All of my students have worked on developing their writing skills over the past few weeks in class. Some of them find writing easy; many don’t; all, however, have improved from their first drafts of their first writing pieces.
I’d like to celebrate some of their writing. The following pieces – for various reasons – mark some of the best writing of my classes, and I encourage you to read them and comment.
Writers live for feedback, after all!
Adam gives us a good background on the first and second World Wars – a timely piece that he published right around Remembrance Day. Lest we forget.
Owen’s piece about his family’s trip to Kenya provides some incredible imagery about a very beautiful but very foreign land. In many ways, it ties in nicely with our semester theme of “Our Place in the World.” Sometimes it’s important to remember that we share our place in the world with other creatures as well as other people.
On that note, Akash’s article on the origins of the Syrian crisis emphasizes the need to pay attention to what is going on with the human beings that make up such a large part of our world as well. In other news on Syria, Addison explains who is fighting who in the current crisis, and Ryan’s article about the Syrian government’s involvement in the beginning of the civil war really reaches the heart of the matter … and tugs at the reader’s heart as well.
What we need – both in the Syrian crisis and in life in general – is strong leaders. Not sure how to become one? Read Austin’s piece on the steps to take. Kaitlyn identifies some things you could do with your newfound leadership abilities.
Danielle, with her article about the benefits and drawbacks of social media, and Haley, who writes about the pressure women feel to be perfect, identify some issues that could use some leadership as well. Or you could check out Anna’s piece, where she shows her own leadership and tries to convince the school to have a later start time.
Feeling a little tired from all that activism? Why don’t you kick back and play some video games, the way Brad does when he needs some time off? Dylan can even give you a suggestion on what to play.
You could try going out and getting some exercise as well. Ria can tell you the steps to becoming a competitive swimmer, and Melanie explains the benefits of swimming as a sport and as an activity. Hannah will tell you all about softball. Xander definitely supports playing hockey, although he wonders at the cost of the Hockey Academy sometimes.
(Or you could just read about exercise that other people get in Chase’s piece about the Montreal Canadiens.)
If you just want to be entertained, you could read a story by Sam C. about achieving your goals; one by Brandon about the end of a relationship or Clara’s piece on the beginning of one; or Sandy’s fantasy about the end of a kingdom (but perhaps the beginning of a new one as well?).