Meet Hannah

As my time writing as an E-Journalist comes to a close, I want to thank those who read. It has been a wonderful experience to share my thoughts with you.

Some writers have a very distinct style, and I wish I could say that I have fully developed that. Alas, I cannot.Others have a focus they typically write on. As you can see from my previous articles, I also lack that. I studied creative writing for three years as an undergraduate student, and I can’t say with confidence that I write extremely creatively. I may never do anything meaningful with writing beyond what is here (even though I would love to). I have come to a place where I can accept that. That kind of acceptance can take time. I know that it has for me. Acceptance like that doesn’t mean giving up hope or being negative. Rather, I see it as meaning that you are not devastated when things don’t work out as you had planned. You can still see the positive.

So, in my lack of focus, it appears to me that I have mainly focused on two areas. I will continue that trend, in hopes of finding some focus.

Focus #1: School.

I am finally done with finals. It took me a week to catch up on sleep and to get rid of the dark circles under my eyes. My most notable final was the one held in the local Panera Bread for my teaching-social-studies class. We all presented lesson ideas on a poster board to our classmates there. These lesson plans were based on novels we had read. My classmate and I read a delightful book called When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit. It is the story of a little girl and her family who escape Nazi Germany and adapt to life in Zurich and Paris. Not to sound prideful, but our board was pretty amazing. We printed out illustrations from the book, actual pictures that I took in Zurich and Paris, and real World War II pictures, postcards, and clothing. Showing our boards was a great way to wrap up our semester as a class.

Enough about school! This is summer now!

Focus #2: Local travel destinations.

OK, so maybe my two Winter Park articles were not really “travel” destinations. But these are … kind of.

I am going to take you now to a faraway place: Volusia County. I have several favorite spots in Volusia County. When I want to go to the beach, I go to Smyrna Dunes State Park in New Smyrna Beach. You have to walk on a boardwalk through a nature preserve just to get to the shore. Once on the beach, the sand is white and pristine. The water is shallow, blue, and glassy. You can see the rust-colored Ponce Inlet Lighthouse and the rocks of the jetty. Parking is $5 for the day. I definitely recommend looking up the park directions via Google Maps for more information next time you want a beach day.

Nearby, across the inlet, is the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse. This lighthouse is the second tallest in the U.S. It is also the tallest lighthouse in the country that you can climb to the top of. Yes, that’s right, you can climb 203 steps to the top of the lighthouse and walk around the circular observation deck. The views are stunning; you can see for miles. Admission is $5 a person and includes access to the various museum buildings surrounding the lighthouse as well. For more information, visit www.ponceinlet.org.

Not too far away, in DeLand, you’ll find the John B. Stetson mansion. This enormous house was the first luxury home in Florida. The electricity installation was even supervised by Thomas Edison himself! The home has been beautifully renovated and redecorated and is available for guided tours, which last about half an hour. Admission is $13, and you must call or e-mail ahead to book a tour. While there, check out Boston’s Coffeehouse down the street in downtown. For more information, visit www.stetsonmansion.com.

Well, that is all I have. Thank you, and farewell!

“Why are you making puppets in grad school?”

I get these kinds of questions a lot.

Why?  Well, it could be because in grad school I have made water-bottle dolls, paper flowers, Oobleck, a board game, and a colorful imaginary-tropical-island map.  And that is just the beginning.  I have practiced my cursive letters until I had a headache, and I have played scales on my blue recorder until my ears hurt.   I have added numbers with colorful cubes and baked gingerbread men.

So now you are probably thinking that grad school is a walk in the park.

Except, there’s quite a bit more to it.  I’m in the MAT (Master of Arts in Teaching) program.  About half of my required courses are on teaching methodology, psychology, diversity, sociology, etc.  And the rest of my courses are on subject matter taught in elementary schools.  This includes courses on teaching science, language arts, music, art, math, social studies, and more.  And in order to study how to teach children these subjects, we have to experience a bit of what they do in class.

This is why I made Oobleck (a green gook) in science class.  This is why I played my recorder in music class.  It also should explain why I am practicing my cursive letters: I need to be able to teach my students the proper way to write in cursive, after all.

But while I do get to have fun in these classes, there are also challenges.  For example, there are almost always papers and tests.  Some of these papers can be quite extensive.  In addition, there are plenty of lesson plans and unit plans.  If you are curious about unit plans, you may want to check out my last entry.  Lesson plans are a basic guide to follow when teaching a lesson.  A lesson plan should include information that should be learned by students, activities, and tests (assessments).   So while there are in-class activities and some homework assignments that are easy, the overall classes can be quite challenging.

But still, I do understand the quizzical questions when I get them.  After all, most graduate students I know are not making toys or doing fun science experiments.   And I will not make it a secret that I thoroughly enjoy the fun stuff in the program.  But beyond the surface fun, we are able to see learning from the perspective of a child.   And when becoming an elementary-school teacher, that is essential.  Otherwise, there would be a complete disconnect between you and your students.  You would not be able to understand their struggles and, therefore, help them.  You would not be able to guide them in a way that is at their level if you could not see from their perspective.

Through fun, we gain perspective.  Through perspective, we become more effective teachers.  Through being more effective, we reach our students.  All the hours of cursive practice, unit-plan writing, planning, puppet-making, and test-taking will be worth just that.   To reach our students with education — that is our overarching goal.

I just finished writing my integrated unit.

Before I go further, I probably should explain what an integrated unit is, as several people have asked me.  An integrated unit is basically a large map for teaching.  A unit usually lasts for two or more weeks and has a central theme.  (As you think about it, you may recall doing something similar to this in grade school.) You use that theme and connect it to as many lessons and activities as possible, making connections with whatever subjects possible, be they math, science, reading, art, etc.  For example, my unit was on 19th century town life.  For math, students did “general store activities,” including measuring lengths from bolts of cloth and spools of ribbon.  For language arts, they had lessons straight out of the McGuffey Reader (the most popular textbook in the 1800s).  For art, they had to make little pioneer people with crayons and scraps of cloth.

While building your own integrated unit is very rewarding, it is also tedious and time-consuming.  Do you ever have a homework assignment, look over the requirements, and think, “Oh, this won’t take very long”?  Well, sometimes you are right, and it takes hardly any time at all.  But you probably can think of one or two assignments when you thought that, and they wound up taking twice as long, or maybe even three times as long.

This is what happened to me with my integrated unit.

I looked over the instructions, and I thought to myself, “I love my topic; I know a lot about it; and my unit is for second grade.  It shouldn’t take too long.”

Wow, was I wrong.  It reminded me a lot of when I made coq au vin last month.

Have you ever had coq au vin?  It is a delicious, amazingly flavorful French chicken dish.  Coq au vin literally means “cock in wine,” because often a rooster was used as meat in the dish.  I have recently been very interested in French gourmet cooking, and I have tried to immerse myself in it as much as an American here can.  So when I read about coq au vin, it looked amazing, and of course I had to make it.  I selected Julia Child’s coq au vin, mainly because I wouldn’t have any measurements to convert.

Before I began cooking, I read over the recipe extensively.  There were a lot of steps, but they all looked relatively short and easy. ”This shouldn’t take too long,” I thought.

Nearly three hours later, I was still cooking coq au vin.  I had breaded the chicken, browned the chicken, soaked the chicken, salt and peppered the chicken, and made the sauce for the chicken. Thankfully, I had Jeremy, my “French chef-in-training,” to assist toward the end.  The kitchen was boiling hot, even though it was freezing cold outside and no heat was on.  The pan that the coq au vin was cooking in had gotten so hot that it melted a nearby measuring cup.  Yes, that is correct: It melted it.  It was a large, plastic measuring cup sitting maybe eight inches from the stove, on the counter.  And the entire side of it melted from the heat.  That was sometime in between lighting the cognac on fire in the pan and letting the chicken simmer in the sauce for approximately 30 minutes.  If I remember correctly, there were about 25 steps to the recipe. Some took only a few minutes.  But a few minutes here and a few minutes there, and suddenly, three hours later, you are standing over a hot pan of simmering chicken.

So how was this a resemblance of my unit?

Well, in order for me to know what my unit would entail and how much time everything would take, I wrote out a detailed calendar with lesson and activity descriptions.  It also included times for specific lessons and activities.  I also attached Florida Sunshine State Standards to many of them.

In addition, I had to write seven detailed lesson plans for the unit. Every lesson had to have a list of materials needed, a Sunshine State Standard, a goal, an objective, half a dozen other specifications.  Each one of these lessons was approximately a page and a half to two-and-a-half pages long.  Also, I had to make a web, showing what activities and lessons were done in each subject and how they were connected back to the main idea.

Are you seeing how this might seem a little like coq au vin?

So, now we know about all that goes into creating a unit plan and cooking a complex French chicken dish.  What does this all mean?

I guess I need to be realistic with myself, and try not to underestimate the length of time that my assignments can take.  It is not profound at all.  Coq au vin is probably 10 times more profound than what I just said.  But it’s the truth.

Now, if anyone has a spare four hours and would like to slave away over a stove, just let me know and I will post the recipe next time.  The coq au vin is truly delicious.  I felt such a sense of accomplishment when I finally finished it and set it next to my dish of warm ratatouille.   I even took pictures (as you will see), because I was so proud.   I didn’t take pictures of my integrated unit, but I had that same sense of accomplishment.  Twenty-eight pages later, it was finally finished.

Now I wish that I had some coq au vin to enjoy.

Last time I wrote, I explored Olde Winter Park through its art, music, and history.  I will continue that exploration, but this time I will be focusing on the hidden places in the town, as well as some favorite spots of mine.  I hope that you will enjoy reading about these and will go to see them for yourself.

Whether you know it or not, there are several hidden places along Park Avenue.   My personal favorite is the courtyard behind the Barnie’s coffee shop.  Tucked away, mostly hidden from view, is a delightful little courtyard.  In the center is a beautiful fountain, which is surrounded by patio tables.  To both the left and the right are staircases leading up to Spanish-style balconies, which house local shops.  The one to the right has beautiful tile work.  And to the left, underneath one of the balconies, is my favorite spot — the Brandywine bookshop.  This bookshop reminds me so much of Europe.  The store itself is very tiny, with just a few bookshelves.  But it has quite an extensive selection of old and used books for a shop of that size.  There are a few chairs for browsers to sit on, nestled among the shelves.

Another hidden spot is the more modern Commerce Shopping Plaza on Park Avenue.  To the left entrance is a colorful, beautifully tiled staircase.  Underneath the staircase is a fish pond.  Both are excellent spots for anyone looking for a good photograph.  Continuing to the right, one will find the tucked-away Paris Bistro.  A beautiful fake-yet-real-looking tree stands in front of it, with white lights among the leaves.  Down the hall is a little, European-looking women’s clothing boutique.

Yet another Park Avenue secret I enjoy is the Hidden Gardens alcove, near the corner of Park Avenue and West Canton Avenue.  A little path winds about behind buildings, past shops and restaurants.  A Parisian-looking restaurant with a heavily windowed dining room is along the path, as well as the quaint Traditions on Park gift shop.  The shop has a little room to the side, where they sell Winter Park T-shirts, hats, and other apparel.  They even have “32789″ shirts and shorts.

Now, for a few of my favorite spots for eating.  For a delicious meal, I love going to Cafe de France on Park Avenue.  I have thoroughly enjoyed everything I have eaten or tasted there.  And their crème brûlée is simply amazing.

For a snack, I love getting gelato (Italian ice cream) at Peterbrooke Chocolatier on the corner of Park Avenue and West New England Avenue (though this is one of several places to find gelato on Park Avenue).  Another cold treat I enjoy is Gurtzberry (frozen) Yogurt on East Morse Boulevard.   The ice cream is made from real yogurt (and is very healthy), and you can choose from many different fruits, cereals, candy, and other toppings to accompany it.  It is on the expensive side for frozen yogurt, but they do have a Rollins discount if you ask for it.  Next door is the Croissant Gourmet French bakery. The chocolate croissants are quite delicious, and there is a wide selection of fresh baked goods.

A new discovery of mine is the World Cafe on Park Avenue.  The colorfully decorated little restaurant has an extremely European atmosphere.  The desserts displayed behind glass almost look more like art than food.  And they serve illy coffee, famous in Italy.

This is Part Two of my little tour of Olde Winter Park.  Just think!  Footsteps away from Rollins is a hidden world, as well as delicious foods to partake of that you might not know about (yet!).

I have been spending time in downtown Winter Park for as long as I can remember.  But it was only a couple of years ago, shortly before I began at Rollins, that I truly began to see the deep beauty in this town.  Living in a small, 10th-century city in Austria for a summer also helped to bring about my appreciation for Olde Winter Park.  Certainly, it is no Europe.  But for Florida, I would say that it does come close.   Just a stroll down Park Avenue, or any of the surrounding streets, makes you feel as if you are not in Florida anymore.

I love how artsy Winter Park is.  Usually in the United States, when people say that a town is “artsy,” they are describing local abstract art, coffee shops with poetry readings, and restored old buildings.  And, yes, Olde Winter Park certainly has all these things and more.  But Winter Park is also artsy in a traditional way.

Let’s face it, the U.S. is not as filtrated with classical art museums as Europe.  In most parts of Europe, every major city (even the small cities) has at least two classical, plastic art museums (plastic art is a broad term to define three dimensional art and visual art).  And two is an understatement for most cities.  This is not the case in many U.S. cities, be they large or small.  But Winter Park, despite its small size in comparison to Orlando, has three stunning museums filled with plastic art.  The first is the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art on Park Avenue.  This museum is host to the largest collection of Tiffany glass in the world.  The swirling designs, which form the colored glass into pictures and stories, are overwhelming at times.  I could go on and on about this museum, my personal favorite, but I would rather you see it for yourself.  The next museum is on the Rollins College campus.  It is the Cornell Fine Arts Museum.  An upcoming exhibit will feature art by women, including the famed Mary Cassat.  The permanent collection boasts paintings that date back to the 1400s.  When I visited the museum last year, there were beautiful sculptures, glass, and china in addition to paintings.  Finally, the Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens are just a few blocks away from Rollins.  Albin Polasek was an accomplished and well-known sculptor (one of the most famous in the United States in the 20th century).  His former residence is now a museum, gift shop, and concert hall.  His sculptures, as well as his beautiful home and gardens, can be seen by visitors.  Not only are all of these museums within walking distance of each other, but admission is also under $3 or less for Rollins students (or free!)!

Before I leave the topic of the Albin Polasek Museum, there is something else I need to mention about our next subject: music.  Every year, a three-part concert series is held at the home.  Guest musicians change from year to year.  The downside is that the concerts are rather expensive, at $30 per person, per concert.

But if this price is a deal breaker, please don’t be dismayed!  Winter Park is host to the third-oldest Bach Festival in the United States!  Concerts and art exhibits, celebrating the music of Bach, are held throughout the city.  This year, the festival celebrates its 75th year.  The Knowles Memorial Chapel at Rollins is one of the performance locations.  For more information, such as concert dates and locations, you can visit bachfestivalflorida.org.

And last, the Rollins Department of Music always has concerts going on during the semester.  And usually, these concerts are free.  You can look on the music department website for dates and times.

And now, the history.  I love history… and not just because of the years I spent in classes to get my history degree.  The lives of those who lived before us, and their similarities and differences, fascinate me to no end.  And luckily for me, Winter Park is a city rich in history.

I’m sure you recall the graceful Winter Park peacock symbol.  The granddaughter of Charles Hosmer Morse (you may recall that name from my earlier mention) adopted two peacocks.  Unfortunately, she lived in the center of town and the peacocks tended to be loud.  She moved them to what was then the countryside, on Genius Drive, not far from the Rollins campus.

And you may remember my mention of the Knowles Memorial Chapel.  The chapel was built in 1931 and was designed by the very well-known American architect, Ralph Adams Cram.  It has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1997.

Even with this information on art, music, and town history, I have not even begun to share with you all that can be done in and about Olde Winter Park.  I did not mention all the beautiful historical churches and homes located around the town, the delicious, gourmet restaurants, the sidewalk art festival, the boat tour, shops with gelato in abundance, and so much more.  That will have to wait for another time.

I have found in my nearly six years as a college student that the university library is closely tied to feelings of stress, sleeplessness, and possibly even anxiety.  The library is the place where you go on late nights when you are cramming for finals.  Or, at best, it is where you wander around for hours in search of academic resources for an important research paper.  But, as I have learned, there is an undiscovered Olin Library hidden beneath all the negative sentiments.

This undiscovered library is a place of enjoyment, a home of entertainment, and a source of relaxation.  For the movie watcher, there is an extensive DVD collection, available for free checkout to all Rollins students.  In a recent trip to the film section of the Olin Library, I noticed DVDs of Lord of the Rings, several seasons of the television show Lost, and many recent movie releases.  There is also an extensive non-fiction film section.  On the shelves in this row are some recent Academy Award-winning documentaries.

Then I made my way upstairs and stumbled upon the poetry shelves.  I noticed several books of James Joyce poetry and even a collection of Beatrix Potter works.  Nearby was the little children’s literature section, which is perfect and convenient for the student who wants to check out a book for a child in his or her life, perhaps a young sibling, cousin, son, or daughter.

Nearby is a section of contemporary novels and classic literature.  And what can compare to sitting back with a good book on a cold or rainy day?  Even if you don’t have a specific book in mind, just browsing the rows of shelves should let a title catch your eye.  I find that if I browse the rows for more than 15 or so minutes, I will end up with at least five books in my arms –  which leaves me wondering, “When will I have the time to read all of these?” Speaking of which, for the reader who is short on time, the library has plenty of recent newspapers and magazines on hand.  Some newspapers are also available online through the Olin Library website, if that is your preference.

Downstairs, there are plenty of computers for the days when you just want to check Facebook or watch YouTube videos.  The cafe near the front entrance also offers a place for relaxation.  Food, soda, and coffee are available in a wide selection for so small a cafe. I have often found one of my favorite European beverages there, Orangina (best compared to a mixture of carbonated water and orange juice).  There are also sandwiches, chips, Starbucks coffee drinks, and candy bars.

So next time you have a bit of free time while on campus, consider a trip to the Olin Library.  I hope that seeing it beyond assignments and stress can brighten your perspective.  Try finding a movie you love on DVD, a book filled with the works of a favorite poet, or maybe your favorite snack.  Whatever it is you seek at the library, hopefully it will put you at ease.

My most memorable semester was my second semester at Rollins. I am in the Master of Arts in Teaching program, and that semester I took the sociology of schools, teaching elementary-school music, and teaching elementary-school art. On Wednesdays, I had sociology, in a large classroom with both graduate and undergraduate students. I loved how everyone had input. Every person in the class had something meaningful to say and to contribute. We all brought various perspectives to the discussion, but somehow all came to an agreement that there were major problems in American schools that needed to be addressed and solved.

Thursdays were a more lighthearted day, with back-to-back music and art classes. We learned how to inspire children artistically in these two courses, while the previous day we had discussed how to rescue them from becoming mired in decay. And yet it all tied itself together. First, they needed our help for their basic needs. Then we would build on that as teachers and teach them to appreciate the beauty of art and of music. In sociology, we truly learned how privileged we were.

I think that the most impactful way that we learned this was through a group assignment called the Social Stratification Project. The class was broken into groups, and each group was given a fictional family and guidelines. My group was a working-class family with two parents and two children. Together, they made less than $40,000 a year. We had to budget this money by month and by week to determine how much could be allotted for various needs, such as food, rent, utilities, and transportation. Our research was in-depth, and included going to the grocery store and writing down the prices of every item the family would need for the week, finding a house for them to rent, and going to the school where the children would, hypothetically, attend. We also budgeted for entertainment, gas, insurance, car payment, clothes, toys, and cell phone.

Each group presented to the class. While a couple of groups had families with higher incomes, most showed people struggling to get by. Through this project, we realized just how hard it is to support a family with a minimal income.

Music class was held at the Congregational Church near Rollins. The atmosphere in the class was positive and oftentimes joyful. We created lessons to present to the class, learned songs for children that we can someday use in our own classrooms, learned to play various instruments, and went through the steps of memorizing musical notes as elementary students do. We especially learned the importance of music in the development and education of children. Music is so essential in their growth, and helps them in many different subjects and areas. I found this class to be as meaningful as sociology.

Last was art class. We would always rush from music class to get there in time. We learned by doing in this class. Each week, we did projects that are done by elementary-school students. This included printmaking, weaving, and puppet-making. One evening, after class, a couple of my classmates and I took our newly made felt, yarn, and cloth puppets and put them on our hands. Then we snuck up to the computer lab window, knocked, and held up our frightening-looking puppets, much to the shock of those inside. But amidst the fun, laughter, and conversation as we worked on our art projects, we also learned something meaningful: that art helped students feel inspired and helped them in their development.

All three of my classes, though varied in topic, were meaningful to me as a future educator. What I learned from these classes I will pass on to my own students someday. I will help them by promoting improvement and reform in schools at a local level. And I also will seek to inspire them creatively. I have received an incredible education at the Holt School so far. And I look forward to the semesters to come, because I know that whatever I learn, it will have an impact.