Writing History Response

All throughout my schooling, I never really liked writing. I always dreaded every writing assignment that was assigned unless it was something that let me express myself and my creativity. I don't even think I remember any writing assignments from elementary or from middle school so the most recent writings I did remember had to be in high school.

Now that I think about it, there is one instance that I recall from elementary school, it was writing BCR’s. They were called brief constructed responses. I remember my fourth grade teacher, Mr. Byrd, telling me that these responses were 4 sentences minimum (this was the length of a paragraph back then.) He told me that in order to answer the writing prompt, you must first use four steps when writing a BCR. The first step was to restate the question. Next, he said find evidence in the text. Then explain how this example supports your answer. Finally, conclude by restating the first sentence of the BCR. I’m surprised I even remember this method because nowadays BCR’s don’t exist. They have evolved to papers and essays and paragraphs are not 4 sentences, not even five sentences long anymore. Either way, I still have to write regardless of the length. Ughhh!!!

On the first day of school, in my freshman year of high school, I was so excited that I finally got some freedom and some space from the constant baby-ing that took place in elementary through middle school. They made us walk in straight lines to and from places and they pretty much did everything for us). But, of course, what I didn't realize that with that freedom and space come responsibility and more writing! I think that the reason I became a decent writer now is because I remember certain “keys to writing.” Similar to mnemonic devices, there is always something to help me improve my writing or to help me start or continue writing. In fourth grade, it was the 4 steps to help me write a BCR. In 9^th and 10^th grade, I had the same English teacher so he came up with this acronym to help students like me format and outline my paragraphs to answer writing prompts. It was called TICECEC. Each letter stands for a piece of information that you will need to include in order to write a lengthy and thorough response. I felt like it was way easier to organize what I was going to write if I had an outline or something to help me remember key components of my writing. However, this was not the only thing that helped me get over my dislike for writing.

Over the years, I figured out that some teachers know that writing is a tedious and sometimes non-stimulating process so they try to come up with ways to make writing fun. Here’s where the creativity comes in. They give assignments that involve music, television, social media or anything that deals with pop culture or something else that interests the students. I listen to a lot of music so when I combine writing and music, I find a lot of inspiration. It also motivates me to write in the same sense that music motivates people who jog or lift weights. My senior English teacher participated in these actions.

In my senior English Literature class, my teacher, Ms. Woods pushed me and my writing to the next level in my opinion. Every time I would write an essay or a simple response to the writing prompt, she would always ask this question, “why is it important?” By asking this question, she pushed me to think more critically and it opened my eyes to more to write  more into depth. Not only did she help me with my writing in class, she helped with my writing outside of class. I was the Salutatorian of my class and I wrote a speech. Ms. Woods helped me get my message across to my fellow classmates and it was a success. Overall, my experiences throughout school and in my personal life have helped me become the writer that I am today.