Assignment 26- Sara Anderlich

     Mr. Logsdon, I would be lying if I didn't tell you that you are a phenomenal teacher, because you are. However, keep in mind, I'm a student who generally enjoys writing, and prefers it over math or science. I may not have enjoyed writing every essay, but I knew that each was important to my development as a writer. Every essay you gave us taught to the test, but even still, I don't feel prepared. Writing is so subjective and I feel like what would've really helped would've been one-on-one peer reviews with you. It was something that Mr. Lentz did in my freshman year, and it's something that I have always appreciated from my teachers. You know, just having the chance to hear what they thought about each part of my essay, and why they scored it the way they did. I know this year was different and that teacher conferences were virtually impossible (pun unintended), but in a normal year, I know that would've helped me a lot. It also didn't help that I stayed virtual this semester. I don't know why, but I felt like I didn't have the same ability to talk like I would have if I was in person. I usually have so much to say about essays, and about my essays, but it was like I was restricted by the screen. I couldn't see the class, and a lot of the time your camera wasn't on, so I couldn't see you either. As for our assignments, I felt like all of them were relatively straightforward, and even with the longer ones, I knew that I would get out of it what I put in. I loved "Writing with Style" and I loved "Plato's Allegory of the Cave". Not going to lie, I didn't read the allegory in class like I was supposed to. I tried to, but I didn't understand anything. I thrive off of class discussions and I just didn't feel like I had that. However, hearing the things some people were saying, and hearing about the discussions in other classes, made me really want to understand it. So, using the leeway that you gave us to submit, I took my laptop, went to a friend's house, and we read it out loud together, discussing every paragraph. It was such a good assignment, but I know that there were probably a lot of people that didn't take the time to look at it in that much depth. It just made me sad because I really wanted to be a part of that conversation, and I knew that so many people didn't. It's because of this that I really think it's important for you, as a teacher, to try and take the time to read stuff like that together, including the essays. You know it, and I know it, but when you ask a class to read something, there will always be the few who don't. Now, you can't always force a class to pay attention, even if students are taking turns reading, but at least it makes it harder to not listen. That's why I loved being able to take the time at the beginning of the year to read every essay. It helped me want to pay attention and it was more engaging... especially compared to later in the year when we read most of them on our own. It just seems like when you trust a class to do that, a lot of them don't care enough to actually try. And it really takes away from the value of the peer reviews. I think that one-on-one teacher conferences are always valuable, but I think that they are especially important when you're just giving students a google form and asking them to grade someone else's essay. Not only will it probably be really brief and unspecific, but it's just not the same compared to talking to someone face to face. I admit that I did the same sometimes, but it was the nature of the assignment. Read essay. Score. Repeat. And being a student, I overthought a lot of it, and I know others did too. As for the speech, I know that our class didn't exactly get to do it, but I think that it's a really good idea for future years. Presenting is a life skill, and I am so grateful for my opportunities to practice it outside of school and in band. Every student should have that opportunity, no matter how much they may hate it at first. So thank you, Mr. Logsdon. You did your job, and you did your best to go as easy on us as possible. Every assignment had a reason, none of it was busy work, and you gave us enough leeway to avoid any stressful situations. Thank you so much. It may have not been the best year, but it helped me in more ways than one.