Year Summary

Reflection task: State clearly and succinctly one or two main concepts you learnt from:

• Quality Learning (Term 1)
• Sustainability (Term 2)
• Entreprenurial, enterprising, etc... (Term 3)
• Writing skills as a group [Matainui] (Term 4)
  
• ICT related general stuff

TERM 1:

• I learnt about the traits of a quality learner (SEE LINK HERE AND HERE).
• I also learnt about metacognition and learning about learning.
• We also studied Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato.
  

TERM 2:

• We learnt how to sustain our environment so our future generations will have an Earth to live on.
• I also learnt how to survive in an untouched environment without destroying the natural resources and wildlife.
• I improved my eco footprint by biking to school more often and taking shorter showers (SEE LINKS HERE, HERE, AND HERE).

TERM 3:

• We learnt about supply and demand and the ever changing market.
• We learnt about how to market product and influence our target market.
• We also designed and marketed our own product to sell at the trade fair.

TERM 4:

• We are learning to write descriptive stories for the fictional Matainui stories (SEE HERE).
• We have been developing our writing skills.
  

ICT:

• We started up successful blogs with an international audience (SEE THIS BLOG).
• We have been integrating ICT with all out other subjects throughout the year using various means (InterActive WhiteBoard, Blog, etc...)

 That's about that.

Marketing Tricks

To sell their products, marketers often use different approaches to influence you. One such way is to present a problem that you didn't even know you really had, and then immediately show you their solution. Another way is to show someone you admire or look up to using the product, such as a toy aimed at five-year-olds being used by an older person, around the age of seven or eight, because smaller children look up to older people. Some ads aim to form an emotional bond with you, such as showing a lady with a baby in an advertisement for a product aimed at single mothers. Cadbury uses a similar approach, by showing you something that has nothing to do with their product, but instead makes you think, "Wow, that's cool". Here are a few examples of this:

Stuff we need to know about for our term project

Consumers Guarantee Act
• The Guarantee means that when someone sells you something they automatically agree to the following terms and conditions:
• Manufacturers have to make sure that goods do what they are made to do, and that they have replacement parts available. The manufacturer also has to honour any warranties that people give them.
• Retailers will make sure that their goods match the display model and the description given in the advertisements. Also, the product must belong to the consumer once paid for, and it must be sold for a reasonable price.
• Providers of a service guarantee that their service will be performed with reasonable care and skill, will fit for the particular purpose they were supplied for and will be completed within a reasonable time for a reasonable price.
Ministry of Consumer Affairs
• You are covered if you are buying everyday products such as clothes, washing machines, cars, etc… or services of a type that people ordinarily have carried out for a personal or household purpose, such as car repairs, haircuts, dry cleaning, painting or work done by a lawyer. From 8 July 2003, the Consumer Guarantees Act applies to electricity, gas, water and computer software. From this date, the Consumer Guarantees Act also applies to services relating to the supply of electricity, telecommunications, gas, water, and the removal of wastewater.
• You are not covered by the Act if you buy the product from a private seller or from an auction/tender. It also doesn’t cover commercial goods, e.g. goods or services of a type that are ordinarily bought for use in offices, factories or farms (although these may be covered by the Sale of Goods Act).
• There are remedies that traders must provide if a guarantee is broken. There is a range of remedies dependent on such issues as which guarantee was broken, how serious the problem is and whether you want a remedy for faulty goods against the manufacturer or retailer.
Advertising Standards Authority
• The ASA sets the rules and guidelines for what you can and can’t put in a advertisement directed at children, food (well not at food but about food, you get my point), etc…
• The purpose of the Advertising Standards Authority is to “self-regulate advertising in New Zealand”.

MUSIC EXPERIMENT!!!!!

Here I shall publish a bit of work we did this morning:
Learning styles and classroom environments for better productivity
-How does loud raucous music affect our ability to concentrate and/or work?
Today in class we listened to some "drum and bass" style music (by Conchord Dawn) while first just listening and some of us reading, then reading some posts and comments on Mr Woody's and Bubbles' blogs, and after that we attempted to drum out the beat on our desks with our hands. The beat made me more energetic and twitchy than usual, and this made me do reading, writing, and other such activities a lot faster than I normally do.
Music in the classroom affects (or effects) me in different ways: Slow or classical music makes me feel kind of sleepy, and slows me down a bit, but fast-loud-rock-metal type music makes me do things a lot quicker, and wakes me up more. It definitely makes me do more work, and it affects my overall work outcome for the better. It helps me concentrate and think, I am also less affected by the people around me and the overall class when the loud music was playing.
I think that next time we could try some softer music and see how that turns out!
Quote of the day: The future is here. It's just not widely distributed yet. - William Gibson

Rain, horrible rain!

I absolutely, completely and utterly dislike, show no affection for, or even slightly like the rain. I hate it when it is just pouring down, soaking everything and making everyone miserable. The endless stream of water falling, falling, and still falling that dampens everyone and their spirits. Cold rain that chills you to the core. Hard rain that stings like stones. Drizzle that makes you feel unhappy and sad. Warm rain that takes so long to dry. I hate rain.
Quote of the day: To err is human - and to blame it on a computer is even more so. - Robert Orben

Swimming Sports 8-(

Today at school we had swimming sports. I do not particulary like swimming or sports, and I dislike the combination of the two even more. I participated in the first boys race, the freestyle stroke. I had a bad start, and my 'dive' ended up leaving me blinded, and with every one else a few metres ahead. When I was around halfway down the pool (everybody else was about three-quarters) I accidentally swallowed some water, and it got into my lungs. I stopped, and was gagging, choking, and coughing, and by the time I was feeling well enough to continue, all other competitors had finished. So I was floundering along, with a wretching cough all the while, and managed to get to the end. When I got out I developed chestpains, and a sore stomach. By the time I was feeling better (about two hours later), it was final time, and there was no races to participate in, and absolutely nothing to do. After the finals, there was the fun races, widths of the pool instead of lengths. I participated in the freestyle (again, but a width this time), and had another bad start, and tied for last. Overall, I hated swimming sports, did not have a good time there, and I am not looking foward to any similar event next year at high school.
Quote of the day: Never try to tell everything you know. It may take too short a time. - Norman Ford

More about my class

My class is still totally cool, a few days later. We are still doing awesome stuff, and even now I do not understand the awesomeness of our teacher and all my fellow classmates. I seriously recommend that you go into my profile, and follow one of the links to their great blogs. As we are an accelerate (pronounced ak-SELL-ar-at) class, we are all brainy learners. This helps us understand the world, study it, empathise with it, and help make it a better place. This year we shall do just that, and with Mr Woody as our teacher, anything is possible!
Quote of the day: It's not a matter of whether or not someone's watching over you. It's just a question of their intentions. - Randy K. Milholland

Dan Brown and stuff

Have you ever read any Dan Brown books? If you haven't, you should definitely try them! They are really good books and full of action, mystery, puzzles (and maybe a bit of romance). I am currently reading The Da Vinci Code for the 3rd time, and I am still enjoying it. He has written the Robert Langdon series, which consists of Angels and Demons, The Da Vinci Code, and soon to be released, The Solomon Key (I have been waiting for it for ages, and I hope it comes out soon). He has also written two stand-alone novels, which are Digital Fortress and Deception Point.
(Off Topic) You should all check out one of the blogs that I follow called "Green Grass and Rainbows". That Blogger has some really good points and views, same with "dragonrider" and "The Unknown Blog".
Quote of the day: Before I met my husband, I'd never fallen in love, though I'd stepped in it a few times. - Rita Rudner

My Class

I am in a class taught by Mr Woody, he is totally awesome. We r gonna do lots of blogging and stuff like that. ;)
Quote of the Day: Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much. - Oscar Wilde

Class Councillor

I am currently in the running for class councillor. I believe I would be pretty great at it. Here are my reasons:

• I am a helpful person by nature, if you don't believe me, ask one of the four or five people who's blogs I helped set up today. I could use this in class, to help our class become the best in the school. I believe that we can do it.
• Our environment is very important to me. When I arrived at our school, I was shocked that there was no recycling bins. If I become class councillor, one of my first acts would be to get a recycling bin for our classroom at least. That would just be the beginning, I believe that our class should have our own garden space, where we could retreat, relax, and care for plants and the environment. I would do much more than that, but unfortunately, too much to list here.
• Another thing that I would do as class councillor would be to get more for you. If you are bored of doing really tedious tasks for math*, I will see to it that we do a more exciting math activity. If writing things out over and over again*, I will make sure that we do something else ( Unfortunately I can't change the curriculum, so we will still have to do some things ;] ). If you don't want to do as much reading, and your legs are itching for some exercise*, I will do something about it.
• If I am class councillor I will be saving YOU work, yes that's right, YOU. The class councillor has to take the money-bag and the yellow absentee slip to the student centre every morning, and every fortnight has to sit through a long meeting about the school. It is at these meetings that I will bring up YOUR ideas, and what WE want from our school to do with our learning environment.

CHANGE WE NEED!

*This will never happen under Mr Woody's teaching, but it is still one of my points ;]

Quote of the day: Lies are like children: they're hard work, but it's worth it because the future depends on them. - Pam Davis

Tennis

I play tennis for a local club at my school. I am going out soon to have my weekly lesson/session. I am fairly average at sport but I am OK at tennis, apart from my serves, which aren't as good as my regular playing. That's all for now folks.
Quote of the day: In the beginning there was nothing. God said, 'Let there be light!' And there was light. There was still nothing, but you could see it a whole lot better. - Ellen DeGeneres