Hello, Voxers.
While I'll probably glance from time to time when I receive an e-mail about what's going on in my neighborhood, I think I'm done with Vox. I've got a nifty permanent account over at LJ, and I just don't see what I get here that's so much better than what I have there to the point where it would merit switching.
It was a fun experiment.
If you only know me from here and would like to read my blog, it's at http://isquiesque.livejournal.com - see you there!
Would you go on vacation by yourself, and if so where would you go?
Submitted by Sean & Stefan.
Absolutely. I have a very, very public job, which wears on the little introvert that lives within me. I adore spending time alone, and try to do it a little each day, but especially now that I'm married that often proves difficult; it's hard to justify time away from my husband when I've been gone from him at work or volunteering or whatever all day. And after all, I adore him.
But back to the original question, yes. Some of my best vacations or vacation moments have been spent alone... bicycling in the south Pacific sun on the sandy roads of Tabuaeran Island in Kiribati with my pants rolled up to my knees... strolling slowly over the Seine across the Pont Alexandre III delighting in each new sculpture... wandering the twisty streets of Cambridge with a camera, taking photographs of doors and windows and centuries' worth of change in architectural detail... watching lava flow into the ocean... watching ice crash into the sea... or hiking in moonlight through the southern Appalachians.
It's always difficult, picking new places to go, when I'm so in love with the places I've been. Venice has been on my mind quite a bit lately as a new destination to pursue. The temples and pyramids of Egypt. Angkor Archaeological Park in Cambodia. More practically speaking, I'd like to have a nice stroll around Cornwall or Vieux-Québec or other amazing places which lie close to where I could stay with family to cut expenses before and after the time alone.
Last night I sat in on a Conseil de Classe at the high school I work at. It was a very interesting example of just how centralized the French system is, but before I talk about it I'll have to explain the school's structure a bit.
French high school students have their whole day with the same class of students. (Well, almost - some of them have different "options" to take special extra courses which wouldn't be with the whole class.) This idea is so foreign to me, as the last time I had my whole day with the same classmates I was 13 years old. The French high school has three years (not four) and the first year the classes are composed of mixed levels and abilities, it's just for them to get a "taste" of high school I guess and decide what it is they want to specialize in. For the second and third year, they pick a track - the three most popular are Littéraire, Sciences, and Economie Sciences. There are a handful of other tracks for less successful students, but I still don't understand exactly what all the different specialties mean.
So each class has a special code, the first year students are all "secondes" and their classes are a specific letter. In addition, each class has a "professeur principal" which is sort of like a homeroom teacher. This teacher keeps up on all of them, how they're doing in their other classes, and calls them in for special sessions if he thinks they need to be talked to about something. I sat in on the Conseil de Classe for the "2J" kids, who I work with for two hours a week, and whose "professeur principal" is their English teacher.
Now, the school year is divided into three trimesters and we are at the end of the first one right now. When people first started talking about Conseil de Classe I didn't get what the point was, but now I understand: they don't send out report cards for the students until after their Conseil de Classe, becuase they go through every student's grades in all of their classes and the teachers, along with the vice principal (who presides over all of them) decide whether to write that the student is doing well, that they need to work harder, or, worst-case scenario, that there is a "warning" because if they don't get their grades up they will have to stay back (and many of them are already repeating the year.)
First, each of the teachers made their opening remarks about the class. Most of them said that the kids were really nice, good kids, but that they talk too much and don't work hard enough. After the opening remarks, a spreadsheet of all the students grades for all of their classes was distributed. As I mentioned, the Vice Principal is like the emcee of this event, and he's also in charge of the mouse for the electronic projector that shows every student's grades in relation to the class average. We went through every single student - looked at their grades on the circle graph of averages, and teachers made comments about them. The Vice Principal had the stack of report cards and he is the one to write the overall opinion of the teachers, then he signs the report card and picks the next one in the stack.
While the process must be incredibly time consuming (they have to do this for every class three times a year - and the Vice Principal is in charge of every single one), I think it's a really good way to keep track of all the students and keep a surveillance of which ones might be slipping through the cracks. There is one glaring aspect of the Conseil de Classe, however, that I absolutely do not agree with. Two students from the class also get to sit in on the session, they are two students elected among the others (by their peers, not the teachers) to be the "delegates" from the class. This means that not only do they get to see all the grades of all their peers and listen to the teacher's commentary about them, but they are present while the teacher's are hashing out their own academic records. One of the two girls from this class got very upset while they were talking about her grades, one of the teachers actually asked her "I don't understand, do you work?" and she said [exasperated] "Yes, I work!" She cried a little bit. I felt really bad for her, it's really a sink or swim system in some sense.
The two students are supposedly trusted in that they won't share with their friends what happens at the Conseil de Classe, but come ON people, these are 14 and 15 year old kids! I don't think any secrets like that would have been kept my freshman year of high school.
So, that's the Conseil in a nutshell... I hope this entry made sense. It's hard to explain complex systems from one language to another, especially when I barely understand them in French.
What are your superstitions?
Submitted by lazywong.
I don't think I have any particular superstitions. Now, granted, I don't do the stupid stuff that some of these superstitions are rooted in, such as walking under ladders or opening umbrellas in close quarters. But I'm not opposed to doing those things, if it seems right to do them.
I do often wonder what happens to the people whose paths I cross though.
Friends, comments, education, amusement: what's been the best thing to happen to you on Vox so far?
Marilee granted me the account to spew my rantings here and that's pretty good. I'm not certain that a lot of good can happen on VOX, just because of how it's all configured. And I really can't write that essay so I won't be winning a trip around the world. But that would be incredibly good.
I guess good things CAN happen on VOX. And maybe you'll comment and I'll get an even better sense of what good can come of it.
What are the things in life that you're truly passionate about?
Submitted by Jess.
You mean... besides VOX?
Um. I'm passionate about ideas, people, interactions, and ways of improving things for everyone. I'm passionate about doing things to help save the planet. I'm passionate about the concept of love and how it can make everyone's life better.
And just think, I'm not running for any office!
What are the things in life that you're truly passionate about?
Submitted by Jess.
Traveling, experiencing anew, and learning. Living up to my potential. Being a good friend to those I care about. Helping to better the world by contributing to the education of others.
I could probably continue, but I'll leave it at that... maybe edit this at a later date.
Just in case you're not wasting enough time on VOX, I thought I'd provide you with yet another diversion!
If you've seen the TV Series "Lost" or you know about it, there's an online game called "Lost." While this game isn't connected with the ABC television series, there are mysterious elements, a timer, and a cast of amazing people...
Check it out! Click HERE and play! It's sort of intriguing... Plus there's a chance to win some currency involved too, but do it because it's fun!
I'm just learning about how it works, so I haven't developed the finer points yet, but if you're interested at all, give it a look and see what you think...
What's one thing you regret not doing?
Submitted by Mr. Nice.
That's a tricky question. Of course, "not doing" something implies you know exactly what would have happened had you done it, and I don't believe very many people could do that. However, let's ignore that obvious element and just deal with the question at face value.
I guess I regret not applying to Film school at NYU and USC after I completed my undergratuate course of study instead of applying to Yale School of Drama. If I had applied right at that moment, I would have beaten the sudden crush of people suddenly interested in attending those schools, and maybe I'd have a career in Hollywood now. Or maybe not?
It would have been great for me to have gotten the opportunity to make films in one of these programs, and the people I might have met would have been worth the effort. Later, I became the first graduate of New York Film Academy, but that wasn't nearly the same thing as the graduate degree programs of NYU or USC.
The list of stuff I regret doing is much longer!
But ultimately, we can't regret anything, because it all goes into who we are. No (true) regrets!
What is your favorite board game?
Submitted by I'm Unique.
Hm. Ok. I have an answer for this. I had the Milton Bradley classic "The Game Of Life," which was something of an extended version of Monopoly. The idea was to get to "Millionaire Acres" and to avoid the "Poor Farm." The board itself was neatly designed and your "token" was a car where you would add on a "spouse," and children as you progressed down the road. You could "play the market" if you owned stock and deal with various other stuff. But I did my own revision of it, where I added trivia questions, and other side games like that. I think I actually got to play my revised version exactly once. It needed more tweaking but I think I was onto something.
For that reason, I had to go with the Game of Life... though I wouldn't mind having my picture on the $100,000 bill... replacing Arthur Linkletter, Esq.
