Stress- Spencer

The way i got through  much if junior year was coming a lot of stress. i often have very interesting ways of dealing with large amounts of stress. I will get up from my work and pace around my room and even sometimes i will throw a ball around my room and against the wall. This is the best way for me to deal with large amounts of work. I guess you could say it worked for me simply because I am happy with the way things went this year.

I would say I also managed by just calming down and always putting HW first. It is rewarding when I finish my rok and then know that I am able to go hang out and do things and live freely. I work to that as my goal. Also, I tried to stop procrastinating and would just do my assignments on time and that typically paid off this year for me.

Help! -Hope Reed

I felt really prepared for the AP test. I think that your most effective ways of teaching was through giving us constant feedback through AP practice multiple choice questions and free responses. I honestly felt like I knew exactly how to write each essay, and I was very comfortable writing it in the amount of time given. However, one thing that could've possibly been better was the multiple choice. I feel like taking them and then vaguely going over them afterwards could've been done a little more thoroughly. At the beginning of each semester, for example, I feel like we should have gone through some sections together as a class. Because after I've taken a practice test, I've forgotten everything each question was about, but if we worked on it together the first time we've seen it, we can eliminate the wrong choices and clear confusions before we actually answered them.

I do feel as if I passed. And I thank you so much for that, because in many classes I don't know how the AP tests are even structured, so I'm glad we did many practice questions. That was great. And the writing part was very easy for me. I also liked the book by John Trimble (I think), it kind of blew my mind because it was basically telling me break every rule I ever learned, but it is WAY more fun to write that way.

Help! I need somebody. Help! - Rachel Bragg

I have never been good at writing, but I have seen my writing grow in this class. The repeated timed writings helped me find my own writing style because before this class I didn't write much in my classes. I did the minimum quality writing I needed to get an A and moved on. I have learned how I need to organize my thoughts before writing and the writing with style book helped me by giving me little tips to use while writing an essay. I think what you are doing to teach writing helps a lot to break a student from writing 5 paragraph standard essays because that's all I knew before this class.


I wish we would have focused more on the multiple choice because at the beginning of the year you said that we should make progress and our scores should increase but my scores stayed the same. You could do something as simple as reviewing the style/types of questions they ask. But personally I didn't feel as prepared for the multiple choice part of the AP Test.


Everything else was very effective, and I appreciate the work you do as a teacher. Have a wonderful summer!

17: Horray for hollywood Maggie Arvin

Future - Rachel Bragg

I don't really want to talk about my junior year. It happened, it's almost over. But I will talk about my summer, because I am quite excited about it.


At the end of April, I found out that I did not make it into GSP, which I wasn't too upset about because it meant that I am able to be a counselor at the summer camp I enjoy working at in the summers. I work at Bluegrass Christian Camp for 7/11 camp which is for children ages 7 to 11. I enjoy the community there and all of the other employees, it makes the job fun.


I also found out at the end of April that the city pools were in need of lifeguards, and I have wanted to be a lifeguard since I was little, swimming on the YMCA swim team. I found a certification class in Georgetown and spent 4 days pulling bodies out of the water and putting air into dummies so that I can get paid 9 dollars and hour to watch at people swim. And I'm actually really excited about it. This will be my first paying job and I enjoy being outside in the summer, as long as I don't get burnt.

ASSIGNMENT 26: TYLER ROSENKRANTZ

There is one thing that stuck out to me with this prompt, and that was the in class writing. It was not fun at all, but it was very helpful. We would sit there for days on end grading and discussing people's essays and it was painful but it helped. It was very helpful to look at essays like anya's and it showed me what i needed to develop more in my writing and understanding. Thanks for the wonderful year mr. logsdon, its been real!!!

ASSIGNMENT 25: TYLER ROSENKRANTZ

I am taking 5 AP tests. Kind of stressful. And there's not a great way to relieve stress either, because i have been very busy with band and then you stay up late at night trying to study and cram for these tests. One good coping mechanism that ive found is just giving up and doing no homework and accepting your fate and going to bed. One night i went to bed at 7:20 and it was amazing. Also pretty sure i am not gonna pass the AP Physics C test.

ASSIGNMENT 24: TYLER ROSENKRANTZ

Well first off, everyone was right. Junior year is EASILY the hardest year by far. It was so exhausting, and stressful. It still is! I think the first half of my year was pretty successful. I managed to stay organized and got most of my work turned in, to a certain extent. However in this second semester i have gotten lazy, especially at the end of the year. With my participation in the pit musical and my 5 AP test i have been at school very little and done very little homework, but i'm making it.
This summer i will be at GSA and i am SOOoOOOOO excited. It's going to be life changing and amazing and i can't wait. Im also excited for senior year because half of my day will be spent in the band room!

Help! I Need Somebody. Help!- Braeden Bowen

When I started this school year, I was less than excited to find out that I had to scrap everything I had learned the previous two years. Verbose, lengthy phrases shoved into a 5-paragraph form had to be simplified and spread out to make essays more "organic." It took me a long time to truly break free from that 5-paragraph style, and more emphasis on the purpose and effectiveness of the organic style might be beneficial for next year's kids.

Another thing I would like next year's group to understand is why. For most of the year, I felt like the changes I made to my writing were arbitrary and not truly important, and it wasn't until saw how fluidity impacts the audience's understanding of the overall piece did I begin to formulate my essays on a lack of formulation.

I enjoyed grading essays and found it very helpful for making small tweaks to my writing. I do wish, however, that we could have received more direct feedback from you besides the comments you make in class and the occasional edited papers we received.

Lastly, I also enjoyed our final projects for both semesters, and I enjoyed researching my topic for both projects. I do wish, however, that they had been better incorporated into the things we do throughout the year and not just sprung on us at the last second. As much fun as they were to make, a speech and a PSA really had nothing to do with the other things we did in class.

Thank you for a great year of English, I really do think I learned a lot!

Assignment 24 Spencer Parsons

i loved junior year and I also did not love junior year. Some aspects of it made me really unhappy because of how difficult certain classes were, but i grew a lot this year. I learned not to take certain things for granted any more. I am now much more capable of handling myself and knowing when I need to try harder. As for this summer, i am going to being doing a lot of traveling. Also im just so hype for senior year. My friend group has become sooo tight and that will only get better next year. Its gonna stink when we all got to college but I dont have to worry about that right now. this summer i cannot wait to go to young life camp. It is the best week of the whole summer and of my life. I am also getting to go on a father son fishing trip to canada soon which will be great fun. I am just ready for this week to be over! Bring on summer!

ASSIGNMENT 23: TYLER ROSENKRANTZ

My playlist is probably a little bit biased, because my playlist is the perfect playlist for a jazz trumpet player, which i happen to be.

Playlist:
1. Gospel John
2. Chameleon
3. Birdland
4.MacArthur Park
5. Give it One

This playlist is heavily influenced by maynard ferguson, one of the craziest jazz trumpet players of all time. This creates a perfect playlist because these are all fast high tempo high energy songs. All of these songs are also led by a screaming lead trumpet part, which is exactly what jazz songs need!!

Assignment 26: Jordan Strange

This class was super enjoyable and laid back but also challenging and made me a better writer.

I really enjoyed everything that you did to prepare us for the essays on the AP exams. I liked how we got to hear feedback from most of our classmates; it was super helpful. Every activity that we did was in some way useful and helped me improve multiple things. One of the things I really learned to enjoy was the Socratic seminars. Although I hated how we had to type out some questions and answer them, I loved the actual seminar part, to an extent. It was so neat, specially when the questions got deep and people became vulnerable. It really was a great activity.

I also thought that the amount of times we did practice exams was just the right amount, and they were spaced out well and weren't overwhelming.

I would've preferred that we had gotten more experience with videos before we were given the task of creating one for a final. I'm not gonna lie, I have no idea what I'm doing, and I wish this wouldn't have been the time for figuring everything out.

Overall, this class was effective and fun, and I can say I've learned a lot. Thanks for a great year.

Help! I need somebody. Help!- Morgan Lakofka

A few things I found effective this year were the amount of essays we wrote, reading about writing composition, practice tests, and socratic seminars. Reading the book at the beginning of the year helped better prepare me to write the essays we practiced for the ap test. It taught me how to write a successful opening and closing and helped me break the traditional 5 paragraph essay style. The practice tests gave me an idea of how the test would look but I think they would have been more beneficial if we took them more often and spent more time going over commonly missed answers. I think the amount of time spent on essays was effective and grading was very clear for what to expect on the exam. After taking the test, it would’ve been helpful to review essay styles that we went over at the beginning of the year. I also found the socratic seminars effective but it would’ve been more effective to do them earlier in the year instead of right before the exam. 

Assignment 26: Spencer Parsons

I think that the test was very easy. We were all very prepared for it. I think if we could be better prepared for one area it would be the multiple choice section. We put a ton of stress on writing all the time and that was no problem for the test. I know that the test has a lot more elaboration on the writing section but the multiple choice section was a tad harder. However, there is no real problem with the way that Mr. Logsdon prepares us. Maybe you could go over the actual questions a bit more instead of only unleashing us onto the practice test but it was still fine. I loved junior year english class and i am very excited to show my PSA this week. It was a fun year and it is hard to feel unprepared for the test with Mr. Logsdon's awesome teaching.

ASSIGNMENT 22: TYLER ROSENKRANTZ

If i could be any character i would be superman. Superman is hands down my favorite superhero of all time. There are people that don't like superman, but when i asked them why their only reason was because he's too perfect. Which is exactly why i would be superman. He's tall and strong and he can fly. Like who doesn't want to be able to fly?! That amazing. You could literally fly anywhere. And he's bulletproof, and heat vision, and x ray vision, super strength, super hearing, he's amazing. Who wouldn't want to be superman? There is no other superhero in existence that could go toe to toe with superman. Doomsday doesn't count. :)

Help! I need somebody. Help!-Matthew Telfer

I have genuinely enjoyed AP English this year. I have seen notable improvement in my writing and I contribute that to the constant writing we do in class. Yet, I struggled early in the year because of my lack of knowledge of rhetorical devices. I had trouble locating and analyzing rhetorical devices in the numerous essays we examined in class. Therefore, it would be beneficial if you went over each specific rhetorical device that could be found in an AP essay and explain its effect.

However, I did appreciate the ACT English practice we did in the second semester and believe it could be expanded. The ACT practice could start earlier in the second semester which may help improve the student's scores a little more.

I would have liked to work in smaller groups a couple of more times to grade the essays. Personally I thought the medium-sized groups provided the most effective feedback for my essays. In the classroom discussions, I was not able to defend the decisions I made when I wrote my essays yet I was able to defend myself in the medium sized groups because it was a more intimate atmosphere.

The Future- Morgan Lakofka

Junior year flew by in a blink of the eye. One of the major success I’ve had is staying in school and getting decent grades in most of my classes. The biggest accomplishment is surviving physics. I have also branched out a lot and started participating in many new school activities. I joined the French club and the art club and I stage managed two of the school plays as well as worked on the crew for a third play and I also joined cross country.  One of my failures this year was my math grade, I didn’t actually fail, but it was not sub-par. A major lesson learned is not to procrastinate apush unit assignments which I will pass on to in a tip to upcoming juniors. Another lesson learned is how to take a derivative of a fraction and will now never be able to sing the song Row Your Boat without thinking about it thanks to Mrs. Deweese. For senior year, I want to maintain a good gpa and take more art classes. 

help -catherine van tatenhove

I hate taking the derivative of a function. I hate calculating the velocity of objects. But, I love to write. I came to Henry Clay for the Liberal Arts Academy. And, I admit that the English experience I have had over the past three years has been disappointing. I wanted to read more books and take less multiple choice tests. I wanted to see rough drafts turn into final drafts instead of timed writings turn into typed papers with 2.6 at the top.
However, (and that's a big however) what I wanted I figured out weren't the only effective methods in improving my writing. I struggle with these hard working teachers having to teach to a test. But, your class was the one AP class I had this year where not only did I feel prepared for the AP test, but I also felt like my writing/my knowledge of the course material had significantly improved.
When we grade papers as a class while referring to the benchmarks the class learns a lot, and I think when we do it as an entire class instead of breaking up into smaller groups the class gets even more out of it. I do think less time could be spent on Writing with Style. I actually got a lot out of the book, but I know it can get boring quickly. So, students would have a better appreciation for the book if the most memorable points were highlighted briefly.
That being said, I would like to thank you for always keeping class entertaining, and for solidifying my love for writing. You rock Mr. Logsdon keep doing what you're doing.

Assignment 26: Classy Critique - Evan Hays

Mr. Logsdon,
I'd like these criticisms to be preceded that though I hate calling myself "different" or trying to distinguish myself from my comrades in the classroom, I must acknowledge that my learning style, especially in the field of analysis and argument may be differently developed.

I really enjoyed your class, in the words of Christopher Hitchens, "I am a writer in the sense of what I am, not what I do". Though I can say that last year I really started developing my writing, this year I really began enjoying it. The art of communication is one that I take great pleasure in accomplishing, even though my specialty is vagueness I think. And this is where my one major recommendation comes from.
I felt the Socratic seminars were too structured. Perhaps that was by necessity. You had to take a grade on them and we had to prove that we read the texts, but I think it eliminated some of the richness of it. Yes, some students need more time to develop and analyze the documents before they discuss them,but I think there is a real benefit to both sow and reap through spontaneity. If you haven't already built your argument before coming into class, it will always be easier to build an idea of interpretation that includes other students points of view.
Of course, take these with a grain of salt. I must admit that I've never really been a student to draw within the lines very well, and many others probably benefited from the prerequisites. But you asked for honesty and I can honestly say I have given it all year without a thought of stopping now. Your class was wonderful Mr. Logsdon, and a respite from all of the seemingly endless slew of nary-applicable pseudo-knowledge that was somehow seemingly learned without a hears width of real thought. Thank you for your class, sir.

With gratitude,
A learner

the future- catherine van tatenhove

As I head into the last 4 days of my Junior year of high school I'm overwhelmed with a feeling of success. However, it isn't the success I would have thought I would be celebrating when I began this year. I didn't maintain the perfect 4.0. I didn't get a perfect ACT score. I didn’t get fives on all my AP tests. I should have spent more time studying and less time up at 4 am watching documentaries and reading books. I should have done a lot of things. But, I didn't, and I still succeeded. I succeeded because I realized that a number on the top of my transcript doesn't define my future. I found where I excelled and started to focus on that without dwelling on the all too present fact that I may never be a star on Mrs. Dewees's wall. Because the fact is this year has been a success because I learned to surround myself with people who believe and have the same values and goals as me. People who make you believe in something even if you aren’t sure what that is. I learned that high school drama may be apart of every angsty teens life, but the only thing you can control is how your respond to it. It isn’t profound. It’s actually pretty cliche. But, thank you junior year. Thank you for bringing me new friendships and unbeatable memories. Now, if only I can figure out a mentoring project, and/or how to speak French for my three week trip to France......

Assignment 26 Elana Ehl

I'm going to say this bluntly. Stop trying to please the Anya's of the class and focus more on the people who are in your class and really need improvement, like me. If students are already to the level of smarts needed for the class and they know it, don't try and make it to their benefit while leaving others behind, let them show that they are good students and not just students who rely on their intelligence to get them by with minimal effort. I started your class as a crappy 5 paragraph author who really didn't know much about being original, and I learned a lot and improved a lot. But there were countless days where I was just lost in what we were going over, especially in the discussion of Writing with Style. I am definitely not a very vocal person when I don't understand something, so stopping class to have something explained really was never an option because I didn't want to be viewed as inferior in intelligence to  the Anya's of the class. I feel like I could have learned more and improved faster and on a larger scale if you had geared the class more towards the "dumber" people of the class instead of moving fast and letting the students who were already at the level needed to successfully get a 5 control the class's direction and pace.

Basically stop trying to please the already uber intelligent people and focus more on the people who need to learn not just review.

Thanks for being one of the best English teachers ever!

Assignment 24 Elana Ehl

This year I learned something I thought I learned a during sophomore year, but apparently I really didn't. It is that I need to be more aware of what's going on to me and around me, and I need to cherish the things I can do because there will come a day when I can no longer do them.

This may sound a bit outlandish for a 16 year old to be saying; In fact, it might almost sound like I'm making up a bunch of bull just to fill a 150 word requirement. I assure you I am not.

About three weeks ago, in the last week of April, my lungs decided they wanted to stop working. I have chronic persistent asthma, diagnosed when I was five, so I am used to the constant struggle in living in a coexistence with lungs that seem to have a mind of there own; However,  I was no where near prepared to deal with the punch they threw at me on April 26th.

After a brief three day stay in the ICU, which I have never had to be in before in my life, you could say that things were put in perspective. I no longer have quite as ambitious goals as before, and those goals? Well I'm not quite sure what they are any more, honestly. I realized that: even though I just have asthma and most people aren't bothered by their asthma, that is not the kind of asthma I have. I can't push myself as much as I have been which means somethings in my life style are going to have to change. Finding what needs to change is going to take a level of awareness I have been refusing to use because hey its just asthma no one else seems to have this issue so i don't either, or at least I thought.

Schooling the Teacher by Brooks Spears

Throughout the year all of us AP English Language and Composition students have learned something. We've all learned how to write better essays  and analyze passages better whether to a large or small extent. Despite our personal views on the teacher or the students, it is hard to deny that we were effectively prepared for the very premise of this AP class: to pass the AP test. During the entire year we've been pacing towards that specific goal, and I feel the teacher has done an exceptional job. However, there are aspects which can be improved. Certainly we were aptly readied for the essays, but not as much for the multiple choice section. I feel we didn't focus enough on why the correct answers were the correct answers; we took the test but we didn't examine the correct answers compared to the incorrect answers, so we could have improved or multiple choice scores greater. This year has been helpful, though, to most of us and a high number of us will pass, so while there are things to be improved, many things are already beneficial.

The Path I Will Take by Brooks Spears

Junior year is nearly over and I am not complaining. This year has been a landslide, but despite all of the resistance I've faced, I have stood firm. This year has had its ups and downs; I've experienced some highs and some lows from getting a license to returning to school. I've embraced the peril of growing up, the challenges of becoming more independent. I have become older and wiser, enough so to realize that I still have much to learn. I understand that soon my future and my life will be in my own hands, that everything will be under my responsibility. I hope in the future, though, that I will achieve my goals despite the dissension. I will persevere. Despite the disappointments this year has brought about, I will continue to defy, and I will continue to push the envelop despite what others think. This year has allowed me to expand and clear my mind about what's important along with the roads I wish to take in the future and what I prioritize. This is my life and this is the path I will take.

Assignment 26 - Grae Chambers

I felt extremely well prepared for the AP english test. I think the most helpful preparation we did was the monthly multiple choice tests. For me, it's best to just practice exactly what Im going to be asked to do so there are no surprises on the test. Practicing the essays was also extremely helpful. But, when grading the essays many kids never left comments or even a score, so instead of being a helpful process it was a time waster, especially towards the end of the year. It may be better to just read the benchmarks in class and have you grade our essays, because you have more experience as an AP grader anyways, and i feel like many kids were too harsh or easy on our essays. Also, instead of spending classes reading writing with style and having very short conversation about the passages, we should practice writing the specific parts of an essay we read about (ex. openers and closers). The socratic seminars were great for getting me out of my comfort zone and helped me have confidence to share my thoughts and opinions, which is a really important skill. So thank you Mr. Logsdon for a great year and I hope this helps!

stress - Kyle W

Stress. Honestly I very rarely stress a whole lot about things. Yes, I am aware of this and yes, I am aware that its probably not the best thing. It just so happens that I procrastinate a lot. Like a whole lot. And the gravity of the situations I put myself in don’t usually make sense to me until right before its too late and sometimes even after that. Right now though… definitely not one of those times that im not stressed. Usually when I feel a little stressed I just stop and text a friend and listen to music or watch a movie or ride my bike. And that usually works. But this time its different. Why? Well I have so many difficult finals and end of the year projects and assignments and reviews that im just so overwhelmed and I don’t have time to not be working on something and anytime im not then im just getting more and more behind. Its been a terrible feeling and at this point my only goal is to not fail any of my classes this year. Terrible goal, I know but it’s the best I can hope for in some of my classes and I plan to improve upon my habits whether i want to or not by enrolling in AP chem and AP calculus. So that’s that. I went on a bit of a rant there but basically I don’t usually stress but when I do I cant just take a short break and talk to a friend, listen to music, bike, or watch a movie and that works… usually at least.

help! i need somebodies help. - Kyle W

So Ive never really considered myself I great writer; mainly because I’m just not. If I have plenty of time and can go over and edit a paper again and again I might finally make a decent paper but in this class that really wasn’t an option and so I really liked the way that you slowly fade the editing phase out of our writing process and so by the end of the year I think I had gotten considerable better at creating a decent paper the first time around… most of the time at least. And I think these blog posts are a great idea. I don’t write all that great but these have been a really good way to help me improve on making thoughts into words. One thing I didn’t like on the other had was the fact that speaking was absolutely required during the Socratic seminars. It might just be me but during those I sat there and was listening to the conversation going on around me but had lots of trouble figuring out what to say and when to say it because I just had all these thoughts and fragments of thoughts on the subject but no clear way on how to express them in a way that fit to the ongoing conversation. So although I didn’t like that fact that the talking was mandatory I did enjoy the seminars other than that because even when I didn’t contribute it was interesting to listen to what other people had to say about it and such. So all in all you’ve been a lovely teacher and its been real.

the future - Kyle W

Its crazy that junior year is almost over. It seems like it went by so fast. Not too long ago I came in and hated sitting in the middle of the classroom and had to get used to my new schedule. But since then I’ve done a lot. Not too long ago I took two AP tests. I took the APUSH test and the English test and I feel like I actually passed both of them. On the other hand though I didn’t even bother with the AP physics final because I knew I would fail it if I did. I learned, once again, that procrastination is a terrible thing and I still need to break that terrible habit. Along with things in school there was also a lot that happened with my life too I guess. Some friends made as well as friends lost. Now its on to the summer and soon Ill have to start applying for college and I have no idea what ill do. Until then  though I think ill just be working, mowing, practicing trumpet, and hanging out with friends. And for my senior? I have no idea. We’ll see once I get there.

Help! - Elle Ogden

I've never been a strong writer so I was kinda dreading this class in the beginning, however, after the first month or two, I realized it wasn't all that bad.

I really liked the anonymous essay grading and I think it was probably the most effective thing we did all year. One thing I absolutely hate is when teachers force you to read your writing outloud, mainly because I know mine isn't very good. And, in the past, I've had teachers that make you read straight from your paper, but by doing it anonymously, I wasn't embarrassed to have people hear my writing. I also could focus on their comments and suggestions rather than just blocking out everything because I was uncomfortable.

We touched on this last week in class a little, but for the speech, my suggestion would be to give the rubric to them earlier in the semester, like right after Thanksgiving Break or something. I was really overwhelmed with the speech and having to talk in front of everyone wasn't my favorite. This year, the speech was just stressful because we got the rubric with only a few days to write the speech and we hadn't really done anything with speeches in class. The video kinda feels the same way. I've never learned how to make or edit videos and we didn't really do much all year with film. My suggestion would be to do some work with speeches and film throughout the year so they have can be comfortable with it before it's 20% of their grade. Maybe even make a short 30 second commercial or something.

But overall, this year has been wonderful and the relaxed feel of the class is very much appreciated, especially with some of my other classes this year.

Stress - Elle Ogden

Stress comes in so many shapes and sizes that I can't quite say how to relieve "stress". It's just too broad. I'm also not the best at managing stress, as I am quickly overwhelmed and cannot seem to break things down enough to deal with them individually. And then, it just becomes one huge mountain of all different kinds of stress and ultimately I end up going to bed.

School stress is probably the worst of them all. At school we are constantly being compared to our peers and how they are performing versus how we are performing. And with the looming college applications and, well our futures, school causes one to be rather stressed. This year, I have found that there just aren't enough hours in the day to even come close to completing everything that teachers expect you to complete, to the best of your ability. This causes many late nights on your bedroom floor with a spoonful of ice cream in one hand and a pencil in the other. And then, a large mug of coffee a few short hours later while driving, half-asleep, back to school.

Even though soccer causes half of my stress, it also relieves stress for me. I'll be on the way to a game and be thinking of all the things I need to be doing instead of soccer, but once I start playing, it's easy to forget about all the work I have to do. The only downfall, is that I'm typically even more tired after a game and therefore have even less motivation to do my work, and like I said before, it usually results in me going to bed.

So maybe it's sleep that is the best stress reliever. But food is also pretty great too.

Assignemtn 25: Stress - Evan Hays

There are two dictionary definitions of the word "manage", the first is used to indicate command over something, as in the word "Manager" or to "manage" and organization. I think many people assume that is what we talk about when we mention stress management. To have control over your levels of stress, essentially to be able to wipe stress away or increase it to your benefit.

There is another definition which I believe describes the way stress is managed in a far less commanding, but I think liberating sense. "To survive or complete a task despite odds". To manage through severity, to complete something though the odds are desperate. That's how I see stress management. To manage stress is not to avoid stress, I keep my stress when it comes, even hold it closely. It is fuel. When I am stressed I find fulfillment in eliminating the root of the stress. The stress is the fuel, and to cast it off or control it would be reduction of a resource you have. Stress comes as it should, and it's intensity is an indicator of a tasks real gravity. It shouldn't be destroyed, it should be used.

Assignment 24 - Evan Hays Mk 3... or 4

This year was definitely the most educational of my life, because all of the learning came within.

Lets start with the bad news, failures,
I didn't spend my time very usefully for the greater stretch of this year. My philosophy typically founded itself on the idea that my problems will be resolved with time. They would fade away like morning mist as my life entered its noon. To cope with this, I preoccupied myself with the struggles of others. The idea behind this method was that if I could distract myself, the best way to do so was through the assistance of my friends, who had problems of their own that I, foolishly, claimed were "high school problems" and could be solved. I wasted a lot of time.

What I did not realize was that many of the issues presented top me by my comrades were not actually just single faced things to be tackled at first glance. Many of them were deep seated psychological issues brought on by society itself. My friends didn't need help finding a boyfriend or girlfriend, they needed help finding the confidence to do it themselves. But our current societal environment isn't conducive to that.

So instead I learned this year to focus on bettering myself. I want to become a better writer, learn languages, become a strong and physically fit vessel of culture. Then one day, instead of helping each of my friends individually, I can break down the society that hurts them collectively.

Assignment 26: Help! I need somebody. Help! (Tyler Gorman)

Overall I felt very prepared for the AP test by the time it came. I think the timed writings and scoring them as a class were very effective, and as were the practice multiple choice tests. I do think it would have been more effective to review the analysis and synthesis essays a bit more in-depth--potentially through an extra timed writing or two--closer to the actual test. As we got closer to the test and read several of the prompts for analysis essays I realized that we hadn't really touched the analysis essay much at all since first semester, and I'd forgotten a lot of the things I was meant to be analyzing.
Something else I found very helpful were the practice multiple choice tests. I saw my score increase from the 10-20 range when we first took it to the 40-50 range when we took it again before the AP test. I think it was very helpful not only going over the answers, but going over why they were the right answers.
I will say something I didn't really find effective was the Socratic seminars. It may have just been that I didn't get it or what it was meant to encourage, but they really just felt like chores that subtracted from the time I could spend preparing for not just the AP Lang test, but all four of my upcoming AP tests. I think if they were modified or possibly even if we simply didn't have as many as we did we would have had more in- and out-of-class time to prepare for AP testing.
I also rather enjoyed the speech assignment first semester. Yes, it was downright terrifying, but it gave me the chance to write about something I'm passionate about for once, and it was a pleasant change from pretty much every writing assignment I've had in the past.
Again, I felt very prepared for the test, and I feel (at the risk of sounding cocky) that I have a really good chance of at least passing, if not scoring in the 4-5 range. Thanks for an awesome year!

STRESS- Emily Spivey

   Stress. Pretty much the only word in my vocabulary at this moment. Obviously that was a lie, but school has been stressing me out man. With the AP tests, and finals, and homework, and having a job, I don't know how I'm surviving at this point. 

    If you don't know me, I don't deal with stress very well. My days have been full of crying, eating a lot of Mac and cheese, and binge watching the walking dead. But hey, I've made it to the end! I would recommend these activities but they only help for about and hour and then you end up right where you started. The crying one might not be the best idea though. I usually feel worse after that one. 

   I guess when you take 5 AP classes your junior year, stress is inevitable. Me being me, I have never been very good at managing my time and this year was when I needed to do that the most. 

   The best tip I can give about relieving stress is to just sleep. Take a 30 minute nap or a 3 hour nap or even go ahead and go to bed. Sleeping usually relieves 90% of my stress. Even though I might not have done my assignment that night, I was relaxed afterwards and was able to complete it later. 

   Even though Taylor Swift isn't my favorite, she does give good advice. Just shake it off. Relax. It isn't the end of the world, and if it is, then you don't need to be stressing about your school work. You need to run. In the end stress can ruin you, so you just need to learn to relax and let life happen. 

Help!- Emily Spivey

   AP Language and Composition. I have learned so much from you. New vocabulary words, new ways to write papers, how to synthesize, the list could go on and on. Thank you for being great at what you do and for being a caring teacher. 

   Even though you are pretty awesome, there is one suggestion that I have. When we take the practice multiple choice exams (which are great practice), we should go over the questions afterwards. Maybe not ever single question because that would take a long time, but most of them. I think this would help us to understand why something is wrong and why the other answer is the better one. I struggled with knowing why the answer was the right answer and I think a class discussion would help us do better on the AP exam. 

    Another suggestion I have is to assign more blogs! Even though I waited until the last minute to write most of them, I loved writing them. They are interesting topics and give me an opportunity to write creatively and explore different writing techniques. I honestly do believe that these blogs helped enhance our writing on the AP exam. 

   Thank you for everything you've done for us this year. I will miss having you teach my English class next year. 

The Future- Emily Spivey

   Only a couple more days and then I'll be a senior! That is so crazy to think about. I'm ready for senior year because this one was crazy. 

   Junior year was the year that I had to get a job. Oh what fun. I was hired in September at Party City. Even though you think it might be a fun job, it isn't. I struggled to balance my school work and my job and my social time. The middle of first semester was really hard for me but I made it through! Woohoo!

   I've learned many lessons this year. One of them is to not procrastinate on unit assignments. I have had many nights of staying up late the day before the test just to finish my assignments. Not a good idea. I also learned that you lose friends and you make new ones. This was probably the hardest lesson I learned but I did learn from it and I've moved on. 

   For my senior year I want to not stress the whole time. I also want to find the college of my dreams and be accepted to it. Next year is the start of my future so I need to reach my goals and not mess up too much. 

   I'm very excited for next year. It's har to believe that August 10 will be our last first day of grade school. We're gonna be at the top of the food chain next year. I hope it's a good one. 

Help! --Lucy Whitman Sandmeyer

Overall this year, I thought you did a very effective job teaching to the test. Probably the most notable suggestion I have is to review analysis once more before the test in more detail, maybe through a written but ungraded prompt. I know some people sort of felt like the rug was being pulled from under them when we suddenly started the synthesis and argument but I liked how we only did a couple of those. The problem was, I completely forgot how to write an analysis by the AP test. One of the things I did feel like was missing, and this could have just been a time issue, was taking a paper through the whole writing process. This might not be a direct improvement for the quick draft skills the AP test demands but just to make us better writers in general. I also love real feedback on my writing so as much as we can capitalize on that the better.

            I was really bad at scoring because I find it hard to make a distinction between how I judge it in the class and how an AP scorer would judge it. Maybe you could run through a set of examples at the beginning while emphasizing the describing words (effective, little success, etc) instead of the specifics of the rubric because I feel like that’s easier to classify/comprehend. We had this discussion a little in class but the more technical stuff we learn at the beginning (Trimble, etc) can be given as homework a little more since it’s not necessary to read it in class, just discuss it. The last thing I want to talk about is homework. While I truly appreciate how little we had over all, the bursts where we did (both finals, Socratic seminar) was an unexpected amount of work that took a lot of time. For all of those projects, I think it’d be great if you’d warn us a little more in advance just so we aren’t caught so off guard.

            What I can say very genuinely is thank you for actually making me consistently write things and then setting it up so I get real, constructive feedback. That was cool. Also, thanks for being chill.

Katie Demetriades Assignment 26: Help! I need somebody. Help!

First off, let me just say that I appreciate you teaching to the test. After all, the goal of the class is to do well on the AP test. While it may bother some person, I personally believe it's appropriate for the setting of this class. With that being said, I strongly encourage you to cut out as much busy work as possible. By busy work, I mean things that do not directly pertain to the test. Although I can only recall a few times this year where we were given work that wasn't exactly associated with the test (again, it's much appreciated), it needs to be eliminated all together. As you said, the skills we learn for the test are ultimately very valuable skills. So extra stuff is not necessary.

As far as our preparation for the AP test goes, I have a few things to consider. First, I believe spending a little bit more time on reviewing the multiple choice would be beneficial. The amount of practice tests we did was perfect, but the time we spent on going over them afterwards was almost nonexistent. I couldn't really learn from my mistakes when we didn't go over it. Now I'm not saying you have to spend a whole class period going over these tests. I think the best option is to review the most missed questions (and questions similar to those questions, if you catch my drift). And if anyone wants to go over additional questions, they can ask you individually. Besides that, maybe you could give them tips on how to time themselves for the multiple choice. I know a lot of people struggled with answering all the questions in the given time.

For the essays, let me start off with the effective things. Reading the Writing with Style book at the beginning of the year in class was effective. It's very easy to comprehend, and some of those tips really stick with you. I know it's different for everyone, but I remind myself of some of those good tips when I write. So please, continue to do that. Also, the group discussions of everyone's essays was also good. Nerve wracking, but good. Hearing unbiased (usually) opinions about your writing can really change your perspective on how good or bad you're doing. And it also gets you really comfortable with the essay grading scale. So again, continue doing that. However, there are a couple things you should probably change. I think you should be a little bit stricter about the 40 minute time limit on the essays. The most stressful part about taking the AP test was making sure we had enough time to finish all the essays. Out of all the essays we wrote in class, I didn't write a single one of them in 40 minutes. So when I got to the test, I was shocked I was able to finish all the essays before time was called. But I think if you can get them comfortable with that time limit in the classroom, it will save them a lot of extra stress. And as their writing improves, they'll be more confident in their ability to write a really good essay in only 40 minutes. Going along with the time limit, I think you should stop allowing for so much revision on the essays. While it may seem helpful in the beginning, it's something I came to rely on when writing these essays. And let's face it, complete revision of an essay just isn't possible during the actual AP test. So you need to wean your students off of that early on in the year. Eventually, they should learn to just write the best version of their essay right there in the given 40 minutes.

I'm sure there are plenty more things I could talk about here, but these are the basic things I felt you needed to know. These activities are what consumed most of our year, so they deserve the most planning on your end.

P.S. Even if you don't take any of my wishy-washy advice, I'm sure your class will be just as amazing next year!

Help! Anya Slepyan

In my opinion, the basic problem with AP classes is the emphasis on the test. A large part of this probably comes from the fact that both of my parents are history professors and pretty much equate standardized testing with satan, a view that many students our age share. We hate standardized testing. A lot. But we understand that the ultimate *practical* goal of an AP class is to pass the AP test, so it's just kind of confusing and everyone is grumpy all the time. Mr. Logsdon's class is very well tailored to the test, which is part of the reason it is so effective in preparing us for the three hour purgatory/test that we all had the joy of experiencing last week. And I understand that Mr. Logsdon is fine with this because it allows us to develop skills in argumentation, synthesis, and analysis. My question is if we could develop these skills using some different resources, as well as the methods we used this year. For example, while I understand we are allowed only forty minutes on the test for each essay and we must practice writing them in class, I think our writing skills could also be developed by reading full books (throughout the year, not only in the summer) and practice writing extended synthesis, argument, and analysis essays that would be more analogous to a college experience. Because while one goal of AP classes is to pass a test, another goal should be to prepare students for the expectations of an actual college-level class. And I believe that by extending some assignments, and promoting more seminars, etc. Mr. Logsdon could easily do both.

The Future, Anya Slepyan

With one and a half weeks left, I can't believe how close we are to the end of junior year. I feel like everyone hears tons of horror stories about how terrible and stressful junior year is, but it really could have been much worse. That being said, I certainly wont miss it, especially compared to the relatively chill schedules I know we all have planned for next year. For example, I'm only taking three actual  classes at Henry Clay, and one of those is Debate II. So overall it should be a good year.

But anyways, we survived! Which is good. And we get to be seniors, which means we're entitled to being even more disdainful of underclassmen, large waves of senioritis, and most importantly, PARKING SPOTS.

I'm also very excited for this summer, because I'll be spending six weeks in Kirov, Russia! While I'm there I'll be learning Russian in a language intensive program sponsored by the National Security Council. I'll be getting back to Kentucky the day before school starts, so I'll be super ready for our zero hour on the first day of school. But its okay because parking is always worth it.

Have I mentioned that I'm excited for parking?

Help! I need somebody. Help! -Lauren Spivey

  Honestly, this class was one that I enjoyed, and looked forward to every morning (except essay writing days). In all seriousness I believe that this class was helpful.
  The thing that I think helped me the most in your class are the essays. I loved the idea of getting feedback from everyone and i truly believe that it helped better my writing skills. The ability for everyone to realize that, if you aren't the strongest writer, that was okay because not everyone has that ability to write a perfect 9 each time. It was an environment that I felt safe in and also free to express my opinions.
  The main thing that I didn't like was the socratic seminars. I know that it's in the curriculum but at the same time no one enjoyed it. Most days I would feel comfortable enough to express my thoughts but on days with socratic seminar I felt too pressured to have to talk to earn points because I'm not that kind of person. I like to make sly remarks or comment on certain statements but I'm not a fan on being picked on to speak about something that I probably didn't care about.
  The other thing that I wish we could have done differently is to have tried to do some form of propaganda or film making projects throughout the year in order to prepare us for our final. I haven't made any type of PSA like this before and I sort of feel like I've been thrown into it without much guidance. I love the idea of picking a topic that you care about and informing others about your passions but I'm just now getting started with photoshop and I haven't tried to do a video like this before. Maybe doing little 25 second adverts on a subject twice a semester could really help. I know that's saying a lot though because of all the other things we do in class that do better prepare us for the AP exam.
   Maybe instead of having to add film making into the curriculum, try and change the final. You could shorten the summer work load and make the first final an annotated bibliography and make the second final the speech that way you can still inform people on a topic that you care about.
  All in all I think you were a fantastic teacher and helped create an environment where everyone felt comfortable to express themselves and I thank and applaud you for that. :)

Assignment 26: Help! I need somebody. Help!

I wanna be better in all things.  It's easy for teachers to get stuck and comfortable in patterns and activities that are completely legitimate but perhaps have become stale and even ineffective.  Throughout the semester I've asked that you work hard to prepare for the AP Language and Composition test.  I taught to the test.  I'm sorta fine with that.  As I've said, I believe that the skills the test assesses are important and some of the most important skills you will develop in your lifetime - the ability to think, process, synthesize, and argue.

To that end I've tried to develop every assignment to focus on one element of the test and hone those skills required for success.  Now that you've taken the test - multiple tests (ACT, PSAT, AP) what suggestions do you have?

I'm not asking for what you "liked" or what was "fun" but rather what was effective.  I know not everything connected with everyone and with 97 students I will get a plethora of responses.  Though I am asking for honesty I'm not asking for a tongue-lashing nor do I expect "all sunshines and rainbows." I know I'm flawed but I also know that I am effective.  I want to minimize my flaws and increase my effectiveness.  I need your help to do that.




Minimum of 150 words - due on Sunday, May 22nd at 11:59 pm

(Last day to turn in make up assignments 24-25)

Alexis Kirkland: I'm Too Blessed to be Stressed (25)

How do I manage all of my stress?

I don't.

At the moment, I'm not concerned about any of this. This year, I learned a lot about the true value of the things we are stressing about right now regarding school. I know that the value of my life is not determined by my scores on any of these tests. Granted, that doesn't mean I'm not going to study or strive for the best I can be, but that does mean that I'm willing to accept whatever the consequences are. I genuinely just cannot find it in myself to give a damn (excuse my French) anymore. I just don't care. If I do well, so what? If I fail, so what? I am too young to be crying myself to sleep each night because of my fears that I can't do it. I know I am capable of achieving success. The answers are right in front of me. All I have to do is try. And it's my own fault if I don't try. I know I'm going to do what I can, and if it starts to alter who I am, then I will stop. I refuse to compromise my well-being for a number. And if  I fail because I chose my health over my grades, so what? Yeah yeah yeah, college college college, blah blah blah. Look, I'm not here to spend my days worried over grades. If it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen, and it's because I didn't do enough to make it happen. Big deal. I'm here to enjoy the little time I have on this Earth. Yes, I know that I must work hard to be able to reap the rewards I seek. If I don't work hard, then there's nothing I can do, therefore there is no use in worrying about it. I deserve whatever I worked for, and I deserve whatever happens if I didn't work quite hard enough. So, in the end, I look around and see how good I have it still, and remember that I'm too blessed to be stressed. I'm gonna do my job and that's it. And I can die when I'm done.

Katie Demetriades Assignment 25: STRESS!!

School is an obstacle course, and the sweet smell of summer is the finish line. Before we reach the finish line, we have to make it through the obstacles: the AP tests, the projects, and the finals. Needless to say, the stress is ramping up beyond belief. And here recently, I've lacked the motivation I had throughout most of the year, which just makes all this extra work harder. But in order to cope, I've made more than enough time for things that require little to no thinking. Here's a list of the things I do to relieve my stress:

1. SLEEP: I can't say it enough: sleep can cure anything. Some people have trouble sleeping when they're stressed, but personally, I need even more sleep than usual when I'm stressed. So I'm usually in bed by 10 around this time of year.
2. Take a nice, loooooooong bath: I know so many people think baths are disgusting because you're "sitting in your own dirt," but personally, I don't roll around in the mud right before I take a bath. So I'm usually fairly clean before I take a bath to begin with. I just find it very soothing to lay in warm water that's covered in soapy suds. And of course after my bath, I'm ready for bed!
3. Eat: we all have to eat, especially when we're stressed. I take extra time to satisfy my food cravings when I'm stressed.
4. Watch TV: or Netflix. Either will do. My current favorite show on Netflix is Saved by the Bell. Yes, I know that makes me a perpetual 4-year-old, but I can't help it. I've narrowed it down to two reasons: either I really want to be a part of group like theirs or Mario Lopez (nuff said).
5. Go out with my friends: It usually involves eating, which may be why it makes me so happy. But besides that, I love being surrounded by company that understand my worries and stresses. And we can sit and talk about how we haven't done any of the work we should be doing. I love being in the same boat as somebody!

At the end of the day, I realize these next 4 weeks are going to fly by, just as the past 4 weeks flew by. Whatever happens happens. It may not be pretty, but it's still my work, and that counts for something. It's the best thing I have going for me right now. And in 4 weeks, I'll finally be out of this city with my feet in the sand and my butt in a beach chair. Cheers to summer, everyone!

The future - Grae chambers

My junior year. The end of my 16th and beginning of my 17th year. I could write you all a novel on the lessons learned this year ( PLEASE SOMEONE TELL ME YOU PICK UP ON THAT REFERENCE) , but I'll refrain seeing as it's 5 am and I'm not sure what motivated me to write a blog post right now but I am. Anyways, I started off this year thinking that no year could be nearly as life changing as my sophomore year. I was so incredibly wrong. I started off the year thinking my health and related school attendance would be so much better. I was so incredibly wrong. i was prepared for my class load for the most part but nothing could prepare me for the panic and uncertainty I feel to this day when asked a physics related question. This year I learned way more outside of the classroom than I did in if and I'll share just a few blips of wisdom with you all now

- taking a risk and failing always feels better than knowing you never tried at all

- no matter how independent you think you are, you need people. And I've found that best friends are the best kinds of people for that.

- do something that makes your heart smile but benefits other people more than it benefits you

- hold on close to the people you love, do not push your parents away you could find out that they're extremely cool people who were high schoolers too and have lives outside of being mom or dad 

Okay so my future. Every time someone asks me about my future I get sent into a spiral of panic but I'm trying not to do that now. What do I want from my future? lately I've wanted to freeze time in its tracks because every single piece of my life right now, and every piece of my friends lives are kind of perfect right now. But it's getting time for me to be a big girl and realize that I'm still growing and things are gonna change. Senior year I want to finish off high school knowing that I did everything I could to soak up each of its moments, even sitting through AP classes or seeing fights in the cafeteria. These things only happen once in our lives people and if you blink you miss it. Okay so after senior year if you really must make me think about it, I want to be in college, but I don't want to fade into the background among a sea 18-24 year olds. I want to shine through, I want to be making a difference in people's lives, I want to know what my future career is and I'll want to be secure in the fact that I'm going to be okay. Ive been wandering around uncertain of who I am or what I want the ought most of high school, and I want that feeling to go away in college. Also I hope all of you get into your dream schools and you make the best friends and you find so much success. There's no one I belive in more than the acadakids I can't wait for our senior year love you guys okay this is trailing off so much I'm so sorry please stop reading it okay bye

Assignment 25: STRESS!! (Tyler Gorman)

How do I manage stress? Well, honestly video games help quite a bit. Inspirational, I know. Other than that, whenever I feel stressed or find myself dreading the coming weeks, months, or years, I just remind myself of everything that's going right, not the things that are going wrong. Sure, I may have a test in calculus, but at least I've got my homework done for physics! I may have no idea what I want to do after college, but at least I'm surrounded by people who can help me figure that out! Staying positive helps me face daunting realities because it makes me worry less about them, and it makes me feel more in control, like I can actually do something about them. In terms of end-of-year exams, I usually remind myself that I've been scoring consistent 5s on practice AP tests and that the US History EOC is being given to general students as well as AP, so it's not really as stressful as I might initially think.

Assignment 24: The Future (Tyler Gorman)

Junior year has honestly been one of the best I've had in a long time. Last semester I got third chair trumpet in wind ensemble after years of suffering the brass player's curse that is braces, my teachers are (largely) far more competent than some of my others in past years--and as a result I feel much more prepared for my four AP tests--and for once school is actually making me look forward to what's to come senior year and in college. Now that I know the stress that comes with four AP classes, two advanced classes during the day, and two extracurricular classes for advanced credits--marching band after school, jazz band before--it's comforting to know that next year I only have to manage two AP classes, though I am a bit unsure how senior mentoring is going to go. I'm confident that I can do it, I'm just afraid that I won't get as much done with it as I'd like to over the course of the year. Beyond that, though, I am pretty confident in my ability to earn a few scholarships at UK with the grades and standardized test scores (which, for the record, shouldn't matter as much as they do) I've managed to get throughout high school, and I'm actually pretty excited for what the future has in store for me.