Humanities Final Portfolio 2013

I remember when I first heard that I was going to be in both of Mr.Block’s English and History classes. “I don’t want my advisor as a teacher for two of my classes this year” I thought to myself. But that was 9 months ago and since then, I’ve learned more in 9 months then I ever thought I would in two years. I’ve learned more about African American History in World History than I did taking the class in my 9th grade year. I learned about current events that I would have never even took the time to learn about because I don’t turn to the news. But why turn to the news when your classroom has all the information that you need inside?  

        Throughout the year, I’ve learned many things. One thing that stuck with me and will continue to throughout  my life is that “Language is not just a form of speaking.” Before English class, I never thought of language as broadly as I do now. Language isn’t just something you only speak. You can express language in many ways. You can express it through art, movement, or even writing. One way I’ve expressed language in a different form is through a online website called Prezi that showcased my project from a novel I read called “Persepolis”. This book taught me a lot about identity and I reflected that through my project. 

         I learned that language can make you see the world differently like looking through a different lens to help one create a better understanding of the world. Viewing this not just from your eyes, but from the eyes of others in the city, country, and the world can help you understand much more about others cultures and their lives. Looking through a different lens made me realize that not everyone had the opportunities and privileges that others may have. Teenagers have to work and can’t even attend school in some country’s because they have to support their families. Looking through my lens showed me that I shouldn’t take things for granted. For every person that has, there is someone who has not. 

         Almost everyday through out the school year, my class wrote journals for English and History. The journals were based off of we were covering in class for that unit and the different projects we did based off these topics. Writing about what we were doing in class gave me a better mind set of what we were learning. Doing journals everyday was something I always looked forward to coming to class. To me, that was the best part of class. Being able to express your opinions in words. A day in English class, we had to write an optimistic version of what is going to happen to the world in the next 50 years. This journal entry made me realize a lot about the world and what it is going to come to. It made me want to make a change so future generations could live better. 

Below is a link to a presentation of qoutes that I've read and heard through out the year in both English and History class. 

(Please copy and paste link)

file:///Users/asharrieff/Desktop/Englsih%20portfolio%20/assets/

player/KeynoteDHTMLPlayer.html#0

Below is an History Journal that stood out to me the most this year.

http://www.scienceleadership.org/blog/History_journal:2

Below is a link to my poetry portfolio.

http://ironpoetry2013.wikispaces.com/Aateeyah+Sharrieff