Professor Tallec
June 27, 2015 6:35 AM
Time to spread your wings! [Beginner Lesson] by Professor Tallec
Richard was in a little bit of a daze as he sipped at his teacup. Ever since Pye borrowed his Kneazle, Cindy, for a lesson, Richard realized that Alfie Pye was exactly the type of friend he had been seeking. Dates were fun, but sometimes he just wished he had a buddy to grab a drink with. After tracking down the illusive Pye, Richard had finally managed to get him to agree to get a drink with him…sometime… when they both weren’t swamped with work. As Richard petted Cindy, he wondered just when the two of them would have time to get off Sonora grounds for that drink. “Perhaps the next three-day weekend,” he thought to himself as the beginner class made their way to their seats.“Hello, and welcome,” Richard’s deep voice resonated throughout the classroom as he stood up, carefully moving the snoozing Cindy off his lap and onto his desk. “Today we will be discussing the importance of keeping a good notebook,” he said as he waved his wand towards the stack of notebooks on his desk. The dark bound books then distributed themselves, one to each student, as he began the lecture.
“Notebooks are an essential part not only in researching magical creatures, but also in caring for them. If any of you hope to have a career with magical creatures, or to get an O in this class, you must practice taking good note taking and maintaining a well organized notebook.” He knew that this probably wouldn’t be the most entertaining lesson for a bunch of pre-teens, but it was essential that they have a strong foundation for intermediates, and hopefully Advanced COMC. Turning to the board, Richard then began to write down the expectations for the notebook. “You should have your name, house, and any contact information on the inside cover in case it gets lost,” he said as he referenced his own worn out notebook from when he was in the field. At this point writing a good notebook was second nature to the young professor, however that made it a little difficult to explain the entire procedure to someone else- let alone an entire class. “For each lesson in which we observe a creature- and that includes today,” he clarified, “I want an Observation section, where you chronicle any and all notes. As well as a short Discussion section that explains the significance of your results, as well as explain any inferences or patterns you notice in your observations,” he said setting down the chalk.
“Remember, your Discussion section shouldn’t be more than a paragraph,” he said with a smile. “The most important part of this class is to observe and try and understand the creatures, so don’t worry too much about the notebooks. Although, I will be doing a notebook check once a week to make sure you are keeping up to date,” he warned with a grin, despite the fact that he didn’t plan on grading their notebooks that hard since they were still beginners.
“Alright,” the dark haired professor said smiling at the group, “The rest of today is going to be pretty easy, but I want you to use it as a chance to practice good note taking skills,” he said as he pulled out a cardboard box from under the desk. He then waved his wand to close all the windows and doors, making the room slightly darker than before. “We are going to be observing Flitterbies,” Richard said as he opened the box releasing a glowing mass of the moth like creatures. They immediately began to hum lightly as they flew to all corners of the room. Richard smiled, he had always thought the creatures had an underappreciated beauty.
“As most of you can tell by now, Flitterby moths have a characteristic hum when in flight,” he stated while he pulled out another box from his desk. “These stones are enchanted to give off a little heat, and will attract the moths so you can get a closer look at them,” he explained, waving his wand to disperse the warm stones to the students.
“Now, I would like you all to take notes on what you observe about Flitterby behavior and appearance, as well as a hypothesis in your Discussion section as to why they are attracted to heat. I would also like a detailed drawing of one from each of you, and don’t just copy the picture from your book,” Richard added in case there were any students hoping to get off easy. “You don’t have to be a great artist, just do your best to get the important features down. But for the most part, have fun and feel free to chat while you work,” he said, trying to reassure the students that it was just supposed to be a relaxing assignment to get them back into the groove of school. Now that his instructions were over, he took the time to relax into his chair, enjoying the orange glow that filled the classroom.
OOC: Creative, realistic posts are worth more points. If Richard is needed, please tag Professor Tallec in the subject line. Posting rules apply. Please add house after name.
Permission given by Professor Pye to address him as such.
Subthreads: Being warm is nice? by Jemima Wolseithcrafte, Teppenpaw with Owen Brockert, Teppenpaw
Just what I was hoping for by Ingrid Wolseithcrafte, Pecari with Emilia-Louise Scott, Aladren
Doing what I must. by Kelsey Atwater, Crotalus
Mine don't work that well. (Tag Caelia) by Kira Spaulding, Crotalus with Caelia Lucan, Crotalus
And fly? by Ginger Pierce, Teppenpaw with Fabian Brockert,Pecari
Not the best observer by Micah Breckinridge, Crotalus with Gia Donovan, Pecari
Phototaxis vs Thermotaxis by Aislinn Nicolls, Aladren
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Professor Tallec
Time to spread your wings! [Beginner Lesson]
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Professor Tallec
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Micah Breckinridge, Crotalus
July 20, 2015 7:08 PM
Not the best observer by Micah Breckinridge, Crotalus
Morning classes did not agree with Micah. He was more of a night owl than an early bird. He had no idea how people could be so obnoxiously chipper at that time and he hated the phrase the early bird gets the worm. It was misleading, really, when one thought about it. What made someone that arrived early better than someone that arrived later? Why did they deserve to get the worm? Maybe the worm didn’t want to get up early either. Micah rubbed at the bits of crust left in his eyes. It was still too early to even be having such thoughts.It was also still too early to be having notebooks flying about and having discussions about them. He frowned looking down at the dark colored book. Being detail-oriented, taking notes didn’t bother him. However, taking them in the morning and having to do them in a particular way did. He preferred to write down every thought, even if some were a bit of a tangent. He found that it helped him to trigger the details that were actually significant when needed. Perhaps, that was strange, but then, that was the story of his life. He had never thought like other children his age.
When other children had been running around playing hide and seek, Micah had been off playing with building blocks. He had been building elaborate castles to towering skyscrapers, each one more intricate than the last. Being magical blocks, he got to have miniature flying dragons and running moats and hidden rooms. It had created a bit of a loner situation that had freaked out his parents. They didn’t want a son that was merely capable of such creativity. No, that wasn’t enough. They wanted him to be exceptional at everything. After all, he had a family name to live up to.
So, no matter how much he frowned at this new addition to his life, Micah had to follow the norm, be like everyone else and that meant keeping a notebook. It also seemed to mean group work for some classes, but thankfully, it didn’t seem to be a requirement for this particular lesson. He opened his notebook to the beginning and wrote down the required information.
Micah Breckinridge
Aladren
First Year
Care of Magical Creatures
He had just finished writing when more dispersing occurred. Stones this time. Micah picked up the stone, feeling the warmth that the professor had mentioned. He pondered the question that had been asked. Why were the moths attracted to heat? From the book, he knew that the moths were native to Scotland and Great Britain. Maybe it had something to do with that? He didn’t have long to think about it though when a moth fluttered up to him. Well, more to the stone really. He held it flat in his palm to allow the moth to settle on it. It gave him a chance to see it more closely. He blinked a few times. It really was a brilliant shade of orange.
Micah moved the stone, causing the moth to flitter and hum about, and set it down on his desk. He hadn’t meant to startle the moth, but he couldn’t very well write down any observations if he continued holding the stone. Thankfully, the moth didn’t seem to agitated by it and settled back onto the stone. Flipping the page, he began with the first part of the assignment.
Observations:
The flitterby moth appears to enjoy the stone and prefers to stay on it, probably because of the heat. It moves its wings quite frequently in a slow pattern. Maybe it’s communicating with the other moths.
The Crotalus wasn’t sure what else to add in the observations. The moth seemed content to stay where it was and he wasn’t inclined to try and move it. Maybe he would be able to add more later on. For now, he would work on his discussion section. He had a little more thought for this one.
Discussion:
The flitterby moth is native to a colder climate and may be drawn to heat sources for survival.
After he put his thoughts into the discussion session, Micah put his focus into the drawing. He was decent at drawing and could probably be better if he practiced. His eyes drifted between the moth and his paper. He began drawing each line, a shadow here and there. He was so concentrated on his work that he failed to notice someone else was talking to him. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”
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Micah Breckinridge, Crotalus
Not the best observer
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Micah Breckinridge, Crotalus
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Gia Donovan, Pecari
July 25, 2015 6:50 PM
Not a great drawer. by Gia Donovan, Pecari
Gia enjoyed Care of Magical Creatures classes as she was sure most of her peers did. She was able to sit around and play with creatures during the lesson and to her that beat any other thing for that day. Gia didn’t have problems with other lessons or anything; she enjoyed them sometimes as equally as she did this class, but she also loved animals. How could a person not love them? They were instinctual and loyal to those they felt were a part of the family or pack. They didn’t brew hate for others or make judgements on what they don’t understand. Some Magical creatures might have more depth to them like the Kneazle, but it wasn’t anything that really changed the fact of how their minds worked. Gia felt safer with animals than she did with Humans sometimes.She took one of the floating notebooks and set it down in front of her. Gia was never the sort of girl who kept journals or diaries. She knew her mother did. Her mother wrote about their travels and about her love of Gia’s father. She wrote about the dreams she would have during the night and the wishes she had for their future. Her mother enjoyed writing. If their lives had been easier, Gia thought her mother might have done it for a living or even just for fun. Gia felt that the things she wrote were much too sad for anyone to read and it made her feel sorry for their lives, which wasn’t very fair because her mother did her very best for them.
Gia made notes on what they were supposed to be doing with the notebooks. She could respect the use of them, but she wondered how studious she would be about them. That was a silly thought to have. Gia was very critical about her work and she would keep this journal up to date and in good order until she had to hand it in. Gia didn’t want to have to bring home a terrible grade to her mother and disappoint her. Gia would do well with this journal and maybe in the end would better understand her mother’s reasons for keeping one.
Her attention turned to those of the flitterbies. Gia thought there was something soothing about the moths. It was probably the humming sound that they made, but she thought that if she had one by her side at night, she would be able to focus on the humming rather than the sounds outside her window back home in Seattle. City life was still something she was adjusting to. She had mostly grown up in small towns in Greece, so noise was new to her.
Gia started working on the model of the moth first. Drawing always took time for her as she wasn’t that good at it and she was afraid that she would run out of time before the end of the class to complete it. She could observe the actual creature while she drew, so she was really multi-tasking with the assignment. Gia set the warm stone on her desk and waited until a moth came around and landed next to it.
She began to happily sketch out the moth as it twittered about in front of her. While she worked, apparently another moth was attracted to her stone and flew across her line of sight, startling her as she worked. Her quill jumped from her hands and rolled under the desk of the student next to her. “Excuse me, is it okay if I grab my quill from under your desk?” She asked politely.
The boy apparently didn’t hear her, “I dropped my quill and it rolled under your desk.” Gia repeated. “Would it be okay if I grab it?”
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Gia Donovan, Pecari
Not a great drawer.
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Gia Donovan, Pecari
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