What I saw in the local newspaper

I was sitting in the staffroom yesterday reading the local newspaper (The Waitomo News) and I spotted one of the children in my class.  You might be able to spot him too (if you have read Sid's Posting on his athletics medal).
By Miss Matene

Do Not Bully Videos

Room 4 is learning about how bad bullying is.  Bullying is when you hurt people, steal stuff from people or lying to people.  This will make them feel bad or sad, sometimes they feel frightened.  A bully will try and look for someone to pick on.  Usually they are smaller or younger than them.  They might hurt them by carrying them and throwing them on the ground.  It is a very bad thing because bullies always get in trouble from the teacher.  If you bully then you won't have any friends.

We also found out while we were videotaping that it is not a good idea to get the person to stand in front of a window because the video comes out really dark.  Did you notice that too when you watched these videos?

We've Got Surprise Visitors Tomorrow

I wonder who it might be?
We thought we would leave you a few clues before we wrote any comments about them tomorrow.

Clue 1:
They are sports stars.

Clue 2:
They are very big and strong.

Clue 3:
They train alot in Hamilton.

Clue 4:


Can you guess who is coming?

Yet another site

As you probably have guessed I am at a ICT middle school sharing day and just wanted to post some of the things that we have done so that I can remember to do them in class with the children.
http://edu.glogster.com/

PhotoPeach

Hey guys,

Have just tried out another new site for me.  I really like the quiz tool.  Maybe you can try taking the quiz.  This one is about our recent kayaking adventure.

Kayaking on Lake Ngaroto on PhotoPeach

The Giant Mushrooms

Our Poppa found them in the dog walking area by the duck lake in Otorohanga. When he was walking Jayjay, Narla, Bindi and Kiesha he saw them on the side of the walkway.  They are all girl dogs. He bought them back for us to take to school to show them to our classroom. They are poisonous ones, so we can't eat them but our Poppa has cleaned them so that we can touch them.  You have to go and wash your hands after you have touched them.  Where you usually find them is near the bush or on walks.  You might be able to find some by the Kiwi House but they try to take them away so that the birds don't eat them.  My Poppa has bought some for us to bring to school before.  Josy and Tumahuki got some to bring to their class to show their class.

Some more comments about horse trekking

The children really did seem to enjoy the horse trekking.  In fact some children liked it so much they wanted to share their thoughts and ideas on horse trekking with you.  We decided as a class to do it in one posting otherwise it might take you too long to find them and read them.

Tana

My horse jumped over some tree stumps and kept running.  It ran in front of the other horses. My horse keep walking and trying to get in front of Sativa's horse.  Her horse just kept walking and stayed in front of my horse.

Forde

Sid's horse went the wrong way.  His horse nearly bucked me off my horse. Portia's horse was the meanest because it kept biting everyone else's horse.

Justus

My horse never walked it just kept on galloping, especially close to the dangerous cliffs. 

Sativa

My horse just wanted to follow Shayna's and Luce's.  Their horses tried to bite my horse.

Te Heruika

My horse kept farting when it was by Katrina's horse.  When Yawden was talking to me, my horse kept trying to bite his horse's tail.  I kept trying to pull my horse back.

Brody

I wanted to see the pictures of me on my horse.

Horse Trekking

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

On Thursday at camp we went to Karamu Trail Trek and went horse trekking.  It was great fun.  It was the first time most of the children had been on a horse.  Forde thought that it was pretty scary when he first got on the horse.  Te Heruika decided to be brave and stop crying so that we could go on our horses. We learnt that you had to point your toes to the sky when you were on the horse.  We also learnt that you had to lean forward when you go up hills and lean backwards when you go down hills. We got told not to scream because the horse will get a fright and run away.  It was really scary when the horse went by the edge of the cliff. Justus and Sid thought that at the top of the steep hill it was dangerous because you might fall off and go down to the deep valley. We learnt to pull the reins to steer our horses away from the cliff's edge.  Sid's horse kept farting all the way up the hill and down the hill again.  Portia's horse keep trying to bite the other horses. Brody's horse was a little bit greedy and keep being a bully and pushing past the other horses.

My Medal

I go to Otorohanga Athletic Club on Tuesday after school.  I started in October and now it is finished.  We do heaps of practice to get better at long jump, shot put and running.  I got a medal last week. I came third in shot put.  My distance was 6.99m.

  

Our Brave New Start

Well, as you can see we have had a little bit of a change over the past couple of weeks.  

Firstly our class has been renamed this year and that means that even though this is the Room 7 OPS blog from last year continuing to show what the children and I have been doing along your journey of learning, it will now become the Room 4 OPS blog.

Secondly, you will also have noticed (I hope) our brave new class.  It is still taking me a little bit of time to try and re-organise the blog and update all the information.  I know, people comment all the time - "We should be working smart not harder!" but even the teacher forgets sometimes.  Thank you to all the Room 4 students who have been slowly reminding me of things we need to do and change.

Thirdly, something I did forget to mention is that Room 4 went on camp to Pirongia Forest Park Lodge last week and we will be using this as an opportunity to practice and learn about how to write a good blog posting.  Any advice would be helpful....

Zooming on the Flying Fox.

It was fun going on the flying fox because it was fast. The flying fox made us zoom down the hill. At the start stepping down from the box is really scary. They have hollowed out some of the ground at the start so that you won't hit it. It can make you feel a little bit car sick. You have to be put in a harness because it is too long and too steep to hold on. If you hold onto the wire part you could burn your hands so you had to remember to hold onto the plastic. At the end of the flying fox there are two tyres and two people to catch you. Luce's dad and Tana's Granddad had to wear gloves. The tyres had holes in each side for the wire to go through. Luckily no-one fell off the flying fox. Some people hit the tyres and were flung backwards. When you finished your ride you had to walk it back up the hill by holding the guide rope. We think it must be one of the longest flying foxes EVER! Most of us had a try. Some people didn't want to go at first, but then everyone had a turn (except for Yawden).

Zebong the Story Teller

Zebong is an enthusiastic performer with 17 years storytelling experience and an extensive background in school performance and public speaking. Also the winner of Toastmasters International New Zealand Humorous Speech Competition, his stories are completely original, dynamic and different.

He came to our school last week.  It was a bit of a surprise for Room 4 because they hadn't been told that he was coming but someone spotted him just as the bell went.  It wasn't long before the whole class knew.  The excitement grew as we got into our assembly lines and walked towards the hall.  The first thing that we spotted was a huge picture of a pirate on the wall.

Over the next few days the children in Room 4 will be telling you about their experience with a very good story teller.  Some of the children even got to play a small part in the stories.  So did some of the teachers.

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.