When I first got my schedule and saw that I had 1st period English I thought "Oh great". But having Mr.Thomas 1st period wasn't so bad after all. He understands we are teenagers are being forced to wake up early , when we would rather be sleeping in til 12. Although he was lenient about things and made sure everybody had a positive attitude he still gave our classwork. Having share personal stories that may or may not have been related to the topic made the class seem easy going , as well as being able to understand the daily objective.
Each lesson or book we read Mr.Thomas was able to relate it to some type of life lesson or was able to make us better writers.Teaching us the basics of writing was able to help me in my AP Spanish Lit and APUSH class, whenever we had to write essays. It was specially helpful that the things I was learning in English I was able to translate to Spanish and it was easier for me and my other peers in AP Spanish Lit to write essays. Each book we read we always had Socratic Seminars in which Mr.Thomas made us search for the real life implications the author was trying to present to the readers. The conversations would later diverge into real life issues and presented us with solutions . I think that was one of the best qualities of Mr.Thomas, he was able to not only teach us English but incorporate issues we will later face after High School.
The essay I felt was most difficult to write was the argumentative essay. The structure that was taught to us was new . Previously we were taught just to not input our personal feelings into it. The new structure is a more intelligent way and hope to master it soon.
The essay that i felt was the easiest was the rhetorical analysis . Once I understood the meaning of each rhetorical strategy I was able to pick them up really easily and analyze the meaning of each passage the rest was a breeze. What helped also are the 7 steps that were taught to us in order to pre-write and write the essay in 30 minutes. That is a strategy I will always use in any rhetorical analysis.
The book I least enjoyed reading was In Cold Blood . Not that I didn't enjoy the book, I just wouldn't re-read it . It is a good book to read and later discuss the issues that are presented. My favorite book would be The Great Gatsby . I'm a sucker for a romantic story as well as the creativity involved. All the books that we read were enjoyable and had a great message.
I really enjoyed Mr.Thomas as a teacher and really enjoyed the fact that he was easy going and related things to us to help us learn. As well as taking the learning to next level and teaching us life lessons and that's what makes a teacher a teacher. I will never forget my English teacher who always started our class with a personal story.
THANK YOU (: !!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment