Netbooks.

Netbooks

Getting our netbooks this year was a huge success. Since all of our students were receiving netbooks, it was going to be a big part of our learning.  I was in the year seven extension class last year and we had received our netbooks at the end of 2011 so we were quite familiar with them and I was so happy to get it again.

We had used the netbooks mostly for writing, reading and inquiry. It was a big milestone to our learning.  Everyone’s eyes were glued to the netbooks because we were so obsessed with them that we didn’t want to go off. The only thing was that we couldn’t take our netbooks home like the other schools did. We could only take them home at the end of the year when they were fully paid for by our caregivers.

The netbooks were a great help because we all individually received one and I could just keep all my documents and files to myself. It was also a great help because we didn’t have to bother the teachers by going to them every now and then to check our work or go to the ICT suite. Instead we could just share our documents with our teachers on Google docs.

Although we received our netbooks this year and had the chance to go on them every now and then, I still wish that we could’ve used them more for all of our learning. Getting our netbooks was a wonderful experience and I can’t wait to take my netbook home and use it in the future.

Tatiana

Moment of success !

My moment of success was when I was about 9 years old. I had gone shopping in the mall at Manukau and entered a dance competition. Any age from 5-13 could join in. My mum thought it was a good idea for me to enter the competition. The dance had to be cultural and I knew a lot of cultural dances but my Nana told me to learn a new one for the competition.

We went to my aunty's house so she could teach me to dance. We had about 4 days till the competition so we had to practice fast. My aunty decided to teach me a cook island dance and I was familiar with the song so I could get the moves fast. I had to shake my hips a lot and it was tiring but I ould manage to do it.

I was nervous because I wondered if the other competitiors had a better dance than me and had a bigger chance of winning. I practiced every night and day. My costume was made the night before and it looked magnificent. I had a humongous skirt with big pointy leaves sticking out. I had a flowery outfit and it was stunning.

Then on the day of the competition. I went to the place where it was held with my mum and nana. I was going to get changed there so that was good. I watched lots of children walking into the hall and I started to get nervous. Everyone watched children dancing and they looked awesome but I think I had the best costume.

Almost 12 dances had been performed and after that, a lady walked up to the stage with a piece of paper and a microphone. She called out my name and said that it was my turn.I was so shy and nervous but my family came to watch and I wasn't quite shy anymore. As I walked up to the stage people started clapping for me and I could hear the voices of my family cheering for me.

Then everything went quiet and the song started playing. All I could think of was my dance and the song. I remember that my face started to fill with redness and my eyes started to water, but I kept on dancing and soon, everything was okay. When it was time for me to stop and shake, everyone started cheering and my nana walked up to the stage to dance around me even though she wasn't supposed to.

When I finished dancing I was smiling as everyone started clapping for me. There wasn't a big crowd but they sure did make a lot of noise. I walked off the stage loud and proud jumping around like a little bunny rabbit. My family ran up to me and said I did well.

Then, when all the dancers finished dancing, the judges walked up to the stage with a big and two little trophies. They were talking about how awesome each performance was, but there was just one person who stood out. They first announced the person who came third. It was a girl and everyone clapped for her. She was awarded the little trophy but she had a huge smile on her face for coming third.

Next, they announced the person who came second. My name was called out and my family started cheering and screaming. I walked up the stage with my costume on and smiling away. They awarded me a trophy and a certificate. My heart was beating so fast that I couldn't think at that moment.

When we went home, my family was congratulating me so much and I was just so proud of myself. The trophy is still in our wall unit and I look at it every time I walk pas it. The trophy reminds me of my sweet moment of success.

L.I : Explanation of a Sandstorm.

Sandstorms.

A sandstorm is strong dry wind blowing over the desert that raises and carries along clouds of sand or dust. They often appear as solid walls of dust as much as 5,000 feet high.

The strong winds are caused by intense heating from the ground and makes it strong enough to move full sand dunes. Air is unbalanced when heated and this causes mixture with higher winds in the troposphere and lower winds in the atmosphere which creates the tough surface winds.

Sandstorms are most likely to occur in the Sahara Desert or anywhere where rain is unlikely to come. Sandstorms can happen anywhere where the earth is dry. They usually happen on hot summer days under certain atmospheric conditions.

Sandstorms can dry up water, people, plants and anything really that contains water. It can also cause blindness. Thousands of tonnes of sand and dust can be picked up in a sandstorm or duststorm.

If sandstorms happen in a town, it causes health problems, particularly those with lung problems or asthma-related conditions. They also clog up water pipes or air filters. Sometimes it's dumped over the sea and the effect of it is devastating when flood waters dump tonnes of mud into the sea, clogging the gills of sea creatures,  which means wherever the sand or dust is put, it will cause suffocation to animals, plants and even humans.

Recycling Presentation !

Tamaki's Rugby World Cup!

Tamaki's Rugby World Cup!

Wow! All dressed up in countries,face paint splattering everywhere, everyone at Tamaki Intermediate was just oh so nervous as it was Friday 9th of September 2011 and also the opening ceremony for Tamaki's Rugby World Cup. Every student at our school was dressed up in different clothes for the supporting of the Rugby World Cup. It was going to be a day filled with laughter, competing, and dont forget fun!

The bell to finish morning tea had rung, and everyone rushed to their classes just to get ready for the opening ceremony. It was classes competing against each other for the title of "Tamaki's Rugby World Cup 2011 winners". All classes each represented different countries. Room 3 were representing New Zealand, so we were the hosts. Their were other countries such as Australia, South Africa, France, Tonga and ofcourse, the Flying Fijians.

All classes had rushed to the netball courts just in front of the hall, holding up our great big flags loud and proud. It was a beautiful and sunny day, perfect weather for the day that was just about to start. Room 3 had been called into the hall first as we were the host. Just as we stepped in, our very own national anthem had come on and just then, I had felt like a proud kiwi.

Next up were the Australians, then the South Africans, then France, Tonga, and last but not least the Fijians. At first Mike, our host welcomed us all and then had begun talking about the past Rugby world cups and who had won! Just to start of our games, Mike had placed a balloon on a tee and had asked one of our students, Lika to hold it for him. Lika was so colourful, all dressed up in red and white, he looked like one of the vans in Otahuhu. There was a countdown for Mike to kick the ball 5..4..3..2..1 !

It was time to go outside because our games were about to start. First up was a game called Chip and Chase. You had to chip the ball and then chase it. The first team to be seated wins. There were many other games such as the powerful scrum, the challenging Daniel Carter challenge where you had to kick the ball and another person had to catch it. Nobody could, except for Ina and Chae, representers for South Africa.

My favourite was the chant. The chant was for every class to perform an item or song and they get scored on it. Room 3 Kiwis did the Haka. Vea and Lika started them of. Other classes sang songs except for room 7 who were the Fijians. They had performed a Fijian Haka. Their one was pretty awesome but I think room 3's were the best.

Finally, it was time to tally up the scores. Everyone was nervous and you could tell on peoples faces that they really wanted to win. At last the judges had walked up. The winners for Tamaki's Rugby World Cup 2011 is.......South Africa!
Apparently our place was second with France, Australia third, Fiji was fourth and Tonga last.

Friday the 9th of September was a really fun day and I think we should have another day just like this but maybe add more games because there were only a few that we played except same weather, it was nice and sunny. I felt very tired and also proud that we came second but we still tried our best and even though we came second, we will always be winners to us.

Favourite Subject

My favourite subject is Art. I enjoy art because I like drawing and colouring using paint, pastels and much more. I like being crafty and making things in art. The difference between the art I take to another country is that I have to go to a place like technology to learn about art well other schools have specialist or they just have their own teacher to teach them in their own classes.

Learning Google Presentation

Today I learnt how to make a presentation on google docs. What I did on google docs presentation was my title and my name. Then I opened new slides and wrote my question and answers. Google Docs presentation is great for procedures, experiments and instructions.