Chinese Creation Myth

Yes there are several typos. The warrior photo is the only good one I could find that was that large during the small period of time I had.

This first one has no soudtrack and you can actually hear me.

This one has a soundtrack which unfortunately runs over my voice. It sounds really cool though

The End Came Yesterday

As I write these words this day, May 22nd, I am well aware that 200 million people, "true believers" supposedly went to heaven yesterday as said by the messenger of god Harold Camping. That though, was not the true end, the world will be destroyed on October 21 2011, apparently, as said by Mr Camping. Mr Camping once said the world would end in 1994, and we all know that happened.

What?

We're not talking about that?

Oh, errr.

The end of grade six you say.

Ok, let’s talk about that. Less exciting but more certain, and I like certain, it's very comforting, there's no doubt, no uncertainty. Just facts and... Now I'm rambling.

Back on topic.

I've been asked to answer a few questions about my past year. The first of which is this:

What piece of work and learning are you most proud? (sic)

My work is like my children, it's hard to pick favourites. Not really. I would say my imaginative narrative. When I look at it, I don't think of great storytelling, I think of a venture into a genre of writing which I had not previously explored. I had never really had the opportunity before to just write creatively, so I tried to use this one to the best of my abilities, which if you read it you will find out are not that high. There's a saying that it's the thought that counts and I think to some extent that's true, maybe it doesn't apply so much here, but I really valued this opportunity and this piece of work. I'm proud that I did this, as well as of all the knowledge I picked up along the way about writing stories.

Here's another question: What were your greatest challenges?

Now, I think there are two ways of looking at challenges; the first is that they are bad and that everything should be easy, the second, which I subscribe to, is that challenges are good for the experience that they give us in an area with which we are unfamiliar. The one thing this year that I believe exemplifies this thought is questions during literature circles. Though they were a pain and hard to think of, they gave me some time to think of new angles to look at a text from, and for that I love them. Albeit they took some time to think up, but they gave me a chance to analyse things in a way I had not done before, and for this I also love them. Though they were a challenge, they gave me something in return for the time they took from me, and for that I am thankful.

Another question: Reflecting on your growth this year, what did you learn about yourself as a learner?

This year we created a learning profile about ourselves which gave me a unique opportunity to look at the way I learn and how I think. Here's a quick summary: Listening to music is a good idea - as I am now. I learn best by looking at the details before working my way up to the big picture and for some reason I should sit at the front of the class on the right. I also found out through numerous presentations and speeches that I am relatively good at public speaking, a talent which I hope to use in the future. Does that have anything to do with being a learner?

Probably not, but I gained that knowledge while I was learning, so that has to count for something. It also tackles the growth part of the question which the first part does not. So there.

I now have to evaluate my work habits with these three possible grades to give myself: Needs Improvement, Satisfactory and Perfecto!

My behaviour was in my view satisfactory. There were some sudden outbursts which might need to be controlled in the future, but generally I thought I was pretty good. I, unlike others in my class, did not resort to physical violence even when it was used in some way against me; I just took it like a man while the other person looked sort of stupid afterwards.

My participation was in my view very good, bordering on too much. I would actively participate in class discussions and sometimes even provoke them myself. I would make points and ask questions when I thought they needed to be asked. Some other class members could be described as “mindless drones” (as one someone put it, perhaps ironically), who took the teachers’ word as gospel truth and who would do as told even if they were asked to do something, which in my view was unnecessary, without question. I would question and ask why something had to be done, for if it's not necessary to my learning, why should I do it?

Organisation is an area in which I need help from those around me. I do try to do my homework but I forget to do it sometimes and on occasion it may come in late. I will endeavour to use my planner more next year as it is built to be a tool to prevent such forgetfulness.

My effort is satisfactory bordering on great. As I said above, I don't like to do work I don't have to. Naturally I put less effort in to these projects as well as projects I don't enjoy completing. This is my own perhaps slightly peculiar way of telling myself that I am not a mindless drone.

I now need to think of two goals for next year. If you've read the above post, I think some of them are rather obvious. I need to work on my organisation. Completing and turning my work in on time will undoubtedly move grades in an upwards direction. Now I think just setting a goal is not enough, you must also put together a means to achieve this goal. I will use my planner in the way it was designed to be used. I will also frequently check Moodle in order to keep up with my workload.

My second goal is to try and look at things from new perspectives, not just the easiest and most accessible. I should listen to people more, to learn their own perspective and then compare it to my own. I will look at the pros and cons of each viewpoint before perhaps even changing my own.

Is there anything my future teachers should know about me?

I'd just like to say that I enjoy a stimulating conversation about current affairs and the major issues of our time. In other words I like politics and the controversy and discussion that surround it.

What was my favourite activity in Humanities this year? What did I enjoy about it?

There are two activities that I really enjoyed, and both for the same reasons. These are the Pharaoh iMovie and the Geographical Placement Powerpoint. The first reason I liked them is the medium through which they were expressed. It wasn't words on a paper it was something a little more creative and interesting, something that I had a little more control over. The second reason I liked them is that they were a lot more public than the average piece of work. With most work, only the teacher and I actually see it, as will probably be the case with this blog. With the iMovie and the Powerpoint, however, everyone in my class saw it. That was a great incentive for me to do good work.

What activity do you wish we had spent more time on?

I think the Imaginative Narrative was something that required a bit more time. It's not that often that I get the time to write creatively so I would have appreciated some more time to do so. After the narrative we went straight back into fact-based writing which is the norm at school, and I frankly can do with a little bit less of this style.

What words of wisdom or advice do you have for the upcoming sixth graders?

Challenge. Challenge yourself. Challenge your peers. Challenge your teachers. Challenge the world. Make'em think.

Farewell cruel world!! sort of

Dear Asher

I am no longer in the community. I have decided to leave this place and try my luck Elsewhere.

You will probably not understand the things I am about to describe, but perhaps in the future, once the community recovers from the release of my memories, you will.

I had to leave the community for several reasons, the first of which is this: feelings. You probably know what feelings are from your evening feelings time. But the feelings you talk about during this time - happiness, anger and sadness - to name a few, have not really been felt in this community for a long time. You ask though:

“What about the things we talk about during feelings time?

You and the rest of the community have not experienced, not felt, real sadness in a long time. The sadness you talk about leaves after an hour or two. Real sadness is something so huge that it may take weeks, months or even years to finally shrug off. It is this lack of real emotion which is one of the reasons for which I have decided to leave.

Another perhaps more fundamental reason is the absence of the feeling love. If you ask another person about love they will tell you it’s a term that is no longer in use, and that it’s meaningless. If you have felt love though, as I have and you soon will too, then you will know that is one of the most meaningful and special things in the entire world. A memory that will be coming to you soon is that of a group of people, young and old, sitting together. As you look at them you will come to feel a sort of warm feeling that feels wonderful. It’s hard to explain in words but once you feel it you will know it, and you will feel a unique and special sensation, that will consume your entire being. That, my friend, is love

The last - but not least - reason is the eternal sameness in this world. Since I became receiver of memory I have seen the world in a different way. I have seen something known as colour, and it‘s truly amazing. It is hard to describe to someone what colour is without them seeing it, but in the world you live in everything is the same. The weather, the topography and the colours, they’re all the same. This sameness drives me insane and that’s another significant factor that led me to the decision that I had to leave. I have left in search of a place in which everything is not the same, where there are distinctions and differences, where there will be a diversity which stimulates one’s heart and mind.

You will soon get a memory in which you are on some sort of wooden contraption, and you are accelerating down a hill at a speed so fast it is both exhilarating and terrifying. Of course you don’t know the word hill because all hills were razed years ago by our forefathers. This is different to the world that you currently live in, and all this sameness that keeps any of that from happening is why I want to go. Once I have found a place with contrasts I will feel happier than I ever did in the community. I will feel for the first time in my life, happy.

From Jonas

This is

AlexK

Signing out

Freedom, Love

Gabriel's breathing was even and deep. Jonas liked having him there, though he felt guilty about the secret. Each night he gave memories to Gabriel: memories of boat rides and picnics in the sun; memories of soft rainfall against windowpanes; memories of dancing bare-footed on a damp lawn.

"Gabe?"

The new child stirred slightly in his sleep, Jonas looked over at him.

"There could be love" Jonas whispered.

The next morning, for the first time, Jonas did not take his pill. Something within him, something that had grown there through the memories, told him to throw the pill away"

This is a part of the book the giver. I have to read the above quote and relate it to choice and freedom.

In this passage Jonas says that there could be love in this world. I think this is a statement that if it came true would require some freedom. Freedom to love who ever you want and to chose to love them if you so wish. Love is an emotion that as I have said before can make those who are expeiriencing it do irrational things that if they thought about, they would not want to do. There isa choice in wanting to do these things, and you must first have the freedom to love before you can have the choice to do these things.

In this passage Jonas also throws away the pill for the first time. The pill is something that stops Jonas from having wet dreams and lust, and perhaps even love. With the choice to throw these pills away Jonas is taking a choice for love, and therefore a choice for freedom. The things called freedom and choice though huge and cumbersome concepts can be linked through the statement "freedom of choice". Jonas appears to have achieved this freedom in his own head in a very small way, it seems he has the freedom to chose to disregard the rules and stop taking the pill. In this sate of mind Jonas is exactly what he shouldn't be in this world.

This is what these words tell me about freedom, choice and Jonas.

This is

AlexK

Signing out

Comments

I commented on Akira's and Kathleen's.

Choices, Consequences

I have to write another post about the giver, this time about something that the giver said. He said that people in this world would find it frightening to make teir own decisions. The question is:

Why would peopel find it frightening to amke choices?

I personally find making decisions scary even though I've made them before, unlike those in this book. I always find it hard to make decisions as I am always afraid that if I make the wrong one then that the consequences will be horrible and I'll have to live with them for a while. If I make the wrong choice and I bear the repercussions then I can live with myself as I am the one to suffer. However if someone else suffers the I would feel abosolutely awful, as through my mistake someone else would have to endure something because of my own mistake. I don't know about you but I would feel horrible if I did that to someone, as I have before.

It's a different case with the people of Jonas' community as they have never made a large decision in their life so they would be scared of the concept of a choice. Choices as a thing are pretty scary themselves as generally you have to make one. If your stuck then eventually the pressure builds up as you get closer to the day that you must make your final decision. Once you make it there are tow possible thoughts that could be going through your head. The first one: wow, glad thats over, no point in regretting it, it's all over. The other: no, no, I should have chosen the other, I can still change! NO don't do that, you're just being indecisive. These people have never been through this thought process and it will definitely scare them as it has scared many others before.

We are all afraid of something different, in their case it will be choices this added with the

pressure I have talked about above is enough to bring anyone to their knees. I agree with giver prediction that if they made choices they would be scared.

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff177/salviaforme/album2/monitorthoughts-4.jpg

http://cartoonface.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/scared-cartoon-emotion.jpg

This is

AlexK

Signing out

The Taker

I was told by my teacher to create a blogpost about the book that we are currently reading. The book in question is "The Giver" by Lois lowry, this book is about a boy called Jonas who lives in a place known as the community. The commuinty is run by an authoritarian government that controls it's people, chosing their jobs, their forms of expression, when they are born and when they die. I was asked a question about the book which I must answer in this post:

Why is interdependence fostered in the community?

In a word I think interdependece is fostered in the community for control. If the people all think the same then they are easier to control like sheep. If the people all dependon each other then when one falls they all do leading to a want for the status quo to remain the same. It is obvious throughout the book that all the people must rely on each other: when asher comes in late he is told that he has hindered the learning process and must apologise. If the learning process requires all the students to be present then if one is gone then the system falls. When they Are five they are givenjackets that require other people to do them up creating a trade off I'll do yours if you do mine. This mentality is fostered throughout the lives of all the citizens.

In the later parts of this book the main character is told by the giver
about freedom and love and other things that we take for granted
today but the people in this book have never heard of. Throughout the past years the only person to feel this way was the giver, and he was an individual unable to influence the masses. He fostering of this interdepndence also leads to a sort of go with the flow thinking process in which any independent though is
immediately thought of as not best for the community and purely
individual. It is this sort of independent thinking that the committee
hopes to crush if somewhat unknowingly.

Everyone in this world is deeply mislead, and unfortunately this is where I must end.

This is

AlexK

Signing Out

Hatshepsut Thingamajiggy

This is a presentation that my friend and I made about the egyptian pharoah Hatshepsut, who was actually a woman. She did a lot of cool building projects and actually started trade but you can judge for yourself.

Oh, by the way I'm the one with the slight british accent, the one who speaks second.

This is

AlexK

Signing out

No Shirts and Bathtub Racing while Public Speaking

I'm going to talk about my city connections presentation. I did a presentation discussing the geographic location of Singapore and how this contributed to the success of the city. According to my teacher the success of different peoples varies on where they settled. So, my presentation was about how Singapore the island helped Singapore the city.

I think that I performed well on my presentation, specifically on the actual slideshow, people

complimented on the way that I had layed out my slides and that my graphics were very helpful. They also liked the fact that I had not included much information in my slides, giving away the info in the speech accompaniment. Many people said that they enjoyed my speech, and that it was inspiring watching me talk; albeit about Singapore. I personally thought that the slides were better, as they set the foundation of my entire presentation. I hadn't prepared for this talk and relied entirely on the slides to know what to talk about. Also, I used the graphics on the slides as a basis for a lot of my large of my large hand movements, which apparently people love (that was a really bad add-on).

What would I improve for future presentations/projects?

I got full score, sooooo, not much (is that bad grammar?). I thought that my

presentation/speech was one of the worst I've ever done, but other people - as I have said above - found it very good and even inspiring. Next time I might do a little planning for my speech, just a few points, nothing much. I also ad libbed a bit during the speech, mentioning worthless facts such as the banning of patterned shirts, which had nothing to do with anything.

3) What did I learn from my preparation in addition to the presentations of others?

I learnt from my own presentation that Singapore's location wasn't just key because of the fact that it was central, but also because of the trade winds, which came past Singapore. I learnt from Lily's presentation that two of

the largest industries in Toronto are publishing and meat packing, I learnt from Nick that Nanaimo is on an island in Southwest Canada and is the best place in the world to go bathtub racing. I learnt from PJ that the city of Aberdeen is also known as the Granite City, Allison told me that the New Ulm Fire Department was originally known as the New Ulm Fire Company (no offence, but to me that sounds like they started fires).

Yes, there is a bathtub in that boat

What was my analysis of my performance?

My teacher's analysis was 40/40 but mine is definitely different. I'll put it this way, if 10 was for graphics, 20 for info and 10 presentation I'd give myself the following score:

Graphics 9/10

One of my pictures was of a man's head and another was a graph in which all the sections looked the same.

Information 19/20

I think I did well but I should have mentioned Changi airport

Presentation 8/10

While I spoke with a good clear voice I felt a bit awkward doing it and I rambled on a bit.

Final score 36/40=90%= A

Thats it.

If you want to see the actual presentation click on the link below.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0ByJszGDqzS6GMGQ5MGRhNDEtYzc0Yi00M

TQxLThhYzktN2IzNDU3OTk5ZmY3&hl=en&authkey=CPjWwvMB

Dont click on these ones.

Seriously.

They are boring

Seriously.

You don't want to.

Fine. Do it. I don't care.

http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/speaking-at-podium1.jpg

http://www.agrosalmon.com/images/photos_med/bathtub-race-2010-05-1088.jpg

http://oldnavy.gap.com/Asset_Archive/ONWeb/Assets/Product/750/750974/big/on750974-00vliv01.jpg

This is

AlexK

Signing out

Profile

It seems that you have made it inside my head. Now, I'm supposed to

give you atour of the learning area of the brain and explain what I

need to do to become a better learner.

The Big circles represent my brain

The diagram you can see on the right is of my body, (no I do not look

like that) the orange parts of the body indicate which side of the

body for that limb is dominant. Basically the orange part is the

dominant one, the better one, the white not as proficient .

This blog will be based mostly on a sheet of paper I have with me.

Using the information I have gained by finding out my dominant limbs I

have discovered that I have a profile. The profile tells me how I

learn best and what areas I need to grow in to become a better

learner. It tells me how I can do this, as well as what will happen to

my abilities if I become stressed. It told me that was of the

logical-sequential brain type as opposed to the gestalt brain type. As

the name suggest a person with my type of brain is logical and

sequential, e.g. we like instructions, while a Gestalt person wants to

have the whole picture first and details later. I have used this

information to create this blogpost. Let me tell you that I became

stressed out during the writing of this blog and was by the end,

rather fed-up.

It turns out that I learn best by "visually focusing on and analyzing

the details of information", I think that means that I learn best by

looking at the details, before just focusing on the bigger picture. I

like to think of it as taking things one thing at a time, no need to

rush on when there's still work to be done here. I prefer it if these

details are placed before me in an orderly manner with a clear reason

why one is before two.

I need to sit on the right side of the classroom, at the front of the

class, because this will put me in a better spot from which to listen

and look at the teacher. This particular spot is best suited to me as

my dominant eye is my right eye, allowing it to be used more, and my

dominant ear is my left ear, meaning with it at the front of the

classroom it will be more aware of the teacher. I also need to read

more non-fiction books, I don't know if this has anything to do with

what I'm talking about now, but I'm supposed to read more non-fiction

books. This strikes me as counter-productive, as I am

logical-sequential won't reading a structured, ordered book with lists

and boxes, stop me strengthening the gestalt part of my brain; while

reading a book that branches wildly out into random directions help

the Gestalt part of my brain? For example "The Hitchhikers Guide to

the Galaxy" was a book that totally blew me away, events that I would

usually consider to be rather important e.g. million litres of custard

randomly falling out of the sky or whales falling out of the sky or

petunias thinking while falling out of the sky; completed their use in

the story damn fast. To me this blew everything out of proportion and

I had to sit down and try and comprehend this for a few days. Doesn't

that sound like the Gestalt part of my brain grew?

Strategies that would help me learn would include letting me fidget.

It is stated very firmly that a person with my profile loves movement

and that I would learn better if I were allowed to fidget, say with

clay while I was listening to someone talk. I should also read out

loud (perhaps a non-fiction book?) but not too loud as I must also

practice my active listening skills (my mother has already harped upon

this one). I must use megaphones, as I am now, and I must also listen

to the lyrics of the song I am listening to, as I am now, I don't

think this will help with learning, it's just recommended. Apparently

when under stress my communication skills become less efficient, a

strategy that would help me deal with this is to massage my jaw

(Temporal Mandibular Joint to be precise, bet you didn't know that)

I would like my teachers to know most of the above as well as one

other thing. I need to know why. I need to know why I am learning

whatever it is you're teaching me. I need to know how this will affect

me, me as a human. If you tell me that the Scotia tectonic plate is

placed in the Southern Atlantic ocean and borders the Africa plate,

I'm going to ask you why anybody cares. Why should I care? This has

gotten me absurd stares from my classmates, in their heads they think

"Why can't he shut up and let the teacher dismiss us to go outside?".

My question is why are we inside? I think that a lot of the stuff that

is taught is only useful as trivia and unless you go into that field,

useless, absolutely useless. Okay back on subject, time to talk about

brains and profiles, oh by the way I want my teachers to know that

unless checked I will go on long rants as I just have.

Calmed Down

I would like my teachers to know that I am a visual learner, and that

pictures and slides help me a great deal. During projects when at a

loss I will go and look at a slideshow of what I have to do, it calms

me down and puts me back on feet. If it would be possible to have

these as well as auditory instructions it would help a great deal.

This Blogpost has given me a chance to rant as well as provide some

useful pointers about my educational training. I hope I will look back

at this and realise that back then I was at least a little bit right.

This is

AlexK

Signing out

Resolutions and other stuff

I am here to write about my New Year's resolutions. Now, I'll be straight with you, I find it pretty boring when people ramble on about themselves, so, if you wish, you can get out now or you can face me talk about myself.....
Uninterested people gone now?
Only interested people left?
Good, now I can start.

My first resolution for this wonderful New Year is to eat healthy. There are a lot of people out there who believe in eating healthy, you can just turn on the television and find whole shows full of tips about the said subject. For my entire life, I have been one of those people who has never seen the point in doing this. I mean we're gonna die anyway, right? Unfortunately, I have now come to the conclusion that in order to stay fit and continue playing the sports I love, I must maintain my health to a certain extent, which unfortunately cannot be done without a little healthy eating. In other contexts I had also come to the conclusion that to do something well I must learn to love it and then nurture this love. So I guess my real New Year's resolution, is to trick myself into liking healthy foods. I do not know how this can be done but I sure do hope it's possible.


Now I have to write a second resolution, I have decided that I must work more. My lazy attitude toward life has garnered criticism from some, but I found it an easier lifestyle choice than almost any other possible. This year will - I hope - be different. I will endeavour to work harder this year, as I would like to see what happens to my workload when I actually try, if this doesn't really improve the said workload than I will go back to my old lazy ways. Also I have decided that I would like it if my grade were to improve, I have decided that one of the ways I can achieve this is by as said above - working harder.


Now I'm going to talk about my past experiences, in my experience these stories can be interesting but usually only if the teller of the story tells you so at the beginning of the said story. Look, I just told you about a past experience so why don't you just stick around for this one.


Now I was told to write about the holidays which have just ended for me. I ran through thoughts in my head about what could possibly be interesting enough to write about, but I decided that nothing really was and that this piece of writing will be for my own sake, and not yours.

I went to Sri Lanka during the holidays in question, 

as it happens I also went to Penang, but that's not the point, 

Sri Lanka is. When in Sri Lanka we went to a place 

called Sigiriya, now Sigiriya's main claim to fame is a large rock/mountain on which a father-killing king built a palace/fortress 1600 years ago.  Tourists such as myself have fun climbing up this mountain, if your idea of fun is being 200m 

in the air on the side of a large rock with nothing to 

stop you falling to your death but a few small pieces 

of 70 year old metal. Most of the walk was 

an extremely long stone staircase the path

 to which went from about 1km away from the rock.

 I had a thrilling narrative prepared about my ascent to

 the top but on second thoughts 

I might not write it after all.

Later that day I went on a safari, now usually these things happen in Africa, but this was billed as one so I'll call it that. During this safari we stood up inside the open top jeep and were constantly forced to duck as we passed under low-hanging branches. The animals that I saw that day included elephants, lizards, buffaloes and eagles. There were quite a few elephants that hung out in large herds, eating lots and lots of plant-life. the eagles flew around and called for mates, while my "spotter" also called out just to elicit a reaction from the great birds, 

http://cdn.elev8.com/files/2010/09/healthy-food.jpg

If you're still here, thanks for reading these words!


This is
AlexK
Signing out