling will go down. That is right. That is why you all saw me with normal eyes all year around. This class is mainly just stressful because it pushes you to limits you have never been challenged to go to before. In the end, it is worth everything because those saltwater tears are now water droplets of wisdom.
I joined the AP English class because my mom made me. I am a painfully slow reader and have an extremely small vocabulary because I read crappy teenager books, if any, in middle school. I was afraid of the class because I heard that Dr. Pam was a very challenging teacher, and I almost cried during the philosophy unit that started the year. I know now that all of my hard work paid off and I also know that anybody can complete this course if they listen to these tips, wether English is their subject or not.
ReplyDeleteFirst, get a big binder. I started out with a one inch binder and a pack of loose leaf but had to go back to the store to upgrade to a five-incher after it was filled in one month. Although I did not use my binder after Dr. Pam left, I could have stayed much more organized if I did. Since the class next year will have one teacher, I would strongly suggest a binder over a folder.
Next, one should avoid fighting with the teacher for their own mistakes. It is often hard for a person to admit their mistakes in front of a teacher, but it needs to be done. If a person forgets to print their paper to hand in and it is not accepted after the due date, do not fight and make excuses. It is easier to take the zero than to get the entire class rallied up about it. The teacher has reasons for what she does and will teach you to be responsible.
Although a person should not fight with the teacher, he or she should form their own opinions and express them through their writing. Writing is powerful and can persuade someone in amazing ways. A person is not supposed to write to impress with a style that is not their own but should instead throw out their ideas onto paper and learn throughout the year to put them in order. A person must be themselves and write in their own way.
The most important advice that I can share with the upcoming class is that learning is not about grades. Learning is about finding talent and using it to help others later in life. I have 142 Pages documents, two folders, and a four inch binder filled with grades. Besides the blogs, I rarely ever got a 98% or above but I am certain that I learned more than I ever had in classes where my grade is higher. Grades in this class will not be lies, but the learning is what matters anyway. I know a person who took the AP Language class in a different school and had an average of 97% in the class. This person went to take the national exam and got a 1 on it, which is a failing grade. This shows the lack of knowledge gained from the class experience. For our practice exam this year, nobody got a 1. We all learned something despite our treacherous grades!
I am so happy that I took AP language! It was hard for me to get used to the classwork and switch teachers because of their different styles, but overall it was a wonderful and exciting experience. I got to know my classmates a lot better and have also adjusted my attitude towards learning. I hope that this blog will teach next year's class what I had to find out the hard way.
I like how you included a paragraph about arguing with the teacher about accepting a late paper. I think it is important to accept mistakes, even if it means getting a zero. The responsibility to turn in homework assignments rests with the student, and they must follow the teacher's rules. If teachers accepted late work, there would be no reason to even assign due dates. I also liked how you followed this paragraph with one about arguing through writing. It made a clear distinction as to where it is acceptable to argue with a teacher. Writing is definitely the place to express your ideas and opinions, and to argue about your beliefs.
DeleteYou had many great points for the future students Grace. Many of us talked about how having a binder will keep you organized and it make everything easier on them. Something very important that the future class needs to know is that it isn't not about the grade, it is what you get out of the class. I'm sure this is the hardest to adjust to because everyother teacher is all about the grades. I know for a fact that each and everyone one of us got a lot out of the class, and hopefully the future students will too.
DeleteIt is true that writing one's own opinions is important. So many students simply write what they think their teacher wants to hear, but this is not the purpose of writing. One should write to present innovational perspectives that cause another to think in a different way. If a piece of writing is convincing enough, it should at least cause the reader to inspect the opposing side of the argument. It is okay for a student and a teacher to disagree. In fact, I remember how often Dr. Pam told us that. She would always say, "I love when students disagree with me!" We all laughed when she said it, but then we realized how much she meant it. Good writing should influence people to seek alternate explanations, and to formulate their own opinions based on another's work.
Delete(I just realized that I keep reminiscing back to the good times with Dr. Pam as if she "is no longer with us." It seems like this is some sort of memorial blog. Hehe.)
Grace, creating a binder was the best thing that I ever for this class. I am not naturally organized so by doing this I avoided losing anything. Being organized is pivotal in this class and that would be one of the points that I would stress to the new members of the class. Losing papers and being unorganized can only only have negative impacts.
DeleteWell, I guess I should start off with the fact that I only took AP Lang because I was going to take it at Dutch anyway. I had no clue who taught it at ECC or that we had to do summer reading. Boy, was I in for a rude awakening! As soon as I got to school, we started talking about these philosophers, like Plato and Socrates. I had never heard of them until now!
ReplyDeleteYou should get a binder for AP lang because pretty much everyone gets them. And, you get tons of papers, worksheets, essays and projects. You have to find a way to organize all this stuff, and a binder is helpful. Dr. Pam requested us to have a binder, so I got one. Oh, and if you are afraid of taking class because of Dr. Pam, don't worry. She only substitutes sometimes; and its not that bad. When Mrs. Messineo came I lost my organization a bit! But, you will have her all year round so you can organize your binders by unit! That way you can just look up a unit and find out about what you learned.
You all have probably heard we do a lot of writing in this class, and that's true! I remember the first paper I got back was a 78%. I could not believe it! I had never done that bad in English before! But, what you need to know about is that this class really isn't about grades. Both Dr. Pam and Mrs. Messineo stressed that this class was about learning. And as long as you learn, your grades will go up! It may seem like the first few failures are a tell tale sign that you can't do it, but eventually it will get better. Remember to make mistakes, but learn from them. You can cry a little if you need to, but be ready to be back at it the next day! And remember, you will be given a lot of work. But, think of it as you will learn how to manage a difficult course load, which you will no doubt encounter in college. So really, it is just preparing you for your future.
Unlike this year, we did not have to pay $50 to take the class, and we weren't required to take the exam, but you are! I was very prepared for the exam. On our practice exam (AKA final), everybody scored higher than a 1. A 1 is falling, so our class did pretty good, especially when we still had 2 weeks to work on it and practice it more. And if you are really worried, the college board has some free practice materials for you. When in doubt, ask Mrs. Messineo, because she is always there to help you. And if you ever would fail the exam, the worst thing that could happen is that you have to retake the class in college. But, the college course can't teach the experience you have from AP Lang. So look at it as an opportunity to prepare for college and sharpen your skills. Good Luck to all of you!
I like how you mentioned the summer reading and philosophers. Summer reading is a critical way to prepare for the class. If students don't do it, then they will probably struggle for the first few days. They will not be prepared for the other readings they are sure to encounter. In addition, philosophy is a subject that doesn't appeal to very many people. The philosophers' writings are complicated, and require extreme critical thinking. They seem archaic and impossible. However, summer reading an philosophy are the two first subjects that students will learn about, so it is important that they are ready to face them.
DeleteIt is true, the more you fail, and if you learn from your failures, the better you succeed. That is something many students need to realize for this class. They need to understand that it is very important to learn from your mistakes no matter how bad the grade was on the paper. Honestly, rewrites are your best friend. They allow you to learn from your mistakes, fix them, and receive a little bit of a better grade. I think that next years students will be very ready for the course.
DeleteOlivia, I loved how you mentioned that it's ok to get a 78 on a paper. Grades really don't matter in this class. Well they do, but it's more important to learn than to get good grades. If you get good grades, but do not learn the material, then the grade is really pointless. Grades are really stupid because school shouldn't be about a percentage, it should be about how much someone has learned.
DeleteGoing into AP Language is not something anyone does without a little advice. Good advice will help prepare you for what you're getting into and ensure that you are grounded at the beginning of the year. This course is very different from any other English course offered at school, and requires a different kind of preparation.
ReplyDeleteThe first item you will want is a very large binder or several smaller binders. Over the course of the year, I filled two two-inch binders, one one-inch binder, and a folder with papers from this class. A binder will allow you to organize your papers so you can easily find them when you need them. Organization is imperative in AP Language because if you lose a paper, you will not be getting it back. Binders are the easiest form of organization because they can house any amount of papers that you are willing to cram inside without breaking apart. If you don't want to put holes in your papers, sheet protectors are a lifesaver. I preferred this method because it was easier to put papers into my binders quickly. In addition, binders can easily be divided into sections. There are specially made dividers, but a folder is a great way to divide papers and get a little storage space too.
Be prepared to struggle. Your first few grades will not be pretty. Mrs. Messineo constantly tries to "push you one more rung up the ladder." She is not afraid of a red pen, and you should get used to seeing it on your papers. No matter what level you write at, she knows you can do better because there is always room for improvement. When she corrects a paper, look hard at what she writes on it. She is making these corrects for your benefits, so take advantage of them. By understanding how your essay could be better, you will know what to do on the next one. Her guidance will help you learn, and learning is the ultimate goal of this class. This is an AP class, and in such a class grades don't really matter. Your grade is absolutely nothing compared to what you learn and whether you can use it.
Learning is the fundamental goal of any class. In this course, it is the only thing that matters. If you learn everything you can, you are sure to succeed on the AP exam. The exam is a cumulation of everything you know, and requires you to utilize your skills. Taking the exam makes you realize how much you've progressed throughout the year, and how much stronger your writing is. In addition, you will have learned other valuable skills. These skills are also used in college and throughout the rest of high school, so they have unlimited potential.
Writing is a way to personal communicate, so never write anything that does not reflect you. Mrs. Messineo does not ever want you to write something that you do not believe. If a paper is an opinion paper, write what you think. She couldn't care less if you don't think like she does; she just wants you to support your opinion. Through your writing, she will get to know you extremely well. This was something I found disconcerting. On the first paper we wrote for her, she handed it back with a paragraph written at the end of it. It was a description of who we were, and what our personalities were like. It was perfectly accurate too. She knows you, so just write what you think. Writing anything else is simply writing badly.
I have never had to work hard to pass any English course that I have ever taken. Except, of course, AP Language. In other English courses, I was always able to write great essays, understand pieces of writing, and memorize vocabulary words. Looking back, all of these attributes seem insignificant when I compare them to what I can do now because of AP Language. If anyone is taking this course because they think this class will be another English course to excel at easily, I am here to tell you to wake up. AP Language will challenge you, and make you think hard about subjects that are wonderfully complex. Be prepared to struggle sometimes, but also be prepared to succeed in the long run. I hope you can use this advice to make the class a little less intimidating.
DeleteAshley, I agree that organization is key to this class. Having a binder for this class was one of the best decisions because you have access to all essays and can stores additional papers. I remember how easy it was to know what essays needed to be in my portfolio because they were all there and in order. Another organizational tip is to label essays in Pages because I did not and that made it quite difficult to find. I believe organization is really important in this class.
DeleteI decided on taking AP English as a challenge. I heard from all the people that said how much work it was, and I was ready to have a busy Junior year. I guess you could say that I knew it was going to be busy, but I did not experience it like many others did. I came home from school everyday and sat down right after school and did all my homework. I also worked ahead. This allowed me to not stay up in the long nights of the hour like some of my fellow students did.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was uneasy about a topic for a paper, I took the extra time and looked up some information to get myself to be known with the subject. This helped me a lot. When I was done with a paper, I would print it out and say "this is the best I could do." This allowed me not to be upset when I received a bad grade, but that did not happen very often.
This class taught me to be organized. I started out the year with a binder with nice page dividers and now I plan to use binders all the time. They really help for staying organized.
I came from Public School like many know, but what I didn't know was that my background in sentence structure and what verbs and everything we're was really bad. I don't recall every leaning about anything like that in middle school, so this was a major struggle for me. Looking back, I'm so glad that I took AP Language in order to help myself in learning sentence structure and everything wrapped inside it.
With taking AP Language I also took AP Biology. Many told me that I was going to have a really hard time with both of these classes. Time management was key. I knew that I was going to have to give up some of the things I loved most in order to do my best in both of these classes. So I didn't participate in winter cheerleading. This was a terrible decision on my part and I regret it almost everyday. I know now looking back on the winter season that I could surely have made my grades and do cheerleading, but what is in the past in gone and the future is ahead.
This class prepares you for the college level. When it is said that everyone going to college should take the course, it's 100% true. It will let you leave high school with a less worried mine set becuase AP classes prepare you for this. It's hard to believe that this year is over. What am I supposed to do everyday in the summer? No homework? No random group messages about what party we can have in the morning. No more of Nick's delicious snacks. No more of the wonderful AP language class that we had every second period together. Goodbye AP Language 2nd period. We will miss you.
To next years students, treat our second period class well. We believe in you.
We do believe in them! I liked how you mentioned the fun parts of AP lang, because sometimes I think the sophomores just associate it with tons of writing everyday and no fun. But we do have some fun, and it really isn't that bad. This class is great for teaching time management, which everyone will need. I too had some problems with sentence structure and I also had problems on what person to write from. But this class has helped me with that a lot!
DeleteThroughout our lives, we all hear some bull crap, cliche lines about taking the road less traveled and not jumping off bridges even if our friends are. I really love writing, but I was hesitant about taking AP Language because most my close friends were all taking accelerated English instead. I am really awkward In situations without my friends, but I decided to not jump off the AP Language bridge. It was certainly the less popular choice between the two with a whopping eleven people in class, but the road does not matter. The destination is what matters, and AP Language dropped me off at a destination where I am smarter and the grass is greener.
ReplyDeleteBe ready to have everything you thought in text citations were and completely learn it differently. Thankfully, Mrs. Messiness taught me how and when to correctly use in text citations. This is a very good skill because I could get kicked out of college for plagiarism if I did to learn this skill. Considering three of the five college I am considering are 1,530 miles away,700 miles away, and over 5,300 miles away. I do not think my parents would be too overjoyed to get a call from me to pick me up at the airport without sending me back. In fact, I would probably just have to turn my into a hermit and retire into the forests there and never be heard from again. So I suggest learning this useful skill or perhaps you will be forced into the recluse life.
Be prepared to not be able to wing everything. This class has also taught me a lot about time management. My natural style of managing is to usually just wing it, but that never ever will work in any AP course. This is personally beneficial to me because I will be able to adapt easier to doing college work along with extra activities. I want to be able to do cheerleading and possibly a few clubs. Now, I am more accustomed to a more vigorous work load and I know how to manage time instead of just randomly going with the flow until it felt convenient not to.
It is also important to prepare for not being able to go out with your friends as much as you did before, but there will always be summer, as long as summer reading is a priority at some point. There were times I sadly had to bail on plans with my friends or not plan on going to assure papers got done correctly and were not rushed or procrastinated. This is not a bad thing. It taught me how to prioritize.
Most importantly, it is imperative to keep an open mind in this class. Everyone is going to have slightly or drastically different opinions. Learn why they think this way because it will make you a more educated and open citizen. It is important to learn how to respectfully deal with different opinions and beliefs without wanting to eradicate them for it. That would make you like Hitler, and that is not cool at all. This will also broaden how you view the world and allow you to see beyond your previous capacity.
These are my wise opinions I have formed from taking this course through the year. I wish I could give organization tips, but everyone knows that would be a joke because I could not organize anything to save my life. This class is not all the horror stories it is made out to be. Certainly not with Mrs. Messineo anyways. There will be times you love this class but also times you hate it and want to just float yourself down the Elk Creek, but the outcome is worth the work and struggle. Not only will it benefit your mind, but colleges absolutely prefer a lower grade in an AP class over a lower grade in a regular course. Seeing you challenged yourself is appreciated by colleges. When I did a preview program at Kent University, the woman in charge of admissions stressed this point. So be open to the criticism to make yourself w better rude to and citizen. This course may start out seeming like a speeding car out of control, but just hold on and buckle up! You will be safe!
Lauren, I love your imagery in this blog! When I started, I did feel like a car a spinning out of control. I feel a little bit like this now as I study for finals and near the end of year, because I feel like it always gets hard again at the end. But like Kent State said, it is better to have challenged yourself and not have done as well as you would have liked then to take an easy class and ace it. You always learn more about yourself when you have a little bit of struggle, and that was the case for most of us in AP lang.
DeleteI remember how big of a deal it used to be when we had to intext cite a paper! I thought it was so hard and time consuming! Also, I definitely agree that you cannot write a crappy paper the night before it is due because it will be completely annihilated. I remember when Dr. Pam corrected my first paper and it had so many purple pen marks on it that I could not find the grade. My favorite point that you made was the one about listening to other's arguments. Learning how to express my views made me listen more to the thoughts of others, which is really important. I knew everyone in the class before it started, but by writing with them and going through terrible projects and classes with everyone, I got to know everyone a lot more and respect what they had to say.
DeleteMy first impression of AP Lang came when I received an email containing the syllabus for the class. At first, I panicked, but after thinking abut it extensively I realized that I could do this. Also, I did not want to take a step backwards in my education by staying in a normal level English class. I was ready to take on the challenge of the class because I knew it would be a learning experience and could only help me improve.
ReplyDeleteI would advise upcoming students to step out of their comfort zones. Some of my best papers came when I took on a topic that I was uncomfortable with or not yet educated on. By doing this I was able to learn something new about the topic and myself as a writer and thinker. Also, thinking outside of the box will help an individual develop their own thoughts and help them as a citizen in our society. Of everyone wrote the same papers and pretended to have the same idea, nothing would be accomplished. It's very obvious that everyone in our class did not have the same ideas, so why pretend like we did in a paper? This class is all about thinking and that can't happen when we pretend to believe only what we think we are supposed to.
In AP Language, I discovered quickly that I wasn't always going to get a perfect grade. At the beginning, Doctor Pam kind of wrecked my lifestyle of always getting A's on assignments. However, this is a college class and I do belief that if this would not have happened I wouldn't be where I am at in my writing now. As Mrs. Messiness has said many times, colleges would rather see that you challenged yourself by taking a college level course and gotten an average grade than if you had taken a regular English class. I guess the point I am trying to make is challenge yourself. You can't go forward if you don't take the first step. If you look at this class as a whole, you only see the pile of work and the pages of the syllabus filled with assignments you have to do. But this class takes baby steps, moving from one point to another and building off the skills you learn. Just be open to what you will be learning and approach every assignment and situation with an open mind.
DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE NIGHT BEFORE TO WRITE A PAPER. This was the lesson I learned the fastest. Before taking this class I was used to think that all my homework could be done the night before. After many late nights and bad grades I realized this class was much different. Even if it means only outlining or prewriting a paper,cod some type of work on an assignment a few days ahead. Because in the end, the teacher is always right and they will not accept a late paper. Don't try to argue them on this point.
Lastly, realize that this class is an amazing opportunity. I was able to learn so much about myself and many aspects of my life that I would not trade this experience for anything. Threw all the work and many late nights I was able to walk away unscathed with so much knew knowledge. I learned to love this class and I know you will too.
I completely agree with the fact that it is nearly impossible to write a paper the night before and receive a decent grade. With Dr. Pam, I quickly found out that time management was going to be completely essential in order for me to make it through the class. I absolutely loved the syllabuses that she gave us, because that is simply the way that I like to organize everything. I was able to plan around my work schedule, my tennis schedule, and any other events that would require me to complete an assignment early. I learned so much about planning and making sure that each assignment was completed on time. But not only did this allow me to complete everything on time, but it gave me enough time to arrange my thoughts instead of cramming everything together. Learning to manage a schedule is definitely one of the most rewarding lessons that I have learned this year.
DeleteAs a student who has just completed the AP Language course, I can honestly say that, despite the struggles I faced during the year, the class has been an incredibly awarding experience. However, there are a few things I wish I had known prior to taking the class, and I think that this knowledge should be passed on to prospective AP Lang students.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, do not be afraid of the class. The more you worry about it, the worse the experience will be for you. Enter into the year with an open mind, and be ready to learn a lot. Ultimately, you will find yourself becoming much more prepared for college. Numerous studies have shown that students who take AP courses in high school adjust much easier to the rigor of university courses when moving on to college. Looking back, I realize that I made the class out to be much more wretched than it actually was in the beginning. While AP Lang is much more advanced than most high school classes, it is certainly not impossible. It is normal for you to feel stressed out at times, especially when you feel as though you are drowning in 5 page essays and rhetorical appeals. Nevertheless, you have to know that you are capable. As my mom always says "you can only do what you can do." Don't expect everything to be perfect all of the time - there's no room for learning that way!
Secondly, it is imperative that you leave your bad mood and contempt for past teachers at the door, because there is simply no room for them in the AP Lang classroom. The teacher is simply attempting to challenge you, and if you choose to spend your days complaining about how everything is "unfair" and how the teacher simply "hates you," you can't expect to get very far. It's all about your attitude. Giving up just to spite the teacher is not going to prove anything. It is only going to hurt your grade, and more importantly your ability to learn. Ask the teacher for help if you need it - she really does want you to excel!
The final piece of advice I can to give you is to stop complaining about everything and just do it! Sitting around agonizing about all of the homework you have is not going to get it done any quicker. I admit, my classmates and I spent a good sum of the year complaining about all of the "stupid philosophy essays" and the "boring, repetitive bookwork." However, when we finally accepted the workload and engaged ourselves in it, we ended up learning so much more than we ever intended to. And it was all because our perspectives changed. And PLEASE do not use the excuse that you don't have time. You ALWAYS have time. The key is to prioritize. Maybe this means sacrificing the Pretty Little Liars season finale, or waking up in the morning with only four hours of sleep. But you do have time, you just have to make room.
This year's AP Lang class was certainly an experience, with both its high and low points. However, I am confident now that I will be able to move on to my senior year and beyond, using not only the knowledge that I have gained, but also the skills and work ethic I have developed to navigate my way through.
You gave some excellent advice, Mary, and I decided to comment on your blog the last time because I saw that nobody else did yet and did not want you to be upset for the whole summer! I was so worked up about this class that I started to cancel my plans before the year even started. I looked at the major works data sheets and panicked to the point where I completely redid my schedule to make the other classes easy(which was my biggest regret because senior year is going to be terrible). I worked myself up way too much. My favorite piece of advice that you gave was when you said that complaining was pointless and that it is easier to "just do it." You can get a lot more out of this class if your attitude is not in the gutter. I did complain a lot about school and still do, but that is natural. I complain but it is not real; I do not try to get out of what I have to do.
DeleteI am so happy that I am done with this my last blog comment this year! Yay!
P.S. This does seem like a memorial with all of the Dr. Pam talk. I do not like it.
Mary, I really appreciate your advice about not letting teachers getting to you and not being spiteful towards them. I will be the first one to admit that Dr. Pam has hurt my feeling in the past and I hold a grudge towards her, but at the same time I believe that she did what she had to do as a teacher and make everyone a better writer. I appreciate her a lot more now than I did in the past, that's for sure. I think that we all went into this class scared as well, when in reality, it is just a harder English class. It is simply preparing us for college. This class really has done so much for me and I don't think I will ever forget it.
DeleteI joined AP Language and Composition because I knew I was good at English and I love to be challenged, because I knew that if I truly put my heart and soul into something, I could succeed in it. I was right, because even through some moments of doubt, I believe that this class has made me not only a stronger writer, but a stronger person.
ReplyDeleteThe first piece of advice I have to offer is to not take yourself too seriously. Just because you are taking an AP course does not mean that you have to be a perfectionist in everything you do. If you never fail, you will never benefit. Also, when you think that there is only one way to do things, you completely ignore the main purpose of the class, which is to think critically.
The second piece of advice I would make is to never let anyone set your worth. I started out as an under dog in this class when I was blatantly told that I was not someone who should take an AP English course. I proved them wrong by taking it anyways. I was told that my writing was only subpar by Dr. Pam and I let that destroy me inside. I let her define me as a writer when I should pushed my anger towards something productive. I learned, though, that other people's comment should not impact you unless they are hopeful. Never let criticism get to your heart.
The third piece of advice I can offer is to fake it until you make it. I heard that phase for the first time this year and I honestly believe that you can center your entire work ethic around it. For example, I do not think I could have cared less about Socrates and his allegories, but I pretended that I knew what was going on and that I liked it. It made it easier to get through and it made me feel smarter.
I learned so many things from this class. If someone were to tell me that I was going to become so attached to a class, I would have laughed at you. It is true, however. In a way, we are a family. Mrs. Messineo is our mom, Dr. Pam was that aunt who constantly pesters you at family dinners about where you are going to college and why you are single, but we love her anyways, and that class becomes your illegitimate siblings. Once you are in that class, you form such strong bonds with people who will only get your jokes about the AP Exam, among other things. The last piece of advice I have to offer is to cherish time with your "family" and to get as much as you can out of this class.
Jenna I like how you said "if you never fail, you will never benefit" because by having marks and errors on your essays and papers you will never learn the correct methods. In previous years I would receive high grades on my essays so I always thought that I was a decent writer, but when a first wrote and essay in a AP Language and Composition I had marks all over my paper and the grade was not the norm. But after making corrections and learning from my mistakes I have become a much better writer than I was before. I believe that these small failures end up being successes because you are learning from your mistakes.
DeleteWhen I first signed up for the class I was prepared and ready for the AP Language and Composition class to start in the fall of my junior year. I was ready to improve my writing and to prepare myself for a college course. That was until I told some of my upper class men friends. They told me stories upon stories that made me think about what I was getting myself into. I tried not to let them get into my head but deep down inside, I knew they were right.
ReplyDeleteIn the first part of the school year, I had a bit of adjusting to do because of the advanced level of the class. I remember getting my first paper back and I was mortified! The grade I received was nothing like what I usually receive. I did not know what to do. My essays were low scoring, my stress level went up from the work, and I began to believe that I was not ready for such a course. That was until I learned key strategies and mindsets to help put me on the right path to learn and develop my skills as a writer.
First thing to success in this class is organization. Get a big binder and some folders because there will be a lot of work being done and many times you will need to reference to old papers for guidance. Also, another organization tip, label all of your essays and blogs!! I did not do this until the end of the year, and let me tell you trying to do my semester portfolio was a long process because I could not find the right essays. Organization is very important and vital!
Time management is also very vital in this class. With a lot of work, every student needs time management to allow themselves the proper balance between homework and enough hours of sleep because no matter what there will be some late nights, especially if you are taking other harder course such as Human Anatomy and Physiology. Do not do an essay the night before it is due! It is very stressful and you do not get out as much as you can from writing the essay quickly. Writing is a process to learn from, not something just to get done because it is due. Use skills you have developed over the year to assist you throughout the year such as note-taking, outlining, and proof reading when writing essays and doing other homework because these skills become further developed in the process and new skills will take off. In the beginning it is hard to get used to a new time management. I received very little sleep but as the year progressed my skills in management allowed me to have reasonable hours of sleep.
Lastly, the mindset you have to learn is key to success. Mindset is everything. You must have an attitude to learn and must accept some failures because they are inevitable. Grades matter but what is more important than the grades is how much you learned and how much you took in from this course. That is why there is such a weight on this course. Each quarter I could see my grade improve because I am learning. In years before I would get "A"s on my essays, but the first essay I received back it was in the 70s. I was very upset, but I learned from that and learned that writing is a process and that you must "lose some to win some."
Good luck to all upcoming AP Language and Composition students! May you learn a lot and may you draw great and meaningful experiences from this class. Good luck, have fun, and learn lots!!
Sydney, I think that time management was one of the most important aspects of this class that I needed to conquer sooner. I, too, had to try and figure out HAP in addition to AP Lang, which led to a lot of long nights. I also agree that it was a win some, lose some situation with this class. Sometimes, it was just harder than other times to get a paper just right, but in the end I feel like the grade did not matter as much as what I got out of it. This class taught me so many things, but I feel like the grading importance was the most important.
DeleteSydney, time management is key. I used to just write essays at midnight and finish them in a matter of like half an hour. This class though changed that entirely. I tried it twice, and each time I was up until like three am. Not a good time. And amazingly, as soon as I started doing essays at like 7:00 pm two days in advance, I'd get much better grades. I also like how you pointed out how important mindset is. If you have a terrible mindset, you will fail. There is no question about that, I know I had to change my mindset multiple times in order to succeed. So all in all, that was great advice. And...well...this is my last reply of the year. So I'm kind of throwing a party in my head. This great. Can't wait till next year to do them all again.
DeleteSydney, time management was also very hard for me to figure out at first. Because this was my first year taking AP classes, I struggles with finding time to do all my work for the class. It took me several weeks to figure out how to manage my time between AP Language and AP Biology. One of my biggest points to upcoming students is that they need to manage their time correctly if they expect to succeed.
DeleteWell...this class is something else. I was actually just reading a paper on transcendental numbers, and how they seem to sort of "transcend" mathematics. In the same way, this class seems to almost "transcend" other classes offered at ECC, as it seems only AP Bio and HAP rival AP Lang on a difficulty scale. When I was a sophomore, I heard the warnings. All of the juniors told me how awful it was and how I was going to fail. I pretty much just rejected everything they had to say because I had cruised through all of my previous English classes. This class really provided an eye opening experience.
ReplyDeleteThe first piece of advice I would like to give is just to not give up. The going will get tough quickly. The first day of AP Lang, Dr. Pam gave all of us a giant syllabus outlining exactly when all these different assignments will be due, the dates of exams, and all this other stuff. It was actually really scary to be handed the giant syllabus. Most other class' syllabi are only a page or two long. This one was multiple front and back pages. Then, our first paper was due the next day, which I proceeded to fail. A paper was due two days later, and I failed that one. It wasn't until my fourth paper that I finally got a passing grade. Eventually it did end up getting better. I didn't end up failing ap Lang. So you just got to hang in there.
The next thing I want to say is to use a binder. I used a folder, but that quickly broke after being overly stuffed with papers. I never did end up getting a binder, and I'm really quite depressed that I didn't. I still am super unorganized and I just probably would have been so much better off if I had heeded the advice given to me on day one.
The next thing I want to say is just to be in class as much as possible. If you miss too much class, it will be very tough to ever get made up. There is so much work involved, missing a couple of assignments will drag your grade down very quickly and you don't want that. Passing ap Lang with flying colors is always the goal, but if you don't do assignments or just miss too much class, that will not happen.
I have two more pieces of advice. So just hang in there with me. So, this may be tough for you to swallow, but you should definitely take the AP Lang Exam. It was really tough, yes. I would never do it again, yes. I cried a little inside, yes. But you should still take the freakin exam. For one thing, that's the only way you'll get 1.1 weight. And secondly, it is a really good experience. You have to take a practice exam for your final, so you might as well take the real thing to maybe skip an English class in college.
Finally, have fun with the class. It sucks at times. There will be times when you just want to chuck you're books across the room and then flip the table you were working on. That's understandable. But you learn so much about writing and yourself that it's actually quite amazing. It's like an English class and a psychology class all in one. Ou learn exactly what you are made of and whether or not you actually are college ready. So at one point, you just kinda say, I am ready. Then you stop stressing out and you just do your work. If you spend all your time dreading the class, it'll just be worse. So just have a positive attitude about it and you'll end up being fine. So with that, I'm signing out from blogs for the very last time. I wish you all the best of luck, so have a good time with it.
Well Gizzy, unlike you, I had no prior knowledge as to how hard this class was going to be. No one ever told me that this class would be almost impossible. I never talked to the juniors to ask them how hard the class was. I literally walked onto a minefield without knowing it. I struggled for a really long time and I thought that I was going to fail, until Mrs. Messineo came back. I'm both happy and sad that this class is over. I'm happy that I don't have to do any more work, but I'm sad that I won't get to have any more inside AP Lang jokes. No more Cowboys or snails, no more Joice Carol Oats, nothing. I just want to say thanks for everything everyone. I have no regrets.
DeleteI agree, Gizzy, it really is like a psychology class and an English all in one. I can definitely say I learned a lot about myself and even my classmates. It allowed me to dig deeper into other people's minds and see other people's thinking processes. Not only this, but I have really noticed how people's different lives change their opinions and arguments. It is quite amazing to be able to look beyond the smoke argument and find out why the minds think the way they do.
DeleteDear next year's AP English Language and Composition class,
ReplyDeleteI can personally assure you that next year's English course will be the hardest class you have ever taken in your high school career. If you are not prepared for this class, you are most likely going to fail. I am writing this letter to you to make sure that you do not have to deal with the problems that I dealt with.
First thing's first, DO NOT WAIT TO DO THE SUMMER WORK!!!!! I swear to you if you don't read the books durning the summer and wait till the last week to read them, you are setting yourself up for failure. And trust me, they aren't of sparknotes... I've already looked. I waited till the last minute to read the books. I think that Seabiscuit is the only book that I finished. I read the books... But I kinda skimmed over some of the chapters. Trust me, if you want to start off good in this class, read the books the moment that Mrs. Messineo gives them to you. Oh, and if you don't understand how to do the Major Works Data Sheets, don't worry. You can email Mrs. Messineo and she will help you with them. If you still don't understand how to do them, that's ok because I didn't either. So please, don't wait until the last minute to read the books.
Second thing, go out to Walmart and buy several boxes of tissues. There will be nights... that you... will cry... for HOURS. This does NOT exclude the boys. Boys, let me tell you what, you think that you're too "manly" to ever cry, that idea stops here. This class could seriously take an atheist and make them cry to God. You will be up at all hours of the night trying to finish the homework that was assigned. You will be so stressed out that you will cry. You will be sleep deprived. You will no longer get to hang out with your friends because this class consumes your life. You will get into fights with your parents to try and get you out of the class, but they'll be like "you signed up for it, now you have to finish it." You will, however, start an AP Lang group chat and talk about Cowboys riding snails, only then to have iMessage removed from your iPads by the tech team. Trust me, you will need tissues.
Ok, so far I've only mentioned the rough times in AP Lang, but I assure you that this class will change your life for the better. Firstly, once you pass the class, it will count for college credit so you won't have to take it when you are in college; #noenglishclassthefirstyearofcollege. Other than that, this class will increase your intelligence level by a lot. You will be smarter than all of the other people who did not take AP Lang. You will be able to pick out their logical fallacies when they are speaking! Isn't it great knowing that you are smarter than the others in your class?It will also help you to write papers better and faster. If you use to write a two page paper in one to two hours, now you can write it in thirty minutes, yay! So if you just so happened to forget that you had a two page paper due for AP Lang witch is second period, you can easily get it done during AP chem. But I recommend not waiting till the morning that it's due to type the paper, it would be less stressful and you wouldn't need your tissues for that day, until more homework is assigned. AP Lang will really help you in the long run.
So, next year's AP Lang class, I wish you the best, and if you follow this advice you'll do just fine. One last piece of advice; express your opinion and just have fun. This class isn't made to make your life stressful, it's made to help you in the future. Have fun and good luck.
Well Buchs, I wish I would've actually read the summer books, because that got me started off really bad. I actually did read Endurance. I kinda skimmed through Angela's Ashes. I just could not read Seabuisuit. But I really did feel bad I never ended up reading it...anyways I liked your shout out to the boys who think they will never cry during this class. I thought the same way...but that ended up changing really quickly as...yeah...just that was a bad time. And wasn't it fun to write papers during ap Chem? Just...good times haha. And thanks buchs. I'd like to think I did something that affected you positively in this class. So...what you said on my blog, I would repeat. But...no. So it's been a pleasure buchs. Have a great blog-less summer
DeleteI agree, Buchs! Tissues are a necessity. There were many times I cried all night and had a kingdom of used tissues. But I bet everyone did not notice the physical signs because what toy forgot to mention is the tip to keep spoons in the freezer. Then in the morning when your eyes are swollen to the size of an alien's, you can grab them, put them on your eyes, then the swelling will go down. That is right. That is why you all saw me with normal eyes all year around. This class is mainly just stressful because it pushes you to limits you have never been challenged to go to before. In the end, it is worth everything because those saltwater tears are now water droplets of wisdom.
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