Notes

1) My favorite assignments were the 4.11 Write a Descriptive Poem or Essay TGA and the 5.10 Write a Personal Research Project TGA. Poems are a diverse piece of writing, with many ranging from short 2 stanza poems with such powerful and impactful meanings from pages and pages of descriptive work. Everyone’s poem is unique in their own way: some rhyme, some have patterns, some have different atmospheres, some go on and on and on. It’s a way of bringing out one’s creativity in a written art form. The research project stood out to me for a different reason: it helped me educate myself on my cloudy past and secure my identity as an American, North African, Algerian, Amazigh, and a Zenati. It educated me on the mainly dismissed horrors of the revolution and what my heritage died for, struggling for 132 years before they were finally granted the right to live and exist peacefully in their independent country.
2) I didn’t necessarily dislike any of the assignments assigned. I enjoy writing, and I do engage in it in my free time, so when it comes to down to English class work, I usually do not have a problem. So far, none of the material assigned to me has been excessively difficult or has given me a reason to dislike it.
3) One thing that I did well this semester was motivating myself to get to the end of the semester without giving up. By this I mean completing all of my work, even when my missing assignments amassed to over 60 at times. There was a patch where I had some problems, which reflected in my work, yet despite that, I believe I was able to complete the semester successfully while pushing myself on to get to the end of the semester without any significant problems on my end.
4) Something that I need to improve on is my participation during certain live sessions. Due to my missing work, often times I would find myself skipping some of my classes to complete them or doing them while the class played, not really focusing on the content or following along, leading to a lack of participation, Participation is an important part of class, since it helps students display their learning skills and hold the content presented to them better, something that I may struggle with continuing on. I hope to fix this next semester and start participating more in all of my classes.
5) It’s hard to judge truly what kind of student I was this semester, due to the multiple contributing factors that led to a messy first semester. The student that I was this semester doesn’t reflect me or the way the I work. Due to my late admission into CAVA, I was not set properly on the right foot, which led to a difficult and stressing semester. A part of this adjustment to the online environment which reflected negatively on my studies were some personal issues that I had struggling with myself, my mental health, and the large changes that I had to make in order to fit well into my new school. There was a lot of "background noise" during my transition which was a burden to carry through for the semester. This was the first time that I have stumbled like this in my classes. This is not a habit that I have, and not a habit that I would like to develop. Under normal circumstances, I am able to complete my work and go beyond the standard, not only in English 9, but my other classes too. I understand that it is my responsibility as a student to complete my work to the best of my ability, but I would like to argue that my grades in the beginning of the semester didn't reflect my true understanding of the material, and I worked to change that. Some lessons and reminders that I learned during my first semester that I will take with me to the next semester is time management and efficiency. At the root of majority of my problems this semester was responsibility; responsibility is the key to managing your time and getting work done with the best of your ability on time and submitted. I will also be taking the study skills that I put into practice this semester for a successful rest of the year.