Introduction:

Our 10^th grade English and History classes lead by Mr. Block at Science Leadership Academy were everything but ordinary. We used literary devices and our own thoughts to come up with either broad or specific ideas. Along the way we were challenged, taught and questioned numerous times by our peers and teachers. With all of that input, all that was left was the outcome; the work we hand in. I’ve compiled three general understandings that I came to after looking over some of my work.

This year I worked on a project in History where the entire class reenacted the French/Haitian Revolution and we discussed the relationship between the two. In the process of reenacting we had to research. In this unit, I acted as the Bourgeoisie and I had to find a quote, or research, something that would give me background and enhance my knowledge of the revolution. One of the most essential pieces of information I found was, “the typical rural family of five required sixty bushels of wheat per year, “or with the triennial rotation of crops, about 15 acres of land for food.” However, the majority of French peasants— as much as 70 percent in the region of Cambrésis, for example— owned less than two-and-a-half acres of farmland. To make matters worse, France suffered several droughts and harsh winters during the 1780s, and French peasants were unaware of new, more efficient farming techniques; most used outdated tools and methods that dated back to the Middle Ages.” This was a crucial piece of evidence in our reenactment because I played the Bourgeoisie and this piece of information allowed me to know exactly what it felt like to be in that class in that time period. Given the fact that even after reading that quote I had to delve deeper in my research to find out exactly how much a bushel was worth. My research definitely allowed me to have a better understanding of the unit. I was able to take note to what other people were saying during discussions and explain to their group why they were in the wrong, using fact based evidence.

During English we approached research and collaboration also. We had to complete a full podcast with a real guest and ourselves, as the host, leading the discussions. Everyone focused on crossing boundaries, and I decided to talk to my guest about the boundaries that she crossed. What I thought was amazing is how with every sentence, my guest would change the questionnaire and I would learn something different as we continued. It begins with, “Certain boundaries are just, not to be crossed. Certain boundaries, no matter how hard we try not to cross them, we will, but with a consequence at the end.” When one of my guests said that it made the entire piece, which was the most essential part of my podcast. What I’ve come to realize is that information from primary sources helps to develop a stronger understanding.

"The most powerful words are those that relate to you."

            A piece of work that pushed my understanding and allowed me to have a stronger grasp of the assignment was the Religion Study where I related religion to music. Looking through the assignment, I realized that the most powerful words are those that relate to you. At one point in my research I found this quote, “Music in its purest sense is religion and religion in its purest sense is music” (Sri Chinoy, Music and Spirituality/Religion). This quote made me realize what my entire project was about. And it also changed the entire outcome of the final product (the brochure). I came to a conclusion, making my final piece a lot stronger because I found a deeper connection; music is my life.

            I remember one day in English where we had a renowned poet visit us. She made us write a paragraph in our English Journals about the way we feel about words. I chose to write about the word “technicality”. I wrote, “The sophisticated way they think they speak, is literally their blatant ignorance, to me. How dare you tell me my emotions are just a technicality? My emotions are my soul. They are me, don’t you dare speak of taking that away from me.” After reading over my work I found that those words were powerful solely based on the fact that they were my own words and I meant it.

For another one of our English projects we wrote a play, my play was titled Arts & Crafts. In this play I reflected on India, the social changes, and myself. At one point, where I was concluding the play, I found myself talking about the way the life of one of my main characters was being intruded and somewhat changed in a decent way but while writing it I was thinking about the way I would feel if I had someone to listen to me. I wrote, “You're here. We're speaking. That's all I really want, someone to listen. To understand, Samajha mēṁ āyā?”(Arts & Crafts) I was suddenly intrigued and in that moment that play meant more than just play to me. Throughout this year I’ve realized that within my work, the most powerful words are those that relate to me.

"In the process of grasping freedom, one finds creativity"

We recently completed a dance; yes a dance for the Art in the Open Festival along with help from the Leah Stein dance company. In the beginning of the unit I was completely confused, asking questions like, “Do the dances have meaning?” or “What is the purpose?” We were given the opportunity to work with the environment and create a dance using the environment. We were allowed time to be outside and working with our groups to complete the project. The process was very tedious but in the end we were able to create amazing dances that we will never forget. After finishing that unit I came to the conclusion that in the process of grasping freedom, one finds creativity.

  Overall, this year’s English and History classes were filled with its ups and downs and mishaps that lead me into a new direction within my work. I was given the opportunity to learn, to create and to lead. And the best part about it all is that I wouldn’t give back a second of it all.

“Hard work leads to a lifetime of accomplishments”  (Jessica Marorano)

Throughout the year in History/English I have learned many different things. The topics I studied varied in subjects and made real world connections. Each piece of work that was done in both classes was a continual process. Nothing was just done and over with. I worked hard with my peers in perfecting and editing my work to make sure that it was the best. I think I deserve a gold star for the completion of each assignment.

The most memorable topic of study in History was the playwright. I joined the school in the middle of the semester and when I came one of my first assignments was to write a play. This was one of my biggest challenges that I faced. I had no idea what I was writing nor did I have any ideas for a topic. Over the weeks I began reading my peers plays and began working with a play expert who helped me with a idea and sort of gave me a guideline of what to do. I worked hard and thoroughly for months and with dedication I eventually created a masterpiece. This project gave me an opportunity to express myself and display my creativity to everyone.  I think this play was one of the biggest obstacles that I overcame and succeeded with during this year so far. Click here to view the entire play.

One of the most memorable pieces in English was the Poetry Wiki. Each class period we learned about a poet and analyzed their poetry and got ideas for our own. We expressed many of our life stories and circumstances with our poems. Some poems like our found poems were totally made up of phrases and sentences that we heard throughout the day. This was one of the most unique poems in the entire wiki.

 Along with working with peers, we also collaborated with others. For a couple of weeks everyone was working with the Leah stein dance company. This workshop was during our freedom unit where we analyzed prison stories, read graphic novels, and most importantly worked with Leah to create expressions of art. This ongoing process was very different and quite interesting. We worked with the environment and with things that we see everyday to perform or tell a captivating story through our dance moves. Click here to view our process.

 “Creativity is the reason of ones work to express the power of ones mind.” (Sean McAninch)            

That is the general understanding I get when I am working. I am creating masterpieces to express the power of my mind. “Without struggle there is no thrive to work harder.” Everything during this year wasn’t so easy to accomplish. I think one if the most difficult projects for me was the Revolutionary Guidebook. Over a period of time we studied different revolutions then it was our turn to teach all about a revolution. I had the chance to apply all the knowledge I obtained and teach it to someone else as if they had no clue about the subject. That was a struggle for me because I had such a hard time getting my ideas across. I had a hard time explaining what I learned in a way that made it easier for others. Eventually I overcame that challenge, passing it wasn’t so easy.

In English we studied about crossing boundaries and passing. There were a lot of fun activities within that unit. My favorite was the Passing reenactment. We read the book passing then it was our job to reenact the scene and present it to the class. Making the video was really fun it was my first time collaborating with a group. (Click here for the video.) I worked hard with each assignment and I succeeded, each piece is wonderful. These classes has helped me get a better understanding of myself and the world. 

Main Understanding: Hard work and struggle can lead to creativity

Throughout the year I have learned about many different and controversial topics. Some of which I believe aren't part of the normal curriculum. Many things that we did included our own original play that was part of a controversial topic and many other things that are interesting, In the beginning of the year I walked into Mr. Block's History and English class thinking it would be a regular boring class and we would do what I did in a regular high school class. Instead of that I had a different experience. It was regular assignments and research but it was a hands-on experience to different things, like being a part of the Art in the Open festival.

Some of the topics that struck me as interesting were the lesson that we learned about the different rights to education, and the boy that refused to say the pledge of allegiance. We asked different essential questions about each of the topics that we were discussing in class. When we started the process out making our own play, I struggled because I had never done a thing, in actuality I never wrote much until this year. The first thing we did before we wrote plays were that we were to read plays written by the classes from before. After we had read plays and talked about different controversial topic that our play had to include. Throughout the process of writing it, we had much help by doing several activities that would immerse us into the characters that could be in our play. I had some trouble thinking about what topic I wanted to pick during the period that we were choosing. During that time, Kim Jong il died so I decided to do something with the country of North Korea. I strived to create a play following a couple with mixed feelings about the Leader of North Korea dying. I tried creating a story that could’ve been possibly be happening at that very moment.

Second Understanding: Change can only occur when there is support

            Throughout the year we’ve had many different assignments and most of those assignments required us to as another student to peer-edit each other’s work. Most of what I am proud of writing wouldn’t be what it is. This year we wrote a language autobiography on how language affects us. Seeing that I am Vietnamese, I know two languages. The difference from knowing an Asian language and English in my eyes is a big leap from knowing Spanish and English, or English alone. It’s a big leap because of the structure of the Asian language and the difference it makes. In my language autobiography I talk about how when I was younger I felt like an adult. I felt like any adult because of the responsibility that I had as the best English speaking person in the house. Another thing that we did that I help finishing up was the Poetry Unit. Inside this Unit we wrote different poems, with each poem having a different requirement, and constantly had our peers editing posting feedback about the specific poems we wanted. We asked our peers to support us we wrote poetry and made a specific page where we stored our different poems that we wrote at that time.

Third Understanding: Listening can help immensely

            Although I have listened for most of the school year, there are some bits and pieces here and there where I started to space out momentarily. One moment was when Mr. Block was talking about the Final portfolio, which is what you’re reading, I spaced out because I was reading different vignettes from the book “Finding Freedom” Another instance where I wasn’t in the zone was when we were introduced our podcast interview which was part of our Crossing Boundaries unit. This project was a group one where we all interviewed people outside of our school.

            This year has been very interesting, it has been weird but in a good way. I feel satisfied with what I produced this year

One big challenge was the language autobiography. That was probably the most challenging thing for me to do this year. The quote that started off my paper explains it all. “When I learned that I was going to have to write a language autobiography, I thought I was never going to be able to do it. I thought that I was doomed because I was taught to speak properly and correctly my whole life. When we were reading about people who had large opinions on language identity and what language was, I couldn’t relate to any of them.” This project challenged me a lot. However, while I was completing the autobiography, I discovered many things about myself that I had never thought about. This was the last bit of my autobiography: “Before this assignment, I never thought about any kind of language identity. I’m still not positive what mine is quite yet, or if I even have one. But I know that I am in the process of figuring it out. I might even have multiple ones. I do know one thing for sure though, I once thought I didn’t have a story to tell with language but now I know I have a huge story. It’s just still in the process.” As you can see, this shows how much I learned about myself while doing this project. I learned tons more about my background and even about my own opinions. 

Another challenge for me was the art in the open dance. When I first heard that we would have to dance, I hated the thought of doing it so much that I wished I could be absent those days. In my art in the open reflection, I explain my first and last thoughts about the whole process. “I was confident I could do something really good by the end of the weeks. Before going to the armory, I really did not want to do what we were doing and felt super nervous. After the armory, I felt confident enough to know that I could do it. I also was a bit more excited. The whole process happened in a way that was easy yet challenging at the same time.” The art in the open experience taught me a lot of things about myself. I learned that there are some things that, even though they seem impossible, I can accomplish. 

The other big challenge was the religion benchmark. We had to research two religions. I looked at the after-life in Buddhism and Christianity. When I reflected on the whole religion unit, I realized I had learned a lot about myself during it. Here is a part of the reflection I did: “I learned a lot in this unit. I basically did not know anything about religion before when we first started the unit. This unit taught me a lot about the differences between religions. I had no idea that many religions believed in reincarnation. I really enjoyed learning about different kinds of religions.” I have never really had a religion that I followed. I always hated being told what to believe. In a way, I have always had my own religion. Even then, before the religion unit, I wasn’t sure exactly what I believed. After the unit, I started to sort out my own beliefs. That let me discover much more of my identity. 

During my tenth grade year in Mr. Block’s class, everything was a challenge. Some were bigger than others but nothing was easy. I realize now, that to learn you have to overcome challenges and connect things to yourself. In doing that, you learn not only about the world but about your identity. You have to keep an open mind. Most importantly, you can not be afraid of challenges. You need to challenge yourself to learn about yourself. If you do that, your learning will expand in many ways. That is what I learned to do this year and I think that it will help me through out the rest of my education.

This year in my 10th grade English and History classes at the Science Leadership Academy, we covered a wide variety of interesting subjects. But out of all of these, the ones that stood out to me the most were the ones that focused on revolution and rebellions. I thought these were interesting because they really gave us a new perspective on how the world changes. Through these units I finished the year with a few different basic understanding. The first is that power is bought, not earned. The second is that human rights are often treated as human privileges. The third is that the needs of the many will always outweigh the needs of the few. 

When we first touched on rebellions, it was in the French Revolution unit. The French Revolution was possibly one of the bloodiest wars in all time and resulted in the people of France rising up together and killing the king and tyrant, king Louis XIV. We had one of our class’s famous historical role-plays, where each of us assumed the role of a key figure in the French Revolution, I personally got to play the part of Robespierre which I found very interesting because I got to be the villain. Here is a sample from some of the in role-play work.  “Hello, I am Robespierre I am a founding member of the committee of public safety. I was born and raised in Arras, France, and I grew up to join the Committee of Public Safety. I am a die-hard supporter of the revolution and will do anything to make sure it stays in motion. I think that if you are not for the revolution then you are against it. The grey area is for loyalists and cowards. Also discipline is mandatory for a peaceful society. While I looked at myself as a heroic leader, some of my people look to me as a tyrant.” When we each went around to introduce ourselves, this was the paragraph that I used. I feel like taking on the role of one of the characters really helped me to get a sense of what the French Revolution was like. As the Role-Play continued, people gave input from the point of view of their character. The Role-Play ultimately concluded that the politicians of the time were extremely corrupt and that the people of France had every right to rise up the way they did. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. 

This was not the only role-play that we had; another favorite of mine was the “Sweatshop Trials”. In the Sweatshop trials, we all assumed the roll of one the participants in the system of the economy. The goal of the sweatshop trial was to help decide who in the system was the guiltiest. The accused parties were The CEOs, the system itself, the factory workers, the U.S. consumers and the local governments of the countries that hosted a factory. I played the role of The System. Following is a sample of our work and was used as the opening statement for the trial “We are going to try to pin the blame on the C.E.O.s, we are also going to try to make examples of other companies that make a profit. We are also going to try to point out that we only suggest that a profit needs to be made, we don’t say how much or how to make it. And we can’t say how they spend it.” – Sweatshop Trial These role-plays were also great because we didn’t learn only one point of view, we got a good chunk of each side of the argument even the ones that are generally thought of as the bad guy. It also let us take a more in depth look at how manufacturing works and why factory workers are paid so poorly. The trial ultimately concluded that the CEOs were the guiltiest since they stripped people of their human rights and refused to accept any of responsibility or blame for it. We also learned that those who become super rich almost always start well off, buying their way to the top instead of earning respect.

In our English class, we read Lord of The Flies. In my opinion this book also shows allot about revolutions and rebellions. For our Lord of The Flies project we had to make a political ad campaign, and write an essay about the book. I chose the character Jack. I thought he would be the best leader since he actually has the best overall survival plan. Rather than sitting and waiting to be rescued he takes a pro-active stance and teaches the boys how to survive for themselves. However, the plot takes a dramatic twist late in the book and he goes from a leader to a tyrant. Here is a paragraph from my essay on Lord of The Flies  “Fear is one of the most powerful emotions humans experience, it has the ability to do everything from disrupt a relationship to destroy a civilization.  This is a common occurrence in both real life and in literature.  One of the strongest examples of this is in William Golding’s Lord Of The Flies, which depicts the downfall of innocent children into power hungry monsters.  By looking at Jack’s tribe, one can see any civilization will become uncivilized when its leader uses the peoples’ fear of something to control them.  It is important for one to notice this so that one can guard against it, and stay rational in the face of terror.” I enjoyed this project because we got to take a look at Lord of The Flies in terms of society forming and going through changes as opposed to just the survival of boys on an island.

Overall I think that my English and History classes really helped me to look at the world in new ways. We learned to look at things from everyone’s perspective. I think this is one of the most important things to do both as a student and in real life. Mr. Block’c classes changed the way I look at the world drastically and his lessons will stay with me for the rest of my high school career if not my life.

At the beginning of this year I was given an idea about a descriptive essay. In order to be descriptive you have to study the object or scene and say each part using the five senses. This year in general has been a great experience it helped me figure out that everything is not handed to you. You have to earn what you can’t have. In order to be accomplished in life you must work. My teacher Mr. Block is both my english and history and he helped me understand a lot about both courses.

Throughout the entire year my work has been hard to understand. I wasn’t able to comprehend the new information that I was learning. So through the months I used deeper analysis. This analysis allowed me to  help understand things that we never thought were possible. Later in the year we learned about the renaissance, we has to discuss renaissance art and one statement I remember is, "Art existed just not on paper". This quote shows that If you think about art, art is something you can explain deeper than you thought you could. Even though a person could name colors or what’s on it, you can say how the person feels you can relate the picture to something in real life. An assignment that also stood out was Lord of the Flies. Leadership had a lot to do with the book. “A leader can only be one person but you need people to help you further”. Basically this quote shows what a leader is. A leader can not be multiple people. There could be different Leader(s) with an s. The reason why I say that there can only be one leader is because it does not consist of more than one person. The other people that you may feel is in power could be assistants but not at the same rank as the LEADER.

A lot of my work has been expressing how I feel. In order to express how you feel you need to know what you feel and telling that is  a challenge. Expression is used to show how a person feels without saying it. It’s like reading the mind but this time you read the body. This means expressing yourself without words could be stronger than expressing yourself with words. I wrote a letter to my parents about how I felt at times. "Certain things you say to me hurt my feelings throughout the day". This was to show i felt, but this was stated in words when I could have showed it. Certain are not meant to be shown because it makes situations worse. Anytime you express your self make sure it is meaningful so it makes a change. Back when my class did the French Revolution Role Play we began to thing people were cruel and that they showed respect for the cruelty. “he showed honor”. Honor, the way honor is expressed it to be bold out going showing your boss that you could do what no other man/ woman could ever do. To show honor means that you give respect not to earn but because you honor that person. it is possible that you look up to that person. The more honorable things you do the more respect it given.

Mr. Block taught me a new way to write and speak and I think the effort that I put into the work really helped me. The only thing I had to do was try. Trying new things allows the person to feel accomplished after doing what they thought they couldn’t. In the beginning of the year we did some trial work like a court case and I quote that I have picked up from it is "But we would have also been imprisoned". Speaking on this quote, this could have been a new thing tried. Not everything your friends do is something that you have to do. It could get you in some trouble that you are able to get yourself out of. Back in 2011 Mr.Block gave us  a paper to do and it was the Language Auto Biography. I knew this was new to me because I actually got to discuss where my mom is from and how she speaks. “you feel the rhythm in the words coming out of your mouth”. This quote shows that you notice new things to. If you have never written about a different accent or dialect try it because it makes you want to speak in a way that everyone could understand. The only way to do that is to feel that rhythm in the words that are coming out of your mouth. Then you have to remember that rhythm.

Sara Nesbitt

English

Poem

9-6-11

 Who am I?

Since I’m in a new class, a new environment, I’d like you to get to know me.

I’m Sara Nesbitt

My favorite things are my friends and softball.

I work hard in school always trying my best.

I have amazing friends to spend my time with, and a great family to come home to.

I love winter; it’s my favorite season.

I used to be a competitive gymnast.

I’m an only child.

I care way to much about everything.

I don’t like pictures.

I’m only 14.

And, my biggest fear is spiders.

But don’t worry my life is much deeper than that.

I love my life, and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Friends? Couldn’t ask for better ones

School? Best in the world

Life? It changes everyday.

I have many memories I will keep with me forever.

One memory I have is when my parents took me to gymnastics competition and I ended up winning first place. It was such an accomplishment; an amazing experience and it only pushed my determination more to work harder.

Also, one of my favorite memories is meeting one of my closest friends. It was first day of freshman year, I was a tiny little freshman that people mistaken for a shadow, I didn’t know anyone. But when I go into the bathroom I meet this tall blonde girl that hated Justin Bieber. Now, I can’t go a single day without talking to her and she’s the best friend you could ever have. We understand each other, relate to each other and I couldn’t ask for anyone better.

All of those things make up me,

the loves, hates, memories, and fears.

I’m Sara Nesbitt, and that’s who I’ll always be.

Sara Nesbitt

English

Poem

9-6-11

 Who am I?

Since I’m in a new class, a new environment, I’d like you to get to know me.

I’m Sara Nesbitt

My favorite things are my friends and softball.

I work hard in school always trying my best.

I have amazing friends to spend my time with, and a great family to come home to.

I love winter; it’s my favorite season.

I used to be a competitive gymnast.

I’m an only child.

I care way to much about everything.

I don’t like pictures.

I’m only 14.

And, my biggest fear is spiders.

But don’t worry my life is much deeper than that.

I love my life, and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Friends? Couldn’t ask for better ones

School? Best in the world

Life? It changes everyday.

I have many memories I will keep with me forever.

One memory I have is when my parents took me to gymnastics competition and I ended up winning first place. It was such an accomplishment; an amazing experience and it only pushed my determination more to work harder.

Also, one of my favorite memories is meeting one of my closest friends. It was first day of freshman year, I was a tiny little freshman that people mistaken for a shadow, I didn’t know anyone. But when I go into the bathroom I meet this tall blonde girl that hated Justin Bieber. Now, I can’t go a single day without talking to her and she’s the best friend you could ever have. We understand each other, relate to each other and I couldn’t ask for anyone better.

All of those things make up me,

the loves, hates, memories, and fears.

I’m Sara Nesbitt, and that’s who I’ll always be.

English Journal #49:

Respond to the quote: 

“If memory helps us to survive, forgetting helps us to go on living.” - Elie Wiesel 

This quote really makes you think. I think that forgetting bad things can help us move on and not dwell on the past. However, remembering may help us survive because you will not want those things to happen to you. If you forget, you will be happy but may not survive long. If you remember you may survive but not live. 

History Journal #10: 

~What is religion? 

Religion is where someone believes something that has to do with something spiritual. 

~Has religion helped the world more than it has hurt it, or hurt the world more than it has helped it? 

I think that religion has helped the world just as much as it has hurt it. Yes, religion can make people not like each other and even start wars, but it has also helped many people personally. For example, the wars in Iraq have been caused by religion as well as other things. 

English Journal #6: 

Write a paragraph starting with this phrase:

“I am always seeing…”

I am always seeing the wind blowing things all around me. My hair, the leaves, the branches, and the birds soaring in the wind. I am always seeing the clouds moving. I am always seeing the people walking. I am always seeing the world around me… but what do other people see? Do they see the world the same way I do? I am always seeing.