Working with Partners

Last week I talked about literature circles, it turns out no one in my class got a good score on their literature circle, so to make us work harder the teachers had us work with partners. Each person would do exactly half the work, as marked by different colour fonts, though if your partner messed up, your grade went down as well. This was meant as an incentive to get our partners to work harder and turn out better work. I welcomed the fact that I would do less work but I did not like the idea that if my partner messed up I went down to, as I had got a pretty good grade on the previous literature circle.

Pros

Work Together

I guess there were a few pros. The first of which I have mentioned already: I had to do less work, and this meant I could concentrate more on the parts that I was doing more than I usually could. Another is - though I didn't get to do much of this - was that we got to comment on each other’s work and improve it. Apparently the teacher had chosen our groups based on our strengths in different areas of the literature circle. This meant there were specific areas in which we helped each other. I, for example, was relatively good at forming questions, while my partner was good at descriptive language, which was rather useful in this project. We also gained new perspectives on the novel, which helped with our thinking and therefore our writing. 

Obstacles

We encountered a few obstacles which, when we worked together, were easy to overcome. Obstacles such as this: on the first day I forgot my book so I needed my partner to give me ideas on which I could elaborate. She did this, but I found that doing a literature circle on a book I have never read is something very hard to do. Another thing was that the question I posed was a simple question, but I had posed it in a rather complicated manner. My partner helped me simplify the language of my question and thereby got us a better grade.

A new understanding?

Did I gain a new view of this novel?

Yes, I think I did. My partner’s reading skills picked up on intricacies in the novel that I had not noticed. Many of these things told you a lot about the book, and things which explained the way the main character acted. These details also covered many things which the author may have implied. Next time I do a literature circle I will try to read the book in a way in which I can pick up details like my partner did.

This is

AlexK

Signing out

A Discussion

A few days ago, a few of my classmates and I had a discussion about a book called Julie of the Wolves. We had all prepared for the discussion, writing "literature circles" about the book. Literature circles are our opinions of what is going on in the book. In this discussion we were supposed to get new perspectives on the book. Just to give you a bit of background information, this book is about an Eskimo girl, living in Alaska, called Miyax, who runs away from her mean child husband Daniel hoping to make it to San Francisco where her pen pal lives. Along the way she gets lost and is stuck in the Alaskan wilderness. She joins a pack of wolves, hoping to survive among them as part of their pack.

How did this discussion help me understand the book?

This discussion gave me several new takes on the book which I had not thought of. These opinions were very well thought out and the people who had offered them had evidence taken from the book to support them. Though I disagreed with several of them, I still understood what they were talking about and how it seemed they had come to this conclusion. These new perspectives on the book gave me a new way to think about the book as I move on to the next part I must read.

Connections

My group made several connections between the things that happened in the book and stuff that happened that affected us or that we had heard about. Quite a few of these connections had to do with the social fabric of the wolf pack and its similarities to some human situations, such as school and within politics.

Predictions

We had no predictions as such, but there was definitely something which I think all of us agreed might happen. It was this: there will be some sort of friction going on involving Amaroq, the chief wolf. Amaroq seemed something of an enigma to all of us and he also seemed rather unpredictable. This, we think, will lead to a sort of relationship gone wrong between him and one of the other wolves, or even Miyax. We also think that Amaroq might have some sort of hidden agenda which he may use to secure his power beyond doubt.
http://static2.bigstockphoto.com/thumbs/2/7/2/large2/2727097.jpg

This is
AlexK
Signing out

Maybe colonisation isn't too bad

Why is it that Papua New Guinea is behind neighbours Australia and New Zealand technologically, financially and economically?

There is one main reason why this is the case,which is this,colonisation. Australia was turned into a penal colony in 1787 by the Brits. Over one hundred and fifty thousand (150,000) people went to Australia. Mainly criminals who were sent there for their crimes but also freemen who wanted to start a new life. This meant that thousands of educated people went to Australia. People such as Francis Greenway, an architect who went to jail for 14 years because he forged an official document. Greenway designed many of Sydney's early buildings, some of which are still around today. Sydney was ruled in its early days by someone called Captain Arthur Phillip. Phillip was determined to develop Sydney and Australia in general.It was people like him who started Australia's growth towards where it is today. Places such as Victoria and New Zealand were started by freemen who wanted to start anew outside of Sydney. An interesting fact: New Zealand was originally going to be part of the federation of Australia, made up of the different states, but it opted out at the last moment. There is still a line in the Australian Constitution that says if NZ wanted to join the federation at a later date it would be possible. It's still there after 109 years. If you Kiwis are interested in that option, then run the video at this address in your country:  http://www.abc.net.au/tv/gruentransfer/thepitch.htm

The case of Papua New Guinea (PNG) was totally different. Between the 1600s and the 1960s there was a large amount of colonisation going on around the world as the Europeans started to trade more. Now, the Germans came into the game rather late, in the late 1800s. So they tried to colonise everything that they could in the fastest time possible, including PNG. Now the British thought that the taking of PNG by the Germans would upset the balance that the colonial powers had in the Pacific. So they ruined the Germans' party and hopped into PNG as well. Now what must be taken into account is that the Dutch controlled one half of the island, so there was only one half left for the taking. This half was split in half: the northern half was German, the southern British.The British were only there to stop the Germans, so they didn't develop anything big in their half. The Germans for some reason didn't either.

 So PNG wasn't developed for a while, then World War One occurred and the Germans were kicked out. Australia was put in charge by the British. After World War Two the new United Nations decided that PNG was not ready to be independent, it was not advanced enough. Australia was put in charge of getting it in to shape, so PNG was a late starter in the modernisation process compared to Australia and New Zealand. It only became independent in 1975.

This is why Australia and side-kick New Zealand are so far "ahead" of PNG: colonisation. We started modernising before they did, basically. So, if you want your country to get ahead, get colonised!
http://www.heritage.nsw.gov.au/images/media/lighthouse.JPG
BTW I am Australian and therefore biased.

This is
AlexK
Signing out

Mangroves, Why I Care

I have just been on a overnight field trip to a nature park in Kuala Selangor. Kuala Selangor is unique in that large amounts of pteroptyx tener, a species of firefly, congregate there on a nightly basis. The fireflies come because of a type of mangrove tree known as Sonneratia Caseolaris, locally known as the Berembang tree. So naturally the mangrove forests here are greatly valued by the community. During this stay my class and I planted some Rhizopora mangrove trees in an area that was in great need of environmental help. The society that arranged this opportunity has an aim to plant 200 mangrove trees per month.

So, each member of my class attempted to plant one of these trees. Some didn't, but that's another story. Now the fact that I planted this tree is rather important. It helped the society reach its aim of 200 trees a month, leading to an achievement that might help them get more donations to help the mangroves. Leading hopefully to a goal which helps the environment even more.

Now, you've seen the title and you probably prefer it if I actually answered the question of why I care about these mangroves. The first reason is the animals that live in these mangroves, which I don't think should become extinct. Now don't get me wrong, I am not a "tree-hugger", in fact I support urbanization in some areas of the world, but I think that no species should become extinct and that all species are equal. But it's still survival of the fittest and right now humans are the fittest.

Mangroves are extremely important when it comes to sea-based natural disasters. They prevent strong winds from hitting villages, as the mangroves are banded together and do not fly into the air. They also have a large amount of roots tangled through each other that go into the sea. This prevents large tidal waves from getting through. These two features combined lead to an ideal protection against large storms and hurricanes, saving lives and property.

This is why I care about mangroves, they save and support both animal and human lives. If you want to know more about mangroves, go to this website to find out more: http://www.wwf.org.my/about_wwf/what_we_do/forests_main/the_malaysian_rainforest/types_of_forests/mangrove_forests/

This is
AlexK
Signing out

Joshan the not so Great

Tantrums, Tantrums

When I was in year 6 in my old school we had a presentation for the whole school to see. We all did a wonderful piece of art and we left pieces of paper for people to comment on our artwork. My best friend Joshua had done the best picture in the whole year so, naturally his artwork got a lot of comments. One 6 year old who was not so great at spelling wrote a few scribbles that looked something like "Good Job Joshan" .

Then everyone in the year started calling Joshua "Joshan", the name was easy to remember and quite catchy we thought, we all liked it except for Joshua. I'm sorry to say that I was one of the people who were most actively involved in getting others to call him Joshan.
Joshua liked it for a while but it must have become tiresome for him as he soon began to complain. We still called him Joshan despite his pleas and this appeared to annoy him a lot, we thought this was funny as Joshua threw great tantrums.

I'm not sure how much Joshua was hurt by this. He seemed to maintain healthy self-esteem throughout this period. Maybe it just annoyed him and was just another thing that he faced in life. He resolved to not answer to the name Joshan, but this was impossible as no-one called him Joshua or by his preferred nicknames Joe and Josh.I would liken it to homework: something that you don't really like but you have to put up with.

 This was still going on as I left my school to come to ISKL and I therefore do not know how this situation developed following my departure for KL. I hope that these developments played out to Joshua's advantage and that he is no longer troubled by such behaviour. I have apologised to Joshua previously and still regret my actions.

Today, on reflection, I would definitely stop calling someone by a disliked nickname once they had told me to stop. I would also strive to come up with a nickname which I, and most importantly they, liked. I would also try to stop other people from calling a person in this manner.
http://static.becomegorgeous.com/img/articles/how_to_deal_with_temper_tantrums.jpg
2 Goals that help everyone:

1. I will try to be openly friendly with everyone I meet.
2. I shall find out how to say a few words of Korean and other frequently used languages at school, so I can make others feel welcome and surprise them.

This is
AlexK
Signing out

"There is nothing half so much worth doing as simply messing around with boats"

Times I showed courage hmmmm come back to me in 1/2 hour.
(1/2 hour later)

I think I've got it. This is the time I showed courage. My parents had decided to send me sailing on the lake in Canberra. I thought that this would be rather fun, sailing around the lake all day. Now the first thing the people at Canberra Yacht Club did was demonstrate how to put together a type of boat known as a topper. The topper is a very small boat as demonstrated by this photograph.
So,in the morning us beginners we were paired up amongst ourselves. My partner was a girl who didn't seem to be the kind of person who was there because she wanted to be she seemed to be the kind of person whose brother was doing it and her parents sent her there as well. Anyway, in the morning we went sailing around the bay that the yacht club owned. The wind was apparently good and at times our boat went fast.
In the afternoon:

The wind had picked up at it was blowing extremely fast for this lake. We got into our toppers and set out now the set out of the bay.The bay is an oval shape on the southern side of the lake it is about 200m. East to west and 100m. North to south. On the north side there is an opening to the rest of the lake which boats sail through to reach the rest of the lake. We sailed to the opening and alas, catastrophe struck the boat capsized and we were thrown out of the boat boat fast as lightning, even though lightning is bad near lakes.

As we fell into the water she hit her leg on something and began screaming!! We were wearing life-jackets so we floated but the water was still freezing cold the movement of the water brought out and back into the water again and again. The instructors came over and pulled her out of the water but I had to stay in I had to turn the boat over so I could continue sailing it was viewed as a training exercise. The boat was slippery as I tried to tip it over but eventually it became obvious that this was futile.
 The instructors were just about to throw one of their own in when BANG the boat turtled or in other terms tipped over completely. The mast was vertical pointing straight down. My only hope to get it back upright was the centreboard, the board coming out of the bottom that is inserted as you launch your boat that is there for balance. I grabbed the centreboard bt my numb, cold fingers couldn't hold on it slipped back through the hole through which I had put it minutes earlier. To cut a long story short the instructor managed to pull the boat back the right way up and I was brought inside and spent the rest of the day huddled up in a towel. The winds had been judged to dangerous for beginners and everyone was brought inside.

This experience changed my perspective on sailing I now viewed instead of a fun recreational activity but as a game me against the lake trying not to fall in gradually I fell in less and less and now I rarely ever do. Sailing is now easily my favourite sport and I love sailing.

This is
AlexK
Signing out

Hominids, Art, Caves and Me

This activity was interesting and relevant to the current unit of inquiry. Acting as social scientists we "uncovered" "artifacts" that were linked to prehistoric times. All of these "artifacts" had some connection to art whether it be a painting, sculpture or something ornamental they all had something to do with art. I found this activity both interesting and enjoyable.

How did early humans use art to express their prehistoric culture?

These paintings such as the one to your right demonstrate that not only did these people have enough time to hunt and gather for food they had enough free time to express themselves and their culture both religious and otherwise through art.
There are a few possible explanations as to why they painted animals instead of say themselves. The first is that these animals were extremely important to them as a culture, tribe and perhaps even person.
As they provided food to survive on as well as fur which could be used for clothing and protective screening.

Another explanation is that these Hominids were painting the sky. Now you might say: "Those aren't clouds, they're bulls and horses". Some scientists believe that they were painting the constellations in the night sky. A certain cave has paintings of bulls of which the layout is almost identical to that of the constellations in the night sky.
All in all this shows that the early humans were efficient enough to spare time to use at their own leisure. So they might not have been Picasso but they were still artistically creative back then.

This is
AlexK
Signing out

Me? A Social Scientist, Really??!!

                                           Thai mural: I remember this one it has my favourite
                                           character Hanuman the White Monkey.

                                                                  The Parthenon

If I were to become a social scientist that is, either a historian, archaeologist or a geographer my preference would be to become a historian. This appeals to me because I love history much more then I will ever like maps or digging in the dirt.This is because even as a young child I was interested history because my mum worked at a Thai museum, I would just walk around the museum (it was a converted temple) staring at murals of the legend Ramakien. I also just love leafing through books and looking through them as a window into the life and culture of someone long dead. Ever since I started to read, I read about history with my mother, even now one of my favourite books is " A Little History of the World " by Ernst Gombrich. Last but not least I would love to be a historian so that I could escape this sometimes horrible reality and go to the world of the of the Ancient Greeks where there was no man called Glenn Beck with a TV show.
     sacredsites.com                                                     This is

    thailandsworld.com                                                 AlexK

                                                                                  Signing out

Who am I

I'm Alexander and I'm from Australia. I live in Kuala Lumpur
 in Malaysia with my mum, dad and my dog. I have spent most
of my life away from my home in Canberra, Australia.

The last three books I have read are "The Dragon Heir" by
Cinda Williams Chima and it is the third book in a series of which the
second is "The Wizard Heir" another book I have just read. These books
are within the fantasy genre and are about wizards and such. Last but not least
is "Sir Thursday" by Garth Nix another fantasy book that mostly takes place
in the world of The House which is populated by Denizens and Nithlings.

The last movie I saw was SALT an action movie with Angelie Jolie and
Liev Schreiber. It has a large amount of fight scenes and it is about Russian
spies implanted into The United States of America until "Day X" when they would do
everything they could to destroy the USA.  

My academic goal for this year in is to do well and enjoy learning
and when my grades are displayed to be more than pleased with them.

As I am new to my current school my social goal for this year is
just to make enough friends to be able to enjoy myself at this school.

If there was a prize for my favourite and most valued vacation memory it
would be a tie between New Year in Paris and a cruise on Halong Bay in Vietnam.

These are the first five adjectives that come to mind when I think of myself:

1. Smart
2. Politically aware
3. Bookish
4. Avid
5. Awesome 

This is
AlexK,
Signing out