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#Post#: 88--------------------------------------------------
Down the Study Hole
DIR By: StoryGod
Date: December 29, 2019, 8:12 pm
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Saturday night after dinner, Albina set up court in the informal
study area of the Cerni-Al-Sigh penthouse. She opened the app
and got out each girl's assignments, then asked each of the
eight souls in her care to show her what she had done.
Only three girls had everything finished and could go to the
other stations run by a variety of teachers and Suite Advisors.
There was social dancing inside a room with closed doors, laser
tag, and nerf kick ball as well as a found item collage table,
pretty much something for everyone. There was even a TV playing
a baseball game for those who could not give up spectator
sports.
"You need to do better than this," Albina told Suri who fiddled
with one of her perfect braid.
"It's not fair to have all this homework on the weekend."
"You're in middle school now."
"So...I'm only ten."
"There are girls here who are still nine. This is the start.
Middle school leads to high school which leads to college. You
have to learn to apply yourself. Now you haven't touched your
math or social studies."
"I hate geography and math is boring. My old school wasn't that
hard."
"You're not going to enjoy everything you do. Now I what are you
doing first."
"English.... "
"OK, bring that to me when you have it done."
"Can I go then?"
"No, I want you to start something else afterwards. Look Suri,
if everyone doesn't finish their homework we don't go to White
Plains. We have more study hall."
"That's not fair!"
"Do you want to hold up the group."
"You're disgusting. Nobody loves you."
"Get to work Suri! Next!"
Tikvah was next. She was missing English but had everything else
done. Albina found a few mistakes in unit conversion for
science. "Slow down and catch your breath," she advised. She did
not tell Tikvah not to read the big book she carted around. Free
reading was not a sin. Tikvah appeared to get the message.
Corianne was last. She was one of the three lucky ones. Her work
seemed more or less correct too, meaning she had put in the
time. "OK, you have a work ethic. That's nice to see," Albina
told Corianne who smiled. "Is there some free reading you can
do."
"My Bible is downstairs."
"Go get it. What books are you reading?"
"I'm supposed to read Psalms but I like Proverbs better."
"Then read Proverbs."
"I also read Psalms."
"Then read both."
"Problem solved," thought a tired Albina who had to help Shayla
with math and Jupita with unit conversion for science. She gave
the girls two hours. Some got antsy after one. She told them to
take thirty minutes of social dancing or art, and then "BACK TO
WORK," and she timed it. By eleven pm, nearly all the girls were
under the wire. By 11:30pm, she had checked all the work. She
hoped the social dance and collage table would stay open, but
Suite Advisors were already putting things away. Brunch was not
until ten am tomorrow, and the godawful loud speaker
announcements did not happen over the weekends.
"Suite 11-B, we're heading downstairs!" Albina called in her
round up the troops voice. "We lost our whole Saturday night,"
mouthy Suri groaned. "We can party in the suite. Want to stay up
to 12:30 in the morning. Suri blinked. "Saturday is not a school
night."
Albina told herself that the trip to White Plains was worth
giving up Saturday night for. The girls had to learn not to fart
around. Tonight and tomorrow were genuine days off. That had to
mean something.
#Post#: 133--------------------------------------------------
Re: Down the Study Hole
DIR By: StoryGod
Date: January 14, 2020, 8:18 pm
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Tikvah found writing her first book report of fifth grade
brutally hard. The book had been fun to read, but the usual
"what is this book about?" question left her without a pat
answer. As much as Tikvah, despised (Oh what a wonderful word!)
fiction, there were standard lines for writing a book report for
a fiction or biography book. They did not apply to a book about
electromagnetic radiation that had no plot. Maybe that was why
the English teacher wanted to make sure that Tikvah understood
what she was reading. Albina had to help her with powers of ten,
but now that she understood them, she understood the book. The
pictures were helpful. The book had even inspired her to draw
wave designs for art activity this afternoon.
But a book that gives you facts about light, radio waves,
X-rays, microwaves, etc.... is not a story, except that someone,
a character without a name -- wait an author (Yes!), is trying
to explain something. That is the story of a science book.
Tikvah knew the author wanted readers to know about
electromagnetic radiation because it was mostly invisible, but
(Fantastic conjunction!) electromagnetic radiation was also
about what made colors, even if it made them in a backwards way,
by reflection and absorption, and colors made the world
beautiful. The world was beautiful even if a rainbow as just
sunlight reflecting and refracting off water droplets. It was
all HaShem's creation when you thought about it.
Tikvah quietly thanked HaShem and taking her laptop, typed the
"what is this book about" paragraph. She typed it, revised it,
and smoothed out the language which was starting to sound like
grownup writing talk. Then she wondered if Corianne was having
the same problem with the Book of Proverbs in Tanakh. The
English teacher thought that was a very good idea for a book
report, book, but she hadn't looked to see if Corianne
understood.
Corianne seemed to be typing something, and given the state of
her book report, Tikvah was sure it was not a letter home.
Corianne typed and typed. Tikvah went back to her favorite part
of the book. It was not a part of the book so much as learning
about waves, which repeated over and over in a pleasing rippling
design. They had an eternal feel. They cycled like a circle.
Waves were nice. Perhaps they were beautiful, but that was not
something you'd say in a book report.
The important part about waves was appreciating them, and
learning the words that described them and then being able to
understand. That was why Tikvah was glad her book on light had
lots of illustrations. The illustrator was another character in
the story of making someone like her understand about waves.
Tikvah wondered for a moment if she especially liked learning
things. She knew Suri could have cared less, but maybe you don't
care if you can walk around with exquisitely braided, shiny,
golden brown hair. Waves did look like braids when you thought
of it.
#Post#: 134--------------------------------------------------
Re: Down the Study Hole
DIR By: StoryGod
Date: January 14, 2020, 8:28 pm
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Corianne did not have to think hard to come up with a "what is
this book about" section for her book report on the Book of
Proverbs from the Bible. The reason she did not was that she had
been thinking about why she liked Proverbs. She liked the
sayings because they were sometimes familiar, and sometimes they
made sense, and reading advice on your own, with no one banging
it over your head as adults are wont to do to kids, is different
from hearing advice from an authority figure.
That was the beginning. "Often when an adult gives me a
'suggestion,'" Corianne wrote, "It is really a command in
disguise. This sours the sweetness of good advice. In the Book
of Proverbs, however, advice is sweet, sometimes poetic, and the
reader is free to take or leave it as they please. The Book of
Proverbs consist of..." Consists was an excellent word. It did
not mean is about. It meant is made of, just like a pair of blue
jeans is not about denim, consists of denim, rivets, a fly etc..
"How's the paper coming?" Albina asked Corianne.
"Paper?"
"Essay."
"Book report," Corianne replied. "Didn't you used to have to
write them?"
"I hated them. They were awkward because the writing went in
search of an argument."
"A what."
"Look at a book review some time, the person writing it sets out
to prove whether the book is good or bad."
"Can you write a report about a bad book."
"Yes, it's called a negative review."
"I'd get in trouble if I did that."
"You wouldn't if you could back up what you said."
"I liked Proverbs though."
"Then you're good for this time."
"Thanks Ms. Albina."
"How are you coming Tikvah?" Albina asked.
"I'm almost done."
"You have enough words?"
"More than enough," Corianne's roommate smiled. "You looked like
you were racking your brains a while ago."
"I figured it out," Tikvah boasted.
"I think writing a report about a bad book would be really
hard," Corianne told Tikvah after Albina called suite curfew.
"Would you do that?" Tikvah asked.
"If someone gave me a bad book to read. I could write about why
I hated it instead of why I liked it."
"I should have done that back in Brooklyn. It would have given
my mother fits, but I gave her fits anyway. We fought over
everything." Tikvah looked like she would cry.
"Don't cry," Corianne churned out futile and stupid advice.
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