I must begin with a word of welcome to whomever has stumbled upon this portfolio. It's purpose is to demonstrate the skills and knowledge I have gained with each year of teaching. It does so with several examples of literary concepts I have learned about in that year. For example, under the A Mothers Many Hats tab is a poem based on Walt Whitman's poem, I Hear America Singing. Under the 'I am Thinker, Reader, Writer' tab is a reflection based on my development as such. Under the Essays tab there are four essays of different prompt and format. A Novel Response, an Emerson Reflective, a Persuasive, and a Pre-assessment. Under The American Dream tab is my argument supporting the statement, "The American Dream is grounded in democratic ideals that the individual has the power and opportunity to achieve great success." It also contains my connection of "Upon the Burning of Our House" by Anne Bradstreet with our unit about the sub-text of Justice and Injustice in literature. The TED Talk tab is a reflection about (insert TED TALK here)
During the school year we have learned and reexamined different aspects of grammar surrounding punctuation. Such as with, semicolons, colons, and commas. For example: the different uses of a colon, how to separate thoughts properly with commas, and how to use semicolons correctly. We also analyzed poetry from different literary eras, depicted their differences, and what makes them specific to that style of writing. There have also been a number of TED talks this year to show us how a professional delivers information. During these TED talks we would analyze their delivery as well as critique it. We have also had two reading assignments both were a historical fiction or non-fiction of our choosing. What was most influential to me was our lessens on how to properly execute the different essays we have done this year.
Though not a lot of complaints can be made about this year there are some things I would like to address. I wished we had done more on how different authors went along story development. As a dream career I would like to be a writer of three calibers. One as a screenwriter, so I can see my works upon the big screen. Another as a play write, so I can see how different people would interpret my work on stage. Lastly as an author, so maybe one day when I walk into the library and see someone reading in the corner it will be a book of mine. Of course no action may be taken without an equal and opposite reaction. To be able to focus more on story development, time would have to be taken from something else. I would remove some of the TED talks. True, I enjoyed these and true, analyzing and critiquing the works of others is important so we don't make the same mistakes. On the other hand more direct work on delivering information to a seemingly oblivious audience could do the same, giving us both practice in presentation and critique.
I hope that this introductory letter fulfilled it's purposes in introducing you to this weebly page and giving you an idea of what you can see here. Perhaps it even gave you an idea of what you can expect from me. If so, I am glad to have given you what you needed. If not, feel free to ask me questions at the email address listed above.
Sincerely,
Charles B. Smith II
During the school year we have learned and reexamined different aspects of grammar surrounding punctuation. Such as with, semicolons, colons, and commas. For example: the different uses of a colon, how to separate thoughts properly with commas, and how to use semicolons correctly. We also analyzed poetry from different literary eras, depicted their differences, and what makes them specific to that style of writing. There have also been a number of TED talks this year to show us how a professional delivers information. During these TED talks we would analyze their delivery as well as critique it. We have also had two reading assignments both were a historical fiction or non-fiction of our choosing. What was most influential to me was our lessens on how to properly execute the different essays we have done this year.
Though not a lot of complaints can be made about this year there are some things I would like to address. I wished we had done more on how different authors went along story development. As a dream career I would like to be a writer of three calibers. One as a screenwriter, so I can see my works upon the big screen. Another as a play write, so I can see how different people would interpret my work on stage. Lastly as an author, so maybe one day when I walk into the library and see someone reading in the corner it will be a book of mine. Of course no action may be taken without an equal and opposite reaction. To be able to focus more on story development, time would have to be taken from something else. I would remove some of the TED talks. True, I enjoyed these and true, analyzing and critiquing the works of others is important so we don't make the same mistakes. On the other hand more direct work on delivering information to a seemingly oblivious audience could do the same, giving us both practice in presentation and critique.
I hope that this introductory letter fulfilled it's purposes in introducing you to this weebly page and giving you an idea of what you can see here. Perhaps it even gave you an idea of what you can expect from me. If so, I am glad to have given you what you needed. If not, feel free to ask me questions at the email address listed above.
Sincerely,
Charles B. Smith II