Dear Future Students : What I learned and How You can do Better !

I have gone through many problems trying to write in proper Advanced Placement (AP) form this year. I have grown from writing essays that were graded as threes to essays that have been graded as sixes, but it took a lot of work and time. Some of my problems were learning how to explain my evidence correctly and writing in an mature prose style. I have learned which words or phrases would be appropriate to write in my essays to which where not. For example words such as you, I, or can’t should not be used in many essays. I have also learned not to use the word he, because I need to be specific and direct while writing. I have learned how to replace certain phrases that are immature to ones that will bring my point across in a much better way. All these techniques that I have learned have formed me into a much better writer. Another problem I have is procrastination, where I wait until the day before an essay is due to finish it. I still struggle with this problem and I can tell because I am typing this essay on Sunday when it is due Monday. I know not to procrastinate when it comes to reading. I have learned to organize my reading time, so I can finish reading the book before the due date. I have practiced pulling important things out of a text when reading, whether it is a book, essay or a paragraph. I know I will be able to use these skills when I go to college.

Ms. Fogarty was very helpful with her instruction for this year, I could not have taken the exam with her extra help. One thing that I think was very helpful was the one on one meetings, where you could discuss an essay of your choice or any flaws you think you may have a writer. After I meet with her it helped me to improve on future essays I had to write or edit. Also a week or so before the Advanced Placement Language Exam she offered to have students stay after school with her and either write essays we think we needed improvement on or do multiple choice, which is where most students thought they needed improvement on. That is when I learned specific strategies on how to do better on the exam and earned my first six in the class. I practiced explaining things in my essays, such as quotes and evidence, so my writing would not be vague.

One thing that I think could have been better was taking the opportunity to go after school and work on my writing with Ms. Fogarty more often. I think my writing would have improved way more if I would have took that opportunity. For the few times during the school year I went to Ms. Fogarty after school, I know I will be able to go to college to take criticism from my professors, so I can improve even more from this year. I will take the skills I learned from this year onto other writing classes I plan to take in the future.

This class was not an easy class at all, especially if your a student who struggles when having to write in a specific type of format. The advice I would give to a student who is planning on taking this class in the fall is take advantage of your resources. Make sure to go after school to Ms. Fogarty or any other AP language teacher and ask them how you can improve. I know I could have done more of that this year. Have another student or maybe another teacher proofread your essays to see where you may have made mistakes and make sure  they have a rubric so they know how you should be writing. If I could go back in time to improve on my essays I would not settle for just a three in the beginning of the school year, I would go up to Ms. Fogarty and ask what I could have done better and rewrite those specific parts of the essay. I know if I would have used some of these techniques I would have done better in her class this year.

I have learned many things from being in Advanced Placement Language and I plan to continue learning in other college writing classes. I know that English will never go away, so I will keep writing and reading until I get as good as possible because I have learned "No matter how many goals you have achieved, you must set your sights on a higher one.” (Quote written by Jessica Savitch)