Despite the fantastic holiday, the only excitement of the day was for the daughter of our dorm head (who is adorable) coming around in a lady bug costume to trick-or-treat for the day. Evidently, all the other craziness happened the night before I came at the Halloween dance that they hosted. Along with this, today was marked by simultaneous soccer games of boys and girls in the championship for Putney, with both of our teams winning and making it on to the next level. The only downside of this was the very brisk weather, and my lack of warm enough clothing, making a trip to the KDU (their cafeteria) necessary to warm up with some hot tea.
However, today I will still talk about one of my favorite classes, ceramics. The teacher is slightly eccentric, but still, working with clay is amazing. So far, I've made a three chamber pinch pot, a coil pot on a form so that the coils formed a pattern on the inside, and today I started work on a slab peace that I shape over a form, and will be making to look like a flower. The downside to this is the fact that I will probably not be here to fire my pieces, making it necessary for me to glaze them, have them fired, and then get someone else to send them home, or else do without. Next week, the plan is to team up with the African History class and learn about African masks before creating them.
Although the sheer enjoyment of doing ceramics is enjoyable, the program itself is wonderful as well. Many of the students come into the studio with their own free time in order to do independent projects, and the teacher assists them in any way possible. Many of the students sport handmade mugs (from friends or through their own work) at breakfast, and there was even a boy working with porcelain to make a bowl today. This freedom of access to arts and materials is typical of Putney, and no one abuses it through wasting supplies or trashing studios because everyone enjoys the arts and also feels a responsibility for their school. This is true whether they are using one of the multiple looms available and the scads of yarn, or the printing presses available in one of the other buildings. It is this appreciation of art and creativity that lends such a special, appreciative community to Putney. I have seen this in many of my classes, where they often try to integrate art even in academics, and I look forward to seeing it this weekend when the students put on a coffee house.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
I'm a Poet and I Didn't Even Know It
Well, my poetry class was my first class yesterday, and my second today. The schedule at Putney is a block schedule, with three classes a day and a conference period that's basically a free period. The first class every day is an hour and a half, and the other two are an hour, with one of them being after lunch. The order of the classes rotates each day. This allows for there to be more time to each class, and more interesting activities in each, along with less homework since there're only three classes to give homework every day.
Well, I got there early on Monday and when the teacher walked in to the class, she told everyone to get out their laptops and begin to work on their projects. Seeing as I had no idea what was going on, I asked the teacher what she wanted me to do. So, I started to read Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot in order to focus in on my topic, seeing as she agreed to let me stay in the class and do the project with them. At this point, on the second day of class, I have decided to annotate Burnt Norton and present it to the class, along with a short presentation on T. S. Eliot.
The teacher also described to me what the class had been doing in general for the past trimester. It sounded as if they were focusing in on world poetry, and many of the other students had quite exotic projects pertaining to them, nothing like my traditional and rather more boring choice. The class sounds fantastic, and I only wish that I could be here when they were actually working in class. Like the other classes that I will be speaking about over the enxt week, it is designed to provoke thought and discussion. I look forward to learning more about poetry, particularly since I have not had the chance to study it too much in the past.
Well, I got there early on Monday and when the teacher walked in to the class, she told everyone to get out their laptops and begin to work on their projects. Seeing as I had no idea what was going on, I asked the teacher what she wanted me to do. So, I started to read Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot in order to focus in on my topic, seeing as she agreed to let me stay in the class and do the project with them. At this point, on the second day of class, I have decided to annotate Burnt Norton and present it to the class, along with a short presentation on T. S. Eliot.
The teacher also described to me what the class had been doing in general for the past trimester. It sounded as if they were focusing in on world poetry, and many of the other students had quite exotic projects pertaining to them, nothing like my traditional and rather more boring choice. The class sounds fantastic, and I only wish that I could be here when they were actually working in class. Like the other classes that I will be speaking about over the enxt week, it is designed to provoke thought and discussion. I look forward to learning more about poetry, particularly since I have not had the chance to study it too much in the past.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Ee I Ee I Oh
Well, it would be like Old McDonald's farm, except that the guy who runs it is named Pete. Bad joke, sorry.
Anyways, I think for the first few days I'll talk about any highlights, but other than that I'll do a more intensive post on each of my activities just so that there's a full understanding of them.
This morning, I got up at 5:15 with my roommate Blake to go down to AM barn duty. After a dark walk down, we got there plenty early, at 5:40 when the call time was 6, so we were let out early as well. Since I was not prepared to sacrifice my footwear, I got a spare pair of farm boots from the house behind the barn, and got to work First I helped to take the hay out of the calves and teenager cows mangers, and then replace it. This was then followed by one of the less appetizing chores, scraping out the pens, which I managed to get through by holding my nose, a skill I soon learned that I would be mastering for the next three weeks worth of mornings. From there, I went though a whirlwind of tasks, from scraping the gutters of the cows leavings as well, to gathering hay and putting in the mangers once others had brought the big cows in from pasture. We left to go back to Huseby, the dorm I'm staying in, by 6:45 where I was able to wash the muck from the barn off of me before we went to breakfast an hour later, leaving us an half an hour before classes.
What is so special about the fact that I had the privilege of dragging myself out of bed to a smelly barn is one of the things that makes Putney the great school that I am beginning to understand better. They have a work program, which means that every student has responsibilities to their school through chores, whether it be helping the scant kitchen staff, to cleaning public areas, to the barn where I worked. Try believe that it is important for the students to receive an appreciation of the world around them through taking care of their environment, which means cleaning the dorms where they live, the places where they eat and learn, and, on a larger scale, the world they live in. Song with the work program they have a rule that whenever you leave a room you turn the lights off, disapprove of long showers, compost to an extreme, and even have solar panels that help to power their school. Their attention to the world around them is one of the many things that I am learning about that makes it such a wonderful place, and one that I hope to gain a better understanding of in the weeks to come.
However, speaking of experiences and adventures at Putney hurricane Sandy seems to be heading our way, with the strong possibility of a power out for a few days, so we'll see how this goes! Until tomorrow.
Anyways, I think for the first few days I'll talk about any highlights, but other than that I'll do a more intensive post on each of my activities just so that there's a full understanding of them.
This morning, I got up at 5:15 with my roommate Blake to go down to AM barn duty. After a dark walk down, we got there plenty early, at 5:40 when the call time was 6, so we were let out early as well. Since I was not prepared to sacrifice my footwear, I got a spare pair of farm boots from the house behind the barn, and got to work First I helped to take the hay out of the calves and teenager cows mangers, and then replace it. This was then followed by one of the less appetizing chores, scraping out the pens, which I managed to get through by holding my nose, a skill I soon learned that I would be mastering for the next three weeks worth of mornings. From there, I went though a whirlwind of tasks, from scraping the gutters of the cows leavings as well, to gathering hay and putting in the mangers once others had brought the big cows in from pasture. We left to go back to Huseby, the dorm I'm staying in, by 6:45 where I was able to wash the muck from the barn off of me before we went to breakfast an hour later, leaving us an half an hour before classes.
What is so special about the fact that I had the privilege of dragging myself out of bed to a smelly barn is one of the things that makes Putney the great school that I am beginning to understand better. They have a work program, which means that every student has responsibilities to their school through chores, whether it be helping the scant kitchen staff, to cleaning public areas, to the barn where I worked. Try believe that it is important for the students to receive an appreciation of the world around them through taking care of their environment, which means cleaning the dorms where they live, the places where they eat and learn, and, on a larger scale, the world they live in. Song with the work program they have a rule that whenever you leave a room you turn the lights off, disapprove of long showers, compost to an extreme, and even have solar panels that help to power their school. Their attention to the world around them is one of the many things that I am learning about that makes it such a wonderful place, and one that I hope to gain a better understanding of in the weeks to come.
However, speaking of experiences and adventures at Putney hurricane Sandy seems to be heading our way, with the strong possibility of a power out for a few days, so we'll see how this goes! Until tomorrow.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
The First Day
Well, I got up this morning at 3:30, and haphazardly in a bleary state managed to make my way to Manchester, New Hampshire. After finding the shuttle driver, we waited for a while for the other woman we were taking with us, and then we were off, driving rough the stark fingers of barren trees through the rolling New England countryside.
It took us about two hours to get to The Putney School, and when I arrived, I was in for a bit of a shock, for I realized that I had absolutely no idea as to where I was supposed to go, leading me to wander around for a bit until I ran aross Cameron, a helpful senior girl who attempted to help me find my way. Eventually, I was all sorted out and settled into my new home for the next three weeks, Huseby House. After that, I met Zhenna, my sort of host, who is a dancer as well, and she took me all around to see the rest of the school. The vibe of the school is very cool and laid back, the students seem to fairly well have perfect freedom, and all the art studios and classrooms were phenomenal. My favorite part may have been a tree house that we saw behind the art building that we could then climb up.
However, we still and not seen the theatre and dance facilities, which were lovely, along with the barn. Though I had already seen all the gardens strewn about campus, the barn was another matter altogether. They have cows, horses, chickens, pigs, and sheep, from which they are able to get, and then use, milk, meat, and eggs. There's a huge focus in sustainability here, which is very neat, and this goes along with their idea of work and the students taking care of where they live. The students are alertly responsible for cleaning the dorms, the barn is staffed by students, and the gardens and kitchen.
After this first taste of what life at Putney will be like, I'm interested to see what the next three weeks will hold as I get to know everyone better and adjust to their very different form of life. I'll be ale to talk about barn duty tomorrow after waking up at 5:15 to get there, so that's something to look forward to.
It took us about two hours to get to The Putney School, and when I arrived, I was in for a bit of a shock, for I realized that I had absolutely no idea as to where I was supposed to go, leading me to wander around for a bit until I ran aross Cameron, a helpful senior girl who attempted to help me find my way. Eventually, I was all sorted out and settled into my new home for the next three weeks, Huseby House. After that, I met Zhenna, my sort of host, who is a dancer as well, and she took me all around to see the rest of the school. The vibe of the school is very cool and laid back, the students seem to fairly well have perfect freedom, and all the art studios and classrooms were phenomenal. My favorite part may have been a tree house that we saw behind the art building that we could then climb up.
However, we still and not seen the theatre and dance facilities, which were lovely, along with the barn. Though I had already seen all the gardens strewn about campus, the barn was another matter altogether. They have cows, horses, chickens, pigs, and sheep, from which they are able to get, and then use, milk, meat, and eggs. There's a huge focus in sustainability here, which is very neat, and this goes along with their idea of work and the students taking care of where they live. The students are alertly responsible for cleaning the dorms, the barn is staffed by students, and the gardens and kitchen.
After this first taste of what life at Putney will be like, I'm interested to see what the next three weeks will hold as I get to know everyone better and adjust to their very different form of life. I'll be ale to talk about barn duty tomorrow after waking up at 5:15 to get there, so that's something to look forward to.
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