Congratulations to Job Applicants

These people have applied for and won these jobs

Ashleigh: Sign Writer, Accountant, Checklist Charlie
Blake: Green Team Leader
Brianna: Environmental Spy Person, Miss Clean-it, Scribe, Distribution Agent
Daniel: Communications Consultant
Charlotte: Art Advisor
Elizabeth: Teller, Payroll, Police
Estelle: Music Roadie, Scribe
Georgia: Checklist Charlie, Distribution Agent, Teller, Scribe
Josh: Sports Resource Guy, Art Advisor
Jim: Climate Controller
Kara: Teller, Sports Resource Girl, Distribution Agent
Kenya: Miss Clean It, Payroll Officer, Sign Writer

Konrad: Time Keeper, Photographer, Librarian, Encourager

Lauren: Teller
Logan: Police, Encourager, Green Team, Resource Regulator
Malachi: Accountant, Odd Jobber Daily Notices Reporter
Matt: Communications Consultant, Odd Jobber
Matthew: Police, Gringotts Bank Manager, Resource Regulator, Green Team
Max: Technician, Computer Help Desk, Police
Megan: Health Officer, Checklist Charlie
Nancy: Art Advisor, Accountant
Noah: Police, Encourager, Resource Regulator, Communications Consultant
Oliver: Technician
Robert: Accountant, Technician
Sam: Chief Distribution Agent, Accountant
Sylvia: NP, Accountant, Scribe
Taylor: Chief Technician, Encourager, Mr Staple, Resource Regulator
Tim : TC’s PA, Accountant, Communications Consultant, Encourager
Tori: Quiz Miss, Payroll, Sign Writer, Checklist Charlie

Wiri: Communications Consultant, Mr Clean-it, Caterer

I haven't given anyone more than three jobs so far. Payroll staff will start their job this week. The jobs underlined will start being paid this week.

Come on Q Zealanders - if you don't apply, you can't get paid.

Spelling Programme - Term One

Most of you will have 10 spelling words to learn each week.

The first place to get your words is from any that you got wrong in your Friday test the week before.

Next, find errors in any of your books and learn them.

If you still don't have 10 words, select enough topic words from the whiteboard list to make up to 10 words.

After you have checked your list with TC, you will do a buddy test (with your random buddy) - usually on Tuesday.

Your parent test can be on Wednesday or Thursday nights, then the Friday test on.... Friday.

Etymologists Group

1. Find a word in the dictionary which you find interesting
2. Copy the word with the pronunciation in brackets beside it
3. State whether it is a noun, verb, adjective etc.
4. Read the definition carefully and write it in your own words
5. Put the word into a sentence which demonstrates its meaning
6. Write the origins of the word
7. Memorise the word and try to use it at least twice throughout the week

Thinkers' Keys

What a fascinating picture... What could it be???

• Round up your Random Buddy and come up with 10 possibilities - be very creative
• Put your ideas into one Activity Book
• Copy them onto a Word Document on the computer (have your page landscape)
• Type your names onto it
• Copy and paste the graphic from above with a brief explanation of your imaginative concept.
• Print it off and add detail and colour to the picture.

Cabinet Ministers

Congratulations to Blake and Taylor who have been chosen by TC to be Cabinet Ministers for Room 13 this year.

Class Council Election

Congratulations Georgia on being elected Room 13 Class Councillor for 2008 and to Ashleigh who will be your deputy.

Personal Investigations - A Parent's Perspective - Sarah Platt

Our daughter Rebecca is just finishing up two years in Room 13 and Terri has asked me to comment on how we found the ‘Personal Investigations’.

To start with the concept of ‘Personal Investigations’ was a new to us; a long way outside the comfort zone of ‘regular homework’. It took our daughter - and us - a little while to get our heads around it. But as time went on and Rebecca got to see the interest and scope of what other students were choosing to do for theirs, she began to be comfortable with choosing her own personal investigations.

Once we got used to this approach to homework, we began to really appreciate what an extraordinary opportunity to learn and explore it offered. What she could choose to do was literally wide open - any interest whatsoever - any strength we might have to pass onto her - any topic that was pertinent to us - any curiosity that was tickling her interest. She has done eight personal investigations over the last two years, that range from video interviews, PowerPoint presentations on Mozart, designing and constructing a scale kitchen with appliances and finally raising $1000 for gifts to go towards saving lives by buying a fresh water pump and other things for an African village.

Sometimes we have had to encourage her in her choices, other times she has just come up with them. S ometimes she has done the investigations fairly independently, and other times they have taken a lot of parental guidance, input and encouragement. How much or how little we have wanted to contribute has been up to us. Sometimes her investigations have been easy, and others very demanding and time consuming. The beauty of them is that she or we get to choose.
I can’t stress enough what an amazing opportunity this kind of homework is. Every family has strengths, passions and interests that can be utilised. Every child has strengths and interests that can be tapped into.

I think now that Terri has been doing this for a couple of years, and there is now an extensive list of what students have been up to, it should be a little easier for new students and parents to get their heads around. All my husband and I can say is this is a fabulous approach to homework. You and your child will get as much out of it as you want to put into it. Make the most of this wide open opportunity. We don’t always get given such great scope in life.

Sarah Platt
Sarah Platt Artworks
www.sarahplatt.co.nz

Personal Investigations

You will complete a Personal Investigation every term. The deadline is the first day of the following term. Here is the process:

1. Decide your topic
2. Write an investigation question
3. Email your investigation topic to TC by the end of Week Three
4. Decide how you will present it
5. Do your research
6. Carry out your presentation
7. Present your investigation to Room 13
8. Get feedback from Q Zealanders
9. Fill in self assessment sheet and insert into your Portfolio

You need to choose a topic which interests you – here are some previous ones:

• How can I invent a new game?
• What techniques did Vincent van Gogh use?
• How can I make a beer powered radio?
• How can I learn to do swing bowling?
• How can I choreograph a dance?
• How can I write some music?
• How can I design a new airliner?
• What are some of the buildings in Scotland?
• How did Henry VIII’s wives die?
• How can I learn to draw a face?
• Can I make a digital game?
• How can I make a papier mache horse?
• How can I make a wooden box to store our sports gear?
• How can I build a model of the Eiffel Tower?
• How can I design a new kitchen?
• How can I design a new icecream flavour?
• How is a swimming pool kept clean?
• What is the Chinese Zodiac?
• How can I build a wind turbine?
• How are igloos built?
• How can I raise funds to buy a water pump for a village in Africa?
• How can I build a hedghog shelter?
• How can I make a sweatshirt?
• How can I make a skateboard / scooter?
• How can I build a volcano model?

Presentation methods must all include a talk and should demonstrate what research was done. Here are some options (but not the only ones):

• A booklet
• A poster
• A speech
• A demonstration
• A PowerPoint
• A model
• A blog
• A game
• A dance
• Whatever it is you have designed and made
• A song...

So get started now. Begin with any topic you are interested in. Not completing an investigation is not an option!

Homefun

You have a Homefun Diary which you need to bring home daily. You will write in your deadlines and other reminders for you and your adults. It is a good place to put school newsletters and occasionally permission slips for activities. Please ask your adult to fill these in and then you can return them the following day (before they have a chance to get lost).

You will need to ask your adult to sign your diary each day to show they have seen it. It will help you if you have a regular homefun routine. Aspects of the routine you will need to work out with your adults are:

• when the homefun will be done
• where the homefun will be done
• when and where your adult will sign the book
• where the book (and any other equipment required to complete the homefun) will be put once it has been signed - I suggest it should go straight back into the school bag.

Homefun will be:

• Daily reading (books - either fiction or non-fiction, magazines, newspapers etc) - at least 20 minutes Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday - Sunday)
• Basic facts practice (more on this later)
• Deadline work that hasn't been completed in class time
• Regular spelling
• A personal investigation each term (more on this later)

Homefun is checked daily at school. There will be a S100 reward for 90+% completion and S200 reward for 100% completion per term.

Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should Personal Equipment be Named

Please don't name pens, pencils, rulers, pencil cases, twink pens, highlighters, Jovis, coloured pencils, scissors, shoes, sandals, clothing items.............................. unless you want to spend a lot of money and time replacing them when they go missing.

Swimming

Swimming will be on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, so togs and towel or a note will be needed each of those days. Goggles are helpful, but not compulsory.

Brain Food

These foods are fine for snacking (in our longer before morning tea session) as agreed by Q Zealanders:

• Non 'Juicyish' or messy fruit or vegetables such as apples, bananas, grapes, apricots, carrots, celery, dried fruit, cherries or cucumber.


• Crackers, cheese, popcorn, unsalted nuts, buns and sandwiches

The food must be healthy - no salty, sweet or fatty foods please.

All students need to have a drink bottle with water at school every day also.

Rachel (Nutritionist to the Hurricanes, Turbos and Room 13), please comment. We would like your expert opinion on this important matter.

Statistical Investigations

For Maths we are learning to carry out Statistical Investigations - into use of computer / digital / communications / information technologies in Room 13 homes. We have all been involved in designing an investigation and gathering data.





Now we are using Excel to graph our findings. We are working out what type of graph suits the information we have.





What to do with our graphs?



Once you have decided which graph is most useful:

1. Copy and paste your chosen graph onto a Word document.


2. Give it a title that people will easily understand


3. Type a wise statement about what you have found out from your investigation.


4. Once okayed by TC, print it off to copy to your digital portfolio

Blog Comments

Some blog comment criteria

• You need to put your name to blog comments, otherwise I won't publish them.
• Check your spelling, because I can't publish things that don't make sense.
• Make sure your comment says something - I won't be publishing nonsense comments

Now... get commenting - Q Zealanders and your Whanau. We need to know your thoughts and opinions.

Room 13 Class Treaty

Here is last year's Treaty. Read through this and if you have any suggestions for improvement, send me a comment on this blog. I think it would be good if we could make it a bit simpler.

Once we've agreed, we'll sign it and put it on the wall.

The Treaty of Q Zealand

Article One: How we will Treat Each Other

We agree that we will:

• be courteous
• be unselfish
• be respectful
• be kind to each other
• help and support each other
• be fair
• not hurt each other physically
• not put each other down
• only borrow items with the owner’s permission
• encourage good behaviour

Article Two: How we will Treat Our Environment

We agree that we will:

• tidy up after ourselves and each other
• respect our environment
• have no physical action in the classroom
• look after our ICT equipment
• cause no intentional damage to our classroom or surroundings

Article Three: How we will Treat Our School

We agree that we will:

• be good role models and leaders to other children in our school
• make visitors and new people feel welcome
• look after the people who look after us
• do our duties and jobs with pride and honour
• not drop litter and consider picking up others'
• own up if we break / spill something
• own up if we do something we know we've done something wrong

Treaty of Waitangi

The Treaty of Waitangi, signed on 6 February 1840, is the founding document of New Zealand.

The Signing of the Treaty
The Treaty of Waitangi was first signed at Waitangi on 6 February 1840. It represented an agreement between the British Crown and over 500 Māori chiefs of New Zealand.
There are a number of reasons why a treaty was seen to be needed. These included the increasing lawlessness of traders and settlers so there needed to be some form of governance, and the interest of other countries such as France and America in colonising New Zealand. The Crown recognised New Zealand as an independent nation after the signing of the Declaration of Independence (1835); so any issues regarding governance needed the agreement of Māori.
This agreement took the form of the Treaty.

Waitangi Day
Approximately 45 Māori chiefs signed the Treaty at Waitangi on 6 February 1840. It was then taken to further meetings in the north, before several copies were made and distributed throughout the country to collect further signatures. This process took six months.
Although we commemorate Waitangi Day with a public holiday today, it was not always recognised as such. While annually marked and celebrated as a significant date in the history of New Zealand, Waitangi Day was not declared a public holiday until 1974, when it became known as New Zealand Day. The name was changed back to Waitangi Day in 1976 to honour the significance of the Treaty itself.

Traditionally, the Prime Minister, high-ranking government officials, and often the Leader of the Opposition attend celebrations at the Waitangi. However, in past years protests over the Treaty and subsequent Waitangi Tribunal claims have often meant that senior officials celebrate elsewhere.

Computer Survey

Click Here to take survey

Mihimihi

Your challenge is to memorise this by 21st of March.



Tena koutou, tena koutou,
tena koutou katoa!!

Ko ……………………… taku ingoa.
No ……………………… ahau.
Ko ……………………… toku mama.
Ko ……………………… toku papa.

No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou,
tena koutou katoa