Marcellus High School
Right before the summer of my freshmen year of high school, my family relocated to a small farming community called Marcellus. My mom's family is all from Marcellus so I knew a lot of people in the community. I have a cousin who is my age so I knew many of his friends and was not scared to start at a brand new school. I quickly found myself loving this small, close-knit community. Marcellus is predominately white and I had 80 students in my grade.
Since the community was so small, we didn't have advanced placement classes or students being tracked. If advanced placement classes were offered, I most likely would have been in those classes. Even though I grew rather lazy in high school, I was still excelling in school. I think that advanced placement classes would have been bad for our school because everything was always a competion amongst individuals already, because we all knew everybody. With advanced placement classes, the higher students would talk down to the lower students and the lower students would have felt bad.
I do feel however, feel that some of the students in special education should have been mainstreemed. Many of the students receiving special education services, had higher IQs than those in the general education classes. However, since those students had IEPs, they thought it was best for them to stay in their special education class. Looking back, I wonder what these teachers were thinking. They weren't getting the education they needed in regards to writing. They never wrote. They should have been exposed to some type of writng but never were. They were never pushed which was extremely sad to see.
Note Writing, the only writing I enjoyed for awhile
I was so consumed with my friends and sports that I decided not to take an interest in any school subjects or even care about my writing. I did what I had to do to get by in regards to school, but that was the least of my worries. In class I should have been focussing on my writing and my other school subjects but it was definately not the case. The type of writing I enjoyed the most consisted of writing letters and notes back and forth to my friends and classmates. This was the the way it was for many of my classmates as well, especially during freshmen and sophomore year. As I can recall, the teachers in our class new we weren't doing our work and were busy passing notes and letters back and forth however, I never had a note taken away by a teacher. Maybe they thought this was the only way that we were going to write. Looking back, I'm glad that I was still able to indulge myself in some genre of writing even if school wasn't necessarily involved. Thiere is a reall life purpose here as well as a real audience. I know that my friend was going to read it, which is why I was able to write it.
Since the community was so small, we didn't have advanced placement classes or students being tracked. If advanced placement classes were offered, I most likely would have been in those classes. Even though I grew rather lazy in high school, I was still excelling in school. I think that advanced placement classes would have been bad for our school because everything was always a competion amongst individuals already, because we all knew everybody. With advanced placement classes, the higher students would talk down to the lower students and the lower students would have felt bad.
I do feel however, feel that some of the students in special education should have been mainstreemed. Many of the students receiving special education services, had higher IQs than those in the general education classes. However, since those students had IEPs, they thought it was best for them to stay in their special education class. Looking back, I wonder what these teachers were thinking. They weren't getting the education they needed in regards to writing. They never wrote. They should have been exposed to some type of writng but never were. They were never pushed which was extremely sad to see.
Note Writing, the only writing I enjoyed for awhile
I was so consumed with my friends and sports that I decided not to take an interest in any school subjects or even care about my writing. I did what I had to do to get by in regards to school, but that was the least of my worries. In class I should have been focussing on my writing and my other school subjects but it was definately not the case. The type of writing I enjoyed the most consisted of writing letters and notes back and forth to my friends and classmates. This was the the way it was for many of my classmates as well, especially during freshmen and sophomore year. As I can recall, the teachers in our class new we weren't doing our work and were busy passing notes and letters back and forth however, I never had a note taken away by a teacher. Maybe they thought this was the only way that we were going to write. Looking back, I'm glad that I was still able to indulge myself in some genre of writing even if school wasn't necessarily involved. Thiere is a reall life purpose here as well as a real audience. I know that my friend was going to read it, which is why I was able to write it.
Mr. Decou
For some of my high school, I did not care about my writing. I did what I needed to do in order to get by which was okay with me at the time. All of my middle school was devoted to my schoolwork and in high school I did a complete 180. At this time, American Literature was a required class at our school so I had to take it. I had really mixed feelings about the class because I heard the teacher was really tough. His name was Mr. Decou. I eventually realized that this teacher was only tough because he wanted to push us to be the best when it came to writing and literature. He was the first teacher that let us pick certain topics we wanted to write about and establish audiences. We even wrote speeches and gave them to the class. I came to love this class and he became my favorite teacher. Like middle school, I found myself writing again. I started to go home and create many short stories on the computer and add clip art pictures when I was bored. This was also the case for my classmates. I had certain friends who weren't typically interested in writing, wanting to write outside of school.
This was a class where students actually indulged themselves in their writing because he didn't judge you based on conventions. We were able to write freely for once and many students typically enjoyed that. All of my pieces of writing began to make sense and have meaning which was something I wasn't at all used to.
Mr. Decou also made us write in our journals at the beginning of class for ten minutes. He alway stressed the importance of everyday writing and I truly admire him for that. I remember other teachers even discussing how they did not believe we should be writing in our journals everyday because it was taking out a good chunk of time, and that time could have been used for learning other topics in regards to english since we only had 50 minutes a day in that class. I remember he even had us take home a friend's journal once a week, read it and add comments. We were to take home a different person's notebook each week. This was a great way for getting to new certain individuals whom you may have never even talked to.
Below is an essay I wrote for his class on demonstrating Freedom. This essay was entered into a contest for our school and I placed 3rd. It was even published in our local town's newspaper. I was really excited to write this essay because I knew that if it was good, it was going to be published in the the local newspaper. Looking back, this essay had a real audience who were the readers of the newspaper. I wanted to show off my writing skills and this was the best way for me to do so at the time. On the original version there is an A on the back of the page with specific comments. As Atwell as mentioned in her book, so many times teachers use generalized praise. This was not the case with Mr. Decou. He was able to write how he felt on individualized pieces of the essays. I was able to use this feedback in many of my future writing. I'm not sure if it is truly worthy of third place, I feel it is rather mediocre.
How I Demonstrate My Freedom
Freedom has been described as the condition of being free, independent,
and unrestricted. This means freedom from captivity, slavery, imprisonment, the
right to do as one chooses, and a right to or a privilege granted by authority.
These are all definitions of what freedom is, but my interpretation of this
takes on even more meaning.
My great-grandparents were not from this country. They were born and
raised in a place that was under Communist rule. They could not speak out about
their homeland and were not “free” to go about life as they chose. Decisions
were made for them without their knowledge and they were to abide by these rules
and regulations.
My grandparents entered into a foreign land, unable to speak the language
and had to leave relatives behind. This included two of their eldest children,
parents, and siblings. After a long and treacherous journey by boat they entered
via Ellis Island along with many other immigrant from all over the world. Both
of them were very scared and also very excited, but they knew they had to head
for the land of the free. Their insight and bravery, and at the time of what
some of their relatives thought was stupidity, are what makes me more aware of
the privileges I would not be able to have, that I now can enjoy. I became so
thankful to be a citizen in a land that represents a Democratic society and the
liberty that it entails.
This freedom means so many things to me. It means that I can oppose
things that our government does and speak freely about it without worrying about
being beaten, imprisoned, or even killed for not sharing the same views as my
President. It means that I can vote, (when I turn 18), and choose the person
that I feel best to run our country. I can practice my own religion of my liking
whether its Catholic, Baptist, Islamic, Jewish, Presbyterian, or not practice
anything at all if that is what I choose. I can wear the clothes that I feel
like wearing and I don’t have to keep my face hidden or be covered with cloth
from head to toe. I don’t have to worry about putting my head down when a male
figure walks by. I can attend school no matter what sex I am, male or female and
get a good education. I have the freedom to make my own choice about where I
want to go to college or what my career will be. I can listen to what I want to
listen to on the radio or even hear things on the news about my government that
in other countries would be outlawed or even censored. These are just some of
the ways I can demonstrate my freedom.
I am so thankful that my great-grandparents took the risk and decided to
come to this great country. If they didn’t come I wouldn’t be able to prosper
from the freedoms and liberties that in so many other parts of the world, people
are unaware of. It is a privilege that I will never take for granted and appreciate until the day that I
die.
This was a class where students actually indulged themselves in their writing because he didn't judge you based on conventions. We were able to write freely for once and many students typically enjoyed that. All of my pieces of writing began to make sense and have meaning which was something I wasn't at all used to.
Mr. Decou also made us write in our journals at the beginning of class for ten minutes. He alway stressed the importance of everyday writing and I truly admire him for that. I remember other teachers even discussing how they did not believe we should be writing in our journals everyday because it was taking out a good chunk of time, and that time could have been used for learning other topics in regards to english since we only had 50 minutes a day in that class. I remember he even had us take home a friend's journal once a week, read it and add comments. We were to take home a different person's notebook each week. This was a great way for getting to new certain individuals whom you may have never even talked to.
Below is an essay I wrote for his class on demonstrating Freedom. This essay was entered into a contest for our school and I placed 3rd. It was even published in our local town's newspaper. I was really excited to write this essay because I knew that if it was good, it was going to be published in the the local newspaper. Looking back, this essay had a real audience who were the readers of the newspaper. I wanted to show off my writing skills and this was the best way for me to do so at the time. On the original version there is an A on the back of the page with specific comments. As Atwell as mentioned in her book, so many times teachers use generalized praise. This was not the case with Mr. Decou. He was able to write how he felt on individualized pieces of the essays. I was able to use this feedback in many of my future writing. I'm not sure if it is truly worthy of third place, I feel it is rather mediocre.
How I Demonstrate My Freedom
Freedom has been described as the condition of being free, independent,
and unrestricted. This means freedom from captivity, slavery, imprisonment, the
right to do as one chooses, and a right to or a privilege granted by authority.
These are all definitions of what freedom is, but my interpretation of this
takes on even more meaning.
My great-grandparents were not from this country. They were born and
raised in a place that was under Communist rule. They could not speak out about
their homeland and were not “free” to go about life as they chose. Decisions
were made for them without their knowledge and they were to abide by these rules
and regulations.
My grandparents entered into a foreign land, unable to speak the language
and had to leave relatives behind. This included two of their eldest children,
parents, and siblings. After a long and treacherous journey by boat they entered
via Ellis Island along with many other immigrant from all over the world. Both
of them were very scared and also very excited, but they knew they had to head
for the land of the free. Their insight and bravery, and at the time of what
some of their relatives thought was stupidity, are what makes me more aware of
the privileges I would not be able to have, that I now can enjoy. I became so
thankful to be a citizen in a land that represents a Democratic society and the
liberty that it entails.
This freedom means so many things to me. It means that I can oppose
things that our government does and speak freely about it without worrying about
being beaten, imprisoned, or even killed for not sharing the same views as my
President. It means that I can vote, (when I turn 18), and choose the person
that I feel best to run our country. I can practice my own religion of my liking
whether its Catholic, Baptist, Islamic, Jewish, Presbyterian, or not practice
anything at all if that is what I choose. I can wear the clothes that I feel
like wearing and I don’t have to keep my face hidden or be covered with cloth
from head to toe. I don’t have to worry about putting my head down when a male
figure walks by. I can attend school no matter what sex I am, male or female and
get a good education. I have the freedom to make my own choice about where I
want to go to college or what my career will be. I can listen to what I want to
listen to on the radio or even hear things on the news about my government that
in other countries would be outlawed or even censored. These are just some of
the ways I can demonstrate my freedom.
I am so thankful that my great-grandparents took the risk and decided to
come to this great country. If they didn’t come I wouldn’t be able to prosper
from the freedoms and liberties that in so many other parts of the world, people
are unaware of. It is a privilege that I will never take for granted and appreciate until the day that I
die.
Here is a facebook discussion I posted recently discussing writing in our high school.
What do you remember about writing in high school?
Elise Murray I
guess I don't know exactly what you're looking for. But I remember a lot of
spelling tests. Back then we wrote everything by hand, no spell checker. We did
outlines for the paper first, what we would have in our intro and body
paragraphs and then conclusion. Then we had to do a rough draft and get it all
red marked by the teacher where we made mistakes and then turn in a final double
spaced typed paper. That's what I remember, but again your status was a little
vague so I'm not sure that's what you were looking for.
35 minutes
ago via mobile · "}'>LikeUnlike
Alexa Surdell No, thats what I'm looking for. Did we ever get the option to
choose what we wrote?
25 minutes
ago · "}'>LikeUnlike
Elise Murray Usually
they would give us a topic like "favorite super hero" then we could choose a
subtopic "batman" and make it our own like that.
23 minutes
ago via mobile · "}'>LikeUnlike
Alexa Surdell Ya totally and a major focus in high school was grammar
right?
19 minutes
ago · "}'>LikeUnlike
Elise Murray Grammar
was HUGE. teachers were always making sure we knew the difference between there
and their and when to use each. Here and hear. And what the difference between
simile and metaphors. And not to use "as" at the end of a sentence. And never
use "and" at the beginning. And to say "you and I" instead of "me and
you"