Our Future Focus Poster

During reading time, we were given a challenge by our teacher Mrs Nua to create a digital learning object (DLO) about Future Focus Learning. My friends and I got together and had a planning session to decide what we could make for this task. After a while, we came to an agreement on doing a poster. We thought it would be different to what everyone else was doing since the majority of DLOs that were being created were movies. This movie shows the process of our poster and what meanings are behind the things in it.

Laita drew, painted and came up with what objects should be in this awesome painting. She was involved a lot in this and did an amazing job. Although, all of us contributed really well and worked pretty hard. Enjoy!

Year 8 Camp

Camp was full of so many fun activities! I had so much fun, I wish it lasted longer than it did. Going on the Year 8 Camp gave me the opportunity to get to know my peers outside my usual group of friends which was really awesome.

Out of the four days, I least enjoyed day 1 of the camp. After, taking a 1-2 hour bus ride, we arrived at Langs Beach where we began a tramp towards Waipu Cove. Ms Squires had planned for it to be a nice elegant walk but thanks to the weather, the track had become slippery and muddy. This lead to a number of falls.

Not only was it a very long walk but it was also a pretty dangerous one. We traveled up hills and jagged rocks that were rather narrow and some of us were very close to plunging to our deaths. Thankfully, we all survived. I, myself got a few battle scars but overall, I was fine.

When Day 3 came along, I was extremely excited. It was - for me - the most anticipated day. We were scheduled to do a bunch of activities varying from archery to toasting marshmallows to kayaking. Plus, that night was when had a campfire where we sang some songs.

Toasting marshmallows was my highlight of that day. I had never eaten roasted marshmallows prior to that experience so it was pretty special. My teammates and I gathered around the fire as we stuck our marshmallows on the tips of our sticks. One by one, we set them above the fire. Mine caught a blaze a few times but I didn’t really mind. In fact, I ended up really liking the burnt taste.

Colour Wheel

This is the colour wheel. It has the primary colours, secondary and tertiary colours. I created this because it was a task that was given to us by our teacher, Ms Pagdet. I tried to interpret all the colours that are in the actual colour wheel and this is the final outcome.

Tangled Artwork Explanation

A tangle art piece is exactly how it sounds. They are pieces that intertwine together to create a celtic knot. Producing this tangled artwork makes a great team project as each person is able to incorporate themselves in their designs. Being that now Class 1 and Class 5 are conjoined (Panuba), this is the activity that was attempted.

Initially, it’s important to plan. Look up patterns, symbols and different designs. However, do include elements that represent you. A less busy pattern look the finest, due to how they are not full of details. They tend to look broader and stick out more to the eye than a more intricate design. I constructed myself a template to follow so that could be an ideal thing you could use when drawing.

Limiting yourself to just one colour will produce the best result. Too many can ruin the repetition of the pattern. When the final product came out, I noticed that the pieces with warm colours looked the best. So preferably, use a distinct hue that will make your designs pop.

When putting everything together, label your pieces so you will know where each is placed. Labels such as Yellow for the corners, Green for the middle pieces etc etc. When the final product comes out, it looks awesome. Especially with all the different designs intertwining together.

Term 4 Day 1

For the last term of 2014, Class 1 and Class 5 were put together to create Mafia Ono (although, the class hasn't decided that name yet). Now that the two have been merged, Class 1 has now got 3 teachers instead of two. It was quite a surprise to hear this from Mrs Nua but yesterday proved that being with Class 5 wouldn't be so bad.

My friends and I have been in and out of classes since last year so it was very different to hear that our class would no longer be on it's own. Not to mention that we just received our new class last term after two terms of living outside of the senior block. 

Self Management Reflection

After a week of filming and ubiquity, we finally completed our movie. We worked really well together, only arguing about a few things once or twice. But now we have to ask ourselves; How well did we manage?

Personally, I think my group did exceptionally well on managing our time and working independently. We stuck criteria and made a great MTV in the time frame we were given. I helped out more specifically with the filming, editing and planning. Lots of the scenarios and ideas in our movie was created by me. I appeared the least amount of times in the movie since I worked particularly behind the scenes.

When it comes down to managing myself, I think I did a pretty good job, especially as apart of the group. I was there to kick my friends when we went off task so we were able to finish on time and move onto the next thing on our list. Editing was probably the task that I managed myself the most with, I focused solely on finishing the movie so we worked more quickly than we thought we would and got a lot done.

If my group had to do something better, I think it would be all doing something at once. Some of our group members started to mess around when they were not needed. It would had been better if we got each other to work on something else while we worked on the movie. Other than that, I think we did pretty good on our movie and managing ourselves. We got a 17 out of 20 on our rubric which is pretty impressive.

Click the photo to see the specific details.

They Don't Really Care About Us!

Self Management was a topic that our class was examining, so to practice this key competence, we were given the task to create a Music Video using one of Michael Jackson's songs. We had to work in our year groups so the Year 8 Girls had to work together and same with the rest of the class. Our teacher will be judging our movie and marking it based on how we managed ourselves and the quality of our movie. We worked pretty hard to complete this movie and put quite a lot of effort into it. Hope you enjoy!

Self Management

Key Competencies are a part of the New Zealand curriculum to help young people, like ourselves become supportive, confident and actively involved lifelong learners. Self Management, being one of the Key Competencies, is the aspect that we are currently exploring. People who are effective self managers are reliable and are able to set high standards.

Being able to manage yourself during class is actually pretty difficult to do. It is really easy to get distracted by friends and surroundings when trying to complete work and tasks. Plus it’s as simple as that to go onto another site and play games. During class, self management looks like working independently and working away from interruptions. Also knowing when to tell someone to do their work and when to take a break and talk.

The Street is an area in our intermediate block that is another working space for us. Its reasonably large so there is lots of room for all our classes to use. When in the street, we have to fight the temptation of speaking to our other friends in different classes. It’s not a very quiet area so distractions are inevitable.

Outside of class, like at the playground, kids find it much harder to manage themselves. Although lunch and morning tea is a time for us to play and take a break, it is a great idea to always think ahead and reflect. Obeying the rules and thinking about others around you is how the kids should manage themselves when playing and messing around.

In conclusion, self managers are innovative and cable learners. With can-do attitudes, they can make plans and strategies for meeting challenges. They can also set goals for themselves to strive and achieve. Whether they are leading or following, they are resourceful learners.

Mortar Bucket Advertisement

Last term in Extension, we did the 40 hour famine. Because of this, we explored all kinds of things that people who lived in poor parts of the world use for work, cooking and all kinds of stuff. I combined two of the tools that I saw some people used. A water bucket and a mortar and pestle. Here's what it would look like and how it would be presented.

Three-Sided Football

Our class task was to find a very unique sport that we and our class mates haven't heard of. We had to research all about that certain sport and create a presentation or movie to show what we know about our game and possibly show teach people how to play it. Jorja and I decided to make a movie. Along with a few of our class friends, we filmed and animated our own clips for this short movie. It's nothing special but we managed to explain our sport quite well. Enjoy!

Life Ed - Marijuana

As preadolescences, we are very vulnerable to drugs and alcohol so as a way to prevent us from choosing the wrong path, Team 5 took Life Education sessions to learn the effects of drugs and what damages it can do to your body and most importantly: your brain. We listened to real people's experiences with drugs and most of the victims first started out with glue and Marijuana.

Marijuana is a hazardous substance that is well known for being the gateway drug. Easily attainable, cheap and addictive, Marijuana, also known as pot, weed or tinnie, leads people into a web of addiction. Under the influence of marijuana, people can have bad memories and have trouble with decision making; separating what’s right from wrong. This totally changes the way the brain works and stops it from reaching it’s full potential.

Kupua the Pukeko - My Mascot

During class, we were given a task of creating our own mascot after we examined Glasgow's commonwealth mascot, Clyde. We had looked at the other mascots like Shera the Tiger, the Olympics mascots and of course, like I said, Clyde the Thistle. This inspired us to come up with our very own mascots. We imagined what mascot would represent New Zealand if we held the next commonwealth games. 

I had a hard time trying to name my mascot. I tried to think about what things made New Zealand significant and what represented it well. So I decided to name my pukeko, Kapua. Kapua means cloud and New Zealand is known as the Land of the Long White Cloud. With my pukeko, I drew gumboots and a greenstone. Those two things are both apart of kiwiana (New Zealand icons). 

Kapua is a great hiker and he also love running. He helps the sheep dogs gather the flock and kine at farms. The commonwealth will find itself with amazing luck when Kapua is representing New Zealand. 

Commonwealth Games: Zoe Ballantyne

As you may know the Commonwealth games has began and and this year the event is being held in Glasgow. Being that New Zealand is part of the Commonwealth, I have chosen one of the athletes; Zoe Ballantyne to follow during the Commonwealth.

This year, Zoe Ballantyne is currently participating in the 4x400m Women’s relay with her first Commonwealth relay on the first of August at Hampden Park Stadium. Although this is her first Commonwealth Games, Zoe has been an Oceania Championship medalist in 2010, 2011 and in 2012. Not only that but she is New Zealand’s top 400m hurdler winning three years in a row in the New Zealand National Championship.

Hopefully, Zoe will win some medals for New Zealand and beat her current personal best (53.92) during the games. She is definitely already a great athlete and won’t disappoint.

Level UP!

This short movie is me talking about where I rated myself on our Class Level Up chart. Basically, the chart has 3 levels. Level 1 is you can not manage yourself, Level 2 is you can manage yourself but you tend to go off task sometimes and Level 3 is you can manage yourself and you can be trusted by the teacher to sit anywhere and do your work. Take a look at my movie to see where I put myself.


Level Up from Team 5 PES on Vimeo.

Smart Footprint Product

Class 1 - Smart Foot-Print from Team 5 PES on Vimeo.

During Class time, my friends and I created a movie all about leaving a smart footprint and being cyber smart. We created our own lyrics to one of our favourite songs, recorded it ourselves and filmed a few days after. Kaycee, Lisia and Tyla-Marie were the ones who sang in this movie. Hope you enjoy! And don't forget to take a look at my friends blogs too!

4 Things You Need to Remember about a Smart Footprint

1. Be careful with what you search, even if you're in Incognito, people can still track your IP address.
2. Always do your own thing. Be original!
3. You can NEVER know when someone is watching.
4. If it's not kind, keep it in your mind!

The Little Old Lady - Writing Sample Term 2

This is a writing sample I wrote in 40 minutes. It was kinda like a test. It's very long but hopefully you enjoy it! :)

Alice stood still, keeping her eyes fixated on the house across the road. She watched as the stubby old lady sat comfortably in her rocking chair, calmly staring off into the distance. “Why do you always watch her?” Alice’s trance broke as she looked over at Sydney. Sydney smiled as her brown hair fell in front of her eyes. “There’s.....something up with that lady.” Alice said, wonder laced her words.

“You always say that about people.” Sydney joked.

“I do not! I am just.....strongly suspicious of people.”

Sydney let out a long laugh as she shook her head. “Do you really think there’s something wrong with that lady?”

“I don’t know. Only one way to find out I guess.” Alice started walking briskly across the road.

“Wait! What?! NO! Alice, don’t do that!” Sydney yelled desperately. But her shouts weren’t enough to stop Alice from reaching the old lady.

Sydney’s voice seemed to be muffled out by Alice’s curiosity. As she drew nearer to the house, she stopped right in front of the shabby looking porch steps. Very clearly, she could see the white paint peeling and the wood splinters poking out on the sides. “Uh, excuse me.” Alice spoke quietly. The old woman rocked slowly in her chair, not even looking at Alice. “Excuse me.” Alice said once more, this time more strongly. Immediately, the rocking chair stopped. Her body unmoving, the old lady’s head just turned towards Alice.

“May I help you dear?” the old lady spoke, hoarsely.

“My name’s Alice, I wanted to introduce myself.” The old lady’s face broke out into a wide smile, her wrinkles stretching out tightly. “Well, aren’t you polite. My name is Wanda. Would you like to come in?”

“Yes, that would be nice. Thank you.”

Wanda lazily got up from her wooden chair, still watching Alice. She held out her hand beside her and looked intently at the door. All of a sudden, it flung open.

Alice’s eyes widened. This didn’t seem like a very good idea anymore. She wanted to turn around and run but that wouldn’t have been a very nice thing to do. Her feet moved carefully towards the ajar door. Wanda was still smiling at her.

Casually strolling inside, Alice studied her surroundings. Dusty little trinkets sat next to little china dolls on the shelves and pink bows were strewn across the floor. The only source of light seemed to be the fluorescent candles that shone in different colours. There was a red flame, a green flame and a bright yellow flame.

“Sorry for the mess deary. I don’t have a lot of company.” Wanda apoligised.

“Oh, I don’t mind.”

“Have a seat.”

Alice sat down on a plush arm chair, quite awkwardly. “You should have brought your pretty friend.” Wanda said, sitting down next to her.

“Sydney’s not quite a people person.”

“Well, she would have been tasty. She has such a pretty face....” Alice’s head snapped over at Wanda. Wanda’s eyes turned gleaming white and her wrinkles looked as if they were melting off her face. “But I guess, you will have to suffice.”  Wanda’s smile turned into a wicked smirk.

“My dolls have been wanting some more company.” Alice shuffled away from Wanda. “P-ple-please don’t....” Alice stuttered, trembling in fear. Wanda opened her mouth widely, sharp claw-like fangs sprung out. “Nighty night deary....”

Sound Presentation

 Yet another presentation and yet another sound DLO. Hope you learn something from it! :)

Echolocation

Echolocation are sound waves used by many living beings to locate objects, communicate and navigate. Most sea mammals (such as the whale) use echolocation as a way to see. Like in murky waters.

Bats are one of the many beings that use echolocation. They send the sound waves mostly through their mouths although some use their noses. Using echolocation, bats can use it to find food and know what’s around them. How this works is, the sound reflects off the objects and is picked up by the bat’s sensitive ears. The frequencies sent out are so high that humans are unable to pick up the sound waves.

Like I said, most marine mammals use echolocation to see. They use it by detecting echoes of sounds and use them to produce 3-Dimensional information. Take dolphins for example, they make sounds by squeezing air through their nasal passages that’s under the blowhole. There is a fat filled area on the dolphin’s forehead that is like a lens which focuses on the sound waves ahead of the dolphin. The sound waves that are given then bounces off the objects and is received through the dolphin's lower jaw.

With bats and marine life, humans also use echolocation. Blind people have learned to use echolocation as well so they can interact with the environment and have used it to see. Humans use it by creating sounds. They may tap their canes, gently stomp their foot, snap their fingers or even make clicking noises. People who have learnt how to use echolocation can make out the sound waves that have been reflected off from nearby objects. This gives them a good idea of where they are.

The Present Podcast

Jorja And Gloria - The Present Podcast from Team 5 PES on Vimeo.
Here is a podcast that Jorja and I have made about a book I have been reading. Hope you enjoy and get the book for yourself. Thanks! :)