October 19, 2007 (Day 44)

Reflections
In Morning Meeting, we built on the information we learned yesterday from CNN Student News about the upcoming presidential caucus/primary season (and South Carolina’s influential role).  This entailed reading an article from today’s The New York Times about John McCain’s experience here in 2000 (“Confronting Ghosts of 2000 in South Carolina” and its impact on him.  *Later in the day we spent some time on John McCain’s and Mitt Romney’s websites to see how they handle presenting their families to visitors to the site.  The scrutiny and criticisms the family of the candidate receive were some of the major aspects discussed in the article we read.  We then crafted on-line responses to the article and submitted them electronically to Mr. Kreutner.   In Math, we pushed farther into our exploration of numbers, and we also began discussion of the order of operations.  In Spanish, we practiced spelling in Spanish and talked about next week’s assessment.  We also learned the days, months, and the seasons.  In Humanities, we read and discussed “There is no frigate like a book” by Emily Dickinson and “Fog” by Carl Sandburg.  At 11 AM, Ms. Pat Boaz led her Hibben K-5 class up to see us, and we got to meet each other.  We sat in pairs and listened to Mr. Kreutner read Alexander by Harold Littledale and Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss.  In turn, each kindergartener read a small book to the entire group, and we enjoyed spending this time together.  We will continue these interactions throughout the year, and it gave us the chance to serve as mentors as our mentors serve as positive role models for us.  In Flex Time, we saw how thunderstorms were affecting the southeast today, but ,unfortunately, Atlanta was not projected to receive much rain.  We looked at the local reaction on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s website, but the main story involved neighbors informing on neighbors for violations of the water restrictions in place now.  To get a sense of how categories of drought can change, we looked at last week’s Drought Map in comparison to this week’s.  The Drought Map is created by the National Drought Mitigation Center located at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  We will check again on Monday to see what impact the rains in the southeast had on the level of drought in Alabama and Florida.   In Science, we began a field exploration, but it was curtailed by a student receiving some bites from fire ants.  We turned this into a learning opportunity upon our return to campus, and we researched data on fire ants and their venom.  At the end of the class, we reviewed the Atomic Theory test we took earlier this week.

Assignments
Leadership & Life Skills
– submit and/or refine and submit your online response to the NY Times article about John McCain

Math
– for Monday – assessment on perimeter, area, shapes, composite shapes, numbers, and algebraic properties
– for Tuesday – short worksheet due

Spanish
– spend some time studying for the Unit 1 test on Tuesday
– pages 36-40 extra credit
– complete Act 28 on p. 21
– Senora Rowland’s emails (you should be at five sent to her)

Humanities
– continue Of Mice and Men
– History notes are due on Tuesday

Science
– none

October 18, 2007 (Day 43)

Reflections
In Morning Meeting, we looked at CNN Student news.  The main story involved the growth of drug-resistant bacteria, and this linked to our earlier discussions in Humanities, Spanish, and L&L Skills about illness and disease in the pre-colonial and colonial-era in the Americas.  The main lessons we drew from the story were to be sure to use antibiotics only when necessary and to complete the full prescription.  These tactics will help stem the mutation of drug-resistant bacteria.  We also got a glimpse of the debate over competing presidential primaries & caucuses among the states (including South Carolina).  In Math, we looked at different types of numbers: natural, whole, counting, ordinal, etc.  This discussion on numbers engaged us for the entire period, and we were also able to share our research on the number zero.  In Spanish, we completed and corrected bell work after going around and practicing greetings.  We took a quiz on subject pronouns and verbs, and then we played a review game for extra credit.  In Humanities, Mr. Roger Smith joined us for a lesson on poetry.  We looked at several poems, discussed figurative language, and then read (shared) the poems we liked with the rest of the group.  In Flex Time, we worked on our weekly emails to Mrs. Rowland and then crafted an online response for Leadership and Life Skills.  In Science, we took advantage of the weather to look at storm water management practices in the area around campus. Mentor Zach Thames arrived during Flex Time and spent the rest of the day with us.

Assignments
Leadership & Life Skills
– think about how we will be working with the kindergarten’s 5-year-olds tomorrow
– submit on-line response if you have not done so already

Math 
– complete in your text page 32 (1-21 odds)

Spanish
– Copy the notes (alphabet) on pages 22-23
– write your whole name with words for the letters
– write the weekly email to Senora Rowland if you have not done so already (5th one total)
– start studying for the test on Tuesday

Humanities
– continue Of Mice and Men
– History notes are due on Tuesday

Science 
– none

October 17, 2007 (Day 42)

Reflections
It was a Learning Outside of the Classroom experience day.  At the outset of school, we got our notebook computers and logged on to the Leadership & Life Skills on-line course website.  We engaged in a lesson that allowed us to see the history of Mount Pleasant and the Old Village (including demographic information from the US Census from the past 50 years).  We used these resources as the basis of an on-line chat about patterns, trends, and the development of the town.  We also were able use Google Earth to see the similarity in layout of downtown Charleston, downtown Columbia, and the Old Village in Mt. Pleasant.  It was after 1970 (the “new” Cooper River Bridge was built) when the population exploded, and part of this is due to the Baby Boom and part of it is due to the increased convenience to downtown Charleston.  Like the rest of the country that experienced suburbanization after World War II, newer Mount Pleasant was not laid out in a grid pattern, but the road overlay on Google Earth allowed us to see the “doodles” and cul-de-sac layout of newer developments after 1970.  This has increased the stress on the few roads that run along the length of Mount Pleasant.  We also saw the pressure historically-black Scanlonville is under.  It has been an important area for the black community since the Civil War, and it is now facing gentrification as the price of land goes up (it is near Charleston Harbor and is close to the new Ravenel Bridge: this permits one to quickly shoot into Charleston and avoid the traffic of Highway 17).  We then walked to the Old Village from our campus.  We stopped at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church and examined their parking lot for water handling ability.  We noticed the extensive power/phone line presence in the area, and we talked about the debate that communities have about placing these lines underground.  There is a high cost for this, but this is weighed against the aesthetic gains.  We then headed towards Pitt Street, stopping to discuss the use of seashells in driveways and commenting on the architecture of the homes we saw.  The discussion swirled around density and walkability: aspects that are seen in areas with a grid layout and a mix of businesses and residences.  We then continued our walk, stopping to examine the Darby Building, the Old Post Office, and the site that formerly held Town Hall.  We have a connection to the new site of Town Hall.  We are the first non-sectarian independent school in the area since East Cooper School closed in 1988, and the Town of Mount Pleasant purchased the shuttered campus for Town Hall soon thereafter (and this explains the existence of a track and the gym at the complex).  The Old Post Office, a white wooden structure, allowed us to talk about the termite baits that surrounded it and what types of mulch are best for protecting a wooden home.  We were also able to guess the height above sea level of where we were on Pitt Street and at the highest home we saw in the neighborhood: we checked our estimations with a surveying crew that was working in the area.  We did pretty well!  We also had a chance to eat some of the freshly-fallen pecans, and then we made our way back to the Pitt Street Pharmacy for lunch.  Before eating, we met with a member of USL’s Board of Visitors, Dr. Jim Ward, whose office is a few doors away.  He gave us some more insight into the Old Village, explaining the trolley that used to run down Pitt Street to Sullivan’s Island and other aspects of life in the Old Village at the end of the 19th century.  Lunch was incredible at the Pitt Street Pharmacy: we enjoyed the old-time décor and feel of the store, and the shakes and food were great.  We even took a picture of the famous chewed-gum repository under the lunch counter!  After lunch, we went to Alhambra Hall and enjoyed the park.  Our venture concluded with the Old Pitt Street Bridge that used to connect Mount Pleasant to Sullivan’s Island.  It was converted to a park a few years ago, and we were able to see young aquatic life (Charleston Harbor as an estuary) and the transition from harbor to marsh. Upon returning to campus, we broke into pairs to research our math project (the history of zero), and then we cleaned up and worked on the daily reflection.

(Above) Examining the a drainage trench near St. Andrew’s Church

(Right) This intersection in the Old Village exemplifies the cost vs. benefit dilemma of burying phone/cable/power lines 

(Above Left and Above Right): Two views of Charleston Harbor from the end of King Street in the Old Village. The intersection two blocks away is over 12 feet above sea level! 

(Above Left): Pitt Street Bridge (facing the harbor)

(Above Right): Enjoying a pecan! 

(Above Left): Pitt Street Bridge (facing the harbor)

(Above Right): Pitt Street Bridge (marshside)

Wednesday, October 17 is a Learning Outside of the Classroom day. We will be taking a walking tour of the Old Village (discussing history, architecture, and the layout), and then we will eat lunch at Alhambra Hall. This will give us a chance to look at native flora and analyze Charleston Harbor from this perspective. Please be sure to wear a USL collared shirt, USL hat, comfortable shorts, and walking shoes. You will need water, your field journal & writing utensil, and lunch or money for lunch

October 16, 2007 (Day 41)

Reflections
In Morning Meeting, Mr. Kreutner read us the story of Eliza Lucas and establishment of indigo in the Lowcountry in the mid-18th century (from It Happened in South Carolina).  An interesting outgrowth of this was a discussion of farm subsidies in America: this was the case for indigo before the American Revolution.  England underwrote the industry by paying high prices to avoid buying indigo from France or Spain.  In Math, we saw the connection between our thinking questions for homework and the examination of algebraic properties (commutative, associative, etc.).  This allowed us to glimpse the essence of algebra.  In Spanish, we completed and corrected a “bell ringer” activity about subjects and verbs.  We also reviewed the subject pronouns, and our comprehension was aided by watching two brief webcasts about pronouns.  The rest of the period was used for oral questions and responses among the members of the class.  In Humanities, we talked about Of Mice and Men and did a short character analysis on George and Lenny.  We also continued to work on our Depression-era narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project.  In Flex Time, we examined a series of images on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s website showing the profound effects of the Level 4 Drought on the lakes just north of Atlanta.  We also began our first log-in to the Leadership & Life Skills on-line course.  We got acclimated to the calendar, news forum, participant chats, assignments, resources, and RSS/XML feeds (The Post and Courier’s local headlines, The (Columbia) State’s state headlines, Edutopia’s main articles, and The New York Times’ international and national headlines).  In Science, we presented our individual atomic models to the class, and this served as a valuable exercise for comprehension and preparation for our test.  We then took our atomic theory test. Mentor Zach Thames arrived during Flex Time and spent the rest of the day with us.

Assignments

Leadership & Life Skills
– on-line response to on-line learning site is due on Thursday

Math
– research and present the history of the number zero (can be done in small groups)

Spanish
– study all pronouns, subjects, and verbs
– quiz on pages 12-16
– read about culture-greetings on pages 16&17
– complete “para comprender” on p. 17
– write email to Senora Rowland by Friday (5th email)

Humanities
– finish chapter 2 (Of Mice and Men)
– keep up with details from today’s handout
– Mr. Roger Smith will be the guest teacher on Thursday.  He will be talking about poetry.

Science
– none

October 15, 2007 (Day 40)

Reflections
In Morning Meeting, we watched CNN Student news.  The four stories for the day revolved around water and the environment.  The first story involved Al Gore winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his work related to global warming.  The perspective was balanced because it noted how his efforts have resulted in greater attention to the environment, and it also acknowledged that some aspects of his film, An Inconvenient Truth, have not come to pass or are still controversial.  The second story highlighted the Internationonal Solar Decathlon. The competition, sponsored by the US Department of Energy, pits college and university teams against each other to create green, livable, and practical homes. The next story focused on the politics of water rights, and it included a clip from Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson calling for a national water policy.  Richardson is from New Mexico, a booming but water-strained area of the country, and this brought a rebuttal from the Democratic governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm.  She stated that Richardson’s policy idea was simply a ploy for water-poor states to get the resource from water-rich states.  The final story focused on the drought in Georgia.  To further look into this, we examined the  specific restrictions that Atlanta is operating under.  With less than a 100 day supply from Lake Lanier remaining, this sprawling urban area has banned all non-essential outdoor water use.  The next restrictive steps are being debated (i.e. limits on commercial and personal use).  For a local perspective, we examined the “Letters to the Editor” page of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution’s website, and we saw how some are taking pride in their brown lawns and others worry about which businesses will be adversely affected by the limitations brought on by the drought.  In Math, we took a quiz on measuring composite shapes, and then we worked on our skill sheets.  We had already placed the evaluation numbers into a MS Excel worksheet and created averages for each course and each specific skill.  Today we learned how to rank and to sort the average for each skill, and this allowed us to see which skills were universal strengths and which were the areas in which we need the most improvement.  With our learning and growth ongoing, we will soon see how we are progressing when we receive new evaluation numbers at the end of the First Quarter.  In Spanish, we reviewed Friday’s test on time and learned how to ask and answer how old you are.  We also watched a short video that helped to explain subjects and verbs, and then time was left for us to look at our homework assignment.  In Humanities, Mrs. Logan passed out a Manuscript Correction Guide and examined it with us.  It included tips for us on revising our own work, and it highlighted the major grammatical stumbling blocks seen in writing.  Getting proficient with the revision process will allow us to know the areas that are vexing to us and will help us to become better writers.  After talking about writing for some time, we moved to our reading and discussion of Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men.  We did have some time to also continue our work exploring the stories of South Carolinians in the Great Depression from the archives of the  Federal Writers’ Project located at the Library of Congress website.  In Science, it was Marshmallow Madness!  We used marshmallows to demonstrate the effects of kinetic energy and hydrogen bonds on the states of water.  At the end of the day, we watched the PowerPoint video presentation that was shown by USL at presentations about the school in the spring and summer.  This gave us the chance to reflect on how well the University School experience has answered the challenge set forth in “Shift Happens.”

Assignments
Leadership & Life Skills
– none

Math
– thinking questions worksheet

Spanish
– study subjects, verbs, and subject pronouns on pages 12-15
– complete Acts 17 & 19 (pages 14-15)
– write email to Senora Rowland by Friday (5th email)

Humanities
– finish chapter 1 (Of Mice and Men)

Science
Atomic Tuesday!
1) models due
2) test on Atomic Theory (check the study guide)