As a concluding activity for this year's AP12, I asked them to respond to 3 questions about their experiences in reading and writing:
What were the most demanding skills of the kinds of work we did? Where did these require you to stretch? Which were real struggles? What did you learn the most from?
What helped you most in getting the most out of your work in this class, and the "upper-level" LACHSA experience, generally?
Any reflections and/or advice for LACHSA Juniors starting this process a year earlier than many of you did? What can help next year's juniors get their most from the class and its challenges?
If you're curious about what your peers wrote, or want to continue the dialogue, I'll leave this up until graduation.
By request, I'm including a link to my "College tips" here.
-P
29 comments:
I had trouble completing assignments fast and concisely. I also ad trouble with tone and poetry. The easiest were DE's.
The idea that I would actually be learning useful concepts kept me on track to get the most out of the class.
If I were them I would say to always start early. You can never start too early on the essays.
The most demanding skill I learned from Dr. P's class was simply how to structure essays properly. It took a semester and a half of getting used to, but once I got it, the amount of help it gave me absolutely floored me.
I would say that the biggest help in getting the most out of my work was the DE assignments. The way those enabled me to see meanings behind our work (words mean stuff!) affected me so much that it has actually changed the way I read books and watch films.
My advice to juniors: don't struggle. You've all heard the horror stories from this class, but when you brush it all aside, there's a lot to be learned at an easier price than you would think. Dive in.
1. demanding skills: writing sentences using verbs as the actions (no nounif), writing show and tells that were connected, writing topic sentences that were specific yet vague, poetry analysis was hard, writing intros, all style rules generally
2) i learned the mostfrom the 8 sentence techniques, figuring out what were connected show/tells, all rules stylistically (some never occured to me that they would be important), the idea of domain in a research paper, IDEALS
3) my advice for juniors is to invest their time early on because then you start to rcognize patterns in essay writing and the rest of the year is easier. also, when you have soemthign due, leave the day before for revision only since that takes several hours by itself. dotn cram by doing the essay the day before, you will FAIL THE CLASS!!!! NOT EVEN PLAYING!!!! also, with style rules, it seems really hard to avoid things in the beginnign but after a while you stop thinking about it. just invest your hours in this class early in the year.
I think the most challenging thing for me was learning how to say something. I already knew how put words down more or less, but it took me a while to realize that there's messages upon lessons upon motifs in every great piece of writing, and that there's a lot of thinking and brainstorming to be done before you get through the layers to what you're actually writing about. I thought I knew what I was writing about, but none of my writing had direction until I figured out how to say important stuff.
It's good to know what classes demand what, and prioritizing based on that. At the beginning of the year, I thought that the least time consuming things needed to come first, but learned that time constraints had nothing to do with any assignment. You simply need to make sure you have time for everything, because in the end, you need to get it all done regardless of what order you did it in.
If you're having trouble making time, take it out of the morning. Get up earlier, it's not so bad. You think better in the early morning because your brain is fresh and there are fewer distractions. Don't BS anything!!! It's all important, get it done! The more work you do, the sooner it'll be easy enough to really deal with.
The most demanding skills were completing my large workloads and managing my time effectively. This required me to judge what my most important obligations were for classwork and homework assignments. The real struggles were building up motivation to get my homework completed, in order to have it benefit me in class. I learned the most from Dr. Pohlmann's lectures for specific assignments. The class helped me improve in grammar rules, poem analyzing, and essay/paper writing. Doing my homework and revising it in class helped me get the most out of my work in this class.
My advice for future Dr. Pohlmann students: Don't be afraid to ask for help and advice from others, once you've already tried helping yourself.
Best wishes,
Deana Momjian
This class is a class that tests limits. It is a challenging class, however, it has taught me the tools to become a better writer. The assignments, the poems, the readings, the essays, and long nights; all difficult. But they simply make you better. The easiest lessons are all "well duh!" moments and the hard stuff will be things that test your mind. Enjoy!
The most demanding skill of the work we did was really paying attention to detail. That sounds super vague, but the attention to detail in my writing, such as really looking for errors with style rules, etc., really made my papers better. It took a lot to really discipline myself to sit down and actually look for my errors, but once I was able to recognize them, I couldn't let myself get away with writing them ever again. Words mean stuff, and though its a pain to fix as many minor things as you can, it really pays off.
Coming into Dr. Pohlmann's classroom after class was over really helped because he gives you the time you need away from everyone else to really focus on improving your work. I really suggest doing this, even if it takes away from your lunch, because if you wait to come in and figure out what your writing is actually like, you find yourself panicking the day before the work it due, afraid to turn it in.
I think you guys are really lucky to be able to have Dr. Pohlmann a year before my class did. Yes, he basically saved my life in regards to college applications and all around writing, but I wish I would have had the opportunity to take his class way before this year. I hope you guys really take a moment to appreciate the chance you are being given. It will be hard as heck, and you'll probably be crazy half the time, but in the end, his class is so helpful and so worth the all nighters. :D
Revising assignments have always left me a little bitter about the whole writing process, but honest to goodness, if you don't learn it now, you're going to become a whiny, bitter person in the wee hours of the morning all the time. Maybe there's no way to avoid that, but expect to fix mistakes than produce perfection. When I first started writing in this class, I had the hardest times identifying what my problems were because it seemed like I didn't have problems before. I found myself having to push a little more with each assignment in trying to see and understand my mistakes. Since your peers will go through the same problems and your teacher knows where these issues lie, there's no reason not to help each other out and take advantage of making your writing ten times better.
It's always incredibly difficult to try new things out because we always fear what the end result will be, and that's no different in this class. My first assignments were bleeding in red ink. My work was picked on when displayed on the overhead. And that's okay. These aren't bad things that are meant to attack you. They show you where your weak spots are, and they're places for you to get stronger.
You get two years to practice your writing before college. Always pay attention to your weak points. They help you more then your best work (though always be proud of yourself for getting an A paper!). Have fun, because reading books and being analytical and feeling smart is always fun. Don't be a bitter 3 am bed-time student.
This class is going to require a lot of dedication. If you've taken his class before, you know that, unlike other classes at LACHSA, you will actually have to put in an effort and try hard. The best thing you can do is do the assignments where you bring stuff in to show and he corrects it for everyone. If you do that, then you will get the best learning possible.
When going into Dr. P's english class, you find yourself being pulled out of your comfort zone, discovering your once praised writing style full of weak verbs, abstract subjects, nounifications and bad sentence structure. The most demanding task of the class now becomes stopping your addiction and staying away from your drug long enough to allow yourself to continue to learn and grow. In order to suceeced and get the most out of the work in the class, you must never give up. There will be plenty of nights where you don't want to spend another minute doing homework. This, unfortunately, causes you to fall back into your old dirty habits. Don't!!! You only can continue to improve if you maintain the lessons you learned previously. You can't build a house if your foundation suddenly falls apart. It is with this comment that I say never give up. There was plenty of times where I quit. And let me tell you it's very easy to just leave, but that did not help me in anyway!!! You only can learn and get the most out of your work if you keep pushing yourself to the next level.
The most demanding skill that I have definitely had to accommodate with was the learning of vocabulary. When being thrown so many new words, sometimes the brain had a lot of brain-farts and that was definitely tough. It required me to actually take the time to read and understand what exactly it was that I was reading. Thankfully, after reading the same definitions fifteen times, the words gradually became easier to remember.
I learned the most from the college writing assignments. There were the seven Traits of Maturity that helped me understand who I was as a person and what exactly it was I wanted to write about myself. The things that helped me most were definitely my free periods with other seniors in my English class. We would join forces or vent and rant; either way, free periods assisted me in getting through this academic school year.
Lachsa Juniors, I just want to say that it’s okay to be afraid, or intimidated, whatever may have you. This class will literally chew you apart and rip you apart if you are not mentally mature and physically responsible. I don’t mean to sound down and out, but that was my downfall. It wasn’t that I couldn’t handle it, it was that I didn’t want to and I let that get the better of me and in consequence, I ended up stressing out to try to get my grades up. Trust me, 93.62% of you will probably go through the same thing. All I can really tell you guys is fight on, like USC, and keep your heads up because you all are beautiful and this opportunity that you are being given most definitely matters
I learned the most from the structure of the class. Looking at a future college syllabus, this class and a college level english class are one in the same. I feel that if anything I am not going into college with a “blind-eye” and that more than anthing else is helpful.
The most struggles, for me, came from the poem analysis. What really helped put the poems in perspective were the Double Entery Journals. The Journals are a tool that I definitely feel I will use in the future because they really help organize my thoughts.
LACHSA class of 2012, I would advise that you, above all, ask for help when you need it. It can be difficult but your education and over all learning is worth it.
I had trouble with the DEs and finding things within the text that had meaning. I also had trouble organizing these explanations into paragraphs when I had no idea what I was saying.
More structured fact based essays like the Research Paper were easier for me and I learned a lot of good format, sentance structure and technique.
I suggest you start your essays as soon as possible, and finish them with enough time to edit, possibly get someone else to look over them.
I enjoyed how this class expanded my English learning. We read an astomshing number of books for a highschool English class, and I deeply appreciate that. However, I did have trouble keeping up with the work load. We had numerous difficult and time consuming assignments every week, and I found it nearly impossible to get it all finished well and get sleep.
I have left this class exhausted and drained, but if I had to do it all over again I would always choose Pholmann.
Hey Juniors,
My advice is to be confident in your ability to do well throughout the year. For me, the most demanding exercise was writing my first paragraphs for Dr.P. I was so sure that I was saying things the wrong way that I would constantly delete evrything I had typed instead of gonig back to revise. I didn't realize until second semester that all the time I spent worrying about assignments slowed me down. When I finally got the confidence to first write non-stop then edit and to ask Dr.P questions when I needed advice, I felt like I had learned the most about what I needed to do to improve and what my strengths and weaknesses were as a writer. If you find yourself struggling, remember to take notes and ALWAYS ask for help when you need it. Making assumptions can take valuable points away from you.
I wish you the best as you transition into your senior year.
-Angelica
I had the most difficulty completing the rigorous assignments every other night. In the beginning I had to spend at least two nights on Dr. Pohlmann assignments to make sure I could actually finish them. It just took time for me to get accustomed to the work load and Dr. Pohlmann's expectations. The most demanding skills in the class were the analytical statements, which I had the most trouble analyzing and articulating.
Throughout the year though, almost without my knowledge, I was just able to complete assignments with more ease and receive better grades.
My advice would be to manage your time, stay focused, and really try to retain all the knowledge you will learn from this class. Don't give up, anyone can do it you just have to be determined.
While many of the skills in Dr. P Ap course were challengeing, the skill that I struggled, and still strugle with is the economical use of words, or the "no fluff" and "one-word" rules. My style of writing and explanation, while colorful, fun, and sometimes witty, was dreadful when attempting to analyze or argue logicly.
If you feel that the class is made to change the way you write and abolish your creativity, your wrong. A writer must know the purpose of their paper and their audience, and must alter their writing style to match.
By forcing myself to check my flowery and pompous writing, I found I was able to use my perfered style better than before, and to find a balance between clarity and expression. While many of the skills, like this one, can be difficult to master and seem to go against your entire being, don't give up on it. It may improve what you love about yourself, like it did for me.
P.S. While it's important to give time to getting the techniques "right", don't agonize over them but give it your best and be sure to get the full benefit of the criticism that follows, as that's the best way to really get it down.
One of the most demanding skills in this class was definitely analyzing poetry. I had never been asked to do this before, so it was really challenging and harder than most things to grasp.
Although pretty much every assignment was a huge struggle to get completed and correct, I would say the biggest help was having live correcting work sessions on the projector. This allowed me to understand exactly what was expected of me for each assignment and how I personally could achieve at a higher level.
My advice to the juniors is time management. This class is extremely difficult at times, so do not procrastinate even though it may be tempting at times. Also, meet with Dr. Pohlmann at lunch and do your work even a day early, so he can help you before you turn the final draft in. Soak up all the information that you can from this class. Although it's difficult, it's really worth it in the end and you truly will become a better writer and reader.
Basically, handling Dr. Pohlmann's class was a skill that I had to obtain. However, if I had to pick one thing that would be the most demanding, I would choose the skill of getting what you want to say from your head to the paper. It's really hard to execute something without being too wordy, vague, etc. Before Pohlmann's class, I didn't even know that I always wrote with empty noun phrases. Even when I would know what I want to say, it was ridiculously difficult for me to make the sentences and paragraphs flow correctly without taking hours on the assignment. After a while, after spending countless hours with Pohlmenguin himself, I understood how to write well. I spent a lot of time rewriting millions of sentences, and believe me, I've been frustrated. Still, by the end of Pohlmann's class, I know actually know how to write. I get what he explains to me in class, and what used to be mumbojumboshabalabadingdong, his explanations, became easy advice/directions.
Honestly, I would not have been able to write without Dr. Pohlmann's class. My essays before were horrendous and just bad. I couldn't even write an essay without passive voice! I even put I, me, my, wow, I just used to write terribly. Aside from learning how to write, I learned how to handle a workload. I learned what to look for when reading, and I just learned how to study English.
LACHSA Juniors, yo homies. Let's keep it real right hurr. When handling Pohlmann's class, if you need help, don't be a silly pussy cat and not ask him. At first, his words will sound like Harry Potter spells, but after a while, you'll start to understand exactly he is saying. Soon, you'll be editing your essays without crying for hours before because you were just so confused. Also, don't get behind. Always correct your work, and figure out what you did wrong. Don't let assignments pass by. If you can redo it, do it. Lastly, please take his class seriously. You will come out of his class a changed man/woman/cat if you really apply what he's telling you. Aside from that, just be ready for the time of your life. You'll hate it, but you'll love it. And let me say, I've never felt smarter after receiving a good paper from Mr. Penguinman himself!
What were the most demanding skills of the kinds of work we did?
The most demanding skills was at the beginning of the year when we started learning about cause>effect because I have never did this kind of thinking and it took me forever to grasp, I still struggle on it a little but I'm a little better at it now than in the beginning of the year.
Where did these require you to stretch?
For the cause>effect assignments I always stated the obvious and I had to really get into the text and think hard about bring my own assertions backed up with the text from what ever we were reading.
Which were real struggles?
My real struggles was working the assignment for a long time and getting back to find out that the're are alot of mistakes, and having to redo it again.
What did you learn the most from?
Although, it was time consuming and I myself had a serious struggle of giving up because I could grasp the concept, I kept persevering because its better to struggle in english now than in college. So when I get to college I'll be more prepared
What helped you most in getting the most out of your work in this class, and the "upper-level" LACHSA experience, generally?
I think the corrections that I did for each assignment helped me the most because I learned what exactly I did wrong and fixed it, and in the future I hopefully didnt do it again.
Any reflections and/or advice for LACHSA Juniors starting this process a year earlier than many of you did? What can help next year's juniors get their most from the class and its challenges?
Do not give up, be organized, when ever you feel like giving up just think that it will be better for you in the long run.
The work done in this class tests each student's time-management and endurance abilities. Much of the work assigned is very time consuming, however, none of this is "busy work" as each assignment has a specific purpose and aids in the mastery of a much needed skill. Some assignments must be completed several times to attain this mastery, but in doing this, students really gain an understanding of the material.
Initially I was afraid to ask Dr. P for help, but getting over that fear was one of the best things I did in my senior year. He encourages students to go in to his room at lunch if they need help, and by accepting his offer, I went from my initial D to an A- in the first semester. I think the key to much of upper level learning is knowing how to talk to your professor and ask for help, which this class definitely prepared me for.
My advice to juniors: START WORKING ON COLLEGE ESSAYS WITH DR.P ASAP! And DON'T GIVE UP. This class will seem impossible to many people, but if my class did it, so can you!
The most demanding skills that I learned from Dr. P's class were efficient writing techniques, such as avoiding weak verbs, using proper tenses, and generally writing well. Before taking his class, I was unaware of how structurally weak my sentences were, and now looking back at my old writing I'm quite glad that I took his class-- despite the countless hours obsessing over errors! However through my mistakes, I eventually got better and quicker at writing for his assignments, as well as any writing in general. Additionally, the thing that helped me get the most out of his class was actually becoming invested in his assignments. When I first began his class I quickly learned that doing assignments just to do them would cause my writing to be not only terrible, but teach me nothing about bettering my technique: This way of thinking was also useful in helping me realize that the rule of investing my attention into my work applies to everything I do, and will do for years to come.
I also give this last piece of advice to the incoming LACHSA Juniors: While you're in this class stay positive about every assignment you do, regardless of the amount of mistakes made! Remember that learning something well requires a process of trial and error-- and simply trying! If you continue working to the best of your abilities, and learn from your mistakes, you'll eventually get better at your writing and become a stronger student in this class, and as a writer!
i had a lot of trouble in this class because i basically had to change my way of thinking. I feel like i wasted my time in english classes before this year. Structuring essays and properly writing show&tells was difficult, but i knew i was learning useful skills.
1)In my opinion, the most demanding work i have experienced doing would have to be the poem analysis assignments. I find difficulty in understanding the underlying themes and elements within each poem, along with choosing three techniques when some techniques can be supported by short/subtle examples.
2)These pushed me to stretch my ability to read anything figuratively and not only literally. I have spent most of my life reading poems and essays without thinking about symbols and analogies. This year i have struggled to break the wall of deducing writing for what it says word for word in a straightforward manner.
3) I personally learned most from the grammar lectures where we had to correct a paragraph and make corrections on our own papers. I loved that we got to redo assignments because i felt i learned more from that than i had expected. Even now, i feel more aware of not typing in vague verbs!
The most important thing for Pohlmann's class is to connect your show to your tell. If you use quotes you have to make sure that what your trying to prove actually goes with that quote. The Penguin teaches you that you can't just pull things out of... thin air. Even after the show and the tell connect, you still have to follow the style and grammar rules. Just because he stops lecturing about "is" and "has" doesn't mean you can start using them again. If you need help, ask pohlmann because he is the only one that knows what he wants and what you are doing wrong and he loves to let you know whats wrong because he wants you to do well. It doesnt seem like it at first. Just listen to Pohlmann but try to ignore his dirty jokes.
Firstly, this year has bin absolutely grate. Dr. Pohlmann made us use every mussel in our brains and it payed off! At some points, I thought I might dye underneath all the wait of the workload, but now I see that it is necessary to feel week in order too get stronger.
The most demanding skills of the kind of work we did were (like my worksheetitis?) with out a doubt topic sentences. Those little vial mosters are the most hostel pieces of English ever. I had difficulty learning how to begin those dam paragraphs. My patients was tested, I waged wore versus those fiendish introductory sentences, we dualed, but in the end, I think I one. Any one who can overcome the challenge of transitioning from one paragraph to the other then introducing the paragraph deserves a meddle. I learned all about them, and buy the end I was way better at constructing them, sure i would have some sleight treble, butt I think I really got threw.
Generally, when i had no other homework, that helped me get through my Pohlmann hw. Also, free period are good. I think that if you just commit a good hour to doing only yore homework, than you can get it done easily.
My favorite part of this class was learning about the word usage and how the same too words can sound and bee herd the same weigh butt mean totally different things.
Juniors, my advice is never miss an assignment. An F (50%) is way better than a 0. So don't procrastinate, do work the night it's assigned so you can run it bye him before you have too turn it in.
Have a great year,
Michael Chacon
The most demanding skill to complete in this class was definitely paying attention for an hour and a half, NOT because the class is boring. BUT simply because hes throwing alot at you for a short period time and extremely continuously. The real struggles were having me let go of the little habits that I had picked up along the way that weren't helpful at all to my writing but I somehow felt were necessary. I learned the most from revising and revising and revising. i know its a bore and it sucked alot of the time but it was the most helpful thing
I think that the biggest concept that I learned about this year was simply getting my point across. I was constantly using vague words and empty noun phrases, mostly because I just didn't know how to get my point across, but the simple key is brainstorming, and finding related words to use in my sentences.
Getting my work done was simply starting assignments, and then redoing them, again and again. I would draft papers numerous times, and I noticed that each time I stepped back and read it over, my eye caught something that needed to be change. Slowly but surely, the work improved.
My advice would be to ASK QUESTIONS. If you're confused in any way shape or form, don't hesitate to ask. Also, if the P-man ever asks for a draft to put up on the projector, go for it. Your work will be pretty much done for you, but you learn by watching him fix your mistakes. And of course, don't procrastinate. And most importantly, don't let anything discourage you. The class can get stressful, but I guarantee that in the end it will be worth it. Not only will your writing improve, but so will your speech and thought processes. Don't be afraid of the Penguin.
One thing I can suggest for people who might have trouble getting your ideas out when you are starting to write an essay for Dr. Pohlmann is dictating to yourself. I have had many a frustrating night talking out my sentences but when it comes time to writing it down i get stuck trying to make it sound pretty to begin with. I started to record myself speaking the sentences and then typing my words verbatim this only left editing and some minor changes. this technique made the process a lot easier.
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