DLO Reflection

The purpose of our Digital Learning Object was simple. Rita, Vivienne and I wanted to show people what the tower is because not many people have heard of the Burj Khalifa. Also, I wanted to learn more about the tower and creating this movie was perfect.  Its the tallest building in the world and we thought that the best way to present it was to build a mini version of the tower.

In our plans, we had tried to make it using paper mache but with the given time we had, (1 week) it was impossible. So with a little advice from our lovely office monitors and Mr Burt, we settled on making it with thick paper rolls. The concept was to take still images of us putting the skyscraper together and then a timelapse of us painting it. Rita was responsible for the awesome introduction. It was an original and creative idea

Overall I think we could have done a lot better. We didn't really manage our time properly and that impacted on the time we had to paint. Our footage was accidentally lost amongst everyone elses movies and photos so we had to improvise and just animate the tower being built. I think that next time we can improve if we focus on the right points.

The positive side to our project was that we all got to work together and that we got to experience a new way of thinking. We had to plan the building out almost like a real architecture and measure everything so everything matched. We also had a very interesting way of showing our movie using a time lapse.

So I conclude that this project was very enjoyable. I really think we have achieved our goal that was set. Rita had written a very informative voice over and I'm proud of our finished product. But now that we are finished we all don’t know what to do with our awesome Burj

Khalifa.
S,R,V Burj Khalifa Tower from Team 5 PES on Vimeo.

Term 3 Highlights

This term has flown past pretty fast. I’ve had heaps of highlights throughout this term.

Our netball shared lunch was celebrated with every other netball team. We all gathered in the hall at lunchtime and shared a few songs. Miss Va'afusuaga put on a lovely event and mostly everyone brought something to share. Thanks Miss Va'afusuaga for the wonderful shared lunch.

The production is just a blurry sight on the horizon that is rapidly rising. Our dance group Insanity, is the last act of the night as our dance is based in the late 2010s. Mr Jacobsen is helping put our dances together, setting us up onstage in our positions. Kiss Kiss by T Pain, Turn up the Music by Chris Brown and Freeze also sung by T Pain. Weird isn’t it? Vivienne and Huelo-Ata changed some of the moves that Selena had made. It made our dance a bit easier but it was effective.

Another highlight for me has been working Mr Burt and writing most of the assembly koreros and planning the school wide events like the year 8 social last term. Its been a good opportunity to learn more about how to use keynote and it challenged my leadership skills.

So I can conclude that this term has been a good one. I am really happy that this term has gone so smoothly but I’m also sad because its nearly over.

A Crusade of Ants

Our house was a mess! My eyelids felt heavy, as I looked around the room.  All of the blankets were scattered around the sitting room floor. My parents were up and a trail of ants were marching in the kitchen cupboard. Dad quickly took all of the food out and threw it on the table. The ants were picking at the crumbs on the shelves.

The ant trail started at the window and it led to the cupboard of food as well as our bowls and plates cupboard. Dad wiped the ants up and put down a special liquid to kill the ants.

A few weeks later there were no ants about and our house is now clean again.

Cross Country

“ OK everyone lining up in your ages levels please!” Mr Jacobsen was standing on the side of the field. The house captains were lined up next to him, holding the coloured flags in the air. One by one they said their team chants. The houses were Takitimu (yellow) TE Arawa (red) Matatua (green) and Tainui (blue.) My stomach was turning as I thought about the 3.5 km cross country we were just about to run.

Each age group were lead off, one after the other. Every time the hooter went, we cheered for our house colours. I was in Takitimu, cheering for each of my other house mates. TIme seemed to fly past really fast and before I knew it, I was on the starting line ready to go.

Jasmine and I stuck together the whole way, encouraging each other to keep on going. The mud reached all the way up my legs and in between my toes. I looked ahead and went up the playground, through the gold posts and started on our second lap.

I went down onto the reserve, puffing and panting. My throat was dry but it didn't matter. I was determined to finish the race. I kept my pace and then the bell rang. “ Come on Shoal we’re nearly finished!” Jasmine ran ahead until I caught up. We then crossed the finish line together and we were done. Rita grabbed a cup of water and threw it onto me. The race was done and dusted.

SER (Self Explaining Roads)

Our extension class held an investigation about Self Explaining Roads last term. Self Explaining roads are streets like Anderson Ave, Holland Ave and Maybury Rd with islands put on them. We had to choose out of 4 questions to base our research on. My partner, Vivienne, and I then did a bit more research about the SER and what they were. Then we came up with a few questions that we thought we could put into our forms that we later used to interview kids with.

Short Investigation-John Farrell

Courtesy of http://www.hoperivermusic.com/about

Our extension class have been asked to do a short project about 4 people in pairs. Gavin Bishop, Darryn Joseph, Apirana Taylor and John Farrell. For our separate independent task, we had to choose 1 out of the 4 to research more on.  My choice is John Farrell.

John Farrell is an American singer, songwriter, author and peace educator. He has written and recorded lots of kids songs and books like “All Around Us,” which is a CD about science and nature for kids. Farrell also wrote songs for “The great Earth Singalong,” which he also starred in and received Parents Choice Silver Honour Award and a Dove Foundation Award.

John lives in Hillsdale, New York with his wife and 5 kids. John is very enthusiastic about cycling, reading and writing. He stopped watching t.v long ago and is encouraging families to spend more quality time together and doing things that doesn't involve any sort of technology. He would like families to read and sing more together as a family bond.

John is the founder of an international network called “Bridges of Peace and Hope.” It is an organisation that helps teachers, students and other collaborate on the arts in education projects that promotes respect and communication. I’m very excited to meet these wonderful people at the Vodafone events centre on Thursday for the Storyline's Festivals.

Creative Strand Reflection

YELLOW HAT- I really enjoyed carving out my pattern on my piece of wood. It was a great experience to have went through.

BLACK HAT- I found it difficult to carve the curved lines and that some people were mucking around when it was time to clean.

GREEN HAT- The thing I found most interesting was the name of the designs. They were Samoan name that I had never heard.

WHITE HAT- I learnt how to carve out lines and patterns. Also that it is important to make your lines deep so they show on your paper.