Home Learning Challenge A12

A11 : Design your own challenge
Create a plan to get pet rats, and convince my parents to let me get them.

Excellence 2017 Can Do #10

Year 8 trip to Wellington 

Final Day

On Thursday, we had a bit longer in the morning, to pack our stuff, and tidy our rooms. We put all our bags in storage, as we had to be out by 10:00. After leaving the YHA, we went to the national library, where we found out about, and looked at, the treaty of Waitangi, the women's  suffragettes pension, and the declaration of independence. We saw the actual things, in darkened rooms, although they turned a special type of light on so we could see it. It was cool to be able to see them. After that we had lunch, then we had the choice to go back to Te Papa, or relax in a park. I took the Te Papa option. We could do a scavenger hunt, or just look around. Tracy, Jacinta and I did the scavenger hunt for a bit, then just looked around. Then we met back up with the rest of the group. We then took a bus back to the Airport, and flew back to Christchurch.

The care value I showed was Respect, by being respectful to the person who was showing us round, and on the plane by being quiet. I showed Trustworthy, a leadership value, at Te Papa, by returning at the right time to check in, and by following the rules there.

Excellence 2017 can do #9

Year 8 trip to Wellington 

Third day

On Wednesday, the two groups swapped over. We went to the press conference room, where some people pretended to be the prime minister answering questions from the press. After that we meet Ruth Dyson, our electorate MP. We asked her some questions, and she showed us round, we even went into the cafe, and under the road to Bowen house.

We had leftover noddle canteen for lunch, then went to Te Papa. At Te Papa we looked around a bit, although we didn't get to see the whole thing, and I would have liked to stay longer. It was interesting.

We had pizza for dinner that night.

The care value I showed was Respect, by respecting the displays at Te Papa. The leadership trait I showed was Trustworthy, by only staying in the areas we were allowed in at Te Papa.

Excellence 2017 can do #8

Year 8 trip to Wellington 

Second Day

 On the second day - Tuesday - we split into two groups, I was in Mr Ladbrook's group, and we went to Parliament first, where we did a mock debate, had a look around some of parliament, had fish and chips for lunch, and watched question time. The second thing we did that day was go to the reserve bank, where we were asked lots of questions about the bank, and money in general. We could earn lollipops, as well and shredded money (they tried to trick us that it would be regular money) and an unreleased 10 cent coin from 2007. I got 3 lollipops and a bag of shredded money. We went back to the YHA, and had Noddle Canteen for tea, it was good.

A care value I showed was Active Thinking, by answering questions as well as I could. I showed Resilience, as it was quite a long day, but I paid attention.

Excellence 2017 can do #7

Year 8 trip to Wellington 

The first day

On the 13th of November, the year 8's took a bus to Christchurch Airport, where we flew to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. We were staying at the YHA, and we dropped our bags off there and got changed, before going to the National war memorial. 

There we learnt about WW1, and followed the story of Will, a man who fought in WW1, and survived, although he lost his arm. There were real things from WW1, that were part of Sir Peter Jackson's collection, so we were quite lucky to seen them. We also watched the daily ceremony.

Afterwards we went back to the YHA and had Subway for dinner.

A care value I showed was respect by not touching anything we weren't allowed to touch, and being respectful during the ceremony. 
A leadership trait I showed was Resilience by paying attention and being respectful even though I was tired.

Excellence 2017 Can Do #6

On Wednesday last week we had our book character day. I came as Kvothe from the Name of the Wind. We had a parade in the morning; the year 7/8s were with the year 1's, 3's, and 5's. There were a lot of good costumes that people had put lots of effort into.

The care value I showed was Respect by respecting peoples costumes, and being quiet while other people were showing off their costumes. I showed Active Thinker, a leadership trait, by creating my costume from things we already owned.

NZ identity - World War 1

Excellence 2017 Can do #5

On the 24-25 of October, we had our athletics day. The 12 and 13 year olds were together, and the order in which we did things was first shotput, then long jump, then discus, high jump, and on Wednesday we did sprints. I didn't place in anything, but it was a good day out of the classroom. On Wednesday we also had the house relays. As I am a house captain I had to do this, and rimu did ok, coming third. I also did longdidtance another day, and came fourth.

I showed Community by cheering other people on, and Excellence by trying my hardest.
The leadership trait I showed was Resilient, by running the whole long distance, and not giving up.

Excellence 2017 Can do #4

This term we have started doing a different activity on Fridays. I am doing Gamification - we code games using a website called gamefroot. During the first week, we started simple. The first game we made was a simple thing called mihi maker- all we had to do was fill in the blanks on what applied to us. It was somewhat frustrating when the program would forget what we had already typed in, but it was fairly straight forward. The second one I got to start on, was a sort of game a bit like minecraft, but you could only go left and right. This time there was no turitorial, we had to figure it out ourselves. By the time I had just got started on the second one, the bell rang.

The care value I showed was Community by helping other people who were unsure of how to do it.
The leadership value I showed was Resilience by keeping going when the program didn't work, and completing the first task.

NZ identity - Treaty of Waitangi

Writing - Write an effective argument for our chosen political party.

WALT: Write an effective argument for our chosen political party.

Who are you going to vote for?

Personally, I believe that the Green party is a good option. They have multiple good policies, in areas such as education, health and environment. One of these, is to make public transport (such as buses, trains and ferries), completely free to under 19s, and free to tertiary students, apprentices and disability beneficiaries, during off peak times.

Make public transport free for under 19s and free during off peak times for students and apprentices. The Green Party would make public transport free for all under 19s and free during off peak times for tertiary students, apprentices and disability beneficiaries.

Everyone under the age of 19 would be eligible for a Green Card. This would allow them to have free transport on buses, trains and commuter ferries. I believe this is a good idea because it will encourage young people to use public transport, which will in turn reduce traffic, and pollution. In addition, this would help young people get involved with things after school, as well as make it much more affordable to travel to school by public transport. To help make education affordable to everyone, the Green party has proposed to fund schools enough for education to be free.

Fund Schools enough for education to be free. The Green party would fund all state schools enough so they would not need to seek donations, fees or fundraising. I believe this would make education much more affordable, as families would no longer need to pay school donation/fees, and we would be able to spend that money on other things, such as food, clothing, and other important items. This would also benefit schools, as they would no longer need to use time fundraising, and would be able to use this money to help students. Another good idea, is to charge for the sale and export of bottled water.

Charge for the sale and export of bottled water. The green party would put an immediate 10 percent levy on the sale and export of bottled New Zealand water. Revenue from the levy would be shared on a 50/50 basis to local councils and mana whenua. They would be expected to use this money to clean up local waterways, and to protect drinking water. I believe this is a great idea, because currently businesses can export water(that they got for free) for little to no extra cost. This is unfair, as they can make a good profit from selling our water. Furthermore, the money made from this levy will be used to clean waterways and protect drinking water, which will benefit all of us. On the other hand, here is a policy I do not agree with…

Require parents of immigrants who join their children in NZ to pay for their own healthcare and superannuation - this is one of ACT’s policies, and honestly, it makes little sense. Why make immigrants pay for their own healthcare and superannuation, when New Zealand’s healthcare is probably one of the reasons people come to this country? A much better option, is to simply tax them as we tax everyone else. Perhaps some sort of

housing tax, but honestly, charging them for health care is absurd. What if they require hospitalization, and because of this policy, are unable to afford proper care? This is hardly good for New Zealand’s reputation. Going back to my main points, here are some of the reasons I believe green party has many valid policies.

So, as I have covered, the green party has many solid policies. I believe they would be a good choice to vote for this election. They have policies in multiple areas; these will be beneficial to everyone. So, who will you vote for this election?

My next steps are: Emotive language - I need to use it more.

Home learning challenge E.11

I have wanted pet rats for a while, so I decided to write a plan on how to get them.

Koru Games Reflection

In the Koru Games the sport I competed in was Volleyball

Our team won four games on the first day, which meant we got into the top 8. We lost all our games on the second day, and came 8th out of 24 teams.

I found the experience to be really fun because we got to play lots of great games, and our team worked well together.

In terms of working with Individuals and Groups; my solo level is relational because I can respond positively to the needs of others, and work together with my team.

For Teamwork; my solo level is relational because I can take responsibility in a team, and understand how my choices affect the outcomes.

Individuals and groups	I need help to work in a group (with teachers or other students	I can work in a group with my friends.	I can work in a group with anyone in my  year level or team	I can respond positively to the needs of others	I can reflect on how well I work with the group and seek feedback on how I can improve
Teamwork	I need help to interact with others. I need help to participate in a team.	I can interact with others one to one. I can participate in a team.	I can interact with others in a small group. I can participate and take responsibility in a team.	I can participate and take responsibility in a team and explain my choices in terms of team outcomes.	I can participate in creating healthy teams by taking responsibility and critical action.

Excellence 2017 House Captain #5

The project we [the student leaders of 2017] decided on, was to paint a chorus box in our neighborhood. The purpose of this is to discourage anyone from doing graffiti on it. We will also be responsible for keeping the completed box free of graffiti. This job will be past down to the next years student leaders when we go to high school.

On Wednesday we had a meeting discussing these things, and also looking at the ideas for a sketch to put on it we had all submitted. These ideas were mainly about including nature, things to do with the community, Oakland's logo and values, quotes, and and making it colorful. We will submit sketches, and chorus (the company) will decide on the one they want, and an artist will do the final sketch

The care values I showed were:
-Respect by listening respectfully to people.
-Active thinking by adding my ideas to everyone else's.

The leadership values I showed were:
-Trustworthy by completing the work I needed to do in the time I had to do it.

Maths - Interpret Point and lines

Walt: Interpret points and lines on coordinate planes, including scales and bearings on maps.

Compare and contrast map

Extended abstract task

Excellence 2017 House Captain #4

We had our final bake sale on Tuesday, and as usual, the student leaders were helping. This time there was less food than usual as only about 21/22 people brought baking, instead of the usual 29/30. Because of this, we had to limit it to one piece of food each, and the younger kids get to go first (because they seem to think they need the food more). This time I was helping on the junior bake sale (it is near the little kids and usually has the colorful food).

The care value I showed were Respect by being respectful and patient to the little kids.
The leadership trait I showed was Trustworthy by being carful with the food.

Cultural Narrative Art

Visual Art

Excellence 2017 House Captain #3

9/8/17

Bake Sale

Today we had our third bake sale. I made chocolate cake, cut into squares. As a house captain, I also helped to sell the baking. There wasn't to much this time, so some things had to be cut in half, which we did. Because of this, most things were only a dollar, but kids could only buy one thing(at least at the start). To make such this happened, we had to put dots on their hands after they bought something. This was harder than it sounds, and I don't think it was entirely successful, but overall the sale went well.

The care values I showed was Respect, by being respectful to people buying food, and Community by working with the other house captains to sell the food. The leadership value I showed was integrity by giving people correct change, and also when someone started to walk away without getting the food they paid for, I shouted after them.

Term 2 Book Review

The Name of the Wind

By Patrick Rothfuss

This story is about a man called Kvothe, who tells his story. It is a trilogy, and the second book is called Wise Mans Fear. The third book isn't out yet. This is the blurb:

 ‘I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep. My name is Kvothe. You may have heard of me’

It is a great book, the plot twists and turns, and it is difficult to guess what will happen next. The characters are very realistic, you get caught up in the story. It is one of the best books I have ever read.