Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Thursday, June 2, 2016
Pop Sonnets- Shakespeare podcast
Shakespeare Pop Sonnets is the most amazing thing I have ever read.
Pop songs today is so similar to Shakespeare that you would think they are based off of Shakespeare. Erik Didrikson wrote a book called Pop Sonnets which is our favorite pop songs translated into Shakespearean Sonnets. These are the funniest things I have ever read, and included some of my favorites below. Erik has a lot of fun converting these songs. The sonnets are 14 lines long and are in Iambic Pentameter. The most enjoyable part of it is reading the lyrics in Elizabethan language. Some of the songs such as Fresh Prince of Bel-Air you can still put the Elizabethan language lyrics to the actual music. Other songs such as Taylor Swift's Shake it Off will have a modern lyric which makes it funnier! The podcast really opened me up to how many Shakespeare connections there are in modern day culture. Since Shakespeare we have modernized but many of our dramas, stories, and situations are the same as in Shakespeare. I am sure that in Shakeaspeare's lifetime there was plenty of funny, silly moments where people dance around, drama, gossip, love triangles between the teens, and sassy people that will give you attitude in some sarcastic tone that we all have today. The Pop Sonnets makes me want to go back in time, and read these to the people to see if maybe someone is suffering a heartbreak and reciting words from Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On, or saw a fine guy and said Call Me Maybe. Now whenever I hear a song that I read the sonnet, all I can think of is how the song applies to Shakespearean times. Shakespeare was a mix of the Taylor Swift, Eminem, Beyonce, Drake, etc. of his time. Reading the pop sonnets show how much of a cultural interest that Shakespeare was.
The article I read further connects Shakespeare and modern day music. One song in particular I have loved for years and the article reminded me of how it perfectly fits in with pop sonnets. The song I am referring to is Taylor Swifts Love Story. The song to me has always summarized Romeo and Juliet and whenever I hear it I can picture Taylor Swift as Juliet in a white and gold dress in a fancy ballroom, and being swept off her feet by Romeo. The article also discusses how musicians with African-American roots (which I think all artists no matter what the race apply) use Shakespeare to explain their intentions. Shakespeare is also related to rap. Rap used powerful words, lyrics, and references to make bold political, playful, insulting, and rhythmic points. Shakespeare wrote very similar to rap because of the iambic pentameter, and he would express bold, political, hilarious, and sometimes insulting opinions and thoughts. Shakespeare has shaped our culture today, and without him I do not even want to imagine what music would be like.
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Should we be reading Shakespeare in school?
Shakespeare is a well-known british poet, and playwright from over 400 years ago. Most students still read Shakespeare today, and learn about his way of writing. On the Washington Post there is two articles posted by Valerie Strauss debating if we should still read Shakespeare in school or not. Both articles are written by long time english teachers; Dana Dusbiber who teaches minority students in an inner city school and believes we should not, and Matthew Truesdale who teaches white students in a rural school and believes we should teach Shakespeare.
Dana Dusbiber states that she does no longer want to teach Shakespeare in her high school classes. She teaches in the biggest inner city school in Sacramento California, which majorily consists of minority students. She believes that reading a dead white man will not connect well with her students.
¨So I ask, why not teach the oral tradition out of Africa, which includes an equally relevant commentary on human behavior? Why not teach translations of early writings or oral storytelling from Latin America or Southeast Asia other parts of the world? Many, many of our students come from these languages and traditions. Why do our students not deserve to study these ¨other" literatures with equal time and value?¨
Dana does have a good argument, but not every case is exactly like hers. Matthew Truesdale wrote a response to the article that was published by the same person on the Washington Post. Matthew teachers middle and high school students in a rural, mostly white town in South Carolina. Matthew disagrees with Dana and thinks that we should still teach Shakespeare in schools because he can teach about the ¨modern human condition¨.
¨Where does it say that we can´t teach Shakespeare AND oral African tradition? In fact , why not work to draw links between the two? And should we only read authors that look like us and have experiences like us? Or for that matter, does a commonality in skin color mean a commonality in experience?¨
I completely agree with Matthew Truesdale´s article, and as a high school student I certainly would not mind reading both Shakespeare and oral African stories, and making the connections between the two. Another article I found published on the American Theater website by J. Holtham is similar to Matthew's article and responds to the article written by Dana. The article states ¨Bringing them (the other culture´s oral traditions) into the classroom would be a great idea. But keeping Shakespeare is essential, too¨.
¨Shakespeare teaches us about love, honor, duty. About parents and children. About ambition and greed. These are things that all of us face, the things that makes us human."
From the perspective of a high school student Shakespeare teaches important life lessons that any person of race, ethnicity, sexuality, etc. could connect to in some way. I like the idea of reading both Shakespeare and stories from other cultures to provide everyone with something to connect to, and broadening our cultural and literature. This year is the first year that I have appreciated Shakespeare, and want to read him more.
Dana Dusbiber states that she does no longer want to teach Shakespeare in her high school classes. She teaches in the biggest inner city school in Sacramento California, which majorily consists of minority students. She believes that reading a dead white man will not connect well with her students.
¨So I ask, why not teach the oral tradition out of Africa, which includes an equally relevant commentary on human behavior? Why not teach translations of early writings or oral storytelling from Latin America or Southeast Asia other parts of the world? Many, many of our students come from these languages and traditions. Why do our students not deserve to study these ¨other" literatures with equal time and value?¨
Dana does have a good argument, but not every case is exactly like hers. Matthew Truesdale wrote a response to the article that was published by the same person on the Washington Post. Matthew teachers middle and high school students in a rural, mostly white town in South Carolina. Matthew disagrees with Dana and thinks that we should still teach Shakespeare in schools because he can teach about the ¨modern human condition¨.
¨Where does it say that we can´t teach Shakespeare AND oral African tradition? In fact , why not work to draw links between the two? And should we only read authors that look like us and have experiences like us? Or for that matter, does a commonality in skin color mean a commonality in experience?¨
I completely agree with Matthew Truesdale´s article, and as a high school student I certainly would not mind reading both Shakespeare and oral African stories, and making the connections between the two. Another article I found published on the American Theater website by J. Holtham is similar to Matthew's article and responds to the article written by Dana. The article states ¨Bringing them (the other culture´s oral traditions) into the classroom would be a great idea. But keeping Shakespeare is essential, too¨.
¨Shakespeare teaches us about love, honor, duty. About parents and children. About ambition and greed. These are things that all of us face, the things that makes us human."
From the perspective of a high school student Shakespeare teaches important life lessons that any person of race, ethnicity, sexuality, etc. could connect to in some way. I like the idea of reading both Shakespeare and stories from other cultures to provide everyone with something to connect to, and broadening our cultural and literature. This year is the first year that I have appreciated Shakespeare, and want to read him more.
Strauss, Valerie. "Teacher: Why It Is Ridiculous Not To Teach Shakespeare In School". Washington Post. N. p., 2016. Web. 3 May 2016.
Strauss, Valerie. "Teacher: Why I Don’T Want To Assign Shakespeare Anymore (Even Though He’S In The Common Core)". Washington Post. N. p., 2016. Web. 3 May 2016.
Holtham, J. "Do We Even Need To Say This? Yes, Shakespeare Belongs On The Curriculum". AMERICAN THEATRE. N. p., 2015. Web. 3 May 2016.
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Shakespeare Top 3 questions
Researching Shakespeare is a tedious task. In my school we were introduced to Shakespeare in 8th grade, and have read the 400 yr old plays ever since. Some classes were lucky enough to have good teachers who would read Shakespeare with them, I on the other hand was not so lucky. Both my 8th and 9th grade teachers hardly read any Shakespeare with us, so while some of my peers have 3 or 4 of his plays under their belts, I only have the one Romeo and Juliet.
William Shakespeare the genius behind many plays, poems, and sonnets had quite the life. He is a controversial historical figure with theories on whether or not he was an actual person (which he totally was). One of the things I found the most interesting in our class discussion was how gender and sexuality was based on a sliding scale back then. That explains how Shakespeare had romantic relationships with both genders.
Shakespeare’s works are over 400 years old yet we still read them in school today, and when we do read them they are still somewhat comical, dramatic, interesting, and relatable. That is why my number 1 question about Shakespeare was “How was Shakespeare able to write works that still connect with modern ideas?”. From the article “Why do we still care about Shakespeare?” on the UTSA College of Liberal and Fine Arts website I was able to answer my question. Shakespeare’s is one of the greatest poets of all time, and creates rich themes of love, tragedy, etc. that make his writings still appealing, and relevant for today’s generations.
Reading Shakespeare out loud in class will always be a stressful event for fear of messing up the language. My number 2 question was “Why did Shakespeare speak in a certain language?”. It is said that Shakespeare wrote in Old English. Shakespeare-Online website says that he actually wrote in what is called Early Modern English (which I guess could still be Old English to us). This was the language spoken at the time therefore the complex sentences and weird words were just natural to Shakespeare. However he did choose to write in iambic pentameter (which is another story).
Having only Romeo and Juliet under my belt I wonder how Shakespeare was able to write such a complex drama. Even as a child I knew about Romeo and Juliet written by Shakespeare. My number 3 question was “What was Shakespeare’s inspiration for Romeo and Juliet ?”. Surely he had to have some inspiration for such a tragic love story. The American Repertory Theater website provided a detailed comparison to Shakespeare’s inspiration “A Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet” by Arthur Brooke and Shakespeare’s version. As it turns out the story of Romeo and Juliet was passed down under different titles since 1530. Shakespeare simply just took a simple old love story, added drama and tragedy, and made it one of the oldest love stories of all time.
I learned much about Shakespeare’s life, and style of writing. Shakespeare has survived 400 years, and I am confident that he is not dying out any time soon.
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Is drinking milk healthy for humans?
Many children of all mammal species have been raised on their mother's milk for the early months of their life. Once weaned off their mother's milk human children then go onto formula, cow's milk, almond milk etc. Milk is also found in most recipes, and food. Even people who are lactose intolerant (unable to have milk products) are able to take pills so they can enjoy milk in favorite foods such as ice cream. I work at a dairy farm, and at Old Sturbridge Village where I hand milk cows so the process of milk is very important to me.
Why is it that milk is so important?
Every single mammal mother has produced milk for their young since the beginning of time. If life on Earth has survived billions of years already drinking milk then why question if it is healthy or not. Milk is a natural process that happens when mammal mother's give birth. One of the first things babies do is suck on their mother's nipple for milk. Scientifically speaking the sucking is a stimulus which signals the hypothalamus to have the posterior pituitary gland to release the hormone oxytocin that will release the milk. Even if mothers choose to not give their child milk, the milk will still be there. Milk also provides us with the necessary nutrients needed to finish growing and developing. Most importantly milk provides us with calcium which is needed for strong bones.
Yes there are many factors such as lactose intolerance, GMOs (genetically modified organisms), and synthetic hormones but that is not in all milk. If people were really concerned with synthetic hormones then they could drink organic milk. Most milk found in grocery stores is a mixture of milk from hundred of farms, and possibly thousands of cows. Milk from local farms is guaranteed for being fresh, and not having harmful GMOs, artificial, and synthetic hormones. Milk is healthy for humans, and for maximum health benefits drink local milk.
"Top 10 Pros And Cons - Milk - Procon.Org". Milk.procon.org. N. p., 2016. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Counting Graves- Louder than a Bomb
"My baby was only in the second grade, gun downed because you wanted to be a street slave"
- Counting Graves
The documentary Louder than a Bomb is a documentary about a Chicago High School poetry slam competition. Poets Nate Marshall, Adam Gottlieb, Nova Venerable, and a group called the Steinmenauts had poetry featured. Adam Gottlieb and Nova were both amazing poets who I enjoyed listening to, I did not like Nate Marshall as much (he was a bit boring to me), but the group I thought had the greatest piece was the Steinmenauts formerly known as Steinmentz.
Counting Graves is the poem that Kevin, Big C, Kira, and Jesus performed at Louder than a Bomb. Counting Graves to me was a mix of a story, song, and poem. Each poet plays a different role when they speak. Kira was the mother, Big C was the older brother, Kevin was the younger brother, and Jesus was the narrator. The story of Counting Graves is of a 7 yr old boy who was shot in a drive by. The little boy was wearing his big brother's clothing while outside, and the shooters thought he was his big brother. The big brother is a "street slave" meaning he was involved with drug dealing when he sold fake drugs to these guys who decided they would shoot him as payback. The big brother left his little brother alone for a few minutes when he was shot. The pain of the guilt, and disappointment from his mother drives the older brother to commit suicide in the end of the poem.
What makes this poem so powerful is the emotion each speaker brings to the poem. Big C is so much bigger and has such a deep voice compared to Kevin, it helps to visualize a big brother and little brother. The speakers also grip their chests, act distressed,pretend to drink alcohol through hand motions, Kira slapping Big C, and breathing heavily that really can show the pain behind the words. Kira also sings a stanza of the poem making it song like, giving it a more powerful energy, and grabbing the audience's attention that would not happen on paper. I do not know if this poem is based on a true story, but it was probably written to represent what struggles they have seen in their part of Chicago.
- Counting Graves
The documentary Louder than a Bomb is a documentary about a Chicago High School poetry slam competition. Poets Nate Marshall, Adam Gottlieb, Nova Venerable, and a group called the Steinmenauts had poetry featured. Adam Gottlieb and Nova were both amazing poets who I enjoyed listening to, I did not like Nate Marshall as much (he was a bit boring to me), but the group I thought had the greatest piece was the Steinmenauts formerly known as Steinmentz.
Counting Graves is the poem that Kevin, Big C, Kira, and Jesus performed at Louder than a Bomb. Counting Graves to me was a mix of a story, song, and poem. Each poet plays a different role when they speak. Kira was the mother, Big C was the older brother, Kevin was the younger brother, and Jesus was the narrator. The story of Counting Graves is of a 7 yr old boy who was shot in a drive by. The little boy was wearing his big brother's clothing while outside, and the shooters thought he was his big brother. The big brother is a "street slave" meaning he was involved with drug dealing when he sold fake drugs to these guys who decided they would shoot him as payback. The big brother left his little brother alone for a few minutes when he was shot. The pain of the guilt, and disappointment from his mother drives the older brother to commit suicide in the end of the poem.
What makes this poem so powerful is the emotion each speaker brings to the poem. Big C is so much bigger and has such a deep voice compared to Kevin, it helps to visualize a big brother and little brother. The speakers also grip their chests, act distressed,pretend to drink alcohol through hand motions, Kira slapping Big C, and breathing heavily that really can show the pain behind the words. Kira also sings a stanza of the poem making it song like, giving it a more powerful energy, and grabbing the audience's attention that would not happen on paper. I do not know if this poem is based on a true story, but it was probably written to represent what struggles they have seen in their part of Chicago.
Monday, February 22, 2016
Goodbye Feb. vacation, hello Summer vacation
Well today is the first day back to class from February vacation. There are two types of school vacation people. Some people travel to somewhere warmer, and others just hang out at their houses sleeping. This vacation I was one of those people that just stayed home worked, did an AP biology project, and slept. Next vacation I'm going to Florida so it was nice to chill this vacation.
I did get good news over vacation. One the Friday of vacation I got a large envelope addressed to me from my summer camp. Inside was my contract to be a camp counselor! That's right for summer 2016 I will be a camp counselor at my summer camp for 7 weeks! Being a camp counselor is really important to me because I've been a camper, CIT, and now counselor. I was really nervous about my interview, and getting the job. I knew in advance that I was going to be offered a counselor position, but I wasn't sure if it was paid or not. If I didn't get a paid position then I would've gotten an internship where I would work for hours to use for school. I was also nervous because the position I really wanted was the farm barn counselor. The farm barn counselor is the one counselor in charge of the farm class at camp. The farm barn is one of the most popular classes because you learn about farm animals. There is a variety of agricultural animals from rabbits, chickens, pigs, goats, cows, calves, sheep, you name it, and it has been in there. There is two teenagers who help teach the class even though they are not official counselors. I was doubting myself on getting the position because I wasn't sure if I had to be over 18 (I will only be 16 this summer). I do have a lot of experience working with animals, and have many fun activities that would be fun for campers learned about agriculture.
Fortunately for me when I opened up my contract it said that I had been hired as a paid counselor (I get over $1000!) and I'm the farm barn counselor. It is honestly a dream come true. Not many people are willing to spend all summer in cabins with no electricity, with kids 24/7, and in a barn taking care of many animals. Me on the other hand I can't wait. I hope to inspire kids to pursue agricultural careers like me.
I did get good news over vacation. One the Friday of vacation I got a large envelope addressed to me from my summer camp. Inside was my contract to be a camp counselor! That's right for summer 2016 I will be a camp counselor at my summer camp for 7 weeks! Being a camp counselor is really important to me because I've been a camper, CIT, and now counselor. I was really nervous about my interview, and getting the job. I knew in advance that I was going to be offered a counselor position, but I wasn't sure if it was paid or not. If I didn't get a paid position then I would've gotten an internship where I would work for hours to use for school. I was also nervous because the position I really wanted was the farm barn counselor. The farm barn counselor is the one counselor in charge of the farm class at camp. The farm barn is one of the most popular classes because you learn about farm animals. There is a variety of agricultural animals from rabbits, chickens, pigs, goats, cows, calves, sheep, you name it, and it has been in there. There is two teenagers who help teach the class even though they are not official counselors. I was doubting myself on getting the position because I wasn't sure if I had to be over 18 (I will only be 16 this summer). I do have a lot of experience working with animals, and have many fun activities that would be fun for campers learned about agriculture.
Fortunately for me when I opened up my contract it said that I had been hired as a paid counselor (I get over $1000!) and I'm the farm barn counselor. It is honestly a dream come true. Not many people are willing to spend all summer in cabins with no electricity, with kids 24/7, and in a barn taking care of many animals. Me on the other hand I can't wait. I hope to inspire kids to pursue agricultural careers like me.
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Death Penalty article response
Death Penalty's False Promise: An Eye for an Eye by Anna Quindlen is a hard hitting article on her thoughts about death penalties. Anna uses Ted Bundy as an example to base her opinions of death penalty on, and provides examples of the crimes he committed. Ted Bundy was a serial killer and rapist during the 1970’s. As early on as his teenage years Ted Bundy killed and raped over 30 young girls. Ted Bundy was executed by the electric chair at the age of 42, and people at the time truly believed that he deserved it.
Anna talks in the beginning of the article about how she followed along with the murder cases, and could see herself as being one of the victims. She concludes with the idea that death penalty is not right even in extreme cases such as Ted Bundy. The victim’s parents did want to see Ted Bundy die because they thought it would be fair, and other people also supported Ted Bundy’s death penalty. However Anna states “...not only because it consists of stooping to the level of the killers, but also because it is not what it seems.” She makes an agreeable point to the fact that killing a person just because they killed many people does not serve a justice.
Anna concludes her article with this statement “What he wants is for something as horrifying as what happened to his child to happen to Ted Bundy. And that is impossible.”. That statement helped prove to me that Anna is somewhat right. The victim’s parents feel that the murderer of their children should feel as much pain in dying as their innocent girl’s had, but what I think Anna is saying is the girls had such horrible deaths caused by Ted Bundy that it is almost impossible to do something just as bad.
Anna makes strong points that are agreeable. Death Penalties seems as if it is an easy way out for the criminal. Yes the death is somewhat painful, but that doesn’t make the criminal regret what they did. If they locked the criminal up in a high security prison then perhaps they would have enough time to reflect, wonder how good their lives could’ve been, and then regret their actions. In the case of Ted Bundy I feel differently. Ted Bundy escaped prison, had many court cases, and still continued his actions. I believe that the only way for Ted Bundy to be stopped was for him to be killed. He might’ve not regretted his life decisions, but if he was still alive he could have potentially always find a way to get back to murdering woman. Death Penalty should not be used all the time, but in extreme cases where nothing else can be done to stop a person such as Ted Bundy it was needed.
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Living in 1838
So if you haven't heard of Old Sturbridge Village you should probably go back to my last post to learn what Old Sturbridge Village is about.
What not many people know about me is that I am a 4-H intern at Old Sturbridge Village! There are three types of interns at OSV. There are college interns which stay throughout the whole summer at the Old Sturbridge hotel, and they help out with all aspects of the village. Junior interns make up the majority of the interns. Junior interns help in cooking, with summer camp, gardens (sometimes), dying wool, and games. The next branch of interns is the 4-H interns which there is not as many of. These interns are from the 4-H and FFA programs, meaning that they have experience working with animals and plants. These interns are the same ages as Junior Interns (14-18). 4-H interns are very important at OSV, and have more responsibilities than junior interns. 4-H interns work strictly in the gardens, and with the dairy. Being a 4-H intern is an amazing experience, and one of my favorite parts of summer.
In case you are wondering, yes I do have to wear a costume. I am out in 80 degree heat in a dress, long apron, petticoat, long socks, and then my underneath clothes (basically shorts just and a tank top). No, it is not that hot. All of the clothes are made of cotton so it is very breathable. I do have to wear my hair up in a bun, and covered with a bonnet. The only part of my costume that is bothersome is my sun bonnet. This is a bonnet to be worn outside (which I always am) and have a huge rim that covers my face, and a flap that covers my neck. Being a 4-H intern I do not get a delicate straw hat like the other interns which is good because I hear they are a pain. That is just part of my summer wardrobe which I will probably never post pictures of. Winter wardrobes have so much more pieces to them, but are so much nicer looking so expect pictures of those.
My schedule as a 4-H intern consists of working in the garden for the morning, early afternoon, taking the calves out for Meet the Calf twice a day, and the late afternoon milking the cows, and feeding bottle to the calves. My favorite part of the day is when I do Meet the Calf. Meet the Calf takes place in the morning and the afternoon every day. What I do is put a halter on the calf, walk it out of it's stall (or field), and take it outside so visitors can pet the calf. I have to talk about the calf all while making sure the calf doesn't get to overwhelmed by the crowd of people. I also help with milking in the afternoon. Yes, I actually milk a whole cow by myself, by hand. Half the time there is another 4-H intern to help, but I am often alone. On average there is 3 cows, 2 are milked twice a day, and 1 is milked once a day. The milkmaid will talk, and milk our best cow Betsy who is nearest to the watching area. That leaves us to milking Button the cow in the back, and who likes to kick. Milking is not so bad, but it is hard work. In the end it is all worth it because I get to make the bottles, and feed them to the calves. By that time of day the village is a half hour to closing time so there is little to none visitors. The only part I do not really like is cleaning the milking buckets after. The buckets are made of wood so to clean them you must rinse them under cold water, and use a knife along the rim to get all of the milk out. It is a really long process that I dread doing, but sometimes the milkmaid will scrub out the buckets leaving me for more time to play with the calves!
I am really missing summer, my internship, and my calves right now so I am going to start posting my favorite stories about working over at Old Sturbridge Village, and I promise they won't be as long as this one!
What not many people know about me is that I am a 4-H intern at Old Sturbridge Village! There are three types of interns at OSV. There are college interns which stay throughout the whole summer at the Old Sturbridge hotel, and they help out with all aspects of the village. Junior interns make up the majority of the interns. Junior interns help in cooking, with summer camp, gardens (sometimes), dying wool, and games. The next branch of interns is the 4-H interns which there is not as many of. These interns are from the 4-H and FFA programs, meaning that they have experience working with animals and plants. These interns are the same ages as Junior Interns (14-18). 4-H interns are very important at OSV, and have more responsibilities than junior interns. 4-H interns work strictly in the gardens, and with the dairy. Being a 4-H intern is an amazing experience, and one of my favorite parts of summer.
In case you are wondering, yes I do have to wear a costume. I am out in 80 degree heat in a dress, long apron, petticoat, long socks, and then my underneath clothes (basically shorts just and a tank top). No, it is not that hot. All of the clothes are made of cotton so it is very breathable. I do have to wear my hair up in a bun, and covered with a bonnet. The only part of my costume that is bothersome is my sun bonnet. This is a bonnet to be worn outside (which I always am) and have a huge rim that covers my face, and a flap that covers my neck. Being a 4-H intern I do not get a delicate straw hat like the other interns which is good because I hear they are a pain. That is just part of my summer wardrobe which I will probably never post pictures of. Winter wardrobes have so much more pieces to them, but are so much nicer looking so expect pictures of those.
My schedule as a 4-H intern consists of working in the garden for the morning, early afternoon, taking the calves out for Meet the Calf twice a day, and the late afternoon milking the cows, and feeding bottle to the calves. My favorite part of the day is when I do Meet the Calf. Meet the Calf takes place in the morning and the afternoon every day. What I do is put a halter on the calf, walk it out of it's stall (or field), and take it outside so visitors can pet the calf. I have to talk about the calf all while making sure the calf doesn't get to overwhelmed by the crowd of people. I also help with milking in the afternoon. Yes, I actually milk a whole cow by myself, by hand. Half the time there is another 4-H intern to help, but I am often alone. On average there is 3 cows, 2 are milked twice a day, and 1 is milked once a day. The milkmaid will talk, and milk our best cow Betsy who is nearest to the watching area. That leaves us to milking Button the cow in the back, and who likes to kick. Milking is not so bad, but it is hard work. In the end it is all worth it because I get to make the bottles, and feed them to the calves. By that time of day the village is a half hour to closing time so there is little to none visitors. The only part I do not really like is cleaning the milking buckets after. The buckets are made of wood so to clean them you must rinse them under cold water, and use a knife along the rim to get all of the milk out. It is a really long process that I dread doing, but sometimes the milkmaid will scrub out the buckets leaving me for more time to play with the calves!
I am really missing summer, my internship, and my calves right now so I am going to start posting my favorite stories about working over at Old Sturbridge Village, and I promise they won't be as long as this one!
me in my winter wardrobe with my calves
pattern of one of my summer dresses
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Old Sturbridge Village: throughout the months
Old Sturbridge Village is a living history museum located in Sturbridge MA depicting what life would be like in 1838. When you walk in it looks like you are in an 1800's town. Visitors are allowed to walk all around, go in the houses (restored from the 1800's), and participate in activities. The village is open all year long, and there is a variety of events constantly going on.
In March-June new calves, and lambs are born, and the gardens are getting ready to be planted. There will typically be 3 calves a year and around 20 little lambs running around!
In June-August the calves are out, the cows are being milked, and gardens are in full bloom. There are many fun events like antique car day, Redcoats vs Rebels (the re-enactment of the civil war), and many many more! Old Sturbridge Village also puts on a farmers market on the weekends during this time of year.
August-October is harvest time at the village. The gardens are finishing growing, being harvested, and put to bed for the winter. As it gets colder the winter dresses come out, the foliage is spectacular, the cows are being dried off, and the calves are bigger. During harvest there is also an abundance of apples! There is an event in October that is the village's final event of the year for all farming aspects. At this time all gardens are done being harvest, it is the last days for the interns for the year, the last meet the calf events, cider is being made, and apple tasting is going on.
November is a slow month and the only big event is Thanksgiving.
Once December comes the village is back to business. The village only will open Friday-Sunday evenings for Christmas by Candlelight. Christmas by Candlelight is by far the biggest event at Old Sturbridge Village (red coats vs rebels second). During Christmas by Candlelight the village is all lit up with lights and lanterns. There is 1800's hot chocolate, and mulled cider (which you can make little spice bags to put in), Mrs. Cratchit's Christmas dinner being made, ornament making, toy train making, gingerbread house contest, Santa in his workshop, carolers, story telling, bonfires, sleigh rides, dancing, local groups preforming, and so much more!
January-February is quiet with not many events going on, but very pretty to go for pictures.
If you are interesting in visiting, and want more information the website link is here: https://www.osv.org/
In March-June new calves, and lambs are born, and the gardens are getting ready to be planted. There will typically be 3 calves a year and around 20 little lambs running around!
In June-August the calves are out, the cows are being milked, and gardens are in full bloom. There are many fun events like antique car day, Redcoats vs Rebels (the re-enactment of the civil war), and many many more! Old Sturbridge Village also puts on a farmers market on the weekends during this time of year.
August-October is harvest time at the village. The gardens are finishing growing, being harvested, and put to bed for the winter. As it gets colder the winter dresses come out, the foliage is spectacular, the cows are being dried off, and the calves are bigger. During harvest there is also an abundance of apples! There is an event in October that is the village's final event of the year for all farming aspects. At this time all gardens are done being harvest, it is the last days for the interns for the year, the last meet the calf events, cider is being made, and apple tasting is going on.
November is a slow month and the only big event is Thanksgiving.
Once December comes the village is back to business. The village only will open Friday-Sunday evenings for Christmas by Candlelight. Christmas by Candlelight is by far the biggest event at Old Sturbridge Village (red coats vs rebels second). During Christmas by Candlelight the village is all lit up with lights and lanterns. There is 1800's hot chocolate, and mulled cider (which you can make little spice bags to put in), Mrs. Cratchit's Christmas dinner being made, ornament making, toy train making, gingerbread house contest, Santa in his workshop, carolers, story telling, bonfires, sleigh rides, dancing, local groups preforming, and so much more!
January-February is quiet with not many events going on, but very pretty to go for pictures.
If you are interesting in visiting, and want more information the website link is here: https://www.osv.org/
Redcoats vs Rebels Encampment on the Common (August)
Doc or Blue - one of OSV's old lineback oxen (gone now)
Freeman Farm at Dusk
Redcoats vs Rebels Calvary horses in Fenno Barn Pasture(August)
Redcoats vs Rebels encampment near the church (August)
Freeman Farm barn
Watermelon growing in Freeman Farm garden
2015 OSV calves left to right: Sid, Tom, May (early August)
The Cattle Herd (2 oxen, 3 cows, 3 yearlings)
Center Village Common with foliage (October)
Looking onto Fenno Barn Pasture (October)
Foliage over Towne house garden (October)
Center Village (October)
Church (October)
2015 OSV calves left to right: Tom, Sid, May (November)
Cooking in the Freeman Farmhouse kitchen (November)
Covered Bridge (November)
Towne House (November)
Center Village common (November)
Parsonage House during Christmas by Candlelight (December)
Fenno Barn Pasture (December)
Inside Parsonage Barn during Christmas by Candlelight (December)
Christmas Tree for Christmas by Candlelight (December)
Lantern and Towne House during Christmas by Candlelight (December)
2015 calf May in Fenno barn pasture for Christmas by Candlelight (December)
2015 calves Tom (in back) and Sid (December)
Standardized Testing in America
Standardized testing has become more widely used in education within the last decade. Standardized testing is suppose to be a fair, non discriminatory way to measure how much a student has learned. The test is set by state standards to determine what students should know. Educators from the state create the test questions, test them out in a field group of students, and then are put into the test. The field test responses are judged based on how gender, and race of students effected the response. The questions that pass the field test are then put into the test. Once the test is taken students are graded based on the state standards. This way of testing is unfair for students. Students should not be measured based on standards that people set. Students have different mentalities, teachers, and ways of learning that could be variables in what could cause students to do poorly on these tests.
As a student my Massachusetts state test is the MCAS. We usually take this test between the months of March and May. Ever since 3rd grade we have had it drilled into our heads that we will take this test once a year for grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 8, and 10. We have also been told that colleges look at these tests, and if we fail the test in 10th grade then we will not get into college. Yes, teachers do tell their 3rd grade students that if they fail the test in 10th grade we won't be accepted to a college. That is a huge amount of pressure building up on students through out the years. Sure enough this year is my 10th grade year, and the very last year of MCAS. As I am in my last year with MCAS my brothers are starting their first year of standardized testing with the PARCC test. The PARCC test is the new version of MCAS except taken online. PARCC stands for Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. Why should 3rd grade students take a test on getting ready for college? The companies that distribute the tests claim that these tests are "stress free" for students. This is in fact the opposite. Students get easily stressed out because we know that we are not ready for the test. In elementary school I spent the majority of the year doing MCAS prep, taking old MCAS tests in math, and English, and doing open response essay questions from the previous years. I can distinctly remember my teachers going onto the smartboard, pulling up the rubric for the open responses, and reading past open responses grade 0-6 , and the class would always laugh at the 0 or 1 responses. Spending most of our year reading old test questions is not preparing us for the new test questions.
Standardized testing should no longer be in the schools. Students should not have to be pressured into taking a test that in the long run will not affect their careers. Adults such as educators or politicians spend their adult lives working to make the future better for the kids of the next generations. The problem is that educators try to make our education system better by using old ideas. Our education system was set up in in the enlightenment era. This is the 21st century, and we need a new system of education which eliminates standardized testing.
As a student my Massachusetts state test is the MCAS. We usually take this test between the months of March and May. Ever since 3rd grade we have had it drilled into our heads that we will take this test once a year for grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 8, and 10. We have also been told that colleges look at these tests, and if we fail the test in 10th grade then we will not get into college. Yes, teachers do tell their 3rd grade students that if they fail the test in 10th grade we won't be accepted to a college. That is a huge amount of pressure building up on students through out the years. Sure enough this year is my 10th grade year, and the very last year of MCAS. As I am in my last year with MCAS my brothers are starting their first year of standardized testing with the PARCC test. The PARCC test is the new version of MCAS except taken online. PARCC stands for Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. Why should 3rd grade students take a test on getting ready for college? The companies that distribute the tests claim that these tests are "stress free" for students. This is in fact the opposite. Students get easily stressed out because we know that we are not ready for the test. In elementary school I spent the majority of the year doing MCAS prep, taking old MCAS tests in math, and English, and doing open response essay questions from the previous years. I can distinctly remember my teachers going onto the smartboard, pulling up the rubric for the open responses, and reading past open responses grade 0-6 , and the class would always laugh at the 0 or 1 responses. Spending most of our year reading old test questions is not preparing us for the new test questions.
Standardized testing should no longer be in the schools. Students should not have to be pressured into taking a test that in the long run will not affect their careers. Adults such as educators or politicians spend their adult lives working to make the future better for the kids of the next generations. The problem is that educators try to make our education system better by using old ideas. Our education system was set up in in the enlightenment era. This is the 21st century, and we need a new system of education which eliminates standardized testing.
Standardizedtests.procon.org
Standardizedtests.procon.org,. "Standardized Tests - Procon.Org". N. p., 2016. Web. 31 Jan. 2016.
Sunday, January 24, 2016
Bee
Thursday, January 21, 2016
New Year's resolution prompt for class
The excerpt by John Tierney is using statistics to show that the majority of people will break their New Year's resolution. If someone with a New Year's resolution was to read this excerpt, they will have higher chances of breaking their New Year's resolution rather than succeeding. Unlike the excerpt the article by Tara Parker-Pope is encouraging people to go through with their resolutions. Tara Parker-Pope also says that most people will not succeed in their resolutions, but that is why she includes tips for succeeding. I agree with her statement that if you have too many resolutions then you will not have enough willpower to finish them all. To really succeed at a New Year's resolution you need to be able to focus on accomplishing it. If there are too many things you wish to change, then you will give up before you can change them all.
My tendency is an obliger. Being an obliger I am able to meet my outer expectations, but not my inner. What I mean by that is that I can keep other people's promises to myself, but I am not able to keep my promises to myself. I put other people expectations for me before my own. This gives my personal New Year's resolutions a higher chance of breaking. This can be an obstacle when accomplishing goals because it makes it harder to achieve my personal goals. If I know that someone expects me to achieve a certain goal, then I will be more likely to achieve. I hope that this does not affect my career goals, but I doubt that it will.
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
My Header Photo
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
About
Hi my name is Hannah and this is my English Class blog.
This blog will be about my personal interests which include animals, books, and photography. My life mission is to major in animal science, and devote my life to working with agricultural animals. I also really like reading, and the series I'm obsessed with the most is Harry Potter (and then the Selection). Photography is also a side hobby of mine. I mostly take photos of animals, and nature. I love learning more about photography, and talking about my pictures.
"It is important to remember that we all have magic inside of us"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)