Hi Biology Student,
My name is Karthi Sankar, and I am 14 years old. I went to Foothill Elementary and Redwood Middle School. I was interested in computer programming and English at the beginning of the year. The classes I took were English, Geometry, Health/World Geography, Spanish 1, Introduction to Computer Programming, Physical Education, and of course, this class. My approach to school is to do the best that I can to the best of my ability. My interests outside of school include basketball. I played on the freshman basketball team this past year. I expected this class to be difficult, but something that I could still do well in. That is what it generally ended up being.
Mr. Orre's expectations are that you come to class prepared and ready to learn and pay attention. You must be able to listen, stay on task during your working time, and be safe during labs. When you get to class on a normal day, you take out your notebook. In your notebook, you answer a question Mr. Orre writes on the board called a Do Now. What is your notebook for, you ask? It is like your own personal biology textbook that you will add to almost every day. You will understand this better as you read on. For homework, you do vodcast notes. This is usually your only homework. Vodcasts are lectures in the form of a video, where Mr. Orre explains a lesson/concept. They are anywhere from ten to twenty minutes long, usually somewhere in the middle. They usually take half an hour to an hour to complete, depending on how fast you take notes. You will fill out handouts with fill-in-the-blanks that go along with them. This is your homework every day. As you get better at taking notes, you will take notes without a handout on some vodcasts. For every unit, you will take notes on a corresponding chapter in the textbook. Anyway, back to a class day. After the Do Now, you review the vodcast you did for homework with your table group. Then, you do activities or labs to help reinforce what you learned for homework. The labs are pretty straight-forward, and you have to follow the procedure safely while giving yourself enough time to complete all of the steps. Your blog is a documentation of what you're doing all year. On it, you write reflections about each unit. This includes explaining what you have learned and talking about how you have grown during the course of the unit. You also include conclusions for labs and occasional posts as assignments. This is one of my favorite blog posts because I believe that it is my best reflection, also my last reflection. As the year went on, I got better at managing my time and organizing my work. The notebook really helped me keep everything together, as it was much better than a binder filled with papers. It is important for you to know that you have what it takes to do well in this class, but you need to keep on top of your work and do the best that you can on all of your assignments.
Mr. Orre doesn't like people talking while he is talking. Listen while he talks, and then after the instructions, you can ask questions or discuss the assignment. He also doesn't take excuses for not finishing your work, unless they are legitimate. Complete your work well and on time. For assignments, you need to follow the directions and do the best that you can. You need to finish the whole assignment, not just parts of it. They must be thorough and informative. If you do not complete your homework regularly, you will not get a good grade in this class. Homework is a huge part of passing this class. If you do not do your assigned vodcast, you will be behind because you will not have learned what everyone else has, and therefore, you will not understand the discussion in class and possibly even the activity you do that day. To get good grades on tests, you will have to study. No question. If you don't look at your notebook from the time of the last vodcast to the test, you will probably not do well on said test. You need to find a way of studying that helps you prepare. Whether that's flashcards, quizzing yourself, doing the CFUs (short check for understanding quizzes you do after a vodcast), reading your Relate and Reviews (part of the vodcast), something completely different, or multiple methods, you should study before every test. To get the most out of this class, you need to give it your all, come to class prepared, and be ready to learn everyday. Now, I will describe three mistakes that I have made this year and hopefully you will learn from them. The first is not studying well or long enough for two tests. Because of this, I got two grades that I was not very proud of at the time. Do not put off studying to the last minute, or you could get the same result. Second, I procrastinated on a project and ended up not getting much data for it. I would have done better on the project if I did not do this. Again, don't let yourself get easily distracted or taken away from your work. Lastly, I didn't follow a part of a procedure for an experiment exactly right. My group still ended up getting results that we could use, but if I actually had made a large mistake, the data for our lab would have been messed up and not completely usable. The lesson from this is to follow the procedure during labs and be careful.
Finally, I just want to rate the class for you. Using the grade scale, I would give it an A. I learned so much in this class, and I have become a better student because of it. I am able to complete work more efficiently and organize my work. As I said before, the notebook really helps with organization. The vodcasts helped me learn each concept very well, and you can also go back and re-watch them for another explanation. Mr. Orre is a great teacher, and you will learn a lot in his class and have fun too. Next year, I am taking Honors Chemistry. I decided to take this class because I was recommended for it, and I feel that I have enough skill in algebra, I can keep up with my work, and it seems interesting. Well, that's all I have to say. It's probably a lot to take at the moment, but don't worry. You'll get used to it. Have a great time in this class, and good luck!
Signed
- Karthi Sankar
