Abby Goes to Calhoun

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.

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!

Somehow, my second alarm didn’t go off. I don’t have to be at school until 9:25 on Mondays, so I was able to sleep in a little- but waking up at 9:07 wasn’t exactly my plan. I made it to my first class at 9:30 on time though. Rough day.

I have my first actual homework assignment tonight in English. We have to write a characterization for each character’s response to Addie’s death in As I Lay Dying. Intense. I love the book. I’m so excited to finish the assignment.

After English, I had 3rd grade Language Arts class. It was so much fun! The kids in this class were as exciting as my class on Friday. Genna is writing an intense story with Greek mythology elements about cats and dogs. So far it is 22 pages long. Her friend, Charlotte, is helping her edit. I helped kids with spelling and graded worksheets for the majority of the class.

I then had 20th Century American Cities. We were also assigned a project. This is a visual project, involving graphs. We had to compare data between three zip codes. This is the first visual project I’ve been assigned since 10th grade. The due date is next Wednesday. In class, we looked at examples of graphs people did last year, so we would know what works and what doesn’t. The students, in particular Samuel, had very vocal, yet smart opinions on the ways students presented their census data. We learned that simplicity is the key. I think I’m going to use vacant housing and percentage of people who live below the poverty line. We’ll see- this is subject to change.

20th Century was a double period today. After class, it was time for lunch. I ate in the tiny school lunchroom with two of the many seniors named Ben and Samuel . Both are fascinating gentlemen.

I then went back to the second floor for another section of 3rd grade LA. This was the same ‘cluster group’ that I taught 3rd grade math to during my last period on Friday. Therefore, the infamous Crosby was back-  and he was bad. He still refuses to listen. If he’s reprimanded, he listens for about 3 minutes, then goes back to doing whatever he was doing. I did get to help a student, Cameron, write a short story about a whole mess of Halloween-esque creatures. He was a lot of fun.

I then had a free period, during which I had intellectual conversation with two seniors, Sota and Sam. It was a nice way to end the day.

I didn’t get back to the apartment until 6. I’m exhausted, even though I slept in. I still need to finish homework. Good evening.

The Upper West Side- it was unseasonably warm today. A great day for walks around Riverside.

The day had a late start- I woke up at 7:30 and I have to leave at 7:55. Thank goodness, I can get ready quickly in the morning. I walked into the 59th street station the second the one train was pulling up to take me uptown.

Today started with 20th Century. Our homework was to look at the census for the school’s zip code. The main ones we talked about were race, religion, income, home price, and education level. Our homework for the weekend is to look at a variable in the census and compare it to the same variable in a different New York zip code. I’m excited for this! I’m going to use the zip code of where I’m staying. More on this later.

I then had a double period in the LS. I first worked with Rima, a sub for the usual 3rd grade Language Arts teacher. The class first read a poem and discussed the rhymes and imagery of the poem. It was very fun to hear children discuss imagery! Then, the kids had to either write a comment about the poem or write a new line for the poem, and draw a picture. Jeffery, a kid who had a lot of trouble with his spelling, drew the most incredible picture of a haunted house in his journal. The detail was insane! There was another kid who wouldn’t pay attention in class, but was clearly very capable. Fernando was such a treat to work with. He wrote an entire new poem to go with the one read in class! He did this entirely by himself and was the only student in the class who chose to write a new line for the poem. His poem ended with the line, I roll my lucky die and then the sighing ghouls go to sleep. It was so beautiful. What a great kid.

I then went over to Austin’s 2nd grade Math class. I worked with 3 girls. The activity today was subtracting and adding with die, using the rods. The girls really got into this activity and tried to get the highest numbers! It was a lot of fun, and they weren’t afraid to ask for help if they needed it.

I then had Psychology. We discussed the didn’t physco-sexual stages. Really fascinating…I’m not sure if I believe in all this work, but the Oral stage really makes a lot of sense. A lot of boys in the class smoke, so Alison gives them a hard time for having to have something in their mouths. Half the class was chewing gum today too- another oral fixation. The fact that Alison felt comfortable enough to talk about all these sexual things was interesting to me as well. She’s very relaxed with the class of all seniors.

I then had 4rd grade math with Anthony. He’s such a great teacher. Today, the activity was a card game- you had to make “BFFs” or two numbers that make ten or twenty using cards. I had a two girls and a boy in the group. Oh goodness. Crosby, the little boy, was a nightmare. I usually can handle kids, but he was out of control. First, he kept saying ‘penis’ and ‘boobies’, which made the girls laugh. Then he kept trying to cheat. Then he called the girls names- myself included. It was awful. Nothing was working to calm him down. Apparently, he has a repuatation for this- I talked to some other US students who work with the math kids, and he’s known for acting out. When the period was over, I was so glad to get out of there, and to lunch.

After lunch, I had a double free. So, essentially, I was done with school at 12:45. I stayed though, and got some work done, then tried to make some friends. It was a nice afternoon.

Tonight, I drove into Connecticut with my uncle ( Robert) , Meredith, and Steve (her boyfriend). Robert is one of the funniest people I have ever met, so the drive was full of laughs. I’m staying with my aunt this weekend, and driving back to NY with Robert on Sunday. I’m so excited to sleep in a bed tonight! I’m about to take a hot shower and then doze into a divine slumber. I have a busy weekend ahead of me.

Some of the kids did ask me to hang out this weekend, so it makes me feel at least a little loved.

I’m glad to get out of the city for two days though. Some much needed rest time!

My aunt and uncle’s house in Westport, CT. The outside matches its perfect interior. More pictures to come!

The morning started out with Psychology. Another crazy class. I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned this already, but all the food at Calhoun is free. They even serve breakfast! So in first period, kids often are late because they had to go downstairs to get oatmeal, cereal, apples, orange juice, coffee, etc. Just an interesting fact about Calhoun.  I was able to Alison, the teacher, before class. She was really nice. Her elder son went to Calhoun all his life, then went to Dennison for college. We discussed the outsiders view of New York. Apparently, everyone just automatically assumed he was Jewish after saying he was from New York. I just thought people not from New York have a sort of dream-like vision of what it’s like, which is encouraged by cinema and TV. Let’s be serious- NY is not a Sex and the City episode. Not everyone wears high heels and designer clothes. It’s so different from it’s media interpretation. New York is dirty, grimy, and difficult. But there are so many pro’s that outweigh those con’s. I was once attacked by an MV US teacher for saying that New York was a great city, and that I wanted to live there someday. The teacher yelled at me and said  it was too expensive, overcrowded, and dirty and that I was a fool for wanting to live there.  I guess New York really attracts people, and dispels others. I wonder what my classmates and teachers would say about that argument…

After Cluster, it was time for “Town Meeting”. Usually this period is like Assembly. It takes up a class period, and it’s only once a week. But today, it was time for class pictures. Each grade goes to Riverside park and gets their picture taken on a giant rock. When it was the seniors turn, they all started yelling at me to get in the picture (some louder than others), but I felt really weird about that. Didn’t seem like the right time. Tomorrow, though, apparently I’m going to be in the Cluster photo.

I then met up with Sarah and the LS head, Alison, to schedule what periods I would work in the LS.

I’m doing 3rd grade Language Arts, 2nd grade Social Studies, 2nd grade Math, and 3rd grade Math. I started today with 2nd grade math. They were doing tangrams! So relaxing. I just helped a couple students make animals out of the tangrams. So fun.

Then, I had a free period. I discussed with a friend from Psychology, Brian, the under-workings of the Calhoun social scene. Apparently, they don’t have many cliques. The senior class is a mere 40 kids. Not exactly a social paradise. It was nice hearing more about how Calhoun works.

I then went to English. We continued to discuss As I Lay Dying. I’m a few chapters behind, but the book is so good! I can’t wait to catch up. The class is the smartest one I’ve seen at Calhoun so far. It’s really discussion heavy, with intense readings of specific chapters. So far, my favorite character is Dewey Dell. Her first chapter was so incredible. I really love the book. The teacher, Kristen, is really great in class too.

During lunch, I got pizza with some people I haven’t really talked to yet. Again, it was nice to meet other people besides my buddy.

I had 3rd grade math after lunch. They were working on measurements. I worked specifically with a boy named Ethan. He did math in his head the EXACT same way I do. He makes all his numbers into fives and tens and goes from there. He finished the required assignment first, so the teacher, Anthony, and I gave him some extra problems to do. Most kids work in one digits numbers, but Ethan can handle two digit and even three digit numbers. It was great working with him! He seemed extremely socially awkward. When a boy was waiting his turn to measure something, Ethan freaked out. He was worried the boy was going to steal his answer. I sat down with them, and Ethan was fine. Kids are so fascinating to me…

I ended the day with 20th Century American City. We discussed federal funding in schools and Brown vs Board of Education. It was so interesting to hear how all of this affected New York! It’s so different from any history class I’ve ever been in. I can barely remember specifically what we talked about- the class went by so quickly. My notes say something about the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and No Child Left Behind. I’ll figure it out tomorrow. My homework is to look at the Census for the zip code of the school and pick two interesting statistics and see how they relate. I’m so excited to go look!

Tomorrow’s Friday! I have two frees at the end of the day, so we’ll see what happens with those. I also start 3rd grade Language Arts. I’m so excited.

These are the counting rods the math students use. They are so helpful! I wish I could use them…