My MI Board Game

In Room 20 we are doing our Multiple Intelleginces Tasks. In one of my previous posts, I showed my MI. Since I am Visual Smart, I was assigned to create a board game about Space. The picture above is the final result of my work.

Writing Sample

I had just finished a full sized meal, and yet my stomach still seemed to rumble. A feeling of nervousness and excitement slowly crawled up my spine. As I quietly tip-toed backstage, I heard a huge blast of laughter. I gulped. “Must be a lot of people.” I whispered to myself.

It was a hard job being in the production. Your lines have to be learnt perfectly and your expression wonderful. I hope I didn’t mess up every one's hard work. You see, this year I was an actor, in the Production : Webzidazical. And I’d been given the part of one of the judges on Worlds Got Talent. I had learnt my lines thoroughly, so it was completely out of the blue when I found that my tongue was tied in knots.

Shaking, I heard me and the other two actors que and I set off with my clip board to my Judging Table. As I sat down, a bright light shone in to my eyes, making it the tiniest bit difficult to see properly. My acting partners qued me in at the end of their lines, and I managed to spit my line out too.

As the MC of our scene introduced one of the bands, my ears were blasted with the audience yelling, clapping, shrieking, and more yelling. “GO YAR!” one shouted. “WOOHOO!!” another screamed. The three judges all looked at each other silently. After an awesome song sung by Jarna and Jay-Lee, the crowd went silent. I scribbled on to my clipboard “Judging Time”

A few moments later, ‘The Dixie Chics’ (Bobbi Grace & Shaniah) appeared on stage looking as beautiful as ever. As soon as they began to sing, their lovely vocals flowed through the room, as if enchanting us with their music. Every one just sat silently listening to their gentle voices. I wrote in (surprisingly) neat hand writing ‘Amazing’ on to my clipboard. As soon as they’d finished, I had gone def from all the screaming and whistling. Mr Fanua (the judge) would have a hard time dealing with this!

When the audience decided to stop booing at Pale Fanua, the Black Eyed Peas group was called on to stage. I really enjoyed all the hip-hop and rap that they were doing. But sadly, Becky didn’t. I switched back to Becky Green mode before the song ended. For the first time Pale Fanua got a few cheers. And I was drenched in boos and thumbs down. “Whatever” I penciled down again.

Relieved, I walked silently in the dark following my co-actor Isara. Once we were in the foyer, I breathed a huge sigh. “ Man!” I said to Isara, “I don’t like getting booed at!” We both laughed our way in to the changing rooms and got changed for the finale.

As I bowed, covered in confetti, the lights flicked on, and I noticed their were even more people than I thought!!! I was really happy for my close friend Selena who tried out for the first time. She even got the main part! Imagine how nervous she must have been compared to me!

That's when I saw it stuck in the crowd. I had forgotten my clipboard!

I wonder if...?

As some of you may know, our topic for this term is 'Outta This World'. In addition our teacher knew we all had something we were wondering about. So she set us out to create a movie that shows our question. My question was 'Do aliens exist, and if so do they control all paranormal activity?' The movie above is the final result of my creation.

(You can see more movies like this on my friend Thora's blog.)

Cosmology

Smarty Pants

This week, we are learning about what Multiple Intelligences we have. We went on the BGfL Website and took a quiz. As you can all see, I am very Intrapersonal, (Self Smart.) My second highest smarts are Interpersonal (People Smart), and Logical (Number Smart). This was very surprising as I do not think that I am good at maths. However, recent data reveals other wise. Then there's Picture Smart. I thought my highest would have been Visual. You can find that I am not very Nature Smart. I am going to try and be as Naturalistic as possible!

Roto Vegas

“Ready Reka?!?” My Mum called out. “Ready.” I replied, dragging my heavy luggage in to the Toyota. It felt as if I was heaving Jupiter! “I hope I’ve packed enough clothes.” I said looking thoughtfully at the bulging bag. “Enough clothes? You have enough clothes to share with the entire ULearn Conference crowd!!.” My mum laughed back.

You see, on Tuesday the 18th* of October, most, if not all teachers over New Zealand, gathered to attend the annual 4 day ULearn Conference. Each time the conference is at a different venue, and a different city. This year it was held in Rotorua. In addition to this I tagged along with my mother (Mrs Tele’a - The ICT teacher.) and had an awesome time in Roto Vegas (as it’s known to most).

To start the journey, we took an InterCity Bus, making one stop in Hamilton on the way. It was a long trip there, but the scenery made it all worth the wait. We passed miles of beautiful flora and fauna. I sighed, the journey to Rotorua truly does has lovely greenery. I dozed off half way and woke up when we were just about to enter Roto Vegas. Steam cascaded all over the place, obstructing my view from the bus window. And for a second, I thought I smelt boiled eggs.

I smelt right. Hopping off the bus, the aroma of hot water and boiling eggs filled my nose. “Smells like dinner.” I giggled to my self. We both started tracking down our luggage. It was like finding a needle in a haystack. My mother and I were trapped in a crowd of people hugging, crying, and people boiling eggs. (Just kidding. No one was crying.) Once we had found our bags, I spotted my Aunty Neta with my two cousins, 7 year old Sharon and 2 year old Antonio. After we dropped off my mother, we arrived at their humongous house, and called it a night.

The next day I awoke from my slumber, to what I thought was the sound of my little brother Justus’ voice. And yet, it was Antonio singing. Once we were all dressed and fed, we decided to head off to the Rotorua Museum, (which is also well known as “The Bath House.”) Yes, I said The Bath House. (Well typed anyway.)

We saw all types of cool things and facts there. For example, a little cinema, showed a movie about the explosion of Mt Tarawera. Lucky for me, we learnt all about the eruption last year in extension. It was really fascinating.

After an educational packed day, we relaxed in one one of the egg smelling, hot pools. Our camera lense was always blurry, because of the immense amount of steam. Sharon and I swam silently through the warm boiling waters, giggling whenever we bumped in to each other. Who knew natural water was so beautiful! I mean it was was already nice, but despite the egg smell, Rotorua’s water was sooo relaxing!!

As soon as we had woken from the night of relaxation, my aunty drove us up to Auckland to pick up her daughter Tessa. Tessa is very tall and slim, and has short smooth hair that’s always held back in a high ponytail. I hadn’t seen my cousin in ages!! I’d always been taller than her. Australia must have given her a growth spurt! She came back tanned, and even taller. We caught up with each other on the long drive home. I managed to fall asleep in the car.


Waking up to a bright, egg-smelling, sunny day, I frowned. Much to my disappointment, this was my final day in Rotorua. To cheer me up, my Aunty Neta took us girls to the Gondola. If you’re sitting there wondering “Gonda what??” Then let me explain. It is partly similar to what a cable car is. The view was amazing. We even went over a herd of cows! When we arrived at the top of the mountain, I saw loads of fun things to do. The Luge was probably the best thing there. You had to ride down in go kart things and then you took the Gondola back up. But we didn't have enough time to do the Luge though.

Sadly, my day of fun in Roto Vegas had come to an end. It was time for my mother and I to leave. At the bus station, we kissed goodbye and hopped on to a double decker bus. I looked outside and saw my family waving, I waved before the bus left. I had already missed Rotorua by the time we were in Mata Mata. Surprisingly, I was sad to leave that boiled egg smell behind.

Neptune

As you all know it is now a new term. We also have a new topic.  This term we are focusing about things "Outta this world!" In particular, planets and space.  The planet that I am most curious about is Neptune and Jupiter.  I have come up with  questions about Neptune and researched to find the answers.  The picture above is the final result of my findings.  Thank you!

Character Description

 In writing, we are learning about character description.  I chose my little, 5 year old brother, Justus.

I was 5 years old when I first saw my little brother.  He was pink and rather small. But it’s a whole different story now.  

He has a tone of a light tan brown. Coal black, shiny, hair. And he has chubby cheeks and deep dimples to match.  Some how he manages to wear his dirty chucks almost everywhere. I’m surprised he doesn’t wear them to sleep!  He has dark long eyelashes that flutter whenever he talks in his squeaky high voice.

He tends to always be making noise or be eating something cheesy.  His heart is full of laughs and smiles.  We manage to find him stuck in a tree or something, on one of his ‘adventures’.  I guess that’s why he’s always tired.

Thankfully, his little adventures keep him amused.  But sometimes they lead to trouble. Like the one time he pretended that the hose was a snake.  Whenever he turned it on he said the water was it’s tongue.  The hose sprayed the whole deck.  The deck, which had all of our washing.

He enjoys playing a mini game of league in the living room with my elder brother. And they’re bound to end up laughing or crying.  It might seem annoying, but you kind of get used to it though.

Now he’s at school, and he’s more energetic than ever.  He has heaps of friends, which he plays with all the time.  He’s still cheeky though.  It always makes me laugh when I think back to how he was small and quite.  Although he can be bothering, I still love him.

Maths Whizz Progress

Where I am in Maths Whizz

Greetings fellow bloggers.  If you are wondering what the picture above is of, it's Maths Whizz.  For the last two terms, we have been using Maths Whizz as our tutors and Math Teachers. (Our teachers still teach maths though.)  The above is my progress.

Our Place Our Team

At the beginning of this term, we were assigned to complete the following presentation.  It is about Our Place and Our Team.  It gives visiting people information about New Zealand. So if you're visiting for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, pay attention to the following presentation.

Enjoy!

(I couldn't post writing with the presentation so I just made another post.)

Our Place Our Team

A Game of Giggles

I  sped down to the lower field almost bursting with excitement. I just couldn’t believe we were having a games day!  Three legged races, slingshots, ball tiggy, and water races. As soon as I  finished admiring the sensational sight, I raced to the water race where my classmates were lingering. “This sports day is going to be awesome!” I thought.  For the first time ever, we were doing something for just a bit of fun.

“Aaaaand GO!!” Mrs Nua (my tall teacher) shouted. Joshua quickly soaked the sponge in the spine chilling water and threw it under his legs speedily. Shaniah caught it carefully, trying hard not to release any water. Again, she passed it to Belle, then to Shontal, Ronald, Sylvia, and then I got hold of it. I slid down the reasy grass and squeezed as much water as I possibly could in to the bucket. Dashing back to the front of the line, a feel of adrenalin rushed through me.  

The thought of winning  the prize of having a water balloon fight, made me shiver.  My deep thoughts were interrupted by a long line of screaming wet winners. We had won!! My team walked off to the next activity feeling proud, and rather damp.

Not too long after, Room 20 were running like mad maniacs, trying to tag each other with a ball. Many people were tagged and disqualified out of the game. Ball tiggy that is.  I slipped through gaps and sped from corner to corner.  I felt as if I was on CSI, one team the victims, and the other the cops. Unfortunately, my team were the victims. Unlike other teams, we had no strategy. We were like mice sneaking around trying hard not to attract any attention to ourselves. Sadly, these little mice had been caught. The other teams shared the glory after the defeat.

We then trudged over to where the lovely Ms Tito was standing. In one hand, she was holding a big blue ball. In the other she grasped on to a yellow, and quite large sling shot. “Kia ora kids!” she greeted. We all sat in a long line waiting for our turn to hit the ball in to one of the hula hoops. My turn crept closer and closer. Until it was finally me who had to pull back the slingshot and fly in to my doom. I knew I had no luck with slingshots. I reluctantly walked up to the huge launching machine, placed the ball int the groove and yanked the center back. I lowered the aim and released the slingshot. Hmph. Nothing. Well, that’s only if you consider 2 centimetres in front of you nothing.  I walked back to my seat in the grass ashamed.

Thankfully, we had the three legged race last. Well I guess it’s true they keep the luckiest for last. You see, Sylvia (one of my best friends) and I were quite the team, we waltzed up and down the track without dropping the tennis ball, or falling on top of each other. Other teams? Not so lucky. We shared our victory by helping Seini-Mino and Selena (our two close friends) out of the humongous knot. None of them could undo it. Frankly, they were just making it worst! “Keep still!” I groaned. I pulled the last few ends and, Voila! They were out of their misery.

I have really enjoyed the sports day and hope to do it again some time soon. I learnt two things that day, one : To be able to achieve your goal, work as a team. And two : Never let Selena tie a knot around your ankle!

Namibia or Samoa?

As we all know we are 5 days in to the Rugby World Cup.  Today, Manu Samoa are meeting Namibia on the rugby field.  We have all been assigned to predict who will be the winners of the match.  My prediction is that Samoa will take the victory on this one.  I have seen a lot of their training and breakdowns so I am sure they are to do well.  Hopefully no one will get injured or anything so we can play as good as possible.


Sure enough, my dad knew someone who related to the team. His uncle, (my great uncle) is Lefau Harry Schuster. He was a Manu Samoa rugby player.  Only a few days ago he was visiting the family.  Since we all live close, he stayed with my Grandpa and Grandma for a while. He even took one of my uncles to the opening game where they sat in a VIP section.

Favourites

When I stand staring at my great grandmother’s grave, a great feeling of genuine love and warmth flows through me.
I love the aroma of sizzling sausages on the scorching sand of Wendahome.
I like lying on my bed in the pitch black staring out in to the starry sky.
I love the way my grandpa is constantly enthusiastic and makes us laugh by continually changing his favourite league team. He’s inspirational.
Yellow gives me a warm and happy feeling.
I love the taste of melting cheese squashed between warm and crispy bacon strips.
I love how L&P gives you a taste of New Zealand, as it dances on your tastebuds.
I love the bright and warm colours of the soft and gentle petals on a daffidoll.
I like the way netball players firmly pass the ball succeedingly up and down the court.
I love the way Micheal Jackson can motivate the world to change, with only a funky song or a groovy dance move.
Have you ever noticed how persuasive fashion can be. One day its pink and peach, the next its blue and green.

These are a few of my favourite things.

Basic AFL (Skills that is)

On a sharp windy morning, Room 20 and Room 9 were taught the basic techniques of AFL by Micheal Gregson and Aemon Simpson. AFL is an abbreviation for Australian Football League. It is also known as Kiwi Kick or Aussie Rules.

Firstly, we had a small warm up activity, where you and your partner were either a tiger or a lion. You spun round hopping on one foot, 10 star jumps, crouching and spinning, but when Micheal blew his whistle, you had to stop everything and quickly grab the ball in between you and your partner’s feet. To my partner Selena’s pleasure, I did not get the ball once!

The first basic skill that we learnt was how to pass the ball. Unlike league and rugby, you do not spin the ball, but you rest it on on your palm and hit the end with your free hand towards your target. If you are using your left hand to hold the ball, you put your left leg out. This way of passing is called handball.

After learning how to pass properly, we were instructed to form a square with four people. Two younger and two older. We then hit the ball round to see how many times we could hit it. (The pass only counted if the other person caught it.) The highest that my team and I could get to, was 32.

Next, (after soaking up the glory) each class created two lines. In between the two lines, we each tested to see how good our passing really was. We threaded the ball in and out between ourselves as we dreaded to win against the year 3 class. Shockingly, we drew.

Pamper Day

On Saturday the 6th of August, the Girls Youth Group, Revelations had a day of pampering for the local community. A gold coin was all that was needed for you to have your hair done, your nails painted and you walk out looking beautiful.

I was on the tea job, (better than it sounds!) where I served the customers snacks like lamingtons, cupcakes, cookies, spring rolls and samosas.

We had quite a lot of customers on Saturday and we were very happy with what turned out. Our Rev leaders are Aleisana, Masele and Anaua. Aleisana and Masele were both on hair that day, but our lovely Anaua could not make it to the Pamper Day.

Revelations always has something on so soon, we are having a massive Market Day. I am looking forward to it very much. We are hoping to have much more things and events to come.

Feelings

10 Fast Fingers

I have found this really neat website where you test your typing speed. The highest that I got to was 71. It wasn't easy though! Click on the picture and see if you can beat my score!




If it doesn't work, here is the link http://speedtest.10-fast-fingers.com/

The Test of Fitness

“The beep test will start in 5 seconds.” a computerized voice said. It was the beep test. My very first one to be sure. A beep test is one of the many methods that coaches or teachers use to measure the fitness progress of someone. At first I had absolutely no idea what a beep test was. It’s just like shuttles. 20 metre shuttles to be exact.

“BEEP” The speaker buzzed. We all jogged off to a good start. "Hey! This is pretty easy!" I said enthusiastically. Whoops! Spoke to soon! 5 minutes later, half of us were cheering from the sideline! I put one foot after the other once we got past Level 3. At Level 4, 1 I was exhausted. At Level 4 3 my mouth was dry. At Level 5, I was ready to give up! I slowly made my way to the line just before the beep went off. The next beep signaled for us to go. I couldn't continue. I collapsed on to the grass, trying so hard to catch my breath.
Oh well. I was the fifth girl to keep running. Level 4 - 5.
Hmm. Pretty good for my first beep test!

Extra Extra! Read all about it

I am very sorry readers, but this post is not going to be a long tragic story of how a cat got stuck in the tree, but it is a VERY short, yet important one. This is the first post coming to you right from my netbook (it self) straight from my lovely G.I home. That's right! I have just got my netbook! Sorry this is so short, but it's way past my bed time!


By Toreka Yr 7
Proud owner of a netbook, (that's right, my OWN netbook)

Flag of France

Now that our new topic for the term is "Keep your eye on the ball.", our intermediate divided all the teams that are participating in the *RWC*, so that our classes each have 4 teams and 4 countries to study. Our class has been given the countries : South Africa, Wales, Japan and Australia. At the moment, Room 20 are finding out all the countries that are involved and drawing their flags in Tux Paint. I have chosen France because, I did not know their flag was Red White and Blue. I know now that : White represents peace and honesty, Red shows hardness, bravery, and strength. Blue represents, vigilance, truth, loyalty, justice and perseverance and justice. Maybe that's why French people are so persistent!



*Rugby World Cup

PES in the paper!

Today, at 2.30 pm (to be exact) , I had the priviledge of being interviewed by the Award Winning Journalist, Simon Collins. He was reporting for an article in the NZ Herald, about engaging students in the classroom via e-learning. I enjoyed answering questions about what I love doing : Blogging. From the interview, I have inferred that the NZ Herald is a very fast working company. Because as Simon and the photographer Dean were leaving. He said to me, " You'll see the finished product tomorrow." And from that, I thought that he meant I'd get sent the pictures and the draft story! No wonder journalists seem to be busy beavers, they have very little time to work. It turns out, they had 12 hours to complete the article, edit photos and publish the paper. So here I am, typing away, wondering what tomorrow's NewsPaper will look like.

It was a pleasure meeting you, Simon and Dean.

Sorry Dean! I didn't catch your last name! I promise to come back and edit once I find out!

MTV made by MTB

As you all know, it is our last week of school, so for a bit of fun, we all went in to groups and created MTVs. In my group is Brooke, Mubasshira, Belle and Kaloni. We couldn't decide which song to do so we made a mix. The above is the finished product. Enjoy!

Term Goal

The Science of Senses

The piece of information that caught my attention, was that the coldest day in New Zealand was in Central Otago -21.6 degrees. It was warmer for them to hop in to their freezers then to stay outside! And the coldest day was in Marlborough Rangiora, and the temperature was 42.4 degrees.

Secondly, one of the organisers had a blow torch and blasted a hole through a zinc covered piece of metal. Green and white flames burst in to the air with a gasp of amazement from the crowd.In the end the back of it was a dark velvet purple, in the front it was white. He explained that the zinc was burnt off and the metal was rusting quite fast. It was very fascinating. It made me wonder a whole lot more about the world of science...

Going Hard Out For The Hungry!

Right now, at this very moment, 22 people are going hard out for the hungry. Specifically East Timor. I am in the blue team with Ido from Shortland Street. We've just finished watching depressing videos on the 40 hour famine website. This year, New Zealand are aiming to $ 3.15 million for the tribes of East Timor. So right now, we are GOING NUTS FOR MEGABUCKS!

The History Of The Pen

Lewis Waterman invented the ballpoint pen and Lazlo Biro invented another
type of pen. Well the ink actually stays inside the pen and you don’t have to dip in the ink pot. There is now different kinds of pens all over the world. Also now you can use different kinds of colours as in ink colours. As you can see pens can run out of ink in a period of 7 to 10 years and it can be replaceable, but that would `just be a big waste of time, so you can just go buy another pen worth one dollar and it will last as I say 7 to 10 years! That is one of the WOW factors of pens. The other WOW factor is that today some people still use quills and ink pots. As years passed the pen improved for instance the style has changed the ink has changed the appearance has changed and also the size. The first people to use a type of pen, were Ancient Indians. They used feathers and bamboo sticks and so on. The pen has improved quite a lot since then. Also the first pen was invented in Seville,Spain.

The Eleventh Extravaganza

“Do I really have to?” I groaned. It was the 20th of April and the day I turned eleven had arrived. Also the day I had to wear a bright pink dress my aunty had picked out. “Yes.” she said firmly. There was no way I was wearing this in front of my friends. My reputation would be ruined! Hopefully no one brought any cameras.
“Just kidding!” my aunty laughed. She put down the hideous dress, and pulled out a beautiful pacific patterned dress. “THANK GOODNESS!” I shouted!

My mum barged in and said “ Hurry up. Selena’s already here. Get changed!” Selena, Selena, Selena. She was always there the earliest. “Ok mum.” I said while struggling to put on the dress. “HURRY UP!!” My mum yelled. Well, so much for being kind to the birthday girl! It was the 20th of April. My birthday. I had turned eleven. It had been a looooooong week thinking about today. Finally, the day had come.


“Thank goodness!” I said relieved as I got changed. I heard voices outside my window.Gasp! It was my friend Selena!! She had come early!! “Knock, knock.” she was knocking on the door. “Coming!” I yelled while quickly putting the embarrassing bright pink dress in to hiding. I ran to answer the door to see Selena. “Hi Reka. Happy Birthday.” she said shyly. “Hi Lena!” I practically shouted.

Enthusiastically I jumped outside to help Selena with her bags and went on and on to talk about what we were going to do :”So we’re going to eat first, and then we’re gonna talk about secrets- Oh and don’t worry I didn’t tell anyone-” My blabbering was interrupted by one of Selena’s fake coughs. I looked up and saw Selena’s family standing there giggling then I looked back at Selena and her face was bright red. Quickly I said “ Thank you for letting Selena come! Lena want to come inside?” We both sped in to my bedroom and waved at her family from my window.

“Phew! Nice save Reka.” she said while looking cautiosly at my room as if she’d seen something suspicious! Gasp! What if she had seen my bright pink dress! Oh no! “Umm..” I mumbled trying to think of an explanation. Thankfully, 3 loud beeps came from the long driveway. Yes! Now I didn’t have to make up something.

Selena and I ran out to greet Mubbasshira. Then weirdly 30 seconds later, Ala came. Then Mino. Then, we ate! My dad had made a big pile of sticky ribs and a huge bowl of chicken fried rice. YUM!! And for my dear friend Mubbasshira my dad had bought a Chicken Donner Kebab. After we spent 30 minutes drooling, thinking about the food. It was time to eat. Selena handed me my knife and fork. Politely, I took them and put then down and then dug my teeth in to the glorious sticky ribs.

Japanese Counting

Now that it is a brand new term, we have different classes to switch in to after morning tea. Last term, I was in Mrs Tele'as' class last term and now I am in Mrs Nua's group. At the moment, we're getting taught to count in Japanese. These are the numbers I learnt.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 - Ichi
2- Ni
3 - San
4 -She
5 - Go
6 - Roku
7 - Nana
8 - Hachi
9 - Kyu
10 - Jyu

Konichi watashi no namae wa Toreka.
Translation :
Hi my name is Toreka.

Arigato!

Translating - Geometry that is

At the moment Room 20 are learning what Translation is in Geometry, and how to do it. In the picture here, it shows how you translate a shape 2 down and 2 across. I have used a diamond for my example but I am trying to practice with much more complex shapes. For example, many students in our class are creating their own shapes to challenge them selves. Before we did this activity on Google Drawing, I had absolutely no idea of what Geometry Translation was. Now I know, that translation in geometry is moving a shape with out changing it.
Well, at least I think so!

Weird for most but normal for some...

With his mother and wife both being deaf, this motivated Alexander Graham Bell even more to invent the first practical telephone. He achieved his goal in 1876 and was the first to be handed a patent for the electric telephone. Along with Alexander, Elisha Gray had tremendous designs for the device. Since then, there have been huge improvements in telephones, and our phones look nothing like they used to. Most phones now, are much lighter, lighter and transmits speech much faster.

Tornado Tragedy

At 3pm on May the 3rd, a very violent tornado hit the Central Buisness District in Albany. Ripping through the streets leaving a trail of open roads, damaged cars and even hurt citizens of North Shore. It has caused one fatality and quite a few bad injuries. According to New Zealand’s News Website, it has damaged the West field Shopping Mall and the Albany Mega Centre.

Trampolines and cars being carried up in to the sky and then violently dropped in to the hard ground. With this beast reaching 200 kilometers of speed, it is amazing that SO many people have survived this epic tragedy.

Honesty & Hope

Last week we were assigned to complete a movie showing one of the values of Pt England School. I teamed up with Sylvia and Thora. My group and I couldn't decide whether to do Honesty, or Hope. So we did both. We all agreed that honesty is telling the truth about your own mistakes. And that hope is fighting to believe that we can achieve whatever we choose to.

Picnic Paradise

It was a warm sunny day and 502 people were all squashed in to the school hall, hot and bothered. I didn’t really know why we were there, but then it hit me. Literally, hit me : A crumpled school notice that read : School Picnic 24th February. That was today!! All of the seniors couldn’t wait to leave for the picnic. That, or they couldn’t stand the heat. As soon as Mr But and Mr Jacobsen had finished chin wagging, we set off for the reserve.

We all wandered down towards the beach full of anxiety. Most of us were slightly agitated at the long walk, but I got distracted because I kept on hearing something like “Squish, squash.” I looked down and saw that my jandals were absolutely saturated! All of my friends were laughing because my shoes kept on squeaking for the rest of the walk.

Thankfully, we didn’t have to walk so far to the place we were sitting. Unlike some other people who had to go far in the distance.

Straight away, we dropped our things and sat down. Most of the boys ran off to play cricket, gridiron and touch, while the girls went to put their togs on. But I just lay down with my friends. Ah, the feeling of satisfactory. It was really relaxing.

After a good session of gossiping, we ran off to play soccer. Then when we got all sweaty, we went for a stroll along the beach. It was peaceful, until the boys discovered they could mould the wet sand and throw it at the girls

This year’s picnic GREAT! I can’t wait until next year!

Thank You Miss Walker!

Dear Miss Walker,
On behalf of my group, I would like to thank you for all the hard work and effort you put in to Camp TC. It was defintely one of the best camps I've been to. I hope you will be able to attend next year's. Your help made a big difference. The hangi was absolutely delicious.
Thank you once again. May God be with you and your family.
Yours Truly, Toreka.

Taking Charge At Camp

“Good morning campers!” a voice yelled enthusiastically. While everybody in the camp was hurrying to get dressed, my tent groaned, still half asleep and annoyed with the teachers. “Why couldn’t we have had people who like to sleep run the camp?” Selena moaned.

We were at the Yr 7 & 8 Camp. It was 6 o’clock in the morning and we were NOT happy. “ Pass my toothbrush!” Mubasshira snapped. I guess she wasn’t kidding when she said she needed her sleep. “ Why can’t we just sleep in?” Selena mumbled. I rolled my eyes and said “Because then, you’d miss the hot breakfast: Spaghetti and toast!” She sprang out of bed saying, “Okay, okay. I get it now!”

After the breakfast that calmed Selena down, we headed down to the bottom field for Rock Up. The field was crowded with a Rock Wall, an Archery tent, Shuffle boards, and a blob of new entrants. “Ummm....I dont think I’ll be able to do this.” Mubasshira said shocked with the sight of the bottom field. I laughed and said “Oh, Mubasshira, look the rock wal isn’t even that tall” m I said pointing to the wall. “ Yeah, I could. But I’d rather do it when I can see. Look!!! The instructor is climbing blind folded!!” She exclaimed. Whoops. I must have missed the man climbing with a blindfold on!

“EVERYBODY GET IN TO ONE LINE!!! NOW!!!! OTHERWISE YOU’RE GOING TO DO TEN PUSH UPS!!!” a voice shrieked out of nowhere. All the Yr 7’s just stood there trying hard to see who was yelling. But the Yr 8’s all quickly lined up, only a few Year 7s (including myself) caught on. We stood beside the Yr 8’s, confused with what was happening.”What’s going -” I whispered to my older brother. “Ssssh”he cut me off “ Shush otherwise we’re gonna have to do push ups.” he hissed back. Sorry I asked!

Finally, a man appeared holding a microphone and yelled in to and the speaker screeched out “GOOD, BUT NOT GOOD ENOUGH. EVERY BODY ON THE GROUND AND DO 5 PUSH UPS!!” “OHHHHHhhhhhhhh” everyone groaned. “ 1........2..........3.........4..........5 “ everyone chanted. “GOOD WORK GUYS AND GALS!! Now, for the first activity. You will have to.......” I started to day dream. I sighed. This would have to be the best camp ever!

Taonga Time Project

Lately, we have been having Taonga Time every Friday, after morning tea. I am in Mrs Telea's class. We are the movie making group. At the moment, we are learning how to use iMovie 11. We were assigned to put together a little movie that covers what goes on at Pt England School. As well as The Point England Way. The movie above will present to you what the Pt England Way is. Just to help you, it's not just walking in line, but it's being respectful, being kind to others, being courteous.

Photoshop Elements

At the moment, I am learning how to create different types of Graphics on Photoshop Elements. It has been very fun and I once saw a movie like this so I decided to try and do it myself. I now know how I would look if I were an orange. I would like for other people to try this for them selves. I kept on laughing at the pictures I made but this was the funniest. Thanks for visiting my blog!

Camp TC

The best thing that happened at Camp TC, was when ROCK UP came to school and we tried out all the different activities. My favourite was the Dunker. Most of us were actually happy to get dunked because it was so hot! I learnt a valuable lesson, that we all have to work together as a team to achieve what we want to.

How To Pitch A Tent

Equipment
Pegs
Hammer
Poles
Fly (Outer tent)
Base
Interior
Inner tent

INSTRUCTIONS (Be aware that this may not be suitable for some types of tents)

During this process, make sure that you put spare pegs and poles in to the bag it came in.

1. First of all, you will need to unfold the base of the tent and lay it down. Ensure that the opening of the tent is facing the right way. Get a peg and place it through the eyelit. Hammer it in to the ground at a 45 degree angle AND so it is a bit hard to pull out. Repeat on every corner.

2. Once you have finished hammering the pegs, you will have to get the poles out and thread them through the inner tent. Once they reach the other side of the tent have a friend pull it out and put it in the second smaller eyelit. Repeat this process for the second pole.

3. Thirdly, you will need the fly (outer tent). Place it carefully on top of the inner tent. Make sure that the fly’s entrance matches the inner tents door.

4. You will find that there are little ropes attached to the fly. These are called GuyRopes. You will need more pegs for this. Hammer them down as you did the same with the four corners. But you don’t need to secure it as tightly.

5. Once you have finished that, you may lie down in your perfectly pitched tent.

Hopefully . . .

Superior Statistics

Recently, our class was taught statistics. So we were all assigned to create a form and make every student in the class fill it out. My form was asking which annual event was their favourite. From my data I have concluded that 75 % of Room 20 like Christmas the most, and only 12% like their birthdays better. I am surprised that I got a response saying "Chocolate Day" I guess you do learn something new each day.

Colourful Korero

This Term at school, we are learning how to lead the way. Pt England's Korero is helping us do so. So, for our animation task, we had to show how to Lead The Way by following the korero that was chosen. My phrase, was Take Charge. In the movie above is my animation. Please enjoy!

That's REALLY Sharp!

Tech. We were all quite thrilled to be there. The time had finally come for us to experience what we’d have been looking forward to for a LONG time. We followed Mrs Nua to a room, but it seemed to be empty. “Mr Grundy!” she said quite loudly. Grundy and Grumpy. They sounded similar. And there was a BIG resemblance.

But it was okay because he explained everything very clearly so we understood. Though quite a few of us weren’t listening. And that made things even worse! Because every time I had almost finished, people were having trouble so we all had to go back and listen to what and how to do things properly. I didn’t even get to cut any wood!

Most of us didn't understand what tools Mr Grundy was asking us to get. But the people that we thought knew, had no idea or just pretended to know what it meant. Wood work is REALLY fun. Our class is learning how to make a good joint, but then we have to make it in to something. The more original it is, the higher grades we get!

Lots of people are making things like trucks and trains. I'm making a jewelery holder. I hope it turns out well!

Wish me luck!!

The Second Blow

Another earthquake in Christchurch has occured and have killed 90 people. It is very sad as it has damaged churches, schools, hotels, workplaces and have split roads in half. Quite a few of the citizens have tried to leave but are being told to return home if possible. Buildings have collapsed and trapped many people underneath rubble and concrete walls causing unconsciousness. It has become an International rescue effort, specialists from Japan are being sent over.
The hospitals in Christchurch are full of injured citizens. Some are being rushed to Auckland City and StarShip Hospital. Lyttleton is where the Epicenter is. My family and I are going to pray, and if you are the praying type please help, and pray for Christchurch.

Sunny, Tropical Fiji

Being in Fiji has been simply AMAZING! And I’m not just saying that because I FINALLY got to go on a plane. We went inside a submarine, went snorkeling, raced geckos, and EVEN rode horses on the beach.

The name of the hotel we stayed in is called ‘The Westin’. It is a lovely place with their kind workers and scrumptious meals. They have a REALLY nice pool, a gym, nice walking tracks and absolutely BEAUTIFUL gardens. At the front of the hotel was the beach side, and if you walk down the long pathway, you would see that there about 8 other hotels, all lined up against each other. The cool thing is that you can use other hotels’ pools. One day our family went pool hopping. Another cool thing about the hotels is The Bula Bus. It drives from hotel to hotel, picking up and dropping off tourists and hotel guests.

On the second day there, we went on a cruise to South Sea Island-an uninhabited island. When we finally reached our destination, we all hopped out of the boat and on to a jetty. The water was so clear that if you were to just sit in the water, you could see fish swimming around you! The sand was white ! It was like the pictures in the brochure! But better! After getting over how white the sand was, we went inside a submarine. We saw stingrays, blue starfish, masses of coral and huge fish!

After four days of buffet breakfasts, we headed for Sonasalei. A famous hotel, packed with tourists. We felt special because it’s seems much more private. You have to get to a jetty and cross a river to get there. There were heaps of Australians there, my mum began to start talking with an Aussie accent! For one day, the adults went to Nadi while the kids went to the Kids Club. This was the place where we did all the EXCITING stuff like, catching crabs, racing geckos and kayaking! After getting tired and adventurous, we went for a little dip.

Being in Fiji has been one of the best things I have ever done!

A very VERY late update!!

So here's every that happened since my last blog post : I bought a necklace, my tooh fell out, the tooth fairy didn't come - Oh, and I almost forgot...this ALL happened in Fiji! I, went on a plane! An actual plane!!! It was my I was very excited. The resort we stayed in was called ' THE WESTIN' It is one beautiful resort. Their workers are very nice. They ALL say Bula to you. You feel very special there. I went to Fiji with my big beautiful family. The reason why we went is because earlier last year in October my parents went to Fiji for a wedding. When they came back they decided that we were all to go. This has been the first report of FIJI 2011. I PROMISE there will be more and maybe a movie. Over and out.