December 16th, 2010

It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring. He went to bed and bonked his head and couldn't get up till the morning.

Hello Thursday! This day has gone by much faster than these past few days. I started off my morning very early because Kylie and I had to finish our prank that we (and Jordin and Nathan) played on Connor. (It involved alarm clocks, shoes, and video games)

Unfortunately, we missed morning meeting because of our crazy escapades of the morning. But we finally got to school. Leah and Alex weren't here today and we missed them very much!

We worked on FLVS (I finally got through my chemistry lesson!!!) and then we had brain break. Since it was warmer outside today we got to do brain break on the green in front of school. We played Blob and Octopus tag. Then we worked on some more FLVS (during which I had a water spilling accident) and in no time it was lunch! Mira and I got food from Shades to go, and then everyone met up for kickball. My team had an awesome day and we won!!!

When we got back to school we watched Channel One and had a quick meeting with Mrs. Amy, and then we started another FLVS block. I finished my french homework and continued studying for my algebra two semester exam (EEK!). Then the other Mrs. Amy (Corchis) and Lily brought some amazing cupcakes! They were very yummy. And now the school (or whats left of it) is getting ready to clean. And then tonight I get to go to the REP theater to see Hannah's Christmas Show! YAY!

December 15th, 2010

HAHAHA....

Well, we've hit yet another Wednesday. What an accomplishment! :)

This morning elementary presented their projects, which were very good, and Mira and Leah presented their commercial for their project. All of them were very good!

Then we had flvs time, where I began studying for the algebra 2 semester exam, exciting huh? Not!

Then around 10:30, I went over to Amavida to meet with Mrs. Amy for one of my big check-ins. (and I got my ITBS scores, which by the way... I AM AMAZING AT VOCABULARY! haha)

Then by the time I got back, it was almost lunch. Kickball today was incredibly successful. We switched up teams since Connor and Jordin weren't there. I had the same team, the only difference was that we got Nathan and traded Davis for Mira. My team won, and all of us played really well! Ellee was definitely the star of the team. She even caught one of McKenzie's balls!!!

After kickball we had music. For a little while it was all of the girls, and we practiced TNT and Back To December.

Then we had another flvs block, and I worked hard in my chemistry class. I have come to the conclusion that I understand what is going on in chemistry, it just takes patience. So I'm working on it.

And after watching some funny videos, we are now about to clean!

December 14th, 2010

ABCCCCCCCCCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ.... Now I know my ABC's, next time won't you sing with me!

Haha, thats my song of the day, and it's dedicated to Kylie ! ;)

My day was very uneventful, but still fun! We had the ever present morning meeting, that I actually made in time to attend for once! Then FLVS. I spent alllll morning on my algebra test, and I am now at the semester exam!!!! YAY! I then spent the rest of the morning reading my amazing book!

Brain break was inside today and we played a really fun game! It was kind of like catch, and it involved a banjo and Mr. Randy screaming, "YOU'RE OUT!" Very fun.

At lunch, instead of playing kickball, all of the high school girls, Alyssa, and Jordin stayed inside and played Truth or Dare (the G-rated version, haha). We had some funny questions and dares.

Then I made my amazing three week schedule for Mrs. Amy and came up with three synonyms for AMAZING AND INCREDIBLE. And I spent the rest of the afternoon just doing some school and hanging out. Oh what an awesome life I lead... haha!

And now I am going to clean, and then maybe go see the other kids play some tennis, it's exciting! Au revoir!

December 13th, 2010

And we're back to Monday...

After an extremely eventful weekend filled with the high school christmas party, friends in town, and christmas tree shopping and decorating, we are not back at school.

This morning I missed most of morning meeting (I had a pretty slow start) but came in at the end of the whip. We went into an FLVS block that I spent working on my french homework and my long overdue organizing time. I then studied for my last module test for algebra before the exam (I am hoping to be completed with it by Friday).

We had brain break inside today since it was FREEZING outside! We played a rythym game and a partner game. Then it was PBL time.

Mrs. Amy talked to us about our paper and then we had to decide how we are going to present our Civil War project. Kylie and I decided that it's probably best to just show our video. And McKenzie and I are in charge of the Friday in-school Christmas party, so that should be fun. I then spent the rest of this block trying to fix a set of lights that we have in the school. Half of them burned out. And after replacing two, receiving help from Jordin, Nathan, and Kylie, and then going as far as to try and replace the whole set, we came to the unfortunate conclusion that the lights are busted.

Once that fiasco was over with, it was lunch time, and kickball! I was very reluctant to go play kickball today, but I still did. It wasn't too freezing. Unfortunately, my team lost. But there were only 8 of us playing. Ellee had the best run of the day because when running to first base, Nathan decided to get her out by throwing the ball at her feet, which in turn caused her to collapse. But she was okay and had an awesome recovery!

Music was next on our schedule. We came up with a new/temporary name for our band called "The Random Misfits." But I really like it! We then went over our set list and worked on two songs, TNT and Gives You Hell. I think that we are going to have a concert sometime in January.

After music we started another FLVS block and I started my last algebra test, which I have yet to finish, and now I think that we are going to clean. It's been a good day!

Literary Analysis #2

I am reading 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson. It is about a young girl named Ginny who sets off on an adventure across Europe following instructions from her deceased aunt through letters that she has left Ginny. This book is very modern, it was only published in 2006 and the setting is around this time. That makes the character, Ginny, very relatable. So far, the main characters that I have encountered are Ginny, Richard (her aunt's old roommate), and Keith (her "starving artist" and eventual love interest). Right now, Ginny doesn't really understand what is going on. She is just following her Aunt's letters. I don't know much about her character yet.

I really enjoy this book so far. I think that it is thrilling to think that a girl my age would all of a sudden go to Europe without her family and friends and no connection to the outside world. That is a very brave thing to do and I think that by the end of the book she will learn so much about herself and about what happiness really means.

Literary Response #1

The book that I am reading right now is called 13 Little Blue Envelopes and is written by Maureen Johnson. The genre is realistic fiction. This book is about a 17 year old girl named Ginny. Her aunt recently passed away and left her with 13 little blue envelopes. The first one instructs her to go to Europe and she embarks on a crazy adventure. Through her journey, she learns more about herself, learns what happiness truly is, and even finds love along the way. The main theme of this book is to stay true to who you are and to never give up, and to even have some fun along the way of this crazy ride that we call life.

December 9th, 2010

Today we are doing school at Panera's!

This morning we all relocated school to Panera's. We got here at 8:30 and once we all got settled, we had morning meeting in the back of the restaurant. It was really cool. We even did a whip!

http://www.panerabread.com/img/logo-small-lofi.gif

Then we went into FLVS time. I actually got a lot of school work done today and am almost at my semester exam for algebra! YAY! My brain break consisted of walking over to Ulta's with McKenzie and Kylie to buy makeup remover. Then I did an algebra phone oral and at noon we got some lunch.

It was funny watching everyone in Panera's looking at us wondering what we are doing. We've only had to explain our school to a few people though.



So now, after eating lunch, we are just conversing and getting ready to go to the movie! The elementary kids left earlier to go see Tangled and the rest of us are seeing Unstoppable, AKA "The Train Movie."

It's been a very fun day! Oh and then tonight all of the high school girls are going over to McKenzie's house to get beautified for the big high school christmas party tomorrow, I can't wait!!!

December 8th, 2010

It's WED-NES-DAY!

Morning meeting and a whip started our morning, and then an flvs block. I worked on chemistry and algebra and spent some time on my civil war paper. Brain break was the shortest one of all time, a grand total of five minutes because it was freezing outside again today! I have yet to be completely warm at school. Then we worked on some more flvs and soon enough, it was time for lunch and kickball.

Unfortunately, my team lost in kickball today. It was just a bad game from the beginning. Sorry guys.

After kickball, it was time for music! We learned a song that the girls had previously picked, Better Than Revenge by Taylor Swift, and it is definitely a challenge, but once its done I think that it will sound great. We also attempted to play I Love Rock N' Roll, but it didn't work out very well. ha ha

After music we came back to school and I wrote down some lyrics just for fun, and now we are starting cleaning early today so that the school will be extremely clean for the HMH group thats coming in tomorrow.

Tomorrow our school is going to Panera!!!! and then we are spending our afternoon seeing a movie. FUN FUN!

December 7th, 2010

Today is my first day back at school after DISNEY WORLD!

Disney was a lot of fun! And I finally got over my fear of riding Rock N' Roller Coaster!!!

http://www.couponingtodisney.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Rock-n-Roller-Coaster.jpg

We left for Disney on Thursday and got back last night. During the trip we rode a lot of rides, and just had fun spending time with each other! We rode splash mountain a lot (8 times!) and it was so much fun! And Hannah finally rode Space Mountain, which was a big accomplishment for her. Overall, the trip was great. But I am exhausteddddd.

So today we started with morning meeting, as usual. We had a whip and then went right into an flvs block. But I worked on PBL this whole block. I wrote a lot of my civil war paper. Then, because I was freezinggggg, I skipped brain break and went home to get on more appropriate attire for the winter weather.

Then it was time for our official PBL block, but I did my french homework and worked some more on my civil war paper. At lunch, I went to Cowgirl with Alyssa and then it was time for kickball! There weren't many of us playing today. My team consisted of Kylie, Connor, Ellee, and me. I even caught one of Mason's kickballs!

After kickball, we came back to school and worked on flvs some more. I FINALLY submitted a chemistry assignment!!! And then the high school side spent a good 20 minutes discussing our party on Friday night, haha.

And now its time to clean!

December 1st, 2010

Wow, it's been awhile!

Today is the first day of December and I couldn't be happier about it! We started our morning off with our usual morning meeting and whips. Then we went into an flvs block. I didn't get much done this morning, it was just one of those days! haha

Then we had brain break where we played octopus tag and steal the bacon. After brain break, Kylie and I spent our PBL time sending off emails to our experts with our projects. And once we were done, McKenzie and I took a trip to Target and bought some christmas decorations which we will soon be putting up in the school!

Then we played kickball, and my team won as usual. :) hehe

Music was next, and it was one of the best ones yet! We practiced a few of our songs and perfected one of them. I think that we are almost ready for a concert.

After that I worked on some more flvs and now it's time for cleaning!

This year, one of my favorite things that I've done in school is made an Abraham Lincoln interview. Jordin was Abe, and Kylie and I interviewed him. I really think that it turned out well and it will provide people with an insight into President Lincoln's views on slavery. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlj9u1ksAVE

Well tomorrow I am off to Disney with the McNamara's,Corchis', and my family!!! I am so excited!!!!!!

November 17th, 2010

AHHH, It's Wednesday!

We started our morning off with the usual morning meeting and whip. Today's whip was: What's Your Biggest Accomplishment? I said when I recorded my first song in Telluride. Then we started our FLVS block.

I spent the whole block watching a balancing equation tutorial, which didn't really help me. And then we had our PBL block. During PBL, Kylie and I put our Abraham Lincoln hat together and filmed Kylie's "fun fact" segment for our Abe interview. Tomorrow, Jordin, Kylie, and I are going to film the interview. Oh and we all found our experts for our civil war projects, mine is a professor from Virginia Tech.

After PBL, we had lunch and then kickball. So after getting a mini lesson on how to catch the ball from Jordin, I ACTUALLY CAUGHT THE BALL! It was amazing!!! haha. During the game, I got two people out and it was pretty awesome.

After kickball we had music. We played "Back To December" and picked a Christmas song to play. We chose the "Winter Wonderland" version by Selena Gomez and the Scene. It should be good!

When music was over, we had another flvs block where I finished a HOPE assignment. Hopefully by the end of this week I will be finished with HOPE, first semester! YAY!

And now I'm writing this.
LIGHTS UPDATE: there has been zero progress on the lights. A very uneventful day.

November 16th, 2010

Today was just a typical Tuesday!

We started our morning off with a whip and got to work. I met with Ms. Sylvia about my literary analysis paper. She is always so helpful and she gave me some great tips to help improve my paper today. Then I worked on algebra until brain break.

Brain break consisted of octopus tag, a new favorite at school. Then we had our PBL block. Kylie and I are still working on our Abraham Lincoln project. We have come up with questions and answers for the interview. And after recently determining that Kylie is incapable of speaking like a man, we have enlisted the help of Jordin to be our Abe! So after measuring Jordin's head size and cutting out some paper, Kylie and I went outside to paint Abe's top hat and bow tie. And they turned out great! So come Thursday, we will have an authentic (sort of!) Abraham Lincoln interview!

Then came lunch and tennis. We played a lot of doubles today in tennis which was fun and then we came back to school for another flvs block. I did two orals with my amazing algebra teacher and worked on some francais. And now it's time for cleaning! But unfortunately, everyone on the highschool side left except for Nathan, Connor, Alex, and me. So we have a job ahead of us!

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS UPDATE: The physical christmas tree is now up! They have yet to string it with lights but all of the trees around it are finished. Unfortunately, I will not be here for the official lighting of the tree but hopefully McKenzie will record it for me! haha

November 10th, 2010

Today was VIDEO DAY!

Hannah and I had a great start to our morning because we were on time for the first time ever! It was pretty amazing! haha

I have also decided to video tape our school days and then at the end of the year we will have all of these funny videos. At least, thats what I am hoping will happen!

SO once Hannah and I got to school, we had morning meeting. Our whip today was, "if a tattoo artist came to school, what would you get for a tattoo?" I of course said that I would get BREATHE written on the inside of my wrist.

After morning meeting, we started flvs. I worked on algebra all morning and brain break came quickly. We played sharks and minnow's and the high schoolers chose to play a relay race, which was fun. Then we had our PBL time. Today the high schoolers (minus Jordin) decided that we are going to present our hybrid car project tomorrow! Eek! So we came up a with a format and practiced some. It will be a really informal discussion based on the process of PBL. When we were done with that Kylie and I worked on our civil war project until lunch time. At lunch, I uploaded my morning videos onto my computer and got my video camera ready for kickball!

In kickball, we have decided to go back to our original teams... which I was pretty happy about. We were dominating at first, 5 - 0 and then.... disaster struck, we lost the game 5 - 6. It was such a dissapointment. But I guess we just win some and lose some.

After kickball, the school got together to come up with a solution for our noise problem during music. We came up with some great ideas. Then we had music! Music was fun, we practiced "TNT" and "Gives You Hell." Oh and Nathan broke a bass string during it which was a feat in itself. haha

After music, Mira and I worked on my algebra project, where I had to create a pendulum. It was fun. And now I am here typing this.

CHRISTMAS LIGHT UPDATE: The christmas men have now gotten a crane and have lifted themselves up onto it to cover the tops of the trees, I am extremely excited about this! Hopefully soon they will be done. Oh and last night they were on for a little while, which was beautiful. I can't wait for the christmas tree to get here!

November 9th, 2010

THE LIGHTS ARE GOING UP!!!!!!!!

My day started out with morning meeting, then a pretty productive flvs block. At brain break, we played the number game and steal the "fakon."

After break break, we had PBL!!! Kylie and I are working on our interview questions for our Abraham Lincoln interview. Kylie is going to dress up as Abraham Lincoln and I am going to be the interviewer. It should be pretty funny. Kylie has been working on her "deep voice" for the last few days. She is improving! lol

During this time, I decided to start filming our school day with my flip video camera. I think I am going to video some of every day until the school year is over, then we will have a little mini yearbook. It will be fun and funny!

I ate lunch and then went to tennis! Tennis was fun, I got to play with Jordin, Nathan and Connor which was a lot of fun.

After tennis, we came back here and had beiber fever as Alex showed us the pictures from the Justin Beiber concert that she went to recently. She got some good pictures!!!

Then I did some algebra and then the elementary kids showed us their corn starch and water project. We got to play with the dough, liquid, stuff for a while and now I'm here, blogging this!

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS UPDATE: The men have now moved on from the trunks and are now stringing the lights through the actual tree. I think that the gigantic christmas tree will be making its appearance any day now! IT'S EXCITING!

THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTING MEN ARE ON THE GREEN! YAY!

November 2nd, 2010

Today is a TUESDAY!

Well my day started out with a morning meeting and then an intense flvs block. I finished all of my school work before lunch. Brain break was fun and we played one legged steal the bacon. Today on the high school side it was only me, McKenzie, Kylie, Nathan, Jordin, Connor, and Alex.

At tennis, I had an incredible fall, crash, slide thing onto the ground. But I came back and ended up beating Nathan in a tie game :)

Then when I came back to school I ran a few errands for Mr. Randy and Mrs. Amy and then I just hung around. Until Kylie spotted an old school mate of ours, Skyler, and Nathan, Connor, McKenzie and me spent 30 minutes outside waiting to see her, we have yet to spot her! haha

Now I am going to clean!

November 1st, 2010

What a wonderful Monday!

I had a great day!!! My morning started out with me getting to school early, but then I had to go back to the house with Alyssa to get her computer. Then, we came to the end of morning meeting and started flvs. I went straight into a french test and I've been doing it all day. Brain break was fun and exciting, and after that we had our first day of PBL for our next three week period.

We got together and figured out what each of our essential questions would be. I chose a question pertaining to Abraham Lincoln during the civil war.

After PBL, we had a quick meeting about kickball. To prevent further conflict which is resulting in everyone's unhappiness, we are now going to have "positions." Personally, I think it's a great idea.

Next was lunch and kickball. I ate lunch at summer kitchen with Hannah, Alyssa, Jordin, and Connor and then I went and played kickball. Connor was on my team today since Nathan was absent. AND WE FINALLY WON! The whole position thing worked out great for us.

After kickball we went to music where we played a new song. It's called "Back to December" by Taylor Swift. I am playing the guitar and singing. Unfortunately, music was only 45 minutes today... but it was still fun!

When music was over, I finished up my french test and I got a..... wait for it.... are you ready?.... really??......AHHH....

An A, 93!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

haha, I am very excited about that. I only missed four questions!

Then I did some HOPE, and now I am about to start cleaning! Yay! HAPPY MONDAY!

Civil War Project Essential Question

The essential question that I am most interested in and have decided to make my project on is:

How did Abraham Lincoln's decision to change his view on slavery affect the outcome of the war?

I am planning on doing this project with Kylie and possibly a few other people.

October 29th, 2010

TODAY IS FRIDAY, YAY!

My morning started off with McKenzie coming over to help me finish our costume and then we went to school together. Also, my friend Katie Smith is here and she came to school with us. Once we got to school, we had morning meeting and a few whips, and then soon after we went into our first music block!

(This is Katie in her halloween costume)

Mark from Telluride is here to help us with music. WOO HOO!

The first block we talked some and gave him our input on what's been going on, and then we learned how to play a song. It was the best we've sounded all year! haha

When we were done with music, we went to brain break. Then when brain break was over, I did flvs and some french with Katie. Soon it was time for lunch. I ate some soup from Cowgirl Kitchen and then we played kickball. My new team lost yet again, that's now 0-4. I think we are going to switch teams again, well hopefully.

After kickball we had another music block, and we learned how to play "I Love Rock N' Roll" and we played our other song, "You're Not Sorry." It was pretty AMAZING! Randy really helped us learn the songs.

When we were done with our second music block, we had another flvs block, during which McKenzie, Connor, and me ran down to Cowgirl Kitchen to get some toffee crunch cookies! They were YUMMY!!!

And now I'm back here writing this, what a fun day! I can't wait for this Halloween weekend!

(This is McKenzie and me in our halloween costumes!)

October 28th, 2010: Amy and Randy Day!

What Does Community Mean to Me?

Community, to me, means connectedness between each other. We are all so different yet so much the same. Through our differences and abilites, we balance each other out and make for a great community.

Ohana means family, family means no body is left behind or forgotten.

October 25th, 2010

MONDAYYYY....

My morning started out with both McKenzie and Kylie showing up at my house unexpectedly (but I was very happy that they came!) and then we went to school together. Morning meeting was uneventful with a pretty boring and fast whip.

During our first block, Hannah told me that she had seen Mrs. Linda from the trading company and that she wanted to see us about the scarecrOH's. So Mitchell and I (being the only ones at school from our team) ran over to the Trading Company and saw Mrs. Linda, she was very interested in buying a bench and we told her that we would come back at 10. So for the rest of the morning I worked on algebra and my first literary analysis and then at 10 I went back to Trading Company with Mitchell and a packet. We gave it to her and she said that she would buy a bench for all three of her stores (Bombora, Bike shop, and Trading Company). On the way back to school, Mitchell and I stopped at the doctor's office next door and were happy to have sold them a lamp post! YAY!

When 11 came, we all went out and back to all of the businesses that we presented to on Thursday. At summer kitchen, James wasn't there but they had his form filled out. So hopefully we will get another bench! If we are successful, we have sold 3 benches and 1 lamp post overall so far!

We ate lunch and played kickball, which my team won, and then came back up to school. We watched Channel One (Kylie's favorite!) and instead of music, had another FLVS block. I worked on algebra, french, and HOPE. And now I'm writing this!

Now I have to go clean basically the whole high school side because everyone likes to leave before school is over!!! (Haha)

Literary Analysis #1

My self selected book was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It was about a country called Panem, formerly known as North America, and a young girl named Katniss Everdeen.

Once, many years ago, there was a rebellion in Panem. Unfortunately, Disctrict 13 was taken off the map, and the districts lost. To show that the Capitol is still in control, they started a little thing called the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is a televised fight to the death basically. Two "tributes" are chosen from each district, each between the ages of 12 and 18. The tributes are drawn from a glass bowl. Each year, the amount of times that their names are put into the bowl increases and they get their name put in even more if they do tesserae. The day of the reaping, Katniss Everdeen's younger sister, Prim, got called to be a tribute. Horrified, Katniss decided to volunteer for her sister and go in her place. The male tribute was Peeta Mellark, the one who Katniss will always remember as saving her life when she almost starved to death. She couldn't even imagine killing him.

Their mentor, Haymitch, was a drunk. But he promised that he would stay as sober as possible if they listened to him. Through training in the capitol and the pre-games activities, Peeta and Katniss came out on top thanks to their prep team and Cinna and Portia, their stylists. They were the most popular, which could help with sponsoring and keeping them alive. They also started an "act" of being in love.

Once they were in the arena, Katniss stopped trusting Peeta when she saw him with the Careers (the allied team of killers). But when the careers found her, Peeta helped save her life. Soon after that, the gamemakers announced that two tributes could win this year, as long as they were from the same district. Immediately, Katniss went searching for Peeta and nursed him back to health since he was injured from saving her life. They became allies and worked hard to win, also... Katniss learned that Peeta really did love her, but she couldn't shake her thoughts of Gale, her best friend, waiting back at home.

Throughout the games, they both met people and had to see them die. For Katniss, the hardest death to watch was little Rue's. When it came to the fight to the death in the middle of the arena, instead of Katniss and Peeta having to kill the last tribute, a pack of Mutts came on him and unfortunately, he couldn't beat them like Katniss and Peeta did, and he was ripped apart until he died. Katniss and Peeta thought that they had won, but soon the announcer came over the speaker and told them that the rules had been changed yet again, and that one would have to kill the other. Katniss, knowing that the gamemakers would never let both of them die, decided to come up with a plan. She gave Peeta some poisonous berries and told him that they would both eat them at the same time and commit suicide so that there would be no winner. The gamemakers panicked and announced both Peeta and Katniss as victors. They won the games.

On the way home, things got tough for them and Katniss now knew that Peeta really loved her, but she couldn't quite figure out her feelings for him and she knew that the fight between the country and herself had only just begun.

http://geektyrant.com/news/2010/9/14/gary-ross-in-talks-to-direct-the-hunger-games.html

I loved this book and I was very eager to get the next one. I liked how it was action packed but there was still some romance. And Prim and Katniss's relationship reminded me of my own relationship with my sister. It was a great book!

October 21st, 2010

Today was ScarecrOH day!

I brought the scarecrow to school at 8:15 and the fundraising team had a meeting because we were going to to sell some scarecrows!!!

I worked on algebra for my first block and met with Mrs. Sylvia and then when 10am came, we went out! My team consisted of Nathan, Davis, Mitchell, and me. We also had the good luck of getting the real model scarecrow for our presentation!

We started out in Rosemary and Nathan was our official scarecrow carrier. We then made our way over to Shades, and during the walk over there Nathan decided to walk in the middle of the street with the scarecrow raised high. There was pointing and laughing from the oncoming cars!

When we finished doing our rounds, we came back up to the school to print more packets and then went to Seaside to meet up with another group consisting of Jordin, Hannah, and Kylie. We walked around with them for a little bit and I got a $20 donation! YAY!

Jordin, Hannah, and Kylie sold a bench!!!!

After we were done, we came back to school, and most everyone went to tennis but I decided to stay and do school. Then for the rest of the day we just all hung out and did school, we had a meeting where we talked about our plans for the day and the elementary kids showed us their comic strip!

Now, of course, the high school side has dwindled down and today it is just Leah, Mira, McKenzie, and me and we now have to clean. Thanks Mr. Randy for the blog song!!!

October 20th, 2010

Yesterday was pretty eventful. It was Nathan's birthday so I spent the morning with Alyssa, McKenzie, and Hannah and we covered his room in toilet paper and streamers. Once we were through, we came back to school and had a long meeting with Mrs. Amy and Mr. Randy about PBL. I think that now it will be a lot better. The rest of the school day was pretty uneventful, besides the fact that we watched Panama Videos all afternoon!

 When school got out, we went to Watersound and waited to surprise Nathan for his birthday. When we came in, he was so surprised he almost jumped out of his skin! We spent the rest of the night hanging out, playing games, eating, and having a bonfire. Alyssa and I even wheeled Leah down to the beach so that she could enjoy it too!

Then, when it came to the time where everyone was leaving, McKenzie, Hannah, and I drove to the Nathan's house as fast as we could and hid in his bathroom and waited for him to come home. He was very surprised, Prank: One complete, there is still more to come!

So today in comparison was pretty uneventful but still fun. We had a fundraising meeting at 8:00am and decided what to do about sponsor's for the ScarecrOH's. Then we did school until brain break.

Break break was fun, we played heads up seven up and blob tag. When we came back, we did more school until lunch. I had Subway, and then we went to kickball! Today was the first day of kickball with our new teams. My team was winning at first, but in the end we lost. Oh well.

Then we had music, where we learned how to play "Gives You Hell" and we played almost the whole thing!

Then we had another block of FLVS, and it was only Mira, Connor, Nathan, Jordin and Me at school, and now we are cleaning!!!

October 18th, 2010

OH, what a Monday!

Our morning began with morning meeting, and a presentation by Mike Lue and Rob Fiance. They talked to us about Mr. Lue's math learning product. He believes that by learning the fundamental basics, we can build everything else on it. He showed us how this works through learning chinese using pictures of people and trees.

Next, all of the high schoolers met with Mrs. Sylvia who is Olivia's grandmother and a writer. She read all of our essays on hybrid cars and gave us incredible feedback. I learned a lot from her and hopefully it will improve my writing skills.

After that, we had brain break and then another FLVS block. I worked on my collaboration project with Leah and then I did another HOPE lesson. Once I was done, it was time for lunch and kickball!

Since Jordin and Nathan weren't here today, we had random teams, and unfortunately my team lost. My skills at catching are at a minimum. Oh well. We are trying our new official teams on Wednesday.

Music was cancelled for today because my dad has many meetings in his office with the visitors. So we had an extra FLVS block which was great. I did a ton of french (hopefully my french tutor will be happy with me today! Ha ha) and then Mr. Randy helped me create a graph for Chemistry. Now its time to clean (its only McKenzie, Leah, and me today) and then I have french tutoring. I also got the third book in my series in The Hunger Games books, they are great. I can't wait to find out the ending!

http://www.fizzythoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Mockingjay.jpg

October 14th, 2010

Today we will be doing the final planning for the prank that we will be pulling on the boys in the near future. It's going to be awesome! I can't wait to see Jordin cry.

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Today my best friend from South Florida, Sydney, came and I got to pick her up from the airport early this morning. By the time that I got to school, it was brain break. We played a bunch of games today because it's Shanna's last day! I'm going to miss her a lot.

The rest of my morning was spent doing chemistry with McKenzie. When lunch finally came, I was starving. But unfortunately, my lunch had to be cut short because Jordin and Nathan locked me in the kitchen, while McKenzie watched. So I never got to finish lunch and I had to rush to tennis. Tennis was pretty uneventful, I played with Mitchell, Hannah, and Davis the whole time. Mitchell and I won our set, 6-0. After tennis, we came back to school and started on our PBL time. It was hard convincing Connor to work on his part, but I think his will be great. I am making a venn diagram with him, Kylie, and me. Our essential question is: "Was the civil war fought to free the slaves or prevent the breakup of the union?"

After PBL, McKenzie and I had some serious talks about our ultimate prank on Jordin, Nathan, and Connor. We have Jordin's part figured out (after a slight change) and Nathan's, and I think we know what Connor's will be.

So overall, today was pretty successful. Now I have to go wash dishes!

October 13th, 2010

TODAY WAS THE PSAT!

This morning, I woke up at 6:20am to get ready to go to South Walton High School for the PSAT. I was not excited, ha ha. McKenzie spent the night at my house so we could go together. Mrs. Paige, Connor, Mitchell, and Davis rode with my mom, me and McKenzie over to the school.

Mrs. Paige and my mom were definitely prepared. They gave us extra pencils and put our calculators in zip lock bags, and Mrs. Paige wrote down our social security numbers on pieces of papers so we wouldn't lose them. It was pretty funny actually. We got to the school right on time. When we all walked into the main office, Kylie and Shanna were already there and ready. Fortunately, we were all going to be in the same room.

Once Alex and Mira arrived, we heard the announcements over the speakers and then a lady took us to the classroom. We actually got to sit in desks! HA HA! I sat next to Connor and Davis and Kylie was right behind me. The lady that administered the test was the guidance counselor, and she was super nice.

The test itself was pretty easy, I think I did really well on the reading and writing part but not so well on the math components. There was this weird grid in part that I probably failed!

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0OyIRLyQ_kQZx_2xT-hwdTS10AHKjiSbyKEW-eU5k32_7hWQeKkQEIP-FxOYJvijPMTUQFphJYkRp1KB-sxZKXMLFtx0SGzY2eoE0lwAfNGkC4CdY_HwFg9BVUwn3JKEp4QxSqqVyEfsX/s1600/PSAT.jpg


Once the test was over, we had to fill out our homeschool part of it and then we left. Overall, it was pretty uneventful. The scariest part of the whole thing was the school bell, I had the urge to run out of the building every time it went off! haha.

When we got back to Rosemary we went straight to summer kitchen to have some lunch. Then, it was time for kickball. My team was losing pretty bad at first, then we made a sort of comeback. But the other team still won. So for the rest of the day through music, we made new teams. Our new teams are:

Team 1:
Jordin
Connor
Mira
Davis
Hannah B.
Alex
Alyssa

Team 2:
Nathan
Mason
Hunter
McKenzie
Mitchell
Kylie
Olivia
Ellee

Hopefully, they will be fun and even. (But I am definitely on the louder team.)

So now we are all writing our reflections and then it will be time for cleaning! yay!

October 11th, 2010

Hello from OH,

Monday's are certainly not my favorites. It's always hard to get started on flvs after the weekend, especially since I missed school on Friday too.

This weekend McKenzie, my mom, and me went to Nashville to see Sara Bareilles in concert... and she was amazing! While we were there, we also toured Belmont University, it was nice. I can't believe that I am going to college in two years!

http://xolondon.blogspot.com/2008/05/review-sara-bareilles-live-dc-0408.html

http://puka.cs.waikato.ac.nz/cgi-bin/cic/library?a=d&d=i64
(This is the Belmont Mansion that is basically the centerpiece for the campus)

So after a fun filled weekend, Monday came fast. This morning we had morning meeting, and our whip question was "If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be?" I chose Michael Jackson. After our meeting, we started FLVS. I worked on french because for some reason my chemistry class wasn't working. Then, about halway through our block, I got a text from Mrs. Clark, she wanted to come visit the school.

Mrs. Clark is Nathan, Leah, and my H.O.P.E teacher and she's also Jonathan from the tennis courts wife. She drove the golf cart over and came up. It was funny seeing an flvs teacher in our school, she looked around for a little bit and then left. Then we had brain break, and played blob tag, and of course, steal the bacon. Once that was over I went home to grab my french binder and I talked to my mom for a little while. By the time I got back to school, PBL had started. We discussed our earlier projects and once our environment project is over, I will do a civil war venn diagram with Kylie and Connor (wish me luck).

The rest of the morning I read my book, The Hunger Games, and then it was time for lunch. I went to Cowgirl Kitchen with McKenzie, Hannah, and Ellee and we met McKenzie's parents there. After lunch, we went to the eastern green to play kickball.

Since Alex, Leah, Kylie, and Alyssa all were unable to play, I was the only high school girl. We lost but it was still fun as always. After kickball, was music.

For some reason I had a feeling that we wouldn't be very productive since we started yet another song, so I took my book, sat down at the drums, and read. Like I thought, it was not a productive day. Everyone just kind of played around till it was over.

I am really enjoying my book and I'm almost finished with it. Because Leah has already read it, I keep asking her questions about it... but she doesn't say much.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZgzS_kHBAG0/S1Ab3WBUQLI/AAAAAAAAAf4/lDu-Oaf0b0k/s1600/The-Hunger-Games-the-hunger-game-trilogy-2624991-1280-960.jpg


And now I'm here writing this, time to go clean!

October 7th, 2010

OH...

Today (McKenzie just totally stole my intro) was interesting. We had a fundraising meeting this morning and watched our panama video (not the funny ones by Mr. Bob). We are going to make another mission statement that includes information about our services that we will do in Costa Rica.

Since we were here thirty minutes earlier than normal, we skipped morning meeting so that we could get started on school work. I submitted an honors assignment in chemistry (it was tough), and then I spent the rest of the morning before brain break working on french and studying for my H.O.P.E oral (which is at 4:45 this afternoon, and yes I study for all orals). Once brain break came, we went outside and got into our relay teams! We played leap frog today, which was surprisingly fun. Then we came back and had another flvs block and PBL time. For PBL today, we discussed what book each of us chose. I originally chose this book called Before I Die by Jenny Downham, but I think I am going to read The Hunger Games instead (Leah said it was really good.)

                              http://thehogshead.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/hungergames.jpg

Then came lunch. I had yummy subway and it was good! During lunch, I also had a meeting with Mrs. Amy about school (I need to get moving on creative writing!) and then I went to tennis. The only high school girls that were at tennis today were Leah, McKenzie, and me. We had fun. I played king of the court (queen in my case) with McKenzie and Hannah (the best sister in the world!) most of the time. I won!!!

After tennis was design. We watched videos and stuff about our new website. Now we have to decide what we want our individual backgrounds to be. (I have many plans for mine.)

Once design ended, McKenzie was kind enough to drive back over to the tennis courts with me to get my jacket that I had left (thanks!) and then we attempted to do some chemistry, but it didn't work out very well.

Now it's time for cleaning!!! Connor is supervisor today so we will see how that goes.

October 5th, 2010

Today was a great day!

This morning we had morning meeting and an flvs block. Brain break was a lot of fun because we played two relay games with our teams. Then we came back and had another extremely successful flvs block (and I listened to KT Tunstall's new album during it!). I got a ton of school work done this morning, even though I spent half of the morning joking around with McKenzie and Shanna, which was fun!

When 11am hit, we had our PBL time. We worked on our introductions to our hybrid car persuasive essays and I wrote the first few paragraphs for my essay. I have decided that hybrid cars are not any more beneficial to the environment in the long run than your average vehicle with good mileage.

I then ate a quick lunch and went to tennis...

tennis went by fast, I played doubles the whole time with Connor, Mason, and Hannah. It was a lot of fun. After tennis was design class. We had to draw self portraits of ourselves and we also had to take pictures of ourselves beforehand. Unfortunately, we had to take them right after tennis. Ha ha.

Here is the picture of me that I used for my self portrait:

And now I have to go clean!

October 4th, 2010

Monday is definitely here.

Morning meeting was uneventful and we went into an FLVS block. I did some H.O.P.E and McKenzie helped me on my Creative Writing story. When 10:15 came, we went outside for BRAIN BREAK! We played tongue, a relay game, and glob tag. Once that was over we came back inside for some more FLVS. At 11:00am, all of the highschoolers (minus Jordin and Shanna) got together to work on our PBL project on Hybrid Cars. Now that our main project is done, we have to write persuasive essays based on our topic: "Are hybrid cars really beneficial to the environment?" By tomorrow we have to have our introduction done. The rough draft is due by Friday and the final paper is due on Tuesday of next week. After PBL was lunch...

I went to Cowgirl Kitchen with my cousin, and then we played kickball. Since Nathan was absent, we switched up the teams. My team won, 13-3. After kickball, we came back and started music. We attempted to play "Smells Like Team Spirit" but it wasn't very progressive today. So now we are deciding on a new song to play. Then after music, I came back, planned my week in my calendar, took a pretest.. and now I'm writing this.

September 30th, 2010

We started out our morning with a fundraiser meeting! I think it went well and by tomorrow we plan to have a mission statement for our Costa Rica trip. Then we started school....

I did algebra with Mira all morning, and we got a full grade on the assignment! Brain break was fun as usual, and then we had PBL. I sent our project to an expert and am now waiting for a response. Once lunch came, I was starving! Then it was time for tennis. Tennis was a ton of fun, I got to play with all of the boys. (haha!)

After tennis, we came back to school and watched Channel One. Then I created a mission statement for the trip with McKenzie, ours was:

"OH Institute is traveling to Costa Rica to immerse ourselves in other cultures, to learn more about the language, and to give back to other communities through conservation and education."

Next on my list was choosing a book for PBL. I have decided to read, Before I Die, which is about a 17 year old who has Luekemia. She makes a list of all of the things that she wants to accomplish before she dies and sets out to do them. I think it will be very sad, but very good.

Now I have to go clean, I am on kitchen duty today!

September 29th, 2010

Today was much like yesterday. We started off with testing! Then after that we had a brain break, which was fun as usual. Once it was over, we started our first flvs block. I have been very hyper all day since testing!

Next on our schedule was lunch and kickball. Kickball was pretty interesting today. I got an out by getting hit in the head, but then I was presumed "safe," but the other team didn't like that very much. So I let them get me out, because I would rather be a fair loser than a cheating winner. Once kickball was over, we came back to school and started flvs again. I did a module test for algebra and had fun talking to Alex and now I'm here, typing this.

Overall, today was not a very eventful day, but it was fun as usual!

September 28th, 2010

So...

today was fun! It's the first real day of cool weather which I am loving! This morning we also had our first day of testing and it was all of the english stuff, so I hope that I did well on it. I really hope that I did good on the vocabulary part. It was definitely a different experience compared to last years testing, much more relaxed. I liked it.

Then we went out for brain break! Steal the bacon has been a popular game choice lately. After brain break, we then came back inside and started doing flvs. I was ready for lunch when it finally came time, and tennis!

Tennis was a lot of fun today. We got to play a lot of points and I enjoyed playing against Mitchell. After tennis, we came back and watched Channel One. We aren't having Design class or any music classes this week because of testing, so we went right into another flvs block, and now I'm here typing this. Overall, I think it was a great day and I had a lot of fun!

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010

Today was just another ordinary day at OH, besides a change in schedule. This morning, I studied for my chemistry oral and did some of my creative writing class. At 10:15, we went to do a brain break. I always love brain breaks and they always happen right when I'm really getting antsy. Once we hit 45 minutes until lunch, the highschoolers got together and we worked on our PBL's.

We are doing one project together so that we all understand how to make these projects. Our topic is, "Are hybrid cars really beneficial to the environment?" Mira and I are working together on the last part of the project, and we are answering questions that have to do with hybrid/conventional vehicles and their relationship to the environment. It is a lot harder than I originally thought. This simple question is filled with so many opinions that pertain to so many things. But I think that our finished project will be really great.

After PBL time was lunch and tennis. Tennis was hot, as usual, but fun. When we came back, we were greeted by Mrs. Dana and Mr. Tim for DESIGN! It was great as always, we got to listen to music and draw monsters. But I had to finish early to do my chemistry oral, which was a success. And now here I am writing about my day. Now I have to go clean!

Mercredi: le vingt-cinq août

Salut!

Today is my third day of my second year at OH Institute, and I am loving it!
We started out our day with the voting of the school mascot. My team (Alyssa, Ellee, and me) had made a Pheonix, which I thought had a chance of winning. Unfortunately we lost, and our new mascot is the Viper! Even though the Pheonix didn't win, I still think that the Viper is pretty cool and it will be a great mascot for our school.

We had lunch at Cowgirl Kitchen, and then we headed out for some kickball!
The two teams that we have for kickball are the Butterflies of Hope and The Destroyers. We generally have issues with teams because one will always be way better than the other, but I think that our new teams are working out great!

When we came back to school, we started our first day of MUSIC! It was really fun and I know that as the year goes on, we will gave some great bands!

Now it's time for checkout, and then I have french tutoring. I can't wait for tomorrow!

-Hunter