Final Reflection

What are the three most important things you learned this year?
I learned that everyone believes in something that guides their lives or personal philosophies that guide their actions. The This I Believe project taught me this.
I also learned that when we try to use our memories for a project like a narrative essay or a This I Believe project, you think of another memory to use when you're relaxed. You use another memory because you need to think of one on the spot for an assignment. One of the many important things I learned this year is how to make a good topic sentence and objective summary. I'm thankful for the lessons we did on this from the beginning of the year. I think I'll forever keep a screenshot of the packet Mrs. Larson gave us.

What is something we did this year that you think you will remember for the rest of your life?
Something I'll always remember is the TKAM feast in quarter 2 or 3. I'll never forget this because classmates brought delicious dishes foods from the book. I'll remember the cook-off Sophie and Hazelle had, the sardine Sam ate, the ham, the gum I chewed multiple sticks of, and basically eating most of the class period.

What was the nicest thing someone in our class did I for you?
I can't remember if my classmates did any favors for me except for one thing. I believe it was a Thursday or Friday after we did an AoW gallery walk. I can't remember the assignment we had to do from that gallery walk but I needed the title of Vince's article and it was after school. I used a messenger and asked him for the title which he gave me.

What is something you taught your teacher or your classmates this year?
Vince found out how to get the links of our Google Docs but not everyone else knew. He or Kezia taught me how to do this which I appreciated. Another day, Lorin needed the link for her ELA document so I showed her how to get the link.


In what area did you improve most in? What is something you're proud of?
I can only think of improving in adding more thoughts to socratic seminars and spelling tests. I'm proud of my This I Believe essay because I can share my thoughts and beliefs with the class. I can also learn about what others believe in.

What was the most challenging part for you this year?
I'd say the butterfly project was the hardest. Even looking back at that, the project didn't seem too hard. The challenging bit was building the butterfly. To determine the most challenging assignment, I'd have to do all of them. Remembering makes me think this year wasn't too difficult.

What was the best piece of writing you did this year?
I believe my best piece of writing I made this school year in ELA is my argumentative essay. I used evidence to prove why I thought more gun control laws should be enforced.

Of the books I read with the class, "Tuesdays with Morrie" was my favorite. I would've picked "To Kill A Mockingbird" instead for being a great classic regarding racism and childhood. I didn't because "Tuesdays With Morrie" shared the invaluable lessons of Morrie Schwartz about life and death. It taught me and other classmates things that we'll never forget. I also liked this book because of the aphorism project we did. It made us think of our own aphorism that we live by.

I'd like to tell next years students to not worry. I had a friend who would've joined the class but didn't because she thought it would be too much work. The truth is that the class is and isn't too much. If I survived the many assignments of this class, many others can. Just don't worry, get the work done, learn, and you'll be fine. Another bit of advice is to try not to give Mrs. Larson "bare bones." If you think you put too little work and effort, revise your assignment.

"Living Life As It Should Be Lived"

“Living Life As It Should Be Lived”

I believe in enjoying and living every moment in life to the fullest. We all have moments when we’re bored out of our minds, when we’re stuck in places we don’t want to be, or when we have to do work that we just don’t want to do. Everyone is familiar with these moments but an ELA assignment helped me realize what I should do in these situations.

I had just come home from my daily walk from school. I changed from my navy blue polo that was half drenched in sweat from the warm heat and my fast walking pace. After eating dinner with my parents and two sisters, I thought about part of an assignment. It was to make your own aphorism or phrase about life. Pacing back and forth in my bedroom, I remembered something I read in a memoir and connected that to my math class.

My class and I had read a memoir, “Tuesdays With Morrie,” which contains the life lessons of Morrie Schwartz. Morrie was an old university professor who was diagnosed with ALS. One of the lessons he shared was that people wish they could relive their childhood because they didn't live their youth fully. This came to my mind and I wondered if I could base my aphorism off that or make one with a similar topic. I finally did when I thought of my math class.

I went to a math class every morning where the activities simply bored me. Most of what my teacher has taught the class is stuff I had already known. This is why I disliked my math class. After thinking about the statement about reliving your childhood, I realized that I wouldn't want to be someone who had the same wish of going back to the past .

Try to live even the dullest of moments fully. That was my own personal aphorism that I now live by. I shared this with a classmate who said that our math class could be used for time to think about whatever’s in your head. That's the kind of thing I want to think about. The advantages of boring moments or places you don't want to be in. I think everyone should use my piece of advice. That way our lives might be a little bit better.

Morrie's Aphorisms

"You need to make peace with yourself and everyone around you."

Morrie told Mitch about his friend Norman who Morrie couldn't forgive. Norman didn't call Morrie or Charlotte to check on her while she needed an operation. Morrie "shrugged off" Norman's explanation off. This led to Morrie saying the he wished he could forgive Norman and telling Mitch that we need to forgive ourselves. He also says that he beat himself over not doing certain things but it never helped. This story was to show you need need to forgive and make peace with yourself for not doing some things and others what what they have or haven't done. This way you live better because you won't have any quarrels or people you haven't forgiven

I agree with Morrie's aphorism about making peace. When you're at peace with someone, you forgive them for anything they've done. You also forgive yourself for not doing some things when you're at peace with yourself. Morrie would've forgiven is friend Norman if he was at peace with him. He tells how he didn't forgive Norman for not checking on Charlotte when she needed an operation here: "Over the years, I met Norman a few times and he always tried to reconcile, but I didn't accept it...I never got to forgive him." This shows that being at piece prevents situatupions like this. Being at peace with people helps you live better with others.

I'd like to connect this aphorism to the end of my 3rd grade school year. There were some classmates I wasn't at peace with. If I have, I wouldn't wish I could go back in time and fix certain things with some people. Being at peace can prevent you from doing things you wish you didn't or forgive people for whatever reasons.

"Try to live even the dullest of moments fully."

This is my own aphorism which is inspired by two things: something Morrie said to Mitch, and my math class. Morrie said that the reason people say they wish they could go back to a younger age is because they didn't live their time fully. We all have moments when we're bored out of our minds and such a time for me is my math class. The warm-ups are boring, the lessons are boring reviews, and there's barely anything challenging. I want to live my childhood as best as I can to I may as well try to look at the advantages of my math class or any other boring moment in life.

Tuesdays with Morrie Final Seminar Reflection

We talked about what Morrie had said about certain topics during the past four seminars. Talking about them in-depth reminded me of Morrie's advice and inspired my life and my view on it to be better. Death was a topic brought up commonly, probably because the book centered on life and what to do when you're alive.

I noticed that I make connections to other pieces of literature or movies during seminars. I also try to use the questions I have prepared in case the Seminar needs a new discussion. A goal I had for the second seminars was to write down what I'd say if someone cut me off or added something else. I would've done this to avoid forgetting anything but instead of writing down, I held on to something. For example, when I was going to make a connection to a book, I held on to it so I wouldn't forget what to say.

I noticed that there were many short moments where nobody had anything to say in the third seminar. We'd have a small discussion on a topic until nobody had anything to say which didn't take long. I think this happened because we didn't think of different things to share. A group goal I thought of to prevent this was to adapt to the topics and/or to include a variety of topics in our guides.

My Perfect 24 Hours

My perfect 24 hours would start with waking up at 5:40 AM. I'd get dressed and play video games. I might even make myself a few scrambled eggs. At 7:25 AM I would walk to school and talk with friends before school starts. I'd talk with other friends and eat breakfast during EXCEL. My favorite breakfast from school is a bagel with cream cheese. Sometimes classmates don't want their food so I'll eat it instead of throwing it away. 

After EXCEL is over I would go to Math class. Throughout all of my classes I'd talk to friends and classmates, even in math class. I would have Health for Block 2 in my perfect day just for the easy work and the free time you have after doing it. Then I'd go to ELA, do work and go to lunch later. I'd see what's the new meal in the lunch cart which would be a range of my favorite school cafeteria foods. After getting lunch and a milk carton, I'd sit at the 7th table in the lunchroom. I'd have lunch with the other 7th graders and we'd joke around and flip milk cartons. After eating I'd go to recess, maybe even pay for me, Clement, Vince, and Dylan who usually go. Me at Clement would find a basketball and play a one on one game.

After recess we'd finish Block 3 and go to Block 4. Because I had health class, I'd go to Social Studies but I'd rather go to Science in my perfect day. I'd do whatever assignment we had for the day and we'd have some free time at the end. School would end and I'd get packed to walk home. I'd wait for a couple of friends to walk and joke around with. I'd get home and change out of my school uniform unless I wore something else for a dress-down. Once I changed clothes I'd play video games until my mom and dad came home with my two little sisters. Instead of my mom, I'd cook either eggs or whatever my family brought from the store. After eating I'd play videos games with friends until nighttime. My mom or dad would sleep the girls and I'd stop playing.

I'd be in bed but I wouldn't be sleeping. Notice that I said "perfect 24 hours." This is why I didn't start with "perfect day." I'd be on my phone listening to music and maybe watching funny videos and images. At around 11:00 PM I might still be on my phone or playing video games. I'd do this until 5:40. This can be a reality if I wanted to. I just need a school day with no homework and nothing to do.