Nature’s Classroom Reflection – By Audrey

A few weeks ago, the 6th and 7th graders went to a place called Nature’s Classroom where we stayed for a week. I had an amazing amount of fun there, and here are a few of my all time favorite things and experiences.

One of my favorite aspects of the entire experience was the counselors. We went to a place in Massachusetts, and I really enjoyed spending time with them. The head of the place, homeslice, was really funny and cool, and my field group leader, Griffin, had some fun ideas. I especially liked our skit for Thursday Night live (TNL), in which I got to act like a sloth and go very slowly. Our teachers also performed a skit, which I found more entertaining than all of the other skits. I think Thursday night live was my favorite activity, although the other activities were great as well. I also will not forget all of the other counselors, who performed funny skits in TNL, provided entertaining moments in all of the meals, and had some exciting classes.

Another thing I will miss is the classes and field groups. They ranged from building bridges out of spaghetti (something I did not do too well at after defying the rules of, “use triangles to make it stronger”), to the Poop Olympics (don’t turn away because of the name, it is a great class). They all made me think and taught me something. Classes like this, where I got to be hands on, were really effective because that is how I process information best. I wish I could do an egg drop every day!

Although there are so many things that I’ll miss (for instance, the dining hall, the jokes, the beautiful grounds, and more), the last things that I will miss the most are the food and the bunks. The food there was much better than a lot of the things I eat at home. Everything was different each day, and even if I couldn’t or didn’t want to eat any of the main courses there was always some sort of substitute. I’ll also miss the bunks, partly because I have never slept in that sort of situation before and partly because it was so fun to sleep in a bunk. I loved my bunch, and it was nice and clean (except for when all of my stuff was on it.)

All in all, this was one of the best weeks in the school year, and I can’t wait to do it again next year!

Holiday Celebration Blog Post – By Audrey

It is almost time for winter holidays, and there are lots of holidays of all different religions coming up. There are many different festivities and traditions, and I am going to talk about what I do during this time of year.

Since my parents grew up Christian, my family celebrates Christmas even though we are not very religious. We celebrate Christmas for the giving and the time with family, because almost every year I get together with my family and we all have a big celebration, even if it isn’t exactly on Christmas. This year, before Christmas, I went up to my aunt and uncle’s house for a big party with my grandparents and my cousin. I was very happy to be able to exchange gifts and play games with relatives I don’t get to see all the time.

Even though my family celebrates Christmas, we have some traditions, special only to us. For instance, my family usually has a Christmas Eve dinner of Squid soup,  because it is an italian tradition. Although this year we want something different. It is one of the only times we use the table in the dining room, because usually we don’t all have dinner together. But it is really nice to get together at the table!

Another tradition we have is opening the presents from relatives on Christmas Eve night instead of Christmas morning. We always open one present at a time in a certain order, and we all talk after everyone open’s each present. I love getting to open my presents a day early,and then waking up the next day to Santa’s presents, which are always unwrapped.

I don’t have many plans for New Years this year. I always watch the ball drop on television, even if the time is an hour earlier like it was in Chicago. I always spend time with either friends or family, and most times I stay up until twelve. But some years I’m so tired I fall asleep!

I am so excited for Christmas to come, and I wish everyone a Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

Attribution:

From Flikr – Christmas Fireplace by Christian Marineau 

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Week Number Four – Part 1 Activity 2 – By Audrey

Week Number Activity #2

This week, I did the second activity on Mr. Bogush’s website where I googled myself. When I typed in my name, I got some mixed results.

I’ve searched myself before because I was curious, and each time I did different things came up. When I did it this time, one thing that I saw that I was happy about was the publicity for the book that I wrote. Before, there wasn’t much of a digital footprint, but now I see websites linking me to the book I wrote and I’m proud. Different websites have data about it, which I’m surprised about. I only thought it was on one.

Other than all of the posts about a woman with my first name in a town with my name in it, there were a few other things sprinkled in there. I saw a few presentations and a link to my Youtube Channel, which I don’t really have any feelings about. I don’t think they make a bad mark in my digital footprint, and all of the things I was embarrassed about I tried my best to make not public.

In conclusion, when I searched myself I did not find anything I regretted.I am very happy about that.

One For the Murphys – Hero Post – By Audrey

I think there are two heroes in One for The Murphys, and they are Julie Murphy and Carley. These two characters have done the most things that make me think they are heroes.

To me, a hero isn’t simply someone who does a good deed. The deed they do has to have a personal effect on me or someone I care about. In One For the Murphys, I think that a hero should have a good effect on one of the main characters. So although the dad in the story, Jack Murphy, is a fireman, I do not think he is a hero in this story because he does not have a heroic effect on a main character.

The first one is Julie Murphy because she helps people. Not just that, but Mrs. Murphy always cares about people even if they are mean to her. For instance, when Carley was rude in the beginning, she didn’t yell at her. She wants to know everyone’s story and she is one of the most understanding characters I know. For example, when Michael Eric got punched by the kid on the street, Mrs. Murphy comforted her son. Also, when Carley ran away, Julie went out to look for her and took her back in. Even just having the courage to host a foster child is heroic, because it is helping a needy child and she is doing what is right no matter what others say. In my opinion, doing what is right is always the most heroic action.

I think the other hero is Carley for many reasons. Sure, she can be rude and a joker, but there are some moments where she acts hero-like. Plus, she comes from a hard background, which means that she will still have some pain in her from before. This can cause some emotional aggression and sadness in people. But she was brave in that situation, and she got through it, which to me makes her a hero. Also, when Michael Eric got a seizure, she stepped up to help Julie with the Easter Baskets and putting the boys to sleep. She actually cares for Adam, Daniel and Michael Eric. Even though Daniel can be a brat, she doesn’t lose it with him.

In conclusion, out of all the characters in the book, I think that these two characters are the heroes because of their love for the other characters and their bravery.

Time For a Break Challenge Post – Week Three – By Audrey

Week Three: Time for A Break

This week, I did the “Time For a Break” challenge, where I played three of the games on the page. Here I am going to explain all three of them, each equally fun and entertaining.

The first game I played was called “This is Sand”, where you draw and make pictures with digital different colored sand. It wasn’t exactly a game, but it was still interesting. I did it at first because it seemed simple, but after a bit of trying I realized that it was different then I thought. The colors stack on top of each other as you drop the sand, which means that if you get the wrong color, you have to restart the entire drawing. But it was still really fun, experimenting with colors and focusing on  creating pictures. I really enjoyed it.

The second game I played wasn’t exactly a game, like the first one. It was a website where you put in a series of piano notes to create a song, and you can change it up and make it different. I created two different songs, tweaking them both a little bit to make them sound better. Both of them weren’t long at all, and one of them was just going up and down the piano scale.I didn’t save any of them, but I listened to them over a few times. It was not as fun as the last one, but it let me take use my music knowledge into an activity. And, I liked being able to hear something I made.

The last activity I did was the Magnetic Poetry activity, where you tried to create a poem out of magnetic words. Since I am a writer, I thought it would be easy and fun to write a poem out of words. When when I clicked on it I realized they gave you a limited amount of words and the words were completely random, which made everything very hard. I only got to the first line, and it didn’t make much sense. But out of all of them, I liked that this one was the most challenging and made me think the most. The words were also kind of funny, with the word “chocolate” next to “delirious”.

Even though the activity this week wasn’t a writing piece, I still had a very good time doing the activities and writing about them. I can’t wait to find out what next’s week challenge is!

 

Blogging Challenge #1, Activity #2- All About Me – By Audrey

Blogging Challenge #1

Hello, everyone! I am Audrey, a sixth grader at PDS, age eleven, and I live in New York State. I live with my mom, my dad, my sister, and my two cats, Raja and Jinkx. Weird names, I know, but they suit the cats.

If I were to list every single detail about me, you would be reading a novel right now. Seriously. I could write an entire novel just on my favorite animals. So I’ll just say the basics, starting with my hobbies.

Writing is my LIFE. I write a thousand words every day, and I am trying to be able to do this for an entire year. I haven’t missed a day so far, and I’m about a third of the way done, which is exciting for me. And no, I don’t do it for school. It was a personal choice. See? I am invested in writing.

I also participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo for short), an event that happens every November. National Novel Writing Month is where you try to write as many words of a new novel as you can. You set a goal for yourself and write every day until you reach it, and you have to reach it by the end of the month. Last year was my first year doing it, and I achieved my goal of 30,500 words in November. I continued working on my novel for about three more months, and at the end of February I finished and self published my book on Amazon. I got to do a reading in a bookstore and a radio interview, which was very exciting.

Even though writing is life, I’m still a huge reader. I love reading almost as much as I love writing. I consider myself a bookworm.

I can read a two hundred page book in two or three days if it is really interesting, and if I am really committed I might even be able to read one in only a day. My favorites are The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Egypt Game, Cowboy and Octopus, The Phantom Tollbooth, and a million more. I wish I could name them all, except that would take up all of your time.

Other than writing, I enjoy playing soccer, watching television (I’m a bit obsessed), joking around with my family, drawing, cuddling with my cats, and more.

I am a genuinely hard working person, always trying to do the best I can at school. At home it is a different situation. Let’s just say, if you walk into my house right now, you will probably spot me sitting on the couch watching television. I might also be eating some cookies and spilling spaghetti all over my new white shirt.

I also have very interesting taste in music and television. With music, I’m not a very big fan of the big name artists (Ariana Grande, Katy Perry, etc.). I am more into bands that are a bit more mature for my age, like The White Stripes and Florence and the Machine and Marina and the Diamonds. Not many people in my grade know these bands, and the same goes for my favorite TV shows. Even though I am sometimes found watching episodes of Spongebob I am mostly found watching more mature shows, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and How I Met Your Mother (both incredible, if you like sitcoms and vampires). I’m very emotional when it comes to them as well. Actually, I’m emotional when it comes to any sort of television.

Other than my personality quirks, I have some physical quirks as well.

My style is pretty casual. I dye my hair, and it is currently a light pink-blonde color and comes down to my shoulders. I mostly wear jeans, yoga pants, and regular t-shirts. I wear skirts once in a while, but I sometimes think that I look immature in them, so I stick to jeans. Dresses are only for occasions. I wear earrings sometimes, but I always forget to put them in. I’m also very short for my age, which makes me look younger than I am now.

I can be forgetful sometimes. It can be simple things, like who’s playing what position in soccer, or some school things, like my schedule, or what happened in a movie I just saw. It can be frustrating. Other than that, I’m also kind of bad-tempered and rude and pretty impatient at times. But, beside the bad qualities (which I’m not going to pay too much attention to), I have a great sense of humor, I can be generous, and selfless. But I can be a little weird (in a good way). For instance, I have seven favorite animals, I was interested in magic for a while, I consider my spirit animal an octopus, and my nickname is Psychic Eyeball (long story).

Of course, I could tell you more, but again, I don’t want to drag on until I have an entire novel. So I have to say goodbye. Adios, Au revoir, eeSay ouYay aterLay. To all of my fans, good night! I’ll be here all week! (And for a matter of fact, the whole year too).

Wait! One last thing; my family is thinking of getting a miniature pig, but we still haven’t decided on a name. I think for a girl it should either be Ramona or Ginger or Evelyn or Cosima, and for a boy I want to name it either Clifford or Paul. What do you think?

Now, my readers, I will fly off in my magic bubble! Good bye!

 

The Winner- A Scary Story – By Audrey

The Winner

There Faye was, standing alone in Ghostwillow Park, at nine o’clock at night. The birds had stopped warbling, so the only sound was the bounce of her ball hitting the paddle board in her hand. Over and over she bounced the ball in a hypnotizing rhythm. Bounce, Pause. Bounce, Pause. Bounce, Pause.

He is not coming, Faye thought. I should’ve known. Faye was waiting for the editor of a Halloween catalogue, a man named Dee, to deliver her prize money. You see, Faye’s life was very unremarkable. So when she saw the raffle in the magazine for two hundred dollars, she knew she had to enter. She expected the worst, but a week later, she found out she had won. Now she was anxiously waiting for someone to deliver her money.

Suddenly, a figure appeared on the trail. He wore a fedora and a leather coat, and he was very pale, almost white. In his hand was an envelope. He walked up to her and grabbed her arm. “Congratulations,” he whispered. “You’ve won.” Faye screamed.

The man dragged her behind a massive rock in the middle of the park. He grabbed Faye by the neck so she couldn’t breathe. She tried to pry his hands off her neck, but he was too strong.

Finally she managed to swing her leg and kick him in the chest, sending him stumbling back into the shrubs. She watched in horror as a stray branch impaled his heart, and he started sweating. Soon she realized that it was not sweat, It was drops of flesh coming off his skin. He was melting into a huge, dark puddle.

Faye caught her breath. Still shaken up, she looked at the puddle and noticed a small, white rectangle drifting in it. She smiled, picked up her envelope, and headed home.