Sand Art

This was in the NZ Herald. Something for you to try next time you're at the beach!

dear diary, by Connor

Dear Diary, Today was the most murder day at school! marie didn't speak to me all day. I grosely forgot my homework for math class. My new friend troy isn't talking to me anymore. And to top it all off, I forgot my lunch, so I had to borrow money to buy lunch. I hate borrowing money, I hate forgetting my homework, and I hate it when my friends don't talk to me! FUDGEBUCKET!!!! I hope tomorrow is a better day! Dear Diary, Everything was much better today. marie wasn't mad at me; she was just upset because her parents would not let her go to a party. She was poked toward everyone. My math teacher said she'd only take one point off my homework because this was the only time I'd ever forgotten anything. She said everyone makes stupid mistakes sometimes. My new friend troy is talking to me. He was just busy helping out a sick friend. He had to gather all of his friend's homework. My friend who loaned me the money for lunch yesterday said I didn't have to pay him back, because I had loaned him money for lunch a while ago. I hope every day is a good as today!

Connor's thing

miko: Did you try out for the dog in the school play? connor: I wanted to be harry potter, but I didn't get the part. I don't know why. I wore happy cups on my toes and measly kittens on my eyes. Then I jogged my fingers and sang “hallelujah.” When I finished, Mrs. bird dug on the stage and told me I didn't get the part. miko: You must have felt sad. connor: Not really. Mrs. bird told me I could sleep the curtain. That'll be a blast!

Connor's story

The fishtale is an animal that has red fur with green spots on its noses and arms. Its tail is shaped like a(n) shirt which it uses to swim socks. An adult fishtale may weigh more than 102934 pounds and stand over 1823743 feet high. The fishtale can be found only in Aotearoa and Japan. Although its favorite food is biscuits, it also likes to eat oceans. If you ever see a(n) fishtale, be sure not to ever sing “numb.” That song makes it aggresive. Instead, give it a few biscuits and be on your way.

Can you believe this?

The Divine Dolphin

No, it’s NOT Photoshopped

Surfing a wave filled with ocean trash
Photo by Zak Noyle

It’s a remarkable photo taken by senior photographer at Surfer Magazine, Zak Noyle. While at first glance it seems that a bit of photo manipulation was used to make the image a bit more surreal, but that’s not the case. The trash you see floating alongside the surfer is the real deal.

It’s a sad but true depiction of pollution littering our oceans.

Noyle snapped the photo while on location in Java, Indonesia. In this part of the world, many towns have virtually no organized garbage collection infrastructure in place. Consequently, much of the human-generated trash ends up in local waterways and oceans.

This isn’t a localized problem, however. Trash litters lakes, rivers and oceans all over the planet.

If you haven’t heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, you may not realize the global scope of the problem.

The Garbage Patch is located in the Pacific Ocean between the Western United States and Eastern Asia. It’s an area of the Northern Pacific Ocean that contains exceptionally high levels of plastic particles, toxic waste and floating trash.

Decomposing ocean trash introduces toxic chemicals into the sea, which is then ingested by fish and other wildlife. We eat the tainted fish. Needless to say, it’s unhealthy for us and marine animals.

Images like Noyle’s trash-filled barrel wave can help raise awareness about responsible waste removal and what needs to be done on a local and global scale to ensure trash ends up in landfills and waste-to-energy facilities rather than our beautiful oceans.

The photo has already taken the Internet by storm being shared countless times on Twitter, Google+ and Facebook, and being picked up by major websites like Huffington Post and GrindTV.com. Please share/pin the photo to help keep ocean conservation in front of the masses. Every little bit helps

Thank you

To the students who organised themselves really quickly to do Your mission.  

Thanks also to those who took a little longer and a lot of reminders, but still achieved it before today. 

Finally, thanks to those who did it today. Although it was past the deadline I am pleased you made the effort and some of the pictures were adorable, so I really had to publish them!

It looks like planning and organising skills will continue to be a focus for our class for quite some time!

Lunar eclipse

This was a photo I took just before the eclipse tonight.

Camp forms and deposits

URGENT! Camp forms went home on April 3rd. 10 students have still not returned their forms. These are due back on Thursday the 17th along with a $50 deposit. Students have been regularly reminded and asked to write on their hands to be sure the message gets home. If you have lost the form, please just write a note saying whether your child plans to come and arrange the deposit asap. 

This is a real test of your child's planning skills - something we are constantly working on!! 

Can they get the newsletter home quickly?
Can they remind their caregivers as much as necessary? 
Can they return the forms quickly?

Lizzie's photo

Summer's photos

Steven's photo

Ziah's photo

Chloe's photo

Flynn's photo EASY!

Patricia's photo

Libby's photo

Jessica's photo

Aliyah's photo

Ranui's photo

Connor's photo

Your mission...

...should you choose to accept it (and I hope you will) is to strengthen your planning skills (and have fun being creative.)

After my training session today, I have been asked to achieve something with my class, using technology. This is the task I have decided upon.

The task.
Read all these instructions before you view the link. Then you will know what you are trying to achieve.
1.View this link: Finding Momo.
2.You will need a digital camera, a soft toy and good ideas. (You may use a pet instead of a toy, if you have an obliging cat or dog, but be KIND. Do NOT scare your pet or force it to do something it doesn't want to do) .
3.Think of a place you could hide the toy or pet so it is difficult to see e.g. will you camouflage using colours, shapes, or will you just put the toy in an odd place? (Look at where Momo hides and that may give you some ideas.)
4. Hide the toy.
5. Experiment with different ways to take the photo?. Which way shows the full setting and disguises the toy best?
6. Choose your photo.
7. Load the photo into our blog using the instructions I have given you OR email it to me at dbird@maeroa.school.nz OR bring it to school on a memory stick and upload it there. 

This is what I want you to learn from it.
WALT make and carry out plans.
SC 1. We will read and interpret the instructions correctly.
SC 2. We will use the instructions to make a plan.
SC 3. We will check our plan accurately follows the instructions.
SC 4. We will carry out the plan.
SC 5. We will recheck we have done everything we were meant to do.

I'm looking forward to your brilliant (and entertaining) ideas. This should be fun!!

Please reduce waste

Camp newsletter

Please see the Team Rimu blog for the  First camp newsletter.

Skills For Adolescence - Life stories

We drew timelines of important events in our lives and then compared them.

WALT see how our lives are like each others.

1.      Everyone remembered really bad and good things (especially bad).

2.    Most people have had close calls (been very sick or had dangerous accidents etc).

3.    People have remembered birthdays.

4.    Everyone has things in common.

5.     Most people have had dramas e.g. floods, deaths, breakups.

6.    Most people have visited and/or lived in lots of different places.

7.     People remembered special information about their birth.

Why learn this?

Because WALT see people as people – not objects.

1.      We don’t feel like we are the only ones to have faced problems.

2.    We can help each other out because someone who had already handled a problem might have ideas to help others.

3.    We can become closer to each other when we understand each other.

4.    When we understand others we can be more forgiving and include other people more.