End of year emotions

This year is close to an end. We can all feel its presence, even a week early. The emotions are so mixed. Happiness, relief, sadness, longing. These are just some of the emotions us year 8's are feeling at the moment. 

We have spent 8 years at our school learning new things and meeting new people. The "new people" that we meet at school are teachers, students and visitors. We have been the at the receiving end of opportunities, knowledge and other gifts while attending Glenbrae School. 

We learn in a learning environment with others keen to learn. We do most of our learning on netbooks. I personally was very thrilled and privileged to do our work on netbooks. It was a very cool experience to be involved in.

The classes we were put in was based on intelligence, willing to learn, and behaviour, depending on the year level you were in. Being one of the youngest people in my year level, I looked up to most of the older students as a mentor or role model. I looked at them and said "one day I would like to be like them." Most of my mentor or role models were none other but some of my classmates and best friends. I still look up to most of them, not only to lead, but to educate. I have learnt a lot from my classmates and friends, and I am sad to split from them this far forward in our lives.

Most of my classmates I went to Kindergarten with, and we know each other well. Its really sad to see them go, but I wish them good luck next year, and throughout their lives. 

Hockey Lesson

Today on the 24th of November 2015, the students from room 10 went to the netball courts to have our final hockey session with our coach, Lydia. She was teaching us some hockey skills over the last 4-5 weeks. We have learnt a lot of things while she was here, and we were very sad to see her go.

When we got to the courts, we sat down and greeted her. She then told us what we were going to do in the lesson. First we played a warm-up game of Octopus.

After that she put us into groups. The groups were Orange, Blue, Yellow and Green. I was in the orange group. Once she gave us a colour group, she told us to get a hockey stick and line up behind the group cones. Then, she explained what we were going to do. She said that we we going to have relays. The first relay was that we had to zigzag the ball through the cones and then shoot the ball through the cones. The second relay was just aiming the ball through to the score cones. The group who did it first would get 4 points, the second group would get 3 points, and the last two groups would get 2 and 1 points. Our group came 2nd, so we got 3 points.

After all of the relays we did, we were one of the bottom teams with 7 points, so the two bottom teams had to team up and verse the two winning teams. We versed, and we came so close to winning, but the top teams won.

I enjoyed our hockey game, even if we lost, and I also enjoyed having Lydia teaching us hockey skills the past few weeks. I really enjoyed it, and I had a lot of fun.

Expedition Recount

Today, on Tuesday the 24th of November, the students from room 10 went to room 3 to do a workshop. The workshop was provided by Google.

When we got to room 3, we knocked on the door and went inside. On each of the tables, I saw cardboard spectacles with a phone in a slot. We sat down on the ground and listened to the supervisor, Maru talk. He explained what our workshop was going to be, and he told us the rules. Then he told us to get a spectacle each and find our own space somewhere in the room.

We put our spectacles up to our eyes and waited for our teacher to choose the location to go to. Basically, the glasses and the phone was some kind of app that allowed someone to choose a location. Once the location was chosen, we could see that location through our glasses as if we were there.

It was really cool, and I felt really privileged to use that technology before it was released in the Google App Store. I would like to thank the arrangers for the opportunity to try out the lovely piece of engineering.

Technology Reflection

Today at Technology, we were in our technology class. We were in the Graphics Technology class, and it was our last two weeks after this week.

Today, we finished off our Juice Carton designs. We also had a evaluation sheet to finish off as well. That was only for the people with their laptops.

At the end of class, we said goodbye to our teacher, and walked back to school.

It was fun today it technology, because some of us got to finish off our work.

Maniakalani Film Festival 2015

Last week on Wednesday the 11th of November, the students from Glenbrae School went to the Sylvia Park Cinemas for the 8th Maniakalani Film Festival. Every year, the schools in the Maniakalani cluster makes videos especially for the Film Festival. We make a habit of making sure we positively show that we like the movies, and that we don't boo or dislike the movie.

This year, Brandon and I were going to present from our class. I was really excited. It was my second time, and I was really excited to go up there, but I was also really worried at the same time.

We had our morning tea early. After morning tea, we assembled in the hall. Brandon and I had to go the line that the other presenters were sitting at. We were the first ones to hop onto the bus. When we got there, we separated from the other students and walked first. The other classes followed behind.

When we got there, we got ready to go inside. The presenters sat down in the chairs up the front. When it was a presenter's turn, we had to move down a seat or two. The movies were really creative.

When anyone from our school presented, I could hear some people from in the top right corner (where our school was sitting) cheering for them, among other schools, Brandon and I among them. I was really shy, but could hardly wait until it was our turn to present.

When it was our turn to present, I was really excited, and the adrenalin was pumping through my body. I went up, and then Brandon came up. All I could see were shadows and the bright spotlight was shining in my eyes. I could really hear the cheering coming from our School. We said our lines and went back down. I was really excited, and could barely believe that we did that. We sat back down and watched the movie.

When it was time to go, the presenters lined up and walked out of the cinemas. We walked to the buses. I was the only presenter that was able to go onto the first bus. I sat next to Fine. Manuae was behind us, so we started talking.

When we got back to School, we went to the hall. The teachers congratulated us (the presenters) and told us what was going to happen next. We were going to go back to class, and we would have 4-5 minutes to eat and play. After that we would pack up and go home.

Today was a really fun day. I was a little shy, but I was also really excited. I also couldn't wait for the day after, because we had another trip, this time to Stardome, a observatory in Greenlane.

Dance Fever Reflection

Yesterday after Kiwi Can, the students from room 10 went to our Dance Fever lesson in the Hall with Lieutenant and Miss Rach. We were really excited and could hardly wait.

When we got to the hall, we got into two lines. One line to the right for the girls, and one line to the left for the boys. Because there were so many boys, they got the boys to make two lines. When they did, we did our Hip hop routine. We went over it and made sure that we were doing it correctly.

Once we had run over our hip hop routine at least 3 or 4 times, the boys went to one side of the room. This week, the girls had to pick their partners. I picked Lennyx, but he had already been picked by Fine, so I went to look for another partner. I ended up being with Lennyx in the end, so I was really happy that I got to dance with him again (we were partners two weeks ago).

When we started the dance routine to the Samba, it was a little tricky, but we got there in the end. Around us, we saw boys pairing up with each other. It was very funny to see the boys duplicating the girls dance moves.

We also learnt the rest of our Waltz, and I was really excited about that. We learnt the final moves and started practising them. We got the moves, but it took a while.

At the end of the lesson, we said goodbye and lined up in a class line and went to class.

Today was a really good day. We learnt all the moves to all of the dances, and all we had to do was practise them. I was really excited, and I could hardly wait for next week's lesson.

Kiwi Can Reflection

Today after Morning tea, the students from room 10 went to room 11 for Kiwi Can. Miss Tuia wasn't here, so Mr Numia was teaching us.

When we got inside the classroom, we sat own in a circle. We said "Bula Kiwi Can" (every time we go to Kiwi Can, they have a different greeting for us every week). We did a re-cap of the last lesson we had and talked about the topic. We were learning about Respect. Our theme was Respecting Others. We had a little discussion about what it looked like to respect others.

After that, we got into our Energiser. It was called Soccer Tag. We had three or four games of Soccer Tag before sitting back down in a circle. We discussed what it looks like to respect others and how you can do that.

After that, Mr Numia explained what our energiser was. It was called "Green Machine". Mr Numia put us unto 5 groups and assigned us a part of the room. What we had to do in Green Machine was brainstorm some ideas for a machine that would make people happy. My group's ideas were to create emotion changing shoes. Basically what they were were shoes that if you wore and you were angry, the shoes would work on making you happy. I proudly invented those. Another invention that we created was a booth machine that you jumped into. The booth printed out a piece of paper. On the piece of paper was the emotion you were feeling on the inside, even though you looked happy on the outside. Alisi invented that great piece of engineering that hopefully will be invented someday.

When we finished presenting our ideas, we sat back down in a circle and did our GKQ (General Knowledge Questions) and that was in groups of three or four students. When it was our turn, we couldn't answer the first question, so Mr Numia gave us another question to answer. Lennyx answered that question correctly.

When we finished GKQ, Mr Numia did our points. We got 23.5, which was two and a half less than last week. We said goodbye and then we left.

Today was a really fun day in Kiwi Can, even though we got two and a half points less than last week.

Money Lesson

Today, Rachel from pwc came to our class to teach us about lending and borrowing money. She also came on Monday. Today's lesson was about lending and borrowing money from banks and lenders. 

We learnt that to be a good borrower, you have to have good credit. You have to pay your bills and debts at the right time to avoid being untrustworthy and to avoid having to pay interest. If you have bad interest, you can do things to convince people that you're trustworthy and that you will pay back money on time. You can make more frequent payments, pay back money on time, pay back extra and being honest. These tips might ensure that lenders trust and will lend money to you.

We learnt some new things from Rachel,and we can't wait to see her on Friday.

Trip to Stardome Observatory

Today on Thursday the 12th of November 2015, the students in classes 7,8,9 and 10 went to the Stardome Observatory to learn about Discovering the Future. This was a very fun time for the students. 

At 10:00, we boarded the buses. Rooms 10 and 9 was on one bus, and rooms 8 and 7 were on the other bus. When everyone was on, the bus driver drove to the destination.

When we got there, we had some morning tea. Then rooms 7 and 8 took off to the observatory for their lesson. The remaining classes played on the fire fox, park and on the field. We had a lot of fun playing around. 

When we were told to come and collect our bags, we hesitantly did as we were told. There was one bag between 2-4 people, so there weren't that many bags. We sat down in two lines per class and waited until we were told to come in.

When we got inside, we put our bags into the cage and met our educator. His name was Tim. Tim was a very friendly person. He took us into the Space room and got started with the lesson. 

In the space room, there was a projection of a Nebula viewed from space. It looked so colourful and bright. It was a great sight to see so many colours in one cloud or object that occurs naturally. It was so fascinating to look at.

Tim told us to sit down, and he started the lesson. Tim answered the questions that the students asked him, and at the end of the lesson, Siosifa thanked him.

After we got out of the Space room, we walked around and looked at the displays and objects that were there. Some of the things were roped off, but the things that weren't we were allowed to touch. All of the displays were involving space. There were models of the planets, models of spacecrafts, astronaut suits, models of space rocks, and so much more. Looking around, I was just so fascinated to see that some of these objects actually came from or are involved with space. 

After our little tour around the aisles of Space, Tim called us into the observatory room where we were going to watch a movie. It was about how the universe, planets and everything else in space was formed. The movie showed us a lot about what happened in space, and how it was formed over millions of years.

At the end of the long movie, we took a look at some of the stars. Tim showed us some of the planets that looked just like stars. Tim said that the planets were all in line with each other, that's how we see them when we stargaze. We also looked at constellations. We saw the star Sirius. Sirius is the brightest star in the Earth's night sky. The only two planets we could not see were Venus and Mercury because they were too close to see in the night sky.

After we finished looking at constellations, we went out of the theatre room, and walked into the foyer where we got our bags and hopped onto the bus. The bus driver then took us back to school. We got back at 2:00-2:15.

I enjoyed my day at Stardome because I learnt some new things about space, and because I enjoyed playing on the park and fire fox. I cannot wait to learn more. I also cannot wait to go back and play on the park and fire fox.

Dance Fever Reflection

On Thursday, at 12:15, after Kiwi Can, the students of Room 10 went down to the hall for our Dance Fever lesson with our tutors, Miss Rach and Lieutenant. They were from Australia. The dances they were going to teach us were a Hip-hop dance, Samba and a waltz. The one we started practicing and adding moves onto was the hip-hop one. When that was done, we moved onto the Samba. The girls had to choose their partners. The boys had to sit on the ground facing the opposite way, while we picked someone to dance with. There were more boys than girls, so the boys who did not have a partner had to be a shadow (swap over partner). My partner was Lennyx, and we did not have a shadow. When we had finished the Samba, we moved onto the waltz. When we finished the first move of the Waltz, we had some fun trying a hip hop move. It was called the Barrell roll. After that, our lesson ended. Today’s lesson was really fun, and I was happy that our dances were nearly finished, with only the rest of the Waltz to learn. Lennyx was also a pretty good dancer.

Technology Reflection

Yesterday, on Friday the 6th of November, at our Graphics technology class, we had to create a poster on paper or online about the children campus of the future. What we had to do was draw some things relating to school and learning. I haven’t finished mine yet, but I think that it will look pretty cool when it’s finished.

Today, it was fun at technology because I got to draw.

Technology Reflection

Today at Technology, we were going to make our shirts, but no one brought their shirts, so we didn't do that. Instead we did more sketches and stencils. At the end of the class, we packed and cleaned up the class, and the teacher told us to bring a shirt next week.
Technology class was fun, because I got to do a few stencils, but cutting them was hard.

Reading Work - Term 4 Week 2-3

Section 1 -

1. Name some of the different groups who began visiting New Zealand in the early 1800s. Describe the ways they interacted with Maori.

The different groups of people that came to New Zealand were Missionaries, Whalers, Sealers, Traders, and people from Britain were also here to explore or to exploit the natural resources.

2. What were some of the main reasons that led to the making of the Treaty of Waitangi ?

The British wanted sovereignty over New Zealand, to establish a government, to maintain peace and to protect Maori rights. The Maori wanted undisturbed possession of lands and property.

3. Cartoons - select one and describe what you see. What do you think the message is?  What point of view do you think the cartoonist is representing?

I see two pots each with “Maori anger” and “pakeha anger’, and a person is on both, trying to close the lid. The anger of the pakeha is big, while the anger of the maori is smaller. I think the message is that the pakehas were angry at the Maori, but I disagree with this cartoon. I think that the Maori people were more angry with the pakeha than the pakeha were with them. The point of view of think the cartoonist is representing is that to prevent the anger of both nations from overflowing, someone needs to stop the anger at each other, and they should be more kinder to each other.

Section 2 -

1. What are the key differences between the Maori and English versions of the Treaty of Waitangi ?

The key differences are that in the Maori version, they are offered full chieftainship of their lands and property. Also, Maori have the protection of the British Crown and the same rights as the British subjects. In the English version, the British Government want sovereignty over New Zealand. In the Maori version, this is described as governorship. The English version also said that the Maori were to allow the Queen to establish a Government here to maintain peace and to protect Maori rights.

2. List some of the reasons why chiefs did or did not sign the Treaty?

I think some of the chiefs did not sign the Treaty was because they didn’t know what they were signing, they were worried about the changes. The reasons why some chiefs did sign the Treaty was because they saw the Treaty as a sacred bond or covenant directly between themselves and Queen Victoria.

3. Name two people who signed the Treaty. Can you locate which Treaty they signed?

1. Tamati Waka Nene - He signed the very first Treaty shown up at Waitangi.
2. Hongi Heke - He was one of the first people to sign the Treaty at Waitangi along with Tamati Waka Nene.

It does not say what copy of the Treaty they signed.

Section 3 -

1. List some of the ways that Maori have brought their concerns to the attention of New Zealanders. Give details of at least 3 examples.

The Maori struggled to get their voices heard, despite by legal efforts, protests and hundreds of petitions.

2. What is the function of the Waitangi Tribunal?

The function of the Waitangi Tribunal is to start working through Maori concerns.

3. Choose one of the following case studies: Orakei, Manukau, or Ngai Tahu. In your own words, write a brief summary of the case.

The Manukau Claim - The Manukau Claim was about restoring Manukau. The Harbour was once a dumping ground for waste and sewage from rapidly growing Auckland. Maori living in Manukau despaired at the spoiling of their Harbour, long treasured for its fisheries. The public became more concerned about the environmental mess, and everyone wanted to do something about it. The Waitangi Tribunal’s report from 1985 was where the change started. New relationships were built between Maori living in the area, local government bodies, businesses, and people of the community. Manukau Harbour was later restored to its natural beauty. There is a strong connection with this historical place and the people.

4. Audio post - Listen to one of the poems or songs at the audio post. Describe the meaning or message behind the song. Who do you think it is aimed at?

Bob Orr - Broken Words

I stood

totally inarticulate

before a blue and white coast

as your mother told me

how each

grain of sand

had been stolen.

I think the meaning or message behind this poem is that someone was listening to a story of a mother telling her son a story of how the beach had been stolen, maybe by pakeha people. I think this is aimed at the pakeha people because when they came, things started happening, and the pakehas started claiming land that wasn’t theirs to claim.

Kiwi Can Reflection

Today after morning tea, Room 10 had Kiwi Can in room 11 with Mr Numia and Miss Tuia. Our theme in Kiwi Can is respect. First we started off with our energiser. Our energiser was a game that involves following instructions and memorising. We were split up in groups of 4. One person from each group was a leader. Their  job was to go up get instructions and tell the group. The group had to follow these instructions. After our energiser, we talked about Respect and what it is.

Next, we did our activity. Our activity was ‘Human knot’. Mr Numia separated the class into 2 groups. Human knot was very fun. My team had untangled ourselves easily. But the other team took for ages to untangle. Finally we were finished. We finished our session off with GKQ (General Knowledge Questions). Mr Numia gave us our points and then we said goodbye and came back to room 10.

Today in Kiwi Can, our score was 20. I think we got that because we were being disrespectful to the teachers and to the other students, and I think that it was unfair that we got that because of other students lack of self control. We’re learning about respect, but yet the students could not show respect, which I find very sad.

Technology Reflection 23.10.15

Today, on Friday the 23 of October, the room 10 year 8 students went to their first technology class of term 4. Our current class is Graphic technologies. Our teacher is Mr Pineda. In this class we draw and do art.

Today in class our task was to create some sketches for our t-shirt print we were going to do next week. When class started, he did the roll call, then told us what we were going to do today. He handed us a piece of paper to do the sketches. He showed us what we had to do, and we got onto work. A blank piece of paper soon showed a intricate design. All we had to go next week was bring a shirt to get our design printed on. I could hardly wait!

At the end of the class, we said goodbye to Mr Pineda and made our way outside where the teachers were waiting to escort us back to school.

Today was a really cool, fun day at technology. I cannot wait till next week when we start printing our shirts. I assume it will be a cool experience, and a first for me.

Dance Fever Reflection 22.10.15

Yesterday, at 12:00, my class and I went down to the school hall to get our Dance Fever lesson. This was our first lesson, as last week we were at camp when they were here. 

When we walked in, they told us to get into a boys and a girls line. Then they introduced themselves. Their names were Miss Rach and Lieutenant. Then they told us to get on our knees and practice the moves they taught us. The moves were right, left, roll it up, roll it down, muscle down, turn right, cat daddy, cat daddy, feet together, left kick step, right kick step, freeze, merge into a line with the boys, hands down, pop pop change three times, then 3 singles, put your hands down. That's the hip hop dance so far.

Then they taught us the first moves of the samba. Some of these moves were really complicating and confusing, but with the help of them and the other students, most of the moves got easier. The moves went like this - right foot back, step twice, left foot forward, step twice, step right, step twice, then do that again, but sideways. Now comes the tricky part. You go outside foot, inside foot, walk to the right in four steps until you face the back of the room, and you do that two more times. And that's the samba dance so far. They also taught us how to do the hold. We had to hold our hands up high, the girl's hands on top of the boy's. If the hands drop, this is something called "romantic hold."

Shortly after that, the class finished. This was a really good lesson, and I really enjoyed it. I could hardly wait for next week's lesson.

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs is known all over the world for being the co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple computer, CEO and largest shareholder of Pixar Animation Studios, a member The Walt Disney Company's board of Directors, and founder, chairman and CEO of NeXT Inc. I read a book titled Steve Jobs insanely great. It is a graphic biography written by Jessie Hartland. I learnt quite a lot from this book, and I would like to share this new knowledge with you all.

Steve Jobs was born on 24 of February in 1955 to Joanne Schieble Simpson and Abdufattah Jandali in San Francisco, California. His parents are unmarried college students. They put Steve up for adoption. Later, they marry and have a daughter named Mona Simpson that they raise, then they divorce. Steve is adopted by Clara and Paul Jobs. Unable to have their own children, they are very excited. Clara and Paul later adopt a girl named Patty. Steve grows up in the Santa Clara Valley/Silicon Valley. 

From a young age, Steve is very mischievous. He is a rule-breaker. His father Paul is a machinist. He makes prototypes in the technology industry. He likes to fix cars in his free time. Sometimes Steve likes to help. They like to tinker. They visit the junkyard many times in the weekends to pick up odds and ends for projects they make in their garage. Steve even has his own workbench.

His hometown in the 1960's is a busy, buzzing place with hundreds of technology companies employing thousands of people. The United States is in a Cold War and a space race with the Soviet Union, the Russians currently winning the race with the launch of Sputnik, the first ever satellite. Trying to catch up, the government of the US is funding hundreds, if not thousands of defence contractors who are experimenting with new space and weapons technology. These businesses are part of the Military - industrial complex. His neighbourhood is filled with engineers who work at places like NASA, Westinghouse and Lockheed Missile. 

Companies that started small inside home garages like HP (Hewlett-Packard) are becoming giant. Tiny new companies and organisations are starting to appear in his neighbourhood. Steve and his father make good use of their garage.

He learns at a young age that he is adopted. He thinks that his biological parents didn't want him. With all the promises and words of encouragement from Clara and Paul, the idea of his parents leaving him will traumatise him forever.

He is a very naughty boy in Middle School. He is very bored and mischievous. He is sent home many times. However, his fourth-grade maths teacher notices his brilliance, and keeps him occupied with a challenge . Her name was Imogene Hill. 

As an outgoing and curious child, Steve makes friends with some of the neighbourhood's engineers. He learns a lot from them, always telling his parents what he learns. He is a very bright, intelligent child.

When Steve was twelve, he decided to build a frequency counter to assist him with electronic projects. Because he was missing much needed parts, he contacts his neighbour, the co-funder of HP, Bill Hewlett. Bill gives him the parts, and offers him a Summer Job making frequency counters. He gladly accepts. He also has a newspaper route job, works at an electronics store, and works at the mall entertaining kids. He saves some money, and at age 15 buys his first car, a Nash Metropolitan. He also smoke pot and took drugs like LSD.

Through a friend in the class, he meets Steve Wozniac, or Woz for short. They find out that they have a lot in common with each other, and decides to become friends. At this time, Steve is a High School senior. Woz is four years older, and attends UC Berkeley. He is a real techno-whiz, sweet natured, shy young man.The same year, he meets Chrisann Brennan, his first serious girlfriend. They later have a baby girl named Lisa.Steve wants nothing to do with it, and they break up. 

Steve and Woz start hanging around with each other, and they start 

Steve went to Reed College in Oregon. After one semester, he drops out. He still stayed at Reed for a few courses. He especially liked the calligraphy class. To earn extra money, he returns soda cans and collects five cents each in return. He works on an apple orchard and eats a lot of carrots. Because of this, he thinks that he should not bathe much.

He moves back home after 18 months, and gets a job at Atari. He gets a job as a technician, but because he hardly ever bathes, he is made the employee on the nightshift.

He would always ask himself this every morning - "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" When the answer was no for awhile, he knew something had to change. So, he decided to travel to India with his friend Dan. When he returned to California, his parents could hardly recognise him.

He likes to take long walks while he thinks. He meditates in the mornings, audits physics classes at Stanford University in the afternoon, dreams of starting his own business, and goes back to work at Atari. His boss, Nolan Bushnell offers him advice. " Pretend to be completely in control, and people will assume that you are. Don't take no for an answer."

Woz shows Steve is design for something called a home computer, which would be a first. They decide that they could do this, so they fundraise some money to buy parts to build a prototype. Woz sells his HP calculator for $500, and Steve sells his Volkswagen van for $1,500. And they start. Steve and Woz start thinking of names for their new company. Steve, thinking back to his days in Oregon tending an apple orchard, suggests Apple Computer. And Apple Computer is born.

Steve and Woz become more active in a local computer club. One day, they decide to show their prototype of the Apple 1 computer. Everyone but one person who owns a chain of stores is not impressed. This man asks them to keep in touch, and the very next day when Steve drops into one of his shops, he makes his very first sale. Apple Computer is now in business. Following this news, an assembly line is set up in the Jobs' family house. Steve does the soldering. Woz assembles boards. Clara answers the phone. Patty helps too. Another friend does the book keeping. Dan packs the assembled computers into boxes, and Paul tests them. Steve also delivers the finished product.

Apple Computer is a great success thanks to ingenuity, hard work and being in the right place at the right time. In 1978, Xerox gives Apple a call. Like many others, they want to invest in the hot, new computer company. Steve made a deal. "Invest a million dollars into Apple if they show them what's going on at Xerox PARC." Steve sees some good ideas, and uses them in Apple's next computer. These ideas include the mouse, overlapping windows, networking and more.

In 1985, Apple has a big meeting without Steve. They suggest Steve quit running the group for the new Macintosh computer and start a research group at Apple, but he decides that he can't live with a smaller role in the company he founded. He fights with CEO John Sculley - who was only CEO because Steve offered him a job there - for the top job, but he is so nasty, unreasonable and difficult to work with that the board members and other employees choose Sculley as boss. Steve is forced out of the company he started in his parents garage.

He travels to Europe, thinking of creating another company. So he does. He calls it NeXT. The computer and logo will be a cube. He obsesses over the details and other things, which means that the computers are always later than the release date.

He hires a Private Detective to help find his biological parents. He finds his mother, and flies down to LA to see her. He also meets his biological sister, Mona Simpson, a writer that lives in New York City. Later that year, he is asked to give a speech. While he is waiting to go on-stage, he meets a young Stanford business student. Her name is Laurene Powell. After the speech, they have dinner. They marry in 1991, and later that year, they have their first child, a boy named Reed. His first child, Lisa has also joined the family too.

While running NeXT, Steve buys Pixar for $5 million, and invests another $5 million to keep it going. He keeps pouring his own money into the company to keep it afloat. No matter how many big ideas the company comes up with, the company is getting broke. A phone call to Disney is made to help. Disney gives them some money in return for rights to the characters, film sequels, and other things.

In 1997, Apple buys NeXT, the company is failing and they're trying to make too many products. IBM and Microsoft now dominate the market. This is the year Steve makes a return to his first company after 12 years. He makes changes to the company, all for the better, seeing how close they were to bankruptcy. Steve later has an idea of having stores dedicated to selling Apple products all over the country. These are a big success. He also creates iPhoto, iMovie, Final cut Pro, iDvd, Garage Band and iTunes.

In 2003, Steve finds out that he has a rare form of Pancreatic cancer. He tries many ways to fight it. He and Laurene have three kids, Reed - 15, Erin - 11, and Eve - 8. He feels that his cancer battle should be kept secret, because he feels its a personal matter, and he's worried that the public will lose  confidence in Apple. He prepares for his last product - Apple's version of a Tablet.

Steve dies on October 5, 2011 in his home in Palo Alto surrounded by his family. He is 56 years of age. His last words were " Oh, wow."

Steve Jobs was a very inspirational person. He has inspired people to do good. He is sadly missed. He has inspired me to believe that anything is possible, and that things happen for a reason, and anything you put your mind to can be achieved, no matter how crazy the thought.

Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.

Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.

The people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world are the ones who do.

Thank you for viewing. I hope you learnt some new things.

Technology

Today at Technology, we were in the Graphics class with Mr pineda. Today we were going to do some word art. So for almost the whole class, we drew some word art. At the beginning of class, he did the roll call, and then he handed out some pieces of paper to do the word art on. Doing the word art was a little bit tricky, because I had never drew word art before.
After class, we walked back to school.

Science - Room 8

Today, my class and I went to Room 7 and 8 at our school to learn about Science. First we went to Room 8. Their topic was Sound. First we talked about matter. 
Matter is everything that has mass and occupies space. There are three states of matter - Solids, Liquids and Gases. 
Solids are something that are hard, and the molecules are packed tightly together. 
In liquids, the molecules are loosely packed.
In Gas, the molecules bounce around.
Then, we went on to the experiments. There we 5 experiments, all related to sound. Two of them involved playing water as instruments. The other experiments included communication with two cups and a piece of string, making sound with a container and rubber bands, amplifying using a balloon, and tapping/blowing on beakers and test tubes filled with different measurements of water to expose different sounds. These were the experiments that we did. These were really fun. Then we did a quiz on the mat.
I learnt that sound vibrates at different speeds, and that there are things that can alter the way sound is heard.

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela was the former President of South Africa. His birth name was Rolihlahla Mandela, but his school teacher called him Nelson. 

He was born on the 18 of July in 1918, in the village of  Mvezo in South Africa. He died on the 5 of December in 2013, 95 years of age. His cause of death was a respiratory system infection. 

Nelson Mandela was an anti-apartheid revolutionary, minister and philanthropist who served as president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He made a difference in the world. He was one of the first ANC members, Also known as the African National Congress. He had three wives before he died and he also had 6 children. He was imprisoned a number of times, particularly for standing up against a government that was committing egregious human rights abuse against black South Africans. The longest he was in prisoned  was about 27 years. Four years after he was released in 1990, he became the president of South Africa. 

He is known all over the world for protesting for his people and believing in an anti-apartheid country. He was, and still is, an icon and role model of South Africa. He has inspired me to do right and to believe. I hope he has inspired you too.

Here are some quotes.

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

It always seems impossible until it's done.

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

Current Events

Christchurch police officers have helped a mother duck and her ducklings cross a busy intersection near the Christchurch Hospital. Video footage shows the police officers following the ducks to make sure that they don’t get hurt or run over. The officers were returning from a meeting when they saw the ducks.

One of the police officers said “ The intersections were busy, so in order to avoid the duck and ducklings getting hurt or preventing any road incidents caused by drivers trying to avoid them we took action to stop the cars and ensure that they reached their watering hole safely.”

Kiwi Can Session 3.9.15

Today, we had Kiwi Can. This time it was in the Hall. The topic was Dealing with Challenges and our theme was resilience. It was only Mr Numia here today, because Miss Tuia was sick. They also did not come last week. For our energiser, we played a game called Hand Circle. Each of us sat in a tight circle and placed our hands on the floor. Our left hand went under the next person’s hand, and our right hand went over the next person’s hand. Someone started by tapping one of their hands on the floor, and the hand next to theirs has to tap, and so on. If you tap two times, then that meant that the clap went in the opposite direction. We did two practise rounds before playing it for real. We had so much fun playing, and the circle just kept on getting smaller and smaller and smaller, until there was only one person remaining.

After that, we got into a boy-girl circle. He asked us some questions, then told us that we were going to do two activities instead of one, which was very exciting. The first activity that we played was a game called Doose It. It was a game similar to Simon Says. Mr Numia said jump in, jump out, look up, look down, turn around, touch the ground or wiggle, and we had to listen very carefully to him, and do what he said. If anyone made a mistake, or were too slow, then they had to sit down. This was a very challenging game for me, mainly because over everyone else, I couldn't hear what he was saying.

Unfortunately, I did not get to play the second game, or stay for the rest of the session, because I, amongst others had to go to our Health and Wellbeing group called the 79ers. This Kiwi Can session was a very cool and enjoyable one because it was the first one that I had in a while. Having Kiwi Can is always so fun, but it's a shame that I never get to go with the rest of the class to any sessions.

Poster - Actor

This is a poster that I created about Actors. Mrs Tofa told us to select a job/occupation, and I chose acting. I hope you enjoy it.

Maths 25.8.15

Today at maths, we had to solve a maths question. It was  Marilyn needs to fertilise her front lawn. It measures 20m X 35 m. Each bag of the fertiliser that she is planning to use covers 200m2. How many bags does she need to buy? The answer was that she had to buy 3 and a half bags.
I learnt two new strategies while doing this problem. They were place value partitioning and Rounding compensating. Maths today was so fun. Now I know different ways to solve maths problems.

Quiz - Hone Heke

Yesterday, Kyana created a quiz about Hone Heke. Below is the link. Have a try.
Hone Heke quiz

Pacifika Displays. 6.8.2015

Last Week on Thursday the 6th of August, the sun was out, the sky was blue, and the birds were chirping. Today was going to be a good day. To make it even better, 6 people from each of the senior classes were selected to go the Glen Innes Library to see a display that the friendly people at the Auckland Museum showed us to celebrate pasifika culture, especially the Cook Island culture, as it was the Cook Island Week this week.

First, at 10 30, we had to assemble outside the hall and wait for the teachers to come out. When they did, Miss Elia, our principal selected some people to go with each teacher. The teachers there were Miss Maruariki, Miss Card, Miss Elia and Mrs Adcock. I went with Miss Maruariki. The students who came with us was Voni, Matthew, Charlie, Danny and Loto. We jumped in, and seeing that I was the only girl, Miss Maruariki let me sit in the front. When she pushed the button to turn on her van, Ciara silently re-started playing. Then she reversed out. Then we saw what her van was really capable of. It had a reversing camera. The boys and I were in awe as she backed out of the park and started driving. “What year is your van, miss?” I asked with awe. “I think it’s from 2006” she said. We got there in about 10-15 minutes with plenty of time to spare before 10 00.

Miss parked the car up at one of Te Oro’s parking spaces and turned the car off with one click of a button. Then we hopped out of the car and closed the doors. The two back doors automatically closed. Then we walked away from the car and towards the library. We went inside, but one of the librarians ushered us out and told us that she would be welcoming us in. So we waited outside. There were still people to come anyways.

When it was time, the lady welcomed us in by singing us a wiata. Then we walked in. When we walked in, the lady told us to get into two lines and sit down on the mat. The lady introduced herself. Her name was Mama piri. Then the others introduced themselves. The tongan man’s name was Vili, the Fijian man’s name was Darren, and the Samoan lady’s name was Freda.  Then they showed us some taonga (treasures) from the pacific Islands.  Then they showed us a map of the pacific Islands. Darren shared with us a poem about the Islands. Then we talked about the Coconut tree. In Cook Islands, Coconut tree means Tomunou. Freda asked why the coconut tree was also known as the tree of life, but she wanted to know why we thought that. The correct answer was “The coconut tree is also known as the tree of life because the whole coconut tree, from the root to the tip is useful in Island life, ancient and present times.” They asked us how they got coconuts from the tall trees. The correct answers were that they either climbed up the trees or used a long stick called a lou to get the coconuts down. Then they showed us a plaited string which was also made from a coconut tree. They said it was called a Kaa.

Then we moved on to Historical fishing devices the early pacific Islanders used. First they showed us a enaki. An enaki was used in the Cook Islands as a net that caught eels. Next they showed us a maka feke, a lure that caught octopuses. The origin of this object came from Tonga. Then they showed us a matau, a fishing hook tied to a long kaa. The fishing hooks were usually made out of bird, fish or mother of pearl shells. They used sharp rocks to cut and shape the hook, and then used flat rocks to polish them.

Next, they split us up into three groups. They each went to one group. Vili came to our group, and he brought some of his fishing tools with him. He let us touch the enaki and the maka feke. Then Freda came with her rocks and her bones. She told us that she was going to see who could try and make a hook out of the bones. We found out that it was a very hard process, and we wondered how hard it could’ve been for the people in the olden days to make one hook. Then Darren came with his blocks of wood and his old drills and he told us that the drills were very sharp and he said to be careful. He demonstrated how to do it, and then he told us to have a try. He then said that we were going to have a challenge. The one who kept the drill running the longest won. I won, and he gave me a pack of colouring pencils.

Then we looked at different traditional instruments. First they showed us a big shell we all knew to be a horn. Vili asked if anyone wanted to have a try at blowing it, and Candice and Charlie put their hands up to try. Then Vili blew it. Then they showed us a bamboo flute called a fung fung. Voni volunteered to play it, thinking that he was supposed to play it with his mouth, but Vili showed us how it was actually played. He showed us that it was played with the nose. Next they showed us a wind instrument. They told us that the instrument also helped people with chest problems to help breathe. Then they showed us a drum from Fiji. I volunteered to try. I stood up and started drumming a little beat. The surface felt soft underneath my skin. I sat back down after that. Then they showed us another drum, this time from the Cook Islands. Voni volunteered to play it, and he was really good. No one was expecting to see or hear what he just did. He was really good. Everyone in the library was in shock.

After that magnificent drumming we heard, Freda teached us a sasa - a traditional Samoan dance. Doing the sasa, we really felt energetic. Going to the beat of the actions, we felt a rush of excitement when we did it. After doing the sasa for the last time, they thanked us for being such a great audience. But, then one of the librarians asked if we could stay for a snack. We gladly accepted. We sat back down, while they offered us some slices of banana, french toast, apples, sandwich, cookies, and a glass of water. We gladly accepted, and ate. The librarians started playing a song for us, and one of them started singing and dancing. It was a great sight, and their singing was amazing, and her dance moves was very graceful. If I was braver, I might of actually joined her.

When I finished eating, I found a tray, and went around asking everyone if they had anything that needed to go to the bin. If they did, I put it on the tray. When I had gone around the group collecting all the rubbish, one of the librarians offered to take the tray out to the bin. I gave it to her, not knowing where the bin was. She thanked me, and I thanked her back, with a shy smile on my lips. Then I sat back down. When everyone was done eating, we all thanked the librarians and the museum educators for the lesson and the food.

We went back to Miss Maruariki’s car,and hopped in. I was the only girl, so again, I sat in the front. I felt very happy sitting in the front, I felt like it was an advantage against the boys who were all squashed in the back. I asked Voni for the Ipad, and all the way back to school, we were taking some photos. We were also talking, and we found out that Danny was going to go to Niue. I gave the Ipad back to Voni,and he started taking more photos with the boys in the back, until I asked for it back. We were almost back at school, so I made the most of “photo time.” We were almost at the school carpark, so I turned the Ipad off. When the car was off, we hopped out and thanked miss for the ride. Earlier she pointed out to one of the smaller cars parked and said “ This is Mr Numia’s car.” Mr Numia was one of our Kiwi Can teachers. We all laughed when she told us. When the boys saw him, the started teasing him. Voni said “Maybe you should take some points off from their class, Mr.” He lightly laughed before saying “Yeah, maybe.” Then Voni and I went off to class.

We had a lot of fun, and we learnt a lot. I had a blast, and I would like to thank Miss Elia, the Museum educators, the Librarians, and everyone else who came along for a great time. I am sure I will remember this for a very long time.