Mid-Term Break Next Week!

I can't believe it's already the February mid-term!!! Seems like only yesterday we were coming back after Christmas!!! I'm going to spending some of my week off in the Gaeltacht for a cinnire training course...speaking Irish! :)
I'm glad today is nearly over because there were a lot of projects due in today (our Tech F1 in Schools car design, our Mini Company report booklet & our Geography diseases of poverty project!).
I had a slight mishap with the printer at home last night (I had no colour ink-only black and white!) and I was afraid I wouldn't get it printed out, but I got it done in the end.Our mini-company report looks really good now...we just had a few small changes but all in all we didn't have much to do today and we got it submitted without any hassle. Our car for F1 had to be finished off and I was a bit worried that we wouldn't get it done but thanks to Mia and Mr. W, we emailed the designs off after lunch.
So today has been busy but very productive!! And now we've the week off to recover!!! :L (from what?!) lol :)
Happy Mid-term everyone!!! :)

Student Blog Challenge

I've decided to take part in next month's student blog challenge...it should be interesting. I think I'll get to look at other students' blogs and they can look at mine. I'll get a new challenge each week that I'll have to do. I'm looking forward to it!
Here's a link to the blog challenge site...
http://studentchallenge.edublogs.org/students-march-2011/.

Sometimes in April

Today we spent the three classes between break and lunch watching Sometimes in April It's a movie about genocide in Rwanda and how the Hutus and the Tutsis were battling against each other. The Hutus were above the Tutsis and set out to eliminate the Tutsis. Its a true story and was really sad. We watched it with Amina and we're gonna finish it off after mid-term in class.

Maths games

Today in maths we played probability games in maths...they weren't very fun but they were interesting...I was with Hayley and we had two die which we had to roll 72 times. The aim was to see what we'd roll and how many time we rolled each number. Our results were pretty acurate. We started another game like it but then the bell went so we couldn't finish it...I think we'll be doing more like it again on Friday.. :)

P.E.

Today, because of the mocks, we ended up having pe, then lunch, and then pe again instead of the usual double. Mr. L was gone to cross-country so Ms. O'C took both of our classes. For the first class we played capture the flag. We were put into two teams and then we had to run from our side to the other team's side and grab the "flag" (it was a bib!) and bring it back to our side without being caught - a LOT easier said than done! Needless to say, the game went on for ages and no-one won in the end coz it was time to go in for lunch.
After lunch we played rounders. We stayed in the same teams. I don't know who won but it was definitely very close...I didn't manage to get home...I only got past the first cone when I was put out...oh well!!! Sin saol I supposse... :)
Anyway...I really enjoyed PE today...it was good having the classes split up before and after break. I think we'll be doing rugby again after mid-term but I'm not entirely sure... :)

English Writing Workshop

Today a writer called Oisín McGann came in and talked to us about writing. He has written a few books and illustrates them himself. It was really interesting and very funny! He told us that he has three notebooks; one in his pocket, one by his bed and one by his chair at home where he writes down any ideas that pop into his head to keep them for future use.
At the end he drew a picture of one of the characters froma book of his and gave it to us for the school...it was soooo good!!!
He also gave us some good advice about writing...he told us that every story should have a distinctive beginning, middle & end, and that there should be a climax, something to overcome, and a way to overcome it!
You can check out his website here; http://www.oisinmcgann.com/.

Croke Park

Today we're going to the GAA museum at Croke Park as part of history. We're leaving next class. I'll write more about it when I get back...I really hope there's a shop there 'cause I'm hungry for chocolate,,,or crisps...mmmmm.... :)
Well we went to the GAA museum yesterday and I had such a good day!!! I admit I never had any interest in the GAA etc (awful, I know!), but after yesterday, I have developed a want to go see a match all of a sudden!!
First of all we went into a room and saw a movie for about twenty minutes about the All-Ireland hurling and football finals 2009 and all the preparation that goes into having a match there. It was so intersting!
Then we went on a tour of the whole stadium. We got to see the changing rooms, the players' loungs (its a VIP room - we were lucky to get to see it), the pitch, the stands and a corporate box. Our tour guide (I can't remember his name :/) told us the prices for a corprate box and to rent a seat for 10 years...I must say, you'd want to have a money tree growing in your back garden!! In the canging rooms there were jerseys from every county in Ireland and even some GAA clubs abroad in London and New York!!! It's so cool to know that people all over the world play our national sport!
The pitch was immaculate - there were two men cutting it with normal lawnmowers - the pitch is the size of three soccer pitches!!!! They can't use ride-on mowers coz they might ruin the grass!!!
We also got to see some of the cups including the origianl Sam McGuire cup.
In the museum there were games to test how high you can jump, your aim, your balance and other stuff like that. I found out that; I can't jump high, my balance is appaling, and I couldn't hit a target if I was paid! :) Oh well!
We got to go for lunch in the cafe there if we wanted...I got garlic bread and Hayley and I shared a chocolate bar... :D
It was a really enjoyable day and I learned loads about the GAA and Croke Park. When I went home I asked my mum can we go to a match sometime soon and she said yeah!!!
Thanks to Ms. McG and Ms. McH for organising it and bringing us! :)
PS...I'll try and upload some pictures soon :)

Baby Cakes' Bake Sale

One of the other mini-companies in our year, Baby Cakes (they make baby clothes in the shape of cakes!) held a bake sale today to raise money for their Mini-Company. Everyone in our class helped them out by selling the food, manning the door and eh...buying from them!!!
I got a 2 marshmallow & chocolate cups which were DIVINE! (I never have chocolate in school so it was a nice change!). They had loads of food there like cookies, cake and rice-crispie buns...and LOADS of chocolate (cause our year looooves chocolate!).
They raised 165 euro for their mini-company project...well done girls!!! :)

Music Composition

In music today we composed our own pieces using Sybelius...mine was called Brochailli (ahem)... They were very interesting (!). It was fun being able to make a piece and then listen to it afterwards! :)

Home Ec Project

At the moment we're busy writing up our presentations for our Home Ec project on internatioanl cuisine. Laura and I have got info on New Zealand geography, cuisine and sport (I included a video on the Haka)! It's nice and colourful too... :) It's probably due after mid-term 'cause we still have to cook one last recipe.
Tomorrow we're starting on food theory...we'll be learning about food safety & hygiene, the HACCP system, food poisoning and food spoilage...it should come in handy for the future and stuff!!!

Waris Dirie Movie & Slideshow

After reading some of the autobiography from the world-famous model, we got to watch the movie based on her story. WOW!...it was sad, but really amazing to see what she did with her life and especially how she raised global awareness on such a horrific issue in the world today. A mini project we did was to make a story-board on her life so here's the one Hayley, Michelle & I did...

Rugby...

Ha! I just laugh every time I picture myself running, petrified, into a crowd of harmless TY's thinking "Oh my God, I'm gunna die". And then all they do is take my tag. Hehe!!
Me + rugby = bad idea!! Don't get me wrong, it's really fun, and I enjoy doing it, but I wish that I could (just once) get somewhere without throwing the ball into space and running away. Oh well...it's great craic though and I must say...the other girls in my year are AMAZING! Ailbhe ran soooo fast up the pitch today!!! I'd just fall...actually I wouldn't be able to run that fast in the first place! :L
Rugby = good fun...but I should definitely get practising!

Rince Gaelach

On Friday last week we practised our "haon, dó, trís" in the hall with class Amina during Irish. It was really fun! We did "Bailí Luimneach" and one other (I can't remeber which one - it could have been the Siege of Ennis, which I ca't spell as Gaeilge!). At the end of the class Niamh, Aoife and Karen (and Ruth apparently :L) showed us some of their dancing skills on their own - they were brill!!!! We'll be doing it again this Friday as far as I know - I can't wait!!
Also, in Irish today we watched the gearr-scannán "Cáca Milis". It's on the Leaving Cert course for us. It's a really sad movie about a blind man and how awfully he is treated. At the end we had to listen to Happiness by Alexis Jordan to cheer ourselves up a bit!! :D

Cooking in Home Ec

I was a bit apprehensive when I first started cooking in Home Ec because I'm no Gordon Ramsey...actually I'm the opposite!!..I'm an awful cook!

But the week before last we started cooking for our international cuisine project. Laura and I are basing our project on New Zealand cuisine. On the first day of cooking we made Hokey Pokey biscuits. Here's a picture of the finished biscuits (they're not burned - that's the melted chocolate!!);

Last week we made chicken and broccoli bake. I forgot to take a picture but it tasted really nice (except I accidentally left it in school over night and then it SMELLED!!!!)

We were supposed to be cooking again tomorrow but the mocks are on so it's being post-poned. Laura and I are still deciding what to make anyway so it's good we have more time...

I've decided that I really like cooking though so maybe it can be a hobby to consider!! (Hehe :L)

F1 in Schools

So far, team Éalu (me, Kate, Michelle, Hayley, Mia & Sarah) have been pretty busy with our Formula 1 in schools project. We've nearly finished designing our car using SolidWorks and we'll be sending the designs, along with our block of Balsa wood down to Cork, where it will be manufactured, next week.
On Monday, Roisín (from the other group, team Swift) and I went to KFM studios in Naas and did an interview about F1 and about TY. It was really cool to be inside a radio studio and to see how everything worked...although it was a tad embarassing being on the radio!!
We stay back on Thursdays after school so Mr. Walsh can help us with our projects and to get a bit more work done. We have a Twitter account now and a Facebook page. At the moment, we're busy looking for sponsorship. :)

The Desert Flower by Waris Dirie

This book is about a super-model, Waris Dirie. In it, she tells the story of her life. She was born into a Somalian herding family. At age 13, after her father arranged for her to marry a man in his sixties, she ran away from home and went to live with her aunt. Eventually, she left for London where she then went on to develop a career as a model. In this story she highlights the horrors of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and how it had a huge affect on her life and the lives of millions of African girls in the past, and still to this day.
I thought this book was very sad as Waris clearly had a very difficult childhood and suffered a lot throughout her life. I did, however, find it very interesting and eye-opening as it highlighted to me the horrors of FGM and how so many young girls here to suffer at the hands of this outrageous custom. I didn't realise that it was such a prominent issue still present in the world today. It was also a very inspiring story as it showed how, by her independance and courage, a girl of a very disadvantaged upbringing could make such a good life for herself and could achieve happiness. I thought it was a really brilliant book.