17 December 2014
11 December 2014
16 November 2014
9 November 2014
A logician visits a distant planet inhabited by two groups of aliens, compulsive liars and faithful truth-tellers.
She comes to a fork in a road - one road goes to the left, the other to the right. She meets two aliens there, one a liar, the other a truth-teller... but she doesn't know which is which.
The logician must ask just one Yes/No question to discover which road she should take to reach their leader. She thinks for a moment and then asks her question.
What question might she have asked?
Post your theories and ideas as comments to this post...
She comes to a fork in a road - one road goes to the left, the other to the right. She meets two aliens there, one a liar, the other a truth-teller... but she doesn't know which is which.
The logician must ask just one Yes/No question to discover which road she should take to reach their leader. She thinks for a moment and then asks her question.
What question might she have asked?
Post your theories and ideas as comments to this post...
2 November 2014
This session will introduce you to a number of concepts relating to scale. The learning you've recently done on fractions and multiplication will help you.
For some of these problems you should work with others to solve them so you can discuss the issue. You might find drawing examples on the whiteboard or in your maths books helpful also.
Scale is a practical way to represent something that is large using correct proportions. For example, if you wanted to draw a plan for a swimming pool or a house, you'd obviously not want to draw it using a scale of 1:1, as this would be impractical! You need to represent it on a piece of paper (or the computer) in a way that is manageable. This is what scale is used for...
Example - using a scale of 1:20 for the swimming pool...
Notice that the first number (i.e. 1) always refers to the length of the drawing on paper and the second number (i.e. 20) refers to the length of real-life object.
To read it, think of the " : " as meaning "is to".
1. If the length of the drawing of the vehicle on paper is 12 centimetres, how long is the vehicle in real life?
For some of these problems you should work with others to solve them so you can discuss the issue. You might find drawing examples on the whiteboard or in your maths books helpful also.
Scale is a practical way to represent something that is large using correct proportions. For example, if you wanted to draw a plan for a swimming pool or a house, you'd obviously not want to draw it using a scale of 1:1, as this would be impractical! You need to represent it on a piece of paper (or the computer) in a way that is manageable. This is what scale is used for...
Example - using a scale of 1:20 for the swimming pool...
Notice that the first number (i.e. 1) always refers to the length of the drawing on paper and the second number (i.e. 20) refers to the length of real-life object.
To read it, think of the " : " as meaning "is to".
Problems to solve:
2. The scale drawing of this tree is 1:500. If the height of the tree on paper is 20 centimetres, what is the height of the tree in real life?
3. The distance between two towns measures 6cm on a map. What is the true distance if the scale is 1 : 50 000. Provide the answer in kilometres.
4. This next example is the opposite working of #3 above; this time we are looking at the measurement on the map as we have been given the actual distance.
5. The drawing of an Aircraft uses a scale of 1 : 900. If the Aircrafts wingspan is 30m what length on the drawing actually represents this?
- Extra for experts:
The plans of a house show a room to be 4.0m X 3.6m. The dimensions of the room on the plans measure 20mm X 18mm.
What was the scale used? Explain how you worked this out...
Understanding scale...
31 October 2014
Halloween Reflection
Self Study
I have currently researched conspiricies and theories such as: "The Moon Landing", "The Illuminati", "The Quantum Theory" and "The M-Theory". I have also discovered my IQ level and studied "The Myers-Briggs Test", an intellectual examination.
School
I have had a relatively "Laid Back" day, with cooking Halloween treats such as: Chocolate Noodle Spiders, Eyeballs in Jell-o, Crispie Candy Pumpkins, Ghost Marshmallows and Pretzel Chocolate Bones. On a more informative note, Totara has been learning mainly mathematics, poetry and English. I have learned how to comprehend an average (mean), Median, and Mode.
On tuesday i got to start one of my new correspondence book and i also learnt how to do perimeter Yesterday we had sport it was so fun. And today we did some Halloween cooking.this morning we did Maori with Kerry and we got to dress up because its Halloween. In English we got to do our on poems it was really fun.Yesterday me and Anna both made really good progress with our project we got the parent permission form done.
this week i did not learn much but i did some work on my project and i also learnt some stuff on mean median and mode and some perimeter work in maths that was kind of fun. caricatures for my project is almost done.
The week was ok ish and i hope that next week is better than this one.
WE MADE SOME AWSOME FOOD AND IT WAS YUMMY. reflection is boring (said in a depressed tone)
Its 16 days to my birthday.
The week was ok ish and i hope that next week is better than this one.
WE MADE SOME AWSOME FOOD AND IT WAS YUMMY. reflection is boring (said in a depressed tone)
Its 16 days to my birthday.
This week has been normal we have done:
Maths- working with perimeters of composite shapes and perimeter problems. which went quite well and i understood it after it had been explained a few times.
Science- we attempted to do more work on the class science movie but it didn't get very far so it will need some assistance.
English- we went further into the Jabberwocky and started making my own nonsense words for it.
Options- I am making a portrait of myself and i think it looks pretty good then the next day i played more electric guitar and on Thursday we played throwing games for sport.
Today we did some Haloween treats which were great we made little bones with pretsel sticks and marsh mellows shoved on the ends dipped in white chocolate, spiders with crispy noodles covered in dark chocolate with red jellybeans as eyes, pumpkins made with melted marsh mellows with orange and green food colouring with ricebubbles all the orange mashed together in a ball with green stems, also we made mouths with chocolate chip biscuits cut in half and dipped with red food colouring and mini marsh mellows.
so lots of sugar and we all got hyper but it was fun.
bye
friday
today we made loads of yummy Halloween treats. I remade the slide show for celebration. I also did some hard maths i felt like i did a good amount of work today but the cooking was very time consuming but in the long run it was worth it.
i have done loads of thing this week and i am really proud of my self like...
spelling did ok don't know score
jabberwocky poem and more
writing about imovie script
research about imovie
and a bit or reading manly for research
loaded photos
did played around with imovie work (seince)
mathes I leant how to find a average score out of a bunch of numbers what i need to do is add all the numbers and divide the total by how many numbers where there at the start
24 October 2014
Today I have made a lot of progress on my bow and I am not too far away from tillering it witch I am really excited about. School this term has been really boring and the work hasn't been challenging me, and I don't see the point of going to school if I'm not learning anything/having fun.
I don't know what my next steps are
I haven't learnt much new stuff this week and if i have a i cant remember i have a bad memory. i enjoyed starting options and doing more rock band stuff my game broke at middleton so i was depressed.
i started doing maths at khan accadamy and i liked that i had a french test and got 85% also making a gear list for the tramp i did an evil drawing and played guitar we did spelling and maths it was annoying.
bye
i started doing maths at khan accadamy and i liked that i had a french test and got 85% also making a gear list for the tramp i did an evil drawing and played guitar we did spelling and maths it was annoying.
bye
23 October 2014
Your house is 24m long and 16m wide. You decide to plant shrubs around the house to protect the exterior walls from direct sunlight. Starting with a shrub on one corner of the house, shrubs will be planted 1m apart around house and 1/2m out from the house. How many shrubs will you need to surround the house?
1. What angle is made by the two red lines drawn on the two sides of the cube, as shown in the illustration?
Answer...
If the ends of the two red lines at the bottom left and top left are connected by a third red line along the invisible left face of the cube, then since each of the red lines joins two opposite corners of same-sizes squares, those three lines form an equilateral triangle. Hence at each corner of that triangle, two red lines meet at 60 degrees.
22 October 2014
21 October 2014
Monday Reflection
SELF-EDUCATION
I have recently been studying the Bhopal Tragedy and the Chernobyl Disaster, as I industrial accidents, theories and conspiracies interest me. I have learned the configuration of vectors and scalars and how to measure one dimensional velocity. This is helpful towards my Communication and Leadership Exam, as my presentation is about industrial disasters.
SCHOOL EDUCATION
I have learned the history of Pi, the irrational number, originally derived from the 16th letter of the Greek Alphabet. Pi and other forms of mathematics involving algebra is also useful to my extension of knowledge involving Physics, as it assists my goal of becoming a Quantum Physicist.
What is reflection on learning?
It is when you write about your day and memorise it. It's thinking back on what you've done. Some people would say it's like a diary or a journal. It's not always writing and can be done by talking with others.
How can it help learning?
If you make a mistake and your write about it, you don't go back and make the same mistake again.
Some people like doing reflections because it is an easy way of thinking about what you've learned.
It creates a record of learning which can be reused.
It reinforces your points.
It can be used to retrace what you've done and teach someone else.
What are some questions that might help with reflection?
It is when you write about your day and memorise it. It's thinking back on what you've done. Some people would say it's like a diary or a journal. It's not always writing and can be done by talking with others.
How can it help learning?
If you make a mistake and your write about it, you don't go back and make the same mistake again.
Some people like doing reflections because it is an easy way of thinking about what you've learned.
It creates a record of learning which can be reused.
It reinforces your points.
It can be used to retrace what you've done and teach someone else.
What are some questions that might help with reflection?
- What did I learn today?
- Is it true, is it good and is it useful? Why/why not?
- How did I feel about it and why... (why should you consider emotions/feelings in learning?)
- What is the point (or purpose) in learning this?
- What are my next steps in learning?
19 October 2014
Today you are going to learn about an important mathematical concept - pi
For further reading on the history, as well as some interesting experiments you can do check this page out...
For further reading on the history, as well as some interesting experiments you can do check this page out...
17 October 2014
fridays learning achievements today
Me and Owen made a new slideshow for the term 4 week 1 celebration. We made a number of slides and cropped Duncan's photos from swimming.i also transferred a video clip by using the URL to locate the video for celebration. I now know the short cuts for apple like how to open up the search button by pressing command and space this allows me to quickly opening the search button while browsing the internet.
i am really proud of what i have learnt and realy injoyed the process of learning today.
Next step
My next step is to try and change the google slide show to something new and still has the seven oaks logo at the bottom. So it will look like a school slide show
I started off today with my agriculture correspondence, this month I am looking at Bees and how to maintain a healthy Bee hive. My individual project it to make an English long bow, today Owen and I trimmed the wood with the skill saw and then I did some finner work with the drawblade and spokeshave, I really hope that this bow works not like the last time!We finished the day with celebration and our area of care.
16 October 2014
What I have Learned Myself
Today I studied Quantum Mechanics, The Quantum Theory and The String Theory
Quantum Physics includes physical phenomenons at a nanoscopic scale.
Quantum Theory is a theoretic basis of modern physics that explains the nature of matter and energy on the atomic and subatomic level.
String Theory is a theoretical framework in which the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one dimensional objects called strings.
What I Have learned At School
I have learned in Science that Potassium Permanganate is an extremely strong substance that can liquify almost immediately in H20 no matter the temperature, although will spread more quickly when exposed to heated water
we also went to since we lighted up the Bunsen burners and boiled up the water. plus we chucked tea bags into the hot water the water diss coloured like normal and with the cold water it stayed in the bag and the water was clean.
MATH
Math was fun cos we did some enlargement.
BAND
The band got set up today.
SCIENCE
At science we were learning about diffusion.
SPORT
We did a lot of running races and i crunched my toe.
Today i learnt about enlargement at maths and at science i learnt about diffusion.
at sport we did a beach race and i crunched my toe. math was fun and so was science, i enjoyed sport however painful it was, and i got 2nd place yay. i do not know what my next steps are.
Math was fun cos we did some enlargement.
BAND
The band got set up today.
SCIENCE
At science we were learning about diffusion.
SPORT
We did a lot of running races and i crunched my toe.
Today i learnt about enlargement at maths and at science i learnt about diffusion.
at sport we did a beach race and i crunched my toe. math was fun and so was science, i enjoyed sport however painful it was, and i got 2nd place yay. i do not know what my next steps are.
Today I learnt for maths what centre of enlargement meant and how you work out where it is and what the scale is.
In sport I learnt how when we start off for a race how to pace myself so I don't get tired.
In science i learnt that the different temperatures of water can make alot of difference and can make different things seperate faster
In sport I learnt how when we start off for a race how to pace myself so I don't get tired.
In science i learnt that the different temperatures of water can make alot of difference and can make different things seperate faster
16/10/14
Thursday review- Anna
Today I learnt how to make tea with warm water and make M'n'Ms loose there colour in science with diffusion = when something spreads into something else. Also how to enlarge shape using there "center of enlargement" in Maths.
I enjoyed playing an electric guitar for the rock band.
I didn't enjoy feeling bad and hurting my knee during sport.
Thursday review- Anna
Today I learnt how to make tea with warm water and make M'n'Ms loose there colour in science with diffusion = when something spreads into something else. Also how to enlarge shape using there "center of enlargement" in Maths.
I enjoyed playing an electric guitar for the rock band.
I didn't enjoy feeling bad and hurting my knee during sport.
12 October 2014
26 September 2014
23 September 2014
my circle art was of my dog lynx. i found the circle art challenging because of all the shadows but instead of shading we had to make the circles smaller and darker after 3 weeks of hard work most of us had the circle art finished i am proud of the finished product but i will not be doing it again mainly it was the fact it took forever to finish.
21 September 2014
Kia ora koutou!
The weeks are flying by and it is almost the end of term 3! Totara are working hard on a couple of assignments at the moment: The biological effects of climate change and visual art sculptures relating to climate change. This term we have tried to incorporate Social Science, Science and Visual Art learning around a common topic - climate change. The rationale behind this is to give students a chance to explore ideas in more depth and also broaden their understanding. It will be exciting to see the end results of both these projects!
We are embarking on a piece of work relating to cyber citizenship and would ask that parents/caregivers please keep an eye on the class blog for suggested activities and to have discussions at home to reinforce those we are having at school. In the first session last week we looked at the huge variety of tools students use in their online lives, as well as watched a very thought-provoking video about what we post, and shared a strategy called the ‘Triple Filter Test’ which guides people to consider whether something they come across (or share) is Truthful, Good or Useful.
We have asked students to consider where the ‘stuff’ they share online ends up and we will be discussing this on Thursday for our next session. Please check this post on the blog for further information and the movie which we’d like you to view at home with your son or daughter.
We have some changes coming in term 4 not only with student and educator changes but also another timetable change. There will be some reflection time before the end of this term to discuss ideas for an engaging term 4!
18 September 2014
Today we began a series of sessions for students to help them learn about what sort of citizen they are in the online world. This is particularly important at the age and stage many of our senior students are at.
Here is an overview of what we did and ideas for how this can be transferred into the home:
Here is an overview of what we did and ideas for how this can be transferred into the home:
- Firstly we did a survey of the tools/services we use to connect and communicate - this entailed us brainstorming the various tools students use and how many of use are using each one. Many of the tools on this list are ones the adults in the room were unaware of (and you might be also unaware of them). We've put the numbers of students next to the tool/service who said they used it (students may not have wanted to share this so it is likely an estimate), what percentage of our students in total are using the tool/service and some blanks columns we'll fill in as we go.
- Next we played this movie clip from teachthought.com about the dangers of social media sharing for teens as a way to get the students thinking about what they are doing, or what their 'friends' are doing. Note I put the word 'friends' in inverted commas as this term is pretty loose in the online world. Here is this movie which we strongly encourage you to watch with your young people at home and have a discussion together:
- The third aspect of this session is to get students to consider what happens to the stuff I share online so they can get a sense of how easily information (video, audio, text, etc.) can be in on-shared in online spaces. This is set as a task for students to consider then we will invite a couple of them to present to the group to explore how this can happen.
- Lastly, to conclude this first session, we introduced a great tool called the Triple Filter Test. Originally credited as coming from Socrates, this is a test of any kind of information coming at you, or in some cases from you. This is something we think our learners can 'take with them' to help guide them in their journey.
The second aspect of goodness is particularly interesting in the online world as it delves into areas such as morals and ethics, which ultimately children will need to decide for themselves, with the help/modelling/support of the great adults around them.
We encourage all parents to go through this session, watch the video with your son/daughter, and begin the conversations which will help us in how we are trying to guide the students at school.
17 September 2014
 |
| Model of a carbon atom... |
- Review the research we did last week and add to it - spend 5-10mins on this and make your text on the document using the suggestion tool so we know it has been added to...
Next, choose five out of the following six activities:
- All about atoms - short reading activity. Make sure you find out about the parts of atoms...
- Watch this crash course in the periodic table (11mins, Meg you'll live this guy I think) - take note of these aspects (clickable):
- Mendeleev's Organization of the Periodic Table - 2:31
- Relationships in the Periodic Table - 5:03
- How the Periodic Table Could be Improved - 8:28
- Who wants to be a millionaire? record your results as a comment on this post...
- Element matching game - spend 5-10minutes on this...
- Watch the first 10-20mins of this video and comment on these questions:
- What are we made of?
- Which element(s) are most common in the composition of our bodies?
- What does 'mass' mean?
- What happens to different elements when light is passed through them?
- Fast forward to 43mins to learn about the relationship between the 'big bang' (theory) and how the periodic table emerged
- Build an atom simulation - create 5-10 different atoms
- Element balancing game - this is difficult and you may not have much experience in this, make sure you write down how to solve these sorts of equations as a comment on this post...
- It's a gas crossword puzzle
- Easy symbols crossword puzzle
Further viewing - origins of matter, origin of the periodic table, the story of the electron (crash course)
11 September 2014
1 September 2014
Friday Food Challenge
On Friday Totara did a food challenge for Jenny's birthday! We made steak & cheese pie, fried rice with bacon, cake pops, pancakes, pinwheels and fruit scrolls, we were judged on presentation, taste, team work and effective planning. "I think this day showed how totara can cooperate" said Kerry, "I think it was insane" said Anna.
Everyone is HUNGRY!
21 August 2014
For Science today we explored the relationship between levels of CO2 and temperature increase. We discussed the idea of what a hypothesis is and made connections to a similar concept in maths.
Today we conducted this search to help us understand what the thing you change in an experiment is.
This search is the search we used...
Please read the articles (using basic/intermediate level reading material) from the above search and comment what you learn on to this post. Work in pairs at the least so you can discuss.
You need to be certain of which type of variable is which in our experiment.
Today we conducted this search to help us understand what the thing you change in an experiment is.
This search is the search we used...
You need to be certain of which type of variable is which in our experiment.
15 August 2014
 |
| This is me presenting my project... |
Photography Project Reflection - Helena
I have been doing a photography project and I've finished the project by sharing my project and what I have done with the school, I felt nervous at first but it turned out really well, I think it turned out well because I knew what I was doing and didn’t need plan too much.
During this project i have learnt skills like photography, how to code a blog and some presenting skills. Next time I would plan my project completely at the start because I tried to start new projects in between and it became confusing whether I was finished or not.
12 August 2014
A couple of weeks ago I ran an art lesson on doodle art. Doodle art is an art were you draw/trace an animal, person etc. lightly then you doodle in side the outline, then you rub the outline out and you have an awesome piece of art.
During the lesson everyone made one, you could choose out of a cat, a bird, a dog or a butterfly.
During the lesson everyone made one, you could choose out of a cat, a bird, a dog or a butterfly.
11 August 2014
Kia ora koutou!
Thanks to Helena for taking week 2’s Art lesson. The creations look amazing! We will be working further on this artistic technique in weeks to come. Our visual art session last week combined the elements we have been working on through the year: tone, 3D imagery, symmetry and creativity! These sculptural pieces should be finished by next week. Week 3 started well with a continuation of our climate change topic. Everyone has been given a science focussed ‘question’ to work on during the week. We will be sharing our findings this Tuesday!
In maths the students are learning about fractions and how to convert fractions to decimals and percentages. Next steps include learning to simplify fractions and then we’ll be moving in to adding them up. This work will tie into some of the Science investigations we’ll be conducting related to climate change and the proportions of gases in the air. Check the class blog for student’s ideas and responses to various movies they’ve been engaging in as part of this.
Kerry, Rob & Judith
7 August 2014
The video Carbon Pollution: Costs & Cures (10mins) is about the costs that use of fossil fuels are costing the world. It also talks about the cures to solve the problem by using solar and wind power. This movie is really worth watching because it outlines pretty much every problem about climate change. I suggest the class watches this as a group.
Questions I have now include:
Questions I have now include:
- How can we make everyone use solar and wind power, as well as electric cars, etc.?
- Why do we keep using so many fossil fuels?
Todays Solar Power 'Revolution'
This video is about the revolution of solar power which is becoming more and more common,which is meaning the price of solar panels are going down.
This video is about the revolution of solar power which is becoming more and more common,which is meaning the price of solar panels are going down.
'Apple' have created a one the largest solar powered farm to run its data centre in North Carolina. Buildings are starting to become more and more energy efficient they are creating there own power by using solar panels
I think this video is very fascinating, and full of information
Vancouver has a goal to be the greenest city, and get the population more aware. Having more friendly modes of transport solar panels and being more energey efficiant. They are going to make it a requirement for 2020 to in high rise areas to be green house gas neutral so the building will be much more energy efficiant and the materials will be more improved.
"Vancouver: Greenest City?" from ETOM on Vimeo.
"Vancouver: Greenest City?" from ETOM on Vimeo.
the sea has been water pulling cars off the road into the sea
a 150 year storm
bad flooding
100 year flooding just after the 50 year flooding
big road damage near the sea
hurricane winds other 100 miles an hour
two weeks worth of rain
worst winter rain in 280 yrs
unsure if this is what it will be like in the future because of global warming
This movie is about how canada is digging up more and more fossil fuels with means like Fraking which is creating lots of carbon emissions and toxic lakes of unusable water and chemicals.
Some of the questions I have include:
"Leave It In The Ground" (The Oil/Tar Sands) from ETOM on Vimeo.
Some of the questions I have include:
- Why is Canada still using 20th century fossil fuels for power.
- Why not switch to solar and wind technology?
"Leave It In The Ground" (The Oil/Tar Sands) from ETOM on Vimeo.
3 August 2014
In pairs work through the following questions using the web site IXL:
- Converting between fractions-decimals-percentages... easy
- Understanding fractions... easy
- Converting between fractions and mixed numbers... harder
As you complete these questions, it is important you don't actually try it until both people have had time to think through the answer. Discuss what and why you think the answer is.
31 July 2014
Today we learned:
- That saying 'grandma' in Maori is way harder than in English - Olivia
- Reuben did a back flip at gymnastics!
- I am not really scared of doing a flip and failing any more - Tyler.
- The first time I actually landed on my feet when doing a forward flip - Nathan.
- We learned about the body parts of a fraction (Reuben). The line between the numerator and the denominator means: divided by (Nathan).
- It was fun climbing the rope with your toes to hold on - Nathan.
- I learned about the fear of kidney disease - Meg.
- Today was the first time I ever did a flip! Jenny.
- We learned about the different types of gases and the periodic table (Nathan, Jenny). The period table is a chart of the chemical elements (Meg/Nathan).
- We wrote our first chemical formulas - it was fun because we hadn't done this before.
Some questions we have are:
- Why do we use chemical formulas? Olivia, Jenny.
Next steps for us could be:
- Creating more complicated chemical formulas and trying to put them together.
- Practising a bit more our fractions skills, especially converting them from fractions, to percentages and decimals.
28 July 2014
27 July 2014
Kia ora koutou!
What a great first week we have had! It has been fantastic to have Tyler join us and become part of the Totara team. It is great getting to know you Tyler! Our visit from ERO (Education Review Office) went really well and they were impressed with the learning stories the students had to share. Well done everyone. This week we are running through our new timetable and starting new topics in Social Studies and Visual Art.
Check out the class blog - http://sevenoakstotara.blogspot.co.nz/ - for some snippets of last week. One that was especially fun was a drama game the class played which is worth a look to re-live the moment! There are other movies about to go up there this week. Over time you will see this area being more well-used by everyone in the team.
In maths this week students will be working more on Mathletics. All student user ID and passwords were emailed to you all prior to the holidays. We encourage you to get your son/daughter to show you at some stage this week how they use it. This system gives us detailed reports on participation as well as which areas are strengths and which are areas to develop in students maths skills. If you have any questions about this please email Rob.
In Science this week we are continuing with our crime scene investigation work where students had to conduct experiements to figure out what 3 common gases were... more on this soon
Rob, Kerry and Judith
Here is an introduction to fractions for todays maths session:
Once you have done some discussion and recorded your ideas as comments to this blog post, watch the video. Those that finish the activity early can log in to Mathletics and I have some activities for you to complete.
Once you have done some discussion and recorded your ideas as comments to this blog post, watch the video. Those that finish the activity early can log in to Mathletics and I have some activities for you to complete.
This is an awesome web site which is focussed on human anatomy. It has lots of fun games and activities on it for students to explore anatomy...
anatomyarcade.com
On the site is an area for games, some of which link to ipad games which look really good - BUT they are not free!
If any students really want these games please send me an email.
anatomyarcade.com
On the site is an area for games, some of which link to ipad games which look really good - BUT they are not free!
If any students really want these games please send me an email.
24 July 2014
Since this is my first blog, I will need to get used to this evolved technology we have these days. I taught myself the meaning of Mycophobia' (fear of mushrooms) and Anatidaephobia (Fear that somewhere, somehow a duck is watching you). I enjoyed my potato, and the gym class we had participated in today. I learned from a range of different activities such as backdrops, front-drops and various types of acrobatic activites
Today we had to brainstorm all the elements that comprise a really exciting lesson. The purpose of this is so that students can learn how to design a learning experience for others in the team.
Initially we will be using our ideas to create a lesson in maths based on our strengths, as identified in asTTle maths late last term.
Here are some of the initial ideas:
-being able to explain something confidently (Olivia)
-using technology and things (Helena)
-it pushes you and it's above your level so you have to try hard and think about it (Reuben)
-you know what you are going to teach and if you finish you kind of have a back up plan of what you're going to do next (Olivia)
-making it relevant so you know when you might use it (Helena)
-using real life things and examples makes it more fun (Jenny)
-everyone listens and takes part in it which makes it more fun (Tyler)
-good teachers are interested in what you are learning and in helping you (Reuben)
-not too many unnecessary rules (Meg)
-good explanations so you know what you are doing completely (Anna)
-the teacher being interested in your learning with the subject (Nathan)
-not just bookwork all the time, for example building or other things to give it variety (Jenny)
-being able to freely express ones opinion (Meg)
The next question we reflected on was: what order do things go in during a great lesson and what happens at each step?
Beyond that, students will design a lesson based on their asTTle strengths to target someone else's next step learning.
Beyond that, students will design a lesson based on their asTTle strengths to target someone else's next step learning.
This is my first blog, so bear with me if my language is to old-of-fashioned for your taste. I taught myself the meaning of Mycophobia (Fear of Mushrooms) and Anatidaephobia (Fear that somewhere, somehow a duck is watching you). I thoroughly enjoyed my potato with beans, and the gymnastics activities were also intriguing and interesting, we learned from a range of activities, trampoline gymnastics and aerobics. well, I suppose that was my day in a nutshell, there will be more, don't fret. Much obliged Meg
Today in totara class we looked at healthy disagreements and unhealthy disagreements, after that we went to hillvew science lab and played around with mystery gasses, my favourite part was making the gasses. Once lunch was finished we went to a gymnasium and had heaps of fun on the trampolines. The main things that I learnt today were class culture, what is required to make gas and how to kinda do a back flip.
20 July 2014
Here is a little challenge if you wish to get into a bit of HTML coding - change the slider images on the class blog...
- Find an image of something that happened in the class that you think would make an interesting highlight for the blog.
- Resize the image - if using Apple Preview follow these instructions... if using windows do a web search to figure it out. The images need to be 960x400 pixels max.
- Download a free text editor (e.g. TextWrangler or similar) and then copy the HTML code from inside the blog Template > Edit HTML, making sure you select all then copy it into a new text document to save onto your computer.
- Scroll to line 1537 to spot the code you need to change.
- Upload the resized images to a new album inside your Google Plus. Navigate to the image you wish to use, then right-click and copy image URL.
- Paste the URL in so that it replaces the old URL of one of the slider images. Then ensure you copy the URL for the post the image will link to.
- Don't forget to give it a Title, Description and delete the links that are placeholders.
Google Plus your masterpiece to the class to show them!
We hope you have all had an amazing holiday and a well deserved break! We are all looking forward to starting a new and exciting term. Firstly, we want to give a very warm welcome to Tyler Selman, it’s great to have you join the Totara team!
We also want to welcome our newest educator to Seven Oaks, Judith Anthony. Judith will be teaching the English program on Wednesdays and has designed an engaging term for you all. It’s great to have you on board Judith!
We also want to welcome our newest educator to Seven Oaks, Judith Anthony. Judith will be teaching the English program on Wednesdays and has designed an engaging term for you all. It’s great to have you on board Judith!
Here (and below) is our new weekly timetable with a few changes for this term. We have also included a term calendar so you can see what is coming up and when. This has taken into account the ideas the students brainstormed at the end of last term for ideas they would like to incorporate into the learning programme. Please note that this term overview can (and likely will) change as the programme changes.
We have ERO (Education Review Office) visiting us on Tuesday and Wednesday of the first week. We will spend Monday morning catching up on holiday news, reviewing assignment comments, going over the weekly timetable and discussing learning stories to share with the ERO team. Rob will join us on Tuesday to meet ERO and will be leading a session with the class in the afternoon.
We are very much looking forward to seeing you all and re-connecting.
Kerry, Rob and Judith
judith.anthony@sevenoaks.school.nz27 June 2014
Today we began an ongoing reflection about our experience with the World Peace Game.
Students were asked to consider done of the areas in which they were stretched. They had to consider these (and others that came up as they reflected) using the following questions:
- What have I learned?
- How will this help me now and in the future?
- What will I do about this learning?
24 June 2014
We'd like every student in the secondary school to learn to type - or at least improve their keyboarding skills. Here is a draft for our approach:
- Learn about correct posture and set up of equipment/space.
- Home keys - this is critical, ensure no switching of sides!
- Increasing our expectations for the amount of typing students do - we learn best by doing!
- Supplementing this with some games and practice of drills to learn the motor skills - some to start you off are below...
List of online tools to practice typing - each student needs to evaluate the below tools at some stage during the next week and place a comment on this blog post with their evaluation of the tool:
- Typing Club - Reuben and Anna to evaluate
- Typing Tutor - Olivia and Helena to evaluate
- Typing Lessons - Reuben and Tyler to evaluate
- Typing Test - Meg and Jenny to evaluate
- Typing Test 2 - Helena and Nathan to evaluate
15 June 2014
Kia ora koutou!
The Peace Game has begun! What an amazing opportunity for students to be working together, meeting new people and attempting to solve some of the worlds current issues. Well done everyone, it has been wonderful to see you all bring your skills to the game and be challenged at the same time.
Well done everyone in your use of our new Google Apps system - one of the advantages of these tools is that both Kerry and Rob can ‘see’ what you are up to each week as you learn to use the various tools within it. Please remember to keep everything you wish to share with the class and us inside your individual folder - that way we can give each other feedback and help if needed. We encourage students to log in to show their families how this system works!
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| Helena sharing her photography blog... |
In celebration last week Helena shared her amazing photography blog - here is a photo of her leading the school through this and showcasing her great skills! Well done Helena. Well done also Reuben who is currently leading our school celebrations!
In English and Social Studies this week, we are going to look at where you are all at with your assignments and make sure everyone has the right amount of time and resources to enable them to complete the assignment in a meaningful way. We will do this on Tuesday morning first thing, straight after we have another look at the kids news site that we explored last week. Here is the link if you’d like to explore the site further:
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| Learning to read an asTTle assessment - to identify next steps... |
Your asTTle maths assessments will be used to personalise the Mathletics activities you do, once you’ve had time to learn and play with the various tools within it of course!
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