Surveying the Year

At the end of the year I always give my students a survey - typical stuff really. The following is a collection of some of their responses. Included are responses from students in English 11 Enriched, College English, and English 12. As always my comments are in (     ).

Of the six papers in (College English) English 101, which was the hardest to write and why?

- I think the hardest thing was picking a topic, not really writing one over another.

- Definition paper was the hardest for me to write. It was hard to come up with three pages defining one word.

- Well, definition until I wrote about procrastination. Then it was easy. Other than that, definitely the research. I am pretty good at pulling stuff out of my butt, but I couldn’t do that on the research. (I am horrified to know where your papers came from.)

In this class I learned:

- how to write a persuasive essay persuasively. (As opposed to?)

- I learned that I suck at getting to school on time. (True. In this class I made this student's first name a euphemism for "late," as in, "Why are you so Julie to class today?" P.S. Her name wasn't Julie.)

- I learned that when writing papers, it is important to express one’s opinion on the subject and not just cram the paper with information.

- I began to learn the art of Bunburying! (Any Oscar Wilde fans in the house?)

- I learned writers write mostly depressing books.

- Students in this school have the attention span of a squirrel. (Squirrel!!)

What was your favorite work we read and why?

- I enjoyed Three Little Words and Room. They were my book club books, and I liked that we didn’t have to rip them apart to find meaning, we just read. (Yeah, finding meaning is a drag.)

- I didn’t have a favorite because I am (name removed) and I wanted to be different. Like the song, “I’m different, yeah I’m different.”

What was your least favorite work we read and why?

- Poetry. I still detest poetry so much Mr. Chaffee. I figured you would know that since I spent all last year and this year complaining about poetry.

- My least favorite work was poetry. I hated poetry because I am a very literal person and had trouble seeing the different underlying themes.

- My least favorite was Emily Dickinson. That woman had issues and just confused me.

- The Scarlet Letter because I had to read it over the summer.

What did you like the least about this class?

- I didn’t like when I realized that I’d just spent the last 30 minutes talking loudly and opinionatedly, probably alienating & boring everyone. (Right! That's the teacher's job!)

Do you have any suggestions to make this class better?
- Instead of poetry, schedule a month of the year for admiring the patterns on the carpet. (Ok, I get it. High schoolers don't like poetry.)

- for our class in particular – do something to make people stop being afraid to open their mouths.

When did your senioritis set in?

- freshman year

- 9:27 a.m. September 28^th, 2012… approximately

- Well, pretty early, then I fought for a long time… but I eventually lost. (True story.)

- I didn’t get senioritis, but I have been this bad about getting stuff done since the 6^th grade.

Is there anything else you would like to say on any topic whatsoever?

- will miss you… kinda. (That is heart warming... kinda.)

- Don’t forget me :) I’ll be back. Know my name.

- Do you watch Doctor Who? If so… I congratulate you and believe that you are on your way to being a complete person. If not 1. I am sorry for you; 2. please do.

- No, I’m not that creative. Here’s a giraffe. (Drawing of giraffe saying, “Ello there Chap!”)

Congratulations to the class of 2013! 

J