A core class that has brought many people’s attention are the four-year mandatory English classes. All throughout high school you take English 9 all the way to English 12. A real question to students is, “Are English classes preparing you enough for your future?” In some of the classes there are some assignments that seem unnecessary but it is just a placeholder for the unit.
We asked some students on campus what they think is difficult about their English class. Devin Garcia, 11th grade student says “Literature and essays are the hardest thing in English.” English is not everyone’s strong suit but eventually everyone gets the hang of it.
Damien Andrade, 11th grade student, states, “Once you apply your work and do it, keeping on task it’s not so hard”. While English may be a challenging class it does help in the long run.
Advanced English classes have been more thorough with assignments and have prepared you for what college work will be like. Regular english classes are different from advanced classes because it only teaches you the basics.
“I think advanced English classes are better at preparing you for college because it gives you the challenge that you need to improve and grow as a student,” says Ariana Briones, 11th grade student. You want to feel smart and prepared for the future when graduating from high school.You want to go into the world with a good impression of what you learned.
At the end of the year, there is so much that you have taken away from your English class. You see progress that you have made from your freshman year and can take away what you learned that year and improve it along the rest of your years in high school. Some things students have taken away from their English class that has helped them this year is that their comprehension is more clear.
Andrade says, “Comprehension has helped me put what I read into my own words and helped me understand what I am reading”.
While sitting in class can be boring because of the work and limited interaction with peers. What can prevent class from making the room awkward with others and getting into groups? Teachers can start by doing group activities with each other weekly. There are teachers who switch up seating charts so everyone gets a chance to know each other.
“I think the skills teachers need to put more emphasis on is trying to get more people involved,” said Briones. “Just trying will show the students that the teacher cares”.
In high school many students lose focus and have a short attention span. Not many teachers acknowledge this and focus only on getting assignments out to their students. Not everyone may agree but students want to be thought about and focused on one on one. Teachers do have intervention and office hours this year to help with students individually. There’s many English teachers that really care and want students to understand the work that’s given, but there can be minor improvements such as more activities to make English fun.
