Monday 13 January 2014
Semesters should be separated by the Christmas break
I think that both semesters should be separated by the Christmas break. The reason that I think this is because generally when someone comes back from the Christmas break they forget a lot of stuff from their classes. Also before the break and no one wants to do anything like homework over the holidays. The only reason this would be tight or not work is because we would loose 3 weeks of class time after the break but then I would suggest that we start school 3 weeks earlier and end three weeks earlier. My personal reasons for pushing the semesters back in school right now is that I had to do 4 projects over the break and it took me a lot of my holiday to even get started on them. Overall it would save a lot of time and help students academics.
Thursday 28 November 2013
The Great Mystery Skype
This past Tuesday, Nov. 26th, we had a mystery Skype with a class from Manitoulin Island. We had no clue where they were located at first but after some yes or no geography questions we figured out where they were from and told them where we were from.
I learned from this Skype that natives still love the same sports and leisure activities as us but I never knew that the police or law was less strict than outside of the reserves. I also learned that they still do practice their culture and they don't live in such poor conditions because they do have lots of opportunities like dance class or field trips.
I liked everything about the mystery Skype because it was a fun way to get involved with another school, but I felt that there could of been a couple things to improve it. For example there were a group of kids that had figured out their location before we even started based on the Skype username. I also felt that the camera angle for our class needed to be bigger because everyone was not involved. Finally I felt that both sides of the Skype should have been more prepared and that the sound should have been louder because it was hard to hear.
Overall I found this experience quite enjoyable and I would do it again and suggest it to other schools as a fun and educational activity.
I learned from this Skype that natives still love the same sports and leisure activities as us but I never knew that the police or law was less strict than outside of the reserves. I also learned that they still do practice their culture and they don't live in such poor conditions because they do have lots of opportunities like dance class or field trips.
I liked everything about the mystery Skype because it was a fun way to get involved with another school, but I felt that there could of been a couple things to improve it. For example there were a group of kids that had figured out their location before we even started based on the Skype username. I also felt that the camera angle for our class needed to be bigger because everyone was not involved. Finally I felt that both sides of the Skype should have been more prepared and that the sound should have been louder because it was hard to hear.
Overall I found this experience quite enjoyable and I would do it again and suggest it to other schools as a fun and educational activity.
Monday 11 November 2013
Orangeville D.S.S. school sports
Why is ODSS in district 10?
I love playing sports at ODSS. OD is great at offering people the sports they want but why do we have to play in district 10? Our school is clearly in district 4 based on geography. My blog today is going to argue that we should switch sports into D-4.
My first argument for why we should move into D-4 is the cost to play sports. If we played in D-4 we would save a lot of money and students wouldn't have to pay as much for school sports. Because of this we would't have to pay for the long bus rides. This would also allow more students to play sports because it would become more affordable.
On top of the cost to play in D-10, we would also do a lot better in sports and win more games in D-4. Every year we play games against D-4 schools and most of the time we win over the other schools. Whereas when we play any of the Guelph schools we get killed every year and generally don't stand a chance.
Finally if we played in district 4 we would also be able to play against friends from past years and people in the area that we grew up in. This would also make sports so much more enjoyable.
Maybe there are some reasons why we are in district 10 but honestly I feel that if we would play in district 4 it would be a big confidnce booste for all school teams.
I love playing sports at ODSS. OD is great at offering people the sports they want but why do we have to play in district 10? Our school is clearly in district 4 based on geography. My blog today is going to argue that we should switch sports into D-4.
My first argument for why we should move into D-4 is the cost to play sports. If we played in D-4 we would save a lot of money and students wouldn't have to pay as much for school sports. Because of this we would't have to pay for the long bus rides. This would also allow more students to play sports because it would become more affordable.
On top of the cost to play in D-10, we would also do a lot better in sports and win more games in D-4. Every year we play games against D-4 schools and most of the time we win over the other schools. Whereas when we play any of the Guelph schools we get killed every year and generally don't stand a chance.
Finally if we played in district 4 we would also be able to play against friends from past years and people in the area that we grew up in. This would also make sports so much more enjoyable.
Maybe there are some reasons why we are in district 10 but honestly I feel that if we would play in district 4 it would be a big confidnce booste for all school teams.
The Attack Background Check
THE ATTACK
Who is Yasmina Khadra?
Yasmina Khadra is supposedly the author of The Attack but actually this novel and many more written by him are actually written by a man named Mohammed Moulessehoul. Major Moulessehoul served in the Algerian army for 36 years. He survived the Algerian civil war and resigned in 2000 to move to France and pursue his love of writing. He wrote all these books under his wife's name so that he did not have to send all his books to the Algerian army to be censored. He was also a Muslim and so he wrote most of his novels to shed light on eastern culture. In a german radio talk show interview he said that “The West interprets the world as it likes. It develops certain theories that fit into its world outlook, but do not always represent the reality. Being a Muslim, I suggest a new perspective on Afghanistan, on religious fanaticism and what I would call religiopathy. My novel, The Swallows of Kabul, gives readers in the West a chance to understand the core of a problem that they usually only touch on the surface. Because fanaticism is a threat for all, I contribute to the understanding of its causes and backgrounds. Perhaps then it will be possible to find a way to bring it under control.” This may be why in The Attack the main character can not believe that his wife commits this wretched crime because it is linked to a sort of racism towards his culture.In this novel early on there is a major plot twist. A suicide bombing has taken place in the city of Tel Aviv in Israel. This cultural event is linked to a Arab-Israel surgeon and adds to the novel because his wife's body is found amongst the rubble and appears to be the most mangled. The police believe that his wife is the suicide bomber and Dr. Jaafari, the main character, can not believe this. This novel also shows us what it is like to be an outsider in a culture. Dr. Jaafari is an Arab-Israel surgeon in Israel and once this bombing has taken place he is treated as an outsider because of his wife's "actions" only because he himself is also an Arab.
Thursday 24 October 2013
Muskoka Woods
Best Camp Ever?
Muskoka Woods must arguably be one of the best camps ever! Muskoka woods owns 1000 acres of property and 2,800 feet of water front on lake Rosseau. They have over 75 activities to do there. For example you can go Dirt biking at dirt camp or you can chill on the lake front and blob your friends during free swim. At camp they have a 2 to 1 guest to staff ratio to ensure that you have a fantastic time!
Muskoka Woods blows everything out of the water and they do it big. Like they have 6 air Nautiques for wakeboarding and water skiing and at the end of the summer they have an all Senior High week with a huge budget. One year they rented a helicopter just for a James Bond themed opening show!
Those are just some of the stats that you may be interested in but I have first hand experience! I've been to camp numerous times and spent half my summer there this past year. I started going to camp at the age of 12 and after that summer I knew I would be going back every year. While at camp I went through J2, Senior High and CEO. Now CEO was by far the best program that Muskoka Woods has to offer. Only 75 kids get into the program every summer between 2 sessions. It gives you a grade 11 Leadership course credit and 200 community service hours. All this is organized by the section head who puts all her time into marking our Journals and activity logs. This is another example of how they put so much effort into everything!
At camp they don't call you a camper they call you a guest and although you pay a fair amount to go to camp in my personal opinion it is worth it and arguably the best camp ever!
At camp they don't call you a camper they call you a guest and although you pay a fair amount to go to camp in my personal opinion it is worth it and arguably the best camp ever!
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