Return of The Thriller

This term we have been learning a variety of dance routines during dance classes run by a company called STEPZ. This is a compulsory activity that we have been doing at Balmoral for a couple of years now and although the initial feeling is *sigh* most students are really enjoying it! Here is a video of a dance you may know:-)

"The Super City"

As we all know Auckland is now a Super City under the reins of Len Brown. So what's gonna happen to make Auckland "Super?" Len Brown has made plans and promises but what do we think will make Auckland a better place to live? Post your comments and let us know.

And now we finally reach Term 4....

Where has the year gone??!! As Week 2 comes to an end there is only another 8 weeks till you all say good by to Intermediate and begin your summer holidays! Hopefully you will spend the time with family and friends and get outdoors.....not spend all the time in front of a computer:-)

This Term we will be publishing a book of your lives from Year 1 to Year 8. This will be a semi-professional publication that you will give to your parents as a present and will be a piece of work that you will be proud of!

We have also got athletics coming up next week as well as lots of other fun activities!

Let's make Term 4 a productive one as well as an enjoyable one for all:-)

You have been a wonderful class to teach so far so let's finish on an even higher note.

The Room 4 Mini Production

At this end of this Term our class will perform/inform an audience of our peers and parents about technology and inventions through history and whether new technology and inventions have made the world a better place to live.... or not. Through the power of collaboration and using the Balmoral Habits - Communicating, Managing Self, Thinking, Creativity and Persisting, our class are putting together a 10minute performance showing this point. Below are some photos of out class in "practise/creating mode." If you have any ideas or want to record part of the performance (my class only) post a comment:-)

The Power of Youtube!

Now that we have been looking at some of the technology that we are using these days we can focus more on ways the technology is being used. On computers, we can't deny that internet site Youtube has become hugely popular world wide. You can watch, listen to and learn all sorts of things. Tonight at our Intermediate Open Night I used a clip that was shared with me by Andrew, another teacher at our school, on how to draw an eye. The step-by-step clip proved really easy to follow and resulted in some amazing art. Check out the clip and let us know what you think of Youtube and what you use it for.

The Math Man

This is the message from Math Man Ken Ring - Maths Gives You Power! Today our class had the opportunity to listen to, be tricked, and shocked by Ken Ring. With some of the simplest tricks he had us guessing and asking questions. Hopefully after listening to Ken you have a different perception about what maths is and have realized how maths is all around us! If you ever think that you suck at maths remember what the Math Man said. "Magic tricks are just like secrets'. "Maths is like that too - you have to discover the secrets." Post a comment and let us know what you think.

Our Right To Privacy

Last week our class watched and analysed the movie Enemy of the State, a spy-thriller about a group of rogue NSA agents who kill a Congressman in a political-related murder, and then try to cover up the murder by destroying evidence and intimidating witnesses. Robert Dean, played by Will Smith, is inadvertently caught up in the mess when he is given a video tape of the murder. As a result his entire life is hacked into and he is incriminated in the murder. Our focus was looking at the technological advancement of government agencies and how they use technology to supposedly "keep us safe." With such technology all around us these days, any time we swipe our eftpos card or shop online we leave our digital fingerprint and when we walk through customs at the airport our photograph and fingerprint are taken and then logged in a database. Is it going to get to the point where we have no privacy at all?? Post a comment and let us know what you think.

What not to do during a Speech!

"The Computer"

Whether it's a PC or a Mac, computers have become a part of our everyday lives and are used in most businesses around the world. It's hard to imagine life without them.... But let's just try to imagine what life was like before the invention of the computer.....
This term our class is looking at the history of inventions and technology.
Post a comment and let us know what you think.

What's Up In Term 3

Welcome back to Term 3!!
Hope you all had a great holiday and are ready for another exciting Term in Room 4!

Here's what we will be covering under the Rich Task Concept of History - Change Through Time....

Maths:
We will be looking at the Geometry strand for Maths but will be continuing to revisit the other strands of Measurement and Statistics regularly during our Monday Rust Proofing sessions. We will be continuing to look at Problem Solving Strategies to make links between Maths and everyday life.

Literacy:
Our Literacy focus is Persuasive and Speech Writing. We will be developing skills to write persuasive arguments with reference to our Rich Task of Historical Events and their Significance. We will be continuing to develop our Poetic Writing skills using poetic and figurative language to make our writing more interesting! We will be doing a lot of oral language work in preparation for the end of term speeches. By the time they come around we will feel really comfortable speaking in front of others:-)

Art:
We will continue to experiment using Paint, Brushes, Colour Pencils, Chalk, and different paper textures and will hopefully get a chance to make a piece of art out of clay!

Philosophy:
In our community of inquiry and through our blog we will discuss issues/dilemmas relating to things that have happened in the past and whether we have learned from them (genocide, equality, slavery, war)

PE:
Large balls skills and winter games is still on the menu for this term. It's cross country time again so get those running shoes laced up!!

Languages:
Bonjour! French is on the menu for this term! I will be learning along side you guys so should be lots of fun!

Lets continue using the "Balmoral Habits" to push ourselve more and more, take risks, and show our many talents. You guys have been really awesome so far so lets keep it up!

The Invisible Drum Kit

Fluorrrrrrrrooooooo!!!!!!!

Last night was the first Intermediate Social of 2010! The theme was "Fluoro" and everyone made an effort to "Fluoroise" themselves which was great as the School Council worked hard to organize the event. LOL, lollies, Glow Sticks and Music made for an evening of dancing and madness! Funds raised from the sale of glow sticks will go towards the Balmoral School Japan Exchange later in the year. Post a comment and give us some feedback.

"Old School vs New School"

The original Mr T versus some dude that looks like him...... Basic cinematography versus James Cameron's Avatar 3D..... Basic sound versus Dolby Digital Surround Sound.

Do special effects, high tech equipment and gizmos and million dollar budgets make TV shows and Movies more enjoyable for the viewer?? And what makes a classic film..... without all that stuff....a "Classic?"
Post a comment and let us know what you think.

Home Alone??!!

On Campbell Live on Monday night there was a segment about a 12 year old boy who was sick and tired of being dragged around shopping malls by his mum and being bored out of his mind. So he wrote to John Campbell and asked whether he was allowed to stay home alone or not because he said "Mum and Dad watch the show and believe what they say so if you tell me it's not, I will believe you." Sadly he found out that the legal age is 14.......
So what do we think? Are we mature enough to be left home alone? Post a comment and let us know what you think.

"Rights"

Yesterday we had a discussion during Philosophy about "Rights". I posed a question....."Can all kinds of creatures have rights, or just humans?? We discussed whether animals have the right to live or die and who fights for animals rights if the animals can't for themselves. We also talked about the recent trial of Pete Bethune and his involvement with trying to protect whales.
Post your comments and let us know what you think!

"Don't Put Up With Put Downs"

Here is a link to a website from Holly for information on bullying.
http://www.police.govt.nz/service/yes/nobully/bully_info.html
Check it out:-)

A Goblin's Tale

Today our school was visited by a group of performers who put on a show called "A Goblin's Tale". Although the performance was pitched at a younger age than our class, it raised some important points about making assertive decisions, setting goals and striving to achieve them, peer pressure, and bullying. These issues can be achieved and overcome by using the "Balmoral Habits" of Managing Self, Persisting, Creativity, Communication and Thinking.

Post a comment relating to some of the issues raised in the performance. Remember we are trying to develop a higher level of critical thinking so think about your comments:-)

"Saying Yes"

This week we analyzed the film "Yes Man" starring Jim Carrey.

The film is about a bank employee Carl Allen who has become withdrawn and preoccupied with his personal life since his divorce from ex-wife Stephanie. Routinely ignoring his friends Pete and Rooney for hangouts at their local bar where Stephanie regularly visits, he has grown used to spending his spare time watching DVDs alone in his apartment, and has an increasingly negative outlook on life. One day, Nick, an old colleague of Carl's suggests that he goes to a "Yes!" seminar with him, which encourages its attendants to seize the opportunity to say "Yes!" Carl considers the option, but subsequently misses Pete's engagement party at the bar. An irate Pete turns up at his house and berates him, telling him that he will end up completely lonely if he doesn't change his life around. Carl decides to attend the seminar and he meets inspirational guru Terrence Bundley, who publicly browbeats him into making a covenant with himself. Carl reluctantly promises to stop being a "No Man" and vows to answer "Yes!" to every opportunity, request or invitation that presents itself thereafter.

What do we think about the power of saying "Yes".... How can saying a simple three letter word be so powerful and affect our lives?
Write a comment!!

Teen Fashion and the Influence of Celebrities

Questions: "Are teenagers becoming more and more influenced by celebrities?"
What do we think?? Post a comment.

Increase In The Price of Cigarettes

Question: "Will the price increase in cigarettes lower the number of people smoking or will they sacrifice other things to pay for their habit?"
What do we think?? Post a comment.

Circus Sport Challenge

From Monday 10^th May to Wednesday 12^th May, Balmoral School had the opportunity to take part in the Circus Sport Challenge. The two instructors, Phil and Richie showed us some awesome tricks on the spinning sticks, spinning plates and diablo. We were all eager to learn new tricks. On Tuesday our class were lead to the hall to do just that. The purpose of these activities were to develop our hand-eye coordination skills in a fun way. First up we had a go with the spinning sticks.

Richie showed us some simple tricks to get us started. It looked hard so I was surprised when I actually managed to throw it up and catch it. Next was the spinning plates. I only managed to spin it once! I looked around enviously at the plates spinning round and round madly. The last activity was the diablo, which we were told has been around for many years and originated in China. Getting it spinning on the ground was the easy part. It was impossible to throw it up in the air and catch it… or so I thought. I was astonished by how my classmates got it up after only a couple of tries. Unfortunately, I wasn’t so lucky. Overall, we all had great fun and it was a wonderful experience.
By Jade Xiao
(click on photos to enlarge)

Body Systems

Interesting facts about the Cardiovascular, Immune, Respiratory, Skeletal and Muscular, Digestive and Excretory, Integumentary and Nervous Systems....Check our findings in the comments:-)

Body Systems

This term we are looking at the different systems in the Human Body...
My students are going to post comments with interesting facts that they discovered on our learning journey....Check it out!

Youth Drinking in New Zealand

Question: "In light of another teenage death involving underage drinking, is there more we can do to prevent these tragedies??
What do we think?? Post a comment.

Link to view article from student's mother -
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10644158

What's Up In Term 2

Under the Rich Task umbrella of Body Systems we will be linking in the curriculum areas in the following ways....

Maths:
We will be looking at the Statistics strand, in particular Body Statistics, as well as Measurement. We will also begin to look at Problem Solving Strategies to make links between Maths and everyday life. Maths is all around us!

Literacy:
We will be looking at reading and writing explanations and identifying and using the features of explanatory writing. We will also look at developing visual language techniques to make our work more visually appealing. That whole "wow" factor! We will use these skills in our Rich Task presentation.

Science:
We will be doing some experiments associated with our body senses as well as focusing on body fitness. How fit are we really?

Art:
Using Paint, Brushes, Colour Pencils, Chalk, and different paper textures we will explore different application of colour looking at body parts. Time to activate our artistic bones Team!

Philosophy:
In our community of inquiry we will discuss issues/dilemmas associated with health and our bodies.

Health:
Our bodies and thinking are beginning to change! It can be a scary time for some so this term we are looking at how these change during puberty.

PE:
Large balls skills and winter games is on the menu for this term as well as a huge fitness focus. Step ups, sit ups, pull ups, and the dreaded "beep test" are some of the activities we will be doing to build up our general fitness levels. Learning how to take our pulse is also something we will be learning.

Languages:
Continuing with Maori I will also be introducing Japanese (a language I am pretty fluent in) as well as learning French along with the students. Exciting times!

An 11 week term is going to be a long one however, I hope to see my students using the "Balmoral Habits" to push themselves more and more, take risks, and show their many talents. That's all for now....

Welcome to the Fantastic Four Blog!

Hi there.
Our blog is finally up and running! The aim is to share all the fun and exciting things that go on in our class at Balmoral School as well as things happening around the world and also things that we are interested in. I will endeavour to keep it up to date with new posts and regularly pose thought provoking questions for us to comment on. My main goal is to connect with all the parents of the students in my class so they can share in our journey of learning.
That's all for now.

"Sharing is Caring" so let's begin:-)