Farewell Jenny

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Farewell Helena

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Tylers circle art

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.

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Circle Art Reflection - Helena

I choose to do Marilyn Monroe. Although it took along time, I thought this was really fun and am proud of the outcome. Next I might like to try not doing large circles on the lightest part and only doing the smaller circles on the darker parts.

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Circle Art - Jennifer

I decided to do Marilyn Monroe. I think it worked well, but it took ages and didn't really turn out the way I thought it would. Next time I would do a different person and press harder with the pencil.

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Circle art, by Reuben

This is my circle art of Marlene Monroe, I am very pleased with how it turned out, I think the frame makes it Stand out and is a good contrasting colour against the whit paper.

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Newsletter - Term 3 Week 10

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!

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Cybercitizenship - what we use, what we post, is it good?

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:

1. 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.  




2. 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:


3. 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.


4. 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.

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Science - what are atoms

Model of a carbon atom...

Work through these activities to learn about elements - you don't need to follow this order so can mix it up, as long as you give each activity a go:

1. 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:

1. All about atoms - short reading activity. Make sure you find out about the parts of atoms...
2. Watch this crash course in the periodic table (11mins, Meg you'll live this guy I think) - take note of these aspects (clickable):
1. Mendeleev's Organization of the Periodic Table - 2:31
2. Relationships in the Periodic Table - 5:03
3. How the Periodic Table Could be Improved - 8:28
3. Who wants to be a millionaire? record your results as a comment on this post...
4. Element matching game - spend 5-10minutes on this...
5. Watch the first 10-20mins of this video and comment on these questions:
1. What are we made of?
2. Which element(s) are most common in the composition of our bodies?
3. What does 'mass' mean?
4. What happens to different elements when light is passed through them?
5. Fast forward to 43mins to learn about the relationship between the 'big bang' (theory) and how the periodic table emerged
6. Build an atom simulation - create 5-10 different atoms
7. 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...
8. It's a gas crossword puzzle
9. Easy symbols crossword puzzle

Further viewing - origins of matter, origin of the periodic table, the story of the electron (crash course)

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Maths challenge - The Football Stadium

Here's a goodie...

The football stadium is filled with 7800 fans, which leaves two fifths of the available seats empty. How many seats does the stadium have?

Show your working and explain it...

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Friday Food Challenge - 29/08/2014

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!

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