I do not want to reveal a lot of information yet, but it will be released on the 1st of June on this blog, under the “Stories” tab, unless I finish it earlier.

Thank you,

George

Here are my two speeches:

I think that out of my two speeches, the 3-minute speech was done better. This is because, my voice was projected better, and I also had eye-contact. Since the impromptu speech was made-up, and I did not prepare for it, I often paused, and used filler words, such as “um” and “er.” In my 3-minute speech, I thought that my structure was good. I had strong points to persuade the audience, and I also changed the tone of my voice. I made sure I used modulation. I think my volume was good, because it remained consistent throughout my speech. Also, I added emphasis on important words, because I wanted the audience to remember certain parts. However, I need to work on the physical side. I need to put some more expression into my face, to deliver my speech, and make it more convincing, and persuasive. My use of palm cards were good. I did not wave them around, and distract the audience. I made sure they were quite small, so I would not get distracted by them as well. I also numbered them, so I would not get confused.

So I think that you can see that my three-minute speech was better presented because I used more modulation, and overall, I think I was more confident.

My Persuasive techniques were good. I made sure my points were logical, and that they were structured, and put into a good order, which is easy for the audience to comprehend.

I really liked Kenneth Macleod’s speech, because the topic was interesting (it applied to many people) and he added some humor to it, which got my attention. He also varied the tone of his voice, so that was very good. His time was good as well, and it wasn’t too short or too long. I think that mine was a tad too short, so that is also another part in which I should improve on.

S.E Hinton uses appearance in her novel a lot. She has to come up with fake characters (but they are based on real people), and make their image pop into our heads. S.E Hinton was successful at doing this, because she deceived me. Especially when coming up with the Greasers, it is difficult to come up with a clear image.

2. Do narrators always tell the truth? Is Ponyboy a reliable narrator?

Ponyboy is not always reliable. He sometimes lies, but sometimes not on purpose. In the story, there are times when he doesn’t see the whole picture, so he might not be reliable.

3. Is The Outsiders relevant to you? Can you relate to it? Why or why not?

The Outsiders is not relevant to me. I do not live in a place where there are gangs, or where there are different classes of people. However, in the novel, there are scenes of friendship, so that does relate to me, because that is how I try to behave, and I try to be kind to others.

4. Should The Outsiders be taught in school? If so, at what grade level?

I think it should be taught at grade 6, because children should have a wide picture of the earth, and not be hidden from facts, which are true. Even though some scenes are quite mature, children should be able to handle it, and tell whether it is right or wrong. I disagree that it is baned for young people, because they have the right to know what kind of things happened a long time ago.

5. Who is your favourite character and why? Who is your least favourite? Explain your choice.

My favorite character is Dally because even though he was very tough and strong and mighty, he was kind to people he loved, especially to Johnny, and he was in grief when he died. My least favorite is Bob because he was stuck up, and he was mean, and a bully.

6. Which character impacts you the most? What emotions do you feel for that character? Does he/she remind you of someone else you know? Of yourself?

I remember Ponyboy the most because he was the main character, and also because he was different. He actually thought about things, and was not narrow minded. He was loyal to his friends, especially to Johnny, but at the same time, he was also tough, even though he did not like to fight that much. He doesn’t remind me of anyone, because he is original.

Rock Song

Handball (also known as team European Team Handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outfield players and a goalkeeper on each team) pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team. A standard match consists of 2 quarters of 30 minutes, and the first team to score more goals wins. Modern handball is usually played on a soccer pitch, but outdoor variants exist in the forms of field handball. The game is quite fast and includes some body contact, as the defenders try to stop the attackers from approaching the goal. Players can dribble the ball like in basketball and can take 3 steps. They can also pass using, chest pass, bounce pass and overhead pass. Players are allowed to be in possession for an unlimited period of time, before either passing or shooting at goal. The game has different phases. Firstly a team needs to gain possession of the ball and this usually occurs with the goalkeeper. The objective is to turn defence into attack. The next phase is moving the ball back away from the opponents goal and to your own goal. The next phase is to get into a scoring position. No players are allowed inside the D zone. However, every player is allowed inside the F zone. Fouls occur when players use excessive force and play is re-started with a jump ball. Players are only allowed a maximum of 3 fouls before they must exit the game. 

Here are two types of warm-up exercises. Here is one which is suitable for handball:

This game is like tag, but you can only tag the person with the ball. You cannot throw. The whole class is allowed to join. First, there are three taggers, who must pass the ball to each other, co-operatively. They can dribble for an unlimited period of time, but once they stop, they can only take three steps. Once you tag someone, that person becomes a tagger. A good way to tag many people is to stand near not tagged people, and call for the ball. Then you can easily tag them.

This game is good for handball, because you practice your passing skills, dribbling skills, and also calling for the ball.

The next exersise is a skill development drill. Here is a good one:

This one requires five people exactly. You stand diagonally to one another. The first person (on the right) will throw the ball to the person diagonally opposite to them. Then, that person passes the ball to the person opposite them. At the same time, the first person who threw, will run around the next person, and will catch the ball when the fourth person throws to them. Make sure you keep moving at a nice pace, and keep your formation. After you pass six times, you can stop, and go the other way.

This focuses on passing. In order to keep your formation, you will have to pass quickly and accurately to one another. Using a chest pass is probably the most effective.

Overall, I have enjoyed this unit, and I think I have learned many new skills.

Thanks,

George

United Kingdom Infographic

In this performance, I am a nice man, who wants to cell his coffins. I try to put on a persuasive voice, and I did not raise my voice, and I kept it in control.

I always try to be serious when I do assessments. But, in this instance, I did not do very well. First of all, the topic was very strange, and perhaps I should have done something more happy. I just tried to make a happy, and persuasive, but slightly impatient character, and that did not come out very well, because my voice was too soft, because I think that people who persuade, should have a louder voice.

As I just mentioned, I need to improve on my voice volume, and my speed. I spoke far too slowly, and it just started to get boring near the end. Daniella, on the other hand, did a good job being a sad widow.

I would maybe like to use this style again, if I wanted to portray something sad.

You can see the change of status here.

We had to use SWAT (Stand, Walk, Action, Talk) in our performance. When I was in control, I had a straight back, and a superior air, while the other person, Keigo Tanaka, had a hunched back, with said that he was nervous, or scared.

However, in the other video, where we changed our status, and where Keigo was higher than me, we had to switch the SWAT to produce a different effect.

But, I think that the most important thing was my voice. A person in charge, will usually have a strong, and deep commanding voice, while the student will be more quiet, and soft. I think that I did this part quite well.

I would like to continue do this again, when I want to show status, and hierarchy, and I thought that it was very interesting.

For our first unit in technology this yer, we practiced slide design, and then we would make a presentation of our own choice, in front of the class. My topic was “How School’s Have Changed Since the 1960′s”

I think I did not perform very well in the design cycle, which consists of Investigate, Plan, Create, and the Evaluate, which is this blog post. For the investigate area, we looked at different types of presentations, which included Ted Talks and Pecha Kucha. My final presentation was based on the Ted Talk style, where you don’t look at your slides, and you try to be a bit funny (which I failed to do.) I was able to analyse some of the different techniques and styles, but it could have been much better.

I think that my plan was better. I was able to create a few practice slides, and I explored different fonts and pictures.

Finally, in the create stage, I made the slides which would be part of my presentation. I tried to think carefully, and about how I should do the layout, and to make sure I didn’t have many words on my slide, because that does not make a good slide. Good slides just have a picture, and maybe a keyword, and the rest of it is just listening to the presenter.

I think that I performed okay, but I still could have improved. My voice was a monotone, and flat, and had no depth. This was probably because I was so nervous, and wasn’t really thinking about what my voice would sound like. I got a shiver down my spine when I heard the video recording Mr Curkovic had taken. That definitely needed improvement.

I think that I spoke too quietly, and a little bit too fast. Having a good pace and volume is very important when you give a presentation, because then, the audience will actually understand what you are saying. There is no point saying something when nobody understands it, is there???

Here are my slides from my presentation. I hope you will find them adequate.

Thank you for reading this blog post, and if you have any questions, please leave them as a comment down below.

This is my reflection for our music unit, playing a classic song, or a masterpiece. For myself, I chose Mary had a Little Lamb and I decided to play it on the piano, because I have had some experience with it. But, I didn’t want it to be boring, so I added some extra chords, and I also changed they key, in the middle, to make it dark, and sad, and not a little happy fairy tale.

I think I performed OK, and my chord change was done well. I kept my speed at the same time, and I slowed down at the end, to add effect.

However, there was one bad point, where I forgot to change the chord when I hit the D note. So, there was a strange clashing sound, which did not sound at all good. That is where I need to improve.

Overall, I think I performed well, and I was able to make a simple song more interesting.

Here is my actual song. Enjoyie!!!

Any feedback would be much appreciated!