Block It Out

   So today is Monday, May 4th, 2015, and we have exactly 10 days until our AP exam. 10 days. 2400 hours. I have 10 days to try and memorize all this garbage being fed to my brain that it honestly does not want. It's honestly like giving milk to someone who is lactose intolerant. Except I won't be throwing up the information being fed to me, I'll just be throwing up.
   Today, I was sitting in Ms. Farkas's class you know just taking notes being the good student I am and I decided to put my headphones in. Why? Because I needed something to distract me from her voice. After listening to her voice for almost an entire year, I just can't do it anymore. I can't listen to her voice without being so suicidal that my hand looks like a gun. So I put one headphone in and kept doing my thing taking notes, not distracting anyone from their learning or note taking. Let's be real though nobody else is taking notes! Everyone else is just lollygagging and yelling out answers that might be right but the majority of the time are wrong. And who does she decide to call out? Me.
   I'm pretty sure her exact words were "Take that headphone out of your ear. I don't care if you fail your AP exam but you better take that headphone out of your ear before I send you to Mr. Ruiz's class." EXCUSE ME?! WHO DOES SHE THINK SHE IS! SORRY IF IM DOING MY WORK AND JUST SO HAPPENED TO HAVE MY HEADPHONE IN MY EAR.
   In what world is it okay to tell a student that they can go fail their AP exam? Not in my world. No teacher should be allowed to say that. And on top of that it did absolutely nothing for the positive! All it did was made me want to stick pretzels up her nose and stop taking notes. Her comment literally made me want to stop my education. I already barely had any form of motivation and now what do you know I have none for the rest of the day.

Cheers to a great start of the week am I right?

Closest Thing to the Miracle that is Jesus Christ

   Yesterday as I was sitting in class looking at my "F" on my practice test, Mrs. Farkas came to the realization that no one in our class knew what the f*** they were doing. It was such a miracle I thought Jesus Christ was in the room.
   Throughout the school year, we have had information shoved down our throats like there's no tomorrow and not until 2 weeks before the AP exam does our teacher realize we haven't been absorbing any of it.
   As we all sat there, she asked what we would rather do tomorrow, a DBQ or go over the practice test. The majority of the room was all for the DBQ and at that moment I was sure everyone was on crack. I raised my hand like the civilized student I am and spoke my mind.
   I said, "I think we should go over the practice test because if you put a DBQ in front of us, we can BS our way through it and whip out a pretty decent essay. If you put one of these [practice test] in front of us, the majority of the class is going to fail."
   Saying this out loud sparked an emotion inside of me and I started tearing up. The fact that I was going to fail my first standardized test had finally hit me and I was beyond overwhelmed. Many students are in the exact same position as I am so can I get a #relatable.
   Teachers need to focus more on learning and less on just "getting through the book."




**Side note: This blog will not be completely negative (@mrpanton). Starting May 16th, the day after my last AP exam, this will be a pocket full of sunshine**

Do It For the Grade

   With the amount of stress that we're under as students about to take our AP exams, every second of our time is valuable. Teachers seem to not understand that concept.
   As a student athlete and AP taker, I personally do not see the whole point of assigning time consuming homework that you're not checking or collecting. Even if you say its "for my own good" it's not. Personally, I don't care about world history and how the Gupta dynasty was decentralized or how Brazil needed slaves the most because they depended on what came from their plantations. I do it for the grade.
   The fact that I only care to do something if I'm getting credit says something about our school system and the way we're being raised. Students should want to learn! School is supposed to be all about learning and enriching your mind with information that you wouldn't receive otherwise, but it's turned into battle of GPAs.
   Students would rather cheat and devalue their integrity than just take the F. Why is this? Because we as a society value ourselves more on paper than our actual selves! I can promise you that I have not learned a single thing that I actually care about. Nothing is really retained in my brain because I just remember it for my test and then completely forget about it because I don't need it anymore.
   In school, we should be learning things that we'll actually need in life. We should be valuing every second we have because we only have a limited amount of time on this Earth.
   If teachers really want to pick and choose what they grade, I think we, as student who are pulling our hairs out, should have the right to pick and choose what we want to do without being penalized.

Do your job, and I'll do mine.

Teachers Who Don't Teach

With less than 3 weeks until the big day(s), AP teachers are trying to squeeze in as many practice exams and practice FRQs as possible. Along with this comes an amount of unneeded stress that just adds to the amount that we're already under.

This year, I was blessed with having both of my AP classes back to back. Fourth and fifth period are the time where my teachers yell their brains out and get frustrated to the point of almost crying. Along with that comes the fact that they're both giving practice every things so I'm forced to try and get my brain to concentrate and comprehend all the work that is being thrown at me.

Teachers have to understand that they're talking to kids that range from the ages of 14 to 18. How can you possibly expect me to write a DBQ like I'm talking to someone that is "simple minded" and then talk to me like I'm a professor at Harvard. Teachers are supposed to TEACH hence the name. We shouldn't be expected to self teach and then just review in class. And if they do expect us to do that, then they can not possibly get angry with us when we don't understand because they are technically not doing their job. We all know that we have a huge exam coming up and yes some students are not pulling their weight but some students genuinely do not understand and should not be punished by their teachers for that. If a student asks a question, it's obviously because they don't understand. When a teacher replies with "I already answered that" it doesn't benefit anyone and just has the teacher wasting her breath.

LMS if you agree.

Do You Believe in Magic?

Upon my return to Miami Dade County Jail Palmetto Senior High, the first task at hand was to make up everything that I had missed. First class to tackle: AP Human Geography.

Since I am still in the "please don't call on me or acknowledge my existence" with my teacher Mr. Hayduk, I decided to make up his test first so he wouldn't have a reason to yell/get mad at me. I grew some balls and went up to him after class. He simply told me to come during Journalism so I could have 45 minutes or to come during lunch and have 30 minutes. Now most people would've taken the option that gives them more time, so that's what I did. I went during lunch which gave me more time throughout the day to study.

When the time came, I had studied for a good 30 minutes in total and had 30 minutes to match 75 vocabulary words to their definitions. Needless to say I was close to pooping my pants especially since I failed the last test. I put the paper in front of me and it was like I was reborn. It was magical. I knew exactly what I was doing and it was such a rush. Knowing what the answer was without even having to second guess it is a feeling that I have missed. This made me realize that I've basically given up on myself and need to buckle down.

The next day I failed my Unit 3 Test. :)

MONO-jarrez

  Throughout one's lifetime, you get sick many times. It's uncontrollable, uncomfortable, but none the less, natural. Usually when you tell someone you're ill they say, "Hope you feel better!" or "Do you want some soup?" What did I get? An "F" in my toughest class that now sits at a 0.31.

  Officially known as Infectious Mononucleosis, it's become known as "the kissing disease". It is also known that it can be spread but only through saliva. Why am I telling you this? Because April 3rd I had a little itch in my throat when I woke up for 7 AM practice. I thought it was nothing more than a dry throat and that it would pass. Boy was I wrong. Next thing I know I'm out of school for 6 days and have everyone pretty much making fun of me and coming up with names that now seem to be stuck with me like "Monojarrez".

  Regardless of the time of year, missing 6 days of school is a lot. Now imagine missing thing much when you are one month away from what seems to be the first standardized test you will ever fail. As Mrs. Farkas likes to say, "the train never stops moving" and she means it. Over a span of 6 days I managed to miss 4 tests/quizzes and tons of information which will now never get the chance to go in one ear and out of the other. In my other AP class - AP Human Geography - I missed a huge unit test and the ability to become accustomed to the teaching style of my adoptive teacher Mr. Hayduk.

  I've always thought that everything happens for a reason, but I sure don't see one behind getting Mono.

Intro

     Around this time one year ago, I was an eager eighth grader, ready to own the halls of Miami Palmetto Senior High. Before I could do that though I had to have my teachers - specifically history - assign me to a class according to my competence. It was between Honors World History and the oh so dreaded AP World History. My beloved teacher Ms. Mateu thought I should try Honors since I had achieved a B every quarter. I on the other hand thought my sole purpose in life was to be in AP and how could she possibly think that I, Michelle Monjarrez, belonged in the second best class. With a little persuasion she did sign my sheet and I was feeling on top of the world...one year later and I feel anything but that. At t minus 5 weeks to the big exam, the entire student body that inhabits Ms. Farkas's classroom is on a roll to receiving that email that says "Sorry bud, you may have suffered various mental breakdowns over the past year but guess what! It was all for nothing because you failed! Sincerely, The College Board." Join me as I go through crunch time and see if I achieve the almost impossible - passing the AP World History Exam.