Personal Narrative: Advanced Placement Vs. Standard English Class

Students are required to take English all four years of high school to improve and develop skills for higher education. We read different types of literature to learn morals and explore new ideas. With writing assignments of résumés, formal letters, and essays, students establish a foundation for future responsibilities in college or a job field. Vocabulary expansion is woven throughout everyday tasks in the English classroom; word choice is crucial to our professional and educational futures. Accumulated writing and reading skills are used in preparation for standardized testing, such as the SAT and ACT. English class improves the confidence in students with reading, writing, and speaking skills. In four years of English, written literature greatly impacts one’s learning experience.

Looking back, I was lucky to have the teachers I had. Most of them would try to help me, but didn’t know how to. There was something about the way the school was designed that it just didn’t work for me. The summer after my 8th-grade year was when I realized I needed to try a different form of education.

I asked my teachers when I needed to and read more books. Books helped me in learning new words and improved my spelling. Being placed in an English support class for testing low on the MAP test made me realize that I needed to try harder. I received one of the highest scores the following year and moved up to Accelerated English. This achievement made me realize I had determination; I worked very hard to obtain high grades. Advanced courses increased my confidence because I knew they could prepare me more for college. My goal was to be educated so I could be even more

It was sixth grade and an advanced English class was chosen. I was discouraged because I actually enjoyed reading and writing but found out I wasn’t smart enough to be in that class. However, I would say that seventh grade was my favorite year of English. We still had vocabulary, which I wish we still did because I always have boring essays because I don’t remember the words we learned. I wouldn’t say that I disliked reading yet in middle school. I’d even say the most exciting part of middle school would be reading The Hunger Games with Mrs. Young, especially since she was kind of a nerd and got overly excited about all of our

When one enrolls into an honors or advanced English class, there are many worries that come to mind. These worries create thoughts such as ‘Am I a good writer?’, ‘Will I pass?’, or ‘How do I even start a paper?’. My teachers never specifically taught me to write. My teacher that I had for 9th grade English and my 10th grade honors English class always gave good grades. Once I got into my first AP English class, I felt as though my writing was inferior. In my distress, I went to the internet and I found that you do not have to be gifted in academic writing to get good grades on your essays, I found that organization is the key to writing a powerful essay.

Whether they have just started to learn English, are developmentally disabled, of a minority, or of low socioeconomic class, students will take the same test as a middle-class White student, who has spoken English all of their life. If it does not sound fair, that is because it is not. Testing should be done in a student’s native language, and tailored to their developmental level. While it is not economical, this would most likely raise states AYP rates

In 8th grade, instead of baking cookies or cake in cooking class or drawing pictures in art, I took German 1 to put myself in the position to be placed in AP German my senior year. My freshman and sophomore years of high school I took Photography to work towards taking AP 2D Studio Art along with other AP/accelerated sciences, maths, and english classes. Certainly, there are other students that took just as difficult of courses that I did, but I pushed myself to excel in other courses that others may not have taken.

It all started when I was in eighth-grade. I remember my guidance counselor peering at me through her glasses that her nose could barely keep on her face. She suggested I take Honors English 1—a ninth-grade course. She looked at me with the sweetest expression, a face that held guidance and wisdom. She told me I was “gifted” in reading and writing, so it wouldn’t be a problem for me. I loved to read, and I even loved to write, so it wasn’t that much of a surprise that I qualified. To some kids taking an advanced course would be intimidating; The fact that you are in a class above your grade level comes with a lot of responsibility. To other kids it would mean they are capable of doing anything they want, but not really because it just meant

As I walked up the stairs of my school to what would be the first ever AP course in my life, my mind raced with anxious thoughts of what lied ahead. I was a sophomore taking AP Spanish Lang, something that my previous Spanish teacher had told me should come naturally due to my Mexican heritage. If only I could believe her, I had spent years trying to Americanize*its a formal essay don't use slang shit like americanize* myself to fit in with those around me.

My junior year was the first time I had enrolled in an Advanced Placement (AP) English course. Going into this course, I was expecting to read a lot of books and write a multitude of papers (which we did). What I was not expecting, although, was to learn how to read faster, write effectively, defend

Due to the fact that I had taken Biology in Eighth grade and passed, I had taken Chemistry as a ninth grader. That had prompted me either wait until my junior year to continue with my sciences, or to take physics as a Tenth grader. Since I was a year ahead of everybody else with my science classes, I had really thought about just waiting for everyone else to catch up with me and wait until junior year to continue. I ended up taking the physics class anyway even though it was for seniors..

I learned a lot in my last English class including the fact that I have a lot more to learn and despite disappointing experiences I still feel I can become a great writer.

Looking at my results from the previous semesters and the grades I was getting. I decided to meet with my counselor to discuss what I can do to improve my GPA, especially that I was thinking of UC Davis for med school. At the end of the fall semester, I figured that I am more interested in nursing particularly more than anything else. I went back to my counselor and asked him if it’s too late to change from biology in general to a more specific major. This is when he told me about all the different options that I have in my new major “nursing” and how It can benefit me since I can finish earlier than if I were to go to med school. We also started looking at different closer schools to apply for since I am not financially ready to move out

My experience with English has changed drastically from middle school to college. Being in middle school I have really had to do much of a big paper, but as I progressed through college I’ve realized there much more that has to be added. I had always wondered why middle school was so easy but as years went on, I realized that advancing to college there’s a lot more requirements and importance to writing. In middle school, I was young and just starting to really realize what an essay was and after high school I really understood what an essay consists of. No matter how

High school was when I developed a curiosity for writing. I had known from my previous experiences in middle school that writing in a classroom setting was exhausting and boring. Adding extra words to try to fill the last half page of a length requirement became dreadful back in sixth grade. I felt my writing was not interesting, but the