A Whole Heck of a Lot
There has been a lot going on with me and I have not really had time, plus I keep forgetting to post. So here I am with an update. I have turned in all my homework, so far. I have all A's and one B (NOT because of missing work). All in all school is going very well right now. I am also doing a 7-8 week internship with Aspen Public Radio which should be interesting and a lot of fun. I am going to start dance again in early October and plan to do the musical (which takes place second semester. I now have two jobs, I work at my mom's office and at Starbucks and I am debating going on another completely different People to People trip, but I am unsure I am going to be able to raise the money. I am also spending more time just chilling with my friends, so my year is going pretty good so far.
I am taking 7 classes this year, 4 of which are advanced. I am taking Applied Knowledge, Biology II, IB History, IB English, IB Math Studies, IB Theater and Concert Choir.
Applied Knowledge is a semester course. It is being taught by a man has been teaching for over 20 years named Kirk Gregory and he is one of the most interesting people. The point of the class is to learn about knowledge itself and to learn how to use it. Its a pretty good class, if just a little random, we haven't had any large homework assignments yet, mostly just reading and/or worksheets.
I am also taking Bio II which is a year long course. This is taught by a woman named Karen Zohar, who is very...unique. She is very energetic and passionate about science and has a tendency to do things like randomly start sing, "I'm dreaming of a quiet classroom," and of course everyone shuts up. In my school you have to take Bio I to graduate, so I took it Freshman year and I thought it was okay, so I figured I would take Bio II, if nothing else to make sure I had enough science credits. We haven't had anything really big yet, but we have reading almost every night and we already had a test which I did well on.
IB History is a two year type of advanced history course. It is almost like AP, but it is internationally recognized instead. My teacher is named Chris Bonadies and I am telling you he has weird way of teaching that I am actually finding it difficult to cope with. He never stops talking, even during tests and movies and it drives me crazy. So far we are learning about Latin American history, which I personally find incredibly annoying, its just not my thing. I like European history. As far as homework, we again haven't had anything large, but total we have probably done about 60-70 pages of reading. I am actually having a hard time with that which is why my grade in that class is only a B. Apparently I wasn't getting everything I was supposed to out of the reading and my grade on one of the quizzes wasn't that good, so now I am working to fix it mostly by reading things more thoroughly.
IB English is a two year advanced English class. My teacher is one I had Freshman year named Marybeth Thompson. She is kinda crazy and actually afraid of cotton balls, yes you read right, cotton balls. If she is close to them she actually starts to hyperventilate and she can't touch them, so if put them on the door to her classroom... Anyway, the class is pretty hardcore. We have already done a 5-7 minute oral presentation and a paper and are now starting our second book, Heart of Darkness by James Conrad. Its a pretty fun good class, even though the teacher is insane. We are finishing up Apocalypse Now in class on Monday.
IB Math Studies is a two year advanced math course. It is the lower level for people who are probably NOT going into professions where math is going to factor heavily. It is being taught by a guy named Ian Wagner and he is very nice and a good teacher. I just happen to be a stupid math student, sometimes he has to explain things to me like three times, before I get it. So far we have learned about TOK of math and about sets and Venn diagrams. We have had two test and I got A's on both of them. One thing I have to say is there is a lot of homework. Just the typical solve the math problem, but way more than last year.
IB Theater is a two year advanced theater course. I am taking it because theater is something I might want to do professionally and if I don't do that I will always be involved in it in some way. It is being taught by a teacher that is new to our school district named Lara Okamoto. She is very young, but a good teacher. It is a very fun class. We play a game at the beginning of every class and some games we have played are Whoosh, Protector-enemy, YA!, and Emotional Dinner Party. We have had almost no homework so far, but we have learned about the components of a production and we have also done several exercises on character development. Right now in class we are learning about the Isms, which are arts movements and are writing a collaborative play using all eight of them. The Eight Isms are: Constructivism, Expressionism, Romanticism, Realism, Naturalism, Absurdism, Surrealism, Symbolism. Its a great class.
My last class is the most easy one. That is Concert Choir. I took it because I love to sing, but my voice is not very trained and I want to get better. It is taught by a woman who has been teaching Choir for over 30 years I think she said. We are singing Les Miserables, Aladdin, the Skye Boat Song, the First Noel, and Phantom of the Opera and I am trying to get her to consider singing Mr. Roboto by Styx, or Ain't No Mountain High Enough or Heard It Through The Grapevine or Somebody to Love or Bohemian Rhapsody just to mix it up. Our first concert is on December 3rd.
Other that there is not much going on. I am now taking Aderol daily to try and help me focus. My friend Chengi who moved away after 8th grade is back and very easily slid back into her old spot. I really like this show called Bones that is now in its fourth season on Fox. That's about it. I will try to blog again soon.
I am taking 7 classes this year, 4 of which are advanced. I am taking Applied Knowledge, Biology II, IB History, IB English, IB Math Studies, IB Theater and Concert Choir.
Applied Knowledge is a semester course. It is being taught by a man has been teaching for over 20 years named Kirk Gregory and he is one of the most interesting people. The point of the class is to learn about knowledge itself and to learn how to use it. Its a pretty good class, if just a little random, we haven't had any large homework assignments yet, mostly just reading and/or worksheets.
I am also taking Bio II which is a year long course. This is taught by a woman named Karen Zohar, who is very...unique. She is very energetic and passionate about science and has a tendency to do things like randomly start sing, "I'm dreaming of a quiet classroom," and of course everyone shuts up. In my school you have to take Bio I to graduate, so I took it Freshman year and I thought it was okay, so I figured I would take Bio II, if nothing else to make sure I had enough science credits. We haven't had anything really big yet, but we have reading almost every night and we already had a test which I did well on.
IB History is a two year type of advanced history course. It is almost like AP, but it is internationally recognized instead. My teacher is named Chris Bonadies and I am telling you he has weird way of teaching that I am actually finding it difficult to cope with. He never stops talking, even during tests and movies and it drives me crazy. So far we are learning about Latin American history, which I personally find incredibly annoying, its just not my thing. I like European history. As far as homework, we again haven't had anything large, but total we have probably done about 60-70 pages of reading. I am actually having a hard time with that which is why my grade in that class is only a B. Apparently I wasn't getting everything I was supposed to out of the reading and my grade on one of the quizzes wasn't that good, so now I am working to fix it mostly by reading things more thoroughly.
IB English is a two year advanced English class. My teacher is one I had Freshman year named Marybeth Thompson. She is kinda crazy and actually afraid of cotton balls, yes you read right, cotton balls. If she is close to them she actually starts to hyperventilate and she can't touch them, so if put them on the door to her classroom... Anyway, the class is pretty hardcore. We have already done a 5-7 minute oral presentation and a paper and are now starting our second book, Heart of Darkness by James Conrad. Its a pretty fun good class, even though the teacher is insane. We are finishing up Apocalypse Now in class on Monday.
IB Math Studies is a two year advanced math course. It is the lower level for people who are probably NOT going into professions where math is going to factor heavily. It is being taught by a guy named Ian Wagner and he is very nice and a good teacher. I just happen to be a stupid math student, sometimes he has to explain things to me like three times, before I get it. So far we have learned about TOK of math and about sets and Venn diagrams. We have had two test and I got A's on both of them. One thing I have to say is there is a lot of homework. Just the typical solve the math problem, but way more than last year.
IB Theater is a two year advanced theater course. I am taking it because theater is something I might want to do professionally and if I don't do that I will always be involved in it in some way. It is being taught by a teacher that is new to our school district named Lara Okamoto. She is very young, but a good teacher. It is a very fun class. We play a game at the beginning of every class and some games we have played are Whoosh, Protector-enemy, YA!, and Emotional Dinner Party. We have had almost no homework so far, but we have learned about the components of a production and we have also done several exercises on character development. Right now in class we are learning about the Isms, which are arts movements and are writing a collaborative play using all eight of them. The Eight Isms are: Constructivism, Expressionism, Romanticism, Realism, Naturalism, Absurdism, Surrealism, Symbolism. Its a great class.
My last class is the most easy one. That is Concert Choir. I took it because I love to sing, but my voice is not very trained and I want to get better. It is taught by a woman who has been teaching Choir for over 30 years I think she said. We are singing Les Miserables, Aladdin, the Skye Boat Song, the First Noel, and Phantom of the Opera and I am trying to get her to consider singing Mr. Roboto by Styx, or Ain't No Mountain High Enough or Heard It Through The Grapevine or Somebody to Love or Bohemian Rhapsody just to mix it up. Our first concert is on December 3rd.
Other that there is not much going on. I am now taking Aderol daily to try and help me focus. My friend Chengi who moved away after 8th grade is back and very easily slid back into her old spot. I really like this show called Bones that is now in its fourth season on Fox. That's about it. I will try to blog again soon.
posted by Writer Girl @ 8:41 PM
1 Comments:
Holy smokes!! That was a lot of info. Why didn't I look at it sooner... I'm really impressed by your grades. Keep up the good work. It sounds like you are enjoying your Junior year. And, as usual, you are off in ten directions at once which is great at your age.
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