Assignment 26 - Megan Meadors

This class has been different, I’ll give it that, but I can’t necessarily say I enjoyed it. I have learned a little about how to write, but I haven’t seen much of a difference between this class and AP Seminar, which we took last year. We are the first class to have gone through both, so I doubt it was easy to know what we had or hadn’t covered, but I would suggest talking to Mr. Behler about the class and what we learned last year. We had learned about how to write an argument with sources and how to do academic writing, but we hadn’t learned about the things necessary for the visual literacy projects. We haven’t covered much of the stuff for those since freshman year and let’s be honest, who actually remembers all that from freshman year?

I also wish there was a more direct correlation between the visual literacy projects and the rest of the class. Sure, it was a change of pace, but there was a lot of those that involved film, giving speeches and things like that. I didn’t know that the class would involve those things, and it’s an English class so I get it, but I wish it had been tied in better so I felt like there was more of a point in completing these assignments.

Anyway, even then I still enjoyed the class, and I appreciate having the opportunity to give feedback. I hope you have a good class next year and that you have a good summer!

Assignment 24 - Megan Meadors

This has been a long year. There has been many successes such as my working with the Henry Clay Theater Department where I got a more active role in stage managing. I got to work on the sets for the plays in Theater Stagecraft every day and I got to have a lot of hands on experience working with tools, even though I’ve used most of them before. I also got accepted to the Governors School for Entrepreneurs for the summer, which means I’ll be spending three weeks at Transy working with a team to create a mock business.

As far as failures go, there have been many and I’ve learned that I need to stop procrastinating and that will make my life a lot easier. I’ve most definitely made many mistakes in the past year and I’ve learned from those as well. I don’t want to get into those, but this year has been a year of learning new things.

This summer, I am going to be volunteering at Camp Judy Layne, a Girl Scout Camp, working with children. I will also be getting waterfront trained so I will be able to lifeguard both in pools and in natural bodies of water. I am also getting belay trained, so I can work at the rock climbing tower. As I have also already said, I am going to GSE this summer, so I will be learning a lot about how to create and run a business and work with other entrepreneurs from around Kentucky.

Finally, for my senior year, I am directing with the theater, so I hope that I will learn more about what it takes to direct a show and I will be more confident when working with the actors especially when giving notes and making decisions. I have done this a little when stage managing so I am looking forward to expanding the jobs I have done in the theater and I am excited to see where the theater program goes next year.

Assignment 23 - Megan Meadors

Since I am in musical theater I have to get ready before shows. So I’ve created a playlist that I listen to while doing my hair and makeup before every performance.

The first song on my list is “Nobody” from Bandstand. This song is a swing piece and it is happy and upbeat, which helps distract me before a show. This helps me start to settle down before a show, and gives me a song that I haven’t listened to a thousand time.

The second song on my playlist is “What Baking Can Do” from Waitress. This song has different rhythms and is very heartfelt, which is good to listen to before a show because it helps calm me down, and get into a good emotional place before a show, which is important to the success to the show.

The third song on my playlist is “In My House” from Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, because this song is very emotional, and gives a different feel from most musical theater pieces. It shows a good range of emotion that you don’t normally hear and it gives me a chance to listen to a song that’s easy to act instead of just listening.

The last songs on my playlist are “Guns and Ships” and “History Has its Eyes on You” from Hamilton. These are the last two songs on my playlist because the first is high energy and the second is a little more somber. This is helpful right before a show because energy is always important to the success of a show, so I like to have a high energy song as one of the last songs I hear before a show. It also serves as a tongue twister right before I go on stage which helps me warm up just a little bit more before I go on stage. Then, having the second being slower helps set the mood and helps with my nerves about performing. These two songs work together perfectly because they are together in their original soundtrack, which means they are already meant to go together, and they both serve oppose purposes and give the perfect final moments before a show.

Assignment 26- Brennan Cegelka

       What a year. In the blink of an eye another school year has come and gone. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in this class. And I believe I came out of this class succeeding in the goal I had with the class: Become a better writer.
       Now that doesn’t doesn’t mean I thought this was a perfect class. No class is perfect. But with that said, I wish I saw a more direct correlation between our visual literacy assignments and the class. The change of pace from essays to a project was nice, but I often found myself wondering how this connects to AP language and composition as a whole.
       With that said, the one of the most effective parts of the class actually happened before I entered the classroom. Writing with Style by Trimble was one of the best tools I use for my writing in a long time. Throughout the year I found myself rereading the book to refresh myself on what superb writing looks like.
       Have a good summer!

Assignment 26- Doug Vaughan

Overall I've enjoyed this class. I looked forward to it every day as it was a easygoing class that challenged me. I went back and looked at a few of my blog posts at the beginning of the year and it is so crazy how much better I have become at writing. The big boost to my writing came from when we graded essays, as I learned from my classmates successes and mistakes of their essays as well as getting feedback on mine. I felt prepared for the essays but the multiple choice however I didn't. I was one of those kids whenever we did a multiple choice test stopping in the middle of it. Forgive me, I remember you gave us a reason why you didn't grade the practice test but I cant recall it. However, I think it could be beneficial to students to turn this into a grade giving them incentives to try on it. It shouldn't be too hard as students don't need any more stress than they already have. Maybe you could solve this problem by creating a big curve which would grant people full points if they get over 30% right so they wouldn't sleep the whole time and then fill in all the bubbles at the end. My logic might make no sense to you or contain many flaws but I'm just suggesting an idea that would've worked for me. I feel I have greatly progressed academically this year thanks to this class as it has improved my english and reading has always been my weaker subjects in school, this improvement can also be seen by 6 point jump in both of those ACT sub score areas from last year to this year.  Thanks for the help and the memories Logsdon, have a nice summer and I will see you next year (or around town).

Assignment 25- Sam Clark

My story is much like anyone else's: I was created in the suburbs, live in the suburbs, and will probably die in the suburbs. It's a grim, though comfortable, existence. I think the issue with modern existence remains its ability to standardize people, to take away the unique nature of their story. Maybe my assessment is naive, born from  a cloistered life in a big country. But the claim has maintained its relevance since the birth of the counterculture (if not before), and continues to impress itself onto impressionable youths like myself. The one thing I know for sure, however, is that as technology continues to advance, mankind will continue to place itself into little boxes. Every tree is different; every computer the same.

Assignment 26: Sam Clark

All things considered, I thought your class well designed to tackle the AP exam. Most others I talked to thought their writing improved over the year and believed strongly in the effectiveness of your method. I agree with this assessment, but am hesitant to label the class an unmitigated success. Though the course's title is "AP Language and Composition," I feel like we focused too closely on the test and not on broad-based English skills. To be blunt, most periods felt like a drawn out AP test. On the other hand, my writing, like that of so many of my peers, did improve. I learned that writing long, baroque, overly manicured sentences rife with commas, semicolons (which I now know how to employ with deft and ease), and dashes fail to encompass the majesty of the English language--a majesty shown best through unconscious (that is, free from perfectionism) writing.   

Assignment 26- Andrew Rogers

The overall effectiveness of your teaching style was good. The extensive knowledge I gained through the multiple practice essays really helped with time management and quality going into the test. The extensive time on the literary analysis essay helped a lot to understand how to effectively write an essay of that style. However, it would be more beneficial if we spent a little more time on multiple choice. The amount of practice exams is good, but analysis of how the questions are structured would be incredibly helpful. I'm not sure how the visual literacy fits into the AP test, I recommend less of those assignments. The speech and PSA are still effective finals, but the in-between assignments can be removed with little to no effect on our AP test scores.

Assignment 24: Sam Clark

I suppose I've had a pretty good year. Most of my pursuits yielded awards or successes on some level, and the work to receive them remained enjoyable. But when I look back on my efforts, I wonder whether or not it was worth it. I sacrificed commitments, time, and actual learning. I read fewer books this year than I'd done previously and missed too many church services. I did read the Bible cover to cover though, which was pretty cool. Are hundreds of KUNA votes worth my spiritual enlightenment? Probably not. I found myself sucked into the ruthless cycle of competing for accolades in a state where it's fairly easy to win accolades. So does that mean I should reach out onto a wider level, forcing my parents to spend more money? I don't know, these are serious questions I'm just now thinking of. I suppose it would've been more pertinent to ask them before I actually embarked on my quest of competition. It's too late now, anyways. 

Assignment 23: Sam Clark

As many may know, I lead an exciting life. So, when nighttime approaches and energy maintains life within my body, I plug in earbuds to emit their sonorous, calming tones. I present a playlist to calm down. 

Jesus, the Missing Years: Opens peacefully and closes peacefully. Pretty much all would want from a song. "I'm a human corkscrew and all my wine is blood."

All Kinds of Roses: Very pretty, good contrast between multiple roses and one God. 

Holocene: Continues the divine sound of the playlist but moves to a personal level. 

Me by the Sea: Moves the playlist fully from the divine to the human. Good song about being alone. 

Nothing Man: What would a playlist be without Bruce Springsteen? One of the best songs from his album about 9/11

The Light: After a bit a downer, this one moves the focus back to the divine. Spektor's voice is also very pretty.

Questions for the Angels: Perhaps the best song ever written.

https://open.spotify.com/user/36samlark/playlist/6ojSbj6aDvtNFsySzCycpE?si=H1VJyEoeTOKirOFBMKIxuA 

Assignment 26: Katie Chen

Overall, I do believe that the timed writings were beneficial. As much as I dreaded grading mine with the entire class, our class discussions did help me to become a better writer. I was scared that someone would absolutely roast my paper and tear it apart, but thankfully, that never happened. The timed writings and grading sessions helped me to be able to organize my thoughts quickly and prepare for the AP exam.

Although doing several multiple choice practice tests in class were helpful, I just wish that we spent more time going over them. I wish we were given some strategies to employ when taking the multiple choice part of the exam. 

As for things that could be improved about the class, I think the visual literacy assignments felt out of place. In class, we would go over the test and grade essays, but none of it actually pertained to what the visual literacy assignments were about. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed making an advertisement about post-it notes, but I just didn't see how it related to what we were doing in class. If there was someway we could integrate the visual literacy assignments and content into class, that might be more beneficial.

Overall, I do feel prepared for the exam, so thank you. 

Assignment Twenty-six – Jessica Ewing

If I'm going to be completely honest, no matter how much I dreaded those timed writings (mostly over the paranoia that I'd have no idea what the prompt was trying to ask me), they were incredibly effective in training me to think quickly and comprehensively so that I could articulate my thoughts coherently into an essay.

Additionally, reading the other essays out loud and analyzing them together was really beneficial to me as well. Looking at the benchmarks alone wasn't always helpful, they just felt like flags that were stuck in the ground, saying "imitate this if you want an 8," while reading the essays showed me that there are a variety of ideas that can be expressed and different styles that can be written that all can point to that same score. And I'm not going to lie, when I first heard from a few of my senior friends that everyone reads aloud each other's essays, I panicked. I was afraid I was going to be humiliated in front of everyone else in the classroom through a grammatical error or a lack of expansion of an idea. Stupid, I know, but I held that fear nonetheless. Once we actually sat down and did our first writing and we all gathered around and began reading them, however, that nauseating fear set itself aside as I realized it wasn't as stressful as I thought it was going to be.

The one critique I think I'd have of this class would be the visual literacy assignments. They felt like they stuck out from the class, like they didn't really belong there, but we were still required to do them. If they held more of an integral part in the class, I think they would make more sense, but I ended up just feeling like they were a busy assignment to fill a space on a grade sheet. I enjoyed creating the advertisement, for sure, it made me expand my creativity to think how I could use different colors and placements to express an idea, but it just felt disconnected with the class itself.

Overall, though, I really enjoyed this class. It bettered me as both a writer and as a thinker. I believe I'm a more analytical person than I was before junior year, and I believe that's attributed to the kind of assignments and challenges put before me in this class. So thank you.

Assignment Twenty-four – Jessica Ewing

Successes:
1) I wrote and completed my first poetry book!
2) Participated in the school's fall and winter plays and the musical (all of which were so much fun)
3) Honestly my greatest success was surviving all 5 AP classes I had to take this year, part of me genuinely didn't think it was possible
4) Learned how to play the ukulele

Failures:
1) Unfortunately, I was unable to stay out of drama
2) The entirely of the year in AP Physics - dear God, how am I so bad at physics
3) I allowed myself to get overwhelmed, particularly over the last month or so - I was so close to getting through all of junior without a full-on breakdown...yeah that didn't happen

Lessons Learned:
1) Sometimes you have to take a step back and focus on yourself, even when you want to help everyone around you
2) Sometimes you can't help everyone (that's a really difficult concept for me to grasp as someone who loves to help others)
3) Even if you work tirelessly at something, sometimes you fail, and that's okay, you're not superhuman

Summer Plans:
Honestly, I have no idea. I need to get a new job, and I know I'm going to the beach for a week mid-June. Other than that, my summer's going to be pretty free.

Senior Year:
For the love of all things good in this world and for the sake of my own mental health, I hope and pray there is no drama next year. The issues I had to deal with this year, particularly over the last 4 months or so have destroyed my mental health and I just want to have a good, happy, and healthy senior year. Is that too much to ask?

Also, I want to write a full novel. Odds are, it'll be a contemporary novel, as I don't have the time or resources to craft an entire fantasy world (though I'd LOVE to do that someday), but my mentoring project next year will allow me some actual time for writing, and I'm incredibly excited for that.

Assignment Twenty-three – Jessica Ewing

The Perfect Playlist for the Five Stages of Grief

Now, I decided I would take my own little spin on this assignment. The five stages of grief, also known as the Kubler-Ross model, is a psychological progression of emotions experienced after experiencing a traumatic experience: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. This playlist of five songs (all classic rock songs, as that is my favorite genre of music) depicts each stage of the Kubler-Ross model through a different song. Enjoy!


1. Denial: "Welcome to the Jungle" - Guns N' Roses

On the surface, this song is about finding a place that isn't what it seems to be. On the outside this "jungle" seems to be all fun and games, but over the course of the song it's revealed that it's actually quite dangerous there, even saying "you learn to live like an animal" there. The idea is to deny the newcomers that anything is wrong until it's too late.


2. Anger: "The Chain" - Fleetwood Mac

An angry lover damning their ex's love and lies. This entire song speaks of anger, of frustration, of contempt, and even of spite. "I can still hear you saying 'you would never break the chain.'" It sounds as though they did in fact break the chain and are throwing it back into their face with those words.


3. Bargaining: "Bohemian Rhapsody" - Queen

There's been a lot of discussion about what this song truly means. Different interpretations come and go, and there are those who say the song means absolutely nothing at all. For the purposes of using this song to represent the bargaining stage of grief, I'm going to look specifically at the bridge, where there is quite literally a plea for the narrator to be let go, with some outside forces replaying that they "will not let you go." The idea of trying to bargain with external forces to go back and change things or set things right or see a lost loved one again is perfectly represented in those lines.


4. Depression: "Yesterday" - The Beatles

If McCartney's line "there's a shadow hanging over me" doesn't relate perfectly to the feeling of depression, I don't know what does. This song speaks of a better day in the past, of a wish to return to those betters, and the hopeless of their current situation.


5. Acceptance: "Carry on Wayward Son" - Kansas

This is such a wonderful song, both individually and as a part of this playlist. As acceptance, this song exemplifies understanding and letting go. The opening lines "Carry on my wayward son / There'll be peace when you are done / Lay your weary head to rest / Don't you cry no more" describe the feeling not of giving up, but of understanding and indeed accepting one's fate.

Assignment 24: Eli Wrinn

I feel I was well prepared for how difficult this year has been. After such a surprisingly difficult Sophmore year, I spent the last summer preparing mentally for this year. Last year, around early spring, while I was coming home late every night because of baseball or basketball, suffocating under a pile of homework, mainly chemistry and math, with the gargantuan IWA/IMP and qualitative analysis labs looming, I was hearing people repeatedly using the term "junior breakdown." Hearing this, I thought, "what I'm going through right now can't even be classified as a breakdown?" Additionally, I knew that, this year, I would take twice as many AP classes, be a part of the more time-consuming varsity team for both sports, and worry about college. It must be interesting to exclusively teach academy students going through their hardest year while Mr. Lentz gets new students who have no idea whats coming for them, Mr. Behler watches as kids get crushed for the first time, and whichever teacher is chosen next year sees experienced, veteran students, but I digress. I spent the previous summer spending as much time doing as little as possible to mentally prepare for what was coming. I contemplated my mindset as I progress through the same months of late winter and early spring with the even more difficult obstacles. It currently being early May, the end of the year has never seemed further away. I expect to try to do much of the same this summer, take a relaxing approach to senior year, and to finally be prepared for life on my own.

Assignment 24- Doug Vaughan

Every one told me junior year of high school would be the hardest year of my pre-college life, so far they wern't wrong. Middle School I never did homework outside of school and never struggled with anything. Freshman year came along where I started to have maybe one or two nights where I would work for less than an hour home work, still not struggling with school. Sophomore year I was doing home work for longer periods of time probably three times a week. I started struggling here as the content of study became more unfamiliar with chemistry, computer science, and the large amount of content involved in world history. Junior year hit me like a hurricane, homework every night with a project and two tests every week. The huge workload caused me to fall behind and struggle, this can be seen through my first semester grades. I have adjusted though as my grades are improving. I also didn't help my focus on school that I just recently moved and got a job. My summer will consist of unboxing from the move and grinding out some money at my lifeguard job at the YMCA. Other than that my summer will consist of video games, TV, and sleeping. After this crazy, hectic, and rigorous school year I'm looking forward to this summer of relaxing.

Assignment 23: Eli Wrinn

I have always been really interested in the making of playlists, in fact, for every year since fifth grade, I have made a playlist of songs I was into throughout the year in chronological order, in fact, writing this blog post is causing me to want to listen to them and bring forth the massive wave of nostalgia. However, the playlist I will be making for today is one most young baseball players think about a lot. I'm sure you are familiar with "walk-up songs," songs chosen by hitters played on the loudspeaker at ballparks as hitters walk from the on-deck circle to the batter's box, I have one of these myself. However, the playing of the song lasts a brief 5-10 seconds, not enough time to appreciate the full song. So, this is a playlist for pitcher's walk-out songs. Before the game starts, pitchers take anywhere from 5-10 warm-up pitches on the mound and, during this time, the home pitcher has a song of their choice played for them as well, however this song is played for a much longer period of time, so I will make a list of songs I would want played in this situation based on the type of game it is.
Big Games (District regular season/Postseason): Metropolis by Logic. This is my current pitching walk out song (and my batting walk-up song), it is my favorite song by Logic and the beat is slow and comfortable and familiar to me which would remind me not to try to do to much despite the pressure.
Night Games: The Star Room by Mac Miller. I am not a particular fan of Mac Miller, although he is from Pittsburgh. However, this is a "chill" song as well, yet the bass and filter to Mac's voice give the song a sci-fi vibe (hence the name). Additionally this song creates a feeling of pent up energy which is a feeling magnified by games played under the lights.
Day Games: XXX. by Kendrick Lamar. I am a very big fan of Kendrick Lamar. This song is just another great one in his Pulitzer Winning album DAMN. It does carry some political messages which I secretly hope would strike a note with the baseball demographic in the stands. However, the changes in energy in this song almost remind one of a baseball game itself.
Games against inferior opponents: BoomTrap Protocol by Logic. This is as energetic of a song that I am willing to use as I believe being too energetic on the mound is much worse than to relaxed, however, I need as much energy as possible to motivate myself in games we are supposed to win. Also, it's such a good song that possibly the other team will think, "Man, they're just better than us in every way, even their music is amazing."
Games against superior opponents: The Cut Off (feat. kiLL edward) by J. Cole. Not that any team is superior to us, yet if a team is predicted to beat us, I would want a song this relaxing to both get me in the right mindset on the mound and possibly lull the other team to sleep. Also, as J. Cole is my favorite artist of all time, it playing would make my pride a factor in my motivation because I wouldn't let them disrespect J. Cole like that and beat me.
(Yes, of course, the clean version of all these songs, my mother would be watching the game, come on now)
https://open.spotify.com/user/az0as58094r6086gh1egnoe37/playlist/4Y8RBtAdlKOYUxzMyyoNlj?si=LcghmllUTYSjL9-BpBw6-w

Assignment 23- Doug Vaughan

It is a strange coincidence this blog post question came up this weekend as it was just yesterday I put together a playlist to pump me up and get in the right mindset before some big soccer games and AP tests coming up. As I was making this playlist I thought which ones would get my blood pumping and fill me with the most confidence for the challenge I face ahead.

Doug's Confidence Pumper Playlist

1. Seven Nation Army- The White Stripes, this song gives me chills along with its strong rhythm and beat that sticks in your head long after you listen to the song. This song is classic as it is played at nearly every sporting event ever to pump up the crowd.

2. Welcome to the Jungle- Guns N' Roses, this song is fast paced with an electrifying guitar part that will force you to move some part of your body to dance along. This is also about how the jungle is going to kill you which you can use as a metaphor for that big test or game to fuel your confidence.

3. Thunderstruck- AC/DC,  this song is as close as you could get to being hit by a lightning bolt in a song form as the electrifying voice of AC/DC propels hart beat along with the fast as lightning guitar. Its fills you with confidence to strike down your opponent or electrify that test.

4. Loose Yourself- Eminem, from the lyrical genius of Eminem comes the ultimate song for facing adversity in the eye overcoming it to achieve your goal. This perfectly pace song is fast enough to get your blood pumping and slow enough to understand the lyrics of Eminem that just increases your confidence trough out the whole song.

5. Ni**as In Paris- Jay Z, one of the greatest songs from from one of the greatest artists of this generation this song has a rhythm that guarantees to have you head banging for the entire duration of the song. It ends on a chilling part where Jay-Z is getting in his zone that coupled with the strangely transfixing static background music gets you in your zone.

6. 300 Violin Orchestra- Jorge Quintero, this song has zero words only a fast paced, upbeat, chilling tone of music that would belong during a training montage in a Rocky movie. This is a masterpiece made up of orchestral music with out any modern signing or meaning to it will get you ready to take on anything.

7. The Final Countdown- Europe, I've saved this song for last as it signifies the end and that everything has led up to these next moments. This song not particularly fast still has a rhythm that will make your blood pump and get you in the right mindset to take on what ever is coming at the end of that countdown.

assignment 24- Luke Taylor

Junior year is almost over, now a year closer to college. I think overall I've had a pretty good Junior year in high school. I think if you had a conversation with me as a freshman vs. me now you'd see a huge difference in confidence and maturity, and that is what I was striving for. But there are some quirks about me that I want gone by my senior.  Sometimes I stutter when talking in front of a large group of people, sometimes I say 'um'  or 'like' so much to the point it gets on my own nerves. But I think those are things that will go away with time and practice.

By this time next year I would like to know where I'm going to college and either studying architecture or computer science. By this time senior year I want to be seated in the top 3 chairs in the trumpet section in wind Ensemble. Next year I would like to become a more organized person and a young adult ready for the real world. I know all these things are achievable ,I just have to put in the work, and that preparation starts now.

Assignment 25- Luke Taylor

Who am I? One thing about me that people should know is my love for superheroes. This is not a recent interest that has come from the influx of superhero movies that have taken over the box office, but something that has been a passion for as long as i can remember. My hobby of drawing only came from me wanting to make my own comic books when I was little. some of my fondest memories of my childhood was watching the Teen Titans, Spectacular Spiderman, X-men, and many others. I was ecstatic to go the library and check out the latest comic books that take the shelf. My favorite comic book of all time that I've read was the 1991 Infinity Gauntlet, the inspiration for the most recent Marvel film. I think the reason that I enjoy superheroes so much is the whole concept of heroes standing up for people who are unable to help themselves.