Well, the first day of school is over... and I am very glad. It was one of the worst days in my summer. I had to wake up early. I had a cold, so my nose was constantly running. I had lots of homework. I had no classes with any of my friends-- I didn't even see most of my friends in-between classes. I didn't have any good friends to sit by at lunch. Everything imaginable went wrong. My Schedule was also all screwed up. I didn't have 8th hour off (which makes it real hard to travel to elementary schools to fix computers... which I absolutely love doing, honestly). As you can see, I was able to work some of the bugs out of my schedule, but not enough to be completely satisfied.
SPANISH 4- This is a continuation of Spanish 3, and s'posedly it is more fun. .. that is what the teacher said (but whether or not that was a cheap trick to get me to stay in spanish... I don't know). We do projects and other 'fun' stuff in Spanish and learn to speak more fluently.
AP ENGLISH- This class will be the demise of the student formerly known as Steve Hanson. I hate this class already, and it is only the 3rd day. We have to do too much reading. It sounds like the emphasis of the class is to pass the AP test. (advanced placement-- it means I can get college credit) To pass this test, you need to have a big repertoire of literature, so we spend most of our time reading more books... which I hate to do. Reading it's self is boring enough, let alone the stupid books that Mr. Orvik picks out. If in about 3 weeks, I am unable to put simple thoughts and phrases together... it is this classes fault. If you see that happening, please call the South High Office and tell them to get me out of this class!
AP CALCULUS- This class is a calculus class. I think it will be pretty fun, but that is because I enjoy math. I don't think that this is anything that SHOULD cause too much pain.
AP PHYSICS- This class looks like a blast. The teacher, Mr. Kennedy, is totally cool. He funny and has a real laid back attitude. Everybody I have talked to all said that this is one great class. I have really enjoyed the class so far... and I think it will end up high on my "good class" list.
BAND- This is the same band that I was in last year. I am currently 5th flute (out of about 14 flutes), which I am pretty proud of... considering the hours and hours of practice that I DON'T put in. (I do practice a little, don't get me wrong, but not gobs of time). This year we are going to Chicago in May to compete in a band competition... I am looking forward to that.
ADVANCED KEYBOARDING- When school started, this was the one class that I was most looking forward to. It was my one chance to prove that the Dvorak keyboard is better than the Qwerty board. I hope that I can prove to this teacher that it is actually better (but the opposite might happen, and I may find out that I was easily swayed by one convincingly written article.) I am very interested to find out what happens. The first tests we took gave me a WPM between 48 and 56. My goal is to break 100 by the time I graduate. (I would really like to break 120, just to really make a point, but I would be MORE than satisfied just breaking 100.) I will keep you all informed as this breath-taking story unfolds!! But if you ever get antsy, feel free to ask me for my typing speed
PEER FACILITATORS- Of all my classes, this is the class that I know the least about. It is an invitation class, there are 2 classes of 16, and the are Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors. The teacher described it as a "life long skills class". She said that we learn a lot about: Solving Problems, being better communicators, Being better listeners, who we really are. We will take a lot of time to ALL share our feelings on certain topics. That's all I know about it now. That's all I can explain now.
MUSIC COMP- Throughout the years, this has consistently one of my favorite classes. This is my 3rd and final year of it. We meet once a week, and we learn how to compose music. We learn to write in certain styles and the "correct" way to voice chords, and put a song together. For our final project, we have to compose a song, find a group to play it, and then perform it at a Recital.
GEOGRAPHY- (Sem 2) Basic Geography. Nothing all that exciting.
| Before Change Day | After Change Day | ||||
| Period | Semester 1 | Semester 2 | Period | Semester 1 | Semester 2 |
| 01 | Spanish 4 | Spanish 4 | 01 | Spanish 4 | Spanish 4 |
| 02 | AP English | Ap Calculus | 02 | AP English :( | Ap Calculus |
| 03 | Ap Calculus | 03 | Ap Calculus | Geography II | |
| 04 | Ap Physics | 04 | Ap Physics | Ap Physics | |
| 05 | Band | Band | 05 | Band | Band |
| 06 | Ad. Typing | AP English | 06 | Ad. Typing | AP English :( |
| 07 | Peer Facilitators | Ap Physics | 07 | Peer Facilitators | |
| 08 | Geography I | Geography II | 08 | ||
| A.S. | Music Comp. | Music Comp. | A.S. | Music Comp. | Music Comp. |