Abby Goes to Calhoun

Yesterday was hectic. The internet in the apartment wasn’t working, and still wasn’t this morning. I haven’t been on a computer until right this very second.

How sad am I to not in New York.

Yesterday, my final day at Calhoun, was sad. Lavern and Jen, the upper school heads, both said I could come back anytime. Lavern made me chocolate cupcakes and banana poppy seed cake for my last day. It was so nice- and delicious!

I then had my final 3rd grade LA class. It was poetry day. The poem was about living in a city. The kids put the poem in their journals and drew pictures about the poem. Amon, probably the smartest 3rd grader at the school, drew this beautiful picture. I was able to take a picture- Steve kindly let me borrow his camera for the day. After the kids drew pictures in their journals, they choose their favorite poem in their journals and read it aloud to either me or Lisa. Almost everyone picked the poem Amon wrote, titled ‘Big Huge Belly’. Here it is:

My sister’s belly

is big, huge, and heavy.

That big, huge and heavy

100 pound belly

was from eating too much

jelly.

All I know is that her

belly will

remain big, huge

and heavy.

Written by Amon. I love the rhythm of it! It’s so creative.

I then went to 2nd grade math with Austin. My last 2nd grade class. We played this great game with dice and hundred boards. It was called Crabs in a Barrel. I’m considering having it set up for Winterim fair.

I then had my final US class, Psychology. Everything I’ve been doing at Calhoun relates so much to this course. Lulu and Shanta presented their project on Jean Piaget. The experiments were really cool- I’d love to try them out on some kids. If only I stayed at Calhoun a little bit longer. I never really knew much about Piaget. I felt like I learned something.

I then had 3rd grade math. My last course at Calhoun. I was really sad. It was a great way to end my stay though. Anthony assigned four boys from my favorite cluster to go with me. I was to teach them to play Crabs in a Barrel, by myself. It was Will, Cameron, Devin, and Ethan, four of the best 3rd grade math students. Everything went great a first- the kids were loving it. We were having a great time! I love those kids, they catch on to things so easily. Then, since they’re boys, they started to get competitive. I thought it would be okay, but with Cameron lost and the other boys went crazy, feelings were hurt. Poor Cameron. He’s so sensitive. He went and hid under the table.  Devin took his hat and then they all started throwing things at him. It was awful, I didn’t know what to do. Somehow, I got them all to sit down. I lured Cameron out from under the table, and we sat down again. We played one more round, then went back to the class. Cameron didn’t leave my side for a second, poor kid. The kids all said that they were going to miss me and thank you. It was really sweet. A couple kids gave me hugs, which was really sweet. I’m really going to miss those 3rd graders.

It was so sad to leave New York. I’m really going to miss my friends and classes. I had a great time at Calhoun- I highly recommend it to any future Networker.

In honor of the city, some tunes:

Manhattan- Ella Fitzgerald

Empire State of Mind- Jay-Z

New York- Cat Power

Back to Manhattan- Norah Jones

New York State of Mind- Billy Joel

My favorite building in New York.

I love you, New York.

Today started with the Psychology test. It was the easiest thing I’ve ever done. I only didn’t know two answer- and they were from the chapters I wasn’t at Calhoun for. I finished the test in ten minutes.

Then it was time for quite a somber assembly.  An elderly teacher had a heart attack outside school yesterday morning and died. He was a woodwinds teacher for the Middle School and US.  The woodwind ensemble played- it was really touching. Some students said memories they had of the teacher. It was nice, but very sad.

I then had 2nd grade math- one of my last LS classes! This was a very large class today, and we got to play this great game with the number rods. All the kids wanted to play with me. It was so much fun. When I left, all the kids hugged me. Aw.

I then had a free period, during which I read aloud from As I Lay Dying to my friend Sota. It really helps me understand the book if I hear it out loud.

I then had English class. They talked about the rest of the reading and their paper topics. It was really sad thinking that I wasn’t going to be there for the rest of the book. I’m really going to miss Calhoun, especially this class. Then we partnered up to discuss a chapter we read about Jewel and his horse. This is probably the saddest, most tragic chapter we’ve read so far. Lauren and I paired up to discuss the chapter. We worked well together. I wish I could finish the book at Calhoun…

After lunch, a couple classes went on a field trip to the Met.  It was a photo class, 20th Century, an Biology (?). Not sure about that last one. Anyway, we went to see Robert Frank’s exhibit about his groundbreaking book, The Americas. It was absolutely amazing! I loved his work. The descriptions written by the photos really made me appreciate the work more. I’d never really seen any of his work, but I’m in love. It’s so beautiful and simple.

The rest of the day was spent at the Met, walking through Central Park and the Upper West side, and at a delicious farewell dinner with Meredith and Steve. The evening was topped off with a wonderful thematic discussion of the great film, Superbad. What a great day.

One of my favorites from the book. I love her face compared to the creepy Santa. So good.

Again, I got to sleep in today and arrive at Calhoun for cluster at 9: 20. This is something I’ll definitely miss when I return to MV. I had history first, where we looked at projects that my classmates have completed. Some were better than others. My friend Samuel’s graphs were a little rough around the edges. He just had images of old men and women with percentages scrawled underneath them in black magic marker. Even though the presentation wasn’t polished, his point was still great, probably my favorite of the class. The class has until Monday to complete the graphs. I’m sad I’m going to miss the final products. During class, we went around in pairs and tried to guess the thesis the graphs were trying to make. I did surprisingly well. Only five kids in the class had completed the graphs, so we spent the majority of the class discussing what we thought the graphs meant.

I then had Phycology. Our test was postponed, because the bulk of students had an Astronomy test immediately after class. Apparently, Astronomy tests are brutal. We just reviewed what was going to be on the test. Alison, the teacher, is also the school counselor. She’s really understanding of students and very laid back. The result of this is a class that respects her. I don’t think this would work for every teacher, but at Calhoun this is definitely a good thing.

I then had a free period, during which I spent studying for the test. It was very low key. I was in the senior hallway, on a beanbag with my ipod. I love the way Calhoun is set up.

I then went downstairs for 2nd grade social studies with Carlyle. The class was, again, extremely chaotic. Those second graders! I didn’t really have any direction, so I went and sat at a table for boys and helped them create their skateboard shop. It was fun seeing kids be creative- the rest of my LS classes have been purely academic.

After lunch, I had English. It’s by far my favorite US course here. Everything about it is great. The book is fantastic. I’ve never read anything like it. It’s one of Kristen’s, my teacher, favorite books. She gets to excited to talk to us about what we’ve read. All the students participate in the discussion. She doesn’t cram us with reading, which is nice, but not practical for preparing students for college. Regardless, the class is really interesting. Maybe it’s because I really love the book we’re reading. The vibe of the class is just really great, holistically. I’ll be sad to leave halfway through the novel. I’m going to continue reading it though. Maybe I can email her to keep up with the discussion.

I then had a free period at the end of the day. I walked around Riverside with Daisuke and Samuel.

I studied after school for Psychology with the lovely Sam. Hopefully the test won’t be too hard. The grapevine says her tests are easy. I’d be so embarrassing to fail.

Ahhh- it was nice to have a day off. I started the day the same way I ended yesterday- Mad Men. What a great show! I finally dragged myself out of bed, after having a nice phone chat with my mommy. It was nice to finally catch up!

I went uptown to have lunch with my friend, Sam. I met his mom, and she was really sweet. We discussed the lack of homework at Calhoun. She seemed to think it was good for some students and trouble for others.

After lunch, we strolled around Riverside. It was another glorious day in New York.

I went back to the apartment to rest a bit before dinner. I met the wonderful Ted Esten downtown in Union Square. We had a great time. The food was delicious.  We talked about how we are both dreading returning to Waterville (not that we don’t miss and love our families).  We walked around the Village for a bit before returning to our designated homes. He’s staying in Brooklyn.

All in all, it was a lovely and relaxing day in New York. I’m really going to miss it here…

I was able to sleep in, which was miraculous. I got to school about five minutes early for clutser. After another disorganized meeting, I went to English. We turned in our ‘stream of consciousness’ writing assignment, explaining our sections. I did indeed write about page 80 and81, the section I put in the blog. I feel like I finally made sense of part of it. What an accomplishment! During class we discussed Vardaman and his reaction to Addie’s death.

I then went to 3rd grade LA. Today was another work and free day. The kids worked on their baby stories and worksheets, then read or played games. Some of the kids ended up reading their baby story’s to me. It was nice to get some one on one time with them.

I then went to a double period of 20th American Cities. The discussion focused again on education of 2nd generation immigrants. A girl in the class, Christina, actually is a 2nd generation immigrant (kind of). She had a lot to say on the topic! We looked at the DREAM act in detail and then some criticisms of the act. The class has some vocal and smart students. I love listening to the discussions. My friend Samuel sometimes looks like isn’t paying attention, but then he’ll chime in with an intellectual bomb that will send the class astir. I do love this class, but 1.5 hours of it is way too long.

After lunch downstairs, I again went to 3rd grade LA. This class was Lisa’s cluster- the group with several of my favorites and the infamous Crosby. They had the same assignment as the last group. I worked a lot with Cameron today. He’s possibly one of the smartest kids in the class, and the least annoying. Sometimes he gets too into whatever Crosby and Devin, the class troublemakers, are doing, but he’s still incredibly smart. His baby story was my favorite.

I then had a last period free, so I went outside to enjoy the beautiful day with Rainer and Samuel.

After getting my bag, I went to Starbucks for some caffeine, then to Sam’s apartment with some other pals. After video games and guitar became too much for me, I went to Ben’s house and had dinner with his fantastic family. They were hilarious and incredibly nice. It made me miss my family! Ben has a little brother, Joe, who was a little rowdy during dinner. He sang top 40 hits the whole time. He’s only ten. It did add a little humor to the situation.

After a long day, I returned downtown and watched Mad Men in bed. Tomorrow we don’t have school, so I get to sleep in again! I can’t wait.

I was completely exhausted Friday night, so I went to bed early and woke up late. I worked on college applications all morning. It was not very exciting.

I finally decided to face the world around 2pm and went shopping with my hilarious, yet crazy sister. We walked down to Fifth Avenue among the throngs on tourists. Yikes. It was also raining. It’s been awful weather for the past couple days.

For dinner, Meredith made delicious lasagna. Steve’s parents were in town, so they came for a calm dinner. After dinner, I took a cab uptown to hang out with some Calhoun friends. We watched The Big Lebowski. Very relaxing day.

I made it home around midnight, and went directly to bed.

Sunday started similarly. College apps all morning, then lunch by myself at Whole Foods. I went out walking with Mere again, then found myself shopping again. Whoops. We’re having dinner at the apartment, then I’m meeting my old roommate from Parsons downtown. I cannot wait to see her! She’s a freshman at Parsons now. I’m so excited.

All in all, it was a nice weekend. I’m sad though. I feel like I’m going home really soon. I miss my family, but I’m not sure I want to return…

Also, I forgot to mention that I met up with the Broadway Winterim on Friday! It was nice to see some familiar faces.

I wish it was that nice this weekend.

Friday began with a discussion of the education of 2nd generation immigrants in 2oth Century American Cities. The class was small, because the Model UN team went to Brown for a competition. Four kids in the class were gone. What stood out to me the most was this idea to build housing for immigrants in the middle of Westchester county, because it was too white. Talk about sticking a band aid on a broken bone! So, once these poor, uneducated children arrive in the richest county in New York, what are they going to do? Be friends with the rich kids next door? That’s so awful, especially for the older kids. Public high schools are not that accepting. What a poorly thought out plan.

I then went to the 2nd floor for 3rd grade LA. Lisa was gone for the morning, so it was me and Alison, the LS director, alone with the class. It was my favorite cluster group- the one with brilliant Fernando and crazy Aiden. The kids worked in their poetry journals at the beginning of the class, then had free time. Alison had to go to a meeting halfway through the class, so I was on my own. They were great! A handful of them played with legos, most went to draw on the dry erase broad, and Michelle wanted me to read with her. Fernando drew the most beautiful deisgn on the whiteboard, while the rest of the kids wrote their name with “rocks!” after it, (for example, Harleigh Rocks!). It was interesting, to say the least. Aiden built the coolest airplane out of legos. It was actually fun being on my own with the kids. They’re such a great group.

I then went to 2nd grade Math. Whoa. I’m not sure how much more I can handle of those 2nd graders. They’re so young. The trouble-maker of the day was Lauren. She interrupted Austin every time he opened his mouth and latched on to any adult that was nearby. It was the same lesson plan as the day before, so I knew what to expect of the kids: “Austin, this is impossible!” “You’re so unfair!” ” This doesn’t make any sense!” It was amusing, to say the least.

Time to go back downstairs for Psychology. Today was a review for the upcoming test on Wednesday. Even though I haven’t been there for most of the material, I’m still going to take it. I’m excited to see what a Calhoun test looks like!

I then went back upstairs for LS Math. I went to 3rd grade this time, for an interesting lesson in perimeter. You could really see the range of skill in the class. This cluster group included Crosby, as well as some of my favorite 3rd graders. They worked on a worksheet for the majority of the period, during which I helped almost every student. One kid finished way ahead of everyone else, so I worked with him on perimeter, then played a math game with him. He beat me four games in a row. How embarrassing.

My day ended after lunch with some friends. It was nice to finish the day early. I went to see Fantastic Mr. Fox with some Calhounigans.  Any Wes Anderson fan- GO SEE IT. IT WAS SO GOOD (caps lock necessary). Seriously, what a great story! I have no complaints.

I dug it.

The day started with Psychology. Alison gave us a handout on one of Freud’s cases. Dora was one of Freud’s patients. She was admitted for hysteria. We focused on one of her dreams. Freud’s interpretation made a lot of sense, until he related the house being on fire to masturbation. It seemed like a stretch to me.

Today, we had Assembly. Apparently, some kids have been stealing girl’s wallets. They take out all the money, then put the wallet in the boy’s bathroom trash can. The assembly focused around problems in the US, with an open ended conversation during which anyone could raise their hand and talk. It’s a good idea in theory, but it took way too long. I don’t think it made any difference. The people who steal are still going to steal- until they are caught. Maybe that’s a pessimistic view, but it’s true for MV at least.

Then I had 2nd grade math with Austin. Going from 4th grade math to 2nd grade math was a big jump. The kids were so rowdy! One of the girls had a lot of trouble with the activity. The activity was tricky, but if she couldn’t figure it out immediately, she would throw the rods everywhere and scream. It was a nightmare. One of the kids, Noah, was incredibly smart. He figured out one of the hardest problems right away. I love working with kids like him.

After a free, it was time for English. We further discussed the talented Faulkner. My group finally started to make sense of the paragraph. For homework, we have to write up what we’ve discovered about our assigned sections. It’s going to be extremely difficult, but I’m excited to sort out of my thoughts.

After lunch, I went back to 3rd grade math. The kids were working on counting the results from the 4th -grade -distributed LS census. They were surprisingly quick to catch on! It was fun seeing how excited they get! The much-discussed Crosby was back in this class. I’m 99% sure everything he does is for attention. Even after Anthony strictly scolds him, Crosby still won’t listen. It’s so frustrating, but Anthony is GREAT with him.

In history, we continued our discussion on migration, in relation to the 1965 Immigration Act.  I feel on par or above the rest on the discussion of American history. Thank you, Cambi!

I got to sleep in a little bit today, so my day was very awake. It started with 20th Century American City. We discussed the assigned reading the whole class period. Apparently, I’m not on the same level in this class. They were all discussing activities they’ve done in the class involving immigration. I felt kind of lost , even though I read the assignment. The discussion ended with this: America-  melting pot or acidic bath? I then had Psychology. It was supposed to be a review day, but it ended up in the class getting way off topic again. We mostly talked about the Physco-Sexual Stages. Still, it’s very interesting, and it gets the class talking!

I then had a free period, during which I went for a walk with Robert, a junior who I’d never talked to before. He’s interested in philosophy and tried to debate everything I brought up. It was…interesting. Apparently he grew up in a Russian ghetto in Brooklyn.

Next was 2nd grade Social Studies with Carlise. At first, I didn’t think he had control of the class at all. They were so rowdy! But then, after they got settled and started their project, they were suddenly calm and fun to talk to. They were building stores to create a community built by the 2nd grade. One kid was building an alligator store that manufactured alligators from a machine. Another had a shark store. Kids are so funny. Fiona, a girl in the class, thought I was from Hawaii, for some reason.

During lunch, Comedy Troupe presented four short skits, written and directed by students in the course. It was hilarious! The best part was the first improv skit, done by my two friends Ben and Samuel. Words cannot discribe the hilarity.

Then it was time for English. Wow. The class was split into two, and each group discussed an impossibly difficult theme of the book. One group discussed Vardaman and the fish. We discussed Darl’s monologue on page 81. Here it is:

“In a strange room you must empty yourself for sleep. And before you are emptied for sleep, you are not. And when you are filled with sleep, you never were. I don’t know what I am. I don’t know if I am or not. Jewel knows where he is, because he does not know that he does not know whether he is or not. He cannot empty himself for sleep because he is not what he is and he is what he is not. Beyond the unlamped wall I can hear the rain shaping the wagon that is ours, the load that is not longer theirs that felled and sawed it not yet theirs that bought it and which is not ours either, lie on our wagon though it does, since only the wind and the rain shape it only to Jewel and me, that are not asleep. And since sleep is is-not and rain and wind are was, it is not. Yet the wagon is, because when the wagon is was, Addie Bundren will not be. And Jewel is, so Addie Bundren must be. And then I must be, or I could not empty myself for sleep in a strange room And so if I am not emptied yet, I am is.

How often have I lain beneath rain on a strange roof, thinking of home.”

Wow.

I would write what I think that might possibly mean, but I can’t translate my notes into text. It’s just a mess.

I love Faulkner.

This morning marked my first full week at the Calhoun school. I started the morning with Philosophies. We discussed the intense As I Lay Dying homework for the entire period. I love being able to hear all the other student’s opinions on the novel. Today’s main discussion focused on Darl and his section on Addie’s death- but more generally on his role in the novel. I actually feel like I can contribute something to this class, because I’m on the same level as the other students. In other classes, the students have had two full months of class before I got here. In English, since they just started the novel, I’m able to follow along and keep up on the reading.

Psychology’s discussion was student driven today.  Each student in the class has to keep a journal and fill it with anything they find that might deal with the mind. Today, kids brought in advertisements that they thought were manipulative. Here are some examples of a few of ads we looked at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arfNofxBtfY

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2221/2329515028_f5c84e36ae.jpg

I then went down to the second floor for 3rd grade LA. I had a different group of kids than I did yesterday. Everyone in this class was pretty much on the same level, except two kids. One had trouble focusing and getting his handwriting exercises done. But, when it he finished, he flew through two hard worksheets- then went on to play with an art project. What a neat guy. The other finished his handwriting early, but was stuck on a tricky worksheet. He then went to work on an art project as well. I love Lisa, the teacher. The kids really listen to her. They always ask her to play music while they’re working on handwriting. Today, it was Jackson 5.

After a free period spent enjoying the beauteous weather, I went to LS Math. I went to 4th grade math with Ben. Ben is the best! He’s so funny, and the kids respect him a thousand percent. But they still have fun and kid around with him. The group I was with today was a day ahead of the rest of the fourth grade, so we played this great math game called Zonk. I wish I could explain it, but to do that, I’d have to fully understand it. It was a ton of fun- I played with two kids, who tired (and failed) to teach me. I kind of got the hang of it at the end of class though.

I then went to lunch, during which I had a meeting with the other Teaching LS Math students and the LS Math faculty. We discussed mainly the upcoming lesson plan project the US students are working on. Two students are teaching next week. I’m so excited to see what they’re going to do! I really love the LS math faculty. All four are men, and three of the four have full beards and wear Nikes. They’re so cool.

After lunch, I was free the rest of the day. One period, I worked on my English reading assignment for the next day. The second one, I walked around the Upper West Side with Sam.

The 1 Train. What I take to school and back, everyday. It’s such a nice train!