Directions: Do you really need directions at this point?
* Yes I really do.
What was your favorite work that we read this year and why?
- The Lord of the Flies because it was actually in English, not all the confusing British stuff. (Everything in English 12 was British Literature.)
- I didn’t like any of them. The short stories were all depressing, the poems were written by crazy people, and Shakespeare makes my head hurt.
- I liked The Importance of Being Earnest best because it was humorous. I don’t think I’ve read anything else for school that made me laugh more than once or twice. It was such a change from what we usually read in school, even if several people in the class did not seem to grasp the humor.
- I liked the short story unit because the stories were short. (And the inventor of the short story rests easily in his grave.)
What was your least favorite work of literature we read this year and why?
- The Scarlet Letter because it sucked out my soul.
- Macbeth, because I’m not British.
- Any of the sonnets because we had to interpret them.
- The sonnets because I forgot to read them.
What did you like the most about College English?
- I loved how we spent a lot of time talking about what we were working on and then it turned into a weird topic.
- I liked being more independent.
- I liked that it felt like we had more freedom with our writing.
- I liked the freedom of being able to write about whatever we wanted most of the time.
- I liked the freedom we had to choose our own topics to write about, and that we were given the opportunity to turn in rough drafts of our papers.
- It was very independent. For the most part we had a choice of what we wanted to write about.
- The independent aspect, how we didn’t have to constantly check in.
- We had the freedom of choosing the topics we wanted to write about. (Seeing a pattern? This kind of freedom is almost never granted to high school students, which is why they are often so uninterested.)
- I liked that you were very honest with us and told us exactly what you were thinking – especially in regards to our papers.
- It wasn’t like a normal class. We didn’t have to raise our hands and it was more like an open discussion. (I always hated having to raise my hand in school.)
- We had to think; every other class I’ve had this year has required me to simply memorize facts to ace tests, but because we only had essays, I had to rely on my own thoughts and interpretations to do well in this class.
- The freedom to get out of the class exactly what you put into it.
- My favorite thing was how I wrote many papers and hopefully I can recycle these papers next year.
- Brutal honesty. No beating around the bush in Mr. Chaffee’s class. I did enjoy the volume of writing as well, even if you don’t think so.
What did you like the least about English this year?
- I did not like how there were no multiple choice questions, I actually had to think to answer questions. (That’s too bad, really, having to think.)
- The constant fear of failing essays.
- People who complained about your jokes because they couldn’t understand them. (I know, I hate that too.)
What have you learned in English this year?
- Always pay attention!
- A lot of things that really aren’t relevant to English. (But I hope they are relevant to life.)
- Girls get angry when you forget their names; 2 out of 3 men know when to shut up. (There were only three men in his class!)
- Mr. Chaffee grades harder than any other English teacher! (I try; after all, you're a senior!)
- Stuff
- What redundant means. (I wrote that word on her papers many times.)
- I have learned how it’s not good to procrastinate because it affects your essays.
- That potty training a three year old is a b_____. (That's my three-year-old, not his... I hope.)
- Good thought is better than a correct idea with no work or thought behind it. An answer that isn’t necessarily right is worth it for the work and growth behind it.
- I learned that there’s no sense in using a $20 word when you can get the same idea across using $1 words, and it’ll cost less. I also learned what I’m capable of when it comes to writing.
Did your teacher give you enough feedback on papers, etc.?
- Yes, I think the 60s I received were quite clear.
- Oh yes, quite enough feedback. My essays displayed much green ink.
Do you believe you have improved as a writer this year?
- Yes, because in past years they taught us to write a certain way, where this year my teacher pointed out my mistakes instead of saying my format was wrong. (This is the danger of teaching to the test, EVEN if the test includes an “essay.” Our students only learn to write boring, empty, formulaic essays.)
- Yeah, because you edited the crap out of my essays. (I wouldn’t have to if there weren’t so much crap in there to begin with!)
- I do believe my skills at writing and literary analysis improved greatly. Your opinion may be entirely different though, and since you’re the only one with a degree in this area, your opinion wins. (Indeed it does.)
- I think I have improved. I used to not be able to write a 3 page essay on one topic, but now I can do it while actually sounding somewhat intelligent.
- Yes, I learned how to write correctly rather than write for the Regents. (Regents = State exam.)
- I think so, but I believe if I wanted to I could’ve put in more effort.
- Yes, I don’t make such grandiose, empty statements, for the most part.
- I was really wordy before this class, and now I’m only moderately wordy.
Did College English affect how you read literature?
- I don’t think it helped because the SAT told me I can’t read.
- No. I’m pretty good at reading. I still read from left to right until the end of one line, then I go to the next line. At the end of the page, wait for it, I go to the next page!
Do you think College English was on a college level?
- Yes, the workload was intense. (You’re telling me. I had to grade all that stuff.)
- You realize you are asking this of high schoolers?
- Yes and no; yes because of the curriculum, and no because we’re high school seniors and no matter how hard you try you can never cure senioritis. (I could, but the cure isn’t “legal.”)
Do you have any suggestions about how to make the class better?
- Maybe take out the reading, assignments, quizzes, tests, and essays.
- More movies and more research papers. (More research papers? By the way, this was from a regular English 12 student who did not write nearly as many papers as the College English students.)
- Allow students to choose what to do for their final project. Let it be anything that could relate to what had been done during the year. Like maybe composition of several different types of poetry, or a study of the court manners from the era of Hamlet. That sort of thing. (This was from a College English student; it's a good idea...)
Is there anything you would like to say on any topic whatever?
- I would not want to have your job.
- You weren’t a horrible teacher. I did learn a few things that might be helpful in the future. Thank you. (At least I wasn’t horrible.)
- I like pie.
I also like pie. Hope you are all enjoying the summer. I plan more posts this summer with some of my odd ideas about education, such as they are.
J
No comments:
Post a Comment