Last Day of School (from a distance)

Today was our last fourth grade Zoom class meeting, so we were asked to choose and share three words with our friends, as the year ends. When it was my turn...

Hi kids, these are my three words.

Now, this sounds great, right? But maybe a little generic? And what if you change the world by going out and kicking a puppy? Maybe it's not always such great advice.

But I didn't choose these three words as advice. They're more of a reminder, something you should know.

I want you to know your power.
I want you to know that you always have, already do, and always will

Here's a math problem:

See, I get into this sometimes when thinking about how I want to

I think, but! I want to

and make it all like I want it to be!

But I can't do that.

None of us gets to do that.

Back to the math problem.

Even though adding a dinky little 1 does not drastically alter the 1,000,000, there is no denying it. 1,000,000 and 1,000,001 are different. The 1,000,000 is no more, when it becomes 1,000,001.

It is changed.

Just like every little one of you, and every single thing you do. When you pick up your little brother to watch this Zoom class, and make him feel loved and smart, you

When I slam a door, because I feel frustrated. And it makes people in my house feel stressed out, I, unfortunately

When we all show up for each other every day and do our best, through these strange and challenging times, we

So, don't forget the power you hold. As soon as you know you have it, you can start thinking about how you already use it.

And how you want to use it, in the future.

Keep reading and have a great summer!!

Who'schooling: Mae

The following was contributed by Mae (11), when asked what she'd like to share about staying home.
 
I'm here to talk about stuff, and life, and my yard, and stuff that has happened, and is about to happen.

Zelda has become calmer, since my visits to her have become more frequent. Seeing Zelda pawing at the gate makes me want to stick my hand through the fence.

And I want to be on the other side of it because she just licks my hand, and then my hand is sticky. So, I open the gate and I hang out with Zelda and sit next to Janie. Zelda tries to get in on the fun by running up to me, and disrupting the peace that is me sitting next to Janie.
 It's sort of adorable because Zelda licks Janie's eye?

My mom gave me a tiny little patch of garden, and I plan to grow tea leaves in it. Yeah!
I just received the stevia seeds. I'm still waiting on the chamomile. It's like having control over a tiny little forest, and you decide what's in that forest.

So serene, because the garden plot is next to the fence, next to which is a pretty bush that is hanging over my garden plot.

 The forest that is not yet a forest.

Okay, next is the barrel. We used to roll on the barrels all the time when we were younger, except for me, because I was 4? 3? Recently, George and I have been playing lots of games outside with Thomas. One day, Thomas said that he wanted to roll on the barrel like we did when we were younger.

It can be pretty difficult. For one, when I first started, I wore flip flops. Now, with shoes, it's much easier. Still, you're walking backwards, while the giant blue cylinder is going forward. Keep your back straight and keep glances at your feet to a minimum!

 I climb the tree much more often now that George and I have been playing more games outside. I've made myself a new throne. It's very high up, and super comfortable.

This photo is the view that I get to see every time I climb up and sit in my throne.

Throne System: There are not many throne opportunities in the tulip tree. If there is a comfortable place in the tree that you can sit in without getting scared, and it is safe, then you can claim it. UNLESS, someone else has already claimed it. Claiming it means you basically have control over that certain area of branch. So, if you're putting on your shoes when someone else goes outside to climb the tree, you can say, "Please, don't sit in my throne."

This is my closing: Good-bye. This was Mae Laszlo. Have a nice day. Wash your hands. Good-bye. Have a nice day.

Who'schooling: George

The following was contributed by George (14), when asked about what he's learned, and what it has been like to stay in our house all the time.
  
What I learned is a bunch of new stuff about math. How to translate, on a graph. And also how to dilate and how to reflect.

That was so easy!

I love this painting, and I'm happy it's hanging in the hallway now. So, I can get a better view of it.  It's so beautiful!

(by local artist, Eric Sappington)

You don't need to paint a picture to make a painting. You only need to paint what you think of.

This took me forever to make. It took me forever to draw. There were so many small details.

I am planning to make a stop-motion animation with it. I imagined it and thought it would be a fun thing to do.

Because, 

making stuff

 is fun!

Who'schooling: Thomas hi

The following was contributed by Thomas (17), when I asked him about what's it's like to live through a historically significant event, what he's learning, and how he's managing. 

There's no way to tell how it's going to feel later, right now. Because right now, we're in the middle of the pandemic.When the future arrives, then I'll know, that's what it will have felt like like to have lived through that.
I mean, during the Dust Bowl, there wasn't really time or need for thinking about the future or the history books, just trying to do your best until the dust hits. Obviously the two time periods are nearly incomparable; but it is important to be here now so you have an experience to reminisce later in life.

There's a different perspective there, obviously. And hopefully that's what I'll be around for.

Overall, the effect of the virus has definitely subtracted a lot of structure from my life. So that's been something I've had to face myself. And that's the whole theme of the virus. I mean, it doesn't really have a theme, but its significance to us poses many obstacles. Rather than a 100m dash or something you can anticipate and train for specifically, there's more of a versatility aspect to the overcoming of these obstacles.

The whole thing is kind of a reality check. But an ongoing one: Now is a time for self discipline and versatility

Before, anytime that we weren't doing school work, or some sort of work, we felt like we should. That we don't really deserve rest, like a cloud is always hanging over you casting a shadow you can't ignore. It felt like the only time we took a rest, was to do more work.

But now everything is blending into each other, because all the walls that held everything in compartments are now gone. Everything is kind of one flavor now, so it's hard to navigate and distinguish aspects of your life.

School work has kept it together, but the school work is not that engaging, I have to say. I still make an effort to talk to the teachers and pretend that what they're doing is helpful. It is a very nice thing they're doing, and it's extremely selfless of them to put up together these classes, and adapt so quickly to the confusing in and outs of the interwebs. And that's what I respect about them, and that's why I make an effort. Because I feel like I'd be squandering that if I didn't. But, it doesn't really change the fact that it's not that engaging.

 Mae has been going after those radishes, like a beast.