Hi students!  I am writing this from Istanbul, Turkey, a city so incredibly rich in history and in the arts that my new wife and I are truly inspired. We traveled to a region called Cappadocia and viewed the tremendous cave communities from a hot air balloon, rising to 6,000 feet; later we went to an underground city that was built in 900 A.D. that reminded me very much of certain scenes from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I was keeping a lookout for orcs and balrogs as we descended 80 feet below the surface, down long passageways and tunnels.  The ancient city of Ephasus was our next stop. I was transported into a feeling of living history as I walked along the wide marble avenues, and when sitting in the amphitheater I could almost hear the clashing of the gladiator’s weapons, smell the burning camphor and feel the pulse of the ancient crowds. All in all this has been an unforgettable honeymoon.

I am looking forward to teaching this spring semester, and want to re-introduce Homeroom as a go-to page for each and every one of you. I advise that you check this page twice a week. The prompts will be quite varied, from creative writing prompts to analytical ones, and your responses will be edited for posting. Naturally only the best responses will be posted, and this goes for your student work as well.

 

Stay tuned for State by State essays being published, but while you await that, please read Jessica Cheng’s essay on South Carolina, as well as Grace Guo’s essay on Chinese female poets of the Tang dynasty. Younger students, please read Olivia Shen’s essay about ice cream in Hong Kong, and other work from the 4-8th grade!  Please write comments about the student work you read, in advance of the first lesson.

See you next week!

 

Mr. Watt

 

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