What do you believe in?

I think that most of the essays I read were beautiful and touching. I think that each one is special in their own way and they both give us great examples on what to believe in, in life. Each person has a different life and they have different ways of expressing them selves. We all have different beliefs and thats great! But my favorite pretty much out of all of the essays I read would have to have been Tarick McClain.

I think that he's really inspiring, to think that he's just a kindergarden student! Not many kids at that age are thinking about things they believe in, some might but are not as advanced as that! He comes up with great ideas of what he believes in and its just really plain and simple, nothing fancy about it, he just says whats on his mind. Not many kids at that age even know what to believe in, but he has a pretty good idea of what he wants to do and what he strongly believes in.

I think that its amazing for a young kid like him to get out and just tell people stuff like that, because not many do! He seems pretty advanced. I just think that he is a really inspiring person and people should really appreciate the things in life!

Book Art

Book Art, Since most of the Libraries in the UK have shut down due to people not really needing them any more. There has been a mysterious person coming around leaving very unusual yet, beautiful beautiful pieces of art. The person has carved a different image out of each book leaving a special note on each one. The person has left them in Libraries all over the country and each one is very touching and amazing. This person is trying his/her best to keep the libraries open and to get people to read more from them. The libraries really are a wonderful place to express your learning. There are so much books each one matching the different topic you need, we really need to start using them. Because if they shut down, we're not going to have a chance to borrow fantastic books, because in book shops we have to spend money and actually buy them, but libraries you don't!

This person has change pretty much the whole face of libraries, by the touching quote he/she put. It really makes us think how important they are and how we should start using them a lot more. This person has become pretty famous world-wide for his amazing talent of carving different sculptures out of books. It really is truly amazing, and we should learn to appreciate our libraries a lot more!

My Name

Caoimhe. to me that name just looks like a garden filled with lovely pink and purple flowers. Although, when it comes to spelling and pronouncing it, its like a garden full of weeds, and a pond with lots of brown and green water, and even a war between the letters! My name is Irish, its spelt in Gaelic and that’s the way its spelt on my passport. It could be spelt Keeva or Kiva, but I like it the way it is. Everyone who reads my name just stops and says “Okay I need some help here!” or something like that. But I’m kind of used to it now. Its really hard when I try to tell people my name, they’re like “What?! How can that be Caoimhe?!” My usual response is “Its Irish!” and they understand immediatally. I like my name, the way its all complicated, I wouldn’t want an easy name. I like having an interesting name, it describes me, I’m and interesting person.

My parents decided to call me Caoimhe Anne O’Reilly after a lot of hard thought and decision. My mum had a complete different idea than my dad. In the end they thought of the name Caoimhe. They wanted to give me and Irish name so people would know straight away I’m Irish. They loved the sound of my name and thought it was really unique although. I don’t see it all. My parents thought the name Emma, Amelia, and Emer were good and that’s what they were going to call me until they found Caoimhe. For short my parents call me Iva, but not in school because that’s my friends sisters name. The name Caoimhe means gentle, beautiful and precious.

Sometimes I wonder do I really match the personality of my name? Well I’m gentle sometimes, I don’t know about precious and beautiful though, I guess that’s what other people are meant to notice, not me, because then I would sound full of myself. Caoimhe is a really eye catching name, like looking at all of these black horses and suddenly you see a grey, you kind of look at it for a while and think “Why is that there?” Caoimhe is the type of name you have to get used to, its like riding boots, you have to get used to the shape to be able to ride easily. Because so many people get it wrong, I could go on and on about all the people who have attempted to spell my name correctly, but not one so far has gotten it correct. There has been only one person who looked at my name and could say it straight away, and that was a random shop keeper in Ireland, well because he’s Irish I guess he has an advantage.

In fact, now that I have written about my name, and described it, I kind of like it. I’ve always hated my name, but now I kind of see it differently. I like how people can look at my name, and know instantly that I’m not and ordinary person, because I’m not. I am Caoimhe, and I’m proud!

Me in 3 objects

A big black and white pony, getting on a huge airplane, traveling from Gloscestshire, England to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Yes that ponies mine, my very own pony. I had just come home from school, when my mum said to me “ The money has been transferred and Joy is now ours!” Joy was our ponies name. Finally I had my very own pony! I was so excited! Something I have always wanted is now mine, like really mine! I was so ex-static! There are no words for how happy I am! I just can’t believe it! My pony is originally from Ireland and was moved to England 2 years ago.

My second picture was with me and my first place rosette that I won when I was on one of my school horses Looie! I loved Looie to death! Now I’ve moved onto someone bigger called Delight. But anyways lets get back to the subject. It was the day of the competition and I was really excited and nervous at the same time. I was about to go into the arena to do my dressage test, I was getting so nervous, because I was so nervous because I was competing against like 20 people most were pro riders! I was going into the arena and was getting really nervous and excited, but I was scared I would forget my test! I said quietly to Looie “ Lets do this Looie and show them what we’re made of!” I’m very competitive and I do not like losing at all! I had done my dressage test, but was really nervous to see what I had gotten. Finally the judge was giving out the rosettes, my name wasn’t being called for anything. The first thing that shot to my head was I hadn’t won anything at all! But then she said “ In first place, Caoimhe O’Reilly, Riding for Bukit Kiara on Looie!” I was so delighted hearing people clapping for me! I was so chuffed with myself and my pony! Its definitely a day I’ll never forget!

These are another few objects that describe me. I am a Roman Catholic and I pray every night before I go to bed and I go to Church. Religion to me is very important. I like to keep my religion important in my life because I feel that God has given us so much in this world and I feel so lucky to have what I have that I really have to thank him back for all he has given us. Sometimes it is hard for me to believe that someones really up there looking down on us, but then I think, well you know who else is going to be up there and how else will the world have started? My dad keeps me going because he is always going on and on about how Religion is so important in this world. Yes it really is now that I think about it and I’m older and more mature than I was a couple years ago. Also when I’m having a bad day, or I want things to go right I add that in my prayers at night time and ask God to help me and lead me in the the right direction. He has always answered my prayers, so the least I can do for him would be to thank him by doing what he asks.

I like to call her my “Blonde cutie!” or “ My little gorgeous pup!” and yes, she’s mine, all mine! This is my blonde puppy Cassie, she’s really 3 but I like to call her a pup! I’ve had Cassie for at least 3 years now, and I remember the exact day we got her! We had seen her in a pet shop window for 6 months, she was no longer a puppy so nobody wanted her (except me of course!) I just felt so bad for her, and I wanted her so badly, that my mum took my dad out to get her for me as a surprise. My parents left me and my sister at home with our maid Divina, they came in through the door, and I walked down the stairs with a sad face to make them see that I was upset we hadn’t gotten her. But then I looked up and saw my dad with Cassie on his lap. “ Oh my gosh, You got her!” I was so happy I started crying my eyes out. I’ll never forget the day I got my precious puppy Cassie.

Then there is Fly, Fly is a German Short-Haired pointer and is the sweetest dog you’ll ever meet. We’ve had fly before I was even born! She is 13 now, and I’ve known her my whole entire life! Fly had become my older sister now and always looks out for me. She is the most precious thing in my life right now because she’s becoming old and she’s starting to slow down. But there are always times when she just wants to play around and have fun. I always loved that dog, and I will never ever forget her, just like all my animals. I love them all! I’m a very caring person when it comes to animals as you can see!

All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.

These are just some of the few famous quotes that Walt Disney has said. I bet you your wondering why I chose to have that as my new title. Well because its a true fact in life. My dream was to have a horse, I got one a couple of days ago. My new dream is to become a professional rider and enter the Olympics for Ireland. ( For horse-riding) Yeah its a pretty big dream, and this quote definitely gives me confidence that i'll get there someday. Just when he says, "If we have the courage to pursue them." It makes me want it even more, I get courage because I know how bad I want it. This quote just makes me feel like I can do anything, and that nobody can stop me. Just by the words he uses, how he uses them definitely makes me want it more. I find this quote really interesting and helpful in life. Because well, it gives you confidence, and courage, because well everyone wants their dream. I just find this quote really helpful and makes me more determined.

Grade 6 Reflection

This year in 6th grade I've had so much fun getting to go all around middle school and learning different things. Its nice to finally get out of the school you've been in for 4 years and change to something new. I feel so much more free from how I did last year. Last year we had to get lunch from trays, stay in one classroom, have one teacher, etc. This year we have like 7 different teachers and classrooms, we get to buy our lunch from the different shops, etc. It was really confusing at first but after that first week I had gotten the hang of it and finally realized this was the school I was going to be in for at least another 6 years ( unless we move ) . These are some of my thoughts on how 6th grade has gone for me and how i'm ready to move on to 7th grade.

1. What piece of work and learning are you most proud? Explain

This year I think that I did a really good job on my Egyptian unit. This was probably one of our biggest units this year and we had a huge test at the end of it. In this unit we had to make a Imovie about a very important person in Egypt with a partner, and we also had to create 3 diary entries to create a diary. When we were creating the diary we each got a character that fell under one of Egypt's social classes. I got a Musician, which fell under Artisans. This meant that I would have to write my whole 3 diary entries in the point of view of an Ancient Musician. This of course meant that we had to do a lot of research on our character. I had to find out what a ancient Musician did, how they lived, what they would do when they were not at work, etc. For each diary entry we had a theme like one was the Nile River the other one was Amulet, etc.

2. What were your greatest challenges? Explain.

This year I think that my biggest challenge was definitely getting my homework in on time. It wasn't really a challenge its just something I kind of left till last minute and it became a challenge. I tend to leave things last minute because, well, I want free time. But this is always a huge mistake because in the end I end up turning all my homework in late and getting bad grade on my tests. I think that I don't have a lot of homework but I leave it till last minute and then it is a lot of homework. Then I rush through it to try and get it done so that I will have it done by tomorrow. But that never helps because I then end up with half of the questions wrong.

3. Reflecting on your growth this year, what did you learn about yourself as a learner?

I think that something I learned about myself this year was since we are doing a lot more group projects that I can get annoyed if people aren't doing what I want them to do. I would normally not show it but sometimes you can see on my face that I'm not happy with what I am doing or what we are doing. I also learned that I can get a bit bossy sometimes and will make other people do what I want them to do. Mainly because I want to get my work done and express my ideas. What I need to remember is that its other peoples projects as well and they want their ideas going into it too. I think that I kind of take over the whole project when I want to. I'll be like " Okay I have a great Idea! We could do..... I think that we should!" Sometimes I kind of feel like the project is all about me. I definitely for next year have to stop being bossy!

4. To evaluate your work habits, choose 1 of the following from each category ( and provide explanations):

a) Behavior

Could be improved
Satisfactory
Perfect - the model student

Explanation: I think in class I behave well and will listen. Sometimes I can go out of my focus mode and act silly, so I think that best way to put that would be Satisfactory.

b) Participation

None
Satisfactory
Actively participate in class

Explanation: In class I always try to share my ideas and I'm not shy to say what I want. I think that I am engaged when the teacher is talking and I am Actively Participating in class.

c) Organization

Needs serious help
Satisfactory
I'm super organized

Explanation: I always have my stuff whenever there is a class. I do not tend to forget my stuff and whenever the teacher asks for things that we have to use I always make sure I have them.

d) Effort

Needs serious help
Satisfactory
I always go above and beyond what is required.

Explanation: Whenever I do projects and worksheets and things like that I always try to put in as much effort as I can. I don't put that much in but I wouldn't say I need serious help.

5. Based upon your reflections, write two personal learning goals for Grade 7 next year.

Goal 1 - In Grade 7, I plan to stay more focused in class and not goof around with the other students. I want to know what I have to do and do it well. This year whenever the teacher is talking sometimes I will be laughing with my friends and when he/she is finished I will have no idea what to do. So in 7th grade I plan to focus more and be more engaged with the teacher and my work.


Goal 2 - In Grade 7, I plan to get all my homework and projects finished before they are due. This year I left some of my projects till last minute and have gotten bad grades on them. Next year I plan to get all my work done before its due so that I can get a better grade and have more free time.

6.Is there any more information about yourself that you would like the teachers to know?

There is nothing that I really need the teachers to know, but I do like doing projects that I can like create things, like posters and stuff like that. I also like using electronic devices such as the laptops. I think that it is an easier way to get my work done and it also for me is a lot of fun. I love doing projects because I get to learn so many new things and work with so many different people.

7. What was your favorite activity lesson in Humanities this year? What did you enjoy about it?

This would probably be the Tic - Tac - Toe. I loved doing the this project because we got to work with out best friends and it was a lot of fun. You had to work and best of all it was with our friends. I thought that it was a great opportunity to test our work habits to the max. Maybe because when you join up with friends you usually goof off and stuff. But when you doing a project its time to work and not be silly. I think that its really great because you get to put fun into you learning and it really shows when you present your project.

8. What activity do you wish we could have spent more time on?

I wish that we could have spent more time on maybe on our Tic-Tac-Toe. Maybe because I thought that it was the best project that we ever did. I really enjoyed getting to work with my friends and getting a pretty good grade on it. I had a really good time and wish that there was more to it than just 3 projects. I had such a good time and it was one of my most favorite projects.

9. Finally, cast your minds back to the first few months of middle school (when you arrived in Grade 6 ) what "Words of Wisdom" or "Advice" could you pass on to the Class of 2018?

Maybe that you should always keep a positive attitude when your doing your work and Socially. This will help you enjoy your work and well hopefully keep you out of fights with friends. Also just go with it. When a teacher tells you there's going to be a test don't stress just relax and got with it. Thats what I did and i'm having such a good year in Middle School so far!

Letter from Will

Dear, My family and People of Wherton

I am so sorry for leaving you without you knowing. I really couldn't help it! I couldn't be capped! I just couldn't! I have thought about this for a while now I really couldn't take it! So I met this man called Ozymandias he told me where I would be safe from all this. Of course I was deep into this and I wanted to know. He told me that there as a place called the White Mountains. He told me that I could escape all of this just by going there, so sure enough I had begun my journey. I couldn't tell anyone because you would all keep me from going so I basically ran away. But someone stopped me on the way I turned around to find out that it was Henry. He wanted to come with me because he wanted to escape the Tripods. So we left and began our long journey. We met a person called Beanpole, he was a really nice Character and had helped us with shortcuts and places we could stay. We stopped in one place, it was an old city in France. There were many little abandoned shops and I found some bomb like objects I thought would be useful and a watch so I kept them. One day I had separated from them and woke up in a beautiful castle in France. I met a beautiful girl called Eloise. Sure enough I had fallen in love with her, only to find out she had been capped and had to go and serve the tripods. I was truly heart broken.

This taught me so much about Society and Life. I've learned that you really have to stay focused and work hard. I'm mainly saying this because Eloise had distracted me a lot from what I was meant to be doing. Society well, you have to trust some people and others not, you really have to know who your trusting. I trusted good people so nothing bad happened to me. It's just made me really think about it. I really miss you all and can't wait to see you again. I'm really sorry and I love you all.

Sincerely,

Will

How does chapter 6 express freedom?

Well this first paragraph is going to be on the quote that was on Mr.Thomas's blog. From reading this thinking of freedom is quite easy for me. I think that this expresses freedom because well being capped seems to be a way of life there and they are used to it. Its kind of like well school for us its a way of life when you finish elementary then you go onto middle. With them when you finish being a child you move on to becoming a man or a lady. I guess well this is freedom for them. This means no more school and well you're and adult you can do your own things in life. This for them is happiness and I guess well happiness and freedom are 2 different things but well its the way that they live and this is freedom for them I guess. They are happy to be doing it and they know whats going to happen and what they are going to have to do. Also when he says "All the spirit and Gallantry was being wasted." well probably because this would lead to the exact opposite of freedom and peace and thats all you want. You don't want there to be war and people telling you what to do you want to be free so that is why they are just doing what they are meant to be doing get capped. This is good because they are getting what they need and after that they are done and its over and everything will be okay.

Another reason ( now this will relate to everything in chapter 6 ) well it says that they did not want boys to run away and there was a war once and they didn't like it at all. So they decided to just do what they were meant to do. Hopefully they would get used to it and that would turn into freedom for them. Women had some right not all and men were meant to stay strong and courageous. This would then not lead into any trouble. In this chapter it also shows there way of living and what they would do in there normal days. It showed that as I said before the rights and what people had to do. Boys again were not allowed run away from home as it was not accepted with the villagers. They wanted people to have spirit and courage. As it said in the book when a boy ran away from home it was counted as spirit in believing what was right to do and what was best for you. Wars were not allowed there was once and that led to so much trouble they decided that it was not allowed to ever have on again. This was definitely much more peaceful for the society but yet again we are talking about freedom and this well it did help people have freedom because well wars are mainly about freedom. With wars you are not allowed to do things and to go were you want you are stopped from these things. So without them it is a big help.

What I have thought about the last few chapters in the book.

1. How were the Tripods able to control people?

Well tripods are able to control people because well they brainwash them and put a big cap on their head which I think is probably giving them information on what to say and what to do and when to do it. I think that it provides information on what the Tripods want the people to do and since they have a big mettle cap on their head which the tripods are controlling (which again is what I think) they know what to do. I think that the Tripods just take out all of the information that the people knew before away and keep it in a different place and they add in information that the tripods want people to have like; to be happy with the tripods and to try and tell other people what to do so that the tripods will be able to control most of the people in the world. But yet again i'm not really sure what they do to control the people I am just trying to give the best possible answer I can. Another reason why I think that the tripods are able to control people is probably they have little controls inside the cap that when they want the person to do something all they have to do is well either press a button or think it and that will automatically make the person do it. Maybe they might put a different thing in their head they might just take the brain out completely and put in something new. I know that my answers sound kind of wacky but the story is very different from most just by the type of things that he writes about.

2. Find evidence (quotations from the novel) to show that even though Will is comfortable living at the castle, he is frustrated that the Comte, Comtesse, and Eloise have been capped.

" And I had despised them for it-despised even, for all their kindness to me and their goodness, the Comte and Comtesse. But not Eloise. I had thought her free, like myself!" It think that his shows comfort because well he has mentioned their kindness to him and how they have treated him really nice and they have not hurt him in any way. But also it seems like he is frustrated when he is talking about how he didn't want Eloise to be capped and how he wished she could have come with him to the White Mountains so that they could escape the capping. I do think that of course he would have been frustrated because well more people who he really like are capped and well he is basically the only one who isn't. He might feel lonely that all of his new friends are capped and he isn't. I would be frustrated because well I wouldn't really know what to do. Should I get capped? I would wonder or should I just stick to my journey and what I am meant to be doing? It should definitely be frustrating because you wouldn't know what to do.

3.. Find evidence (quotes) to show how Will feels about being capped.

" I almost hope it doesn't work. I'm not sure I would rather be a Vagrant."

Will seems well to me he sees like he is nervous and scared about it. He seems unsure what really to do until he comes to running away. But when he meets Eloise it all seems to change like he wants to be capped and he doesn't at the same time. He seems a bit confused in what to do and what he should do. If I were him I would just go with it and get capped I wouldn't want to but it would be a lot more trouble to run away from home. He still seems pretty determined to get to the White Mountains though so that he doesn't have to be capped. But I guess that, that is just his personality. But coming back to the question I think that he probably feels nervous, scared and really unsure what he should do. In the end of course he ends up running away. But when he meets Eloise it seems to change a little bit just because well since she has been capped you can kind of see it in the way he now acts really well yeah frustrated and unsure what to do. But he is so determined to get to the White Mountains this is making it really hard for him and really confusing.

How do I think BeanPole will help Henry and Will?

Well I think that he will help Henry and Will just because well he is actually really smart. Well the reason why I think that he will help Will and Henry on their journey is because well he is a really smart person and he seems to know his way around everywhere and he knows things that well the boys wouldn't have thought of. I think that he will help them when they are going through hard times just because he is very intelligent and gets really cool ideas. I think that is what they would need because whenever they are stuck they have somebody who is smart to come up with a good plan instead of them coming up with a bad idea. I'm not saying that they are not smart I am just saying that it would be better for them to have someone who knows what they are doing with them. Also he seems to know his way around and all of the short cuts to get places. So I think that will help them get to the White Mountains easier with a lot less trouble.

Since he knows short cuts and easier ways to get there I think that, that will make the journey a lot easier for Will and Henry. Just because he knows like people and he knows like transportation devices like when he got the horses and that was a lot easier than them having to walk and run. They would have taken a lot longer. Also that gave them a chance to rest. So that definitely makes their journey easier for them. He might even know things about the White Mountain that might help them. I think that he has a really nice personality and if Will and Henry get into a fight he will help them get back together and focus on what they are trying to do. Also he seems to have quite a determined personality which I think is what they need to keep them on track.

Belfast Presentation

1) What you believe you did well on the project?

I think that I did quite well with my eye - contact because I didn't just look in one area the whole time I would look at people and not just one person. I would look around the room at different people. Also if I needed a little help I would look at my script or up at my presentation but not for a long time only if I had totally forgotten where I was. But other than that I would look at everyone to make sure that they got attention from me. I also think that I did quite well on my information. Well I wasn't here so i'm not quite sure if I had the correct information needed but I did have some quite good information. I think that I did quite a good job finding it on all of the different sites and putting them down. I made sure that I didn't put down information that was not needed because that would just have been a waste. On every page I made sure that I had a bullet point with information just in a short sentence and when I was explaining it I would give a little more detail than what I had written down. Those are the two things that I personally think that I did well at but i'm not sure if everyone else appreciated it.

2) What you would improve for future presentations/projects?

I think that I could have been a little more prepared because on one of the slides I had no images at all. These images were indeed needed and there where none on it. This slide gave information about the Titanic and where it was built. I think that if I had a picture it would have helped the audience see where the location was and how close to the sea Belfast was. Also I was acting a bit silly but I do that when I am nervous but next time I think that I should act a bit more serious about what I am talking about. Because I can distract people sometimes. I do this when I am nervous to tell myself that I am ok talking in-front of the class but next time I definitely think that I should be more prepared and focused.

3) What did you learn from your preparation (for your presentation) in addition to the presentations of others?

Well I noticed that most slides had an image on at least every page I did not. Also they talked really loud and where more serious than I was. They would just stand up there and talk about their topic wheres I would stand up there and say things that were not needed such as " Well I don't think I did this correctly." I think that was not needed and should have just got on with my presentation like the rest of them did. I also noticed that many of them had fancy features and pictures in which I did not. I think it would have been nice for me to have decorated my slide a bit. I also think that it would have been nicer for the audience to see it decorated.

4) What is your analysis of your performance?

I think that I did ok in my performance. It wasn't the best I have done in my life but I think it didn't go bad. I think that I could definitely have done better but for next time there is always room for improvement. I think that my eye contact was definitely one of my strong points in the presentation and then my presentation on the slides was my low bit. I think that when I spoke my voice wasn't loud and wasn't too soft it was loud enough to be heard so I do think that people could hear me ok. But yes I definitely think that this was not one of my strong presentations and I think that I definitely could have done much better but like I said there is always a next time and from learning from this presentation I definitely have to do better in my next one :)

https://docs.google.com/a/iskl.edu.my/present/edit?id=0AYER2mbzGPBBZGc0NHAzM21fNDFnNW1nMzdmdw&hl=en