Saturday, December 4 – Today was the first day of my participation in the Adopt A Family program that I signed up for this December. The purpose of the program is to help low income families afford Christmas by buying presents for their children. Each person is assigned a family and is given a list of the children and what they want for Christmas. We were given a family with two young boys whose favorite colors were red and blue, and who were interested in bugs and cars. We tried to start the shopping today for the kids but we didn’t find much. We did find a coloring book with a few bugs in it and some toy cars but we still needed to get cloths and a few more toys for the kids.
Sunday, December 5 – Today we were able to find a lot more of the toys the kids wanted and all for reasonable prices. We got the first boy a Creepy Crawlers Creation Laboratory that lets him create bugs from a Joelton like mix. We also got him a pack of giant crayons so he can color in the bug book we got him. We got the second kid a Tomas the train set that runs on batteries and a kid’s book about different kinds of cars and their engines. For clothes we got the first kid three shirts, three pants, a red winter jacket and gloves set, and some red Spider Man pajamas. And for the second kid we got three shirts, two pants, a blue jacket with matching gloves and a hat, and Cars pajamas. We were successful in getting everything on the list.
Saturday, December 11 – Today I was at the building where all the toys from all the people who volunteer for the program come and get sorted into their different families. In addition to volunteering for the program I also volunteered to help with the sorting. My job is look through all the items that are sent in and match them with their families while also checking to make sure there are no excess items in the bags people send in. Today was just for setting up the stations in the building for the sorting and not to do any of the actual sorting yet. We set up tables in a room for all the excess toys and we got bags to fill for all the toys that would go to the families. Then we sorted out the forms of all the families in alphabetical order to make sure everything would be set to start the sorting on Monday.
Monday, December 13 – Today was to be the first day of sorting but before that could start we had to bring all the bags of toys people had donated down stairs to the sorting room. There were a lot of bags and took a very long time because some of them were very heavy and needed two people to lift them. We lined the bags up in the hallway outside the sorting room and made sure they were all numbered correctly to correspond with the number their families were given. This took so long that we did not have enough time to start the sorting and we waited until next time.
Saturday, December 18 – Today we started sorting. I was taught by my adult supervisor
what to do. You would take the form of one of the families and on it would be a list of the children in the family and what they wanted for Christmas. Then you would take the bag that was labeled with the same number as the family had and see if the items in the bag matched the items on the list. If there was anything extra you had to put it on the extra’s table. If there was anything missing you would look on the extra’s table and try and find something that was similar to it to put in the bag for the family in place of the missing item. Then you had to check everything off on the list and write in anything extra that you added. This is all I did today as a start and I finished a lot of bags and felt good that I was doing it for such a good cause. I did the best I could to make sure every kid got what they wanted for Christmas or at least something like it.
Sunday, December 19 – Today I learned how to organize the bags into the different storage trucks to wait until the families came to pick them up. There were three different trucks with different purposes. Because there over 100 bags, two of the trucks were used as storage trucks for the bags that already had everything in them and were all set to be picked up. One of these trucks was to store bags 1-80 and the other truck was to store the rest of the bags. The third truck was for bags that were not completed yet. In other words, if a bag being sorted had a missing item and none of the extra items could substitute it, it would go into this truck until an extra arrived that was suitable for replacing the missing item. There were three lists as well for each truck and after a bag was stored it had to e recorded on the list that represented that truck. I did this for most of the day along with sorting some more bags.
Monday, December 20 – Today was the last day for me to help with the Adopt A Family program. I spent the day sorting out bags and storing them in their respective trucks. Today I combined these two activities and once I was done sorting a bag I immediately put it into the truck it belonged to. After all the bags were done being sorted I went to the third truck and took out all the bags that were not yet complete and went around to the extra’s table to look for items that could replace the missing items for the bags. I was able to find an item for each bag and afterward I put the bags into the two finished trucks. Then the families came and gathered the bags that were marked for their kids and I checked them off the list. This program made me aware of some of the serious issues of low income and even homelessness not only on the Cape but the world as well. I was glad to help with this issue a little bit, though I wish I could have done more.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Prospective Students and Parents Night
Wednesday, December 2 – Tonight I went to the school to speak to prospective students and their parents about the expectations of Sturgis and what life is like for attending students. I had to do two sessions along with another senior because too many people showed up and they could not fit into one room in the school. The other senior and I talked about Sturgis to one group while Mr. Hieser informed the other group about the IB program, and then we switched off. I was very nervous to speak to the crowd because I have some performance anxieties and it showed during the first session. I jumbled my words a bit and paused a lot when I was asked questions by the parents. One parent began interrogating me about if I was really prepared to go on to study Astrophysics in college because I hadn’t taken HL Math and he was very rude in the manner in which he asked the questions. However I was able to hold my ground and I answered all his questions in a way that eventually made him stop. I was very proud of myself and I began to feel more confident in my ability to talk to the crowd. We talked about academics and the school environment, and just school life in general and how difficult but rewarding it was. By the time we got to the second group I felt much better and I was able to give them more direct and meaningful information. All in all I had a really good time with it and I would do it again if I could.
Creative Writing
Thursday, November 5 – Today in Creative Writing we read a poem by one of the members who had recently written it. The poem was about an image of how the mind works and its different regions of lightness and darkness. I commented on how much I liked the description of the image and the many adjectives that were used. I said that while there was so much description it still seemed as though they had paid very close attention to their diction or choice of words and that was well conveyed through the poem. I also commented on how I liked the contrast of light and dark in the poem. Other members of the club said what they thought and we all found it hard to give advice on such a well written work, but they did give some criticism and I thought that it was great how well we were all working together to help each other improve our writing.
Thursday, November 12 – Today in Creative Writing we got an interesting submission because it was comic that one of the members of the club was writing. It was hard to assess in terms of the writing aspect of it because there was not much of it. The comic was mostly pictures with a few lines here and there. However, I still found a way to discuss the methods used to build up the moment being illustrated in the comic through the placement of certain phrases and the significance of what the phrases were. The rest of the club suggested that more writing should be involved in the comic.
Thursday, November 19 – There was no Creative Writing today because no one submitted anything.
Thursday, November 26 – No one submitted anything again today but it was alright because Mr. Arcenas brought in one of his favorite short stories by Franz Kafka. I was very excited to read it because Kafka is my favorite short story writer and I have always loved his work. We read the story and talked a bit about what we thought but I couldn’t help but talk mostly about how much I loved Kafka’s style of writing and the wonderful images and powerful diction he uses. I talked about a lot of his other stories like the Metamorphosis and Huger Artist, and I couldn’t help but mention how much he had inspired my own writing. In short, I did not stay on topic today.
Thursday, December 3 – Today I could not make it to Creative Writing because I was sick.
Thursday, December 10 – Today in creative writing we got an interesting submission by the newest member in our group. It was a super hero story about a high school kid who saves the girl he has a crush on with his super powers. The story was very charming but very badly written. It was a difficult one to talk about because no one seemed to have anything good to say about it and we all felt guilty because we knew we were making the author feel bad about the work. I honestly enjoyed reading it but it was true that the grammar was very poor and plot was not very creative. It was a very awkward meeting and I don’t think that member will be coming back to the club.
Thursday, December 17 – Today we got one of the best submissions we have ever had by one of the members. The story was very simple but it had a great deal of potency that I respected very much. It was just about a young boy getting up and out the door to go to school in the morning. It described his view of his morning routine and it made all of us very nostalgic. I loved the diction the author used and the very basic descriptions of things going on around the boy. I thought the story really captured a certain essence of childhood that we can all remember and relate to. I talked about how much I enjoyed the complicated meaning behind such a simple piece of literature. I was very excited when the author said they were planning on writing more for the work.
Thursday, January 7 – There was no Creative Writing today because not enough people showed up.
Thursday, November 12 – Today in Creative Writing we got an interesting submission because it was comic that one of the members of the club was writing. It was hard to assess in terms of the writing aspect of it because there was not much of it. The comic was mostly pictures with a few lines here and there. However, I still found a way to discuss the methods used to build up the moment being illustrated in the comic through the placement of certain phrases and the significance of what the phrases were. The rest of the club suggested that more writing should be involved in the comic.
Thursday, November 19 – There was no Creative Writing today because no one submitted anything.
Thursday, November 26 – No one submitted anything again today but it was alright because Mr. Arcenas brought in one of his favorite short stories by Franz Kafka. I was very excited to read it because Kafka is my favorite short story writer and I have always loved his work. We read the story and talked a bit about what we thought but I couldn’t help but talk mostly about how much I loved Kafka’s style of writing and the wonderful images and powerful diction he uses. I talked about a lot of his other stories like the Metamorphosis and Huger Artist, and I couldn’t help but mention how much he had inspired my own writing. In short, I did not stay on topic today.
Thursday, December 3 – Today I could not make it to Creative Writing because I was sick.
Thursday, December 10 – Today in creative writing we got an interesting submission by the newest member in our group. It was a super hero story about a high school kid who saves the girl he has a crush on with his super powers. The story was very charming but very badly written. It was a difficult one to talk about because no one seemed to have anything good to say about it and we all felt guilty because we knew we were making the author feel bad about the work. I honestly enjoyed reading it but it was true that the grammar was very poor and plot was not very creative. It was a very awkward meeting and I don’t think that member will be coming back to the club.
Thursday, December 17 – Today we got one of the best submissions we have ever had by one of the members. The story was very simple but it had a great deal of potency that I respected very much. It was just about a young boy getting up and out the door to go to school in the morning. It described his view of his morning routine and it made all of us very nostalgic. I loved the diction the author used and the very basic descriptions of things going on around the boy. I thought the story really captured a certain essence of childhood that we can all remember and relate to. I talked about how much I enjoyed the complicated meaning behind such a simple piece of literature. I was very excited when the author said they were planning on writing more for the work.
Thursday, January 7 – There was no Creative Writing today because not enough people showed up.
Greek Club
Thursday 5 – Today in Greek I decided it would be good to have some review of the first declension and the first conjugation so that we could do some translating next class. So I did an example on the board of the declension and talked my students through it. Then I wrote some first declension nouns on the board, one for each student, and had them come up and decline them. Most of them did pretty well and only a few had mistakes which I corrected for them. Then I did an example of the conjugation and talked them through that. Afterwards, I wrote a verb for each student and had them try. They did not do as well on the verbs and I decided we would have to work more on them.
Thursday 12 – Today I began class by giving my students some verbs to conjugate for the present tense. I gave them hints when they were stuck but for the most part they did much better than in the previous week and I felt they were ready for some translating. I gave them a passage from the text book we were using because it was fairly simple and straight forward and it provided all the vocabulary for them. We set the desks up in a circle and translated as a group taking turns reading the sentence aloud and then translating it one word at a time. We were able to get the whole passage done and I was very proud of my students.
Thursday 19 – Today I decided it was time for the class to learn the second declension so that we could add another dynamic to translating. I wrote an example of the declension on the board and explained how it was a masculine declension that could be identified by its ending. Then I pointed out the differences between this declension and the first declension and also the few similarities that the two forms had. Then I gave a word to each of my students and had them decline for themselves. They did very well and I continued giving them words to practice with for the rest of the class. I told them we would be translating something different next class.
Thursday 26 – Today I decided it was time to try a more difficult passage to translate. I gave them a passage that had the first declension, the second declension, and the first conjugation. In addition to this I also took out all the vocabulary keys for the words they had already learned on their vocabulary lists. We sat in a circle again and took turns reading and translating sentence by sentence and word by word. It was definitely more challenging for my students but they did very well and they were able to complete the entire passage.
Thursday 3 – Today I could not make it to Greek Club because I was sick so I told Mr. Arcenas to give the student s another passage to work with.
Thursday 10 – Today I came to Greek to discover that my students had done very well with the passage Mr. Arcenas ad assigned them last class. I was very pleased and I told them I would give them more vocabulary so that they could do more complicated translating next time I gave them a passage. So I wrote ten more vocabulary words on the board but this time they were from the second declension. I had each students pronounce a word and guess what the meaning would be. Then I told them to add them to their vocabulary list.
Thursday 17 – Today we did a little review of the first conjugation in Greek Club but then we went right into the Christmas Party I had promised my students. I brought cookies and drinks for the class and I read them a book called “You Will Go To The Moon”. It was very fun.
Thursday 7 – Today in class we had two special guests come and tell us about Greek. Laura and Sam were two of the original Greek Club students and Sam as a special talent for reading Greek with all its accents and pitches because Greek is a tonal language. So we spent the class hearing stories about old Greek classes and having Sam read and educate us about pronouncing Greek.
Thursday 12 – Today I began class by giving my students some verbs to conjugate for the present tense. I gave them hints when they were stuck but for the most part they did much better than in the previous week and I felt they were ready for some translating. I gave them a passage from the text book we were using because it was fairly simple and straight forward and it provided all the vocabulary for them. We set the desks up in a circle and translated as a group taking turns reading the sentence aloud and then translating it one word at a time. We were able to get the whole passage done and I was very proud of my students.
Thursday 19 – Today I decided it was time for the class to learn the second declension so that we could add another dynamic to translating. I wrote an example of the declension on the board and explained how it was a masculine declension that could be identified by its ending. Then I pointed out the differences between this declension and the first declension and also the few similarities that the two forms had. Then I gave a word to each of my students and had them decline for themselves. They did very well and I continued giving them words to practice with for the rest of the class. I told them we would be translating something different next class.
Thursday 26 – Today I decided it was time to try a more difficult passage to translate. I gave them a passage that had the first declension, the second declension, and the first conjugation. In addition to this I also took out all the vocabulary keys for the words they had already learned on their vocabulary lists. We sat in a circle again and took turns reading and translating sentence by sentence and word by word. It was definitely more challenging for my students but they did very well and they were able to complete the entire passage.
Thursday 3 – Today I could not make it to Greek Club because I was sick so I told Mr. Arcenas to give the student s another passage to work with.
Thursday 10 – Today I came to Greek to discover that my students had done very well with the passage Mr. Arcenas ad assigned them last class. I was very pleased and I told them I would give them more vocabulary so that they could do more complicated translating next time I gave them a passage. So I wrote ten more vocabulary words on the board but this time they were from the second declension. I had each students pronounce a word and guess what the meaning would be. Then I told them to add them to their vocabulary list.
Thursday 17 – Today we did a little review of the first conjugation in Greek Club but then we went right into the Christmas Party I had promised my students. I brought cookies and drinks for the class and I read them a book called “You Will Go To The Moon”. It was very fun.
Thursday 7 – Today in class we had two special guests come and tell us about Greek. Laura and Sam were two of the original Greek Club students and Sam as a special talent for reading Greek with all its accents and pitches because Greek is a tonal language. So we spent the class hearing stories about old Greek classes and having Sam read and educate us about pronouncing Greek.
Karate
Tuesday, November 3 – Today in karate we were told that there would be a belt test on Tuesday, November 18 and that today the instructors would be deciding who was ready to go to the test. We stretched for a while but not as long as usual because the instructors wanted as much time as they could get to decide who would be testing. So they quizzed us on all the things we were suppose to know for the next test. This included wrist grabs, one steps, and most importantly forms. We started with wrist grabs and went through them together as a class to make sure everyone was caught up on what they should know. Then we did the same with the one steps. I did fine with both these things because I knew mine pretty well. However I had more difficulty with the form. But I asked my instructor to help me understand the moves involved and I had it down by the end of the class.
Saturday, November 7 – Today we were told that those of us who were eligible for the next test would be given a form at the end of the class. I was nervous that I might not get one and I stayed nervous all through class. This made it difficult to focus on what we were doing. We stretched out and then we repeated what we had done in the previous class to help us prepare for the test. We did all our wrist grabs, one steps, and forms together as a class, though I was still nervous and did not do very well. But at the end of class I was still given form to sill out for the test and I was very happy that I was eligible.
Tuesday, November 10 – Today we were told that for the next week we would spend our time preparing for the test. We stretched out and then we were broken up into partners and told to practice our one steps. A few times we switched partners so that we could see how other people did their steps and practice on people of all different sizes. We did this same routine with our wrist grabs and we were encouraged to help each other execute the moves correctly. I was able to help my partner bend the wrist in a more affective way and they helped me to understand how close I should be to the person I was attacking because if I was too far away I my moves would not be very affective. It was interesting to see how differently each person executed their moves. Then, for the rest of class we practiced our forms alone.
Saturday, November 14 – Today is the last karate class before testing so we were told that those of us taking the test would get extra attention today. In fact the lower ranks, including me, were teamed up with a black belt for the whole class to critique the moves we had to do for the test. We started with forms and my black belt said that the only real problem with me form was that I was not twisting my boy enough and therefore my moves were a little stiff. He showed me how to be more flexible in my movement and I felt that my form was immensely improved. Then we worked on wrist grabs and one steps and my black said I had them down just fine.
Tuesday, November 18 – Today was the test and I am very happy to say that I succeeded in earning another rank for my karate belt. I now have a purple stripe on my belt and I am more than half way to reaching black belt. At the end of the test the instructor gave a speech about how this test represented a new stage of maturity for us and how he hoped we would use some of the ethical lessons we had learned in class to deal wit the real world. I thought that I would always consider my actions in life before perusing them. This was a very important test to me because it will be my last test before I am done with karate for this school year.
Saturday, November 21 – Today there was no karate class because of black belt testing.
Tuesday, November 25 – Today we were able to take things easy because we had just had a test. So after we stretched we had some fun with an exercise in kicking. The instructor put on a mouth guard and held the body pad over hi front while the rest of the class lined up and did their best to knock is over with different typed of kicks. I did very well because kicking is one of my strong points because I am good at throwing my weight into a kick to make it more powerful. I was one of the few people who was able to knock the instructor over and I was very proud of that. After this we spent some time on wrist grabs but we were able to do challenge each other with surprise grabs to see if we could get out of them. It was very enjoyable.
Saturday, November 28 – Today we began class by stretching and we spent an extra long time on it because we were told we would be working on balance today. We did some new stretches that stretched different muscles in our bodies to make sure we were loose enough to do the balancing exercises. I was glad we stretched that long because it is always easier to balance yourself when you are more flexible. Then we tried the various balance exercises, I found it difficult at first to maintain my balance one foot and I fell over many times. We were shown how to position our center of gravity in each exercise to keep our balance more easily. By the end of the class I was able to maintain my position without much difficulty at all.
Tuesday, December 2 – Today I could not make it to Karate because I was having an interview with MIT.
Saturday, December 5 – Today we began class with some stretching and we did pus ups and crunches. It was time to introduce the new material to be learned for those of us who had been in the last test which included me. We learned new wrist grabs, one steps, and a new form. We started with the wrist grabs and I found my new one very easy to do. Then we tried the new one steps and I had a little trouble balancing for the kick in mine at first, but I remembered the trick to balancing from the last class and I was able to apply it to execute the move correctly. Finally we moved to our new forms and I was very excited for mine. I really enjoyed learning the new form and I had it internalized by the end of the class.
Tuesday, December 8 – Today was my last day of karate class for this school year and I was happy to find that everyone said they would miss me in class. A few people even gave me hugs and the instructor said I could come back for a class whenever I wanted. It felt very nice to be a part of a group that felt like a family to me. We did the normal routine for the rest of the class. We began with stretching and then broke off into partners and worked on our wrist grabs. Then we moved to one steps and finally to our forms for the remainder of the class. I felt that I had accomplished a lot by taking these karate classes and it really helped my self esteem. I am very grateful I was able to make karate apart of my life.
Saturday, November 7 – Today we were told that those of us who were eligible for the next test would be given a form at the end of the class. I was nervous that I might not get one and I stayed nervous all through class. This made it difficult to focus on what we were doing. We stretched out and then we repeated what we had done in the previous class to help us prepare for the test. We did all our wrist grabs, one steps, and forms together as a class, though I was still nervous and did not do very well. But at the end of class I was still given form to sill out for the test and I was very happy that I was eligible.
Tuesday, November 10 – Today we were told that for the next week we would spend our time preparing for the test. We stretched out and then we were broken up into partners and told to practice our one steps. A few times we switched partners so that we could see how other people did their steps and practice on people of all different sizes. We did this same routine with our wrist grabs and we were encouraged to help each other execute the moves correctly. I was able to help my partner bend the wrist in a more affective way and they helped me to understand how close I should be to the person I was attacking because if I was too far away I my moves would not be very affective. It was interesting to see how differently each person executed their moves. Then, for the rest of class we practiced our forms alone.
Saturday, November 14 – Today is the last karate class before testing so we were told that those of us taking the test would get extra attention today. In fact the lower ranks, including me, were teamed up with a black belt for the whole class to critique the moves we had to do for the test. We started with forms and my black belt said that the only real problem with me form was that I was not twisting my boy enough and therefore my moves were a little stiff. He showed me how to be more flexible in my movement and I felt that my form was immensely improved. Then we worked on wrist grabs and one steps and my black said I had them down just fine.
Tuesday, November 18 – Today was the test and I am very happy to say that I succeeded in earning another rank for my karate belt. I now have a purple stripe on my belt and I am more than half way to reaching black belt. At the end of the test the instructor gave a speech about how this test represented a new stage of maturity for us and how he hoped we would use some of the ethical lessons we had learned in class to deal wit the real world. I thought that I would always consider my actions in life before perusing them. This was a very important test to me because it will be my last test before I am done with karate for this school year.
Saturday, November 21 – Today there was no karate class because of black belt testing.
Tuesday, November 25 – Today we were able to take things easy because we had just had a test. So after we stretched we had some fun with an exercise in kicking. The instructor put on a mouth guard and held the body pad over hi front while the rest of the class lined up and did their best to knock is over with different typed of kicks. I did very well because kicking is one of my strong points because I am good at throwing my weight into a kick to make it more powerful. I was one of the few people who was able to knock the instructor over and I was very proud of that. After this we spent some time on wrist grabs but we were able to do challenge each other with surprise grabs to see if we could get out of them. It was very enjoyable.
Saturday, November 28 – Today we began class by stretching and we spent an extra long time on it because we were told we would be working on balance today. We did some new stretches that stretched different muscles in our bodies to make sure we were loose enough to do the balancing exercises. I was glad we stretched that long because it is always easier to balance yourself when you are more flexible. Then we tried the various balance exercises, I found it difficult at first to maintain my balance one foot and I fell over many times. We were shown how to position our center of gravity in each exercise to keep our balance more easily. By the end of the class I was able to maintain my position without much difficulty at all.
Tuesday, December 2 – Today I could not make it to Karate because I was having an interview with MIT.
Saturday, December 5 – Today we began class with some stretching and we did pus ups and crunches. It was time to introduce the new material to be learned for those of us who had been in the last test which included me. We learned new wrist grabs, one steps, and a new form. We started with the wrist grabs and I found my new one very easy to do. Then we tried the new one steps and I had a little trouble balancing for the kick in mine at first, but I remembered the trick to balancing from the last class and I was able to apply it to execute the move correctly. Finally we moved to our new forms and I was very excited for mine. I really enjoyed learning the new form and I had it internalized by the end of the class.
Tuesday, December 8 – Today was my last day of karate class for this school year and I was happy to find that everyone said they would miss me in class. A few people even gave me hugs and the instructor said I could come back for a class whenever I wanted. It felt very nice to be a part of a group that felt like a family to me. We did the normal routine for the rest of the class. We began with stretching and then broke off into partners and worked on our wrist grabs. Then we moved to one steps and finally to our forms for the remainder of the class. I felt that I had accomplished a lot by taking these karate classes and it really helped my self esteem. I am very grateful I was able to make karate apart of my life.
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