Saturday, September 30, 2006

WOW!

WOW! you guys are so cool - poetry blogs, secret rulers of the earth masquerading as school children, lovers of birds... now i must discover what your totem tree is...

i think mine is the kauri, or pohutukawa, or cabbage tree. puriri rock as well. did you know, they only survive if kereru eat their berries then poop them out?

natives are best!

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

NEWS flash

the inter-team singing competition and school athletics day will take precedence over your other education in term four.
what's your opinion?

and, can someone please contact others in the class and get them to contribute to our blog during the hols?
-we have important stuff to discuss

take it easy squiddlers

athletics

keep fit, or start getting fit. you will be doing four lessons per week specifically on athletics training, from week one. we MUST defeat all other teams and retain the shield - HUZZAH!

if you do not have PE gear, you will be doing it in stuff i get from the lost property - unwashed!
hah ahhahhahahahah!!!!
[evil teacher laughter]

so - gwe le of the kitties of doom, jess the cat protector, etc - you have been warned.

[who else is notorious for not doing PE?]

RIP

RIP Uncle ColinTucker - a funloving man who raised a strong loving family.

May we all live our lives with a smile on our faces, a whistle on our lips, a song in our hearts and with undying love for our family and friends.

What's your favourite native bird?

Our birds roCK! we have some of the rarest, weirdest, coolest birds on planet earth. Which is your favourite? I can't decide.
I love so many of them - of course the Kiwi is our icon and i LOVE that. .. .. I love piwakawaka, waxeyes, skylarks - cripes - i love 'em all!
go to this website to see which ones our politicians chose and why.

http://www.forestandbird.org.nz/mediarelease/2006/0918_voting2006birdofyear.asp?GXHC_GX_jst=8258c07850ea6165

SPaceBloG

wow - check it out - a blog from the international space station by a wealthy female space tourist.

http://spaceblog.xprize.org/2006/09/22/the-trip-up/

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Holiday fun!

what is everyone doing to make the most of their holiday?
in two weeks you should be able to manage quite a bit of relaxation, recharging and exciting productivity.
believe it or not, i am getting into my gardening today - it's crazy fun!!
yesterday i had investigating a gully with my best mates.
yeah!!!

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

the hideous truth is...

there comes a point during the year when a teacher, such as myself, realises, they love their class, and feel the bittersweetnosity of knowing they only have one more term together...

this is that moment

you guys are ALL SO GREAT!

mR woOdy 8>)

Sunday, September 17, 2006

reminder

All assignments must be finished. It's important for you to understand that projects must be seen through to their conclusion with a QUALITY product.
Art design fashion project - due week one of term four
Accordion Novel - due week ten term three
Personal Research Inquiry project - due week one term four

This is not negotiable.

Time to get busy - term four is "prove it" term. Let us see what you have got. Impress us.
If you're in a poor head space - snap out of it. No excuses. Find a way to re-engage with your projects if you are losing motivation - it is up to you!!!
HAve fuN!

Time to spread our wings...?

righto - we have survived on just blogger for long enough - it's time to investigate ...

Web 2.0

anyone know what it is?
find out what it is, how we could use it to make our online world better and leave suggestions here.

[clue: many of you already use web 2.0 features and blogging is one]

Friday, September 15, 2006

Welcome fellow bloggers

blogs?
wikis?
online bookmarking?
all sorts of cool stuff is available free on the net to make learning easier and more relevant.
post any ideas for how to enhance 21st century educating here....
look for the posibilities...
8>)

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

TERM FOUR TOPIC

I am thinking our theme will be related to animals, nature, the environment, conservation - whatever ! But I would like your feedback on things you would and wouldn't like to do - specifically, what have you done over and over again ad nauseum? [that means, until you are sick of it].
Keep it positive and state ideas for project directions you would like to head in...
Field trips to interesting sites would be good to mention too.

Mentors

look up mentor in the dictionary if you don't know what it means - I propose to find each of you a mentor in an area of passion for you in term 4. It may not work but it's worth a try so you can pursue you rintersts with a career focus in mind. It may help you to make choices for subjects when you reach high school and university.
8>)
post you area of passion here for me to work on.

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Inspirational movies

who knows of any inspirational movies we coudl watch? i think "The Dead Poet's Society" was a good one to help us realise we are the authors of our own destiny and there are important personal traits we can defend, like loyalty, integrity, living our dreams, etc.
I have "Mr Holland's Opus" in mind. Maybe "The School of Rock". Any others we could watch and review? "The Power of One", perhaps.
If we really grasp the meaning of a film and can sum it up we could pod cast the reviews. If we ever work out how to do it...
[I think we should get in an expert to shopw us how to do it.]

Thursday, September 07, 2006

random post for students

place your requests for people to visit your blog here - try to entice them....

DeaD POets SOcietY

what do you think of the movie? what is the main theme?
try to say something intelligent...
can you relate it to other works of literature?

fact versus opinion

what is the difference? use examples to illustrate your point.

for example - is the theory of gravity a fact or an opinion?

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

beheading versus long term jail

who has it right? what are justifications for capital punishment? is it defendable? can you write a clear argument for or against either solution?


p.s. capital punishment is when you kill someone for their crimes....

great speakers, great speeches

what makes great speakers great? what makes their famous speeches so powerful and unforgettable?
how could you enhance your own speeches using tips from the great speakers of history?

great speakers, great speeches

what makes great speakers great? what makes their famous speeches so powerful and unforgettable?
how could you enhance your own speeches using tips from the great speakers of history?

Sunday, September 03, 2006

Good LUck sportos!

Good luck sporty types who are leaving us this week for AIMS. I am especially impressed with those of you who have been 'digging it in' with extra training for cross country.
these days adults tend to view kids as more lazy and less active and more poorly fed than previous generations - we all ran to school, ate nothing but fresh vegetables, worked for our pocket money and respected our elders - in short, we were paragons of virtue.
I wonder if any of you other than the AIMS kids do any physical activity or cool non-technology- based hobbies in your own time. and how well do you eat? and do you work for pocket money? Please fill me in....

computer protection!

how do you guys protect your computers from spam, viruses, spyware, etc?
can you please list here all the things you know of that can attack or affect your comuter? and also all the methods you are aware of that you or your family use to protect your computer.
i had norton antivirus, but it used up too many resources and slowed down the computer. now i have bought etrust software which is meant to be better, but its doing some annoying things. my clever computer geek friends told me [after i spent my money] that they use free stuff off the web which works perfectly.
doh!