Ambassador - Video Conferencing

In 2010 I have been an ambassador for Pt England School.  My role has been to talk about my learning to hundreds of visitors who have come to our school from all over the country and around the world.


This video shows you what I had to say about how Video Conferencing helps us learn - and is fun

Erene -Video Conferencing from KPE TV on Vimeo.

This is the transcript of my presentation:

"We really enjoy using Video Conferencing to connect with other people and to help us with our learning.  Sometimes we connect with kids our own age and find out about their lives and talk about issues together.  Sometimes we connect with experts who can help us with our Inquiries.  And sometimes WE are the experts and people contact us to help them.

 At the end of last year we were part of the Global Rock our World Project on Tolerance. 

 As part of this our students got to collaborate in recording a song called Shine Your light.  You can buy the song, with us singing in it, on iTunes, and you can see the music video they made on YouTube! It is very cool. 

This year we are joining in a project called Walk Our World where we are joining with other kids to actually walk all around the world.

  Recently we met the Nike shoe designer and submitted our own designs for a Nike shoe!  

One of the best parts of Rock Our World is getting to talk with kids from other countries on iChat.  We have made  friends now in Peru, Hongkong, Australia, Tokyo and America.

I am sure you have all heard about some of our kids getting to video conference with Will Smith last year.  They spent about 30 minutes with him on iChat and he was really fun to talk to.  They collaborated in writing a poem with him and he sent us a copy of it which is hanging in the school foyer.  That poem is also on YouTube if you search for Will Smith, Shine Your Light.

Belonging to the KAREN high speed network has given us the opportunity to connect with people around NZ who can help us with our learning.
Hamish Campbell has been a great friend of the school because not only is he a paleontologist, but he also knows lots about geology. So when we were learning about dinosaurs, he was our expert to tell us all about it. 

He seemed to really like talking to us too, so when there was a big earthquake in the South Island and NZ shifted 30cm closer to Australia, he emailed us and asked if we would like to know what had happened!  Of course we said yes. We wanted to know how soon we would be meeting up with Australia. We aren't ready to be Australians yet!  

I told you that sometimes we are able to use Video Conferencing to help other people with their learning!  You may be surprised to hear that most of the people we have helped are adults!  From time to time adults want to know about eLearning and because they can't visit us here like you are, they book us in for a video conference.   And last year two of our students got to talk to thousands of teachers at the Ulearn conference in Christchurch, sitting right here at Pt England School.

And it's not just our senior students who get to do this.  One of our Year 3 classes, Room 10, have been helping a professor at the University of South Alabama in America teach his post graduate students about eLearning!  They use Skype to talk to his students during their lectures.  

Video Conferencing helps us make connections with anyone, anywhere in the world.  It also can happen at anytime. We have had to have sleepovers and some very early morning starts to be able to speak to people in some of the countries. That is all part of the fun.  

It it a great way to learn things and become better at communicating."

Minister Heatley speaking to us after we gave our presentation.

Minister of Housing, Phil Heatley, was one of the people we presented to this year.

The Minigolf Champion

On the first week of the holidays I went to sleep at my cousins house. I was really happy because I like sleepovers. I wonder what would happen the next day, propably Mini golf.

We had a cool night watching Rocky IV. I like Rocky and how he beat Ivan Drago. It was sad when Apollo Creed got killed and Rocky had to fight. It was good that he won.

The day came and I was wondering what we would do today. Thoughts hit my head out of control. I didn’t know what we were going to d truthfully, but i was really really desperate to know.

My Uncle told us to hop in the car. He told us we were going to a cool place. The cool place was “Minigolf”. It was the “Onehunga MiniGolf”. I had 1 of the worst starts in my first hole getting a 9 on a par 2.

I got better though. On hole 5 I had a streak of getting my ball in the hole first. I did that 4 times. On hole 9 I was bad again, getting a 6. I had the advantage out of everyboy though. I should be munting this game up. But I wasn’t, It was my 5 year old cousin. Who was winning.

It came up to the last hole, I won by one hit. It was a very awarding feeling, at the same time as a guilty feeling. I guess next time I guess I should go easy next time.

The End

Fiafia drummers

On the last week of the school term on Thursday we had a festival. I was in the Drumming group. It was very cool. We even had a basketball part. I was in it. Overall I would give us a 8.5 out of 10. We had good fun and enjoyed ourselves. My stage fright got knocked out of the window when the climax builded. It was a cool night. One I'll remember.

Note: I am the one on the left holding the black basketball.

Panthers Exit The Finals Series

This week there were two games for the NRL finals series, the West Tigers Vs the Canberra Raiders and the Sydney Roosters Vs the Penrith Panthers. The Sydney Roosters had a storming game beating the Panthers 34-12.

The Roosters were already the hot favourites because Penrith had lost a couple of experienced players like Trent Waterhouse (torn pectoral) and Frank Pritchard (hamstring). They also lost speedster Michael Jennings. To add on top of that, they also lost an experienced back rower Luke Lewis and Gavin Cooper after a corked quad.

The Roosters hadn't changed much in their lineup against the West Tigers. They still had inspirational Sean Kenny-Dowall, Minichello and Carney (Player Of The Year). Mitchell Pearce scored a beautiful try when they quickly spread the ball wide. He made a lot of breaks and had a very good game in defence. Todd Carney controlled the game very well and he played a beautiful kicking game with 4 from 6 conversions.

Braith Anasta is a player that is like Carney, he controls the ball well, has a good step and is pretty fast scoring two tries. The Roosters had a cruising win, 34-12. The Panthers needed to lift their game early or they would be punished by points. Sadly, they had no chance of coming back since the ball kept spilling out of their hands early in the tackle count. Carney was very effective during the game. So was Braith Anasta. Their next opponent is the Gold Coast Titans. Hopefully, they beat the Titans and either face the Dragons or the West Tigers. I don't really care who they face because, their gonna go all the way and win.

Thanks to http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ for the picture of Todd Carney.

A Cross Country Story

The old abandoned house creaked in the Autumn night. As I took wider steps home I realised that I could hear footsteps, like someone was following me. The wind gushed at me like I was it’s target. The bushes started shaking as I walked past. “Hello” , said Forrest Vosler. He was with James Rudder and Vernon Baker.” Look at what we got here” snarled James. “I'm a better person than you” I snapped. Furious, they beat me until I was a bloody mess. “ Smarty pants aye?” Vosler snarled. He left me lying on the footpath. I was angry but knew to keep my anger in check.

I came to school like shrapnel hit me from every angle. The incident the night before was not told to anyone, to make matters worse Cross Country was today. Training was more like boot camp since I worked so hard. “You’re a mess” said John Finn. He was my friend, only friend that knows me or at least talks to me. “ It’s D-Day today (Cross Country) and you’re in bad condition, we should shift you to the rear”. “Nonsense” I said “ I must do the race”. I was scared and nervous though and knew that the task that lay ahead would be difficult.

I’m eleven years old by the way. I'm not the toughest in the food chain, but I know when to show what I got when I need to. The bell rang stinging my ears as I went to sit in my line. Forrest Vosler and Vernon and James are all the same age as me. They think their all that , but I think their crooks. Oh and by the way I go to James Brown Elementary School. As usual, the oldest kids raced first. The wind made me shiver. Mr Smith came on the field saying I should not run. “Nonsense” I said in return,” I’ve got the heart of a lion,I can’t give up now.” “Bang “ went Mr Smiths pistols.

I ran and ran in little spurts in the beginning. There are a lot of 11 year olds in our grade, and they're all fast. I was lagging behind because I got tripped up in the very start. “Hahaha” was the only thing I could hear. I got back up though and joined the herd. I was starting to get reluctant when the pain in my wounds acted, The pain was excruciating. I took one step after another. The pain grew worse and worse.

I got to half way and started limping. Sprinting was the only thing that I had in my head. I was coming around 7th or 6th and realised the people in front of me were giving me a whopper of a hiding. The ground was the total opposite to a horse racing ground. It makes you slow and is sort of like quicksand. The worst thing that could have ever happened, did. One of the wounds opened. “Ahh” I shrieked with great pain.

The finish line was in view, 2oo m away.The hardest part of the race was near because I’m coming 4th and the people in my way to winning this thing or getting a place is Vernon, James, Vosler. “Oh Lord, please no. Not these guys that I have have to face up with. I’ll kill myself! I said in my head. I fell to the ground but got back up. Covered in mud and body about to give up, I run and run. Vernon Baker was in front, I passed him only to be barged and of balance. Rudder, James Rudder was my next victim. With 150m left. We were running together though for quite a bit. “Well, smarty has come to join the party” said Rudder. I ignored and passed him.

“Vosler” I said in my head. “Your going down potato head” shouted Vosler as he looked behind. He was surprised to see me, but then again I was gaining fast metres fast. With about 70m of space between me and the finish, I catch Vosler. “Holy” he said. We both sprinted and sprinted. 10m left to go and another wound started to ache. I took a deep breath. It was like I: had been gunned and lived. The finish was right there. I dived and landed on my wounds. I was out of breath. Like I had to swim a 200m swimming pool.

Silence overcame the field until Mr Smith came out. One person pointed at Forrest Vosler. Mr Smith shook his head. When the man pointed at me Mr Smith nodded. At that very moment I knew that I had won. John Finn said,” Hey Captain, or should I say der geist”. “What....Does.... that.... mean....”I said. “The Ghost” said John, “That’s what the other competitors think you are cause every time they think you’re out for the count, you came back.”

Note: Some of these names are really people who are army men.

John Finn Jack Lucas Forrest Vosler Vernon Baker James Rudder

All these men are at rest at the "Arlington Cemetery".

Billy Joel

This photo is a photo of Billy Joel and some others when he was young. He was singing "For The Longest Time". Not many people like oldies music like me in my class, ( possibly even the school ). He is very AWESOME and has sung with Legendary "Elton John". Together they sang "I Guess That's Why They Call Me The Blues". He was born on 1949 on May the 9th. He was singing actively in the 1960's and sang one of the all time favourites, "Piano Man". In fact, the song "Piano Man" is coming no. 25 on the "Billboard Hot 100". Billy Joel is a American music artist that inspired the world. As a kid, I am shocked to see that his songs weren't chosen to be on the top of the music list. 1999 is a special year for him, this is because in 1999 he was inducted to the "Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame" ( just like Michael Jackson ). I think he is one of THE BEST singers that entered this world. He contributed with some of the best in the world. He's a singer I'll never forget, plus if he ever comes back, ( which is not likely). Then he'll be a stunner.

Thanks Billy for all you've done.

D'wayne's story

On Friday the 12th of March the extension group had a conference with D'wayne Edwards. He told us how he became a shoemaker,why he became a shoemaker. Just in case you don't know who D'wayne Edwards is? he is a Nike Shoe desinger.

His story all started off when he was 7. At this age he admired drawing and sketching. But it wasn't until he was eleven when he started to draw shoes. The weird thing was that he stuck to that topic and decided to draw shoes ever since. He knew that in his mind that there was a career ahead of him. And there was. His first shoe was an amazing shoe, but the thing is that it was designed long before it turned into reality.

I think he is a living model, sort of like Dr. Ben Solomen Carson. He is very insparational and can be someone you can lean on when you need help.