Ashley’s English Blog

 One time that I appreciated nature was one of the only times it really snowed in Atlanta. I had just gotten out of the hospital on my birthday, after having a procedure followed by a week's stay. Once I got home, my family realized that we had to sleep at a hotel because the floors that we had just had stained were releasing too many fumes. So, we all slept in a hotel that night. The next morning, I woke up to it snowing outside the hotel room. It made me feel so at peace because I had just been through a lot of emotions the past week. My dad and I played in the snow together, and it was very magical.  Today in class, we started our one-pagers. I learned how to make a one-pager and how to make open-ended questions. 

 One time that I had to set a boundary with a friend was when she had overstepped into my relationships with my other friend. She was very overcontrolling about who. I would hang out and would become jealous of my other friends. A few times, she even came to my hangout with my other friends without telling us and taking us by surprise. In the end, I had to tell her to respect me and my other friends, which ended up harming our relationship because we didn't talk much after that.  Today in class, we did a CommonLit on a Frost poem. I learned to how identify a speaker's point of view shifts. 

 A time when my life changed more quickly than I expected was when I went into High school. My life felt like it was changing quickly because all of my middle school friends were separated, and I had to start over with new people, teachers, and a new environment. This relates to how "nothing gold can stay" because it shows how my great middle school experience had to end at some point, but I can still find the "gold" in high school.  Today in class we read to Frost poems and did a worksheet on one. I learned how to create themes from a poem and put them in categories. 

 My favorite word right now is scoop. I like this word because of its simplicity and the way it rolls off my tongue. It also makes me think of scoops of ice cream or a skill in volleyball. I don't use it often, but when I do, it is enjoyable.  Today in class, we worked on our slide projects.  I learned how to connect my childhood experiences to Frost's themes. 

 Imagination is a very useful tool in times of stress, worry, and boredom. Personally, I mainly use imagination in times of boredom, such as in class or on a long car ride. Imagination and picturing things in my head allows me to pass the time and almost watch a movie in my own brain. Imagination also helps me in times of stress, as I like to picture the outcomes and how I could possibly avoid them or achieve them. In times of worry, imagination acts as a soothing tool to let me get my mind off of negative thoughts.  Today in class, we read a new Frost poem and started our project. I learned today how to dig deeper into a long poem and identify literary devices. 

 I do not have a specific time when I was in a dangerous or stressful situation that needed my complete focus, but I did have a very important final last year that challenged my focus. I was taking a chemistry final, and my chemistry grade was right on the edge of an A. I knew I had to get an A on this final to get an A in the class because my dad had said that if I got any B's that I would be grounded. The final was very challenging and confusing, and what made it worse was that the person sitting next to be was tapping her pencil and her leg. I had a hard time focusing on my work, but I had to push through the distractions to finish the test in time. In class today we read a Frost poem, annotated it, and did discussion questions. I learned how to dig deeper into poems to uncover their meanings, and that a good poem has a life of its own. 

 Over my fall break, I did not do very much. Every day, I had either volleyball practice or a volleyball game in the middle of the day, which did not allow me to do much or to travel anywhere. Most days, I would sleep in late, go to work, and then go to volleyball. On Saturday, I went to Fright Fest and Six Flags with a few of my friends. We rode a good number of roller coasters, and we stayed at the park until midnight. I enjoyed my break a lot, as it was a nice escape from school.  Today in class, we used the Vocab lesson 4 to make a comic strip. Today I learned new words such as deign and deference.