This year in English class we did some pretty CRAZY activities.
As always, I like to get some feedback on some of the activities we completed this year!
What did you think of the TESTS? PROJECTS? FLIPGRID? BLOGS?
What was your overall feeling towards coming to English class?
What recommendations for improvements do you have?
What should I definitely do again?
Explain.
THANKS FOR A GREAT SCHOOL YEAR OF BLOGGING.
I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED READING ALL YOUR POSTS AND YOUR COMMENTS!
I believe that the blogs and tests were definitely the most entertaining thing I've done in any class, the freedom of expression is undeniably large in the tests and blogs. The flip grids I was not a fan of because of two things 1) we didn't have enough time and 2) The Chromebooks never had working mics! Every time I would go to English class I would have a feeling of happiness and comfort, I always felt welcome going to English class which not many classes are capable of doing. Mr. Katz, you should continue your technology instead of paper movement, and you should improve your arm wrestling game my friend!
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DeleteOmg I totally agree, you are so funny and handsome!
DeleteIdk why I deleted the one before but yeah.
Deleteby far tyhe most entertaining nice blog
DeleteYou're pretty full of yourself eh
DeleteYeah I agree, Great Blog
DeleteP.S. I wonder what Johnny's gonna write
ReplyDeleteHey I wrote something reasonable now. You like that? YOU LIKE THAT?! (It's a meme)
Deletethis years English class was hands down the best out of all my English classes throughout my school career. every class and everything we did in class was fun interesting and different, very different. which is what made English so great. there wasn't one day that was the same. the tests were so out of the ordinary and different i would always forget i was doing a test. i don't recommend changing anything because the class was perfect. i honestly don't think there could be any improvements that can be made. keep doing what you do Mr. Katz.
ReplyDeleteIt really was the best, better than history class which is surprising for me. Great blog :P
Deletethis years English started off great, but as we got to the end, its gonna end rocket, I just feel it. I really do enjoy all the tests and activities that we do in this class and its sad to say that ill most likely never get to do things like this ever again. im very grateful for all the great cool stuff mr Katz made us do, and I really think this will change my way of learning for the rest of my life. I would walk into class and get exited to pull out a chrome book. I would never see this class as work, only as a time were we get to do fun things in a controlled environment. I think u should drop the flip grid; I hate those. I think we would continue doing blogs, though!
ReplyDeletei hate the flip grid too. Great blog!
DeleteI also feel like its important for me to blog one of my FAVOURITE free blogs I saved for the end of the year;
ReplyDeleteI will talk about how marijuana should be legalized. I think marijuana should be legalized because of many reasons. Firstly, how cigarettes, tobacco and nicotine are so much more detrimental to a person's health than marijuana is. Lung cancer is the leading cause of death among both men and women each year. Meaning that it’s the most common cancer. 14% of all new cancers are lung cancers, and a lot of that is because of smoking cigarettes. Why would something that harmful and deadly be legal, while another that has never killed anyone be so illegal? It doesn’t even make sense! People use marijuana to help with migraines, an actual medical cause, while others use it for recreational use. Even though those are two very different uses, neither of them can hurt you. Secondly, weed is also very good for mental health, in addition to easing stress, weed decreases anxiety and helps you relax. That’s why pot smokers, for the most part, are happy people. Thirdly, Believe it or not, people who smoke weed are at less risk for diabetes and obesity than those who don’t partake. Lastly, weed kills cancer cells! There are over 100 peer-reviewed studies that can confirm that cannabis kills cancer cells in more ways than one, from halting metastasis to triggering cell suicide.
This is actually very interesting to hear. Even if I don't smoke marijuana or ever plan to, I do agree with some of your points. Cigarettes are much worse than marijuana, and cause many deaths. I have trouble understanding why cigarettes are not banned.
DeleteEnglish was okay this year. I had Mr. Katz in sec 1 and i liked it better then. I didn't like the flip grid and blogs this year. All the projects and tests were creative but the only one I enjoyed was the glass castle test. At the beginning of the year, I was always so excited to come to English class and to see what we do that day. But as the year went on, it got less and less fun and more tiring and sort of boring i guess. I do like how social this class is and we can speak freely, but I'm not sure what it is, I just started to dislike coming to this class.
ReplyDeleteThat sucks that you found this class boring
DeleteEnglish this year has been my favourite class by far, even over gym. Every class has been very fun and all the activities were great. Personally I loved Flipgrids, they were a great way to demonstrate creativity. Blogs were also quite fun, I can't even lie. Both tests and projects were very exciting and different and I enjoyed them. Again, English was by far the best class and next year's class will have a hard time living up to this year's.
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DeleteI have absolutely no bad comments about Mr. Katz's class because he always puts himself in the students shoes, asking himself, "Would I want to sit around class reading the book in my head and do A 500 word response in the next five minutes, of course not, so that is exactly what I am going to make my students do." I sometimes question Mr. Katz's sanity because one day he will probably snap and kill one of his students, or the other way around. Can't wait to get out of that class. Just kidding. Thank you for the wonderful year. I will gladly shove all those memories down the garbage.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Ky. Mr. Katz put himself in our shoes and he chose things that he knew we'd like. Nice blog!
DeleteAs we forget the one test where we had 20 minutes to write a quality 300 words with quotes...
DeleteI agree he really picked things he knew we'd enjoy doing.
DeleteI love this class and I always look forward to coming to it. I find that no matter what we are doing. Mr.Katz always makes class fun no matter what we are doing. It is always a pleasure to come to class because if I'm having a bad day, this class always makes me happy. There is never a boring instant in this class. I really liked the Glass Castle test because it didn't seem like a test but it was. I don't remember the other tests but I hated the test where we actually had to write a lot.
ReplyDeleteyou have exactly 101 words.
DeleteIt's so true! English class always makes you feel better. Great blog:)
DeleteI have a lot of mixed emotions about what we did this year in english class. I did not like all the tests, however I really liked the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy test, as well as the Glass Castle test. I also really liked some of our projects, like the twitter one for the Glass Castle and the Mockumentary for Fahrenheit 451. I hated flipgrid. I hated doing the blogs, or well the very few I actually did. I loved going to english class.It was always a class I looked forward to going to. I think you should change it to one blog a week, due sundays, and you assign it on the monday of that week. This way here, it'll be easier to complete, and the students would have more time to complete it. Instead of having two blogs of 60 words minimum, maybe you could do just one with around 120 words, maybe more. I think you should never read the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ever again with your students, it was the worst book ever, so ya. You should do a movie trailer for another book however, maybe Romeo and Juliet, and you should also do the mockumentary for Fahrenheit 451. You should also read the Glass Castle again, and show the actual movie next time. I agree it is not the best movie, but it is better than that other thing you made us watch.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of this year I loved this class so much. Even though I never read a page of Fahrenheit 451 it was still fun especially that project we had. I also liked Hitchhikers. I really just didn't like me getting kicked out like very other class. SO that kind of ruined it for me. I felt like the blog topics could have been much better. But in overall I really liked this class
ReplyDeletenice to hear ur opinion :)
DeleteI found the test in this class really weird. It's very team involved compared to some other classes like last year I had to right up an essay and essay a bunch of questions. The flipgrid was a bit annoying to film everyday. The hardest thing is probably remembering to do my blogs. It was a fun year have a good summer in a month to come.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't do flipgrid everyday...
DeleteThis was the BEST CLASS EVER. Seriously, you did a pretty good job at being a friendly teacher and I hope others see you that way. The tests we did were always original and it was super fun doing them because it was about cooperation just like English class is supposed to be. I don't know about other but I sure as hell had fun presenting and doing them to the class. Especially that time when we had to present a personal story. (P.S. I had fun doing them). Flip grid was good but I thought that it would of been better to do blogs because it took me like an hour to do just 90 seconds of footage. The blogs were by far the best part of this class. Even though they were due until a certain date, I had a lot of fun writing them because the topic was always different and I finally got to express my opinion on the school system as well as gun control. The only thing that didn't like so much were the tweets. There was just way too much of them in my opinion, unless you're Owen. They took way too much time and I could never keep count. I would of preferred more blogs.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, at first I was a little apprehensive towards what we going to be doing this year in English class. I was very confused with the whole idea of blogs and using technology in the classroom. To my surprise, English class this year was a blast! I really liked doing blogs and I’m going to miss doing them. Doing blogs was an easy way to get marks and they get you thinking about certain topics. One of my favorite things that we did this year was the modern R&J scene using flip grid. I also really liked the H2G2 test where we had to make a movie trailer. Although, I hated the Glass Castle test... The projects and tests that we did in this class were unique and we’ll probably never get to do things like this in any other English class! It was definitely a learning experience for me because I’m not that great with technology! All in all, English was a class that I looked forward to coming to and I’m going to miss it!
ReplyDeleteThat't true, all the tests were really unique! I loved most of them too, good blog Jenna.
DeleteThis school year went by so quickly! Since the beginning of the year, I was always excited to come to english class. English class is so great because you always feel welcome, you’re never stressed and it’s such an inviting area. I loved almost all the things we did throughout the year! My favourite project that we did would have to be the F451 mockumentary. I had such a great time making it with my group and being so creative. Another thing that I really enjoyed doing was “The Glass Castle” test because it unlike all the other tests I’ve ever done. The only thing that I didn’t like this year and don’t recommend making your student do again in the future is read H2G2. I was confused by the first page and never fully understood what was going on. All in all, I really enjoyed English class and the fun things we did!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree! I wasn't really stressed about this class!
DeleteI agree also, this class brought my stress level was down.
DeleteI like the assignment though that came with H2G2
DeleteI loved English class this year! I liked all the books we read (except for Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy), and I learnt a lot also. I really liked how the tests we did weren't boring and normal also! I just didn't like flip grid because the website was always being super annoying. At the beginning of the year, I thought I would hate writing blogs every week, but after a while, I just got into the habit of doing it. I feel like next year will be weird without blogs. I liked how I got to voice my opinion on important matters.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Next year will be weird. We had such a unique class that it's hard to imagine without it. I didn't like that the tests where different, but I guess that's you opinion. Too much out of my comfort zone.
DeleteI enjoyed this class. The books we read were all pretty interesting, but were all very different. In this class, I discovered a new book that I really liked, that being the Glass Castle. The tests we did were really not my favourite. I’m not into the kind of test where it is a surprise. I have no way to prepare and as a result I come in nervous and in bad condition to work. Flipgrid was pretty cool. One major problem with the program was that if you made a mistake, you had to restart your video. There was no option to delete just one clip. Overall, the idea was interesting and lead to some pretty funny and creative responses to material in class. I loved doing blogs. I did have a few problems with them however. I think it would have been a lot more interesting if we did these blogs on our own blogger site. It would give us the chance to personalize our blog, and be more fun in general. Instead of going onto your post, students would have to go to other students blogs to respond. Yes, I understand that this would be hard to coordinate, but would be so much more enjoyable then what we have now. Also, with blogs, the word count in my opinion encouraged people to do the minimum. With a word count of 60, people would forget there blogs, since the don’t seem menacing at all, and end up doing them last minute, only writing 60 words. Without a word count, I think students would feel better about writing a lot. Finally the projects. I loved the projects we did in class, whether it was the Mockumentary, the twitter project, or the mockumentary. Seriously, I thought that the twitter assignment was so unique and different than any other assignment. Yes I’ve done a Twitter assignment before, but never on the actual Twitter app! Then there was the mockumentary. I loved making that. Recording, and editing to make the project my own was so much fun. It was so much fun to see everyone’s faces when they realized just how silly and plain dumb our video was. I’m sad we didn’t have a project like that again. The one on H2G2 was just not the same. I didn’t have the chance to be nearly as creative as I would have loved to with such a short time window. The books we read were very good! I think that they got better as we went, minus Romeo and Juliet of course. Fahrenheit was weird. Definitely not the kind of story that someone of our age is at all into, but had some good lessons and symbolism points. The mockumentary fit perfectly with the project, and overall made me enjoy the unit much more. And crap I gotta split this.
ReplyDeleteThe hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy was even weirder, but somehow better. The story was witty, but had no shortage of a great and unique storyline. One of my favourite books ever up to date was the Glass Castle. It was just so hard to believe that someone truly went through that. It really taught me to appreciate what I have and why I am so lucky to be where I am today. The story was amazing, full of action, fun, and great characters. What really made this book was how it played with your emotions. More specifically, how Rex played with your emotions. One minute, you love him, and another, he’s evil. A book that can do that to you is truly remarkable. Then there was Romeo and Juliet. We aren’t even done it and I don’t like it. After reading the first chapter I didn’t like it. After reading Fahrenheit 451 I knew I didn’t like it! I find that the story is so overused now. It’s so referenced. It’s not that it’s a bad story, it’s just that I’ve heard it so many times that it’s almost reality to me. I don’t like how students go up to the front of the class and read out their specific part. I think that that is the ONE part of this class that is so unoriginal. It surprised me when we were doing that, because this class has made a reputation for itself of being différent and fun. I don’t think that this “acting” is fun or original, and I feel like there are so many better ways at getting it done. It would be better even if students actually acted up in front of the class instead of just going up there to go up there. It just seems so pointless, and really all it does is makes me lose interest, like a lot of other kids, and makes me confused on who’s who. I’m not even going to talk about the “shakespearean” english we read it in. So my final verdict: Mockumentary was great, become a Sec 4 teacher and do 6 of them. The class was fun. A great spin on what I expect in an english class. This class was definitely developed for our age. There was lots of use of technology which a lot of kids can’t get enough of. It was really cool to see how modern day technology can be integrated into a classroom. I loved how the class was interactive, and there was always something new going on. I really just wish there was a new way of reading the shakespeare plays. Anyways, that’s what I have to say about this class. If I had to rate it, I would give it 3 Zoom Blu Ray copies featuring Tim Allen, on 2 Sumega Hounds. Jokes aside, thanks for a great year!
ReplyDeleteI loved our Mockumentary too! So much fun recording it! I liked that this class had more technology too! Great blog
DeleteOur films were so awesome- some good memes right there
DeleteBtw Mr Katz plays in a softball league for old people rofllmaolol
ReplyDeleteThis year I actually really enjoyed anguish, everytime before english I get exited to go. Unlike history class it’s very fun. My favourite activity was definitely cake day, we didn’t acually get to make cake but we got to eat it which is the best part anyway. I also really enjoyed most of th test. My favourite test this year has to be the trailer. Making a video for a test completely changes my mind on tests. Normally before a class with a test I start to freak out and study, but this test was so fun and made my stress level go down a lot.
ReplyDeleteI loved this class so much, I never had stress going to English, I was actually excited. The tests were very interesting, I loved the one making a documentary for HG2G. The one thing I didn't like was flipgrid, the time limit didn't really allow us enough to condense a good idea. I loved the blogs, they didn't really feel like homework because they were free writing rather than question and answer. I really enjoyed having you as a teacher because you are very interested teacher, one of the only ones that actually cares about what your students talk to your about. I'm really gonna miss having you as a techer, hopefully you start teaching sec 4's after your technology classes next year!
ReplyDeleteEnglish class was fun this year. I like the fact that you seem to check the gmail frequently. When I post you a question, you answer immediately, which I actually like since that I sometimes have question at home, but other than that, you seem to be a bit too strict. I also don't like work that is really due in a really short period of time.
ReplyDeleteI really liked English class this year, but not as much as last year. Anyways, I enjoyed the projects and ~tests~ that we did in class. The Glass Castle test/project was the most fun thing I've ever done in a class. I despised the FlipGrids because there was so little time to do something big. I also did not like having to do 200+ word essays within 10 minutes, like yesterday.
ReplyDeleteSo i guess this is the last blog of the year. Now I could write a huge paragraph on every single ting I liked but I’ll just keep this short. Firstly, I really enjoyed the blogs all year. I think i honestly liked everything we did. This was probably the best english class i’ve ever had. I’d say just keep doing what your doing for english. Your class was my favourite all year and was probably the only class I was excited to go to.
ReplyDeleteYea english class was great this year, great blog
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ReplyDeleteI love this class! It's the only class where I feel comfortable enough to voice my opinions. I love its easy going atmosphere. We do a lot of fun activities that don't even feel like school work! I still feel like I'm being pushed and challenged as a student, but the difference is that I enjoy doing it. Something you should definitely continue are the really original projects and tests like the trailer, the poem and the raft assignment. Thank you for making school more exciting! I will for sure miss this class.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the work and everything too his year. Great blog !
DeleteI loved English class this year. This is a class where you walk in and feel comfortable and welcomed. I didn’t even feel like we were doing work this year and I actually enjoyed everything we did... other than H2G2. I really did not like that book. Other than that, everything was great. My favourite test was the H2G2 test though. I never felt any stress in this class and that is something that happens to me often in other classes for tests and things like that but in the class I always felt fine. I loved English this year and I’m going to miss it.
ReplyDeleteEnglish class has by far been my favorite class this year. The environment in class is always different and very chill. The tests and projects i hated yet enjoyed so much at the same time. Blogs were fun to write and easy marks. The only thing i hated would have to be the flip grids cause those were weird to record. But i have to say m katz, you did a great job teaching us in a fun and new way that actually made me want to pay attention. i will certainly miss this class but thanks for the great year, keep up the great work👌
ReplyDeleteEnglish was one of the few classes I looked forward to going to during the day, especially because I never had to bring anything to class. I found this class very refreshing compared to your standard essay-writing English classes, and it was a good fresh breath of air. I also thoroughly enjoyed the Twitter assignment 'cause I have the most followers in the class, and my friends and I made a lot of new memes. I've been on the internet for over 9 years, and I've never seen a teacher so creative to create cake day. Not only do his seniors get to eat the cake, but-
ReplyDeletewait that's all that matters
oh yea so do cake day and the twitter assignment again
and tell them all to follow me @mruscitti000
On thing I really like about this class is all the tests and projects. I find some projects we do in other classes become repetitive and are almost always the same thing like power points and speeches and things like that but in this class it’s always something creative and different which I found was cool, however I did not like flipgrid amd the blogs were good I just found there were too many I think 1 a week would be perfect👌
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