Homework in the third term,

Do teachers not understand?

When we walk around the halls of this campus,

School is not on our mind.

Our high school is already determined,

But the teachers don’t care.

We are all done with school,

But the teachers keep up the workload,

“This will prepare you for high school,” they say,

But I am already prepared.

We walk on this campus,

With all the white and black buildings,

Not to keep learning,

But to enjoy our last days together.

No one wants work,

But teachers never loosen up.

Do they expect us to still care?

Do they expect us to still try?

How are we supposed to stay focused,

When next year is the only thing on our minds.

We’re on a senior slide they say, 

But they don’t understand.

When we are in class,

We don’t want to learn,

We are just thinking,

About going back home.

What’s the point of exams,

We say to them.

We’re retaking ninth grade,

Haven’t we been through enough?

“This is high school,” they say,

But when will they learn,

This is definitely not high school.

This is a middle school,

If anything.

We are still looking forward to our high school days,

Not looking back at our first year.

Fenn is a great place,

And it has been my home for 6 years,

But I am ready to move on,

Same with everyone in our grade.

Ninth grade has been one to remember, 

But it is ninth grade.

Not freshman year,

Not the first year of high school,

Just ninth grade.

And in the third term of ninth grade,

We are not looking to learn more material.

We are looking to spend the last of our time together,

Playing spikeball and enjoying ourselves.

But with nights filled with homework,

And the third term filled with tests and studying for exams,

We are doing everything but having fun.

They think we still care,

About this thing called school.

But no we don’t,

They just don’t understand.

Homework in the third term,

Do teachers not understand?

We are all done with school,

But teachers keep up the workload,

Not caring about how the students feel.

We continue to complain,

But all they say is “This is high school.”

This is middle school,

But they won’t listen.

They don’t want us to loosen up in the third term,

But we’re ready to leave,

And work is not on our minds.

How do they expect us to work,

As hard as we did before.

We have no motivation,

Why work hard?

They always say that this will prepare you,

But I am already prepared.

We’ve been taking exams since 7th grade,

Why one more?

We’re on a senior slide they say,

But how do they expect us,

To keep up the same effort,

When all we can think about is next year.

We are all ready to have fun,

Not to do homework.

We want to bond in the last days of our time here,

But no they say,

Here’s an exam and a paper.

Soccer

The sun beams down upon the soccer field,

The gold and white lines cover the green grass.

Both teams walk out as they are unconcealed,

The teams walk end to end as they both pass.

The whistle blow signaling them to play,

The fans all cheer for there own blue and gold.

The Fenn team scores and fans scream, “Down with Fay,”

We win the game as happiness unfolds.

And after the long hard fought game was won,

The team heads back into the locker room.

We were so sad after the game was done,

The joys that soccer season brought went boom.

The power of a simple little ball,

It is something that is wondrous to all.

Dogs

The frozen snow dropped down from the white clouds,

The fresh powder covered the brown dirt ground,

The only sound was a chirping blue jay,

The little boy darted out of his house,

Little feet were imprinted in the snow,

He jumped up and down, happy as can be,

Smiling at every bird and squirrel in sight,

At last his favorite time of year had come.

This was the happiest that he had been,

But nobody was with him by his side,

No friends, no siblings, not a soul to be found,

This little boy hanging out by himself,

After a while he just started to sulk,

But then something appeared out of the house,

It was not a kid or a parent there,

It was a furry dog full of energy.

There will not always be someone right there,

But there will always be dog for you,

As humans, we do not deserve these dogs,

But they are still always awaiting you

While this boy had no one to play there with,

His dog is always there to cheer him up,

Right away he forgot the disappointment,

The boy does not need anybody else.

Metacognition:

I thought this poem was going to be much harder to write than it actually was. I just looked at it and got intimidated, but after I got the first couple of lines down, it just started flowing. I tried my best to use the stressed and unstressed words, but I could not always get it to be perfect. Other than not always getting the “da-doom’s” correct, I thought that it was easier than I expected, but it was still difficult to write.

Why Thoreau Doesn’t Like Charity

I have made some sacrifices to a sense of duty, and among others have sacrificed this pleasure also.

-Henry David Thoreau

    Charity can be a great thing—or not a good think. In the chapter, “Economy” in the book Walden, Henry David Thoreau gives the reader his thinking on the flaws of charity. Thoreau describes his dislike for charity by saying that people don’t use it for the right ways, and he would not take the money if someone were to offer it to him.

    Thoreau begins by stating that he doesn’t participate in charity partly because the people who receive it don’t necessarily put it to the right causes. He then goes on to say that he has tried it and doesn’t agree with what it stands for, He does not look down on the people who receive charity, but Thoreau would run away from it if charity was ever offered to him.

“If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life, as from that dry and parching wind of the African deserts called the simoom, which fills the mouth and nose and ears and eyes with dust till you are suffocated, for fear that I should get some of his good done to me- some of its virus mingled with my blood.”

    Charity is against Thoreau’s ideals. If he were to receive it, it would almost be a threat on his way of life. This is the first part of this section in the book where Thoreau describes his opposition to the subject by making it personal. This quote also suggests that charity is almost a virus that infects you. This reveals that he thinks that charity catches you by surprise and leaves you in a worse position than you were before. Charity is something that is meant to help out people in need, but, like when someone wins the lottery, it almost always leaves them in a worse position.

    We should worry about the good things and not dwell on other people misfortunes in this short life we live.

Fennway Park

    Everyone is tied to a special place. In my life, I am passionate about baseball and the baseball field at Fenn, “Fennway Park’, is a special place to me. Although in the fall and spring going to the baseball field is not part of my daily routine in the Fall and Winter, it is somewhere I feel comfortable, and somewhere I know I can have fun. It was a Sunday afternoon and my dad had just gotten back from his trip to North Carolina. The teachers had not assigned homework for the next day, and our family had nothing planned. My dad asked me what we should do and I told him I wanted to go to the baseball field. My dad said that we could head over to the Acton-Boxboro high school fields or we could just play catch in our back yard, but I told him that I wanted to go to Fenn. My dad and I placed our baseball gear things in the back of the car and hopped into the green Subaru and made the twenty minute drive to Fenn. We pulled up to the drop off circle, and the sun was gleaming off the new infield dirt. I headed out to shortstop and fielded some grounders, and then went in and took a couple cuts at the plate to get me ready for the next days game. Although to many people all baseball fields seem the same, Fennway park will always be special to me. I have a grown up playing on this baseball field, and I have learned so much about baseball and life in general. It may just be a baseball field to many, I will never forget the Fenn baseball field. A place can be more powerful than you think.

As I walk through the tree-covered forest, the smell of pine fills the air. My golden retriever, Finn, walks by my side as we make the 30 minute walk through the dirt paths of the Acton Arboretum. While my day is usually made up of video games, TV and playing sports, this time I have walking my dog is a nice way to get away from everything and think. Think about school, friends, and about all of the nature that surrounds me. We live in an age where technology makes up most of our lives and this time that I have walking in the woods and disconnecting from a device is a rarity. We are so focused on staying up to date on social media that we forget how good it feels to be alone with nature. I have never thought about how special this time walking through the Acton Arboretum is to me, but now I realize how important it is for me to disconnect and see the beauty of nature. Devices may control our lives, but we all need a break.

Timmy Smith

Economy Literary Reflection

Fitz’s Class

4/11/19

What you want isn’t always what you need

- Anonymous

    The truth can be difficult. In English class, we are reading Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, more specifically the first chapter, “Economy.” In this chapter, Thoreau made me think deeply about how, as human beings, we often get our wants and needs mixed up. Thoreau may have been writing in the 1800’s, but all of the things that he talks about are still relevant today. People, including me, continue to buy the most expensive clothes and the fanciest houses. I agree with what Thoreau is saying, and he made me think about why I wear what I wear and live where I live.

We all have the basic necessities in our lives. Food, shelter, clothing, and even fuel. While these may be the most basic needs of each humans life, I believe that there are a few more that should be added to this list. As a 15 year old boy, I can fall into the trap of taking things for granted; however, now as I sit here thinking about what my basic needs are in my young life, I have come up with a few things that I believe I could not live without. First, and most importantly, family. At this age, you need someone to talk to. Whether you are sad or happy, your family will always be there. Another necessity in my life is friends. At our young age, friends are one of the few things that provide us great joy, and friends will be there for you when you want to talk or even get something off of your chest. When you think of the necessities of life, you will always think of the basic survival needs, but I think that you need to add family and friends to complete that list.

Spring 

The blue sunny sky

With rays strong enough to blind you

Shone on the white car

The orange cone

On the newly paved walkway

Was guiding no one

The yellow monarch

Hovering above the trees

Waiting for a new day

The brown oak tree

In the deserted parking lot

Is always just there

With these spring haiku, I used a lot of image and image plus cool twist, and image on image plus cool twist. I found that there are a lot of intersecting images in the spring, and I thought tat I could best capture them by using these techniques

Summer

The green bottle

Sitting on the deserted field

Awaiting a thirsty owner

The blooming flower

Waiting for its daily watering

Looked up at the sun

The blazing sun

Shone its rays on the awaiting world

Never to disappoint

The excited kid

Running in his new shoes

With never ending joy

With the summer haiku, I tried to use more of the narrowing and expanding technique. The summer is a beautiful season, and I tried to show the different aspects of summer in my four haiku.

Fall

The colorful leaves

Fall off the short branches

Holding on for dear life

The children watch

As the final orange leaf

Hits the green grass

The red cardinal

Sits on the dead oak branch

No sound to be hear

The last blade of green grass

Sitting on the brown covered lawn

Waiting to be taken over

I used a combination of image and image plus cool twist, and image on image plus cool twist while writing the fall haiku. There are a lot of good images that came to my mind wen I thought of fall, and I thought I could best express them using these techniques.

Winter 

The white fluffy powder

Falling from the clouds above

Falling with no control

No tracks made

Just white barren land

For miles upon miles

All leaves have fallen

The sun hides behind the clouds

But fun is still here

Hot cocoa on the stove

While snow taps on the rooftops

And all is peaceful

I tried to use more narrowing and expanding while writing my winter haiku. I felt like narrowing and expanding fit winter, and I enjoyed writing about all of the cool images that come with the winter season.