English class has been fairly interesting for me. In 7th grade, everything was starting out easy. Everything was just read, analyze and reflect. I completed the assignment given and turned it in. But then, second semester came. In the last weeks I did the Performance Task. But thanks to the trainingI had received, I could go along easily. But then 8th grade joined in, everything got one level harder. I am writing this blog post as a reflection of my past 2 years in middle school. Probably the most stressing years I’ve had yet. Portfolio Night is sneaking up on me really fast and I will present my 2 most successful essays in Middle School. I chose these 2 essays because I thought I could show how much I have improved in my writing skills these 2 years.

The seventh grade assignment that I chose is a Performance Task. This essay was about the non-monetary benefits of college. We had to write an informative essay about the health benefits of pursuing a collage degree. In this assignment, I got a 20 out of 20, but I got one spelling mistake.The word that I spelled wrong was imagine.I spelled it “images”.It is not big mistake but It was the only one I had. I think my only weaknesses were that I felt pressured by the time I had to finish, making sure that I wrote everything correctly and also making sure that the order of the evidences was correct from weakest to strongest. By doing this task, I demonstrated the FLAGS Learning Outcome of being Global and Civic Minded because I learnt about the national issues of college.I also demonstrated the Learning Outcome of being an Effective Communicator by critically reading primary and secondary sources and by responding academically in the form of an essay.

Now, the eight grade artifact that I chose is the Performance Task. This essay was also about college, but this task was to write an explanatory essay about the cost of going to collage. I wrote about how college is very expensive and that it crushes the dreams of Americans. This essay was flawless, it did not have any mistakes and I remember having everything in order and everything was correct. I did feel pressured by time, but everything else was absolutely perfect. I demonstrated the same FLAGS Learning outcomes as the seventh grade assignment, which were being Global and Civic Minded and Effective Communicator. I wrote about national problems by analyzing and using credible sources.

From 7th to 8th I learned lots of things. This year, I learned how to combine sentences, analyze poems, blending quotes, the types of sentences, how to make counterarguments and how to use appositives. So I can say that I definitely have improved because now I can write differently. In my same old style, but now my essays will look different. My weakness in writing is still feeling pressured by time. For high school, I have to get used to writing an essay in a limited amount of time so I can make them as perfect as if I had all the time in the world. In conclusion, I have to practice managing my time. By the time I get to ninth grade, I will have all these skills to work with and I will be proud of my self.