Since we finished our exams yesterday we go to have a treat today.We had a party in the library which was hosted by the other class and went bowling afterwards. At our party we had sweets and drinks and sang Christmas songs.We also got our Kris Kindle presents from Santa!after we got our pressies we did the chacha slide and did a limbo contest. After our party we all got on the bus and went bowling.It was really fun and I came 6th in my lane!!(there was only 6 people per lane)After an hour of bowling we went to the shopping centre for something to eat and then got back on the bus and made it home for ten to three. Ive really enjoyed my first term in Ty and I'm really looking forward to after Christmas to start some new projects.After a long tiring term now we finally get to enjoy our Christmas holidays at last!
On Friday we went on a trip to see The Nutcracker Suit and A Christmas Tale ballet show.It wasn't like anything I expected.I found the first half of the show a bit boring because it was really random.One minute there was people dressed in white the next minute they were genies.It was really weird;but I really enjoyed the part after the interval because there was a story to follow.Even though there was no talking I understood the story by the music that was playing.After the ballet everyone was really tired and we got on the bus and went home.
In art class today we found out who came first and second in each class for the junk kouture fashion show!And guess what!? My team came second!!I wasn't really expecting to come first and second because the outfits in our class were really good and I was so sure another team was going to come second.I guessed who would come first before we found out and I was right.The girls who made their outfit out of crisp packets came first and since the project is over we had a small party in Art.We watched the movie 'Wild Child' and ate sweets.After Christmas in Art we are going to start a new project which I am looking forward to because art is my favourite subject!
Now that we are done making our Junk Kouture we are all entering the Junk Kouture Competition for all of Ireland!I have already entered my teams outfit and now all we have to do is wait until February 15th to find out if we have gotten through!
Today we had our very fist cookery class.We made Swiss roll and I must say it didn't go as bad as I thought it would.Since some people in the class had done junior cert home ec and others hadn't we had to team up with someone who hadn't.Since I did home ec I had to team up with someone who hadn't. We had a few mishaps but in the end our Swiss roll wasn't too bad.Firstly we had to collect our equipment;even tough I did home ec for 3 years it had been so long since I cooked in the school kitchens I couldn't remember where anything was.Our first mistake was using the wrong amount of sugar;then we didn't have a mixer so we had to go into the other kitchen to barrow one and finally we used way too much coco powder.When we were rolling the Swiss roll i thought it wasn't going to work;but it did! I cant wait to start baking harder things because I made Swiss roll in first year so it was a bit easy for me!
Today we had our junk kouture fashion show!Every TY student took part by modelling,describing or making the outfit.After break we all went into our home ec rooms to get our models ready.We did their hair and make-up and they got into their outfits;then we all went down to the hall.All the girls who were modelling stood in a line and walked up the hall one by one.When the models were walking someone in their group described the outfit being modelled;this was my job so I talked about how we made our outfit.It was really interesting to see what the other classes used to make their outfits;some people used magazines while others used crisp packets.
Tomorrow we are going to find out who came first in each class;I'd say it was really hard for the judges just to pick one winner in each class because there was so many really nice designs.Since we aren't doing junk kouture in home ec anymore we are starting cooking;which I'm really looking forward to but I really cant wait until after Christmas because we are going to be making teddy bears!
Heres a photo of a few of the girls in the fashion show!
Since its coming up to the Christmas holidays at lot of deadlines are coming up,and a lot of people are getting stressed because we have so much projects due in the next two weeks!Our geography trip around the world project is due,and we are also doing presentations on individual countries so they are also due in geography.In Spanish we are having Spanish orals and in home ec and art our junk kouture project is due on Friday!!As well as all that we also have our mini company's to worry about;my team 'snapshot frames' are starting to sell this week so we have to get posters up around the school.We also have an English personal writing essay due next week too!I'm writing a short story and I'm almost done so i think it will be done in time. Since everyone has been working really hard this term our TY coordinator Mrs. L is bring us bowling on the 20th after our Christmas exams!And as well as that we are going to see a a ballet show next Friday and on Monday we are having a fashion show!And since our first work experience placement is over we are in school next Wednesday so we have workshops all day! The next two weeks before the holidays are going to be very busy in my year;but I'm looking forward to all the exciting things we will be doing -except maybe my Irish Christmas exam!
Yesterday first class all the TYs had a talk on the Simon Community in the library.The talk we given by the art teacher,because she took part in an art project to do with the organisation.It was really interesting and I learnt loads about the Simon Community that I didn't know.For example I didn't know that they have houses that groups of people live in for long term.We got to see lots of art work that the art teacher did during the summer with a group of men from one of the houses in Cork.We got to see lots of different paintings from different houses;and all of them were very unique.I never really thought about what homeless people do during their free time,and by looking at the painting I saw that they were all really talented.On some of the painting there was poetry written by the men.
I really enjoyed the talk but it was a pity to miss religion class because we are currently writing dramas.
We are going to be taking part in a drama competition after Christmas.The class was divided into two groups and each group has a different theme for their drama.My groups theme is war and the other group is doing a drama to do with homelessness.Its really hard to write a script from scratch so we all thought of ideas and discussed them in class and two girls volunteered to write the script.Since we missed class yesterday today we had our first practice. Since it was our first time we are using the script because no one know their lines yet;but we are definitively making progress and I think we can get it done by Christmas(which by the way is in 31 days!!!)
This week in English class we went to the school library.It was nice to get out of the classroom for a change.So at twleve o'clock my class went down to the library and everyone picked out a random book to read for the forty minutes we would be there for.I went straight for the Harry Potter books and picked out The Order of the Pheonix.Instead of reading it from the start I skiped to chapter 18 because I am reading the book at home at the moment.After everyone had picked out a book we all sat down,everyone sat on chairs and at desks but I sat on the floor!I was really nice to sit in the library in the middle of the day for a little rest;it was also kind of weird because I didnt know my class could be that quiet for forty minutes.
For our englis homework we are writting mini reveiws of books we have read,I usually hate english homework but I dont mind this because we are writting about things I enjoy.Our english teacher said we might go back to the library again to encourage us to read more and take out books;lots of people made new library accouts so hopefully more people will visit the library.
In home economics our Junk Kouture projects are coming along really well.My group is almost done;we only have a few finishing touches to do on thee dress and accessories!We also need to think of a name and music to play when our model is walking down the runway!Its really hard coming up with a name to match our outfit since ours is to do with music,but some of the girls in our class have been really helpful with giving us ideas!my favourite name that was suggested is 'Forte Fashion',because forte is a musical term which means loud! I'm really excited for the fashion show,I cant wait to see what the girls in the other classes have come up with!
Yesterday,since my year is taking part in the mini company TY project,we went to Odeon Cinema for a workshop.In the workshop we were suppose to be learning how to start running our mini company but the speaker who was suppose to do it with us was sick and rushed off to hospital.We were all in the cinema before we knew this so our buses had gone home and we had no way of returning to school;so the nice people in the cinema let us see the new James Bond movie 'Sky fall' for free!This was really kind of them and we all really enjoyed the movie.After the film the people who worked there gave everyone a bag of sweets,popcorn and a drink;and a Madagascar 3 cup!When we arrived back at the school it was lunch time and all the other years were really jealous because we got to see the movie during a school!
Since we missed the mini company workshop we have to have another one a different day.My mini company is coming along well but we still have a long way to go before we start selling.My company makes magnetic frames out of recycled materials!Each one is unique and is decorated by our production team!Heres a few of the frames we have already made:
Today we had our annual dress up day in school!Each year had a special theme and they had to dress up to match their theme.1st years were withces,2nd years were pirates,3rd years were heros and villans,TYs were zombies,5th years were scary clowns and the 6th years theme was Harry Potter.
At lunch we had a fashion show and five girls from each year took part.Two girs from each year won a prize for best dressed.Two girls from my class won in TY!
My class really got into dressing up this year;usually no one really trys but not in TY! We even made this video of us in the school!
On Monday in technology we got into groups to start our formula one project.We will be making a car to enter into the competition in the next few classes.I cant wait to get started but I no its going to be lots of work which is a bad thing since we have so many projects at the moment;but I'm going to give it my all anyway even if I'm tired from all the other projects. In PE we did orienteering!It was really fun even though my team didn't win.After mid-term we are going to be doing a different type of orienteering and hopefully ill win that. In science we presented our projects!My group did a project on a famous scientist,named Dmitri Mendeleev.He wrote the first periodic table and it was really interesting to read about him. Today in religion we saw presentations about the millennium development goals and started brainstorming for a drama.Our religion teacher is helping us make up a drama about the millennium development goals so we can enter a drama competition. Today we also had two class were we worked on our junk koture projects!The projects are really coming together now and we only have five weeks left after mid-term to finish them!Then during the first week in December we will be having our school fashion show.We still have a lot of work to do but I'm sure we will get it finished in time! Today we also had another debate in english.It was really fun to watch because everyone in the class had questions and got really involved in the motion.Today we also got reminded that our presentation on film studies is due on friday!I've had mine done for a whie now but a few people are only starting!We had to do a powerpoint about the differnt camera angles,camera shots,lighting and music in our favourite film;I did mine on the first Harry Potter because when I started the project I had just finished reading the book!
This year in Spanish class we have been watching a Spanish movie called 'El Bola' (which means 'The pellet).Every Thursday since the start of the year we have been watching it in class,and this week we finished the movie.It was a very realistic movie;nothing like what I usually watch.It is about a boy named Pablo (his nickname is Bola) who lives in Madrid with his mother,father and grandmother.Its a sad movie because the Pablos father abuses him.Pablo has no friends but a new boy,called Alfredo,comes to his school and they quickly become friends by bonding in a theme park.Alferdo begins to suspect that pablo is getting hurt at home but I'm not going to give away the ending;but its a really good movie even if you don't understand Spanish theres English subtitles so I would definitely recommend you watch it.
Spanish class in transition year is very different from 3rd year.This year I have a new teacher and even tough everyone says TYs a waste of a year its not;in spanish we have learnt loads of new things.We did mini projects on our favourite films on the computer and printed them out.Now they are in the spanish room on the back wall.ANd we revised some things from last year like how to talk about ourselves and families.
Next week our spanish teacer said that we are going to be learning how to talk about music in spanish.
In English this week we had our first class debate.The motion was "School uniforms should be banned.",and the proposing team won.
The class got divided into three groups and in each group there is an opposing and proposing team.My groups debate is on next week on Monday and I am on the opposing team.Our motion is "homework serves no useful function".I am the second speaker for my team.In class on Tuesday my team wrote our speeches so we are ready to debate on Monday.I have never done a debate before but I am looking forward to doing it.
This week is maths week!Since its maths week our maths class decided to do a maths project on a famous mathematician.I did my project on Isaac Newton.I never did a maths project before and I taught it might be hard but it wasn't.I found loads of information on the Internet and got a picture of Isaac Newton on google images. I don't understand a lot of the things Newton discovered because its very complicated maths;for example he discovered a lot of things about theorems and we only did a few of them last year for out Junior Certificate.I enjoyed doing the maths project and I learnt a lot by doing it.In class a few people presented their projects so now I know a few more famous mathematicians.
In home economic class all the TYs have been working hard on their Junk Koture projects.For our project we have to make an outfit out of recycled materials;my group decided to use old CDs,wires,music sheets and tapes. We decided to make a dress and accessories.The base of our dress is made of chicken wire then we covered the top with newspaper and sheets of music;to make it tie in with our chosen theme which is music.This week we were focusing on the skirt of our dress.We found that it's really hard to make CDs stick together and onto cardboard;we ended up using double sided tape,which in my opinion is the coolest thing ever invented!Eventually we got the CDs stuck onto the dress in vertical stripes and we are going to use the insides of old tapes to fill in the gaps between the strips of CDs. To make the top of our dress match the bottom we broke up CDs and stuck the on in a stripe and cut a Cd in half to make it look like a bow!Our dress is really coming together now.We only have six weeks left before our first fashion show so we have to work really hard to get everything done in time. Next week we are going to try get the shoes done.We have on shoe painted black but we still have to decide on a design.
This week is mental health week so everyday in school during the morning announcements our principle reads out a positive quote to the school.I'm a very optimistic person so I love positive quotes!Here's a few of my favourite positive quotes!
Today in school I had a very busy day;I had technology in the morning followed by PE and a double science in the afternoon. Today in technology we were working on our clocks.My clock is purple and actually looks like a clock now.Today I drilled a hole in the centre of the clock and filed around the edges.Filing first thing on a Monday morning is not a very good idea;it takes so much effort and I wasreally tired so it was a good thing we had break before going into PE. In PE we played bench ball-Red vs Blues.The game got very competitive and in the end my team (the reds)won.It was really fun and it ended six five to the reds! Then in the afternoon I had double science;were we investigated the effects of concentration on reaction rate.We weren't in a lab so we didn't get to do an experiment but we got to watch our teacher do a demonstration and tell her what she had to do.After recording our results of the experiment we drew up a graph.When we were done our graph we got to do a word search!
My last week in TY has been very busy.It was anti-bulling week and we also had our opening school mass.To finish anti bulling week we had our annual fun walk.This year since I'm in transition year my colour this year was yellow!On Friday the school was full of different colours;there were people in pink,purple,blue,yellow,green,black and white. This year since I was yellow my class decided to dress up as bricks of Lego;the other TY students were bumble bees and the yellow pages phone book.My class danced to 'Hey Ya' by Outkast.On Friday afternoon the whole school went out to the tennis courts and did their dance routines.My class were not that bad but it could of went better.We watched all the dances and then headed out for the walk.
(some girls in my class as blocks of yellow lego)
My class being in transition year had a special job;we had to direct students on the walk to make sure everyone crossed the roads safely. After the walk everyone went back to the tennis courts were we got a can of coke,7up or club orange and listened to music.Everyone had a great day and we got to go home a few minutes early. Since it was anti-bulling week;in religion class we watched a video about cyber bulling and in english class we read some poems about friendship. An important part of anti-bulling week is learning things like how to catch bullys;our TY Coordinator Mrs L. showed us all this video on how to stop cyber bulling:
On Thursday we had our school mass to open the school year;during the mass there was lovely music from the choir and orchestra.
On Monday in science class we made volcanoes.Before we made our volcanoes we had to learn some theory about acids and bases.I learnt that when you mix an acid and a base you create a salt and water.When making our volcanoes we got to wear white lab coats! To make our volcanoes erupt we used baking soda and vinegar.To make the cone of our volcano we made dough using flour,water and green food colouring and covered a bottle with it. When our volcano was ready we poured hot water and red food colouring into the bottle;then we added lots of baking soda and the vinegar.I didn't think it would work because anytime I try make a volcano at home it doesn't;but it did.
After we had cleaned up(which took a while because flour was everywhere) we made posters describing the reaction between the acid(the vinegar) and the base(the baking soda).It was a great science class and I can't wait until next week to see what experiment we do!
Our vocano didnt turn out as goos as this one but it was something like it!
On Monday in science we learnt all about Alloys.An Alloy is 2 metals mixed together to form a new metal.For an experiment we turned a two cent coin gold!We put the two cent coin into an evaporating dish of zinc an NaOH on a hot plate.When we took the coin out it was silver and I really wanted to keep mine but then when it cooled down we had to put it back on the hot plate and it turned gold;it was a really fun experiment but our teacher said that the coin will eventually go back to its original colour.
On Monday morning all the TYs got up really early to get a bus to go to Carlingford!Everyone was so tired but it was worth getting up early because we had a great time! On Monday when we arrived we got divided up into our bedrooms,then we set out for our first activity;laser combat!For laser combat we all had to dress in green jumpsuits and wear matching hats!We also had to wear little red lights on our heads and carry very heavy laser guns up a mountain.When we arrived in the forest after a really long walk we played 3 different games.My favourite was the one were we had to capture a teddy bear,which was guarded by the other team,with out getting killed.Even though my team lost it was still really fun! After lunch on Monday we went out onto the lake and did kayaking!It was freezing out on the lake but we still had loads of fun.We kayaked to the opposite side of the lake and got out of our boats to see a waterfall.The story behind the waterfall was that if you held your head under it,it would add an extra day onto your life!Everyone put there head under the waterfall and then we went back to the centre for some dinner. After dinner we did an activity called Night Line.We walked up the mountain again and when we reached the forest we put on blindfolds.We all stood in a straight line and held the person in front of us shoulders so we wouldn't get lost when we went into the forest.We walked into the forest in the pitch dark wearing a blindfold and walked around for an hour.It was so scary because one of our teachers squirted water at us as we walked around and the instructors threw leaves at us too.While we were in the forest the everyone was shouting 'Tree on the left!' 'Becareful its slippery here!' and 'Watch your step theres a root ahead!'.It was a really fun activity and when we were finished we walked back to the centre in the dark.
When we got back we had to free time so everyone went to the Chinese or the chipper.We went back to our rooms and ate loads of sweets before going to bed!The next morning Mrs L called us to get up at 10 past 7 in the morning!We spent an hour cleaning our room and packing up before going down for breakfast.
After breakfast my group went Zorbing!It was the funnest and scariest thing I have every done!I was strapped into a giant plastic ball and got pushed down a hill!It was so fun but also scary because I was going down backwards and upside down and when I got to the end of the hill I was so dizzy!After Zorbing we went to do High Wire!I climbed 30 feet into the air and then walked across a tightrope in the wind and rain!It was so scary but really fun!
After lunch on Tuesday we climbed back a hill and did the Challenge Course!There we did lots of mini challenges like the Low Ropes and Gutterball!After completing a mini challenge the team received gems.My team collected 14 gems and won over all against the other teams.Then we went back to the centre to collect our bags and get on the bus to go home.
Group Photo :)(there's me in the pink on the right!!)
Zorbing!!
Zorbing!!
Challenge course!!
The High Wire!!
We arrived home at 7 o'clock on Tuesday evening;everyone was so tired when we got off the bus but that didn't stop everyone from coming into school today to do workshops!The next day we had a really fun workshop with a lovely lady from Postitive Parties!
I've been in TY nearly two weeks now and I'm having a great time!The girls in my new class are really nice and I hope as the year goes on we will all become really good friends!Everyday we have been really busy with projects,at the moment we are all doing a Religion project about the Millennium Development Goals.And in Geography we are doing a really cool project;we have to pretend we are going to spend twelve months traveling around the world to visit 2 first world countries,2 second world countries and 2 third world countries!My favorite project that we are doing at the moment is our home Ec project(Junk Koture);we have to make an outfit out of recycled materials and then put on a fashion show!
Today our junior certificate results are out and everyone is really nervous,but I can't wait!!I'm also really excited because next Monday we are going on a trip to Carlingford!I've been there before and I had a great time so I can't wait until I get to do all the fun challenges with my new classmates! :D
Hello,this is the first time I have written a blog!!
I don't usually write,I usually draw so this will definitely be a challenge.But its OK because TY is about challenging myself!!
On Thursday morning we got divided into our new classes,and I am in class Síocháin(which means Peace!).I like my new class and hope to make loads of new friends!!
