The Berkley Formal

Last night was the Berkley Farewell Formal. Aranui (my team) and a few others helped with decorations, selling tickets, and setting up the tables. I was lucky enough to help with painting and putting up decorations.

The theme this year was 'Boho Bazaar' which is sort of hippie, with peace signs, doves, hearts and hippie vans. I helped paint one of the murals, and put them up, blew up balloons and put them up, and strung the bunting. I was rather annoyed on the night when people started pulling down the balloons that took about half a block to put up, and popping them. Overall, I think the rec. centre looked good.

The dance started at 7:00pm, everyone brought a plate of food for dinner later on. Some of the teachers dressed up, and everyone looked nice. We did dances like the Mambo, Cha Cha, Waltz, Rock 'n' Roll, Cotton Eye Joe, some line dances, and the Macarena. We had to be "escorted" to dinner, and I ended up going with one of my friends.

It was definitely a good night (despite the balloon popping) and I enjoyed myself a lot. It was a nice way to finish off the year.



(As soon as there are photos, I will put them on this post.)

Aranui Focus

Today my team (Aranui) performed our Focus. (Our assembly in a way.) Ours was based on Who We Are, our current UOI topic. We did it on stereotypes in fairy tales. 

We split up into four groups,  each group doing a different fairytale. My group did Sleeping Beauty. There was also Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, and Snow White. We then had to get rid of as many stereotypes as possible. 

My group turned ours kiwiana. We had the three fairies as three Blackcaps (the New Zealand Cricket team) an ordinary lesbian girl for the princess,who rejects the prince after he saved her life. I quite liked our scene, I think it was original, and I just want to say congratulations to the people in our group who wrote it in practically a night.

The Cinderella group changed to Kiwiella, also kiwinated (if that's a word!) They had a welly (gumboot) for a slipper, the prince was ugly, and also rejected, and Kiwiella stayed single.

Snow White became Sunny and the happy people. The Hunter was female, the main character male, and was also killed, not saved. And instead of dwarfs, they had a village called Happy Village.


Little Red Riding hood turned into Little Red Riding Hat. The main character was male, the granny was the antagonist, and the baking he was going to give to the granny was shop bought, not made by the Mum. 


Everyones scenes were made unique, and un-stereotypical, and I think we did well, considering our limited time frame.


Well Done to everyone!

Blog Action Day 2015

                                         A Ballet dance en pointe.    (not me, that's just the title of the clip.)

This year, for Blog Action Day (click here for more information) the theme is "Raise your Voice", where we choose an issue important to us, and write about it.  I chose to do health issues for dancers. This may seem like a small problem to some, but being a dancer myself, I know it is easy to obtain injuries due to dance.

Pointe Shoes
https://pixabay.com/en/ballet-shoes-
black-dance-ballerina-311217/

Some of the more common injuries due to dance, are around the lower back, shoulders, knees and ankles/feet. This can be caused by long hours of constant practise, which means constant stress on certian parts of your body. the place you dance at, (if it is cold, unless you warm up properly, you can injure your muscles) or the shoes, such as pointe shoes. 
Being 'En Pointe' puts a lot of weight on certain areas of your foot, and this can lead to injuries.
One of these is injuries is called bunions. This happens at the base of your big toe, when the bone structure of your feet has been altered. Your big toe starts to lean into the second toe, changing your foot framework. This is often a genetic thing, but can be from wearing too tight shoes. Pointe shoes have to be tight to support your foot properly, so this can cause bunions.



These injuries can be prevented, by being careful and using good quality shoes. But, my issue is that most professional dancers don't receive proper care when they do get injured. This often cuts there dance careers short, most dancers retire at 30. 

Yes, dancing is hard, and it is their choice to make whether they pursue that career, but so is every other job out there. I think they should still get proper support or care when injured, to prevent future problems that may happen as they get older, and when they retire. 

Also, many dancers have to pay for expensive treatment themselves, or dance on that injury until they earn enough money to pay for it, which only worsens the problem. Can you imagine having a serious injury on your ankle or somewhere else, then having to dance around an hour en pointe? The stress around having to earn enough money? That is what professional dancers have to go through, just to get treatment for an injury.



I think a small portion of money should be set aside for dancers who obtain an injury through dance. This may keep them healthier, and keep them doing what they love for longer.

Bibleography:
http://danz.org.nz/Health%20Issues%20for%20Dancers
http://www.stopsportsinjuries.org/dance-injury-prevention.aspx
https://pixabay.com/en/ballet-shoes-black-dance-ballerina-311217/
https://pixabay.com/en/ballet-shoes-black-dance-ballerina-311217/

Exhibition Reflection

Over the eight weeks of Exhibition, I have learnt a lot, and recapped things I already knew, in not only research and presentation, but others such as writing emails to companies, distributing jobs fairly between group members, and more. This has certainly been a learning experience.

I learnt about the Inquiry Cycle, which I had never heard of before. Tuning in was I think a team building exercise, where we learnt each others strengths, weakness's and work ethics. We got to know each other and became a team.
Finding Out was I think one of the most challenging for my group, from splitting jobs, to actually getting the research done, we had a few arguments, but got there in the end. Going Further went smoother, we all got the job done, contributed ideas, and worked well as a team. We found valuable information, that helped later on. From then things went smoother, we got everything done, flowed smoother as a team, and had few hiccups.

On the actual day, I think we could have distributed jobs more evenly, as some didn't explain our Exhibition as others. Although, we were organised, as each of us was in charge of a line of inquiry.

If we ever did this again, I think I could have adjusted to my team members work ethics better, which may have produced a better result.

Overall, we got there in the end, with a few mistakes, but an overall achievement that I think our whole group was proud of.

Exhibition Day

Our Area
Taken by Mrs Hogg

Tested on koala bear
taken by Mrs Hogg

Our Area
Taken by Mrs Hogg

Presenting to people
Taken by Mrs Hogg

Presenting to a parent
Taken by Mrs Hogg

Last Term, on the last Thursday, we presented our exhibition. We had been working hard in groups of three to four people for around six weeks, we had been researching using our Lines of Inquiries, into our set topics. My group did animal testing. We presented through a mural, reports and different information dotted around our area.

We presented Block 3 and 4 to the school who came through and had a look around. We had to focus on engaging the audience by drawing them in to look around your area, getting them to ask questions, and explaining our Exhibition. Also showing off our books, as that is where all our progress, research, and ideas were. 

We then presented in the evening to our parents, grandparents, friends and more, at 3:30. This was the same as presenting to the school, except a different audience, who I found were easier to present to, as they were patient when we were explaining, and understood our topic better, and actually asked us questions and got involved, which my group appreciated.

From Exhibition, I now have some questions that I would like to look further into, such as better alternatives to animal testing, different companies that don't use it, and different ways we can help.

I learnt a lot from this, and am hoping to spread the word on our opinions on animal testing.

Tech Arts

At school, we have rotated on to our next Tech Arts, and my group is in Media. We have recently takens ome Perspective photos, focusing on different ways at looking at things. Tomorrow, we will be sorting out the photos, so I will try to get some of ours, and put them on my blog.


Before changeover, we were in Drama, where we were focusing on Silent Acting and Elements and Techniques in Drama. The Elements are fro creating a good scene, and the Techniques are for a Scene. We looked into famous actors, like Charlie Chaplin, and more modern ones, and discussed the evolution of acting over time.


Next we will be in Music, which I am personally looking forward to.

Waikato Science Fair

Last week on Friday, the people from my school, including me, went to Hamilton Gardens for the Waikato Science Fair. We got interviewed about our projects, and were free to wonder around and look at everyone else's exhibits.

At our school, to got into the Waikato Science Fair, you had to get through the Berkley one. I was extremely surprised and grateful to get through, as everyone did a really good job. Completing a Science Fair project, especially if it's your first is a really big achievement.


As well people who entered a board, there were also some really amazing Scientific Drawings and Photography from Berkley as well.

I think our whole school did an amazing job, and we should all be really proud.


While I'm here, I would like to say a few thank yous. Mrs Hogg, for keeping track of my work, proof-reading, and getting the guillotine for everyone in the class.

Mrs Dromgool, for helping me develop my initial idea, and letting me borrow some equipment.


My mum, for using your highlighting skills when proof-reading my work, and helping me with presenting my board.

And finally, my dad, with out you, my Science Fair would have been reduced to a baking soda and vinegar volcano. You helped me with all things technical, proof-read and proof-read again my work, and put up with hundreds upon thousands of questions, most of them repeated, because I had forgotten the answer.

Thank you to you all, I couldn't have done it without you!

Orchestra Festival

At Berkley, we have a school Orchestra, which I play flute in. Last week on Thursday, we travelled to Te Awamutu Intermediate School, to be a part of the Primary and Intermediate Orchestra Festival, which was also a competition.

We played first, at around 10:00am, and we played five songs, which were:

- Indian Chant and Dance
- Royals by Lorde
- Raiders March  From Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones
- Thinking Out Loud  by Ed Sheeran
- Pirates of the Caribbean  A medley of the Black Pearl and The Medallion Calls.

Berkley went well, we got a Silver Award. The judge for the Intermediate competition was the conductor of the Waikato Symphonic Orchestra, Rupert D'Cruze.

Overall, it was a nice day out, and I definitely enjoyed it.

1000 cranes

At school recently, as the 70th anniversary has recently been, we read a story about a young active girl living in Japan, who got leukaemia from the radiation 9 years after the bombing. Her friend folded her a golden crane, and told her how when a sick person folds a thousand cranes, they get a wish. She then proceeded to fold a thousand, before she died. She unfortunately only got to 694 before she passed away. But, her legacy lived on. Her friends and family folded the remaining cranes, and she got buried with 1000 cranes. They then set up a fundraiser, and made a statue with the girl holding a golden crane in her hand. In scripted into the base of the statue is the words,
" This is our prayer, this is our cry; peace to the world."
Which our whole class found touching. There is now a origami folding class by the statue, and there are now thousands of cranes under the statue.

So, we decided to fold a thousand cranes. By the first day we had almost 200, so we were pretty determined! We have now 999 and Mrs Hogg is folding the thousandth this evening in gold paper.

Click here for more information on Mrs Hogg's blog.

Science Fair

Hello, sorry I haven't written a post in a while!



In class last term and the beginning of this term, my class have been working on our separate Science Fair projects. We have all spent most of last term, our holidays, and this first week to get our projects completed. Most of us are almost completed, all of us are busy cutting, gluing, backing and printing, finishing off our Science Fair boards to a high standard.



My project started off badly, as it didn't work at all. But once I changed my method, it started to work. (Which I was extremely grateful for!) I have now almost completed my board, I'm just cutting and gluing. 
My aim was : To investigate whether you can play a simple tune by altering sound waves with coloured light."
My actual experiment was connecting a speaker to a solar panel through a parallel circuit. (click here for a good website that explains them well) I then shone a torch into a solar panel, and the light waves caused the vibrations in the speaker to change the pitch. I then shone different coloured lights, to see if this caused different pitches in note. This did work, however, I did not get a definite note for each colour. The colours I used were red, green, yellow and blue, as these are four of the colours that makes up white light. 


While I'm here, I would like to say a few thank you's. Mrs Hogg, for keeping track of my work, proof-reading, and getting the guillotine for everyone in the class.

Mrs Dromgool, for helping me develop my initial idea, and letting me borrow some equipments.


My mum, for using your highlighting skills when proof-reading my work, and helping me with presenting my board.

And finally, my dad, with out you, my Science Fair would have been reduced to a baking soda and vinegar volcano. You helped me with all things technical, proof-read and proof-read again my work, and put up with hundreds upon thousands of questions, most of them repeated, because I had forgotten the answer.

Thank you to you all, I couldn't have done it without you!

Japanese Quiz

Recently, my school entered two teams into a Japanese Trivia Quiz, and I was in one of the teams. The quiz we went to was out of the schools in Waikato who entered. The winner went to the New Zealand wide competition.
There were 6 rounds, 10 questions for each round. There was an interval in the middle with food and drink provided, which was yummy.
My team came 4th, which was surprise as we were the only middle school there, and we got 37 out of 60 points. The winner was St Peters Cambridge.
Overall it was an enjoyable evening, I definitely had fun, and learnt some interesting facts about Japan as well.

A Memior

In English at school we are focusing on memoirs. This is a snapshot in time of a memory, usually in present tense. We are writing ours on a childhood game we used to play. I am writing mine about a snowball fight, which we used to do when we lived in England. We have a success criteria we are required to follow.


Success Criteria:

1. We have used strong verbs.
2. We have used our senses. (appropiatly)
3. We have written in present tense.

(I need to check on the rest as I'm not quite sure on them!)


As soon as I have finished editing I will post it on my blog.

Maths

At school, we are about to move on to our new maths subject, Fractions, Decimals and Percentages, which I desperately need to improve on. We have just finished Geometry, which I know I learnt a lot in, including enlargement, centre of enlargement, and bisecting lines and angles.
I hope to get a better understanding of rates and ratios in this new topic, as well as converting fractions to percentages and decimals, as well other skills I need.

School Life

 

"So You Think You can Dance" Competition

Last Wednesday, my school hosted a dance competition, So you Think you Can Dance, which I was a part of. We performed twice, once during the day for the school to watch, and once in the evening, which was the actual performance. Altogether, there were around 20 groups who were part of the competition, and some special guest performers at the end.


 I was in a group 7 along with Rose (see blog) and Ellie (see blog). We danced to a mix of two songs, It's on from Camp Rock and We Go Together from Grease, so our dance was mainly musical theatre with a bit of hip hop. We were extremely surprised and grateful to come first place!

There was a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, as well as two audience response awards, which one of them was won by the teachers, The Tutu Crew. Altogether it was an amazing experience filled with laughter, fun, and of course, dancing.


While I'm here, I would like to say a big thank you to Mrs Allan, for organising the whole competition, and dealing with 20 groups of dancers. You coped amazingly, and we are all grateful.

To the two hosts, Brooke and Zoe, you did a fantastic job. You were funny, clever, and your script was appropriate for the occasion, and evidently well thought through.

To the technicians up in the box, for all the lighting, the slideshows, and basically anything that uses electricity.

And finally, the people in my group. You all put your best foot forward (literally!) and worked hard to complete the dance.

Thank you to all, and others that were a part of it, that I haven't listed here.

Visual Art

                                        British Nurse Uniform 

 

[P        A Historical Clothing Blog

  www.maggiemayfashions.com

 

 





 
                                       








For Tech Arts, at the very moment I am in Art. We are doing paintings in World War 1, painting either Gallipoli or Flanders Field. We had to have a foreground, a mid-ground, and a background, as well as a symbol to show which army was represented.  In each level, there had to be action.

 I decided to set mine at Gallipoli, on board a British hospital boat, facing the beach. Below are the details.


Foreground: A British nurse, holding a bowl and rag looking down.
Mid-ground: Stretchers with wounded soldiers on them, a doctor and another nurse moving between them, applying bandages and checking up on them.
Background: The sea, with boats coming across with more wounded. The actual beach, with boats being pushed off, and trenches.
Symbol: An armband on the nurse, with the Union Jack on it. The Union Jack flag being flown on the hospital boat, and the boats coming across. The red cross flag, to symbolise the hospital, also being flown and on the mid-ground nurse.



[PDF] Air Effort over Gallipoli

www.century-of-flight.net



 

[PDF]

A Ballad

In school we have been learning about the Treaty of Waitangi, and all the reasons why it was necessary. We watched a collection of short clips, called Muskets, Missionaries, Whalers and Openness and Change. Using this information, we then wrote a ballad, a type of poem that has a certain rhyming pattern and shares information. We had to have a stanza for each video we watched, and more if we wanted to.
This is mine, hope you like it!

The Treaty of Waitangi

The musket wars were long and horrendous
This latest new gun armed the offenders
Tribal boundaries bounced and rolled
Alliances changed, Europeans were told
Their trade was needed, to make strong the weak.

The Maori lived 100,000 strong
And to Aotearoa they did belong
When missionaries came
Nothing stayed the same
Writing, reading, religions, all were changed.

200 Europeans came along
Most killed the whales and their mournful song
They were out at sea for months at a time
And so decided to commit crime
 And drink and fight with no care for their kind.

Maori knew and secretly worried
And yet they loved trade, so whalers weren't harried
The Maori woman, strong and fair
Were married to Europeans, to love and care
So whalers had now protection and peace.

In 1839 William Hobson arrived
Laws were changed, land agents were deprived
Private Land Sale was to be banned
January 29th, t'was agreed hand to hand
Justice, sincerity, and good faith lead the way.

February 4th was the day of the draft
Where William Hobson began to craft
The Treaty that would,  bring about changes
Some good some bad all formed bridges
Between all people, alike and diverse.

By 1840, 500 chiefs had signed
The Treaty was global, all people signed a kind
It brought around peace, at least for an age
And it helped people, begin a new page
The Treaty of Waitangi.

 

The Block

The Block
I think the day went well, I definitely enjoyed it, which was important with bonding with the group. I think we connected well, and worked better together as the day progressed.

We could have probably spent more time on the quiz, which would have set up the day better, point wise. The shelter could have been improved on, if we had more time and better equipment.

The group next to us set up their tent efficiently, and effectively solved their problem about a missing part:they also decorated well.

This relates to the Central Idea (Individuals impact can impact on a community's ability to function effectively) because we all had an unspoken role to play, that we all understood, and pitched in without complaint when something needed doing, which doesn't happen everyday. 
Overall I had a enjoyable day, that I would do again If I got a chance.

Comparison

The following poems are from two different years, to see the comparison. Please comment about your views on my poems.



Year 6:

Music

It breathes
In our
Ears
Whispering it's secrets
Through
An instrument
Try to catch it
It will run
Try to copy it
It escapes your
Grasp
All you can do is
Shape it.

By Emily



Year 8:

Woman of the Future


I am a child of all things in my past.
I am my mother's sandy face
My father's blue eyes
Passed down through generations.


I am all I see.
Terminals at Heathrow, overflowing with people
The first breathtaking sight if New Zealand
Watching the sun sink behind Pirongia
Turning to see home on a hill.


I am all I hear.
"Emily, we are going!"
" Do you remember...."
"Make a wish!"

Holly Drive children, meeting on bikes
Laughing and shouting, enjoying freedom.


I am all I feel and taste.
Warm wool in need of a cut
Worn covers if favourite books
Cremated marsh mellows from the homemade fire pit
And Nannie's trifle, smothered in cream.


And all I remember.
Grandparents hugging goodbye as we enter customs
Jet lagged first days, recuperating at home
Parsnip and Yoda's adoring eyes, boring into mine
Fish and chips at the beach, contemplating life.


I am all I've been taught.
"Tears before bedtime!"
"The world is your oyster."

I am all I think.
Inexpressible love for family
Comparison been books and real life.


I am all these things.
I'm like the sun
And these things a passing cloud.
But one day I'll shine,
Unhindered and free
Because
I'm a woman of the future.


So what do you think?

How To Make a Good Comment

Have you ever wanted to make a comment on your friends blog that was worthwhile, but ended up with,

" Hey, I totes love your blog, check out mine at........."

or something similar? Well, this is the right place for you. So sit back, get a cup of tea and a biscuit, and read on!



Step 1:   Be Specific

Make sure that you are specific with what you are saying.  If you liked their blog, say what you liked about it. If you are giving feed forward, don't babble on, get straight to the point, but be polite.


Step 2: Give Compliments

There's nothing better than getting that warm fuzzy feeling when you read something nice about yourself. Giving compliments is a really nice way to comment, It makes the blog owner feel good about themselves, and it could give them a confidence boost to post more. But make sure the comment is specific (see above) and worth reading.

Step 3:   Relate to the author

If there is something you can relate to in the post, (eg: A place you both went to, something you both like, or something you've both seen, then comment on it. I t gives you a connection with the author, and might encourage them to tell you more.


Step 4:   Ask Questions

everyone likes being questions that only they can answer, it gives them a sense of supiority. Ask useful questions, like,

" Do you know anything else about the Great Wall of China? What's the history behind it?"

Things that they haven't already included into their post. This can also encourage further discussions.


Step 5:   Feed Forward

It's useful to give people feed forward, as it gives them a chance to improve their blogs and literature skills. But just make sure you do it in a polite way, or you may appear rude. For example:


Don't say

" Why did you say ......... on your post, it is just soooooo weird. Who would do that?"

Or

" Not being to be rude or anything, but......."

because if you really didn't want to be rude, you wouldn't say it. Instead, maybe put something on like

"I really liked the way you did this, maybe in the future you could......"

This sounds more polite, and you have also complimented them.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well that's that. Hopefully you're on you way to a future filled with careful commenting. I hope you learnt from this post, and feel free to keep coming to my blog foe new ideas.

Happy blogging!

My App Review

Harry Potter App Review

I tried all of the games, I found some questions challenging, while others were easier, which I think is good, as it give you a chance to get questions right.

I think the title is  bit misleading, I thought it would be from Harry Potters actual world, (e.g: Divination, Quidditch, Potions, Stupefy, Expellimarmus, e.t.c) rather than the actual books vocabulary, so a change in title could be a good idea.


For prior knowledge, you need a fairly wide vocabulary, and are good at estimation, as there is a lot of guess work. I think this game is directed towards students our age, as I think we are old enough to understand the book and it's hidden messages.