Writing Strategies

The first weeks of freshman year have gone by in a breeze; for the most part, it didn’t even feel like I was really going to school. Now I am all settled in and it is time to think about what I want the rest of the year to look like. Setting goals has been a strategy that has worked for me when needing to get things done; it helps me the most when I make multiple little goals to reach that lead up to a big goal, for I find this less overwhelming than having a specific, humongous, intimidating goal that is staring at me while I procrastinate. When setting my goals for reading, writing, general school, and habits, I will be sure to keep this in mind.

I love to write. Writing has always been one of my favorite ways of self expression along with

music. Reading, on the other hand, not so much! I have always had a hard time finding a good book that I actually enjoy reading. It also happens to be very hard for me to critically analyze and understand literary text; I have been told that my brain works in more of a scientific way. Therefore, this semester my goal is to become more of a stronger reader overall. T accomplish this goal, I will accomplish mini goals! These will include to first start reading more every week, then every day. Right now, I am only reading what I must read, but hopefully I can progress further to a point where I can be reading a book of my choice at least three days a week, and then growing from there. Next would be to slow down when reading and not try to cram 30 pages into 15 minutes; this will help me to better understand and analyze the text. To help me better analyze the text, I will continue to try to take notes more often when reading any book for an assignment, hopefully leading to a better overall grade on explaining and understanding literary text.
Like I have previously stated, writing is one of my absolute favorite things to do.

It has always been one of my favorite things to do, but just in the past few years I have learned how to really write with technique and writing strategies. In middle school, my Language Arts teacher was excellent; I went to Lincoln, a K-8 school, so I had her as my english teacher from sixth grade to eighth grade. One of her biggest focuses, I would say, was the learning and application of SWS and PWS skills; all Lincoln students will tell you that we were drilled on those over, and over, and over again. As a result, I came to like writing even more. Looking forward to this year, I would like to improve on the little details in my writing, so that my writing as a whole can be improved. When I say little details, I mean things like transitions, correct quotations with punctuation, different varieties of sentences, word choice, and going more in depth to whatever it is I am writing about. If I continue to work on these skills, I am hoping to earn between a 3 and a 4 on all of my Friday Writing assignments; 3.5 or 4 would be superb. To do this, I will put much time and concentration into all of my Friday writings; I will also go over the writing and check for errors and improvements before handing it in to be

graded.
All throughout my life in elementary and middle school, I would have considered myself to be a good student. Everybody always says how different high school is, and it is, but I do not plan on letting the difficulty or amount of work change how I am as a student. This year, my goal is to maintain a 4.0, and increase the amount of strategies that I will use to help me to do so. I know myself to be quite a procrastinator, so this year I will improve upon that by setting reminders to do tasks that need to be completed, and start the at the exact time that I get the reminder. Also, I would like to try to complete all of my homework as soon as I arrive home from school, before I start to do other things, so that I am not up until the late hours cramming to complete an assignment. If I start these habits as soon as possible, I know that I am more likely to follow through with them!
Freshman year will be hectic; full of fun activities, stressful night, and so much more new knowledge. At the start, making habits and following through with them can be hard, but I know it will be well worth it in the long run! In the end, it will be so rewarding to reach my goals. I am ready for a challenge; I am ready to grow as a student and as a person.