Hello everyone,

next week our class will take an e-asttle writing test and our teacher told us to read and understand some of the links she gave us about narrative writing.

Words for Unit

 What is the definition of rich to you?

Having an abundance of money and valuable things, owning lots of properties, the ability to travel anywhere around the world, etc.

The Kimberley Process

Hello everyone, after the holidays we are still following on with the topic ‘Blood Diamonds’ but today we are learning about the ‘Kimberley Process’

What does the Kimberley process prevent? –  The Kimberley Process is an industry that specializes in reducing the flow of conflict diamonds,  they stopped 99.98% of blood diamonds going into the market. 

Does that mean that everyone now gets their fair share of the profits from the diamond trade? – I think not since unethically mined diamonds from places such as Sierra Leone are considered to have violated the rights of forced labor and abuses the rights of humans.

What are blood diamonds? – Blood diamonds, also called ‘conflict diamonds’ are diamonds mined in areas of war and sold to fund armed conflicts against the government. These diamonds are mostly mined by individuals who are forced into labor, violating human rights laws. There have been attempts to put a stop to the process of blood diamonds like ‘The Clean Diamond Trade Act’ which was an act that forbids the exportation of blood diamonds to the U.S. 

Now that term 3 is coming to an end, we had to write a reflection about what we have been doing the past weeks. At the start of the term, we wrote a blog post on the value of writing in a range of different text types like letters, reports, essays, stories, persuasive writing, and creative writing. We started to use read theory and readworks more frequently this term and we were given the task to read 5 stories every week.

We then had to write an essay about the effects of climate change and natural disasters and post it on our blog. In week 6 we got to argue for/against Wanaga on the 2024 timetable and whether it wasted our time or it deserved to be on our timetable next year. In week 9 we practiced and developed our language grammar skills by taking multiple tests. then lastly in week 10, we had to write a reflection on what we did this term.

In Wanaga last week, we worked on a worksheet about different scenarios, we had to pick one and I chose the first scenario. We had to read and analyze the scenario and then answer how they might feel. For my scenario, it was about how this person named ‘Ash’ had this group of friends he always used to hang out with since year 7 but lately they have been ignoring him, cutting him off, and not waiting at their usual place. Ash had found out that some kids in his class posted some bad comments about him on Facebook and that his own friend group posted snarky comments on the post.

From what I can tell from this information is that Ash might be feeling: upset, sad, depressed, and worried since some people in his class are making fun of him and his own friends aren’t even defending him, instead they are joining in. Ash’s body language might look like he’s always looking down and he might be a little hunchback since he might want to avoid the people making fun of him. What might Ash’s goal be like? – Ash’s friends ignored him for no reason or didn’t even tell him what happened so I can tell Ash’s goal would be to get his friends to stop ignoring him, to find out the reason why they are ignoring him, and to get the Facebook post about him down. Ash’s friends might feel proud and their goal is to bring Ash down and make fun of him.

That’s all, thank you for viewing my blog.

This term in health, we’ve been learning about death, dying in the afterlife, and how different cultures celebrate it. We even watched the movie Coco, which taught us about Dia De Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. After the movie, we created a fact file about the Day of the Dead and shared what we learned. For our next task, we had to choose a historical topic to research. I chose the Spanish flu and learned a lot about it. Then we learned about how to respect and support people when they are going through the stages of grief and what we could do to help them, adding on to the stages of grief we also learned how to cope with grief. Now we were given the task to pick either ace, pro or legend for our health assessment, I had chosen legend and we had to investigate an area of death dying and the afterlife we were interested in or didn’t get the chance to look at. The topic I chose was ‘Cultural Beliefs around Death. 

What is your chosen topic for investigation?

I have chosen to investigate cultural beliefs around death, Cultural beliefs around death vary greatly across different societies and religions. In some cultures, death is seen as a natural and inevitable part of life, while in others, it is viewed as a taboo subject that should not be discussed openly. Many cultures hold strong beliefs about what happens to a person’s soul or spirit after they die, with some believing in reincarnation, an afterlife, or a journey to the underworld.  

Explain 3-4 interesting pieces of information you read about your topic. Provide links and or pictures to support what you are explaining.

In Mexico, Día de los Muertos is a significant holiday in Mexican culture that celebrates the lives of loved ones who have passed away. Offerings, or ofrendas, are made to honor the dead, including their favorite foods, drinks, and belongings. It is believed that the spirits of the dead return to earth during this time to enjoy the offerings and be with their loved ones. 

In Italian culture there are a few similarities with the Mexican culture, death is seen as a natural part of life and is often celebrated through various traditions and customs. For example, the Day of the Dead (La Festa dei Morti) is a time when families gather to honor and remember their loved ones who have passed away. It is believed that during this time, the spirits of the dead return to the earth to be with their loved ones once again.

In the UAE, cultural beliefs around death are deeply important in religion and tradition. It is tradition for family members and friends to gather and mourn the loss of their loved ones for a period of up to 40 days. During this time, prayers from the Quran are said to help the soul of the dead into the afterlife. It is also common for people from their community to come together and provide support and guidance for the family during this time. Many people believe that the dead should be buried as soon as possible, normally within 24 hours of passing, since it is believed that the soul is released from the body at that time. 

How did you demonstrate respect towards others’ cultural beliefs that are different to yours? (Extra for excellence) 

Personally, I think that it’s very important to show respect towards other people’s cultural beliefs, even if they are different from my own. One way that I try to do this is by listening carefully to what others have to say about their beliefs and customs, and by asking questions when I don’t understand something. I think that showing a genuine interest in learning about other cultures, respecting them, and being cautious of your own behavior and how it can impact others can help every factor of hauora, especially when someone has recently had a close one pass. 

Why is it important that you take care of all areas of hauora when we experience change, loss, or grief? (Extra for excellence) 

it is important that I take care of all areas of my Hauora because It can have negative effects on my health. By paying attention to my physical health (Taha Tinana) through exercise and right nutrition, my mental health (Taha Hinegaro) through therapy or other kinds of support, and my social health (Taha Whanau) through talking with loved ones, I get through these difficult times and come out stronger on the other side. For my spiritual health (Whenua and Taha Wairua)  is just as important as my physical and mental health, and not paying attention to it can interfere with my emotions. Whenever I feel lost or disconnected, turning to my spirituality can provide comfort and hope. Taking care of all areas of your hauora helps you to cope and take on the grief with losing something/someone.

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Hello everyone, in health today we worked on a task about our traditions in our culture.

What is your culture? – My culture is Filipino.

What happens when someone in your culture passes away? – In the Philippines, when someone dies, it’s important for loved ones to come together to mourn and honor the deceased. The family may also hold a prayer vigil or rosary, and a priest may bless the body. On the day of the funeral, there is a march to the cemetery for the burial. Afterward, the family and guests often have a meal together, also called “merienda,” to remember and celebrate the life of the loved one who has passed away.

Hello everyone, in English we have been learning about how to use different ranges of writing, different ways like writing a report, letter, narrating something persuasive writing, and creative writing. Writing is a great skill that lets you communicate your thoughts and ideas with others. It allows people to express themselves and communicate more clearly with other people. If we are writing an email, story, essay, article, or report, having the skill to write is important whether you are in a personal or professional setting. Writing in different text types can help you communicate with different people. By practicing different writing text types you can develop more skills and your ability to express your writing more creatively, in addition to that you can also develop thinking skills that help you adapt your writing style to fit the aim of the text.

Writing comes in different types, each with its own purpose and style. The types are persuasive, informative, descriptive, narrative, and creative writing. Persuasive writing aims to convince the reader to take an action or point of view. Descriptive writing creates a detailed text for the reader. Narrative writing tells a story, while informative writing explains or informs. Creative writing is used for entertainment and has more freedom in style and content.

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Hello everyone,

Today in cooking we made beef chow mein. For the duration of the lesson, our group worked efficiently and helped each other. We had to show our chopping, slicing, preparing, and cooking skills in the dish. Although the vegetables weren’t thoroughly cooked since they were a bit hard we still managed to be the first group finished.

Here is the recipe for the Beef Chow Mein:

Here

Thank you for viewing my blog, have a nice day.

Technology through Time Terms & Definitions

Last week in Social Studies we started a new topic called ‘Futurism: Technology Through Time’. Our teacher showed us what futurism is and showed us a video of what the world would look like in 30 years. Then he gave us a task to write up definitions on a doc about different terms related to our topic.

Here is my work:

Our teacher also gave us a task to add the terms and definitions to a crossword puzzle site:

Gaming Youtube Article

Hello everyone,

Today in social sciences, our teacher showed and talked about this article about how researchers created fake accounts aged 9-14 and used them to watch gaming videos to get a perspective of what a regular kid or teenager would be looking at. After they used the account to watch primarily youtube videos about games like Grand Theft Auto, Roblox, Red Dead Redemption, etc. The researchers examined the recommended videos, which were much more violent than what they were watching.

From my point of view, I think youtube should fix its filter but the parents could easily just click on the video and press ‘not interested’ so youtube can easily show fewer videos like that in their kids’ recommendations, they could also try switching to youtube kids. Then again, the parents may not know what their child is watching and it might lead to their child becoming more aggressive or maybe trying to imitate what they are watching.

OpenAI leaders call for regulation to prevent AI from destroying humanity article

It’s a fact that AI has made incredible advancements over the years and has become an important essential part of our lives. However, as AI technology continues to advance and become more sophisticated, there is a growing concern about the potential risks it poses to humanity. That’s why OpenAI leaders call for regulation to prevent AI from causing harm to society. They believe it’s crucial to establish guidelines and standards that govern the development and use of AI to ensure that it’s used for the greater good of humanity. While AI has the potential to bring about many benefits, it’s essential to ensure that it’s used safely and responsibly.

Coded Bias Documentary

I recently watched a documentary our teacher showed us called “Coded Bias” which talks about how AI technologies have hidden biases that affect our society. Algorithms control many parts of our lives and often cause unfairness and discrimination. The movie has experts like Joy Buolamwini who explain how facial recognition software is biased towards race and gender. In addition to the unfairness and discrimination, historical algorithms affect how ai detects humans. Back then, racism and sexism were normalized and now ai can collect the data and put it into the algorithms which led to poor detection and misidentification

Technological Development

Hello everyone, this week in social studies we looked at the 8 different analysis techniques. The eight different analysis techniques are: Economical, technological, social, ethical, environmental, cultural, political, and legal.

Here is my work.

Hello everyone,

Today in social sciences we wrote a small biography about Kate Sheppard. She led the women’s rights movement and helped women get the right to vote on September 19, 1893.

Here is my work:

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