Future-Sydney Taylor

Junior year has absolutely flown by but so much has happened. My grades this year weren't as great as I hoped they would be but I survived with A's and B's so it's fine. I've learned a lot of important lessons this year that I'll carry with me for the rest of my life. The most vital being, you cannot be too careful who you trust. I tried to make new friends and experience new things this year and while a lot of it was mostly just a headache, I came out of it with some very close friends that I hope to keep through senior year and some very memorable inside jokes. This summer I'm going on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic in June, but other than that I'll probably just be working at my new job at Panera and going to the pool. What I want for senior year is to be able to do some of the things I've been putting off since freshman year, have some new experiences, and mostly just have fun. I really hope to dedicate more time to the Speech and Debate Team. I hope senior year doesn't go by as quickly as this year did. 

Help!-Sydney Taylor

Personally, I felt very prepared for the AP test so thank you for that. I'm going to say that I was definitely more a fan of grading essays in smaller groups, rather than as a whole class, because I felt like it gave more people the chance to talk and contribute their opinions without feeling the pressure of having to speak to a whole room. And it didn't take as much time to get through grading them. Socratic Seminars were my least favorite assignment from this year. I know you used them to remind us of the skills needed to do an analysis essay since we didn't do a whole lot of those in the few months before the AP test but I would have found it more effective to just do an analysis essay. The Socratic Seminars were tedious and I never knew if I was doing them right and it didn't feel like the same skills used in an analysis essay. Thanks for a good year Logsdon! 

Assignment 24- Skylar Mays

Junior year, like I was told it would, flew by. And I’m expecting next year to go by faster. And while there was significantly more work, I feel it was probably my best year that I’ve experienced so far. I think I was able to improve my life in every aspect that I look at it whether it is academically or athletically. I’m hoping that these improvements that I have made will continue on to the next few years to the extent that I need them to. For the most part, my failures have been limited to a few (all) AP chem tests and miscommunication amongst friends that have for the most part sorted themselves out. I have been extremely grateful to be given the opportunities I have been this year as well as just gotten to experience the “dreaded” junior year. Wouldn’t change a thing.

Assignment 26- Skylar Mays

I think when it comes down to it, most every test that involves an essay is the same and we call came into this year with some prior knowledge as to how to go about writing these. And while I think every lesson you taught was effective, (except for reading that printed out chapter- I didn’t retain any of that and I don’t think anyone else did either) I think you could start some lessons earlier. I think part of teaching the test is teaching all of it, and I think you could have started the year with explaining all parts of the test, we got to the last few months and I still had no idea how to write a synthesis or an argument. But on the other hand I did feel very prepared for the analysis essay which in some aspects carried over to the other two. I thought waiting until the second essay we wrote to teach us organic was effective.

Assignment 26 - Thomas Kenny

            Despite my own personal shortcomings in the second semester, overall I felt that the class was very effective at preparing me both for the AP exam as well as both the English and reading sections of the ACT exam. The practice multiple choice questions gave me a good idea of what I should expect and what I should study, and doing in-class timed writings really helped me with my pacing. For the majority of the year, I would pace poorly and have to rush to finish my pieces, often resulting in diminishing quality towards the end. On the AP exam itself however, I never felt pressured by time and even finished up my last piece with roughly 15 minutes to spare. I feel that as far as scoring the timed writings goes, the small group method we adopted later in the year was more effective than the previous class scoring we did. One idea I had that’s aside from test material/coursework was to maybe set aside part of a class period each week to talking about blog posts with the class, whether that is discussing the prompts themselves or going over responses you found particularly interesting.

Assignment 23 - Thomas Kenny

Perfect playlist to create nostalgia for 1980’s rock n’ roll:

1: Queen – Another One Bites the Dust

2: AC/DC – Thunderstruck

3: Survivor – Eye of the Tiger

4: Guns n’ Roses – Paradise City

5: Van Halen – Panama

As a work-around for not having been alive in the 1980’s, I consulted my father about this list, as he was a young man at the time and enjoyed the rock n’ roll genre. I structured this list based on the bands rather than the songs, seeing as how each had multiple smash hits in the decade, and picked the songs that (in my opinion) was the most definitive for each group. Anyone who was a fan of rock n’ roll during the 80’s will surely remember all of these songs, and hearing one song from a particular band will surely remind them of many of the band’s other songs as well as any experiences they had whilst listening to these songs back in the 80’s. Even as a 21^st century youth, I prefer this playlist over anything that’s come out in the last decade.

Assignment 22 - Thomas Kenny

            If I could be any fictional character, I would choose Dinkleberg from the Nickelodeon show Fairly OddParents. Dinkleberg, only referred to by his last name, is the neighbor to the protagonist in the show, and is characterized as a very successful upper-middle class family man. He has, for all intents and purposes, a very “normal” life. The protagonist’s father greatly despises Dinkleberg despite his very earnest and friendly attitude. If I had to guess, I would say that envy is the reason behind this hatred. I would love to live a life like Dinkleberg’s, as there appears to be little (if any) calamity in his household and most of everything that he does is met with resounding success and achievement. While he obviously inspires hatred in some, I doubt that it is a common occurrence, as other characters in the show never seem to be too concerned about him or what he is doing.

Assignment 20 - Thomas Kenny

How to Play Smite

Smite is a competitive third-person video game known as a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA). It is an incredibly complex experience that is very dynamic due to complex game mechanics, constantly-evolving strategies & tactics developed by players and coaches, and the multitude of play-styles allowed by this complexity. At its core, Smite is a game with a simple objective: destroy the enemy’s end boss (“Titan”). However, not only must a player and 4 human allies work together as a team to achieve this goal through various means, one must also combat 5 human enemies who are trying to accomplish the same thing. The skill involved with succeeding in this game comes from not only an individual’s prowess with a character, knowledge of the game and ability to utilize teamwork, but also from one’s ability to understand and plan for how their opponents play. For example, as a Hunter player, I know that while I have the ability to deal a lot of damage to enemy players, I should not engage in solo fights against Assassins, as they are designed for just those kinds of situations. I must work with my allied Guardian or Warrior players who have the ability to prevent Assassins from demolishing targets with low defenses.

Assignment 25 - Thomas Kenny

                Having been in accelerated academic programs since I was 8 years old, I am no stranger to extreme stress. Overwhelmed by the stark contrast between my normal 2^nd grade class and accelerated 3^rd grade class, I easily came to the realization that these programs were going to push me to perform no matter what the circumstance. I hate stress. I feel tense and agitated when I’m stressed and my diet often goes through drastic changes in these situations. For example, in lieu of the benefits of being properly fed before college entry exams, I did not eat for 30 straight hours before I took the ACT for the first time in 7^th grade. However, as much as I detest stressful environments, over the years I’ve developed the tenacity to thrive in stressful situations. The best application of this is that I can use the stress caused by performance anxiety to overcome it, and as a result I am able to perform well in sports, exams, etc. However, that doesn’t change the fact that I DESPISE stress, and the best way for me to relieve it is just to step back from whatever the stressful situation is and pay it no mind.

Assignment 18 - Thomas Kenny

Creating a “bucket list” can be both liberating and daunting.  I mean, this is the best of the best; the ultimate goal.  For high school, how can you not include graduation?  But, I’ll take it a step further and say graduation with honors. In addition, I must include the creation life-long friendships with my peers, and applying for colleges & universities. However, graduation with honors takes priority. Before my collegiate years come to an end, I hope to be involved in a serious relationship with a lovely young woman and lay the groundwork for an entry level position in whatever career I choose. Ultimately, the most important of the things I want to do before my life comes to its conclusion is to be able to finance my child’s (children’s?) education. I know it sounds sappy, but out of all of my bucket list ideas, this one is both the least selfish and most influential. As much as I would love to vacation in Europe every year after my retirement, that is nowhere near as important of a goal.

Assignment 24 - Thomas Kenny

            I did not have a “junior year” as much as I did two “junior semesters”.  My first semester, while difficult, was successful for the most part. I ended with solid grades in every class, despite not completing a handful of assignments in some of them. I made it my goal for the next semester to avoid incomplete assignments as well as prepare properly for the AP tests near the end of the semester. For the first month or so of second semester, I was on the right track. However, due to struggles in my family/personal life, I lapsed into a sort of depression where I felt no initiative or drive to keep up with academics. The remainder of the year after this issue was addressed has consisted of home-schooling and preparing for AP testing, which I felt was a success. I am confident about my performance on all 3 of the exams. Upon completing the remainder of my assignments and enjoying my summer, I look forward to starting my senior year off on the right foot and finishing my high school career strong.

Assignment 21 - Thomas Kenny

            Right now, I am striving for redemption. After a catastrophic semester for both my academic and personal life, I sit here in my chair struggling to come up with ideas for blog posts that should’ve been completed months ago. I was negligent in the past, but now these assignments have my full, undivided attention. Even given my new home-schooling situation, I had to devote the majority of my time up until now to preparing for 3 AP tests and an orchestra performance, resulting in assignments piling up. Only through the generosity of my teachers have I been able to come this close to finishing off the year with triumphant success. And after completing all manners of history, physics, computer programming and pre-calculus, I’ve finally arrived at English. Creative writing has never been my forte; however I am prepared to pick my brain for anything that someone might find remotely interesting. I just hope it’s not problematic that I do these posts out of order.

Help!-- Raiffa S.

Okay real talk though English has never been my favorite class. And, no, I’m not about to be like “but because of you i love english now!!!*heart eyes*”.

I still really don’t like english but I really like how you were able to prepare us for the test without smothering us with essays and tests and practice. Cause most of us have the skill to pass the test, we just needed to know how to play to the graders. I also really like the alternative assignments you’ve given us throughout the year like these blog posts and the PSA final. If you actually did the blog posts they were an easy way to pad your grade without being just a useless worksheet.

The only thing I would’ve liked if we did is maybe more stuff to improve our writing in general and not just for the AP exam. Basically all of the english classes we’ve had up to this point have taught us how to write to a form and not how to improve our skill as writers so it would’ve been nice to have some assignments that were designed to help us study for the test but also teach us stuff that we can take with us in our writing in the future.

But yeah you’re the best logman thanks for letting us annoy you in your room 24/7 and i look forward to continuing that next year :D

Assignment 19 - Thomas Kenny

            The piece of advice that has stuck with me more than any other is to view each and every mistake as an opportunity to improve. Everyone makes mistakes, and some people (like me) more than others. By itself, a mistake is a negative occurrence, often harmful or embarrassing, that leaves a bad taste in one’s mouth. However when viewed in a positive light as an opportunity to improve, not only does it become easier to bounce back, but one is less likely to repeat that mistake in the future. I often apply this advice in sports, particularly archery during my years in high school. Every shot that scores less than the maximum of 10 points is, in essence, a mistake, as the shot could’ve been placed more precisely. In addition, every shot that misses gives me more information on how to set my aim closer to perfection. Rather than get frustrated and quit when shooting poorly, I use these mistakes to guide myself to success.

Help! - Rachel Lush

So first things first I really appreciate how much time you dedicated towards the AP test. I felt so prepared for the AP test ( way more than other students who didn't have you) since basically our entire class was a glorified AP review session. What I think could've helped is if we could have had one day a week dedicated to blog posts. A majority of people forgot about these things and I think it would've been cool if like every Friday we would have just like 15 minutes to work on them so even is students didn't do it they were reminded so it's on them. Lastly I would either omit the socratic seminar or dedicate more time. We spent like an in between amount of time on them so it was kind of a waste of time. Otherwise you're the bomb.com LogDog.

Stress - Rachel Lush

The thought of this blog post stresses me out to be honest. I don't deal with stress well or at all actually. I let all of my stress build up and then I just explode because I have poor ways of coping with my stress. Also, it doesn't help that EVERYTHING and I mean everything stresses me out. From meeting new people, to going to the store  I'm just a stressed out person. I like to relieve stress by listening to really emotional music, crying a little about all the stress, then I'm good. Venting also seems to really help with stress. I love to call my friends and just word vomit because I just feel like after so much is lifted off of my shoulders. Stress is stressful and I hate it and I'm super bad at dealing with it so I don't really have a great entry for this blog post.

The Future - Rachel Lush

Successes: I have a solid job and have really excelled in the and am now a manager (even though all I do is work). I found a stable group of friends. I got a car. I got my license, thank god. I made it to my 17th year on earth that's a success amirite

Failures: Didn't do everything I should have done this year and kind of let it slip away. Made some bad decisions. Family issues.

Lessons Learned: You can't count on everybody who says they will be there for you. You can't be too quick to judge. Take things slow, especially in relationships. Some people don't change, some people stay exactly the same. Life can be crappy sometimes.

Risks taken: letting people in. paid and went to prom without my mothers permission. i have too many risks to list honestly.

Mistakes made: the people i've trusted. taking this year for granted. sneaking out. getting into a relationship.

Summer: I am working 7 days a week to pay for car insurance, payments, and gas.

Senior Year: who knows what will happen.

reaching my goals: by staying focused

Perfect Playlist - Rachel Lush

So many people are going to judge me for this but here we go.

*DISCLAIMER* these are not by any means my favorite songs, rather songs that I get down to.
(no particular order)

1. Goddess - Banks
 Basically a song about a super amazing girl who got pooped on by a stupid boy. Very empowering, makes me feel good and like a goddess. That's all.

2.Trap Queen, or My Way remix (feat. Drake) - Fetty Wap
 These are horrible songs but I really love to dance so these are songs that I can turn up really loud and dance to or drive really fast to.

3. House Party - Sam Hunt
 Again, a super upbeat fun song that you can scream the lyrics to.

4. Baby Blue - Chance the Rapper
 This song is a hilarious song where they just talk crap about their exes and chance has a verse where he literally just wrecks his ex and says all the bad things he wishes happens to her.

That's all I can think of!

Fictional Character, Fictional Life

I don't think it is my favorite show ever, but as of right now (and with all the media blow up on the death of McDreamy) I would say my favorite show is Grey's Anatomy. If I could combine characters I would be a mixture of Christina Yang and Meredith Grey, but since that isn't a thing I'll jus tbe Christina Yang. I would be her because she is the epitome of badass. She's a kick ass heart surgeon and she gives no craps what anyone thinks of her. She is strong, and smart, and self-sufficient - which is everything I aspire to be in life. The great thing about her is that she is all these things but she isn't cold. She has a heart and cares, but she doesn't let it get in the way of what she needs or work, which I think is super helpful.

Right Now - Rachel Lush

At this very moment, somewhere in the uni

At this very moment, somewhere in the universe there is an apple to be picked. He's just chilling on his apple tree yelling for someone to come up there and pick him, because he's never known life off of the tree and all of his apple friends have already been picked and carried away in really cool baskets and they never return. He feels left out. One day a dude comes upon this little apple dude and picks him! He is FINALLY ripened and ready to go. Little does this poor little apple know, he isn't going off into a life full of fun in a cool basket. They get home and the dude washes little apple dude. The little apple thinks "this is cool i guess i was dirty?" and then returns to thinking everything is alright. What happens next is the saddest part. The dude sinks his monster teeth into the apple and the apples juices pour out of him and he dies. He never saw it coming. Stop the cycle. Don't eat defenseless apples. :'-(
At this very moment, somewhere in At this very moment, somewhere in the universe..the universe...verse...