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. :)