English class has not been one of my favorite subjects because I have always struggled in the areas of writing. Even though my English class has been a challenged, I have seen growth, improvements and a great difference on my writing skills. I like to express my feelings and opinions through writing, but sometimes its hard to find the correct words. I need to work on increasing my vocabulary and write better essays. In 7th grade writing was a little bit more easier than in 8th grade. We didn’t write as much, and didn’t have to share or writing like we do now in blogs. The reason why I’m writing this blog post is to explain how I have improved in my English class and what areas I still need to work on. The two assignments I chose to present are a perfect example that shows the improvements I have accomplished these two years in my English class.

The assignment I chose from 7th grade is called murder mystery evidence analysis.

In this assignment the learning objective was to analyze a photograph of a murder and find evidence to support my argument of how I believed the murder occurred. I also used transitional words through out the writing to organize my writing and make it more clear. Some of my strengths I see in this assignment is that It looks like I was interested in the topic. Finding out how the murder happened caught my attention and I was able to come up with various possibilities of how the murdered could had happened. I expressed different ideas and wrote detailed sentences. The weaknesses I see in my grammar was grammar and punctuation. Many of my sentences don’t make sense and also have several misspelled words. I was not careful and probably did not edit my work.
The FLAGS outcome I demonstrated by completing this assignment was to response to literature, with correct grammar and punctuation.

The 8th grade assignment I chose to present is called Toilet to tap Performance Task Essay.

In this assignment the learning objective was to support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant  evidence, using accurate, credible sources and demonstrate an understanding of
the topic text. Even though this assignment was more difficult, I can see a tremendous improvement in my writing. To begin with I was more careful with punctuation and grammar. I was able to create a 5 paragraph essay with good transitional words and sentences that catch the readers attention. Lastly, I learned to cite different sources to support my claim. The FLAGS outcome I demonstrated by completing this assignment was to read and annotate the 3 sources, plan, write and edit my argumentative essay.

Looking back at my writings, and comparing the differences between 7th and 8th grade I can see how I became a better writer by planning and organizing my ideas before writing the whole essay. Annotating information about the resources I read helped me find important information to support my essay. I think I need to proofread my essay better and be careful on my punctuation, grammar and spelling. Writing is still a challenge for me. English is the class I spend more time doing my homework because I have to really look for or think of the right way to write a good sentence. Words don’t come as easy to my head. I know I can do better and practicing more often my writing will prepared me for the coming English courses in High school. I know it will be harder, but I will not give up.