Dear Mrs, Vanriper,

The reading skills that I think I have improved on the most are citing evidence in the text

from another text and drawing specific evidence from the text. Next year I can see myself using

and continuing to improve while reading the essays so I can use better information in the essays

and explain the evidence better. I can also see myself using many types of evidence in my text

and use citation machine to put the citations inside the text. I can see myself using these skills

outside of school when I am reading (even though I don’t read) to improve my skills in

interpreting what is said in the text. I would like to improve the skill of analyzing how a

character is developed through the course of the novel. Because most of the books that I read I

feel like I am overwhelmed and can’t follow the story. I hate reading because I feel like ever

since I was little it was forced on me and I couldn't pick what I wanted to read.

The skill that I think I improved the most on where I can gather relevant information

from multiple sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the

information while avoiding plagiarism. I can see myself using this skill next year when we are

writing essays. I can see myself using this skill outside of school when I am writing essays for

college. The skill that I could still improve on is Use technology, including the Internet, to

produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others. I need to improve on this

skill because it’s always the last thing I do and always dread doing. I like writing a lot more than

I like reading and would rather write.

The discussion that I remember the most was when we talked about gun control. When it

was just supposed to be a project but we turned it into a whole debate. I learned how a lot of girls

feel about this topic during the debate and how different we feel. I think it is easy for me to speak
my mind because I don't really care what other people think about me or if they hate me because

of my beliefs. It is harder for me to listen to what others have to say because I think what I

believe is right. It is important for me to speak my mind because I want others to know how I

feel but I think it's important to listen to others but it is a struggle for me.

The habit of mind that I have improved on the most through the year is openness because

at the beginning of the year I did things my way and only my way but now I can try and do other

things. The habit of mind I need to strengthen is being flexible because I need to know what I am

doing for the day and have trouble adjusting if something pops up. I think we spent so much time

on these because it can help us outside of school. I will use these in the future when at work and

someone tells me how to do something or my schedule changes.

My favorite project was the Independent Genre Inquiry Project. This is my favorite

because it was very open with room for interpretation and you could do what you wanted with a

partner. The process we used was writing the script then filming and then we edited and finally

we redid the scenes we didn't like. I will bring what I learned in this project in the future by

being open to working with people I don't know in the future.