Mitchell on a National Level
By: Maegan Dupre
November of 2008 brought an opportunity of a national porportion to a Lisbon teacher. Mr. Mitchell, one of the English teachers here at Lisbon High School was invited by the National Writing Project (NWP) to go present at their annual conference in San Antonio. He was selected to present with five other people who were also a part of the National Writing Project. Their three hour session was one of two featured presentations. Their topic was about the nature of digital writing and how to professionally train teachers to make them better adapted to teach their students. The small team put together their presentation using Google docs, a free program designed to make sharing and collaborating online easier. They used their presentation feature as well as many phone conferences. His fellow presenters were from far away as Colorado and as close as New York and South Carolina. Mitchell claimed that he was working with people who were of a higher talent than he was. "I enjoyed it much more when it was finished" he remarked with a laugh.
Mitchell said that the energy in the General Session room was the most memorable, having all the energy focused on education in such a positive way. He said that the NWP is constsntly working to improve writing and is devoted to not just the students, but the teachers as well. Mr. Mitchell said that he has taken a great deal of information to use in his classroom such as digital story telling, blogging, and portfolios. He plans to present again if they ask, taking on the monumental task with no rewards for him with the exception of learning and gaining a better understanding for his own processes.
Mitchell said that though the entire experience was a good one, he did not like being away from his classroom for the three days that he was. He said that only he can do what he wanted to accomplish within the classroom.
Poetry Out Loud in LHS
By Megan Samson
Lisbon High School students are getting involved in Poetry Out Loud, a national competition in the recitation of poetry, for the first time this year. Select English classes, namely those that are able to fit it into the curriculum at this time, have been holding classroom competitions late this week. The winners of these competitions will move on to a school-wide competition, judged by the English teachers, to be held on January 28 at seven P.M. in the high school library. This competition will be open the the public and friends and family of the competitors are encouraged to attend. From the school-wide competition the winner will go on to compete in the state competition.
Poetry Out Loud is a national program supported by the National Endowments for the Arts, the Poetry Foundation, and State Arts Agencies. It was first launched nationally in 2006. It is designed to help students gain a better understanding of poetry by memorizing it. Students must memorize one poem for the classroom level competition, two for the school-wide competition and three for the state and national competitions. The poems must be chosen from the anthologies provided by Poetry Out Loud, either in print or online. Monetary awards are given to both the winners at the state and national competitions and their schools.
Lisbon High School English teacher Mrs. White heard about the program last year and wanted to get the school involved, but there just wasn't time to get the necessary information and organize the competition before the deadline. Mr. Mitchell, another of the English teachers, was reminded of the program at a Maine Writing Project Conference this year, and although time isn't allowing for every class to participate, many students are able to get involved. The hope is that it will help the students to learn about the poems they are reciting, through “owning the poem”, which according to Mr. Mitchell students must do to recite it, seeing “the beauty of language” and understanding the feeling the poet is trying to express. It also gives the students experience in public speaking, helping them to “be clear and effective communicators.” Poetry Out Loud is getting students and teachers alike excited about poems.
Meeting Writers and Characters
By Megan Samson
Thursday, October 30, the junior honors English and AP English students attended the "A Sense of People: Maine Writers on Maine" presentation sponsored by Unum and the Telling Room. Monica Wood, Lewis Robinson, Betsy Sholl, and Sontaigo came and spoke to students from all over southern Maine about how to create characters and their influences on writing.
Monica Wood read a selection from her newest novel. She told the students how characters created by new writers are typically based on themselves, but as the writers develop they are able to base characters off of others they know, and eventually get their inspiration from asking why and what if of everything they see.
Lewis Robinson read an excerpt from his story "Puckheads." He then discussed how the character narrating the story affects what is told and emphasized, using examples of how "Puckheads" would be different if the narrator was different and had different interests.
Betsy Sholl, Maine’s Poet Laureate, read a few of her poems and discussed why she had written them. She explained that her characters were dark, because hardship defines people and shows who they really are, or it said something about her soul. She also told them that characters sometimes came from listening to their voices in her head and other times she writes about people she likes and respects.
Sontiago performed "Old Orleans," a song she had written after seeing pictures of the aftermath of Katrina, while a slideshow of the pictures ran. She told the students how she was just finishing her album and thought she had recorded everything, when she saw the pictures and decided to write "Old Orleans" and add it to the album.
When asked if they felt it was worth their time, only one student said it wasn’t. Darian, one of the juniors, expressed that she "liked it, but it wasn’t what I expected." She had expected more interaction with the authors. Brian, one the AP students, said he, "learned how to develop a novel," "thought it was interesting," and "liked the authors." The English teachers who took the students liked how the trip went, as well. Mr. Mitchell, one of the teachers, said, "I was very impressed with the authors and poets. I was glad we went. Any opportunity to talk to real authors is good for writers of any age."
Painstakingly Adament Tests (PSAT’s)
By: Maegan Dupre
The PSATs, or Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Tests, are coming faster than the students of Maine would like. On Wednesday October 15th, all students in the Sophomore and Junior classes will be sitting down to take the test along with the rest of the students in their graduating class from the entire state of Maine. Here at Lisbon periods one and two will be take up just for the PSATs; this does include advocacy time.
Students may be wondering why it is they have to take the PSAT’s. Certainly the Sophomores may not understand since they will not be taking the elusive SATs in the spring. Those who think that this test is a joke or something with no real value are wrong. The test allows for Sophomores and Juniors to prepare for the SAT as the PSAT is nearly a scaled down version of the SAT. The PSAT and the SAT have the same kind of information. They are just in different forms as the PSATs are less in depth. Any student who takes the PSAT will receive a detailed report showing what questions he/she had right, which ones were wrong, and which type of question the student should be working on as he/she goes on through their schooling. These results allow for the student to be able to work on exactly what the weaker areas are. Students will also receive information on courses that they can take that will help them prepare for what they wish to major in when in college. Colleges do not see the results of the PSAT’s as they are purely for the student to practice.
Juniors have a special reason to take the test seriously. Not only will the PSAT’s help them prepare for their SAT’s in the spring, but if they score high enough they will be in the running for the National Merrit Scholarship Qualifying Test. The NMSQT is a scholarship competition, and the very few who do win this prestigious award will get a full scholarship to the college of their choice anywhere within the United States.
On testing day students will walk into their designated testing room to find a paper with their name on it. This paper is not the test, but a schedule for the day as well as another reminder list for what the student should have. Having this paper allows the student to be able to better manage the time when taking the test. Students should bring two number two pecils and a calculator, even graphing calculators are allowed during the test. Students may not, however, bring any food, drink, cell phone, or personal music player. They are expected to sit and take the test quietly, and if they finish early, sit quietly until the proctor gives the okay to do otherwise. Anything brought to the testing room that is deemed inapproperate will be confiscated.
Students can prepare for the testing by gong online to www.collegeboard.com. On this site they will find additional information as well as full length practice tests that they can take. Students were also given a booklet in advocacy which contains additional information about the test as well as the NMSQT. Results are expected back at Lisbon High School around December, although it is always a wish to have them sooner.
Students are wished good luck in taking these tests and urged to do their best so they can get the best and most acurate results possible.
Sink or Float
By: Megan Samson
Cardboard. Check. Plastic. Check. Duct tape. Check. Box cutters. Check. Armed only with these supplies and their minds the Lisbon High School physics students were out to compete. The prize for success: pride and points for Physics Challenge. The cost of failure: a dip in Beaver pond.
On Tuesday September 30, the fourteen teams, made up of two to eight Lisbon High School physics students each, competed in the Boat Float at Beaver Park. This was the second year the physics classes held the event and more students participated this year. The goal was to design and build a boat that could travel out into the pond, around a buoy, and back without sinking.
The students had practiced making boats on a smaller scale in class and “only a few groups looked beyond what we had been doing in class to try to find ways to make their boat more successful,” said Miss Newell, one of the physics teachers. The real building didn’t begin until 10 O’clock on Tuesday morning. Each team had to buy a roll of duct tape and was provided with one piece of cardboard and plastic per team member who would brave the pond, along with a few extra sheets of plastic, for building materials. The teams had three hours to build and then it was test time.
While some boats sank as soon as the passengers got in them, many made it out into the pond and four completed the course successfully. Even with the many wet students the trip was a success. “Having a design that doesn’t work can be as great of a learning experience as having one that does,” said Miss Newell. She also explained that the Boat Float “was extremely successful at getting kids to try out ideas.” Tyler Gawrys, another physics student, added, “It got a lot of people to be creative and engineer something useful.” The students enjoyed the trip. “It was fun,” said Caitlin Ramsay, one of the competitors, “the water was a little cold, but it was fun.”