Nature Is Speaking Video

Here is the video I made. Hope you like/don't hate it:

Weeks 1 & 2 of Term 3

Writing - We completed our persuasive writing task, and our next task is either another persuasive argument or a discussion argument. We learnt about the structures of each argument type. In a persuasive argument, you persuade people to see your point of view, stating only facts about your opinion, but in a discussion argument, you state both sides of the argument, therefore discussing the problem.

Reading - We are doing another short story analysis, and a visual image comparison to the story. We will also do some stuff with a static image. I read a story called 'Lamb To The Slaughter' by Roald Dahl and a story called 'Tell Tale Heart' by Edgar Allan Poe. I am going to do the task with the second story.

Maths - We have started doing measurement work. During this, I have learnt how to convert m² into hectares (divide by 10 000), and how to find the area of a circle (1/2 of the circumference times the radius squared).

Tech arts - I made sushi and a muesli bar, and some brownies. The brownies are for our themed cafe. The theme is beach. I am making brownies and I'm using writing icing to draw waves and fish on it. They taste really yum.

Extension art - I have nearly finish my painting of Brendon Urie. It doesn't look very good. When the photo was expanded, his face turned neon pink and purple. It doesn't help that I'm really bad at painting faces.

My birthday - It was my birthday, and I turned 13.

Robotics workshop - I am part of the robotics workshop group this year. I'm still not sure what to expect, but I'm excited. It sounds fun.

WAI maths - Next week six students, including me, will go to a maths problem solving competition. I'll let you know how that goes in my next blog post.

Cross country - We have started cross country training. We are going to leave the school next week and run on the roads.

Inter-house jump-jam - We had inter-house jump-jam on Friday. Puniu (my house) and Mangapiko came first equal, but next week we will find out who got the bonus point.

Weeks 9 and 10

Hi. Sorry I didn't write last week. I got busy. This will probably be short because I can barely remember what happened. I only went to school for the first two days of week ten because I've been really sick. Here is what happened:

Reading and Writing - I completed everything on Tuesday. It was the last day I was at school, so that was lucky.

Maths - I finally got my new book.

Belmont - The students from Belmont Intermediate came down for the 23rd annual Belmont and Te Awamutu Intermediate Sports Exchange. We had a disco for it, and I went to Megan's house the night of it so I could go with her. My school won the exchange with the overall score 6-5, with two draws.

Grace's House - I went to Grace's House for a sleepover on Friday night. It was the first time I rode an intermediate school bus, and I felt so uncomfortable. It was fun at her house.

Tech Arts - We have started food tech arts. It is probably my favourite. So far I have made: Corny-cheesy roll-ups and dipsticks; Paraoa bread (which translates into: Bread bread); Butterfly cakes. I would've made Nachos on Friday, but I was sick.

Extension Art - I started painting on my canvas in week nine, but I didn't do anything in week ten.

Extension food - There was a lesson in week ten, but I couldn't go to it. I'm pretty sure that Sticky Date Pudding was made.

Marae Visits - For Te Wiki O Maori (Maori week), the school visited a marae over three days. The trips went from Tuesday to Thursday. My trip was on Wednesday, so I didn't end up going. A good five dollars wasted. I was also supposed to go bowling that night, and that cost five dollars, so ten dollars was wasted on me being sick.

I can't think of anything else, so I'll post this and sign out. Bye.

Week Eight

Maths - I did Mathletics all week because I am ahead in maths, and I had one page left in my book. I really need to get a new book, but I keep forgetting to ask Mum. I won a Bronze Certificate, and got rid of some of my blue bars.

Writing - I started writing my argument. My topic is: 'School / tourist busses should not have seat belts.' At first I was for them, but then I found a website that gives some really good reasons why there shouldn't be seat belts. I have written most of it, for I just need to write two paragraphs.

Reading - I have nearly finished my book review. I need to write one and a bit more paragraphs, and add in some quotes. After that, I'll be done.

Maori - We didn't have it because Whae Rangi was away.

French - We revised what we learnt last week about the weather.

Science Fair - I did my tests and finished everything a day before it was due. We did peer assessments on the information, and apparently I did quite well. I helped Patrick do his tests, along with some other students.

Tech Arts - We made up a dance to the song 'Timmy Trumpet.' My group ended up doing alright. We watched some videos of dance sequences by Royal Family, and we watched the stage challenge from last year at the college.

Friday Sport - In Theatre Sport, we played lost of different games. I got to play the Emotional Game. It's when you act out a scene once neutral, then you do it three more times using different emotions.

Extension Art - I spent the whole time attempting to make a skin colour. I didn't manage to.

R.I - We listened to Chris talk about respecting your friends. I only like R.I. when he is doing it because he is American, so his voice is entertaining.

Music Workshop Concert - We went to the A.L.C. to watch a short concert that the music teachers and students put together. They played some songs, and the choir sang some. The band played the Harry Potter and Star Wars theme songs which was interesting to hear.

Mufti Day - The theme for this terms mufti day was First Response, so I wore my St John Cadet uniform. I didn't get an award, but that's alright because the prizes weren't very good. Last year I got a bag of Fruit Bursts for second place. This year, first place got a medium-sized chocolate bar.

Week Seven

Maths - I finished all of the ratio work and am doing percentages work. I have made a few dumb mistakes. I am going to get Mum to buy me a new book in the weekend because I only have one fully blank page left.

Writing - We did a draft argument about school uniforms. We had to handwrite them, but it was actually easier than on a computer. No typing, backspacing, typing some more, backspacing some more. If you wanted to get rid of something, you just cross it out. Next week we will write another argument.

Reading - We have started our book reviews. I finished reading The Siren and I have started my book review about it. Mrs. Crowe said that our summary of the plot should be about as long as the short story analysis (150 - 200 words), but mine is 316.

Maori - I was doing dishes (one of the people wasn't there, so I was filling in), and when I came back to class, my group was just finishing our presentation. I was a little annoyed that I missed, but it was okay. We learnt about a battle between the Maori and the English.

French - We made wheels to show what the weather is like. They are the kind of wheels that are on the shows and games that you spin to see what you win, except smaller and no money involved.

Extension Art - I painted on my draft picture, and again I got Mrs. Dixon to make the skin colour.

Tech Arts - We learnt how to play 'Smoke On The Water' on the guitar, and we were assessed on our keyboard, drum and guitar playing. We got to play on the ukuleles which was so fun because they are so cute and small. We mucked around a bit on Friday because there wasn't much to do.

Student Assembly - It was alright. One of the videos of the week was Kid President telling us that everyone can change the world if they want to. One of the games was Chubby Bunny, and if you don't know what that is I'm not explaining because it's a stupid game that people have choked to death playing.

Jump Jam - Room three (my class) won the golden rock with three votes. We did six routines (I counted), which I'm pretty sure is more than usual. I think we usually do five or something.

40 Hour Famine - I did the 40 Hour Famine with Megan in the weekend. It was kind of hard to cut food and get changed etc., but we had lots of fun. We managed it through the weekend. We went from 7pm on Friday to 11am on Sunday.

Science Fair - The Science Fair Boards arrived this week. I am going to do my tests in the weekend.

Week 6 of Term 2

Math - I have nearly finished the ratio work. I just need to do one more learning reflection to compete it all. Then, I can go on Mathletics instead of doing book work. I got really confused when I was doing the learning intention 'To use scale and ratio with problems', but then I realized I was converting measurements wrong. After that, I was completely fine. I somehow thought that there are 1000 centimetres in a metre instead of 100. I really need to buy a new maths book because I only have five fully blank pages left, and I'll use them up pretty soon. I think that I'll be able to do two-three more learning intentions in my book, and then that's it.

Writing - We have been told that our next piece of writing will be persuasive/argument. We were asked to come up with some topics to write about, but no-one really came up with anything. We'll probably end up doing one of the topics Mrs. Crowe came up with. We went over the structure and features of persuasive writing, and I came up with lots of features because I remembered them from last year.

Reading - Our next reading task writing a book review, and we went over the structure of one. Some people have already started, but I don't know what book to do. I'll probably do the book I'm reading at the moment, called 'The Siren' by Kiera Cass. I'm only halfway through it, but I think I'll finish it soon. It's a really good book. It isn't the type of siren that goes wee-woo-wee-woo like a police car.

Maori - We finished making our children's books, and some groups presented theirs. My group hasn't presented ours yet, so we'll present it next week.

Tech Arts - On Tuesday, the usual teacher wasn't there, so we had Mrs. Germann. I liked having her there because she let us do our own thing and practice things we were stuck on. We played on the keyboard, drums and guitar. We had to make up our own jigs, so I did mine as simple as possible.

Extension Art - I spent the whole lesson doing the wash on my canvas for my portrait. It was so boring. I had to get his palest skin colour. I made Mrs. Dixon do it for me.

40 Hour Famine - I am going to do the 40 Hour Famine this weekend with my friend Megan. I will be at her house all weekend, and we will be giving up our our right hands.

Indoor Bowls - We had our indoor bowls lesson on Wednesday with a few experienced men. Three people from my group were chosen, and some other people were chosen too. I don't really like indoors bowls.

Dishes - I was on dishes with Arden, not my usual partner, Grace. We were on together because nobody had done it all Monday, so Mrs. Crowe picked us to do it.

Jump Jam - Same old same old. I was doing dishes so I didn't find out what class won.

French - We revised some of the stuff we had already learnt, and we learnt how to say different kinds of weather.

Religious Instruction Assembly (R.I) - Some kids went on stage and pretended to be part of our solar system. I can't remember what the moral of doing this was, but there was one.

Science Fair - I am going to buy my Science Fair board next week. I have sorted out my information so I can print it out. I think I will check it before I do actually print it though.

Winter Games - I played Corner Ball with my friends Jess and Emelia. It was fun, but we didn't do much.

Week Five - Term Two

Maths - I have completed my fractions work, and now I'm working on ratio. I haven't actually started yet, but I will next week. The fraction work that I did was addition, subtraction, multiplying and dividing. Multiplying is the easiest, then comes division, addition and then subtraction, though they're all quite simple. I enjoyed doing ratio last year, and I really want to start doing it. I also want to do it partly to catch up to Arden.

Writing - On Tuesday afternoon, I had a have writing spree. I finished writing my report during that time, and I edited it on Wednesday. I made a lot of changes to my writing. Most of the changes were to do with sentence starters. Nearly every sentence started with 'Meerkats', or 'The.' (including their, there, they, etc.) I am quite satisfied with my work. Even though I don't really like writing reports, I'm glad that I didn't have to put in my opinion until the conclusion. I liked getting the information for my writing because it helped me find more out about meerkats, and I really like meerkats. I handed it in on time (YAY).

Reading - I also finished my reading task during the mad writing spree on Tuesday. My summary of the plot was 199 words, and it had to be between 150 and 200 words, so I had a good amount in my opinion. I think I explained the characters well, though the weren't explained too well in the story itself. I also think I did an alright job on explaining the setting. I explained what it looked like, when I think it was set, and what the temperature was probably like. I used a couple of quotes, though I think I should've used more. I also handed this in on time (YAY).

Teachers Only Day and Queen's Birthday- Friday is Teachers Only Day, so that means no school for me. I also have Monday off next week because of the queen's birthday weekend. I get a four day holiday! Four days of doing nothing.

Maori and French- We didn't have either because they are both on Friday, and we had Friday off of school.

Winter - Wednesday was the first of June, so that means winter has started. Time for chills. I love winter because it is the month of my birthday. Time to start my wishlist. I don't care if my birthday is in August, I'm doing it! It is already really cold and wet, and it is annoying. I don't really mind the cold, I just mind the wet.

Tech Arts - We only had one lesson of tech arts this week. During that lesson, we composed our blues songs on Garageband (iPad app) and played the guitars for a little bit. My group ( Grace and I) had an amazing song that sounded terrible. I had to sing it, so I used the 'Chipmunk' filter to distort my voice. I also attempted to play 'Smoke On The Water' on the guitar, and failed. I know how to, I just usually play it on the ukulele.

Jump Jam - I found out who won last week, and it was my class. I carried the golden rock to the A.L.C. and placed it carefully on the stairs. It was the first time I held it, and I was really scared that I was going to drop it. We did the song 'Freaks' again, and I failed, but not as bad as last time. Room Fifteen won with two points, and the other classes either got one point or no point at all. I was in the front row because Arden wanted to be next to me, but I didn't want to be. I don't like being in the front row, but I did it any way.

S.H.I.N.E. - Five people got their Silver Badges at the Monday morning assembly, and they were all in my class. Four girls and one boy. I think I need two more 'We are Honest' signatures and eight more 'We Include others' signatures to get mine. The I's are the hardest to get, so I'm going to need to be very inclusive. In my class, we can get them by students telling the teacher that we have been inclusive, so I'll try to hang out with people looking lonely and who I don't usually hang out with. I really want my badge this term, but I'll probably get it in term three or four.

40 Hour Famine - I am going to do the 40 Hour Famine this year. I was supposed to hand the permission slip in on Thursday, but I forgot. Mrs. Tyson, the teacher in charge, told me bring it on Tuesday. I am going to be at my friends house that weekend, so we're going to do it together. She is going to do the 'No Food' famine, while I am trying something all new. I am going to go a weekend without using my right-hand, and I am right handed. I will bandage my hand into a fist so I can't use it. I am slightly dreading getting dressed, but I'll hopefully manage. I am doing this for my famine because I know that some people aren't coordinated, don't know how to control their limbs, or have had their body parts amputated, so I thought that I might see what that's like. I don't know if anyone has done it before, but I'm going to try it. I hope I get some sponsors other than my parents.

Science Fair - In the weekend, I did a lot for Science Fair. I wrote down everything for my board other than my data (I'll take pictures), results and my conclusion because I haven't done the tests yet. I am going to by board next week (week six), and then I'll probably print out my stuff to go on it. I am planning on doing the experiments in week seven.

Volleyball - On Monday we were supposed to go to the A.L.C. and play volleyball, but we had an hour long talk about fish and greed instead. During that speech, my friend was pointed to and told that she had four weetbix for breakfast, when she could've had three and given one away. I blurted out 'But she can't have weetbix' (she's a celiac),  and everyone laughed.

Extension Art - I bought a canvas and gessoed it for next week. I finished drawing my picture, and I will probably paint it next week. I will also put a wash on my canvas. I got kind of bored, and Sophie had lots of paint, so I finger painted on one of my black and white copies of my picture. I made him look so pretty!

Extension Food - We made savoury pinwheels this week. Mine didn't have any ham because someone came to my kitchen and took it, saying that he didn't have any. I told him that I didn't have any either, and that I was about to use it, but he didn't care. Mine still tasted great. I had to add about three extra cups of flour, and it was still really sticky. I think I might have added too much milk. Oh well.

Week Four Of Term Two

Maths - I did some work on converting fractions to decimals, and vice versa (and back again). I also did some work of dividing decimals, and I have done the learning intention: 'To add and subtract fractions.' I got a questions wrong, but it was a dumb mistake. I just need to finish my learning reflection to start the next learning intention.

Writing - I finished taking notes and have begun to write my report about meerkats. Reports aren't my best kind of writing, and I keep being confused about what to write. I have written my introduction and have started writing my paragraph on their habitat, but I don't know how to make a report interesting. Is it even possible? Hopefully I will finish writing it by the due-date, which is Wednesday next week.

Reading - I have alphabeticalized all of the words I found replacements for, and I have started writing my analysis of the short story. I have half finished my brief summary of the short story, though it isn't very brief. I have used one quote so far. In my reference book, I stuck a piece of paper that explains the different point of view. I learnt about some new types of third person point of view, and about second person point of view. I never knew there was such thing until then.

Maori - We continued writing our stories about the Waikato river, and made a Google slide-show for the pages of the books. For a page of the book, we decided to find out how long the river is. It is 425 kilometres in length. We have lots of pictures and chose a font to appeal to children. I might show it to my sister when we're finished. We are going to present them in two weeks. It would've been in one week, but we have Teachers Only Day on Friday.

Extension Art - I was supposed to bring a canvas in for my next painting, but I'll have to do it next week. I continued drawing Brendon Urie, and I learnt some techniques on drawing faces. The techniques were first found out by Leonardo Da Vinci. They are about the shaping and spacing of facial features.

Extension Food - It wasn't on this week because the teacher was at a course.

Jump Jam - We learnt a new routine to the song 'Freaks'. Mrs. Crowe took paper and a pen to the A.L.C and wrote down the names of people who were seeking excellence. I hope I was one of them. I tried really hard at the new routine, it was really confusing, and I did my best at the other routines too. I decided that if I put all the effort in that I could, I would warm up quicker. It was so could. I was drenched going to dishes, and I was inside over half the time. I don't know what class won the Golden Rock because I went to dishes before they announced it, and I forgot to ask.

Dishes - I was on dishes this week with Grace. We would've probably been on next week, but both of the people who should've been on this week were both away on Monday. On Friday, the food was nice. There were little cupcakes with icing, a bowl of lollies, lots of nice stuff.

Tech arts - I had my first full lesson of music tech arts on Tuesday. We learnt some new songs on the keyboard and played a few tunes on the drums. We also reviewed the melodies we learnt last Tuesday, though I didn't really know them. On Friday we learnt about blues music and played a blues tune on the keyboard. After that, we started writing our own blues song. My group's song was about my pet, Barry the bee, we stung my finger when I stroked him, and he died. It was very tragic, but don't worry, it wasn't based on a true story.

Science Fair - I didn't have an idea for science fair, so I went on my class website and found a topic. It is: 'What is the relationship between salt levels in water and the ability to float an egg?' I am quite interested to see how this turns out. I wonder if there will be a certain point that there is so much salt that nothing happens. I guess I'll find out.

Last Week's Blog-Post - Sorry, but I can't fix the colour of it. I tried and made it worse, so I'm just going to leave it alone.

Week Three - Term Two

Doing Dishes - On Wednesday to Friday, I was supposed to do the staffroom dishes, but I only did it on Friday. I did it on Wednesday before Interval because Mrs. Shaw needed someone to help her. I was busy for the rest of the day and all Thursday. I was only on staffroom duty for three days. One of the people on this week was busy at the Music Workshop on Wednesday and Thursday, and then out of town on Friday. While I couldn't do it, I got my friend Grace to. Since Friday is the shared morning tea day, I brought her a couple of lollies from it.

Music Workshop - The Music Workshop is when a few other school come to mine and learn some music. Of course, they already play. They were all band students and choir students. I wasn't a part of it this year because I'm not in choir, but I was last year. It was fun. It took place on Wednesday and Thursday.

Helping Mrs. Shaw - On Wednesday, Arden and I helped Mrs. Shaw prepare dinner for the Music Workshop students. We brought a few items in from her car. We put a few different veggies into separate bowls, and put cheese slices onto plates. We also got 250 plastic knives, forks and spoons into containers. We also made sure there was the right amount of plates and bowls (250 of each). Since there was quite a bit of rubbish from all that, we took it and threw it into the large bin which was kind of fun.

Sorting Library - On Thursday morning, Arden and I went through most of the books in the library to find books with old stamps. We went back at Thursday lunchtime to try to finish, and we almost did, but the bell rang before we could. We only had a few more books to do, though.

Tech Arts - We started to do Music in Tech Arts. I haven't done as much as some people. On Tuesday I was pulled out to get immunized and on Friday I was doing dishes.

New Lunch Entertainment - Because we aren't allowed to go onto the grass that we usually play Tree-Tag, Arden and I came up with a new game. We got another few people to play with us, Rowan, Megan and Gaby. I won't explain the rules, but the game is rather fun, and a little violent. I was forced to be lifted so that I would get a penalty of sorts. I was kicking, punching and slapping, but still laughing.

Extension Art - I signed my canvas that is now hanging in the library. I started drawing my portrait that I will be painting. I am painting Brendon Urie. So far, I have only drawn his lips, and they look AMAZING! Just kidding. They only look great.

Extension Food - We made carrot muffins with cream cheese icing. Mine were banana-y, and Arden's were black. They were nice though. I had them for desert the day I made.

Maths - We have begun to do fractions, decimals and percentages. I have only done things on Mathletics so far, and I haven't done them well. I have done several attempts at most things.

Writing - I have almost finished taking notes for my report writing. I have learnt a lot about meerkats that I didn't already know. I have learnt about their diets and their burrowing system.

Reading - I have read the short story and have almost finished the vocab task. I still haven't started any of the other tasks, though. I will start them next week.

Maori - We are writing a story about the Waikato river. I am in a group with Megan, Hadlee, Caitlyn, and Sophie J. We are still working on it.

Week two of term two

Lacrosse: We did some lacrosse skills with a guy from Waikato Lacrosse named Dean. He taught us some tricks, how to throw and catch, how to run and how to pick the ball up from the ground. After we learnt all of the skills, we played a game.

Tech arts: In Science we learnt how to test the pH of a substance using litmus paper and a universal indicator. If you dip the blue water in and it stays blue, it is a base, and if it turns red, it is an acid. If you dip the red litmus in and it stays red, it is an acid, and if it turns blue, it is a base. With the universal indicator (yellow), you dip it in and check what colour  After that we made bath bombs. I have already used mine. We did a test in the final lesson about what we had learnt, and then we made really sour sherbet.

French: In French we learnt a lot more words. We learnt the numbers 20-39, the days of the week and the months of the year. The numbers are (in order) vingt, vingt et un, vingt-deux, vingt-trois, vingt-quatre, vingt-cinq, vingt-six, vingt-sept, vingt-hiut, vingt-nerf, trente, trente et un, trente-deux, etc. Twenty-one and thirty-one are odd because they are 'twenty and one' and 'thirty and one', where the others translate to 'twenty-two' etc. The days are (Monday to Sunday) Lundi, Mardi, Mercredi, Jeudi, Vendredi, Samedi and Dimanche. Sunday is different because it has 'day' first. The months are (in order) Janvier, Fevrier, Mars, Avril, Mai, Juin, Juillet, Aout, Septembre, Octobre, Novembre and Decembre. The last four end the same, and the first two are quite similar.

Maths: We got our geometry test back, and I made some dumb mistakes. We are going to start fractions, decimals and percentages next. We will do a pretest next week, so I hope I can remember some stuff from last year.

Writing: We finished editing and did peer assessments for the place descriptions.  The next piece of writing we are doing will be report writing, and I'm doing my report on meerkats. We will read some information about our chosen animal, take notes and then write the report using nothing but the notes (and a computer).

Reading: We have started doing a short story analysis, but I haven't done anything yet. My group is doing the short story 'The very old man with enormous wings' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. We have to analyse the text, write a page about the text and find words to replace the ones we don't understand.

Week one of term two (and a catch up for last term)

Hey. I know that I haven't written in a while, so I'll just give a brief summary of the interesting things that have happened.

Catch Up For Term One:
While my class was on camp, I was in room one. I was in charge of everything that my class usually does. I did the dishes and Chromebooks with some other students from room one. I mostly did maths the whole time, other than when I did Extension Art and pubertal change. I felt quite lonely at break times, but I hung out with some of my friends who are in room one.

We did pubertal change. I think that's all I have to say.

In Extension Art, I nearly finished my canvas. I spent one whole lesson trying to find the correct colour, and when I did, I had to make more, but the bell rang before I could. It was very disappointing. I touched up the grass/dirt area, and I think it looks pretty alright.

On Friday, in the second week of Easter, ten year eight Extension Art students, including me, went to Visual Arts Day at Hamilton Junior High. We were taken to separate stations where we spent the whole day making art projects. I was at the screen printing station. This is how to do it (1 colour picture):
1. Sketch some basic drawings onto A4 paper until you come up with something you are happy with.
2. Get a clear plastic A4 sheet and trace your drawing on with a Sharpie.
3. Cut out your tracing with a scalpel to make the stencil, using a place mat so you don't scratch the         table.
4. Tape your stencil to framed mesh, using paper to cover the other spots that you don't want paint,         and make sure you do it on the right side.
5. Put paint onto the mesh and spread it out using paper to test it. Keep doing this until you are happy,     then do it on your top.
6. Heat dry the paint, and your done!

Back To Term Two:
I joined the school Magazine team for 2016. I will be in charge of the class photo pages. The other people are Rowan, Arden and Cheng-Yu.

In Extension Art, I painted over the snow and bottom of the mountain. I just need to one more thing, but I forgot what it is. The next project that we will be doing is portraits of other people. Next week I will do the last thing on my canvas and bring a photo of the person that I want to paint, but I don't know who it is yet. I have to provide my own canvas, though.

We started to do some stuff for the Science Fair, like research, starting our log books, and learning about it. I have already got an idea about what I might do. I have started doing some research and I have a few entries in my log book.

We watched the Brain Inquiry Presentations. My group wasn't ready on time, so we had to present it on Friday instead of Monday like everyone else. It was okay though. The other presentations were quite interesting, but some of them needed editing.

I am in the Extension Food group for this term, along with nine other lucky students. There are certain classes each term, and this term it is room one, room two, room three (my class), room fifteen and room sixteen. It will be on every Thursday afternoon that there isn't a Student Assembly, like this week. We made Focaccia Bread, which is just fancy bread. The next thing that we are going to make will probably be Sticky Date Pudding, or just Sticky Pudding if you don't like dates. I don't.

I am nearly finished editing my Place Description writing, which is due next Wednesday. There were lots of mistakes, but I fixed most of them.

Mike King, a famous Kiwi comedian, came to school to talk about depression, drug addiction and alcohol, and his experience with all of them. Even though it doesn't sound like a nice topic, he made it funny, seeing a his professional job was making people laugh. He was really weird, so weird that it sometimes annoyed me.

We got a new Japanese teacher called Etsko. We had a powhiri. Sadly, I'm no longer doing Japanese.

Okay, that's all I'm going to write. I'll write again next week. Bye.

Week seven of term one!

Monday - In Monday morning assembly my name got called out for a second Never Give Up shine band. I was so surprised, but it was a good surprise. After assembly, back in class, we did comma work about where commas go in writing. When we got back in class after interval, we continued to write our student led conferences and started to write another explanation about the water cycle. At lunch I finished and handed in my Waitangi writing. We did maths after lunch, and at the end of the day I walked home with my friend Rowan.

Tuesday - We had our last lesson of hard materials, and some people couldn't come because they had volleyball. I completed my speaker and my key ring. Okay, I will tell you a story about key ring making: I was making a diamond key ring when my friend Arden came to me saying that she was going to do a heart shape but didn't know what do design on it. I told her that if I had enough time I would make a heart shaped key ring, but cut a zig-zag through the middle of it, like one of those lockets that say BFF on them. She said she would do that with my permission, and I told her she could if she gave me half. She did, and she also gave me a triangle which I turned into a key ring that I gave to Rowan who was mentioned earlier. After interval we continued on our water cycle writing, during which I went to the hall to get an immunisation shot. I cried. We did maths and our brain inquiry after lunch.

Wednesday - So, we did the usual stuff, maths and writing. We also did our brain inquiry while the year sevens went to French. I made a slide and a new document for my group. In Jump Jam, my class came in a tie for the golden rock. Hmm, Wednesday wasn't very interesting. Oh, before school, while I was at home, I gave the diamond key ring that I made to my mum for a birthday present.

Thursday - In the morning, while there was practically no one in class, we did our brain inquiry. In extension art, I started painting my canvas. I completed my sky, and I think that it looks pretty good. We had a student assembly in the afternoon, and I got a little freaked out. In the two years that I have been in this school I had never gotten a message from the office until then. Luckily it was just about an extra ten dollars I paid for my tech art fees.

Friday - In the morning we did maths. Arden and I did this investigation thing that took forever and we still didn't finish. We had our first lesson of French for the whole year! We started science for tech arts. We did some drawings, but I left before it finished. I left because since Raiha wasn't there I filled in for her at dishes. Luckily, I got to miss out on eating things like beeswax in science. In Māori we learnt about numbers. We didn't have sport, so after the Māori teacher left, Arden and I continued with our maths. We still aren't finished.

Week Six - Term One

I decided that I would change the way that I do my blog posts. For now on I will try to do them like this. I think it will help me write more than usual. What do you think of it?

Monday - We had our usual Monday morning assembly which wasn't very exiting. We started writing our Student Led Conference report for our Student Led Conferences. I can't remember what else happened, but I think that is because it's Friday today and this is about Monday, so it has been four days since it happened.

Tuesday - In tech arts I made a new phone holder, and in the same colour as last time (dark red). I sanded my speaker box and got a coat of paint on it. I also got a picture for when I make my key ring, though I forgot to get it afterwards so now it it lost in the unknown. Unknown because I do not know where it is, not because it's in an unexplored cave or something, just so you know. After that, I did some maths work on integers. I was nearly finished which made me happy. I think I also did some writing, maybe my S.L.C report or maybe my Waitangi writing.

Wednesday - We had an R.I. assembly. If you haven't read my older, maybe even last year, blog posts, or if you are not familiar with the term, R.I. stands for Religious Instruction. I don't like the name. Instruction. At least at the college they have R.E. - Religious Education. Sorry, I have strayed off of the topic. We did the usual learning basics, maths and writing. The year sevens had a French lesson while the year eights, me included, stayed in the class. After that, we had Team Jump-Jam. Sadly, my class didn't win, but I thought we did pretty well.

Thursday - In the morning, there were only eight other students in the class. I counted. Everyone else was at band, guitar or extension art. Mrs Crowe started us on a brain inquiry. We did some Google searching to come up with some questions for the six groups. Oh, yeah, the class was separated into six groups of five or six students. In my group I had me (obviously), Grace, Ben, Liam and Quin. I was the only person from my group who was present at the time. Our question is: 'How does your brain evolve / grow and work (Connecting with the rest of your body)'. After a little while some people came back and I got Liam to join me. We found some interesting websites and put them in a shared document so all of us could see them and check them out. In extension art I did the wash over my canvas I chose to do a watery cool blue colour, and I finished my draft version of my Mt Ruapehu. About halfway through the session, some of us went down to the hall to see school singing. We wanted to see if they had announced the Head Students yet. They hadn't, and we found out that they were announcing them at 12:15. We went down again then and waited for the announcement. The Head Students for 2016 are: Cheng-Yu, Class Councilor of room three; Raiha, House Captain of Waipa House; Amy, House Captain of Mangapiko House; Matthew, House Captain of Waikato House. Cheng-Yu and Raiha are both from my class. I'm happy because this year I know all of the Head Students. Last year I only knew one of them. During lunch the Makuhari students arrived from Japan. The Head Students greeted them and showed them to the library. After lunch the class was still pretty empty, as it had been all day, so we did writing and then played seven-a-side-softball.

Friday - We had writing due today and I didn't finish it on time! We had a Powhiri in the morning to greet the Makuhari students who arrived the day before, as you are probably aware. There were about twenty-five student and only six of them were girls. After the Powhiri, we all went back to our classes while the people who were hosting a Makuhari student collected their people and showed them around the school. I have four of them in my class with their hosts. Three of them are girls, so half of the Makuhari girls are in my class. I do have another host in my class, but her student is in another class which is disappointing for her. When we did tech arts, two of the Makuhari student came to join us. I nearly finished my speaker and I got a new picture for my key ring. During lunch I did a bit more writing, but I still haven't finished. I decided that I would finish it after school. In the afternoon, we had a Maori lesson and a lock-down practice. After that we did Friday Sport. In Theatre-Sport, we practised our space-jump scenarios and some groups preformed theirs. My group is preforming next week.

So, maybe I won't write like this. I wrote way more than usual and I don't really enjoy writing. It was good while it lasted, but I think my writing craze is over. Bye.

Week Five

Hey guys. I can't really remember what happened on Monday, but I don't think it was very exciting. We had an assembly, that's all I know. On Tuesday we had tech arts and I finished my phone holder, though in the afternoon it was dropped and it snapped in half. On Wednesday I had my last Japanese lesson. We learnt about money, how to count and we played a game called Fruit Basket which was fun. During the game I fell off of my chair, and it kind of hurt. On Thursday we had our first student assembly. All of the student council had a pageant; I don't know if it was funny or weird. I played a game in the assembly against some other people and came a three or four way tie from two rounds. I still haven't gotten my prize. I had Extension art as well. I practiced painting Mount Ruapehu for my canvas. On Friday we had swimming sports, and I decided to do every single one of the non-competitive events. I came either last or second to last in all of them, and there were five races. Okay, that's all I can think of to write. I'll post again next week. Bye.

Week Four

This week was kind of busy. We had the swimming heats on Monday. I recorded the names. It wasn't as interesting as I expected. I couldn't remember anyone's name, and I was a really slow writer. It was also really hot, but I got splashed a lot which helped cool me down. We had school photos on Tuesday. I don't like even having the back of a phone pointing in my direction, so can you imagine how much I didn't like this? We had tech arts as well. I am coming a little closer to finishing my speaker. On Wednesday we went to the museum and we had to dress up and act out roles from the Treaty of Waitangi. I didn't really have to do much so I was glad. The year eights did the PAT Spelling Test while the year sevens had a French lesson, then we had Jump Jam, which was fun. We didn't really do much on Thursday, or at least I didn't. I had extension art in middle block; I painted some hills and a sky. In the afternoon my class and room seven went to the library to work since both of our teachers had gone to Hamilton to buy some books. I think my favourite day of the week was Friday. It was Rowan's birthday. In tech arts we started our phone holders. In Japanese we had food and Green Tea. In Theatre Sport, I played space jump, it was so fun. My friend Grace and I were on staffroom duty this week, and every Friday, the teachers and a big shared morning tea. The great thing about this is that we are aloud to have some of the food as well. We took some to Rowan as a birthday present. That is all that happened this week, or at least the main stuff. I'll write again next week. Bye.

Week 3

Hi guys. A bunch of stuff happened this week. I got into extension art and I had my first lesson on Thursday. I painted a colour wheel, did a few drawings and learnt a bit about what we'll be doing this year. The class councilors and house captains were decided; My class councilor is Cheng -Yu and the deputy is Rowan. From the house captains and class councilors, some people will run for head student which will be decided on Friday next week. We have the swimming heats on Monday next week. I'm not participating, but I am recording some of the names of the competitors. We also have school photo day on Tuesday which I am so not looking forward to. Ugh. We are learning about the Treaty of Waitangi and we're going to visit the T.A. museum next week on Wednesday. I had my first lesson in Japanese as a year eight. We made an origami Pikachu each! They looked so cute! I also went to Theatre-sport for Friday sport. It was fun but a bit embarrassing. I can't think of anything else to write, but I'll write again next week. Bye.

Week Two

WE HAD AN ASSEMBLY ON A TUESDAY!!! I know, I know, weird way to start a post, but this is unheard of! Okay, I'll be normal now, or as normal as I can get. I'll review weeks one and two. We have been doing basic facts tests, and my score has been getting better every time. Here are my scores: 98/100, 99/100 and then 100/100. We also had a basic knowledge test. It was quite basic except for the last two questions. I had no idea what they meant, so I just guessed. I hope I didn't make any dumb mistakes. I finished writing my application letter for Class Councilor. I hope I get it, but there are a bunch of people in my class trying to get it, so my chances are low. Anyway, like I said in my previous post, I don't mind if I don't get it. I've done quite a bit on my Dream Board. We did a servey in class about mind sets. I can't think of anything else to write any more, so I'll say bye and write again next week. Bye.

2016!!!

Hello again, my little minions! If the title didn't give it away, it is now the year 2016. I told you I'll write again.  This week has been quite busy. We had a powhiri on Tuesday. The year eights (yay, I finally am one) helped the year sevens do their stuff, like set up their own blogs. I have met a lot of new people and made a bunch of new friends as well as catching up with my old ones. I am running for Class Councillor. I am hoping I will get it, but I don't really mind if I don't. In the Selmar Music test, I got 108/120. I think I got the same last year. I will probably go to the band evening on the 16th. I also auditioned for choir and went to the rock band meeting. I will be auditioning next week and I need to come up with a song to sing. I will write again in a week after more exciting stuff has happened. Toodles!

WEEK NINE!!!!!

It is now week nine. OMG!!!!! It is nearly the end of the schooling year! I have done my orientating. I didn't get to do it on Monday, but I did do it on Tuesday. I showed around a boy and a girl with my friend who was already in my class. I had already met the boy before then, his name is Will. I forget to ask for the girl's name. I got my bronze shine badge. Yay. We had the Lip Sync competition on Thursday and there were heaps of really cool acts. I had a miniature spasm attack while the teachers where doing their performance because they did PENTATONIX songs! You probably don't know who Pentatonix are, but oh well. Sorry if you do know! We are getting new furniture for the class next week which I'm looking forward to. Well, I'll write again next year. Bye.