When I was first assigned the genius hour project, I freaked. The fourth nine weeks, as many know, is a busy time of year. Teachers cram their lessons because "we are behind schedule!" and we have to finish all of the units on time. Students receive pile upon pile of work and study reviews. Tests. AP exams. Band Auditions. Section Leader applications. My parents find it hard to believe that I rarely get a full night's sleep, but how can I go to sleep when there are so many things to complete? Regardless of all the work and effort that I put in to my school assignments, I think for the most part I enjoyed Genius Hour. Yes, it is another big project -- but having the choice of what to do is definitely a plus. Maybe freedom to choose your project is more beneficiary to other students than to me because I find it hard to make decisions. For this reason, I fell back to music. Music is something that never fails to impress me. I discovered that there was another world behind music when I did my TPSP project in the eighth grade. Genius Hour was another opportunity for me to learn more about the small portion of the music world that I had seen. I combined this with the fact that I had always had a yearning to learn guitar. Although I am not generally good at making spontaneous and new decisions, I am glad I chose to learn more about the guitar, an instrument I had always admired when played by other people. In a way, I feel honored that I had the chance to pick up the guitar for a specific purpose - its like the guitar chose me. I know, I know, my mind works in strange ways. Anyways, genius hour was a something that gave me pride and joy to be in the English Leadership class. It was fun watching people's reactions when I told them I was learning how to play the guitar for an English project.
I found this while digging through my old things the other day. It's a page from a journal my music teacher in elementary school made us write in. I found it ironic that one of my goals in the third grade was to learn how to play guitar, and I had waited until I was sixteen to test it out. Although obstacles may be set in your path, people never change, I guess! |
In regards to my English Language Arts class, I have grown as a more creativity-embracing person. Before, I thought Language Arts had to follow a certain formula. Now I know that the best of writers are original by using their own creativity to enhance their writing. Thank you Ms. Terry for giving us so much freedom this year! I loved how you assigned books for us to read only if you enjoyed them yourself: this is what I believe all English classes ought to do. I also really enjoyed the fact that this year for all of our projects we always had options to choose from.
This school year, I learned many things. As a student, I learned that sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the things you prioritize. Apart from my school life, I learned that I am ok with change. In fact, I want to experience as much as I can when I can so that I can improve upon my decision-making skills. I also learned that I don't have to please everyone. Sometimes, no matter what you do, people will not accept you, and that's ok. Comparing myself with others does not always help me succeed. I've learned to keep my long-time best friends close to me while making new friends.
Concerning this blog, I am so happy that my 10th grade English class has introduced me to creating one. Keeping up with a blog helps me develop my writing skills and my personality. I love having a blog, as you can see I began experimenting by posting additional content about my life. I plan on extending my blog and making it appeal to more people. Somethings I look forward to posting about include poetry, food, summer activities, and flute playing ~~ maybe a few flute toot-orials? ;)
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