Aaron's English Blog

 Prompt: If I wrote a poem about my life right now, it would be about balancing school work with athletics and finding free time. I would choose this as the topic of my poem as that is the main conflict in my life. It is sometimes hard to do work when I have a late practice and both of those can mean not really having much free time after school. I could represent this balance in a poem by making an analogy to a scale. Summary: Today in class we took notes on how to write a rhetorical analysis. Reflection: I thought that the articles about social connection were interesting.

 Prompt: When I am not in a good mood, going to sleep often helps. This allows me to reset my brain and try to change my mood. If I am not in a situation where I can sleep, I try to make myself busy by doing school work. Eating good food also helps change my mood. Summary: Today in class we worked on a NewsELA. Reflection: I thought that the article was interesting.

 Prompt: My approach to creativity is to try and write down the first thing that comes to mind and then map it out. When I'm working on a project, I try to get some basic materials and make a rough model of what I want to make. This helps me plan what it will look like. A project that I am most proud of is a model brain I made. Summary: Today in class we worked on questions for a passage in writable. Reflection: I thought that some of the questions were not well written.

Prompt: The most effective rhetorical device is rhetorical question. This is because it makes the audience engage in the argument more as they have to fill in the answer to the question by themselves. Also, it can be an effective way of making the audience think that they came up with the answer when, in reality, the speaker created the question to make the audience think a certain way. Summary: We are going to take a test on rhetoric today. Reflection: I enjoyed watching the movie clips for rhetorical devices.

 Prompt: A vocabulary word that resonates with me personally is gibberish. Sometimes it feels like everything that my teacher is saying is gibberish because it does not make sense. An example is on the block days when my math teacher talks for an hour and a half and it feels like I don't understand anything she says. This is a personal memory that links me to the word as it happens to me a lot. Summary: Today in class we learned a new list of vocabulary words. Reflection: The word gibberish resonated with me.

 Prompt: A time I didn't feel like myself was during the pandemic and I could not really talk to my friends as much. It made me not feel like myself because I was essentially isolated for a year. I also struggled a bit in school because I need face to face teaching to learn something and the pandemic did not allow me to have that. I also was not able to participate in sports and that made me not feel like myself. Summary: Today in class we heard MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech and analysed it for rhetorical appeals. Reflection: I thought that the speech was very moving.

 Prompt: I feel most at peace at home because that is where I go at the end of the day to relax. When I am done with practice and school I can go home and recover, make food, and go to sleep. I feel most at peace at home because I am around my family. My family is mostly calm and that helps me feel peaceful. Summary: Today we continued learning about rhetorical devices. Reflection: My coach likes to use analogies.

 Prompt: A time I had to rely on someone else was when I went hiking with my dad for a week. My dad had all the food while I had the tent. I had to rely on my dad to not eat all the food as I would otherwise have nothing. He did not end up eating all of the food so I didn't starve. This made me feel grateful that I could rely on my dad. Summary: Today in class we continued learning about the rhetorical devices. Reflection: I thought it was interesting that one can use like, as, and so for simile.

 Prompt: A skill that I have learned is to be able to get work done on time. This would help me do well in a job in the future. Some other skills that I have learned during high school are how to cook for myself (meal prep) and I am currently learning how to drive. These skills will allow me to succeed after high school as I can take care of myself and get to where I need to me. Summary: Today we watched a speech from President Trump and analysed it for rhetorical appeals. Reflection: I did not know about the different parts of crisis rhetoric before today.

 Prompt: A time I took a hiatus was over winter break where I took a hiatus from basketball. I went on vacation and decided to not play basketball on vacation to try and rest. This allowed me to recover from some injuries and feel better afterwards. This break impacted me by making me basketball skills slightly worse. Summary: Today in class we learned about rhetorical questions, hypophora, and antithesis. Reflection: I like the sound of antithesis.

 Prompt: Today's lesson felt like it would take a million years to end. Time went by a little sluggishly in today's lesson. Rhetorical devices are not too hard to understand. Summary: Today we learned about hyperbole, understatement, and litotes. Reflection: I still need to work on understanding how to use understatement.

 Prompt: I spent my holiday break spending time with my grandparents in Germany. I enjoyed the time I spent with them because I don't get to see them very much. I liked cooking with my grandmother and making traditional German meals. Summary: Today in class we set goals for the new year. Reflection: I think setting goals is important for growth. 1. My first goal is to get my driver's license. This goal is important to me because I would be able to drive myself to basketball practice over the summer as I intend to play in the summer league at Lakeside. To accomplish this goal, I will ask my parents to drive whenever I go somewhere that they would usually drive me. On the weekends, I will drive for at least an hour as I will have more time then. I aim to complete this goal by the end of this school year so that I can drive in the summer. 2. My second goal is to get a job as a lifeguard this summer. This goal is important to me because I will be able to earn money and gain valuabl...