I would like a minimum of 1,000 words on your experience in my classroom. This is due Tuesday night at 9:00 pm. I would like you to submit this to Turnitin so there is a wordcount tallied. Be honest - what did you like, not like, what would you change? I would also like you to type these essays and hand in to me Wednesday.
It's been a long and fun two years. I will miss all of you and wish you ALL the BEST in the future!
Ms. Noce
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Reis
ReplyDeleteIB World History 12
5/31/2015
Ms. Noce
Word Count: 1169
LAST BLOG ☺
Wow, I can not believe my eyes that It’s a rainy Sunday noon and I’m typing the very last blog! I can finally remove the tab “www.msnoce.blogspot.com” off my phone and laptop! To be honest, I don’t even know where to start. But let me go back all the way back in the first few days of Junior year, the first few days of being an IB student. I kind of remember when I was in class with everyone and Ms.Noce announces “Blogs” which were to be done every weekend and that if you don't do them, you basically fail the class. I was quite shocked that I, now had a homework, a big homework to do every weekend! Lets not mention the other homework from the other classes that had to be done as well. I was very shocked and not pleased with these blogs at first. At first, my blogs started off really bad, I didn’t know how to properly research for an answer, I didn’t know how to restate things off websites and they were often plagiarized. But as time went on, I got way better with my blogs and they were often done at a much faster rate compared to before. Also the grades were much better than before! What really pissed me off about these blogs was that I felt like my teacher was somewhat obsessed with the blogs. The reason why I say that is because towards the end of Junior year at Snowden, I was extremely pissed off at how we actually had to do blogs over the summer. I know, its summer and we don't have school and we don’t usually wake up early, bla bla bla, but I thought that was just insane. I need a 100% break from school work over the summer! As much as complained about it, at the end I still did the blogs.. Over the summer..
The only good thing about the blogs was that we would not get any homework over the week and the only homework (blogs) that we would get, would be over the weekends only. Sometimes I thought the blogs were better than having homework on the weekdays, then sometimes I thought it was better having blogs on the weekend than having homework on weekdays, I was confused! Sometimes when it came to the weekend, I actually chose to stay home rather than go out, why? So I could get my blog done because sometimes my teacher wouldn’t quiet post them on Tuesday like she always used to, it would be posted on friday night and I had till Sunday night to submit them, that really irritated me sometimes (you said to be honest!). Whenever it was posted during the week, I would always try to finish it before friday so I could ‘relax’ a little over the weekends, but I would always get homework from other classes, overall, it was very rare for me to have a weekend without any homework.
Something that I thought was quiet of an experience during high school was definitely the I.A for history. This I.A was definitely more intense and way more complex compared to the I.A for English class. For this I.A it was only very hard because we had to only use books and during my whole educational years at Boston Public Schools, I never used an book for research purposes so I had that coming at my way. The I.A was such a pain in the… But it made look at the subject ‘history’ differently now. I’m definitely a student who’s more interested at history than ever before, I was always an student that always kept saying “What’s the point of learning history, I don’t care about the past”, those were my exact words before during Freshman and Sophomore year. Now I find history such an interesting subject that I think it’s the most easy class the past two years. Easy but a lot of work. Another thing that surprised me as well coming from my teacher was the fact that now we had to deal with this I.A and the blogs! I guess Ms.Noce was right in the beginning of Junior year in terms of the class having a blog every single weekend regardless what is going on.
Now, here comes the critique. there are really only two major things that I wish you did differently. One, is simply to make the blog every two weeks in the month, and since it will be every two weeks, maybe make them a little bit lengthy than usual. I think that would also benefit for yourself in terms of all the load of work that you must grade from the IB students and the regular classes you have. I only say that because in class I hear you complaining about how much work you have to grade and so on, it’s a teacher’s job but I’m just making a suggestion for the future. Second critique will be pure honesty but it will probably not hurt your feelings because you’re someone who can take the truth rather than a lie. I don’t know where to start but, the reviews for the IB Exams did not help much! I say that because everyone in class had a different concentration on the assignment that you gave us it would be helpful if each student worked on each topic for the assignments, but then again that’s a load of work. I also feel like we should've started reviewing towards the end of third term, I’m not sure when we started reviewing but I think it was too close to the start of the IB Exams. I’m not sure what would be a better way to study for those finals because, one, we don’t know what the questions for the exam would be and two, I was going crazy! The blogs did actually benefit me at the end, some questions on the exams actually made me remember about a blog that I’ve done it before, but to be truly honest, I don’t even care anymore. I’m just glad I’m done with these exams and I’m proud to say I was an ‘advanced’ student in high school
ReplyDeleteWell, this will be the last paragraph of the very last blog. The last blog out of all 77 blogs that I’ve done the past two years. Being your student for, well actually three years, it was quiet of an experience and I can say that you’re one of the best teacher next to Mr. Peterson that I had. You might be ‘strict’ or be that annoying teacher that gives “mad work”, but a students benefits a lot from that. Even though there were times in class where I really disliked you for certain fruitless things that we argued about but I still liked you as a teacher in the end. I hope my teachers in college are like you.
Victor Harris
ReplyDeleteLast blog
Ms.Noce
word count 1022
I.b history 12
Well, I can history class for two years was a challenge yet fun. I honestly didn't want to be in a I.B History class because I know it would be hard, plus I'm not that good in it. Having Noce for three years, boy i'll tell you we had our ups and downs; with funny times. The funny times like making fun of my shirts, or what I said in class. Most people would think why is she doing that, but I feel me and Noce have a great relationship and I don't remember us really going at it. Maybe a couple of detentions which I can say it was 95% not my fault. I swear, it's not me causing trouble in class but it would be me at the end that would get caught. The class itself had its good times and bad times, were we wouldn't even answer questions or just come in there like f this. What would make it bad that Noce would over power us, honestly I know she cared but us doing stuff made her not care. Our first year we could of did better but it was the first time so we would just getting use to it as a unit.
I hate the blogs. Feels good to get that out. Our first year I couldn't handle after school fun and worry about a blog that was due every sunday. And just getting use to it, I would do it everyday on a sunday; last minute trash I feel Noce would say. Football was more on my mind than history and we would have practice monday through thursday;games friday and I would need that Saturday to rest. Waking up to a blog, I was like why! Class the first year a kid name Jack saved the class everyday because I didn't get half the lessons that were getting taught. This is why I was quiet and I didn't ask for help because I didn't know how to say it. Also the blogs were so hard, would take me a whole day but I did learn after doing a lot of research. My blogs were okay, but I felt I did great cause this was the most work I ever did in a class. This was a class I was scared to pass, so I made sure I never missed a blog because I know that was the whole class. The best thing was no homework, until sunday came.
ReplyDeleteFrom the first year, one thing that I really love was the debate that we did. I love to argue to I was really looking forward for that. I wish we would of had a better topic even though I forgot what is was, I just remember it being hard to find research. The worst part was trying to help the person you're debating with, the actions and counters had to connect with one another. Another thing from the first year I like was the movie we watched, was about Germany and how crazy everything was. Than we did questions on it and a quiz. To be honest that was the only thing I really touch out because I was also interested in this.
For me the second year was way better because we knew the standards and what was suppose to be done. I just messed up in the summer because we were suppose to be doing your I.A, and everyday I would say I got this and never got to it, which brought my grade very low. We also had blogs like I thought Noce was kidding but this wasn't a joke. I even did my blogs at my job because I needed to pass, I didn't want to fail. I never failed history didn't want to start now. I should of did my I.A over the summer but I was being dumb. Noce really tried to help us and I didn't take, I mean I did some of it but not the important stuff I needed to do. The I.A was the hardest assignment I ever had in my life and I'm not joking about this. The I.A almost took my soul but I feel I did great. On turnitin it said that I had 1% so I felt very good about myself.
To me, the second year was better than the first and the blogs I wasn't stressing as much because I learned how to work on my blog during the week, so more comfy on my work. I just wish we did more debates, I never got to battle Quan in a debate that would of been so cool! To me the class was very chilled and the work was easier to understand, it was my favorite class and would miss my class. The kids that were in my class they were cool, I say I didn't like them but we had good times, sometimes. I like parties that we did, and the calzone that Noce would make was bomb! Whoever has this class next year going to have fun, but I don't know about their first year.
I can say I learned a lot in this class and had a lot of fun. This was one class I look forward to have. I just didn't like the end of the review, that to me was really dumb. I didn't understand it and when we got to the actual test nothing was there what we reviewed. I also didn't like how blogs were late and we had to still do it by sunday. The Noce would cut slack on it so it was good. I swear if we did a map test I would've failed because I wasn't good at it, at all. I prayed to God that she wouldn't do it. But like I said I'm going to miss this class and hope our trend goes on because we are the best class.
Jalexis Ruiz
ReplyDeleteIB World History 12
Ms.Noce
Reflection over the two years
IB History Reflection
NOCE,NOCE,NOCE !!! The time has come to an end, can you believe it ? I sure can't it was a great experience being in your class these two past year’s. The IB program showed me things that I didn't know before. Having you as a teacher was also a good thing because you are very straight up with us and always keep it real with each of us. I know for sure that I had difficulties in the class for being lazy. That showed me a lot due to the fact that it will always catch up and hurt us at the end. But you was always there to try your best at helping and giving us the advice we need. Thank you for showing all of your students discipline and not just letting them get off easy you are a great role model for a lot of people, keep it up !
During my first year of IB, I was nervous like scared of what can might happen. I had bad feelings that I was never going to make it through the year. I was scared to have you as a teacher because of what people use to say but instead I gave you a chance and I opened up to you. I feel like you showed me how to overcome my fear. For example you made me “present in groups, do an obituary, say a speech, and etc.” Learning how to conquer my fear was a great thing for me since I am very anti-social. But you had been there to help with that. I liked the way that you would talk to me straight up. For example when I was said I don't want to do this and you would come in and say “ when then ill just put an F” that use to make me mad but I use to laugh and just get it over with. I gave myself the chance to open up because you helped. The most thing I like about the class during the first year was the students the class was fun, especially the parties before vacations. One thing I disliked about the class were the blogs.
In your class we didn't really have much to do but the blogs. The things that I most hated! The blogs were like torture for me because I hate to sit in front of a computer for like an hour or so doing some homework. But then came the real deal and that was the IB program. I learned the hard way to do the work because if not it would be a flat F. I would go home and complain that it was a lot and overwhelming but then I noticed that when I get to my senior year everything had changed. There were no more taking breaks. No more days or weekends to just party, it was the real deal my last year. This year had been the toughest year for me. I been though a lot of family deaths and etc. But some way I put my head because in the game right when you spoke to me and told me like this is on you for you to make it and graduate. I had to take that in consideration and say to myself listen to Ms.Noce she knows what she is talking about. I use to think you didn't like me and you would bully me but I do think that you just seen me as a student that has potential. Like I feel like you knew that I could do the work and graduate I just had to push myself. Your class had been my trouble for two years straight but some how I made it.
The IB history had been the only class that I struggled with because I was being too lazy. You talked a lot to me about how things were going for me and that it was just going to get harder when I go to college. You would influence me to just get it done no need to be scared because in college it would be harder and different with the teachers. In your class we worked on papers that were going to prepare us, you was doing everything to get us ready for when we leave and I thank you for that. You may have made me upset and pissed off but I pulled through and just told myself like this lady is telling you what it is. It was go hard or go home. With my struggles or not you also gave me the chance to catch up because we bonded so well. Me and you got close over the year. I can talk to you and you are cool with it, you would always say “ this is one of my favorite students, she's a good kid just doesn't like to do the work” that use to make me laugh a lot. We had some good times in that class like seriously. In all honesty I think you are the bestest teacher ever. You showed me a lot and helped me move towards my dream by helping get through high school. Gave my a lot of discipline and hard times but it was all worth it for the end to make my parents,family, and friends proud of the young lady that I have become today.
ReplyDeleteOne last thing I could say about the IB History class was that it was a hard challenging program that I had to strive for to get to where i'm at. It was a very hard unforgettable experience that I would carry with me for the rest of my life on my journey to college and success. It made me a strong challengeable person that will not give up in my future for college and life itself. Thank you for being the great and funny teacher that you have been these two years, it was the best experience for me, thanks a lot for all the help we will always be in contact NOCE!!!!
From your Favorite
Jalexis Ruiz
Samantha Foster
ReplyDeleteIB History
Ms.Noce
6-1-15
Word Count:1,062
History two years Reflection
As I write my very last blog of senior year, I find myself feeling a great sense of relief laced with an overwhelming sadness. I won’t lie to you, Ms.Noce, nor to myself by saying that I enjoyed doing these blogs. No, the blogs were time consuming, challenging, and borderline infuriating. However, the satisfying feeling I got whenever I posted a blog before it was due sunday night at nine and the smug grin that sat on my face whenever I submitted a blog onto turnitin.com and received 0% plagiarism is what I’ll truly miss in the years to come. Looking back at it now, I can agree with myself that there is nothing in the world that could have prepared me for the amount of work I had to complete for you during these past two years(three years if you count sophomore year). I have become so accustomed to sacrificing most of my saturdays for the sake of your blogs that thinking about all the extra freedom I’ll have during the summer is a little unnerving. I am sure most of my classmates will beg to differ and rejoice at the fact that they no longer have to worry about the blogs and being stressed out about whether or not they can post it on the website as well as turnitin.com on time or not. As for me, having done something that had pretty much become a routine and to suddenly stop after two years leaves me asking the question “So.. what happens next?”
When I had first stepped into IB History and took my seat during junior year, I knew that this class was definitely going to challenge me as well as frustrating me to no end because if there’s one thing I learned from sophomore year, it’s that Ms.Noce doesn’t play any games and the bullcrap stopped at her door. I honestly do not remember much of junior IB history since the whole IB History(junior and senior year) experience has been one giant blur full of hard work and challenge for me. However, I can confidently say that junior year was the year where my devotion to IB History was at its strongest. I had become so committed to my work because Ms.Noce was one of the few teachers who I did not want to let down by doing poor, half assed work. While I without a doubt, tried my best to do well in this class, I will admit that I had been slacking off a bit during senior which I do apologize for. Senioritis can really get the better of you. Throughout these past two years, I never knew how interested I was in war prior to this IB class because it was something that I didn't particularly care for. I would have never known that there was more to WW1 and would have probably blamed Germany for everything without considering how unjust the Treaty of Versailles was to the poor country. I wouldn’t have been able to expand my knowledge about the Chinese Civil war without my IA and probably still have little knowledge about China’s history. I would have never guessed how intrusive the US could be in world affairs because the thought simply never occurred to me.
We had some pretty good times haven’t we? We had really good in depth conversations about war and whether or not we agreed with someone’s or a country's decision to do what they had done. We had some really good and intense debate wars in which some of us came up with really valid points. Debates weren’t really my thing because I am not one to argue and I found it really hard to bring up the points I had or even say a sentence without the other team interrupting and raising their voices a bit too high just to get their point across.However, it was fun to watch my classmates debate with each other passionately(perhaps a little too passionately) about their topics.I will always remember the times in class where we would start off having an educational group conversation and then end up in God knows where. At one point in class, we would be talking about Stalin and then suddenly end up in a conversation about how horrible it was to ride the T because of all the crazy people on it and old asian ladies with carts that pissed us off. Hell, we even snap chatted in class despite how annoyed Ms.Noce might have been since she so many cameras were in her face. There were also not so pleasant times, when Ms.Noce would get seriously upset with us because we hadn’t done our work properly. She got frustrated with us for the lack of quality in our work and we were equally frustrated with her because of the excessive work of IB History came with. It was to be expected though. Family members are bound to bicker at one another at some point right?
ReplyDeleteMs. Noce, thank you for being a part of my experience here at Snowden International High School. I know that I didn't really talk much as in class and I might not be as memorable as my other classmates due to my quiet nature but do know that I am very grateful to have had you as my history teacher for the past three years. Your strict rules and guidelines gave me the foundation I needed to properly function in such a rigorous class. Thank you for being one of the few teachers whose class was one that I actually wanted to try and excel at. Thank you being passionate about your work and putting up with me and the rest of my classmates when we screwed up. Lastly, I thank you for everything that I had learned throughout these past three past years. I will be sure to use my endowed knowledge of wars in a future history class I might have to take during college. I can only hope that if I do attend a history class, my new history teacher whoever he or she may be, will have a little resemblance to you. Someone who is strict about their work and challenging enough to make me irritated but happy to be their student nonetheless.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGermairy Roman
ReplyDeleteMs. Noce
IB History 12
6/1/15
Word Count: 1,156
After having numerous blogs over the past two years, I can not believe that I am writing the last one! It has been a long two years and it is crazy to think that it is all ending. At the beginning of the journey I was a bit anxious to take on the class. The reason being I had never before taken an advance class and it was something totally different from what I was used to. BUT I am glad I took the class because I got to have Ms. Noce as my history teacher again which I thought was not the worst thing from joining the class. I actually enjoy having her as my history teacher. I would like to think that we have a good relationship and I am glad she was able to remain as my history teacher through the remainder of my high school years. I believe going to Japan with her made our relationship grow because we saw each other every day and night during the trip and it was a different environment from school. The most drastic thing that has changed that I can think of is the class size. I remember the amount of students in the class the first year who did not join us in the second year. That is one of the things that differentiate the first year from the second year. One of the things I liked about having history class was all of the laughs that we shared. There were tons of moments where I along with my classmates burst out into laughter due to funny moments occurring. These funny moments usually take place when students are doing presentations or talking about what kind of days they have. During these hilarious times, even Ms. Noce would laugh! The reason why that is so significant is because it is a rare sight to see her laugh. Outside of the classroom people rarely see her laugh or smile because she is known for being a strict teacher and a disciplinarian. Ok! now onto the work done in class throughout the two years (from what I can remember).
The most known thing when it comes to work that is affiliated with the IB World History class are the blogs. Honestly, I did not like doing the blogs. I especially did not like having blogs during the summer. I will admit that I did not do those blogs in a timely manner. I did not like spending my weekend doing blogs because there were times where I had work to do for other classes, so the workload was daunting. That was the biggest reason. Also, I did not like that the blogs were assigned every week. Although I did not like doing the blogs, I must admit that they improved my work ethic immensely and helped me organize my priorities. Taking this class helped me balance the things that go on in my life along with schoolwork. Especially the blogs. My time management became a lot better after having to complete and post the blog on the website and on turnitin before the time it was due. I know that I am not alone when I say that the blogs were not fun to do because they were time consuming. There are times when I leave the blog for the last minute like the day when it is due. Sometimes I would leave the blog for the last minute because it was the last thing that I wanted to do. On some weekends I choose to oversleep because of the tiring weekday, but then I remember I have to do the blog. If I recall correctly, I have never been the first person to post a blog. There were a couple times where I was the last one to post my blog or I posted late. But that had been improved because it was not a regular thing. The information for answering the blog questions were either in a packet or we had to do online research. At the beginning of the first year we were given a black binder to place all of our packets in. I still have the binder and the colossal amount of packets today. I personally prefered getting packets for answering blog questions because it was easier to find the answers. If we were told to research online, then it would be more difficult. Why? It is because I would have to locate a variety a websites just to find one answer which takes up a lot of time. Also a works cited page has to be made. I hope it does not sound as if I am complaining, I am just being honest. Aside from the blogs, in junior year we also began the Internal Assessment and discussing the IB exams that took place during senior year.
ReplyDeleteThe Internal Assessment I would say was the most difficult thing we did in the whole two years. Much more difficult than the IB exams. I remember when Ms. Noce first explained the IA and how people reacted in a negative way including me. I think many people did not enjoy doing the IA because of all the deadlines it contained and all the effort that it required. We also had to work on it during the summer, and people did not like receiving that news. One of the things that shocked me the most was the fact that we had to check out seven library books. I had never checked out that many library books at once! Since I did the Chinese Civil War, it was not difficult to find books on that topic. It was a significant war and one of the most known. Not that the other wars were inferior to the Chinese Civil War. I just thought finding books on the topic was not the hardest part. The hardest part was gathering information and turning it into a paper. The paper was broken into sections and they all had different word counts. That meant that I had to find the right amount of information. I tried to only included important details so I would stay within the word count. Doing the IA was a good experience because I learned how to do such an enormous assignment and I believe that will benefit my future studies in college.
These past two years have been difficult but a learning experience. Similar to what I mentioned before, my work ethic was improved and I believe that I have become a better student because of this class. I am proud of all the work that I along with my classmates have accomplished over the course of these two years. I will definitely miss having funny moments in class and Ms. Noce!!!! Thank you for being an honest and supportive teacher. I will not forget about you! I will most definitely visit you after graduation!
ReplyDeleteYour Student,
Germairy Roman
Mu Ying Yu
ReplyDeleteIB World History 12
Ms. Noce
June 1, 2015
Word Count: 1,089
It was so unbelievable that it finally come to the end. It has been a long three years in your class. I had you as my history teacher since sophomore year and up till now senior year.
I can say I like your class and dislike your class at the same time because of the works that was given and other things that happened during class. However, it is over and it was a great experience to be in your class and be your students. I don’t know how to evaluate you as my teacher but I know that you have done a lot in helping students learn and be very supportive. One thing that I like about you was being straight, I am kind of have the same personality. Sometime for being straight is good but sometime too straight is bad because you can hurt someone by what you saying. However, the class get use to how you be and we don’t really care because we know you. One thing that I am very surprise was that you know something happened to me in China and I am very appreciate you that you take my opinion and did not talk to the person about it. This make me feel warm and help me release that bad energy out. Thank you!
The last two year was an easy two years in your class because of the IB program , the Internal Assessment and the BLOGS. In junior year, most of the classes are you prepared powerpoint presentation and we take notes. Sometimes we do projects and presented to the class. One project that I really like was the diorama, I remember the diorama has to be about wars that happened in Japan. The diorama was a very creative project and the project just remind me of kindergarten. One other thing that I like was how you started the class early on the IA. We started the IA towards the end of junior year and finish at the first two months of senior year. I like how you guide us step by step and not lots of other teachers did the same thing you did to help make things easier. The difficult part of the IA was to find the seven books because there is not a lot of books that had information related to your topic. Since we started off the IA and you told us that we going to have summer homework which was to finish Evaluation of sources, Summary of evidence and the Analysis part. When I heard that we going to have homework over summer, it was a shark to me. I was like what and don’t understand why you give us these assignments. I meant we can finish it after we returned to school in September. But you are the type of person that once you announce something you are not going to change it. I am glad that we did it over the summer and finish early because we have to work on IA for other IB classes. This helped me reduce some stress off from history. I really recommended you to do the same thing for the IA to the new IB class next year because is really helpful. I also like the parties because is the day that we are free and can relax. There are also some other things that I like about the class but I am not going to list out.
I like some thing and also dislike something. The first thing that I don’t like was the blogs. The blogs are a nightmare to me because I always started my blog three hours early before deadline. I am a very last minute person and I really want to change it but can’t that’s my personality. I hated the blogs so much and such a painful headache because you gave one every single week, you did not post on time and third I don’t really know how to do research. There is something about the blogs, for example it taught you how to do better research and how to rephrase the information you find into your own words. We already posted our blogs on the website and why do we need to post another time on turnitin. I know is a website that check plagiarism but do you need too, it felt like superfluous. One more thing to mention was the exam review because I felt like we started the review late. It should started in the middle of third term because students had other classes to study too. I also felt the review was kind of useless because there is too much to study and the presentation did not really help. During the IB exams, I only remember about the study and research that I did myself and did not remember anything from the presentations. I feel like you should break the review down little by little and every one in the class is working on the same thing together. Also, I think this will help students to better understand. Overall it was good.
ReplyDeleteSomething that I would like to change is please stop using phone in class. The school had rule saying no cell phone use in school. During your class, you very like to use your phone during class time. Cell phone is a big distraction in class, you are a teacher and you are the one that lead students use phone in class. I mean you can use your phone only if there is an emergency. Otherwise, no cell phone should expose in student’s eyesight. In senior year, you stop teaching the class and you just gave us projects to work on. I think you should continue teaching no matter what or at least teach in the first half and second half is working time. This is just my opinions.
These two years are the most difficult years in high school, however I make it. As I mentioned before, it was great experience in your class and be your student. Even though I don’t like the blogs but the blogs improved my research skill and rephrase skills. I am proud of myself that I make it through. I will not forget some phrase you said, for example For God Sakes, Honestly, etc. I will miss the class and the laughs we had. Ms.Noce thank you for your hard work in teaching and your support behind. These memories will be remember and I will miss you!
Your Student,
Mu Ying Yu
Naomie Bourdeau
ReplyDeleteIB World History
Ms.Noce
June,2,2015
Word Count: 1162
Final Blog: IB World History Reflection
Ms. Noce, I honestly don’t even know where to begin. I’ve known you for 3 years, and to be honest I am going to miss every single moment of it. As much as I love you as a person and a role model. I hated your blogs! For me it was really hard to manage because I was never rigorously challenged like that before. Before during sophomore year I was so use to the work load I thought that IB was going to be the same. My assumptions were completely wrong, the workload was heavy and stressful. In the beginning of my junior year, your class was very interesting and fun. The projects and activities I have to say was the most exciting and my favorite part of the class. First, I really enjoyed the Obituary project because it was my first time doing one. By doing that project it exposed to me that I was a very creative person. Learning how to be creative was something that I really struggled with because I'm not the best artist. So im glad that I had practice with that throughout your class. Another Project that I really enjoyed was the Dioramas, it was really new to me. It was a fun process going through that project, once again I learned how to create a 3D display of a battle made with clay or play dough and other artistic materials. That project was definitely a cool one, I definitely think you should do that project again for your rising Juniors in IB. I think that it's a rewarding project,because you learn about the history of the battles that happened and how to be creative and decorate. The project looked very realistic, which amazed me.
Furthermore, another aspect of the class that I enjoyed very much was that you definitely know how to get the class engaged. I’m usually not a shy person,but I'm not used to public speaking either. So one thing I actually thank you for is making the whole class do debates. Me personally I do not like arguing it's not in my nature to do that, so that was the negative part that I did not like about the debates. Despite that I did enjoy the debates because it increased my public speaking skills and I was not afraid to speak out loud anymore. The debates essentially made me not afraid of arguing as well, because It forced me to find extreme hard core facts so I can debate and win. One thing I would change about the structure of the debate would be the way to divide the teams. I felt that the teams were almost always the same. So choosing randomly and not letting the students pick would of been better in my opinion because it forces the student to get out there comfort zones. In terms of interacting with other students in the classroom. The debates were very interesting to watch because some students were very serious and raised there voice. For example, Junior and Dinia got a couple of laughs out of me because they were going back and forth. It was fun to watch.
In addition, another aspect that I enjoyed about the class during my junior year in IB History was the power point presentations. I felt like thats how I learned best because It was interactive. I like how you asked us questions in between the power points, because it makes up sum up and updates us on the topic. Honestly, thats how I remembered important wars and all the specific details that tied back to them. I think thats something you should continue to do with your rising juniors, because it's really effective. The only thing that I didn’t like about the presentations was the pace of it, I felt like I had less time to write down the notes. It was a little bit intense but I got use to it because I learned how to paraphrase and sum up things in my own words. Which was a positive thing because when it came to the blogs, Ms.Noce would give us these huge packets to read and answer the questions. Thats where paraphrasing helped me a lot. So that was a good result from learning how to paraphrase. This just about wraps up my experience for the first year of IB.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, my experience for the second year of IB was very difficult. It was like very hard and intense then ever before. IB History was the class that I struggled with the most to be honest. It was just impossible for me to get the concept of the class. To be honest, I tried but then I failed it's like no matter how hard I tried to put my effort in something or a blog it didn’t reflect my effort. So thats when I realized I wanted to get out of IB for good, but then other peers and teachers convinced me to stay in the program. I think that Ms.Noce was a pain, but I understood why she was like that. She wanted us to get the concept and get a real feel of college. Thats exactly what I got from her class and honestly it was the biggest lesson I learned. I actually thank Ms.Noce for being how she was during the second year of IB. It not only motivated me to be the best that I can be ,but it also taught me to never give up. It was a huge rollercoaster this year, because those IA were hectic and it took me a long time to do it. Honestly, I thought that it was very stressful and hard. But who cares, life is hard and so is college. Therefore, its either I put up with and do it or I just quit. I was not going to quit so I kept going.
In Conclusion, this class resulted in showing me the biggest lesson of life. It was how to be truly independent and taking matter into your own hands. If there's one thing I will remember, it would be no matter how hard things get,when you're in college nobody is going to baby you. So if you don't like how a teacher does his or hers job then so be it, because at the end of the day they're still getting paid. Its up to you to know the content and if you dont then you fail. So theres nobody to run to or complain to, you just have to push yourself so that you are successful. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF and don’t worry about anybody else because it's up to you to pass a class. Thank you Ms.Noce for everything and I wish you nothing but the best. God Bless you!!
Dinia Clairveaux
ReplyDeleteMs. Noce
IB History
5/31/15
LAST BLOG: Reflection on the past two years
I had Ms Noce for a total of three years from the 10th grade to senior year. Throughout those three years I learned so much and also I developed as a student and as a person. These three years had been the most interesting years I had taking history.
When I first had Ms. Noce as a teacher during the tenth grade I was very quiet in her class. I tried my best to not be noticed or called on by her to answer questions. Since she kind of scared me I made it my goal to always get her homework done. No matter how long they were and time consuming. That year I had decent grades and the workload was manageable and okay. After that year I was really happy to be done with history. Don’t get me wrong I learned a lot about the United States and how it attained its countries and all the wars and battles that it was a part of and etc.
When I started junior year and was placed in IB I had a hard time adjusting to it. It was so different from the normal subjects that I was used too. Especially when Ms Noce started giving the blogs. I had never done it before, at first I thought it was going to be easy because the first three assignments we student friendly. When she started giving actual research questions on the blogs, I failed miserably because I got an F on the blogs and she told me that I needed to improve my writing because it sucked. After a while of getting Fs I guess I started improving and I got Bs on my blogs. I remember that time when Noce got so mad at the class because the boys were being so immature; the office called and one of them acted like her, she found out and got so upset that she did not want to teach the class anymore. I thought to myself this women is really crazy, is she allowed to just stop teaching us. Then she gave us reading packets for the blogs that at time I did not understand. But since she was not teaching the blogs for me were horrible. During that time I learned that we are a class and if one of us do something stupid we all get penalized for it. It was really frustrating for me, I thought I did not do anything wrong exactly why am I getting pushed. Then things got back to normal. We did projects for the wars. The funniest out of all of them was the dioramas. We had to choose a battle and capture it in the diorama. I choose to do the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I went and brought little toy soldiers in different colors that represented the American troops and the Japanese. I also brought planes to represent the aircrafts that the Japanese use to place the attack. And also sari foam from a box to create a bridge.
Another funny experience I had was the debates that we had. The one I recall the most was the one on internment camps of the japanese American citizens. I was against the camps and Junior was for it. Junior came told me he would beat me in the debate. He said he had all his
facts straight but little did he know I had a hidden information. That made this debate so enjoyable was the fact that out of no where Junior goes and says I don‘t know Dinia, why is the sky blue. I asked what does the sky being blue had to do with the debate. At the end I won the debate. From this experience I learned that I am a very defensive person and I can get angry really fast which made the class laugh and more engaged in the debate.
ReplyDeleteThen towards the end of the first year in IB we started doing maps of the world. The first map we did was Asia. I swear I thought I was going to die from all the countries I had to memorize. surprisingly I was able to do it and I learned them petty fast.
After the maps we started working on History IA. I almost went crazy when Noce asked the class to get seven books on the civil war we choose. We had to bring them to class almost everyday during that time. When school ended and we had to do blogs over the summer I cried because I had so much homework to do.
Senior year was the worst year because of the Internal assignment. I was stressed the majority of the time. I was just like fudge this, I don’t care anymore. I was sleep deprived trying to complete these sections on time. It killed me more after the revisions that I had to work on again. After all the stressed and sleepless nights we were finally done with them. Then the class took a nice turn for the better. We were relaxed. My favorite memory would be when we had to create our own system of government and everyone just went sauvage with them. Most people told the students that they sounded like crazy dictators and warlords. Shaquan killed me when he created an imaginary facebook page of everyone in the class and put them on blast. The whole class was crying specially me. Then you had Junior and Victor talking about strapping handicapped people and babies to logs and throwing them in the sea or a large body of water. Noce laughed so hard and turned so red that the whole class was amazed and had fun. Not to forget the time were Jalexus was teaching Noce how to use snapchat. That made my day.
All of these great memories I will treasure when I think of my IB history class. We got along with each other most of the time. I will miss the class and the silly people in it. I had a great time and will miss you Ms. Noce and all the life lessons (punishments) you thought me throughout these years. I hope you enjoy reading this silly paper.
Erick Volquez
ReplyDeleteIB History 12
Ms. Noce
Word Count: 1,241
End of course reflection
Dear Ms. Noce,
“Good things come to those who wait” but in Ms. Noce’s class, you just can’t wait for the good, you have to work your behind for what you want. Reflecting back on how everything started and how things are now, I can finally breath and say “I did it!” This class was full of experiences that when later on I get the chance to look back at them; whether bad or good, they’re going to make me smile and help me deal with the times that will be approaching as I experience life. In order to understand the process of this class we need to go back and reflect on everything that happened before. When I came into Ms. Noce History class, I had already a planned in mindset that I was going to try my best to behave, be still, always pay attention, go above and beyond with my homework, but also sit somewhere where there wouldn’t be much distraction. I found Ms. Noce’s character to be really tough to deal with in the beginning of my sophomore year, I just thought you were like straight mean. I used to remember that in 9th grade, you would always tell me “Sir! your hat, thank you.” at the Y but I never knew i would be able to create a bond with such an amazing teacher. I think that most aggravating times of your class where when you used to stop giving us work and say “I DON’T CARE! DO WHAT YOU GUYS WANT” ugh, I just wanted to get my work done but since we all got punished for one or two goofballs in the class, I really never said anything and moved on with the year. All of those who decided to take the big challenge and leap from regular tenth grade classes to IB courses know that it was a decision which was going to be life changing and in particular for this class it was. One of the most activities that we did in the class which everyone would agree with that it was a pain were the blogs. I remember the first blog I went to go paste my work but then received an error that I couldn’t insert more than 4,000+ characters. I was so scared cause I spent hours trying to figure the blog site but I ended up with a really poor grade. The blogs were one of those things that I always complained about but always did them. Little did I know that this was going to be life changing. The Blogs began to help me extend my writing, use more scholarly words and most importantly; take away the material that was left for us this entire two year course. These blogs where just what we needed to get ready for what was coming to us forward this year. I could be one to testify that this method of doing this blogs will not only help you proceed with your work, but also help you develop it; along with Ms. Noce’s rubric which is made tough for a purpose. Seriously, if I could make a logo for these blogs I would! it would be something like “Tough for your grade, to create purpose for your future!”- (IB History 12). There were times last year (junior) year that I felt like it was so tough but the only thing thing I had in mind which was what kept me moving forward was that I knew that things were going to get harder and If i didn’t push myself, I wouldn’t be able to be where I wanted to be this Senior year.
Over the summer…(for God’s sake) the blogs and the homework where the only thing that kept me from going all out lazy. I always asked myself if maybe your blogs where ment to torture us during our break (a question that might never be answered). This year, things became more hectic because we were diving into what IT was all about. History IA and Papers 1,2 and 3 reviews for later on this year to take. I really appreciate the way you guided us through the process of the IA. the way you broke it down and structured it gave us a path to walk on so that we could figure out what to do from there. Everytime we received back our papers back for revision and review, it became so annoying as I thought that I was just fine but no I wasn’t. The process that you built for us for our IA become for me a life lesson. Sometimes in life we want to just rush things but every time a situation repeats in our life is for the better of us and to perfect the person we are to become in the future. Being used to doing the format of the IA, that helped me develope the path on my own for my History EE which is why I thank this class for giving me that pathway.
ReplyDeleteOver the course of time and being in your class, I have observed how dedicated you are with your students, your work and how you embrace your purpose which is to be someone who is waking up everyday to teach. I’ve come to learn that you are not someone who is mean but more of someone with a strict character; nothing wrong with that (God Bless you!) but, I’ve learned to come to you and learn how to sit down and talk as your advice has served me well. I am really going to miss this class and just the environment over all. It was an environment where we knew that when it was time to work, it was time to work and when it was time to laugh; well, there wasn’t really time for that just when we thought something was really funny. I hope that we keep in contact because for me, you are a role model in my life, someone who I look up and I know for sure that you are a cool person to be around with. I’m going to leave Snowden with the silliest memories from this class. That time all you ever played in your Iphone 4 was Candy Crush and that time you turned red because of Victor’s comments on his presentation to you learning how to use Instagram and Snapchat; all these things are just funny things that create a bond between us.
I still cannot believe that this is my last blog. I want to thank you for your words, all the times you made me laugh, I don’t think you ever screamed at me so that’s something i am happy I never. I will be most definitely coming back to visit and I could say firmly that you are one of my favorite teachers. I leave you with this as a remembrance of me and the IB class of 2015.
ReplyDeleteTo a special teacher
When I started school and this class,
this day seemed so far away.
Now I’m here and I can’t believe
That time has passed so quickly…
But through your encouragement and guidance,
I feel ready for the challenges that await me.
Teachers play such an Important part
in shaping and guiding
Specially teachers like you Ms. Noce,
Thank you for caring for us.
Thank you so much, Erick Volquez.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI remember when I was a freshmen I heard so many stories about you from your previous students and even my brother. From then I was thinking in my head oh no, I’m not going to like this teacher at all. Let’s start with sophomore year. In the beginning of the year I didn’t mind you and your class because you didn’t show your true identity. However, when the class started to piss you off I knew from there that you didn’t play around. At first I was intimidated but then I noticed you only flipped out when people didn’t listen to you and I was a good student so I didn’t care. I liked how you rain your class sophomore year. I also like the fact that you don’t accept make up work. I like it because if I know a teacher accepts make up work then I will be like oh ill just do this later. So I think that the way you graded really kept me on track with my work. I don’t think I would change how I acted sophomore year. I think it was pretty good and I learned so much that year. Even though I don’t remember it now, kind of, but I know I learned a lot.
ReplyDeleteLet’s talk about junior year. Oh god. This year I was like so fed up you. I just wanted to do my work and get out of that class. One of the reasons why I didn’t like your class, or any of my other classes, this year was because of Jack. He was just way too much. Another reason why I didn’t like your class this year was because of the fact when you stopped teaching us and just sat in your chair on your phone and we had to ask to throw something away. (Ha-ha that was funny) I felt that you shouldn’t have done that because you know it’s your job to teach us. I know you was fed up with the class but there were some students who didn’t do anything and they had to suffer. I felt that you should have dealt with them outside of class. But oh well, it’s the past right. I mean you were cool at times this year, but most of the times you wasn’t. HOWEVER, I really liked the fact that we did our IA our junior year and thank you for taking the time and working with us on it because some teachers just threw it at us and said its de next week, like what?!? I really do believe that I did a great job on my IA because of you. One other thing that I like was the fact that we didn’t get any homework. I thank you so much for that because I already struggled with my homework’s without yours, imagine with yours. I think that when we first started to get our blogs I struggled a lot. I don’t know why. I got a lot of C’s. However, I did start to get better on my blogs and got A’s and B’s. I’m proud of myself on that. I feel like this year I got to know your personality a lot more and the education that we thought was pretty good.
I felt like senior was better than junior year. But sophomore year was the best. I feel like in the beginning of senior year we was very productive with the IA’s. Then we worked on the Cold War and a few other topics. However I felt like there was a time were we didn’t do anything until it came time to study for the IB test. I could be wrong but this is my opinion. So don’t flip out haha. I also feel like your connection with the students was way stronger than before. I think this is was a good thing because it’s always good to have connections with your students. I do think our connection got stronger though. However, I do still get iffy moments about you, but I think that you are a very fun person. I think that for the IB test I didn’t do so well because history was never a subject that I liked and I’m not good at remembering something I could care less about. So when I got to the test I did fine but I kind of blanked out. I think that I did alright, maybe a 3 but no more than a 5. I feel like you did do good job preparing us for the IB test. Except for paper one, none of what we did as there just because it was a document based test. However, the other two papers was good review. This year was bitter sweet.
I don’t think that your class was difficult I just think if you kept up with the blogs, which I did, then you will be fine in the class. I’m so happy we didn’t get any test. Ah! THANK YOU. I definitely would have failed them. Random comment, I love your nails! They are always on point! I hope that when I go to college I don’t have to take any history classes because I will be very upset. I don’t think I will ever have a teacher like you. You are your own kind. But that’s good in a way. We have to stay on snappy chappy (snapchat) because you claim that you are crazy out of school and I want to see that so I can lmao . I did have my ups and downs in this class but really respect how blunt you are. I do like the way you think. I feel like you do try to make history fun, and you do at times. But come on lol its history. Hopefully you Jalexis will go to the club and TURN UPPP. And I still have to try that Italian lasagna! To see if it’s better. Anyhow, I thank you for being my teacher and I hope the best with your other IB classes. And FACK YESSSSSSS MY LAST BLOGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!
ReplyDeleteWORK CITED:
SIKEEE MY BRAINNNNNNN, MY THOGHTSSS AND TRUE FEELIINGS
Junior FanFan
ReplyDeleteMs. Noce
IB History
June 1, 2015
2 year Reflection
Word Count:1,109
WOW! Ms.Noce last blog I can still remember the first one like it was yesterday. The first blog was to sign into our blogger accounts and post something on the blog. My Experience for 2 years of having such a wonderful and smart history teacher like Ms.Noce was the best we may have had our bad times and also are good times. But where do we start lets start from Junior year when we first had your class for IB. We were given blogs to do and a lot of work on top so I felt that you were giving us too much work than I had to remind myself that this was a advance class so we would get more work than usual. When you first introduced blogs to us I felt that they were going to be easy until you gave us a time limit to do it by. I felt that doing it on time and reading the packets were very difficult for me because a 9:00 deadline was a force because I was very busy but that thought me how to manage my time wisely. What I found really interesting in your first year of teaching us IB was that we did not have many test or quizzes we would be practicing for major assessments that we would be taking our second year of IB.
What I felt was very useful was us starting our IA early than everyone else did because that gave us more time to work on it and get it out the way. What I did not like about it was trying to it over my summer vacation when I was trying to have fun. I feel that our first year with us was probably the worst year you had with us because we were all adjusting to being in IB. We were also adjusting to new kids coming into our class and us getting a load amount of work to do in a short period of time. At first it took some use getting use to you because you were always in a bad mood and that would make everyone in a bad mood but it did not really bother me because I would go into that class and just do my work and leave. But it was sometimes funny when you would argue with the girls and kick them out. What I liked about that first year was that we did little to no homework unless it was the blog that was due every sunday night.
The most fun thing we would do in that class was watch really good movies about history. We watched schindler's list which was a very good movie on the holocaust and everything that was going on in Germany. That was a very good movie because it showed us how some people felt about the Jewish and how some people really did try to help them. But what really ended my year was starting my IA the IA was difficult for me because at first I did not know what to write it on but you had to write it on a war that was going on. What I would change about last years class was doing blogs over the summer and the IA because throughout the summer I was forgetting that we had to do those blogs and i would get bad grades on them. Also I saved all my IA work that i was suppose to do over the summer until like the last couple of days and that was pretty bad because I did not end up doing it and coming to the school the first couple of days and getting yelled at.
The First couple weeks were very strange because many people did not want to be in the IB program anymore so our class size was getting smaller and smaller by the week until we had about 12 kids in our class. After the class was it final size we started to have fun and become comfortable with you and you became comfortable with us. What I like about that class was when we would do debates and I would always argue against Dinia I felt that you paired us together because you knew i would never give up in a debate and say funny things and that would make Dinia really mad because she did not know what to do but sit there and listen to me. That was one of the many things we did fun in that class, when we did the diorama that was really fun because we had to go out and build a diorama of a war.
ReplyDeleteOne of the many things I like was when we would talk about the different wars that were going on and how did we feel about them and how we think the war could have been prevented. what i really liked about that class was when we would really watch movies about different parts of the world and what is going on with them and their economy and population. We watched movies about Osama Bin Laden, the children being killed in China and India, and the LGBT going on in Russia. We did not just focus on history we also focused on real world issues that were going in the everyday life like the officers that were killing the innocent black people and the boston bombing.
Us as a class have been through a lot this year and we all have grown a relationship together. At first a year ago I did not like working with many people in this class but after being in that class for a year you made us become social with other kids so i have become able to work with other people and be in groups. I felt that we would have more fun in groups because Me, Victor, and Quan would always be in a group and sometimes William P. and we would put on a funny show for you and the class and I felt that we would always have fun in doing it. But to look back on this class I would have never changed anyone or anything we would have or do in that class because that class was difficult for everyone but we all got through it for two years. The memories and friends I have had with these class will always stay with me for the rest of my life I will truly miss you and all my classmates.
William Portorreal
ReplyDeleteIB History 12
Ms. Noce
word count: 1087
I dont even know what to write to or say to begin with in this last long blog, the last and final blog ever for your class. It feels great knowing that I won't have to deal with blogs every single weekend after this week. It's been two years of stress, depressing, happy, and neutral moments but mostly stress. I made it through two years of so much work, that I feel proud of myself for all the hard work I been through. Doing IB is something I kind of regret but I don't at the same time because I still had good times but with alot of frustration throughout the two years. The thing i most disliked about the class was doing the blogs every single weekend. There's been so many blogs throughout the two years it's not even funny, but Junior year had the hardest and longest blogs. Those 10 questions or more blogs were the worst and took so much time out of my weekend.
I really felt like dropping out of IB because of the workload, I didn't think I was going to stay in your class but I did and worked through it. With IB you really can’t slack and it’s a whole another experience in your class from regular history in sophomore year to IB history in junior year. I had to adjust to these blogs every weekend and get used to the packets but overtime it’s like I got used it but it was still never easy. To me junior year was the hardest out these two years because it was really a whole bunch of work and packets compared to senior year. I’m not saying senior year was easy but it was less stressful since we got less work. I liked doing projects and working in groups since it was fun and I also learned at the same time from these projects. When it comes to the debates I really didn't want to do them and I didn't really find them helpful. I like doing projects better than debates because I felt that the debates were interesting but I really didn't learn as much from them. I also liked how we would watch movies and documentaries about what we were learning in class because it somethings clearer or gave me a better overall picture.
Senior year was just more chill but at times there were stressful moments. Doing the map quizzes were hard to do because we really had to memorize the countries and there was no way out of it, the hardest one was Africa since there were just so many small countries to remember. When I heard we had to do a map exam on countries in each continent I got really stressed and scared because it would have just been too much to remember. The IA was a pain in the butt, and over the summer it was kind of confusing on what we had to do since we weren't with you and it drived me crazy because I didn't want to do it wrong. I like how we started it early even though it was a lot we didn't have to work on it much because we did most of the work over the summer and junior year which was a smart idea. The IA was like the longest paper I ever wrote in my life and it required a lot of time for it to completed. I’m just glad we got it over with because it was stressing me out a lot. OMG the detentions is another thing that really got me mad because I hate coming to school early in the morning or staying after school. Everyone really had to watch what we said or did because we got detention for everything. It was really annoying having to deal with the possibility of having detention in your class.
The only thing I would change about the class is just having to do blogs because I felt like it was too much and I don't think it was necessary, since I really didn't get nothing out of it. The review charts we did didn't really help me out with the IB exam it was just the work that we did from the past that helped me out. Your teaching method is great I would say and stressful at times because it really makes us learn a lot, for example I still remember a lot of stuff that we did and studied from last year because like I said your teaching method makes it so that everything we learn sticks with us. There were times where the class was really fun and engaging and then there were times when it would be boring. I dont know but I like and dislike the class at the same time, I dislike it because of the blogs and stress but then I like it because of the good times and fun moments. I think you do a great job teaching but I just wish you were less strict, like this senior year I feel like you were less strict. Also how you would say we got a zero for on an assignment for any little thing was a pain and being absent for your class a couple of times was basically asking to be failed.
ReplyDeleteThis has probably been the hardest to years of my life that I will not forget with everything I had to deal with. It was a really nice and hard two years of experience with my classmates in IB History, I learned a lot and enjoyed being in that class overall. Im glad that I dont have to do no more blogs or worry about the class no more but I will miss it as well. Your one of the best teachers at the school no doubt, your understandable and take time to talk to students which im sure is really appreciated from all of us. I feel like you prepared us well for college and I don't think college can be much stressful than your class. I really appreciate having you as a teacher and I learned that I can make it through a class full of challenges, IB is something that I have overcome and succeeded in your class making me feel good about myself. I will miss/not miss this class, I wish you the best of luck going forward with your teaching career and keep up the good work.
Shaquan Richards
ReplyDeleteMs.Noce
IB World History
What did you like, not like? what would you change?
When I first found out that you were going to be my teacher again, I felt as if it would be an okay year. After having your class sophomore year we were already on good terms with each other establishing a fairly good teacher-student relationship. Sophomore year was almost like a preparation year for the next 2 years that I'd be with you (even though you and I had no clue we'd be together all 3 years). Sophomore year we had 2 classes together, US History 2 and AVID. So we were already comfortable with each other before IB came into play. I knew I would be entering a classroom with creative projects on your mind for us due to our final project with the newspaper on World War 1. You're an open-minded individual so I knew I would be able to come to you with ideas for the class and you would take them into consideration.
Junior year was both fun and a drag at times in this class to be honest. I really enjoyed coming to class at times because even though we joked around we still got a fair amount of work done for the day. What I liked about class junior year was how we had fun with the education. We've made dioramas of battles in World War 2 to impersonations of leaders such as Hitler. I personally enjoyed the debates a lot because it was like a test of how much you know about the topic, what I loved to do with debates was bring in background knowledge of similar events to prove my point. Overall, I just really loved the debates and when we had team debates I felt it was even more fun cause you could target 3 people on the other team and put what they presented on the spotlight and just crush it with stronger knowledge. What I didn't like about junior year in this class was when you got really upset with us, yeah it was our fault because we slacked on the work but when you got upset it was obvious not just because you told us but the work got more difficult and you refused to help us.
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ReplyDeleteCarlos Callejas
ReplyDeleteI would like a minimum of 1,000 words on your experience in my classroom. This is due Tuesday night at 9:00 pm. I would like you to submit this to Turnitin so there is a word count tallied. Be honest - what did you like, not like, what would you change?
During the 2 years we were in your class, there were ups and downs and straight out interesting things. To begin with, at the very beginning of the year when I came into IB history, I did not know what to expect from an IB class, neither did I know what an American history class would be like, since at Urban Science Academy they did not teach history to me (instead replacing it with a weird class simply titled “Humanities”, AKA Literature again). Perhaps the most memorable part of the first few classes we got was the whole concept of blogs each Sunday (totally unique to your class). I was already familiar with doing quizzes and other assignments online before at Guatemala, although not as regularly as we did in your class every Sunday (Monday or Tuesday depending on several factors). In the long run, I feel the blogs helped us get a lot more familiar with how IB questions are worded and especially how to answer them.
Now that I look back at it, we got a lot more homework (and assignments of such nature, as well as notebook checks/note taking) during the first year rather than the second. I felt this was an unusual change, although I do understand that you meant this to be similar to college, where you have to do most things by yourself without anyone reminding you about you taking note or caring if you do. I feel this was a pretty good move to get us exposed to the college environment before we go for the full-on exposure next year.
Overall, the workload for your class was slightly demanding, although not as demanding as Mr. Peterson’s for example. The weekly blogs, the presentations and occasional quiz were enough in my opinion. I liked the blogs because they took the workload we would have had as homework during the week and replaced it with just one blog per week, blogs were -the- homework for the class and relieved some of the stress caused by homeworks from other teachers. I would not have liked to have the amount of homework I had, PLUS, history each weekday. Doing the IA ahead of time was a great move, getting it out of the way before other teachers even started helped lower the workload greatly, I would never change that if I were you, miss. Sometimes, however, I felt your quizzes asked way too specific dates for historical events (such as day of month, which many don’t memorize). The rest was manageable, except during February break when most teachers gave us huge assignments and you did as well, which I felt was longer than it should have when dealing with the Cold War. Doing presentations was always fun as someone always ended up doing something funny to keep everything from getting monotonous.
I felt that keeping the handouts you gave to us was not as useful as keeping the blogs saved somewhere in a computer for future reference, I felt the handouts could have been thrown away or recycled after being used for the assignment/blog we had to do. I did not really go back to the handouts when reviewing for the IB exams, I looked at my blogs instead of the handouts for the information I needed. Also, navigating through over 50 handouts was too much to be efficient.
ReplyDeleteDuring the first year, the thing I did not like was that Jack always got credit for answers and forced it with the answers to any question you asked. I felt our class participation grades went down since we barely got to participate thanks to him hogging the spot and answering all the time. I still liked him however. What I liked was that you changed your attitude towards people always answering later on as you asked “people other than x” to answer.
It was great you opened up a bit more by the second year. Mainly in the fact that you allowed us to teach you how to use (and record you sometimes!) Snapchat, and let us add you on it. The first year, I’ll admit, you were strict (and a bit intimidating) and I thought you were an all-work-no-fun type of teacher, you proved me wrong however. However, I still think that how strict you are when it comes to not being in your class because of teachers holding us is too strict, as you already know many teachers or staff don’t even think about messaging our next period teacher about our absence or tardiness. Even though you relaxed a little bit during the second year, this policy of yours still remained in place. I feel you should be more lenient with the next class you teach about this, as long as they bring a pass at least. I believe many would agree if you asked them about it. This would be one of the things I would change, but it is more subjective. Mainly, the things I would change about your class would be related to rules and how strict you can be. Beyond the aforementioned, I would recommend you let people go to the bathroom right after lunch, because we often don’t get the time to do so during lunch (because we have to get our food!).
Throughout both years, I also liked a lot when you gave us a chance to discuss the stuff we looked at in a video or studied, its interesting to hear everyone’s opinions (and yours as well miss). I felt discussions were the best parts of both years as it would get both really interesting and really entertaining, added to the fact that they gave me an opportunity to voice my opinions in the real world.
In conclusion, your class was a whole experience. Even though it was frustrating at times with both the work and how strict you were, there were lots of great moments as well. I got to express myself in those discussions I talked about, the blogs really prepared us for the IB exams, the second year’s structure gave us a bit of a look into how college would be like, and we got to add you to snapchat and help you to use it lol.
Thanks for the experience miss!
WORD COUNT: 1049
Senior year got off to such a bumpy start because of us trying to get back on track with the IA. If there was any advice I could give it would be to do exactly what you did with us about our IA's and do that with the next IB class. I believe that relieved us of some heavy stress by getting it out the way before others started piling the work up on us and giving us a date to finish it, the way you set up the IA was the least stressful of all others. Once we got done with our IA though, class was really chill and was honestly the class I sort of looked forward to going to. We had a ton of laughs due to the trio that stepped up (Me, Victor and Junior). I would happily argue that one of the hardest things about senior year in this class were the blogs! I remember first getting one junior year and I knew I'd have very little patients with trying to complete them. I hated the blogs, but I like that you gave them - even though I didn't. To clarify that more, I didn't like that you gave them because it was very time consuming! But I liked that you gave them because it prepared us so much for the IB test. Helped with exaggerating answers to a question so I was becoming more clear with what I wanted to say.
ReplyDeleteIf I could change anything, it would probably be the frequency of the blog. Sure it helped out in the long run but I still would change it because at times it would really get overwhelming when other classes had piled huge assignments on us. I would reduce the amount we get them but to keep the same work effort I would maybe make the blogs a bit more difficult to actually answer. If I was able to change the class period that we had this class I would. The difficulty between this choice would be choosing the class periods, it's hard to decide between the end of the day or maybe even third period. I believe it would be cool to end the day with your class but then again I don't take last period as serious because I'm tired most times. Third period would be cool but sometimes I'm really exhausted during that class because it's before lunch and it's also in the morning.
I've had a pretty good experience throughout the years I've had you as a teacher. I can consider you a friend at this point because I tell you of my funny stories in class and the class takes joy in hearing them. Not only do I tell funny stories though but everyone did and it was something we did not really get to do in other classes so that is what distinguishes your class from the rest and made it entertaining and fun. I would change maybe the work ethic but also keep the fun. You should keep an entertaining class that also gets work done because that way, I believe is the best way to go!
Unlike some teachers I'm pretty sure you will be one that I will probably try to keep in contact with sharing some of me and Victors wildest adventures and experiences. This class was overall a really chill class except for when you got really mad at us. When you were mad it felt hard, tense and stressful because not all of us can be independent when it comes to learning what we have to and it's something I believe we have worked on. Especially with the IA's and research group work with timelines and study charts.
Many wishes and best of luck to your new IB class