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Every year and everything I go through changes me as a person. This year I have been through so much, from making friends I will keep with me for the rest of my school life, to completing yet another year of school. Everything that has happened to me this year has changed me, and made me what I am today. In one week, Year 8 will be over, and it will be the holidays that I know we are all looking forward to. Sometimes it scares me to think that I am nearly in Year 9, the middle of high school. It feels like just yesterday that I stepped into the school building for the first time. Everything was so big, and so new. I was a tiny year sevener, dressed in my brand new uniform that that way too big for me. I can tell you one thing for sure; I didn’t like this new school. All my friends from my primary school weren’t with me, my teacher wasn’t here, and I was lost. Standing in the middle of  the courtyard, I looked around me and felt as if everyone else were staring at me. All alone in this huge school with very little people I knew, I felt cold. I was a shy year sevener who never said a word unless I was asked to. Everything has changed now. I have now formed a good group of friends who I feel comfortable around, and I am now used to this place which I used to describe as “cold” and “not nice”. I have grown, not only in size, but in education and confidence. I have experienced many different things that I never knew existed in primary school such as blogging, and I no longer feel that everyone is staring at me.

This year I met all my new teachers, and one of them, Mrs McLeay, decided to introduce us to blogging. If you look back to my first post, you can see that my writing has changed quite a lot since then. There is so much more to blogging that I thought there was back at the beginning of this year, and I have learnt so much from it as well. From all the support people have given me, I was encouraged to carry on blogging, and although many people will end their blogging experience when Year 8 finishes, I will continue to blog. I feel that blogging is an on-going thing, and although I may not post as often, I will want to continue doing this even though the year has ended.

I would like to thank every one of you who has been reading my blog, and commenting on it. Each comment has encouraged me to continue posting as I know there are people out there who are reading what I am writing. Thank you!

I’ve just been going through my drafts, and found that I had written about an 8Alive activity that our class did last term. I think it’s a waste of writing not to post it, so here it is. Hope you enjoy reading! 

Last term my class went rock climbing as part of the 8Alive program. I really enjoyed it and I’d say it’s one of the best activities I’ve done this week!

The minute I stepped into the centre, I was already staring at many walls covered in coloured rocks for climbing. No, the walls were not small, nor medium. They were gigantic, and the height of them was unbelievable! We stared up at them in astonishment, many of us already scared from seeing the height of those unbelievable walls! Few people were looking confident and I heard cries of fright coming from around the room. However, I felt very different to most people. I stared up at the walls and my heart was already beating fast. Not from fright… but from excite! When I first caught sight of these walls, the first thing that came to mind was seeing me perched at the very top of one of them. I’d set myself I goal. A goal to get to the very top of that wall without falling off once! No one was going to stop me getting there, and nothing was going to get in my way. I was planning to get to the top no matter how hard it was. To reach the top just like a mountain climber.

The centre was just like a cave, and we all got led off to some walls out the back. They looked so miniature compared to these huge walls out the front that I just wanted start climing straight away, but first we needed to get trained how to put on a harness and manage the rope while climbing. It took a little while to get everything ready, and even longer for me because I had picked up a dud harness. After a while though we finally got the chance to start climbing the small walls. They seemed pretty tiny just looking at them, but when I reached the top they didn’t seem so small!

Down below our partners were handling the rope. Many terrifying thoughts loomed around my head such as, “What if the rope wasn’t done up properly, and when I let go, I end up falling?” and, “What if my partner lets go of the rope and lets me fall?”. All these thoughts were starting to scare me, and I stared down at my partner who told me to let go of the wall. I wasn’t sure whether I should trust her or not; just about anything could go wrong! Slowly, I took one leg off the wall and then the other, making sure I was still hanging onto the wall with my hands. I couldn’t feel my weight, so I knew that things were going all to plan so far. I removed my hands from the wall and dangled from the end of the rope while my partner pulled me down. However, I kept lightly grabbing the rocks on the wall just in case anything went wrong. All this came down to one thing… trust.

As I reached the ground, I got a second go at climbing the wall. It was so easy that I just raced up there, but the hardest part was still letting go of the wall when you reached the top. Slowly, I began to trust my partner more as I climbed more walls.

This time it was my turn to manage the rope while my partner climbed the wall. Many thoughts and worries raced through my mind such as, “What if I do something wrong and my partner falls off the wall?” and, “What if I can’t hold her weight?” I felt much safer when an instructor was nearby incase something happened. All my worries were answered in the end though, because I left it up to my partner to tie the rope up, the intructor taught me how to handle the rope while my partner was climbing, and I found out that you didn’t have to hold anyone’s weight because the rope was hooked in the ground (which held their weight for you).

Next up was those huge walls sitting out there in the other room. My partner wasn’t so keen on them, but I was fully charged! I wanted to get onto them as soon as possible and start climbing!

I think seeing other people have a go at something gives you more confidence. Well, I know it does for me. When I’m scared of doing something, or trying a new challenge, it often helps me to know that a friend or a sibling has been through the same thing. When my partner and I saw others who had started climbing the walls, I think it gave her the strength to have a go at it. However, this didn’t change the fact that I was going to challenge the walls, even if everyone had a go, or no one.

When I was ready, I grabbed hold of the first rock and pulled my self up. Seemed easy so far… well maybe I was wrong. When I got about half way up the wall, the nerves suddenly became obvious. I thought I would never get nervous. Well, I decided that this would not stop me from getting to the top. Nothing was going to stop me, because I had decided I was going to get up there, and nothing could change my mind!

Well when I reached the top, the sight was amazing, yet terrifying. All those bumps and difficulties along the way tried to stop me, but I got passed them. Now was the big issue of letting go.

The trust for your partner was extreme here. There were so many things that could go wrong when I let go of the wall. I sat up there for a while, and finally came to the conclusion that if I had to let go sooner or later, or I would be stuck there forever. I slowly let go of the wall, and found that I didn’t fall. As my partner let me down, I still kept hands near the wall, just in case!

Well, this sure was a game of trust! I think all those practice walls really helps build up the trust between you and your partner. I also learnt how important goals were to success. I also have a deeper meaning which I got out of today, which I would like to share with you. On the walls, the bends in the wall represent the things that get in the way of you completing your goal. The key to getting through these difficulties is determination. The rocks are what help you get to the top of the wall. These rocks represent the people that you love, who will help you and support you throughout your determination to complete your goal. If I wasn’t so persistent, I don’t think I would have kept going. It was my determination which led me up those walls, and it is that experience which I wanted to tell you about today.

Right now I feel quite embarrassed. No, nothing extremely embarrassing happened, it’s just that I’m in year 8, and I don’t even know the names of different words. Verbs, adverbs, prepositions, pronouns… you probably know the full definition of these words. Not me though! It is expected that you can identify these types of words by high school, but I don’t even know what a verb is! I feel a bit embarrassed telling you this, and felt even more embarrassed when Mrs McLeay said that adverbs describe a verb, and I replied, “What’s a verb?”

Well, luckily, Mrs McLeay has found an interactive website that helps people learn these grammar skills. This sounds like the perfect thing for me, seeing as though I’m a kinaesthetic learner, which means I learn better while doing something.

I started off on the ‘Adverbs’ section, where I was quizzed on adverbs. I started off really badly, and even mistaken adverbs for words that describe nouns. When I was corrected, I began the whole quiz again, and this time I did much better.

Now, onto the games. I started playing a game which was on personal pronouns. I enjoyed playing the game much more than doing the quiz, and felt that it was much easier.

I think this site is a great way to learn grammar skills! It will take some practice, but by spending a bit of time on this site everyday, I think I will learn these grammar skills in no time! I won’t give an age limit for this site, because I believe that there is none! I recommend the site for anyone who wishes to improve their grammar skills.

Click here to go to the site

Click here to go to the games

Teachers! What do you imagine when I say that word? Most of you probably imagine school teachers, the people who run classes at school and teach different topics such as maths and english. However, I look at teaching slightly differently. I beleve that we are all teachers? You may refuse to believe me, but it’s true! We all do, or say things that help other people around us. We are continuously learning new things, most of it we learn off other people.

What is it that helps us learn? As we learn, we all change in some way. We grow to become more knowledgeable, and even better people in some way. But what helps us learn? Appart from the other people around us, we all have different ways that help us learn new and complicated things. You may find that you learn better if you’re doing something like bouncing a ball, or even eating! Or maybe you find it easier to learn if you’re reading the information. You could learn better by hearing the information being explained, and so on. There are so many things that can affect your learning. This means that there are also things that can make it harder to learn as well. Maybe if there’s a lot of noise going on around you, it can make it harder to learn. What has happened during the day can also affect your learning as well, such as having a fight with a friend.

What’s the difference between us and a school teacher? School teachers have the job of helping other people learn. Many school teachers have a specific topic they teach people about, like maths for example. They train and work towards their goal, and that is their job. Different school teachers have many different qualities and ways of helping people learn. Humour is a very great quality to have, as it keeps the students occupied and engaged while learning. Another great quality for teachers to have is being able to understand the students. If a student doesn’t understand the topic, an understanding teacher would be patient and listen to the student to find out what is difficult. If a teacher just yells at the student because they don’t understand, that would definitely affect the student’s learning, and also reduce trust with the teacher. The teacher should also try and include everyone, and listen to different people’s point of view. Teachers have a way of getting through the information of a topic, as well as listening and talking to the students. I’d say that teachers learn along the way as well.

A successful lesson also relies on the students as well as the teacher. The students job is to listen to the teacher like the teaches does to them. This includes not calling out and being involved in the topic. Many people in my class make it harder for the teacher, and other students to learn by calling out. I find that I get frustrated when I put my hand up to say something, and then someone else just calls. Many people in my class do not listen to the person who is talking, and calls out over the top of them. Listening is a huge part of learning in a classroom. If everyone just called out over the top of everyone else, can you imagine what it would be like? No one would be able to talk to the teacher, the teacher wouldn’t be able to explain the topic… it would just be a disaster!

I find that blogs help me learn. It allows me to express what I want to say without anyone stopping me. I just had a look at my very first post on the movie ‘Fly Away Home’, and when I read it, it didn’t really seem like really thought as much as I do now when I write my posts. By writing more and more, I’ve become a better writer, better at grammar and a deeper thinker. I’m really glad that our english teacher, Mrs Mcleay, introduced us all to blogging because it has really helped me so much, and I really enjoy the fact that other people can read what I have written.

 

Last night, I woke up with a sudden shock as I had just awaken from a horrible dream! My town had suddenly become the centre of war, with bombs falling onto it and people being snatched away by terrorist-like people, similar to the taliban in the Middle East. When the war began, I was with my mum, who ordered me to run free. She said that she wasn’t going to leave without my father, who was not present at the house. Even though I didn’t wan’t to leave her, she didn’t give me much choice, and before I knew it I was running away from my town, leaving my family behind.

After a while I came across a man that was about the same age as my father. He was heading for the town, and when I warned him about the bomb attacks there, he was very grateful. Together, we started a journey to get away from my town. After a while we would hear another bomb drop on the town. I was very frightened and worried, and I knew I should never had left my mum. I could still see that last image of her telling me to run free, and the thought of that being the last picture I ever see of her haunted me. But I was glad that someone was there to talk to and let it all out on. Every few moments, I would begin to cry. “I want to go back to my family,” I told the man, but he insisted that I stayed here with him. He told me that it was too dangerous to go back now and that I should keep going with him. The decision was difficult, but I listened to him and did what he thought was right for me.

We were both following a long dirt road when we heard a large bomb plane coming. “Quick!” he said, pushing me over to a bunch of hedges. “Hide down there! If the people in the plane see you, they will land and take you away because you are a young girl. Only men are allowd to be seen standing around. The women and children are often taken away for the war.” I quickly ducked under the trees as my heart beated fast. I was so scared, not only because my own safety was at risk but because I would probably never see my mum, or my family again! I shut my eyes and huddled under the branches until I got the all clear to come out.

We both continued along the road, not realising that it was circling and leading us back to the town. Up ahead was a large spread of green grass, which looked like the oval in my town. However, the man did not realise this, maybe because he had never seen the town before.

Suddenly, I spotted my mum. She was standing under a shelter with my father opposite her. He had an injured, and before I knew what I was doing, I raced across to her. I was so glad to see her, but she seemed concerned. About 5 seconds later, we all heard an engine sound. It sounded like another plane, and I saw people all the kids run to a nearby hedge. I ran towards a small hedge, but it had lost its leaves and didn’t cover me very well. I lay under the thin twigs that stuck out of it, hoping that I wouldn’t be seen. However, we all got a huge surprise when we found out that the engine sound didn’t belong to a plane, but it was actually a huge army truck coming up behind the kids in the hedge. The truck stopped infront of them, and the kids all screamed and ran. Two army men jumped out of the truck and grabbed some of the kids round the waste. They were throwen into the back of the truck and then the army men were back, heading towards me! I leaped out of the bush and ran towards the stretch of green grass, not looking back to see how close the men were to catching me. I was followed by a few more kids, and some voices yelling, “Run, run!”

This was such a horrible dream! It was so terrifying, and when I woke up I was so relieved that it was just a dream. I was so lucky that I had my family with me, a house to live in and a town that was in peace. However, not everyone is this lucky. My dream, that I experienced last night, is actually true for some people! Many people live in war torn areas, and my dream happens to them every day. I was put in the shoes of someone living like this, and experienced exactly what it’s like to live in a country like this.

Just the other day, during English class, we had a visitor. This visitor was the person that we are going to give the money to that we raised from the cake stall (mentioned on one of my other posts). She works with women who have been traumatised in this way, and helps them relieve the pain of the memories they have been through in their original country. Some of these women are refugees, while others have arrived from these countries, torn to bits by the war and the horrible life-style there. These women are quite different… they have different religions, different beliefs, different ages… but by working with this lady who visited out class, they can all be together and share their tragic stories. All have been though the same type of horrible experiences, and are able to understand each other from experience. It may be hard to get over the terrible things that have happened to them, but by working together, I think this is the key to solving their difficulties.

The lady told us her stories of helping these women. Some were quite amazing and very touching. By working with these women, they reveal clues to what their life was like before coming to Australia. There was once a blanket put together, with different sections on it related to what these women have been through. One woman just stood and stared at one part of the blanket which had a picture of these huge waves, and a little boat in them. She pointed, and cried, “Th…that’s me,” in broken english.

Another thing that this lady did with these women was bringing them to the beach. It was their first time ever that they had been to a beach to play, and some were actually scared of the water. The women were told they they could get in it and play, but because this was all very new to them, they were afraid to do so. The little girls played in the sand and buried themselves in it, which the lady said was really great to watch them get to know the beach. This lady’s job is truely amazing, and she even said that she has learnt more that she ever has during the past 10 years while working with these women.

I think this was the perfect place to donate the money to, and I’m sure it will be used wisely. It was really great hearing and learning about these women, and what great things people will do to help them!