The end is nigh: Recognizing my graduates and JCLers
Where did May go? What business does June have sneaking up on me like this? Oh, how busy this time of year at school gets. I am behind on my grading--not that that is entirely unusual--after having several unit tests to write and final exams to update. And there are five days of school left for the kids, plus one more for teachers. (I am a bit nervous about that one, since I have to contrive to go through the check-out procedure at both high schools this year. That involves going through an assembly line of turning in remotes, gradebooks, final exam keys, etc. and getting forms signed off on. I'm not sure what time each school is doing the check-out but I have to make sure I get to both of them on time.) But this Monday (yes, Memorial Day) was graduation, and it sure was disheartening when, at the post-commencement teachers' dinner, we realized we had TWO WEEKS left with the underclassmen.
So, commencement. This is the fourth I've attended at HSE. I skipped one a couple of years back. Couldn't pass on this one though! The seniors that graduated this year have been one of the best classes I've had, especially the handful of kids in my AP Latin class this year. One of them, Pius, even graduated valedictorian. I videotaped his speech. :-)
video link
Of course you can't see Pius at all, since the faculty sit at the very back behind our hundreds of graduates.
The amazing part of commencement? Those 700-some graduates (I think that's how many) got across the stage in record time. The whole graduation took just an hour and a half. Usually, for the teachers who attend graduation, the school provides a catered dinner before the event. This year commencement was earlier in the afternoon, so instead, they treated us to dinner afterwards at Buca di Beppo. You have no idea how loud a room full of that many teachers feasting on too much Italian food can be!
And here are some of my Latin graduates:
Tullia, 4 years of Latin, one of my AP kids. She's considered teaching Latin; I hope she does!
L-R: Viviana, Pius, and Catulla. Vivi and Pivs had 4 years of Latin and were in AP with Tullia and Arcus. Those four kids have really been the highlight of my career in many ways. I am so glad they all stuck it out for the whole four years! Tullia and Pivs took the AP exam this spring; I'm hoping they did well. Catulla started just last year and took 2 years of Latin with me. She won the "Consul's Choice" award this year in our JCL club as the best new member; she wasn't in it last year but made up for it this year by being very active, especially in Certamen.
Murenus, apparently the most excited graduate there. He only took Latin 3 and AP with me, having had the first two years at a previous school, but it was a fun two years!
Marcus, only 1 year of Latin, this year; how I wish he'd started earlier!
Gladiator and Caelia. Gladiator had 2 years of Latin; Caelia had 3.
Tertius, 2 years of Latin, and writer of some fun Latin grammar songs for me!
Octavius, 2 years of Latin. Told me at graduation that he got to stop in Rome briefly last summer on a cruise his family took!
Cassius, 2 years of Latin
Arcus! He'll be back next year to finish high school, but they let him go through graduation this year instead of next, along with his class. Which means he can walk now. Recovery continues...He still comes to school on Mondays and Wednesdays and spends part of the day in Resource, but lately he has been coming to class for his German and Latin classes. (They put him back in 2nd year of both, for catch-up, but I had him try reading some of the Catullus we did last year and he remembered it well; then I had him sight-read some we hadn't done and he did fairly well at that too, so I'm just having him move on to the 4th year stuff that he missed since January! He'll continue to work on Ovid over the summer.) He is walking better all the time and his short term memory does seem to be improving, but it's still spotty, and very random sometimes. He still frequently says things without, well, thinking first, which can be a distraction but the other kids have been great about accepting him anyway. They are all glad to have him back, even if he's not really in their class! I have no idea what he'll do next year. (He is taking another year of high school to allow more time for recovery before starting college.) I'm sure he'll take Latin, but what level? I have NO OTHER students signed up for AP Latin - of 13 kids in 3rd year, two graduated and the rest chickened out. I'm not surprised, as far behind as that class is due to the distance learning (and the difference in maturity levels between this Latin 3 class and last year's Latin 3 class, to be honest). It's probably just as well they don't attempt any Catullus or Ovid just yet. They didn't even get time to read Caesar this year, and only barely made it through the Martial selections I do with Latin 3. So anyway, if Arcus wants to take AP again, it'll be true independent study because they haven't scheduled an AP class for me. Nor do I want them to, considering that I already have five preps lined up: Latin 1, 2, and 3, plus Etymology at HSE and French (either level 1 or 2, they haven't even told me yet which I'm getting!) at FHS.
Have I made any plans at all yet for the French class? No, I have not. I haven't even looked at the textbooks. I simply don't care. The Latin is all that concerns me. I'm afraid I have VERY low expectations for whatever French classes they give me next year, because preparing for the Latin classes will always be my priority. Especially so when my Latin 2 and 3 classes are going to be combined, meaning I have to figure out how to juggle their lessons...
Back to Latin news, then. Last Thursday we held our annual Cena Romana (Roman Dinner), which is also the club awards banquet. We give awards to the top ten most active members (they get points for every event they participate in) and also various other commemorative awards, things like Catulla's "Consul's Choice" award, the "Exceptional Freshman" award (because every year, there is that ONE freshman who faithfully attends events while hardly any of the other freshmen show up for anything at all), an award for the best (most creative) WRONG answer given in Certamen that year, etc., as well as various one-time awards recalling memorable things each member has done throughout the year. This year, we also had entertainment! I prevailed upon my AP kids to perform; Pivs recited (well, read really, he didn't have it memorized...this was the week of senior finals) a Catullus poem, and Vivi played a flute solo. Tullia was going to recite something from Metamorphoses but she didn't make it to the dinner, alas. I also recited Catullus 13 and 51, and was much applauded for it. See? I even got it on video...
Video Link
And here's Pivs:
Video Link
And Vivi:
Video Link
Then we got everyone involved with a Catullus Sing-Along! There are these recordings on the internet, see, of poems of Catullus set to music, and they are the niftiest thing ever. My kids all find them delightful in a very corny sort of way, and many of them have found that these songs help them learn the scansion of Latin poetry better than anything else. (So they did for me, which is why I use them in class.) So I brought a CD with them and printed booklets with the "lyrics," i.e. the poems used in the songs, and we all sang along. I cannot believe I got the kids to submit to this willingly. They even seem to be enjoying themselves in the video.
Video Link
Arcus came to the Cena too, and did quite well. Occasional randomness, but he recognized people and got along with everyone quite normally. He recognized the meters of the poems we sang. But - randomness! - he could not remember that he had ever paid his JCL dues, which he did back in August.
And here are more Cena pictures: Flickr Album for the best of the lot; here's a few for a sample:
Everyone with their awards, both silly and serious
Recline to dine Roman style
I made goodies! I tried out a couple of new Roman dessert recipes. (New to me, you know what I mean...) In this picture I'm serving the Spiced Fig Bonbons, which were too Spiced for most of the kids. (Roman palates must've been much more accustomed to lots of spices and herbs than modern ones are!) The other dessert, which is in the Flickr album somewhere, was a Honey and Sesame Seed pastry, with some toasted nuts in the middle...yum!
So, commencement. This is the fourth I've attended at HSE. I skipped one a couple of years back. Couldn't pass on this one though! The seniors that graduated this year have been one of the best classes I've had, especially the handful of kids in my AP Latin class this year. One of them, Pius, even graduated valedictorian. I videotaped his speech. :-)
Click to viewvideo link
Of course you can't see Pius at all, since the faculty sit at the very back behind our hundreds of graduates.
The amazing part of commencement? Those 700-some graduates (I think that's how many) got across the stage in record time. The whole graduation took just an hour and a half. Usually, for the teachers who attend graduation, the school provides a catered dinner before the event. This year commencement was earlier in the afternoon, so instead, they treated us to dinner afterwards at Buca di Beppo. You have no idea how loud a room full of that many teachers feasting on too much Italian food can be!
And here are some of my Latin graduates:
Tullia, 4 years of Latin, one of my AP kids. She's considered teaching Latin; I hope she does!
L-R: Viviana, Pius, and Catulla. Vivi and Pivs had 4 years of Latin and were in AP with Tullia and Arcus. Those four kids have really been the highlight of my career in many ways. I am so glad they all stuck it out for the whole four years! Tullia and Pivs took the AP exam this spring; I'm hoping they did well. Catulla started just last year and took 2 years of Latin with me. She won the "Consul's Choice" award this year in our JCL club as the best new member; she wasn't in it last year but made up for it this year by being very active, especially in Certamen.
Murenus, apparently the most excited graduate there. He only took Latin 3 and AP with me, having had the first two years at a previous school, but it was a fun two years!
Marcus, only 1 year of Latin, this year; how I wish he'd started earlier!
Gladiator and Caelia. Gladiator had 2 years of Latin; Caelia had 3.
Tertius, 2 years of Latin, and writer of some fun Latin grammar songs for me!
Octavius, 2 years of Latin. Told me at graduation that he got to stop in Rome briefly last summer on a cruise his family took!
Cassius, 2 years of Latin
Arcus! He'll be back next year to finish high school, but they let him go through graduation this year instead of next, along with his class. Which means he can walk now. Recovery continues...He still comes to school on Mondays and Wednesdays and spends part of the day in Resource, but lately he has been coming to class for his German and Latin classes. (They put him back in 2nd year of both, for catch-up, but I had him try reading some of the Catullus we did last year and he remembered it well; then I had him sight-read some we hadn't done and he did fairly well at that too, so I'm just having him move on to the 4th year stuff that he missed since January! He'll continue to work on Ovid over the summer.) He is walking better all the time and his short term memory does seem to be improving, but it's still spotty, and very random sometimes. He still frequently says things without, well, thinking first, which can be a distraction but the other kids have been great about accepting him anyway. They are all glad to have him back, even if he's not really in their class! I have no idea what he'll do next year. (He is taking another year of high school to allow more time for recovery before starting college.) I'm sure he'll take Latin, but what level? I have NO OTHER students signed up for AP Latin - of 13 kids in 3rd year, two graduated and the rest chickened out. I'm not surprised, as far behind as that class is due to the distance learning (and the difference in maturity levels between this Latin 3 class and last year's Latin 3 class, to be honest). It's probably just as well they don't attempt any Catullus or Ovid just yet. They didn't even get time to read Caesar this year, and only barely made it through the Martial selections I do with Latin 3. So anyway, if Arcus wants to take AP again, it'll be true independent study because they haven't scheduled an AP class for me. Nor do I want them to, considering that I already have five preps lined up: Latin 1, 2, and 3, plus Etymology at HSE and French (either level 1 or 2, they haven't even told me yet which I'm getting!) at FHS.
Have I made any plans at all yet for the French class? No, I have not. I haven't even looked at the textbooks. I simply don't care. The Latin is all that concerns me. I'm afraid I have VERY low expectations for whatever French classes they give me next year, because preparing for the Latin classes will always be my priority. Especially so when my Latin 2 and 3 classes are going to be combined, meaning I have to figure out how to juggle their lessons...
Back to Latin news, then. Last Thursday we held our annual Cena Romana (Roman Dinner), which is also the club awards banquet. We give awards to the top ten most active members (they get points for every event they participate in) and also various other commemorative awards, things like Catulla's "Consul's Choice" award, the "Exceptional Freshman" award (because every year, there is that ONE freshman who faithfully attends events while hardly any of the other freshmen show up for anything at all), an award for the best (most creative) WRONG answer given in Certamen that year, etc., as well as various one-time awards recalling memorable things each member has done throughout the year. This year, we also had entertainment! I prevailed upon my AP kids to perform; Pivs recited (well, read really, he didn't have it memorized...this was the week of senior finals) a Catullus poem, and Vivi played a flute solo. Tullia was going to recite something from Metamorphoses but she didn't make it to the dinner, alas. I also recited Catullus 13 and 51, and was much applauded for it. See? I even got it on video...
Video Link
And here's Pivs:
Video Link
And Vivi:
Video Link
Then we got everyone involved with a Catullus Sing-Along! There are these recordings on the internet, see, of poems of Catullus set to music, and they are the niftiest thing ever. My kids all find them delightful in a very corny sort of way, and many of them have found that these songs help them learn the scansion of Latin poetry better than anything else. (So they did for me, which is why I use them in class.) So I brought a CD with them and printed booklets with the "lyrics," i.e. the poems used in the songs, and we all sang along. I cannot believe I got the kids to submit to this willingly. They even seem to be enjoying themselves in the video.
Video Link
Arcus came to the Cena too, and did quite well. Occasional randomness, but he recognized people and got along with everyone quite normally. He recognized the meters of the poems we sang. But - randomness! - he could not remember that he had ever paid his JCL dues, which he did back in August.
And here are more Cena pictures: Flickr Album for the best of the lot; here's a few for a sample:
Everyone with their awards, both silly and serious
Recline to dine Roman style
I made goodies! I tried out a couple of new Roman dessert recipes. (New to me, you know what I mean...) In this picture I'm serving the Spiced Fig Bonbons, which were too Spiced for most of the kids. (Roman palates must've been much more accustomed to lots of spices and herbs than modern ones are!) The other dessert, which is in the Flickr album somewhere, was a Honey and Sesame Seed pastry, with some toasted nuts in the middle...yum!