Why we should not have Christmas, it should be banned!

Most people love Christmas, you do, I do, we all do. Have you ever though about the down sides of Christmas?

Money, Money, Money, Christmas = Money. We spend money on presents for friends and family, in fact, on one day last year, Kiwi's spent $255 million dollars on presents. We also spend money on decorations, for the Christmas tree and the house. Decorations can sometimes cost a little bit to get. Not only that but we set up lights for Christmas, lots of lights, lots and lots of lights. There is nothing wrong with that, it's all fun looking at them, but have you thought about how much money it would cost to run all those lights, that's a LOT of power.

Then there is food at Christmas time we eat TONS of food, probably not as much as the Americans, but we still eat more than normal, and what does food cost? Money... If we add up all these things, that is a lot of money.

When we get presents, we feel happy and excited, but some presents we will play with for 5 or 10 minutes and then we will toss them aside and forget about them. Also kids get selfish and spoilt by all the presents that they get. Then when they don't get something they want, or it's not good enough, they can sometimes get disappointed when they find what they got This creates problems for parents and for the people that gave the gift because some people cannot afford big sparkly new bikes.

We shouldn't have Christmas, it should be banned. Nobody thinks about the real meaning of Christmas anymore, just whether their presents will be good or not, therefore taking away from the true meaning of Christmas.

When the earthquake struck

Wednesday 2 Dec 2015 around 2:15 , Everything was going just fine. We were celebrating my best friend Jack's birthday. He had brought in lollypops for the class, the singing of happy birthday rang through the air. Suddenly, like thunder, the ground shook. Violently and unpredictably the ground moved under my feet. Joyful chatter turned into shrieks. The book on the shelf behind me came cascading down as I dived for safety under the table.The carnage kept coming as the class room was stripped of its life. I could feel the air tightening around me,a rubble wall surrounding my only escape.

"Stay under the tables" cried my teacher as the white board came crashing down.

“AAAAAAAHHHHHHH”,some one gave out a blood curdling shrill that sounded like a siren of death. Things had just escalated- the horror of one of my classmates being hurt- or worse jack- was to bad to bare. The earth, still shaking under my feet, felt like a stampede of bulls .

CRASH!!!.... a brick came through the old table and right onto my head.... .A streak of blood trickled down my cheek, my head ached  my vision went all blurry, but I just tried to remember that i was not the only one hurting. I dragged myself away from the hole in the table top where the brick had fallen down. Now curled up in the corner of the the pile of rubble under the table head still aching i fell unconscious.

I woke up with a start, the ground had stopped moving, everything was still. There was an eerie unearthly silence over the whole room. Battered and bruised I crawled through the rubble. I remembered the gash on my head. I looked at my shirt it was covered in blood. That was when I realized how important it was for me to get out of here and get help. I slinked out of the hole that the brick had made. What was my class was now a lifeless bomb sight, like the Gallipoli battlefield. A wasteland of light fittings, glass, bricks, stationary and wood. Small patches of blue red fire litted the ground. No longer was this a learning zone it was a place of destruction and sadness. The east wall was down, the roof was half on and the other half was heaped on the ground- the class that had been there was no longer.

I stumbled through  the mess, I could hair the faint sound of sirens in the distance. I needed to get to the assembly point on the field, that were the rest of the class would be. As I walked I thought about my friends and my family, where are they now?  Are they safe?  Are they looking for me?  All these questions kept running through my mind. Then I got stopped in my tracks... there lying unconscious was Jack!  I ran over to him. His leg was over the other side of a pile of rubble.... wait.... that was to far to still be connected to his knee. I dug through the rubble with my hands as fast as I could. A piece of glass cut my hand but I kept digging. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, I was right, his leg was too far away to be connected. I stared at the lifeless leg next to me, dead flesh, muscle and bone coated in blood. "Jack mmmy best friend ttthis cccccant be true," I stutterd.

It took me a moment to get my head around the situation, I knew he was still alive because he was still breathing but if he lost too much blood he would die. I ripped off my top and wrapped it around what was left of his leg, I saw this in a movie and just hoped it would work. Without thinking I picked Jack up on my shoulder and scrambled to my feet. Looking around me trying to find a way out of the waste land. My only thought was to get to the fire exit closer to the field but it was nowhere to be found. I headed for a hole I saw in the wall before I saw Jack.

It was grueling work getting over the rubble let alone carrying Jack on my shoulders but I knew Jack would do it for me. As I walked across the room I thought about what Jack's life with only one leg and the struggles he would face, that is if he is still alive and keeping him alive was up to me. The sirens grew louder as I emerged from the hole. I could see the school gathered on the field, an ambulance and several police cars were parked at the back gate. One of the girls in my class yelled out. The class turned, my teacher hobbled over to me and he gasped when he sore Jack. He signalled to some paramedics, three of them ran over to me. Two took Jack off me and lay him on the ground.

"He had lost a lot of blood he said but he should live," exclaimed one of the paramedics as they rushed him off on a stretcher.

"Are you ok?" asked the paramedic.

"My head" I spluttered.

"Your head will need stitchers" he informed me, "come on let's get you to an ambulance" he said.

My teacher looked at me and said "you are very brave to have helped Jack, you saved his life you know".

As we set off for the car park I reflected on what had just happened and the situation I was now in- aching head, Jack with only one leg, the school destroyed, not knowing where my family was but my biggest fear now was the after shocks to come.

(4 years latter)

As I sat down at the back of the ambulance it happened again the ground moved under my feet the ambulance rolled down the hill and crashed through a fence sending me flying. I hit the ground with a thud. The ground kept shaking like a never ending storm, everything was moving around me, houses came crashing down, the ground opened up right beside me.  I tried to scramble away but it was too late, I fell into an endless void of darkness. Screaming I sat up and looking around the room, I realized where I was- my bedroom. I lay back and reached up and felt the scar on my head, the constant reminder of that day the earthquake struck.

How we could impact the Waikane Comunity with an "Act of Kindness"

Mark Twain once said "Kindness is a language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see" .  Kindness is a powerful thing that we all have but we don't use often enough.

There are so many random acts of kindness out there that you can do in 5 minutes like opening a door,or helping a friend... ...but I'm thinking a little bit bigger.  This can't have any monetary cost... but everything doesn't always have cost. For example we could have a free sausage sizzle. Now your probably thinking of course that is going to cost money, but I think if we went up to the butchery and talked to them I'm sure we could arrange some kind of sponsorship deal,  it would go a long way to getting a free sausage sizzle.

Another random act of kindness that we could do is one that would only need would be a piece of paper and a pen. We could  go around parking lots and write a little note like 'You are awesome' or 'Have a great day!" and other inspirational quotes then stick them under the window wiper. If we did this in a parking lot with 25 cars it would brighten up lots of people's day.

Lastly, a free car wash. Everybody has seen the weekend carwashes around, that are $2, $3 or even $5 just to get your car cleaned, but what if we changed the sign so it doesnt say $5 but instead it says 'FREE'. Even if your car didn't need a wash but you saw that sign it would tell you that somebody is being kind, and the happiness you get from that would spread to others. You could even combine the sticky note idea and the car wash. Once a car has been washed, put a note on their windscreen.

In conclusion, I think there is so many ways of being kind out there and many of them don't cost a thing.  People need to be kind to each other a lot more... now I'm not saying I'm perfect, but I'll give it a go.  If everyone gives it a try, it will make life a lot brighter.

What will school be like for years 7 and 8 in 50 years time?

In 50 years time most of the same subjects will be taught but in different ways. Take maths as an example, we will not need to know how to add,  but we will still need to know the concepts. This is because there will be other devices to help with the calculations as technology is advancing rapidly. 

For writing we will have things like voice recognition, another technology system, growing rapidly in both accuracy and use in everyday life. Spelling will not matter because the voice recognition technology will be able to spell for us. We will also not be taught handwriting as this will be replaced by voice recognition or typing. This means the time normally used for learning how to write neatly can be used on other topics.

Technology at Otaki college, woodwork, metalwork and sewing will be replaced with online learning teaching things more along the lines of computer coding, computer game making, website development and other computer related courses.

Physical education will still be taught but there will be a change in the sports we play as new sports are created. 

Also the changes in virtual reality will allow us to, when we learn languages, go to the country we are learning about and walk around the streets and see the sights without leaving the classroom.

In conclusion I think that education will change alot in the next 50 years and as time goes on we won't even be going to school, it will be all virtual, at home at a time that suits us. 

What should we do instead of tech day?

Jeffery Benjamin once said, "A  great teacher never stops being a student".  My alternative for tech day would be a whole day where the teachers are students and the students are teachers!

This is what the day would look like:

9.00 - Roll & Notices - Each "student "(teacher) would have to answer to each name called out in a different language.  eg. "Good morning Tom", "Good morning sir", "Good morning Jack", "Bula sir", etc

9.05 - Quiz - At quiz time the "students" would go online to a website called, "Hardest trivia quizes in the world".  They would then have to complete the quiz and get 100% right, if they didn't they would be on womble patrol.

9.15 - Maths - Memorize pie to at least 30 decimal places

10.10 - Brain Break - As the new "students" are quite tall and have long legs they would need to run around the field twenty times.

10.15 - Literacy - The "Students" take turns reading and acting out Shakespere (Romeo and Juliet)

11.00 - Morning Tea - This is reduced to five minutes as there will be fifteen minutes sitting in silence.  Why?  Because the teachers said so!

11.20 - Rosie Project - The "students" now have to act out the Rosie stories that have been written, including costumes.  We will video these and the best ones will be on class page and YouTube.

12.45 - Lunch - Ten minute eating has now been extended to half and hour eating time.  If "students" do not have enough food to last the half hour, the compost bin will be open for service.

1.45 - Reading - The dictonary must be read.

2.00 - Speeches - "Students" will be given five minutes to come up with a ten minute speech on Animal Welfare (Just for you Mr Wynne).

Wow, if I was a "Student" I would be happy in that class - NOT!

p.s "students" will not be allowed to drink coffee

Matariki

                                         
                                           

Matariki is the maori name for a cluster of seven stars that are also known as Pleiades.  They rise in the sky in late May to early June.

Maori people use these stars to mark the start of a new year.  In history the rising of the seven stars told the Maori people when to plant their crops.  The brighter the stars were was a sign of a warmer season and better crops.

Matariki was also a time to remember people who had died in the last year as well as a time to celebrate and feast because the storehouse was all fill with crops, kaimoana and birds.

In the last few years it has become popular to celebrate Matariki again.

As this is a maori topic I have now translated it into te reo maori:

Ko te ingoa maori mo te kāhui o te whitu hoki nga whetu e mohiotia hoki rite Matariki Matariki. Whakatika ratou i roto i te rangi i roto i te mutunga o Mei ki te tīmatanga o Hune.

Whakamahi i te iwi Maori i enei whetu hei tohu i te tīmatanga o te Tau Hou. I roto i te aamu ka korerotia e te aranga o nga whetu e whitu te iwi Maori, ka ki te whakato i to ratou hua. Ko te anaanaraa nga whetu i ko i te tohu o te wa mahana me hua pai.

Ko ano hoki Matariki he wā ki te mahara te iwi i mate i roto i te tau o muri me te rite ki te wa ki te whakanui me te hakari no te mea whakakiia katoa te toa ki te kai, kaimoana me nga manu.

Riro i roto i nga tau torutoru whakamutunga, kua reira rongonui ki te whakanui ano Matariki.


In conclusion, I think that Matariki is a great time to share with Whanau and enjoy time together with some good kai!

Safe or sorry - what is an acceptable amount of time to spend looking at a screen?

My opinion is that an hour to two hours is enough screen time a day aside from work. Tech is an important thing, it can help us, inform us and entertain us but too much technology can be bad for you physically, mentally and socially. 

A lot more work is being done on computers nowadays, via Google, Microsoft and Apple, which means when we get homework we normally use the tech to do it. I reckon I spend 5+ hours a week out of school, on school work. At school, I normally spend 3-4 hours a day working on the computer. Overall this adds up to a lot of hours working on technology per week- and that's just working! 

Now we go into gaming... if you go to a friends house you are most likely to find an Xbox, PlayStation or some other kind of gaming console. Here they play games that range from Call of Duty - Black Ops to Sing star which most kids spend a good 2 hours per day on.  Some of these games are quite violent and tend to make kids slightly more aggressive and changes their behaviour. Watching movies on T.V. can sometimes lead to kids using and believing more stereotypes because they think it's cool. So I think any kind of violent game or movies should be monitored by parents so kids don't become caught up in the technology. 

Watching too much T.V. can also affect your vision which can lead to headaches, blurry eyes, and cause trouble focussing. Scientists say the average boy will spend 4-6 hours a day on technology, if you spent more than four hours straight watching T.V. there is a higher chance that you will be obese. 

I think 1-2 hours is more than enough time for gaming or other technology, aside from work. Work has to be done and there is not many ways around it, so we just have to make sure that we don't spend too much time staring at the screen. We also need to take breaks every now and again from technology to get some fresh air and a run around. 

So that's what I think about how much screen time we should have, what do you think?