The Perfect Playlist-Ben Grossman

Perfect Playlist for browsing Reddit
1. Spectrum by Zed
2. Clarity by Zed
3. Live for the Night by Krewella
4. Firestone by Kygo
5. Don't you worry child by Swedish House Mafia
There is nothing really special about these songs when looked at separately. They are just songs i really like listening to. When you look at them together they are a bunch of song that you can just sit and mindlessly listen and sing along to. The thing about Reddit is that it is just a website to waste time. The dank memes and kitten pictures are extremely prevalent. When you looking at these things you are not gonna want super complicated music. So this catchy music works perfectly. The order of the songs in the playlist does not really matter. You can shuffle and listen to the songs in any order.
Link to playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1250377756/playlist/7v9dQhDR8mNQ1w4rpzRair

Help! - Kate Sommer

I thought that over all your teaching style was interesting and effective. I liked the practice you gave us with the timed writings and practice multiple choice (even though it sucked when you made us do them on a Friday). While there isn't much you can do to teach us how to do the multiple choice of the AP test I feel like just practicing it every month or so was very helpful. The timed writings were helpful in of practicing skills but sometimes the way you explained things was confusing. The concepts were hard to understand and when you were telling us to do something it took us awhile to catch on a lot of the time. If maybe there is a more understandable way of explaining things it might help. For example when we were learning the chronological approach to analysis essays it took a lot of us awhile to comprehend what you were telling us to do. I also feel like when we graded essays in the smaller groups it 1) took a lot less time, and 2) we got a lot more direct and helpful feedback and it didn't feel as harsh as when we read them in the big group. Also I thinks people sometimes forget that the person is in the room because sometimes people would get very harsh with their comments. But overall it was a very good year!

Future - Kate Sommer

It feels like just yesterday we were freshmen entering high school and now we're nearly seniors. Over the past year I've watched my little sister enter high school, friend enter and exit my life, and my best friend get her first real boyfriend. So this year has been fairly eventful. One of the major things I learned this year was that if someone is always putting you down or making you feel unimportant then they're someone you don't want in your life. I lost a friend that I've known for years because I realized I don't want to be in a friendship where the other person thinks their problems are more important than anyone else's. Another major thing I learned was to not give up because something doesn't go your way. I tried out for GSA again this year, but sadly didn't make it again. Rather than moping around about what I could have been doing this summer and not doing anything I decided to take the opportunity to volunteer at the Living Arts and Science Center for a large portion of the summer. I've realized that with only one more year of high school I need to start living for me rather than for other people. To be perfectly honest I don't know what I'm going to do in the future but I know I need to do things that will make me happy and not things that would make other people happy.

Stress— Gabriel Molina

Though I’m kind of writing this after the fact and I’m pretty much done with finals, yes those two weeks were absolutely stressful. I haven’t always been the greatest at dealing with stress. Not my strong point. I accomplish much more when I can work freely without pressure. Sadly that’s not often the case. In times like I just experienced, with rushing to get grades up and taking tons of important tests, I do a few things that work for me:

First of all, I try to pray as much as I can. I’ve experienced God come through for me in rough circumstances countless times. I invite Him into my struggle, as well as other people.

Second, music. Even without a ton of down time, I find moments to put on my headphones and listen to whatever music I’m feeling like. Usually it’s something pretty relaxing, chill-out music if you know what I mean.

Third, I’ve learned that there’s a point where you've just got to get up and do what needs to be done. Even though it really sucks, you’ve really got to make things happen. In those two weeks I had to study and do so much to get my grades up that I barely got to pick up my guitar. And it was horrible. But I know it’ll be worth it and it will pay off. And hey, now that summer’s here I’m going to have time again.

So those are my ways for getting through stress.

Help— Gabriel Molina

I think I would honestly say this has been one of the most growing English classes for me. I appreciated the "teaching to the test" approach, actually. There's a reason the AP program tests us on what they do, and they most definitely are useful, practical and necessary skills. I thought the frequency of practice tests and timed writings was pretty good. Writing as much as we did and receiving feedback really improved my writing. I think it was an effective change when we began revising the essays in smaller groups. People were encouraged to speak more and participate.

I thought the Socratic seminars were not as effective as they could've been. The word limit for each question seemed to have us focused on just filling that limit rather than making thoughtful insights on the text. The last one, where you graded based on quality not just the word count, forced us to analyze deeper and I think it turned out a little better.
I'm not super confident in the effectiveness of this semester's final. There were a few reasons, which I think most people covered. For me personally, my topic which had worked for the speech didn't work at all for the PSA. Therefore I had to change it and didn't get as much in-depth research. I think it would be helpful to make it clear in the summer assignment what the research topic is going to be used for.

It's been a great year. I've learned a lot and definitely become a much better writer. Thanks for helping us out, Mr. Logsdon.

Help - Caleb Combs

Over the course of this school year, I feel that I have developed greatly in many aspects of my writing and reading comprehension.  After taking the AP test, I feel that I was relatively well prepared.  The numerous timed writings, while we may not enjoy them, were very effective in preparing us for the essay portion of the test.  My essays on the AP exam were top notch.  My multiple choice showed grounds for improvement, as my performance on them throughout the year fluctuated.  I think an effective strategy for teaching the multiple choice section would be to have 3-5 questions every day that we go over at the beginning of class, as a bell ringer of sorts. When we do an entire multiple choice test, many people lose focus, and fail to give maximum effort.  As a result, students don't get an accurate representation of where they are at.  Growth cannot be accurately measured, and students don't retain the strategies of doing multiple choice. A few questions at the beginning of class demand the attention of the students, and lead to growth.  I feel that these blog posts were a very effective method of just allowing us to write freely.  It develops skills as a writer in a way that is still engaging, as we can write about things that we are passionate about.  Overall, I think that the teaching methods you used in class were very effective.  Multiple choice bell ringers are an idea to consider, but I still think that your methods allowed me to grow as a reader and writer.

Help-Ben Grossman

I liked the way the class was taught to the test and thought it prepared us very well. One thing i would've liked to know more about is citations. When then few questions on citations came up during the test i found myself unsure of what the answer was since we didn't really cover them. I did like the Socratic seminars but didn't like how we had to write long responses to each question. I feel like we could've answered those questions using half of the words required. Another thing is that having the lights off was good and bad at the same time. It was good because it was right after lunch when everyone is tired and created a relaxed mood. On the other hand it was bad because a lot of times it was hard to pay attention and try to resist falling asleep. Overall i think the class did what it was required to do.

Stress-Ben Grossman

One method i used to deal with stress during the AP test week was to just lay down when i got home. I think this is really effective because your'e just laying down forgetting about all your worries and resting your body. Also when you wake up you feel refreshed and ready to go. Another thing i did was after every AP test i went and got something to eat with a group of friends. This was really great for managing stress because it was a sort of immediate relief of stress after every test. Another really great method is to just sit down and watch Netflix or any TV program. The problem with this though, is that you can get addicted to the shows and end up watching a couple of hours. I think all these method of relieving stress are very effective, it is just personal preference that determines whats best for you.

The Future-Ben Grossman

I've really enjoyed my junior year. Its true that it has been the hardest school year so far, which is what everyone who i talked to said. Where iv'e been successful is that i'm fairly confident that i passed all my AP tests. Where iv'e failed is my goal to procrastinate less and get distracted from schoolwork less. A lesson i learned is that i need to procrastinate less. No risks were really taken. My mistake has been procrastinating a lot. This summer i'm going to China for three weeks since my dad will be teaching at Shanghai university. I might also get to go to New York to visit my grandparents depending on how busy i am. The only other major thing is marching band camp for three weeks from the middle of July to the start of school. My main goal for senior year is to procrastinate less.

Fictional Character, Fictional Life-Ben Grossman

Out of all my favorite characters, the one that i would want to be the most is Paul Blart the mall cop. Paul is an american hero and deserves the utmost respect from everyone. When Paul's mall is invaded by "some crazy people trying to take over the mall," he doesn't sit down and accept it like most other mall cops would. He jumps into action and risks his life to save it. Unlike some other heroes, Paul uses his brains as well as his brawn. Besides strait out fist-fights with the intruders, he employs the use of clever traps to reach his goal. Personally my favorite one is when he disguises himself as a hockey mannequin when one his enemies are lured into a sports store. At the end of the movie, after the safety of the mall is confirmed Paul happily goes back to his normal easy-going life, until the sequel... It takes a true American to do something like that.

Right Now-Ben Grossman

At this very moment, somewhere in the universe a man named bill is walking to work. Bill isn't any normal person though, he is a secret agent for the CIA. He has be assigned to work at this mundane job chopping logs because the owner of this log chopping business is actually a mob boss. This mob is in fact one of the biggest in the country. Bill's task is to find out everything about the inner workings of the mob and find a possible way to shut it down. Everyday Bill risks his life trying to figure out these secrets. Dozens of times his cover has nearly been blown and each time he uses his secret agent skills to remain undiscovered. Bill is actually tantalizingly close to finding out the crucial information he needs. When he gets this information he can go back to his normal life and wait for duty to call again.

How To-Ben Grossman

How to do laundry
The main thing about doing laundry is that it is a very complicated process that requires a ton of preparation and patience. Not everyone has the skill required to accomplish this task, but if you can master the process you'll be set for life. Listed below are the step to complete this process.
Step 1: Bring the clothes that need to be washed to the washing machine
Step 2: Place clothes that will be wash in the washing machine
Step 3: Put required amount of detergent in the washing machine
Step 4: Wait for clothes washing to be finished
Step 5: Take clothes out and put in dryer
Step 6: Put dryer sheet in with clothes
Step 7: Wait for clothes drying to be finished
Step 8: Fold clothes and put in respective areas
If you follow these steps you to can be a master at washing clothes.

plastics-Ben Grossman

A piece of advice given to me that has stuck is to be yourself. I know this is super cliche but I think it applies perfectly to me. The main example of this effecting me is when i decided to stop being active at my synagogue. I realized that the only reason i was involved was because my parents wanted me to and that i didn't really feel any connection when there. My parents excepted my choice but told me to keep an open mind. Its been three years since i made this decision and everything has been fine. Another example of this advice effecting me is when i made the choice to have longer hair. This was in middle school when i stopped caring what people though about how i looked. It was also easier to grow it out because i didn't have to get haircuts all the time.

Blog 26- Zachary Whitehouse

I did not like how your room was so dark all the time. However, your class did prepare us for the test and I greatly appreciate this. I feel like i, or students in general, would've gave more effort on the practice tests if they weren't on fridays and mondays as most of them usually were. I know that i did not give much effor t on these tests because i felt like you didn't emphasize the importance enough. though, this is mainly my fault, not yours. I wish we wouldve varied the essays a little more so that we could like rotate doing different ones to keep them fresh in our minds because by the time of the test i had almost forgotten all the different types of essays and how to write each one. I liked how your class wasn't overly vigorous and hard every single day. this enabled us to have and have some days off and i think this is an effective way to teach in gaining the respect and trust and love from your students. the class was very laid back and this gave us a chance to focus better and not be worried about having homework and graded tests every day.

Help! Scott Street

Mr.Log-dog, your class was  one of the ones I looked forward to in the day. Not just because  of you,  but  also because of the rather unconventional style of teaching you incorporated. While you did teach to the test (which I don't mind at all), you  did so in a way that taught me new and innovative way that taught me interesting approaches that enhanced my writing. For example, after sticking with the standard five-paragraph approach my entire life, you introduced a new, organic approach to writing an essay, which I find easier and more effective. A couple complaints I do have are about the Socratic Seminars. While I don't think that they are bad activities,  I believe that some of the  requirements in place took away from the activity as a whole. The 150 word responses per  question just had me trying to be more wordy than necessary. Also, the required talking times made the entire seminar seem forced and uncomfortable. If there were looser restrictions to the Socratic Seminar, I believe that it  could be a fun and effective way to convey a message or make a point. Overall, your class was  very enjoyable and one of the highlights of my school day and I will miss having your class next  year.

Help! - Emily Cashman

I think you taught this class really well logdog, and you taught to the test, but not in a boring or awful way. I felt really prepared for the test and didn't stress out about it before hand because I knew what it would be like and wasn't nervous. I liked how we didn't always do timed writings, practice multiple choice tests, and socratic seminars back to back to back throughout the whole year because that would've become extremely boring and your class wouldn't have been as fun. Another thing I liked about how your class was set us was that even though the practice multiple choice tests weren't taken up for actual grades, everyone still tried on them which can be attributed to how taught us to view the test and take it seriously even if it didn't immediately and directly affect our grade. One of the only things I didn't like in your class this year were the socratic seminars. Now, I didn't have a problem with the seminars themselves or talking in class, I just didn't fully understand how they related to everything else we were doing in class. Also, I think it would've been much more beneficial if we had gotten feedback from the first one prior to starting the second one so we could've known what to change. I think it would have been helpful too if the feedback was based on our written work and also what we said in the actual discussions. Overall, I loved your class and learned to not hate writing all thanks to you! I don't think there's much you need to change as a teacher so keep up the great work logdog!!!

Help! -Caroline Totty

I thought your teaching to the test was very effective. You taught to the test, yes, and prepared us all very well, but you didn't overdo it, which I believe is the important part. If everyday we came in and were doing a practice test or a timed writing your class would have been dreaded and people would stop trying and caring how they do. The multiple choice practice tests were a chance to really work and see how you have improved considering they were only given out once every 3 weeks or so. It was also good to get the exposure to all the different essays multiple times.

The one thing I think might have been more helpful is if we had gone over the multiple choice questions. I know it's tedious and you asked if we had questions, but most students just chose not to speak up or ask questions. I think going through question by question would help students understand and become even more familiar with the test.

Overall you teach a very effective class! This was definitely the AP test I felt most prepared for. Your class is by far my favorite class because it's a perfect mix of workload but also other things besides just the test and besides English. You're by far one of the best English teachers I've ever had. Thank you for being YOU and keep doing you, Log Dog! Ily in a teacher student appropriate way, of course.

Help! - Isabel Jenkins

At the beginning of the year, when you said "I'm going to teach to the test," I internally rolled my eyes. I figured that meant the class would become formulaic and dull. But honestly, walking into that AP test, I felt prepared - certainly more than my Physics test (I hardly even know the layout). I was definitely pressed for time on the writing, and I know I'm capable of writing much better, but in my opinion the multiple choice wasn't much different than the ones we did in class. Although I was unenthusiastic about in-class multiple choices and essays, I would prefer that than having to go into the exam without formal preparation.

However, I feel like there are some things that could be done differently. I liked doing the analysis essay first, but reading the prompt on the AP test it was like I hadn't written one in years. I found the "organic approach" effective in most situations, but the passage we had on the test was so long - I felt like my essay was weakened by my attempt to use it. Perhaps you could give students advice on analyzing shorter/longer than typical passages, so they have a clearer line of thinking in those situations.

I liked the TED talks and Socratic Seminars, but in hindsight I felt like they didn't have much relevance. The final exam projects were again interesting - but I felt ill-prepared for them. During first semester, we hadn't covered much about giving/writing speeches, we had only written essays. If we had SS first semester, maybe that could tie in better with speeches since we would have already discussed/debated with classmates? And second semester we mainly prepared for the AP test, as opposed to learning about camera and directing techniques for filming a PSA. You did show us sample PSAs and talk about speeches eventually, but other than the summer assignment I was confused as to how all these things tied in. I did love the idea of Life Lessons with Logsdon, though. If possible it might've been nice to have more time devoted to that.

*edit: YES! ACT review was a bless please continue that

Buckets and Buckets- Ben Grossman

1. Before I finish high school I want to make wind ensemble, which is the top band. I've never been super religious about practicing so I was never prepared for the audition. This year I actually practiced a little bit for the audition and made it. It only took three years and a switch from trombone to tuba to get there, but i finally did it.

2. Before I finish college I want to own my own car. My parents let me use their cars so it hasn't been a problem yet. It will be a problem though if all the cars are in use. To buy my own car i'm gonna have to get a job which will be super fun.

3. Before I die I want to go skydiving. I'm not an adrenaline junkie or anything like that, but i think this would be an incredible experience as long as i remember to a parachute.

Horray for Hollywood- Ben Grossman

Rotten Tomatoes Link- http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/interstellar_2014/#