This week we mostly just worked on our I Believe essays. I actually found doing this pretty hard. I knew what I wanted to write about but 90% of the time it was either too personal or didn't make much sense. I ended up changing what the theme of my essay twice and rewriting a lot of it multiple times. Doing this for a week (and because of some things that happened) made me question my views and morals and what I truly believe. It made me think more deeply about what I stand by as a person and what I want in life. Although by the end of the week it made me more sure and it was nice to have this much time to think about it. Each week I find I learn more things about myself and I really enjoy learning in this class. 
Another thing that made me think was our creative writing session on thursday. It was about college and our future and what we want to do in the future. I was able to put my true thoughts down and later talked with my parents about college. I now know more about where i'm planning to apply.

This week was mostly about the Power of story. How it depends on your voice, how relatable it is, how you move or ask questions. I found this really helpful even towards writing. I found I don't put almost any of myself (if at all) into an essay or piece i'm writing. If i'm writing a novel then sure- but have never thought I should do that with other things.  
I also found the TED talks we watched inspiring. They also were about the power of story and tips you should use when writing or talking. It was very nice to learn these things and gain tips before we started our "I Believe" essay. I feel like i'm able to put myself more into things like this- something I hadn't even considered before- since I know how now.
Lastly thinking about what I believe, coming up with ideas, brainstorming and listening to other people's "I Believe" essays helped a lot with figuring out exactly how to put myself into my writing. You should include personal stories, relatable things and your true thoughts. You shouldn't sugar coat it but you shouldn't focus on the negative either- that way your readers stay more into it. 
Overall this week I again found myself to grow as a writer and learned how to capture an audience. I continued to learn more about myself and have a fun time doing so. 

This week  I have found I learned quite a bit about myself as a writer and even as a person. The activity we did outside on Tuesday helped me put my life in perspective and know/figure out what is important to me. I really enjoyed the poems we did each day and like to go back to the lesson plan and read them over to get more out of them. The poem by Shane (from Tuesday) was my favorite and since hearing him I've researched him a little bit and read more of some of his works and/or poems. One of my favorites of his that I have found is his poem Shine.  I also really enjoyed the "Writing down to the Bones" slide we went over on Thursday. I didn't realize before that I should completely let myself go when I am doing creative writing. It was nice and later that day I found it to be a good way to relieve stress and throw ideas down for my novel class. Overall I have really enjoyed this class so far. It's not exactly like the other English classes I've had- It seems to focus more on how to actually improve instead of just getting a good grade or easy A.