Thanksgiving Blog

Thank you to those who participated in figuring out what you would like to do for an assignment for the holiday blog.

1. Blog about the way you celebrate Thanksgiving.                                                                           1. Share your traditions. Explain them in depth

Answer: My tradition on Thanksgiving is always going to a family friends house that my family and I have been close with for 13 years. They are called the Castelline Family! We have gone of vacations with them and spent basically every holiday with them (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter) for the last 13 years. The Castellines are not blood related, but we call them family. 
     2.Share who you share the holiday with. Describe them.

The Castellines again, are not blood related to my family but we still call them family. Denise is the mother, Micheala, Erin, and Ryan are the children, and Paul was the Father. Denise and Paul are considered my god parents. 

Sadly last year, Paul passed away from ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis). Its a disease where a persons nerve functions (standing, breathing, swallowing, walking, etc) fail tragically. Paul had this disease for a year and a half before he passed. This is only the second Thanksgiving without him but each holiday without him is hard but my family and I as well as his family think how he is out of his suffering. 
    3. Draw or photograph your celebrations and traditions.

(My pictures will not load, I will show the class when we come back from break)
    4.Share where you tend to be when you celebrate

We tend to always be at the Castellines house. Either in the living room, kitchen, or dining room laughing and talking about whatever comes to mind.
    5. Share the meaning of the holiday to you, in depth.

The meaning of Thanksgiving changed drastically once Paul past away. It showed me truly what it meant to be thankful for something or someone. Losing someone so close to me really showed me how thankful I was for him. He helped me through math throughout high school, he helped me emotionally, he helped me with jobs, and just was a second father figure to me when my dad was not there. 

The Other Park Trip

1) Please post about what this trip did for your sense of place, and be honest, if it did nothing, then state why.  If it was contributing, state why.

- Answer: This park did not really contribute to my sense of place. This is because I have already been to this park multiple times with friends. 

2)Explain where we were.

-Answer: We were at the park/ bridge right near Marblehead. 

3) Remember sense of place is in the eye of the beholder. Some of you mentioned this in class today, that you were meeting others in class, and connecting had more value than taking pictures, or others took pictures and discussed the value of water and how living by the ocean is unique and that you do not take it for granted.  Here I would like you to explain how this place contributed or did not contribute to your sense of place in Salem.

-Answer: The park did contribute to my sense of place in Salem when I first discovered it, not when I went with the class. I discovered it the first week of school and I have gone there multiple times. So it has contributed to my sense of place because it is a regular place I can go to and introduce it to friends.

Expand on this, and go in depth a bit.

3) State how you liked this trip, and why or why not. Expand on this in a paragraph.

-Answer: I liked this trip mostly because I could share my experiences of the park that I have already taken part in. It is a really warm and welcoming spot that I like to go hike with friends. I have watched the sunset there and the sunrise there multiple times. I feel like a sense of place is a place one should feel comfortable in and I do feel comfortable there. 

4) I will, on Thursday, make those pictures and movies into a slide show or combined movie for each. You can post a link to that too if you want. In addition, please talk about that experience and why you thought the ipad experience and the trip  was valuable or not valuable. State what you thought about taking the pictures and movies on the ipads. What would it make it better as an experience?  I experimented with this for the first time and your input on this would be great. I thought integrating art might be a different way to connect.

-Answer: I liked the experience of the iPads, pictures, and making movies! I felt as though it made the trip more fun then standing around in a circle and giving a lecture on it. 

5) Look at the movies I post and tell me what you think looking at them afterwards. They will be available on Thursday.  Explain your thoughts...You can also post them here.

-Answer: The movies were great 

Triad Expirience

Blog about your triad adventure!

1)  Post pictures of your trip here!  

We were not allowed to take pictures on the tour, so here are a couple from the Salem Witch Museum's Website. 

2)  Let us know where you went and why you and your group chose this spot

My group and I went to the Salem Witch Museum. We chose the museum because we found the history behind Salem witches interesting and wanted to learn more about it. 

3)  Share what you did to contact or set up your appointment or meeting time.

My group and I just walked into the Salem Witch Museum and were included in the 25 minute tour.  

4)  List the questions you prepared for your contact and/ or experience

1. How were witches punished? 

2. What were the "symptoms" of being convicted of being a witch?

3. Was it mostly woman who were accused, or men too?

4. Who was the first witch accused of being a witch. 

5) Write a reflection on what you learned, what you found most interesting and why.  This should be a couple of paragraphs. You can also include what was not interesting and why you thought that too.  Demonstrate critical thinking skills here from the SHUSHAN book.  Explain explicitly what strategy you are using.

Personally, I found visiting the Salem Witch Museum very interesting. Being able to be included in the 25 minute tour for free because we were Salem State students and learn about the history of certain witches that were the first to be accused of being a witch was worth it. 

What I learned most about was how witches were punished after being accused of being a witch. They were kept in a sell until it was there time to be hung, stoned, crushed by stones, etc.

What I found most interesting that I learned throughout the tour was learning about the little girl who was one of the first accused of being a witch. Elizabeth Hubbard was one of the first girls accused of being a witch. After being convicted, she was detached from her parents and went to live in Salem, MA with her aunt. She was a servant with limited privileges. Later on she went to court and was testified against the grand jury too dictate if she was guilty of being a witch. She manipulated the jury by throwing huge fits in the courtroom which made them believe her when she said she was not a witch. History can never tell what actually happened to Hubbard after the trials.  

6) Write about how this contributed to your sense of place in Salem or did not contribute?

This contributed to my sense of place because it introduced me to another level of history I never knew about. I enjoy learning about deviance or crime and I found this interesting because it is similar to what I like to learn about. I personally hate history but this level of history I felt connected too and I found it interesting. 

7)List off new questions you have and what you wanted to learn more about.

1. Was there actually witches in 1692 or was that just a simple diagnosis people put on the individuals being accused. 

2. Was there just bad witches or also good witches?

8)  What did you choose for a topic for your research 2 pager paper?

I chose to write about Abigail Williams, another young girl who was convicted of being a witch. 

Sense of Place by the Near by Park

1)  Do a nature journal drawing of some of your observations while in the park, it can be the whole thing, or of a small thing you noticed (Like someone said they saw squirrels hiding food in rocks, you could depict this).

2) Take a picture and upload your drawing.

3)  Reflect on the interconnectedness of you and the trees and living beings who reside in the park.

I connect to the trees and the living beings who reside in the park because we all live on earth. We all breathe the same air, live on the same planet. Trees give off the oxygen we breathe and the living beings make this world lively. 

4)  Reflect on how you value the park

The park makes me feel warm and welcomed into it because of the peacefulness of the park and the things surrounding it. 

5) Reflect on how this park plays a role in your own sense of place in Salem.  Explain.

This park plays a role in my own sense of place in Salem because it is right by campus and I can go hangout there with my friends or do homework. It is a very peaceful park to go to just to get some fresh air as well. 

6) Reflect on the field trip in general and what you liked most about going there.  Reflect on what you did not like.  

I really enjoyed this field trip. I liked how we left campus and explored a different environment. It was peaceful and I would go there again in my free time.

7) Reflect on whether or not you would like to do more little excursions like this one

I would do more excursions like this one because I like the fact we left campus and got away from the school. Its more fun to go to different places other than around campus to get a better and different sense of place.