The Giver

In class at the moment I am reading the Giver by Lois Lowry I am really enjoying it and would recommend it to others. In class we have been asked to answer the following question: Would you want your future to be decided by others ? Why or Why not?
Here is my answer:
I think you should have the freedom to decide your own future and others shouldn't decided for you. In the giver Jonas and the people of his community have to follow strict rules and rituals. The Chief Elder decides what job you should be assigned and you have no other choice. I don't think this is right and that you should be allowed to choose you own job or at least get a chance at trying out for it.

The reason I think you should get to decide your own future is because it is part of growing up, you learn from your mistakes. I also think other people should not be deciding your future other wise when you are young you can't have the fun of deciding what you want to be when your older. I have a plan already and so do my siblings. I think this is all a big part of growing up. I mean what would you choose, for other people to boss you about or for you to be free and be able to choose for yourself? I think it is quite obvious what we would all choose to be free and ourselves.

Another reason is that if someone turned round and said oh your going to be a vet I would not be happy. I hate anything gruesome inside an animal. I love animals but couldn't cope as a vet. As I keep saying no one is going to choose what I want to be when I am older.I want to make my own decisions in life and be who I wan't to be and not who anyone else wants me to be. I am happy with who I am and wouldn't change anything. I think everyone should learn to be who they wan to be in life and I think it is a valuable lesson.

Cleopatra

In class we have been studying Ancient Egyptian, our task was to make a movie all about one pharaoh. So I partnered up with Hime a girl in my class and we set to work here is the movie that we made on Cleopatra.

Pharaohs created monuments so that they would be remembered and respected by their people. Also Caesar created a monument for Cleopatra to show her how much he loved her. Pharaohs also created temples for their people to keep them happy and satisfied. I also believe that they built m

onuments to represent gods and goddesses to show how powerful they are. If I were a Pharaoh I would definitely create monuments so that my people remember me and the gods.

One of the many monuments that we have today are the twin towers in Malaysia which are a bit like some monuments in Egypt. One reason that the twin towers were built was to show case Malaysia, for a short amount of time they were the tallest towers in the world. This made people recognize Kuala Lumpur much more than it was before a bit like the pyramids. The pyramids showcase Egypt just like how the twin towers showcase Malaysia, they make their countries a huge tourist attraction. One of the three Cleopatra's needles are showcased in London and is a huge tourist attraction. This is an example of how monuments from Egypt can help other countries become a tourist attraction,

In our partnerships we used google documents to collaborate, using google docs help us a lot. One of the best things about using google doc's is that you can both work on it at the same time just on two different computers. Also if you need to catch up on some of the assignment at home than you can just go to google documents. Unlike word where you would have to use a thumb drive to be able to work on it at home. I think in the future that everyone will use google doc's so that we can all collaborate constructively.

Doing this assignment helped me learn much more about Ancient Egypt and the people who lived their. Also we were able to learn about the different gods and goddesses and how the Egyptians worshipped them. People where put at different levels of living and how the Pharaoh and his family had a luxurious life and the hundreds of thousands of peasants did not have such a good life.

During this project you had to be able to work well with your partner otherwise this project would be really challenging. Luckily me and my partner worked together brilliantly and got our project finished in time and neatly. What helped was that one of us was logic and the other one was gestalt. So we had both sides of the brain working on this project.

During this assignment me and my partner thought creatively to make our movie interesting. We also collaborated constructively together on our google doc writing the script. Finally we learned enthusiastically by always staying positive during working together and we never gave up. I think that Hime and I did a great job on our movie and would love to work with her again.

Here is the movie that Hime and I made on Cleopatra.

Aberdeen, Scotland

I sat through all the presentation praying to myself saying please, please, please dont let me be next. Eventually everyone had gone and I knew that it had to be me, my heart started beating faster I started to shake with fright. Pulling myself of the chair I stood up not knowing what was going to happen.

Guess what? I felt great once I got up their I was still shaking a bit but I felt fine. I think in my presentation I could have had some additional information. I could have remembered some interesting facts in my head instead of just reading of the board. I could have been more specific with my facts and made it more interesting I think that I would have been able to catch peoples attention a bit more if I had added some additional information. Saying this I think that my presentation went pretty smoothly.

I think I was able to show not just the importance of Aberdeen but how nice a place it is as well. I spoke nice and clearly and I am pretty sure everyone could hear me. My slides were nice and clear you could read them properly and you didn't have to strain your eyes to read the text. My overall presentation was good I also really enjoyed finding the information as you lear new interesting facts on the way.

I felt that on a lot of peoples presentation their was too much text so at parts it became a bit boring. In my presentation I didn't have as much information on my slides but I think that was ok because I had more facts in my head that I told them. I focused mostly on the environmental and historical facts but some people focused on other points of the presentation which made very interesting so next time I am going to try that,

Next time I do a presentation I am going to add in some more fun and interesting facts to keep everyones attention. I enjoyed doing this presentation and would like to do another in the future a bit like it so that I can add more to it. I am happy with my final results and if you want to look at my presentation here is the link:

https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AXZgT8mLr03lZGZidGp3czNfMTA0ZGozNnFqY20&hl=en

The New Year!

Okay, so this might sound weird to you but I have decided that one of my new years resolutions is to blow dry my hair more often! See my mum is always complaining that my hair looks greasy and would look so much better blow dried, so to please my mum and make her happy I am going to blow dry my hair as often as possible. I will also be able to wear my hair down more often as it won't be so puffy as it usually is. When I was back in Scotland for the winter break my hair looked so much better as it was really cold in Scotland and their is no humidity to make my hair puffy and fluffy. Finally when I came back to Malaysia my hair went back to its usual self, all puffy and fluffy. Tonight when I get home I am going to have a shower and then blow dry my hair and start this new years resolution! This is a benefit for me and not just my mum and I am happy with this resolution.

The one other new years resolution that I have decided on is that I will give away 365 of my things one for each day of the new year. For example I might give away a vest top one day and the next a hair bobble to make other people less fortunate happy. It will also put a smile on my face to know that others are becoming happy through my generosity. I will be able to help give 365 people a better time for once and that is what counts. Knowing this brings a smile to my face. I think that this will also set a good example so that others will start to do what I have been doing. I hope one day I will be able to put a smile on everyones face.

Just Smile!!!

Yes!!! I had finally gotten to the top! It was time for me to hope into my tube and whiz down the hill in my rubber ring. This was the best part of my holiday, I went to aberdeen ski centre on the 23rd of december with my cousins ready to go tubing. Normally they use this fake flooring like snow to tube on but the snow had come down so heavily you couldn't even see the fake snow flooring! It was a long and hard climb to the top the tube was pretty heavy and it was a steep hill but it all pays off when you get to the top! I sat down in my ring the man gave me a push and I was of whirling round the tight bends until I reached the bottom having the time of my life. This had to be the best part of the winter break!

Also spending time with my cousins was great fun I am very close to them as they are around the same age as me. Their names are Jamie and Thomas, they are both boys but I am still great friends with them and enjoy having them around. I will always remember the day that I went tubing with them it was so fun there is no way I could forget! I hope to be able to go tubing again with them and really enjoyed my christmas holidays in Scotland and can't wait to go back again.

pictures from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Orphans_program.jpg http://www.gamestown2010.ca/media/communityImages/700x500/Kamloops/23MAR_HARPER2.jpg

http://www.snowboardclub.co.uk/grafix/profile_logo/kaimhill.jpg

2010 ZEITGEIST

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyE2vy9edY4

Check out my own 2010 zeitgeist!

MM OLIVIA!

In class we did a couple of activities to find out what our profile was and my one is MM, I am also in the gestalt section. If you don't know what gestalt means it is from germany and means that you learn and think in a smooth but surprising way. You don't like to be told what to do in order but prefer to just go with the flow. 

The profile MM say that I am able to learn best through movement and by focusing on the whole picture. I honestly don't agree with this at all I prefer to be sitting down and listening and looking. Also I prefer to have things written down one after another so I know what I am doing. Looking at whole picture normally confuses me a lot, but they also say things about me that are definitely true. They say when I am under stress I may feel clumsy and stuck and don't know what to do. This definitely explains me when I am stressed and down at times.

To help me I can be encouraged that learning is very important and when I am feeling down I  also need encouragement. It also says sitting near the front of the class where I can see but can't distract others with movement should help me. I think that this should help me quite a bit and will sit near the front when I am having difficulties at paying attention. Also I feel that I learn better by having someone near by who is able to help me when I am stuck, not to give me the answers but just to be their for support. A student who understands what I need help with would be perfect for sitting beside in class.

I think that the MM profile is 50% true and 50% not true about me, sometimes I feel like I need to sit alone when I have loads of work to do but if I need help I prefer sitting near somebody. Knowing that this is my profile I would like to improve some of the things that they think I am bad at. Also I would like to keep up the positive things about me like being able to see the whole picture straight away and things similar to that. It helps knowing what my profile is and for the most part I am happy with this I put myself down as being left handed but when we tested me I can actually do most things with both hands, so that is probably why some of the facts don't actually suit me. I am really excited that I was able to find out that I can write with both hands!

Lit.Circle Collaborate Constructively

"Politeness is the poison of collaboration."

A partner can have benefits and downsides depending on who you are working with. Working with my partner Michelle has been a benefit as we have been pushing each other to the limit and helping each other to improve our Literature circles. I feel like doing more work on my Lit.Circle if my grade goes towards someone else's so I am always getting a good grade when I work with someone. You also don't have to do as much work if you work constructively with your partner. You are able to meet new people and make friends with them while you are working together. Everyone gets feedback from one another if you work in a group or with a partner. I think it improves your working skills to collaborate with others as you go.

Their can also be challenges through working with a partner like having to figure out a way to work on the same document and who is doing what pieces of work. Once you have done that though you will whizz through everything that you have to do so easily. It is really fun collaborating with your partner and learning the ways that they work so it might help you when you dont understand how to do something.

I have gained a lot of understandings about the book hatchet from michelle as she has explained parts to me that I didn't quite understand at parts of the book. I am feeling really confident about my next literature circle now and think that I will really enjoy doing it. Having a partner secures me and helps me on my way to a better grade and I really enjoy having one.

"Collaboration is no longer painful - or precious."

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/collaboration_2.html