Paired Reading Interview

20th, Nov, '14

Today for the first ten minutes of my first class I had to do an interview to do paired reading. I wasn't really nervous because I knew the teacher doing it and she is very nice. When I went in she asked very simple questions and it all went well. I think I will be let do it and I enjoy reading. I think it will be good for me to help someone out and help myself be more confident and sociable. The interview flew by and I was back in class within minutes.

Last Print Making

18th, Nov, '14

We had our last print making class today, I was sad because this was my favourite module. A lot of people were really behind and didn't get to finish their linos by the end, but I was finished, all I had to do was sew upmy bags. I am quite rpoud of my bags and I can't wait to use them. I think I have improved my lino cutting skills a lot and learned how to do finer detail, I also hadn't done a two colour before and I think it looked really good. I would love to do lino again, and art is my favourite subject. I also had a very kind teacher who gave me extra time to make my bags so they would be finished on time.I don't think I could have imprived them much. I wish I could do the module again.

Home Economics

18th, Nov, '14

Today in h.ec class we made chicken fajtias. I had to cut the slimy chicken, which I hate, but it was worth it. It was quite a simple dish to make so I think it would be handy for parties and things like that. They were very tasty, especially with sour cream. I couldn't finish it all though.

Last Mask Making

18th, Nov, '14

Today we had our last mask making module. Most of us had finished our masks so we got to make chirstmas decorations instead. We cut out circles in cardboard and then cut snoflake designs into them, we then painted them white and once they were dry, covered them in glue and dipped them in a mixture of sugar and glitter to give them a sparkly effect. They were really pretty and easy to make. They were also kind of messy to make too. Most people finnished their masks by the end of class. We then took a group photo of everyone with their masks. We weren't allowed to take them home because the teacher wanted them for our end of year exhibition.
Overall I loved making my mask and am very proud of it. I think I could have painted the music notes better but I still like it. I think I did well sticking to the venetian theme. I would love to make more masks but I don't have any of the materials. My mask doesn't properly fit my face either but I don't really plan on wearing it much anyway.

Last Chinese

17th, Nov, '14

Today we had our last Chinese class (sob). We all got to try some Chinese food from yung fo in Gorey. We had noodles, fried rice, and dumplings. It was very tasty with sweet chilli sauce. We had to try eat them with our chopsticks which was quite difficult, but I got the hang of it. We also got to try some chinese crackers, nuts and teas. The teas were very mild and perfumey, I didn't really like the teas. But overall we had fun. We also learnt some more about different styles of chinese food and got to listen to some Chinese music.
Overall i'm glad I did Chinese. It is a very interesting country with a very different culture and cousine to us. I would love to travel there someday. The language was quite difficult to learn but I think its a fun thing to know if you need a conversation starter, and if I ever go to China I have a few words I can say (If I don't forget them by then) I think I could have studied a bit more, but I still have all of the sheets so I can always looks back over it if I need to. I didn't really enjoy watching the movies too much because they didn't reflect China very well, and I could have watched them any other time in my spare time, I would rather of used the class time to learn things I never would have taught of learning. But I think I might look into China a bit more in the future.

Dumplings and sweet chilli sauce

Tea

Nuts

Science Quiz

14th, Nov, '14

Today, as a part of science class, we got to go do a quiz with the first year science classes. We had prepared the quiz ourselves and had to go to the classes in groups of three for the fourth period. Myself, Eimer and Colin were in a group, but Colin didn't show up. But we were fine without him. I was glad to be missing class for it. I was quite worried though, to be reading our questions to a whole class. But when we went in it was quite laid back and they listened to us well. It was really fun. I wouldn't normally be the one to read out things or take control of a class but I was quite confident and I surprised myself. They answered all of the questions and we had a laugh aswell. Afterwards I had to correct all of the quizes. I was surprised with some of their answers, some of the questions were quite easy but they caught them out. The best team got 53 out of 62, which was the best score in the whole year. They even got the tricky ones right which I was surprised with. Most of the other groups only got as high as the low fourties or thirties, so this team did pretty well. They got their prizes of sweets. I would love to do another quiz with the first years again.

Joe Prop

13th, Nov, '14

Today for our middle three classes we saw a one man play in the oratory. It was played by a man whose name I will find out, but he acted in Fair City before. It was about a young boy with brain tumors who's dream was to be a rugby coach. It was quite embarrassing to watch a grown man act like a little child but at times it was quite funny. He ran around yelling and talking to a teddy bear and going into daydreams. It also had quite a good story line but everybody has mixed ideas about how it ended, some think he died and some think he lived to do his dreams. I think he died. At the end he took pictures with us all and he was very friendly. The writer of the play was very nice also. I don't know if I would be able to watch it all again but fair play to the actor and writer who put effort into it, it was well executed for the small space and resources they had.

The Stage.

My View

Talking to everyone at the end.

Indie Music

13th, Nov, '14

Today in music class myself and my project partner Séamus had to present our project to our class. Everybody was in groups of two and were given a genre of music to study and work on. We got indie music. I had no idea what type of music this was until now and I also learnt some more about other genres of music. It was quite nerve wrecking to talk in front of the whole class but I'm beginning to feel more comfortable doing it. I also learnt a song, 'Summertime Sadness' by Lana Del Ret for the project because she is an indie artist. We put together a powerpoint aswel with all of the information about the music. I was quite proud of our project and think we did pretty well, but I wouldn't like doing another stressful project anytime soon. We're going to be starting Christmas carols for our carol service soon.

Art

12th Nov, '14

This is my second finished painting. It was quite difficult to do the trees and I thihnk there was room for improvement. But practice does make perfect.

Aib Build a Bank

12th, Nov, '14

Today for our first two classes we had a meeting in the senior canteen about the Build a Bank project. We were told about the different possible jobs you could have if you signed up and what you would be doing for the school. It seemed pretty difficult. There were prizes forthe best banks in Ireland. I'm not very good at finance or handling money so it really wasn't for me so I didn't sign up. It akes a lot of dedication, work and time to do it and I would much rather do something i'd like and be good at.

Science Trip

11th, Nov, '14


Today after our first three classes we went on our science trip to the zoo and to Dunsink observatory. We left at 11am to the zoo. Once we arrived it had started raining. We were given question sheet and sent on paths to go around to the animals and answer them. Then whoever got all the questions right went into a raffle for ten euro. Me and Bronwyn were eager to win. We saw lots of beautiful animals and actually learnt some new things about them that I didn't know before.  The flamingo's and seal's habitats were being renovated so we didn't get to see them I love the seals and was disappointed that I didn't get to see them, but at least now I have another excuse to go and see them again once their pen is finished being built. The baby elephant was so adorable. We also got to see the meerkats in the restaurant there and Bronwyn got a brownie, which was delicious. At 2 o'clock we went into the educational centre and had a sort of quiz where we learnt about the food chain and how some of the animals are endangered and could collapse the food chain. It was very interesting. Then when this talk was over a small group of us went to see the giraffes and zebras at the other end of the zoo. It was absolutely lashing rain and we got soaked. We had to go back to the bus early because nobody wanted to go around in the rain and there were massive puddles in the way also. Everybody else was on the bus when we got to it. I really enjoyed the zoo apart from all the rain, it meant that it wasn't busy and we actually got to see the animals.
After the zoo we went to Blanchertstown shopping centre for some dinner. They had a build a bear there which I had to look at and they had all of their Christmas stuff in which was so cute. Then me and Bronwyn went to McDonald's for something to eat. It is a very big shopping centre and they had really cool Christmas displays (even though its only November) We were glad for a rest in a dry warm place.
Then at 6p.m we left for the observatory.
When we arrived the bus had a hard time trying to fit through the gate so we got off and walked up to the house. This was better because the building was very beautiful and it had stopped raining. When we went in they weren't quite ready for us so one of the men there told us all a love story of two of these gods I can't remember. It was a lovely story. Then we went into a big room and another man gave us a lecture about telescopes. The room we were in was very tall and once was home to a telescope and the roof could open. It was very interesting to see. He told us about the rosetta telescope that was to land on an asteroid the next day which was a very big step for science, it also cost a lot of money, something like 1.8 billion euro or more. After the talk we went outside to the bigger telescope which was in a dome like house. It was very cold inside to stop temperature change from damaging the telescope. We got to see the roof open. I was disappointed that we didn't get to look through it because there were too many clouds and a lot of light pollution. But the man said that the telescope weighed as much as a single decker bus but the engineers who made it were so marvelous because they designed it so that it could be moved around with very little force. He also told us that the telescope had its own foundations seperate to the floor so that it wouldn't shake no matter how much you stomped around. The man described how it was used to tell the time and this time was sent to other places, including the docks, all around Dublin. The man who invented it (it was someone Grubb) owned a factory that made telescopes and it was very funny because he had to pay a jewlers to set his watch to the right time (the jewler wouldn't let him see the clock), but Grubb didn't like the fact that he had to pay for the time that he had worked out from his inventions, so he got one of his workers to sprint down to the town clock and back so that he could set his watch to the closest minute. I found this very funny because he had to pay for his own time. I also learnt that every telescope is unique because it has to be made specially for where it is going to sit along latitude. Dublin is something like 53.something degrees north and it is very important to get the angle right on the foundations down to the last point of the degree. Also when it was first discovered that you could tell time with telescopes, it meant that the east of Ireland was a couple of minutes ahead of the west and Ireland was 25 minutes ahead of England so it was very difficult for trains to work out times, so eventually they decided to set all the clocks the same. This was very funny. After we saw the telescope we went inside for another lecture on astronomy and how starts are born and die. I found some of this interesting, other parts were boring. A lot of people weren't interested in this. Some of it was also very confusing for young teenagers like us.
We finally left for home at 9:30p.m. I was very tired by the time we got home at 11pm. It was time for a nice, dry warm comfy bed.
I am very interested in cosmology and would love to go back to the observatory on a clear night and learn more about the universe. It is a very beautiful place.

Beautiful snow leopard

Tigers. I had never seen them this close before.  They were massive and gorgeous.

Meerkats in the resturaunt

Some animal skulls

Giraffe skull

                                                    Armadillo

Red Panda

Telescope. This is when we were opening the roof.

 

The lights were red so that it didn't affect your night vision.

Mask Making

11th, Nov,'14


Today in mask making I finally finished my mask. Well I just have to put a wire on the back to keep it upright to display it. But everything else is done. I'm pretty proud of my mask, even though the music notes look a bit clumpy because the brush was too big.

IT is not just for geeks

10th, Nov,'14


Today for our 5th and 6th periods we had a talk on IT. Two Dell representatives came to our school to give us an insight into what they do and how IT affects the world. For me it was quite boring because I have no interest in computers. They had some inspiring videos that all looked a bit too 'happy' and unrealistic. I wouldn't want to work with computers when I leave school. But they did say their side very well and I think they got a few more people interested in IT.

Chinese

10th, Nov, '14


Today in Chinese we had a test. It was very hard and I don't think I did too well in some parts, but I know I got the names of all the family right which I was pleased with. It is such a difficult language with so many different ways to say things.
Also in the class we learned to use chopsticks. It was so hard at first because they kept slipping in my hands. But then I realised that I had been holding them wrong the whole time. A lot of people had been. I was holding them wrong my whole life and once I held them right I realised how much easier it was. She gave us some popcorn to practice picking up. It was really fun. I never thought I would get the hang of using them. I'm still not great at using them but I'm a million times better than I was. We also learnt a bit about the different styles of Chinese food, it all looked so tasty. Next week for our last Chinese class our teacher will be bringing in some Chinese food for us to taste. Can't wait!

The Irish Wheelchair Association

6th, Nov, '14

Today my class tudor group did some charity work for the Irish wheelchair association. We had to sell angel badges, pencils, keyrings and colouring books to help raise money for the charity. We had to do it in pairs at different areas around the town. It was for such a good cause because they help people in wheelchairs and even other people with disabilities. A lot of people were out so most people had to do two shifts during the day. There was one space left that needed one more person so I volunteered so I was going to spend all day uptown helping out. I didn't mind, it was for a good cause. The weather could have been better though, it was cold and wet but there was still a good amount of people who bought things from us. My legs were tired by the end of the day and my fingers were numb, but it felt good to help out. At some points it was quite boring standing waiting for people to come along, but other times were really fun and I also got to know some more about my classmates. We might be helping out again tomorrow, so I hope the weather doesn't get worse. If you see any of us around the town, please donate what you can to this amazing charity.

Me

Jordan

English

5th, Nov, '14

Today in our double english class we went up to the library to exchange our books as part of our reading programme. I love when our class does this. I had finished reading my book, 'Double Dexter', and was eager to read the next in line of the series. It was a really great read and I would highly recommend it to any young adults, or adult, or anybody interested in crime fiction.
 The library didn't have the first five books in the series which was disappointing so I moved on the the last book in the series, 'Dexter's final cut'. The last book was left on a big cliffhanger so I got reading as soon as I checked out the book. Some of the others in my class took ages to pick a book, and some haven't even finished their first book. But I adore reading and spend a lot of time fixed on a book. I doubt I will be long reading this book. This book series is also an award winning T'V series now. But I never think that movies (or t.v series) are better than the books.

Print Making

4th, Nov, '14

Today in print making I printed my lino onto my bags. Myself and one other girl were the only ones ready to print today. I spent ages trying to find plain canvas material bags everywhere this week and couldn't find them anywhere, so my brilliant mother helped me make some out of old curtain material. They turned out pretty well and I think it makes them even more personal and unique. I did a test print on paper and it all turned out well. So I nervously did my first print on a bag. I peeled it off slowly nervous whether I'd make a mistake, but it came out amazing. It has a kind of rustic look because all of the ink didn't print out properly. But I like this style. I printed it another 6 times on the other bags and left to dry. It's now time to start carving out the grey on the lino for the next colour to put on top of the grey. This will give the picture more depth. The linos take ages to clean the ink off but luckily the pencil marks are still there so you don't have to draw them all out again if your doing a two colour.
I can't wait to see the finished product. I really enjoy printing the linos but you have to be careful not to get the ink all over your hands and then on the edges of the print, you find you use up a lot of tissue.

Home Economics

4th, Nov, '14

Today in h.ec class we made pizza. One of my most favourite meals and I love making it at home. It was quite a simple dish to make. The dough expanded a lot, next time I would probably roll it thinner. I put lots of cheese on it and it was delicious, Although the dough wasn't quite as nice as my home made ones. It was quite dry, thick and crumply. I didn't finnish it all. But the topping tasted good. I think i'll stick with the recipe I have at home though.

                                        Our pizza in the oven.

Mask Making

4th, Nov, '14

Today I started painting my mask. It was hard to mix the exact right colours I wanted, but I managed to get pretty close. I went for golds and blues to stick with the venetian theme. It was also quite difficult to paint the music notes right because the brush was a bit to think. By next week I should have it completely done (hopefully) I still have to put string on it to keep it on my face when I wear it.

Song School

23rd and 24th, Oct, '14

Today and yesterday we had our song school workshops. I couldn't wait for them because I love to play instruments and listen to music. When we got into the class we first sang a few songs while the two co-ordinators played the guitar. They showed us how easy it is to put together a song with just a few chords. I was quite suprised how easy it seemed. Then we split up into groups to write our own songs. Myself, Bronwyn and Casey were on a team and there were about eight or nine on the other teams, and nobody wanted to join our group ( I wasn't suprised, even though I was the only person in the class to play any instruments). Three others were forced into our group and then three of the groups (including us) were moved to another classroom for more space. We tried to start writing our song, and even coming up with a theme was difficult. We drew a blank and didn't know what to write. But then the co-ordinator (I forget his name, oops) came over and helped us out. He was very nice and energetic and he helped us write our lyrics. We wrote our song about our trip to Galway. Once he got us started we couldn't stop and by the end of the day everybody had written out their lyrics. We all had ideas of how our song would turn out and were ready to start recording the next day.
Then today I brought in my ukelele to pass the time while the others recored their songs. Then when it was our turn the whole group sang the chorus and then different people sang the verses solo. I didn't sing solo because I hate singing and I am very bad at it. But I did sing in the chorus. The co-ordinator guy then put music into the backround of our lyrics using garageband and our song actually sounded like music. It was quite cool to see it come together. I also had fun playing my ukelele throughout the class and tried to teach Bronwyn some chords to a song. At the end of the day both classes joined together to put in some of the commentary to the songs. Joey, the other co-ordinator, put all of the groups songs together onto one track then and inbetween each song was an introduction telling us who wrote each song. I got to hear all of the other groups songs, which were amazing, and overall I had a lot of fun (despite being pressured to sing) and would think about making more songs using garageband in the future. I also got to hear some of the other galway groups songs on the song school website, they were also amazing.

https://www.spreaker.com/user/songschool/the-songschool-show-gorey-6?sp_redirected=true

This is the website with all of t.y's songs on it.

 Writing our song

Casey and Brownyn

                                                      My group

Recording our song