My Own Symbol/Tattoo

Lately in extension, we've been learning about symbolism, meanings, and the Samoan Tatau or as some people know it as the Pe'a. After researching and learning a lot about symbolism etc we were then given a mini project, to create/design our own tattoo's. One would symbolise any one part of our culture or heritage and the other had to represent ourselves. 

ME:

As you can see I've drawn five heads, representing Mark ( my dad), Mena (my mum), Kane and Caleb (my two older brothers), and last but not least me. The reason on why I've drawn them is because to me family is everything, it means the world to me, and it's something that is very close to my heart.

Then above my family I've drawn 2 kilikiti (cricket) bats that are meant to represent my Grandfather, Falana’ipupu Sola Mefiposeta Maea Tele'a. I chose to use the Kilikiti bats as a symbol for my grandfather because Samoan Cricket was his passion, coming in 2nd equal with Church and always having family 1st. It wasn't something that he enjoyed on his own, he'd always get the whole family involved, making my brothers and cousins learn the proper way on how to make a kilikiti bat. And the reason I put them above my family because the bats are meant to be protecting our family like a shield, constantly watching over us.

MY CULTURE:

First of all as you can see I've drawn an Island, which is meant to represent the wonderful Islands of Samoa. Mainly because I'm 3/4 samoan, from both my Mum and Dad.

Then I've drawn the Irish Clover or as most people know it as, a Shamrock. Its meant to represent my Irish side,from my Mum's dad whom was born and grew up in Dublin, Ireland. Sadly I’ve never really acknowledged being part Irish, mostly because I grew up with only 1 grandfather who was part Samoan, German. After realising and finding out a lot more about my culture I now that I should be proud of being Samoan and Irish because it’s who I am.

CONCLUSION:

In conclusion I’ve learnt that before getting a tattoo it’s something to really think about, because it’s permanent, and its something you don’t want to jump to conclusions because it maybe something you’ll regret. I’ve also learnt that not all people get tattoos for cosmetic reasons, they mainly get them to either have a constant reminder of something or someone that’s very close to their heart.

The Samoan Pe'a - Mr.Tele'a

Lately in extension, we've been learning about symbols, the meanings behind tattoo's, and the Samoan Tatau or as most people know it as the Pe'a. While we were learning about symbolism and the Samoan Tatau, I realised that most tattoos aren't just for cosmetic reasons. Most are to have a constant reminder of a loved one.

After researching and finding out on what a Tatau is we were then lucky enough to have Mr.Tele'a come in and show us his very own. We asked him several questions relating to his Pe'a. He explained what the Pe'a meant to him, how unbearable the pain was, the meaning behind it, and how long it took to complete. 

During his long and painful process Mr.Tele'a said that his parents took a big part of this. He explained that when he considered getting the Tatau his parents were very proud. He also said that the reason on why he got his Pe'a was because his older brother asked him to be his So'a (partner), and because he had already been thinking about it that made up his mind.

 One of the parts in the Pe'a that we had a look at was The Va'a. It's a 20 - 30cm black strip across the back of the body ending near the front of the armpits with two sharp arrow heads. The two long black strips are meant to represent family, and the sharp arrow heads representing protection. 

We were then given a mini project, to create/design our own tattoo's. One would symbolise any one part of our culture or heritage and the other had to represent ourselves. Right now, I'm currently designing my tattoo's and finding out a little bit more on what designs I can incorporate into my design. 

Camp Marsden

 About two weeks ago the year 8’s went to Marsden Bay Christian Camp. We had 4 days of amazing fun but we all knew it would eventually have to come to an end. Over the days we spent at Camp we were spoiled with lots of activities such as Volleyball, Archery, the flying fox, the water slide, kayaking, fire pit cooking challenge, Frisbee golf, Waiwera, and last but not least the confidences course.

Overall I mostly enjoyed everything at camp, but the best parts would probably have to be hanging out with my friends and doing things with the whole of the year 8’s. Everything at camp was enjoyable because basically all of the activities were in groups.

The least favorite day of mine was probably day 1. After a long drive from Auckland we finally arrived at Langs beach where we would go for a nice walk that Ms. Squires kindly planned. Unfortunately to due to the weather that didn’t happened, the track was very slippery, causing a lot of slips and tumbles. But in the end it was quite fun.

Tangled Pattern

Coming together, to make a tangled art was our first task that was given. The whole idea of making this piece of art was to get Whanau Panuba (classes 1 & 5) to collaborate and work together as a team. This tangled art was split into separate pieces. Everyone was given their own piece of the puzzle, to design, color and complete.

A tangled pattern is 62 separate pieces of paper that are woven together. Each piece with a different design, with its own meaning. It's repeatedly woven under over under over. Its a piece of artwork that has no beginning and no end, kind of like a circle.

Creating your art piece first starts out with planning. Before you decide on what you are going to create, you must research. To me planning was one of the main steps that most definitely wasn’t rushed.

Once you've done a bit of research and made a final decision on your design, draw your pattern onto a draft paper. When you're happy with your draft copy,  do the same but  onto your final piece of paper. A good thing to keep in mind is different/unique patterns look better, but are much more harder to draw, so sometimes it’s good to keep it simple.

And finally the fun part! When it comes to coloring make sure to use nice bold colors that stand out, it makes a big difference. Also outlining your patterns before filling them in make it much more easier.

After filling your patterns in with colors, make sure to label each piece so when it comes to putting everything together you know where each pattern goes. Finally after all that hard work its now time to put everything together.

My Avatar

In our classroom ( Whanau Panuba, Classes 1 & 5) have a self management levelling board. On our board we have to choose between 3 levels, depending on how well we're able to manage ourselves and stay on task. Level 1 - I need help managing myself. Level 2 - I'm able to manage myself but can get off task and Level 3 - I am able to manage myself inside and outside the classroom.

We not only had to recreate our avatar but we also had to incorporate our house colour in some way. As yu can obviously see I'm in Taki-Timu. I've leveled myself at level 3, because I know I'm able to stay on task without the teacher reminding me, and I'm able to work efficiently with anyone. 

Term 4 Day 1

Although I started term 4 off a little late, so far so good, As I walked into my class, to me it was totally different. It seemed like everything had changed, yet again. After finding out that Class 1 and Class 5 had merged to make one big class, I realized that we no longer would have just 2 but 3 teachers. 

This big change is not only a good way to start off the term but is also a good way to end a good year. Hopefully everyone adapt to this big change and is able to get along. Fingers crossed this term turns out as planned.                          

Storyline Festival

Last week, on Thursday the Year 6, 7 & 8 extension group went to the Storyline's festival which was pretty awesome. Out of all four authors I really enjoyed listening to Paula Green and Juliette Mclver. 

 I liked listening to these two authors because they interacted with the audience well. The way Juliette presented her stories were really funny, interesting, and creative. Paula Green was more of the bubbly type, she liked to rhyme a lot in her stories, she was more out there. 

If I were to share my story's with other kids I'd present it to them in a song or either act it out. Mostly because kids like music, and that's what I mostly enjoyed at last years Storyline Festival. I'd also really interact, and get the audience involved. 

These two authors really did inspire me not only to have my own style but to also explore and take all opportunity's I get. 

Last year at the Storyline's Festival I think it was more enjoyable because the authors were more interesting because they all presented in a different way. They all had there own style. A big thanks to all four authors, I'm sure everyone really enjoyed listening to your stories, keep doing what your doing!

Storyline Tours

This week on Thursday the Year 5 to year 8 students from Pt.England School are traveling to the Manukau Vodafone Events Centre for the Auckland Story-line's Tour. The authors will be talking about their experiences and telling us the story's they have to tell.

If not many of you know Paula Green, she is an New Zealand author who lives in West Auckland. Her style of writing is poetry, and always writes about animals, the weather and the seasons.

Catherine Mayo or mostly known as Cath Mayo was born in a Catholic Maternity hospital, Auckland. She not only is an author and a Violin maker but is also a Musician, and is in a band called Gentle Annie.

Jill MacGregor  lives in the Kapati Coast, and spent two years living in Tonga as a VSA. Most of her books are Pacific non-fiction stories. She has written most of her books on true events that she experienced.

Juliette Malcavier is a children's author who always loved writing as a child. She grew up in Wellington and went to Victoria University where see got a linguistics degree and then a diploma on teaching English. Jill always wanted to write a children's novel and once she finally did she thought it was so fun she thought she could actually have a shot at it.

Three-Sided Football

During the past few weeks in class for inquiry we were given't the task to research a unique sport that no one had ever heard of and present it to the class. Gloria and I researched a sport called Three-Sided Football. We decided to make a movie explaining the rules. The movie had to also teach/explain to others the sport so that they could go off and also teach others. We worked with some other kids in our class to produce this. Hopefully you like it and enjoy!

Mascot Design For Commonwealth Games

In class for literacy our task was to create our own mascot. The idea of it all was for us to create/design a Mascot that showed NZ icons or represented New Zealand.

The idea and concept of my design was to incorporate the Maori culture in some way. The reason why I decided to draw a Maori Tiki is because its a taonga to Maori’s. I also drew a New Zealand flag to represent us New Zealanders. I decided to name my mascot Whetu which when is translated into English, means star. The reason why I named my mascot Whetu (stars) was because when New Zealand was discovered the pioneers used the stars to navigate them to this beautiful country.

Astria Countdown To Impact

Earlier on today Lisia and I completed Astria: Countdown To Impact. We saved the world by using Solar Sail, which are two mirrors that reflect the sun onto the asteroid, which would cause it to explode).

Today's session was much easier because most of our codes were unlocked, so all we basically had to do was go to the council and build the ship. I didn't really find anything hard today mostly because I I knew what to expect.

Overall I really enjoyed playing Astria: Countdown to Impact. It kind of helped me learn new vocabulary and helped me a bit with my reading. This game was really good because we not only had fun but we also learnt at least one or to things. 

Life Ed - Harold!

During the past few weeks Team 5, have had Life Education Sessions with Lynn and Harold to get a better understanding of drugs & alcohol, and how they can effect not only you but the people around you. We were then given the task to write a effective paragraph about what we've recently learn here is what I've found out. 

Marijuana ( or known as pot, weed, tinnies & herb) is the most common and well known drug because it's cheap compared to other drugs and how easy it is to get a hold of. Because of how cheap it is and how easy it is to access it mostly attracts teenagers. 

When you put drugs into your system, it effects the way your neurons (brain cells) work/functions. This leads to change of attitude and appearance. Most people take drugs, either because their hanging with the wrong crowd or just trying to fit in and feel cool. For me people who take drugs use it as an escape, a way to get out of reality and into their world. Most drug victims are depressed or lonely. Others are pressured and pushed into the web of addiction.

Astria Countdown To Impact - Steven

Extension we played a game called Astria Countdown To Impact. We are the first group of kids to test out this game,and so far so good. My partner was Lisia, and I've got to say it wasn't really as hard as I actually thought it would be. 

Something I  found difficult of today's session was understanding the information/ text. It was also hard because while your trying to save the planet, theres also a timeline, so every minute counts! 

The key area's Lisia and I mastered today were probably the first 2 rooms Sola Sail, Kinect Impact. Something else that I found really easy was probably locating the clues to unlock the 3 symboled code. So far we've completed the first 2 rooms are are on 75% in the control centre. 

Right now I feel like were really on track because were close to saving the planet. We basically have to unlock the 3 coded symbol then well be moving on to the next bit of the game. Something that I'll definitely remember next time is to make sure I read through the text properly. 

Commonwealth Athlete

During the Commonwealth games I have chosen to follow Gemma Flynn throughout her journey of the commonwealth games. Born in Tauranga, New Zealand 1990 May 2nd Gemma grew up being the youngest and only child of Michelle and Rob Flynn.

In the 2014 commonwealth games Gemma will be competing in the Women's - Hockey Team. This years games will only be Gemmas second time competing in the commonwealth games. In the 2008 Beijing Olympics her team came 12th in the women's - hockey, and 4th in the 2012 Olympics. She has also won Gold, in the 2009 Womens Hockey Challenge competition which was held in Cape Town, South Africa. Hopefully this year Gemma and her team make us New Zealanders Proud!

Class 1 - Smart Footprint

Class 1 - Smart Foot-Print from Team 5 PES on Vimeo.

Here is a movie Gloria, Lisia, Tyla, Kaycee and I've created all about Smart-Footprint. We have rewritten the lyrics for We Can't Stop by Miley Cyrus so that it would match our theme Smart Foot-Print.  Hopefully you enjoy it and always make sure you leave a smart-footprint.

Smart Footprint

Here are some tips on how to be cyber smart and how to leave a smart footprint.
"Your future lies before like a fall of driven snow, be carefully where you step, cause every step will show".

1. You never know when someones watching
2. Be-careful what you search online
3. Be original, and always create your own piece of awesomeness!
4. If it's not kind keep it in your mind!

The Lone Survivor

Here is my writing sample that I've created in 40 minutes. Hopefully you enjoy reading it! I was unable to finish it but I will make sure to write part 2! PART 2 COMING SOON!!

“Nia Everdeen please come to the stage”. As she called my name my heart sank, I didn't know if I’d make it out alive. One by one kids were called to the stage as if we were chosen, each  lining up as if we were going to get executed. After the roll call had ended we were all able to say one last goodbye to our family’s then head back to the train. While  I was saying goodbye to my mother she whispered in my ear “ I’ll find you, we all will”.

Arriving at the train we all set up and prepared ourselves for who knows what! In the morning the train suddenly stopped. “ Laura’s orders, everyone get of the train! NOW!” said one of the tall security guard’s. Confused and scared everyone quickly hopped off the train, and there in-front of us was this huge tall black building, with a logo on it titled  “Deathly Hallows”. “ Well the name explains it!” said one the the girls.

After everyone had finished setting up their rooms everyone was then called down to a secret hideaway room.  Out of nowhere a lady dressed in red suddenly appeared. “ Hi my name is Laura, I’m your trainer. You will eat, sleep,train together when I tell you and obey my orders. Today we start training, each and everyone of you have an ability that’s why you were  specifically chosen, your parents were just hiding it from you.

Each and every day 6:00am was the wake up call, get ready and have breakfast but today was different. As I was heading to the training room I felt as if I was being followed. So I thought that I would check up on the other girls and boys. The rooms were empty, but there were drips of blood leading to the secret hideaway.

Just as I was about to walk into the room I saw dead bodies everywhere, everyone I trained with was dead. I was the lone survivor. As I was walking away I suddenly heard Laura’s voice. “Come here my darling”. Slowly turning around I saw Laura standing there with her hand behind her back, and blood dripping from her mouth. 
TO BE CONTINUED>>>>

The Present Podcast

Jorja And Gloria - The Present Podcast from Team 5 PES on Vimeo.
Here is a podcast we've created, about the book "The Present", written by Andrea Torrey Balsara. Hopefully you enjoy listening and make sure to get the book at your local library to see what finds out in the end! Enjoy!!

Scientific Method

Here is a presentation I've created, showing the Scientific Method. Step by step I guide you through the process of it all!! Enjoy and don't forget to leave a comment.

School Girls Abducted

On April 15th over 300 school girls were announced missing by president Good-luck Jonathon. Over six weeks the government and military have been searching for them but had no luck. 57 girls were able to escape and return to their family's, but 276 still remain missing.

Devastating news has come in that a couple of the girls were thrown in a bush, and that 2 may have died by a snake bite. They were also forced to change from Christian to Islamic. But there is hope for them, the military located them, but don't want to go into action yet, encase Boko Haram and his team suspect something and hurt the girls. Until they come up with a plan a very good one the girls will still remain missing.

I think putting this out there and including the media is making a huge difference because a lot more people are finding out about and are more aware of the situation now, but nobody is doing anything about it besides saying #BringBackOurGirls which won’t help find the girls anytime soon. It's nice to see how many people care for those girls, hopefully they do something about it and find them as soon as possible. #BringBackOurGirls

Comparing New Zealand With Malawi

This week in extension we have been researching a lot about people who are living in Malawi. The situation and conditions they are living in is very sad, food-wise. I've put down what us New Zealanders & Malawian's do on a every day bases, comparing them with one another. Enjoy and don't forget to sponsor for the 40hr famine!!

Swimming at G.I Aquatic Centre

Drowning is the most common injury and cause of death not just in New Zealand but in many other countries. Up to 180 kids in New Zealand die every year because they were unable to swim.

To ensure that we don’t end up in the New Zealand statistics Class 1 have been focusing on getting better at swimming. So every week from Tuesdays to Fridays we walk down to our local Glen Innes Aquatic Centre and get special lessons. We are all split up into 2 groups, confident and not so confident.

I’m in the Confident group, which is group 2 and for the first lesson of swimming Natasha ( our swimming instructor)  gave us a couple of warm up drills to get our blood flowing. After doing 2 laps of backstroke we started to do the side stroke, breathing on our left arm and stroking with our right arm. After learning some different techniques we then had a competition on who could hold their breath the longest. At 2:50pm we all hopped out and got out of out of our togs ready to head back to school.  

I've most definitely improved in my swimming skills, and now know that drowning isn't even a possibility for me, and I hope that these swimming lessons will help me when I’m in a bad situation in the future.

Fancy MTV

Here is a short MTV Gloria, Kaycee, Lisia, Tyla and I have created. I hope you enjoy!

Term 1 Extension

Here is a short DLO I've created to explain what the 2014 Extension group were up to in Term 1. Hope you enjoy!

Facts About Sound

This term were focusing on sound, and our theme is "I Like To Move It, Move It". As you can see my friends put together a couple of facts about sound. Make sure to watch our video we have also created containing more facts about sound. Link: http://vimeo.com/94261546

Believe or not sound can't travel through vacuums or and empty area of matter. Sound is nothing more than tiny shaking movements in the air. Slow vibrations create low sounds and high vibrations create high sounds. Sound can travel through materials but hard materials can reflect sound in the opposite direction, which is known as a echo.

                                               Fun facts from Team 5 PES on Vimeo.

Inference

Here is a D.L.O I've created to explain Inference. I hope you enjoy!

I'm Trying To Sort Out...

                                           http://nz.ixl.com/math/year-8/compound-interest
Throughout the term I've been using a maths program called IXL. After a few weeks of figuring what strategies I know, and need to learn I found something that I need to work on. Something that I don't know yet and would like to learn, it Compound interest. Hopefully I get this figured out before the end of the year, but in the mean time I'm going to focus on getting better at my basic facts.

Fiafia Rehearsal

Today Class 1 were given the task to write a well detailed paragraph about Fiafia rehearsal's that took place yesterday. This is the paragraph I've written to show not tell what I was feeling as I was about to head on stage. Enjoy!

As Wyatt announced the Senior Samoan group, we all got in our lines ready to head on stage. Walking up on stage my stomach was suddenly filled with butterflies as I got into my starting position. Making a mistake and humiliating myself was all I could think about, but as I put my mixed emotions aside I gave it 100%. The music started my nerves faded, and my confidence emerged.

Coyote The Werewolf

Here's another piece of writing my partner Gloria and I have created for another Writing challenge. With teamwork, and participation Gloria and I produced this piece of magical awesomeness. ENJOY!

Once upon a time, there lived a vicious werewolf named Coyote. He lived by himself in a dank cave on an isolated island that was in the middle of nowhere. Coyote’s razor sharp claws helped him run impossibly fast, faster than any living thing on earth. Weirdly enough, Coyote was the only werewolf ever that was vegetarian. No matter how hard he tried, he wasn’t able to digest any form of meat and he was dying. During the last minutes of his life, a unicorn appeared in his cave, it leaned down next to him, Coyote and the unicorn both exploded into bright golden statues.

Visual Mihi 2014

  For the past few weeks in the year 7 & 8 extension group I have been working on my own individual visual mihi. Each symbol represent's me in some special way.

Not to mention how rare it is I'm half Samoan half Irish.My dad is full Samoan and my mum is Half Samoan, half Irish. I love my culture and that is something to be proud of.

Then as you can see I have dawn the Holy Bible and a Cross. To my family and I church and the man above is 1 important thing in our life, especially to my paper. His father used to be a Lay preacher, then he used to be one but he then retired before he passed away.

Then in the 3rd box there is a picture of an I-Pod and some music notes. This is one thing that I love and that calms me down and stop's me from hitting my annoying brothers.

Last but not least I've drawn a picture of some animals. One thing you should know is I love penguins and lions for some odd reason. For some odd reason all the pets I've owned have either ran away and came back the next day or died.

Tiaki Taonga

This morning we completed a Speed Writing Challenge. In just 10 minutes we were expected to complete a piece of writing about Tiaki Taonga and R.A.K week. We were then given 5 minutes to pair share, and proof read.

Each year we have a school theme, last year it was Kia pai te Kotahi this year it’s Tiaki Taonga. It means caring for our people, our most treasured, our school,  and our successes. Caring is what we do at Pt.England school, and what better way to show not just by doing it by but also putting it out there and having it as our school theme.

So to show kids at Pt.England what Tiaki Taonga really is the prefects decided to create a korero based around kindness/caring. R.A.K week also known as random acts of kindness, throughout the whole week everyone in the school complimented or either did something nice to someone that would make them feel good.

As R.A.K week came to an end to show kindness one last time the prefects  stood at the front gates giving out lollies and doing something nice for them. It was just an awesome way of showing Tiaki Taonga, after all It's really nice to know that someone cares for you, I mean isn’t

Cyclone Lusi

Due to the torrential rains and horrendous conditions, the Polyfest and other events were forced to be postponed or cancelled. Numerous reports have been broadcasted all over NZ, making sure we prepare for the worst. Newspaper articles have come in informing us that cyclones normally only last up to 2 - 3 hours but Lusi stayed for at least 2 days.

Shortly after 9:00am power outages began. Because of the severe weather conditions trees were blown over cutting power lines, causing the power outage. With no electricity in Remuera, families were forced to live with little resources they had. A tree also hit a family home causing really bad damage to the house and all the family’s belongings.

Cyclone Lusi not only hit NZ but also hit Vanuatu and caused death to 3 people, an infant that got washed away by the flood-waters, and 2 elderly people who were struck unexpectedly by trees caused by the horrifying winds. As well as 3 people dying, one person has been badly injured and 6 people including 3 little kids reported missing.

As people prepared for Cyclone Lusi the weather in New Zealand was weirdly calm by the time it reached Glen Innes. To many people’s surprise, nothing big really happened besides it being very windy with little showers of rain. In my experience nothing big really happened that you could call a storm.

New Zealand Soldier Diary

Thursday 5th August 1899 - South Africa, Veldt

4:00am was the wakeup call, making sure we were  always ready for another exhausting day. Food here is four times the price than it is at home. With the loss of 2 toes, I’m unable to walk properly. Sleeping here is impossible, as I try to sleep at the same time we have to worry about being ambushed of killed..

Conditions in South Africa are very harsh, many of our soldiers have been killed or have been injured very badly. My trench foot it getting worse, the pain is gaining and I’m starting to get an infection covering my entire arm.

I hope that the queen is happy, now that I'm serving as a Nz Soldier. One thing I don't really understand is why Richard Sedan sent us here? Everyday I worry about mom, her condition was very bad when I left her at home, hopefully she'll be there when I get back. 

Anyways my main concern right now is 12 year old Peter Doyle, he has already lost one  arm and badly injured both of his legs,and is sadly near death. I can’t wait till this is all over.I’ll be able to see all of my family again, eat proper food had have a nice warm shower. That’s one thing that will keep me motivated. 

                                     

Bio Poem

Jorja

Hilarious, Tall, Crazy Fun, Clumsy

Child of Mena & Mark, Sister of Caleb, Kane

Who loves Music, Volleyball, Thunderstorms and Dramatic Conversations

Who feels energetic whenever there's good weather, always is in the mood to smile, always happy around friends and who can never stop laughing.

Who dislikes over dramatic people, backstabber's, eating cold toast, and immature people

Who wants to go back to Waitangi, visit Greece, Rio, Italy, London, Alaska, and U.S.A

Who wishes she could've met her Grandpa, Nelson Mandela, Paul Walker, Ancestors

Who is scared of falling off high things, serial killers

Who dreams of surviving a zombie apocalypse and somehow changing the world

Who is determined to train to get fit, become a soldier and then serve her country

Who values family, friends and treasured gifts

Who is proud of where she comes from, and family

Who graduated from Year 7 and now is a  Year 8

Who lives in Auckland, New Zealand but is truly going to live in Greece

Jorja

Fractions And Mixed Numbers

Maths DLO

For the past few weeks the Dodecahedron's have been working on statistics. Here's my D.L.O I've create to show you the meaning of these words.
Here is a site for some questions you can answer: IXL Maths Site

Class 1's New Class

Class 1's New Class in Being Built and is already nearly finished!

As you can see the builders have built Class 1's new class really quickly. It's really coming along and will definitely be built before the start of Term 2. I can't wait for it to be ready to use and enjoy!

WHAT'S EMPATHY?

Empathy is when someone shows that they care for others by helping them out with their problems. Putting yourself in other peoples shoes,relating with them and seeing things from their point of view is empathy. E.g A new kid started school and was sitting alone.

Sympathy is when you care for someone but don’t care enough to do something about it.

Turning your feelings into actions basically describes empathy. By doing simple things like asking them questions,showing that you care for them, or relating to their problems with them can really make them open up.

For me I think that Empathy is a really important thing to show because without Empathy the world would be a mess. Peoples feelings and actions would be all over the place and most people wouldn't  feel included and cared for. That’s why I think It’s important to show empathy because everyone has the right to feel happy and included.

Empathy can easily be shown just by asking simple and short questions. E.G:  As I was running home I spotted a young girl crying on the footpath. “ What’s Wrong?”. I asked. “ My Leg”. She replied. Looking down at her hands I saw that she had scraped her leg. I then  carried her home and told her parents to put a plaster on it.  

So there you have it, I’ve explained empathy and many different ways on how to show it. For me the dictionary doesn’t really give a good explanation on the word “Empathy”. But as I looked into it a lot more to me Empathy just simply means putting yourself in their shoes.

Personal Goals For 2014

My achievement I was most proud of last year in the classroom was bonding with all my classmates because  it made learning more fun because we were able to work with anyone.

The thing I was most proud of last year outside of the classroom was coming 1st in High Jump for the school athletics because I have never really accomplished anything like that before.

In reading my learning goal is to get higher grades. To achieve this goal I need make sure to read books properly and have more specific answers.

In writing  my goal is to obviously get better at it.  To achieve this goal I need to

set my writing out properly and add much more detail.

In Maths my goal is to get better at my basic facts and answer them under then 3 seconds. To  achieve this goal I need to practice, practice, practice.

The learning area I think I need to improve in most is maths. I love maths but sometimes I just don’t really understand it. To improve I’m going to start using maths whizz, xtra maths, and make sure to always ask for help when I stuck.

In my learning my goal this term is to show ‘Caring’ to not just my classmates but everyone in my school.

My goal for this year around the classroom is to have a better attitude towards learning and stay on task.

My goal for this year around the school is to be a awesome, supportive and helpful house captain for Takitimu.

My parents goal for me this Term is to stay focused on school and make sure to give everything a good shot.

Writing Sample

After hours of traveling in the car we finally made it to our destination point, “ The Campgrounds of  Whananaki ”. Hopping out of the car I quickly set up my tent preparing myself for the many camp disasters to come.

As drips of sweat ran down it was the perfect time to get a tan, because there was literally nothing else to do. Unable to talk or move I laid patiently waiting for idea to pop into my head. Full of energy my cousin yelled excitingly “ EVERYONE GET UP AND PUT YOURS TOGS ON, WE'RE GOING TO THE SURF BEACH”.Excited and hypo I quickly rushed to my tent and popped on my togs. Arriving at the beach as fast I could dropped everything I had and hopped in the water.

As I was just about to dip my feet in the water, I spotted something big and brown. I thought I was hallucinating, but in that split second I heard yelling from a distance away “ GET OUT OF THE WATER SHARK,SHARK”. Frightened and shocked I leaped like a frog out of the water and ran as fast as I could.

Running up to my family to spread the news, no one believed me. To make sure that what I saw was a shark I sat on the beach for hours just waiting for it to return. Finally afters waiting for 3 hours I spotted it again. My family ran down to the beach, shocked and surprised everyones eyes bulged making them look like they had just got the beating. In shock my mum said to me “ WERE DEFINITELY NOT COMING HERE NEXT YEAR! ”.

W.A.L.T

W.A.L.T :

Eager to start the day I rolled out of bed and cheerfully got ready for school. 

Feeling sleepy and drowsy I lazily dragged myself into the kitchen to have breakfast. 

Sluggishly walking into school, I was excited!