Author: That Girl

May 23, 2015

You Have Been Hacked!

Dear Jerry,

It’s good to see you old buddy! Time has flown and I haven’t talked with you since last year…..around this time, now that I think about it. This time of the year is a crazy time in One Room, with final tests coming up this week, finishing up all of the subjects, some kids have presentations, and all of the kids have their Robin Hood play next week, (which I hope you will be attending Jerry), and lets not forget saying goodbye to all the kids for the summer! I’m not sure where you go over the summer Jerry, but I really hope you end up on someones desk in a nice lounge chair in the air conditioning! Because lets face it buddy, you’re looking a little crispy these days, maybe try some lotion and stay out of the sun so you don’t turn into ash.

I just wanted to tell you hello and make sure you take care of yourself this summer. Have a great last week with the kids, (and be sure to be encouraging to all of them!) they may look a little stressed from all the tests that the teaches will be throwing at them, and lets not forget the play, but I’m sure they are stoked to finally be finishing up for the year. I know I was last year when I was in One Room. Miss you buddy, and I’m glad I remembered how to get on here so I could say one last goodbye before the summer. 😉 Take care old buddy.

-An Old Friend-

February 3, 2014

Breaking Down Dystopia: The Hunger Games – Part 1

Dear Jerry,

Throughout the next three weeks I am going to be on the topic of ‘The Hunger Games’. In our culture today, we have become fascinated with these dystopia books, and we (the OneRoom bloggers) want to break it down, and show what it is about these books that we love so much.

Every dystopia book starts with this idea of a utopia. Now, you may be asking, “what is a utopia? And what is a dystopia?” Well a utopia is when an author makes a perfect world, and a dystopia is when that “perfect world” breaks down and begins to fall apart, or break out of its pattern. That is where The Hunger Games starts, and that is what I am going to write about.

In The Hunger Games, the Capital has tried to make their world and culture perfect for them, by separating Panam into districts that work for them in very specific ways. They have every need of theirs met without them having to lift a finger for it. For example, district 12 contributes to this by working as coal miners, for the Capital. District 11 is agricultural, District 4 handles the fishing, and so on.

For the Capital, everything is good. They have everything they want, with nice clothes, an abundance of food, and nice houses. They even have, once a year, a reality show that they put on, called The Hunger Games.They put on these “games” that every year every district must offer up two young people, one male, and one female, to fight till the death in an arena that the Capital makes, while everyone watches on TV. They do this to try and scare the Districts, so they don’t start another uprising to destroy their “perfect” Capital. So for the Capital, their lives are pretty perfect, (or so they think) until one young lady, named Katniss Everdeen, comes along and begins to rock the boat.

That is where I will pick up next week, so stay tuned!

-Maddy

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January 28, 2014

Looking to the Future

Dear Jerry,

As you may know, this is my last year of school and it has been a crazy one so far.
When you are younger people are always asking, “What do you want to do when you grow up?” Then when we get a little older and into middle school they change the question to, “What do you want to do with your life?” And finally when we get into high school they change the question once again to, “What are you going to go to collage for?” These questions didn’t always scare me but as time passed I kept getting a little more nervous, because in all honesty, I had no idea.
Last year I had decided that I wanted to go to collage to become a nail tech, but I finally realized that I didn’t want to do that because I was passionate about it, it was because I thought I HAD to go to collage. The pressure was getting to me and I felt like time was passing far to quickly. Until one day, my awesome teacher put a crazy idea into my head that I had never even thought about. She told me to think about going to collage to become a sign language interpreter/educator. At first I thought it was such a crazy idea, but then one day I finally realized that it is something I really want to do.
Now I am looking at going to FGCU next year and am finally at ease with what I want to do. The moral of the story is that, don’t let anyone pressure you into thinking you HAVE to go to collage. Do what you are passionate about and be your own person. Also, listen to those crazy ideas people give you, because you never know what will come out of them.

-Maddy

January 21, 2014

Our Field Trip

Dear Jerry,
A couple weeks ago, One Room learning had our very first field trip! (Sorry you didn’t get to come, but we were worried you might be confused as fish food) We went to the Florida Tampa Aquarium on Friday. We were able to go with some friends and had a blast! Group 1 was able to see so many of things they have been learning about in their Marine life studies. We compiled some of our favorite things about the day to show you:

• Touching the string rays
• Baby seahorses
• Seeing all the fish from Nemo
• Color-changing jellyfish
• Taking pictures with the fish
• Hurricane Stimulator
• Spotting a crack in the tank
• Having a stare down with a gator
• Bio-luminous sea anemones
• Goliath Grouper
• Floor to ceiling 500,000 gallon aquarium tank
• Happy blowfish
• Touching a sea cucumber
• Scavenger hunt (Group 3 won)

We had so much fun Jerry! I can’t wait to tell you about the next field trip we take. (Maybe you can sneak into a backpack)

– Hannah

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October 21, 2013

My World Turned Upside Down

Dear Jerry,

  Three and a half years ago my family and I moved from Michigan, where we lived our whole lives, to Florida where we currently live. I came home one day from my best friends house that lived right down the street from me and saw a for sale sign in our front yard. You can imagine the panic that I was in. I had lived in that house since the time I was three. I ran inside and asked my parents what was going on, and my dad told me not to worry because the market for selling houses wasn’t good.

  After that it went back to life as normal, but the sight of that sign out front still made me cringe because I knew it meant that when it did sell, we would be moving to Florida and away from everything I had ever known. It sure was weird letting people come in our house to look around to see if they wanted to buy it. Until one day three weeks later, my dad told us the house sold and we would be moving to Florida within a week. The packing process began. It was a really sad time because my older brother and sister were in college and they would be staying there, and then there was my best friend, who I had spent almost everyday with. After the very sad week was over and we said our goodbyes, we began our drive down here to Florida where our rental house was waiting.

  We got to Florida with our friends that were going to be helping us move in, before the moving truck was there, so we spent the night on the floor. The next day, the truck got there and it was time to start the unpacking process. It did not take as long as I had imagined it would take, but it sure was a lot of work.

  So there we were, in a brand new house, a thousand miles from family and friends with only knowing one family in the city that we were now living. Lucky for me, that family had two of my great friends in it. The first couple months was hard but as time went on it got easier, I started making new friends in our church . By the time fall had come around, one of my new friends told me about a basketball team that she was a part of here. The pastor of our church coached and invited me to play with them. I was a little hesitant at first, but I ended up saying yes. That was the best decision I ever made; that was were I met some of my best friends and became closer to the ones I already had made.

  Looking back now I can see how God worked in my life and led me to where I needed to be, and I really love it here in Florida now. He really does work in mysterious ways. 🙂

-Maddy

September 23, 2013

The Blessings of a Niece!

Dear Jerry,

There is this amazing blessing that God has given me. Her name is Alexis, and she is my beautiful niece. I will NEVER forget the day that she was born. It will go down in history as one of the craziest days that I have ever experienced. It was just a normal day in sunny Florida when we got the call from Alyssa that she was headed to the hospital (up in Michigan where she lived) because she was going to be induced the next morning. Long story short my mom and I were up there within hours. The next night Alexis was born.

Now as you know my family and I live here in Florida, and Michael (my brother), Alyssa and Alexis lived in Michigan. It was hard to live so far away from them, and I had never had a niece before so not being able to see her all the time was awful, but that’s not where the story ends.

Last December the three of them moved down here and now I get to see Alexis every day. It has been so amazing. Now we get to wake up every morning to the sound of her cute little laugh, and her crazy bed head. It is so funny to see. Ever since she was born she has had a lot of hair, and it is so much fun to give her some pretty cute hair styles. It is also so funny to see her army crawl around the house to come find us, and when she does she starts yelling for you to pick her up as an award. She is one crazy baby.

The role of an aunt is awesome. We get to be a friend, a sister, and a second mom. We also get to spoil like a grandma, which might just be the best part of it. I am excited to be able to see her grow up, but at the same time I want her to stay small forever. I look forward to all the crazy and exciting times ahead of us!

From, Maddy

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