Saturday 17 November 2012

TED Talks- Vulnerability


       On Wednesday in English, we watched a TED Talks video by a woman on vulnerability.
The three main points that I learnt in the video were:

  • Vulnerability is about connection with shame, joy and love
  • Believe you're worthy of love and belonging
  • It's a vulnerable world where we numb everything 

      To be honest, I didn't really get what she was talking about. Yes, I did learn a few things, such as my three main points, but I don't think all she said connected very well. She first started talking about a quote: "If you can't measure it, it doesn't exist," and then, she started talking about connections and vulnerability. It seemed like she was trying hard to be funny but overall, I thought it was an okay talk which could've been better. I did learn the true meaning of vulnerability though. 


          A wordle of the video

Wednesday 14 November 2012

My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell


         The book I started reading today was ‘My Family and Other Animals’ by Gerald Durrell, and autobiography. It was about a very large family moving to Greece and their experiences there, mainly the boy named Gerald’s. 
         After reading today, I found out that I had a very bad habit of skipping through the descriptions of the book and just reading the events that took place. I knew this was bad, so I tried to read every single word. The characters or events didn’t really help me learn something about myself, but the details of the book did.
        A passage I particularly liked was:
“Riding side-saddle on their slouching, drooping-eared donkeys, they were shrill and colorful as parrots, and their chatter and laughter echoed among the olive-trees. In the mornings they would smile and shout greetings as their donkeys pattered past”
      I really liked this paragraph for two reasons; One was that it was very descriptive, letting you imagine how it is in Greece and secondly because it sort of showed me the Greek culture, of how they sometimes rode donkeys to places. 
      I’d have to say this book so far is a little disappointing because I don’t think the author gave a very good introduction. I found it very confusing and I only understood the characters when I looked them up online. Hopefully, the book will get better as it goes on. 

The book cover

Monday 5 November 2012

POV Final Assessment - Basketball



I felt a shudder of excitement go through me as we started our basketball game against another class, JuC. We were not doing very well on Sports Day and I knew we would have to dominate the opposition team to be able to claim the Sports Day award for the second time that year.
There were seven of us in on our team. Dressed in bright red and black tutor t-shirts, we were hard to miss. On the back of our shirts, was a quote saying “Be yourself, everybody else is taken,” and a nickname of our choice.
There was music playing in the sports halls, making the adrenaline pump through us and of course, everyone from CFo, my class, started dancing while I sat on the side awkwardly. The courts were not too full, since most of us were playing. I could hear the calls for the ball and the feet stomping on the floor. I heard a cheer go off as one of the teams won. It was now time for us to play.
The buzzer went off and I knew it was go time. Instantly, the opposition grabbed the ball and charged down the court, doing a lay-up as they shot.  
I ran for the ball, grabbing it from the oppositions clutches and sprinted towards our basket. I passed the ball to my team member, Clara, and she attempted to make take a shot. I watched in anticipation as the ball circled around the rim and went in. We high fived in delight but didn’t get too excited, since we knew they were a hard team to beat.
Basket after basket, JuC kept on scoring. We didn’t even bother counting, since we knew it would be of no use. The score was probably 16-4 when it happened.
I snatched the ball from them and was about to sprint down the court when I lost my balance. I threw the ball over to a team member and landed with a thud.
‘Crack!’ went my wrist as I fell onto it. Tears started coming down my face as I strived to get up and reach the sidelines. I tried to hold them in, but they just kept coming.  I hesitantly walked over when I saw my friend, Clara, spazzing out.
“ARUSHI! Are you okay?” Clara asked me.
“Yeah, I think so” I said.
“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh Arushi! Are you sure you’re okay?” She asked again, completely oblivious to the fact that the game was still going on and she was needed.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Go play!” I said, as she headed on to the court.


I felt my wrist tremble as I took a seat on the bleachers when I realized that my wrist was trembling. A teacher hurried over to see what the chaos was about and I was sent to the nurse with a friend accompanying me.
“Your wrist might be fractured, it’s swelling up all over here.” The nurse told me as she put my arm in a skin colored sling. It felt rough against my arm and I didn’t like it one bit. I let out a moan.
“A fractured wrist. During basketball season. Really?” I thought to myself as I was sent to go home.
 

Tuesday 30 October 2012

TED Talks Reflection

My three summary points were:


  • There isn't only one story
  • There are stereotypes everywhere
  • Single stories steal your dignity 
I thought the video was good. There were parts where I sort of zoned out, so I didn't quite get what she was saying but besides that, I enjoyed it. The lady had quite an interesting story to tell about her life experiences such as when she went to college. When she went to college, she had a roommate who quite curious. Being African, her roommate probably thought that she would listen to tribal music all day but when she asked, she realized that she listened to songs like everyone else. For example, Mariah Carey.

I learnt a lot from this video. Especially about single stories. I learnt that only a single story creates stereotypes and steals your dignity, while reading many stories give you dignity so basically, single stories would make you biased. I also learnt about how what you read influenced your writing. The lady talked about how when she was young, she'd read British and American books so her writing would be all about white people with blue eyes talking about apples and the weather till the time she started reading different kinds of books.

In conclusion, I enjoyed the video and learnt quite a lot. 

Monday 8 October 2012

The Mark of Athena


Today during English I was reading 'The Mark of Athena' by Rick Riordan. It's the third book in the Heroes of Olympus series, the one after the Percy Jackson series.

I chose to read this book because I love reading Rick Riordan's books and especially since the book before this one was a cliff hanger, making me want to read this immediately. 

My expectations for this book are high, since it has started off really well. I think by the end of this book, the 7 'chosen ones' will get to Rome and save Nico but there will be a cliff hanger when the two camps combine and try to stop Gaia. 

So far, I've liked everything in this book since it's in the point of view of all 7 people. This really makes me think and keep up with all the characters, so I don't get confused. One of my favorite parts would have to be when Percy and Annabeth reunite, and all the humor in this book.

The only problem I think could happen would be the 7 main characters get separated from each other, and they don't save Nico in time, causing him to die.



(http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmymik/4718862725/sizes/l/in/photostream/) 

Friday 21 September 2012

Chemical Reactivity Reflection



Before we started this unit, I didn't really have an idea about what atoms were, or about the details on the Periodic Table. Three things I've learnt in this unit would be an atomic structure, the different groups on the Periodic Table, and balancing chemical equations.

I will probably never forget endothermic and exothermic reactions, that the number of protons and electrons are equal, and how to balance equations. 

My favorite part of this unit would probably be learning everything that we did learn because almost everything I learnt was new and it's nice to know that next year in chemistry, I won't be so lost.

I'd like to learn more about the Periodic Table. Such as why they're grouped the way they are and the different elements. 

Wednesday 5 September 2012

English So Far



It's been four weeks since our first English class and so far, I've learnt a lot more about writing and have improved a lot. One of the many things I've learnt so far is to show, not tell. When we first started doing free writing during our second English lesson, I was just stating things and not describing them, giving detail, but as the classes went by, I learnt to be more descriptive in my writing and use the 'golden nuggets' that I found in my work. Also, I learnt a lot more about blogging, and how to set up one. Before this class, I'd never had a blog before and I think it's pretty cool that we have one now, so we can share our ideas. 

The thing I like most about English this year is that we have the ability to be independent while working, so while we're working, we can go sit anywhere and listen to music, which I find really relaxing. If I were to choose one thing to add to this class, I'd really like it if we did something to do with reading. Maybe we haven't gotten to that unit yet, but it would be fun to have reading incorporated into our English lessons because I really love reading and it's one of my favorite things to do.