My Weekly News

This is what I discovered:

The electronics store Dick Smith is set to close its doors for good. It has been open for nearly fifty years, to now be shut down due to the fact that the retailer owes about four hundred million dollars in debts and can’t find a buyer. Over the next eight weeks, 363 stores across Australia and New Zealand will be closing. Dick Smith will not refund any gift cards. 2890 people will lose their jobs - 430 of those people are from New Zealand.

My Opinion: I think Dick Smith should refund their gift cards because a whole heap of people would be losing their money, so it’s practically stealing.

My Source: I found this information from two different sites; Kiwi Kids News, and NZ Herald.

Questions:

Q: How did Dick Smith end up owing so much money? A: The founder of the store blames “greedy bankers” for the collapse of the store he founded. He felt that the store was going to have a bright future, until two years ago, its value was destroyed by an overvalued market float.

Meanings of 3 words:

Debts: A sum of money that is owed or due.

Refund: To pay back money, usually to a customer who is not happy with the goods of the dealer.

Buyer: A person who makes a purchase.

Head Boy and Girl on Leadership

On Monday, the head boy and girl of Hauraki Plains College, came to speak to our Marama team about leadership. They told us that there is more than one type of leader. They explained the four main ones to us, but said that there are lots more. The four main types of leadership that they explained to us were warriors, priests, merchants, and the profit. The warrior is the type of leader who fights hard, and stands up for what he knows is right. The priest is the type of leader who is weary of his other team members, and makes sure they are okay. The merchant is the type of leader who is a great representative, and they know how they need to act to represent whatever it is they are doing. The profit is the type of leader who makes the plan - thinks about the goal, and finds a way to achieve it.

Here is a photo of the Head Boy and Head Girl from the college.

My Weekly News

Richie McCaw Named New Zealander Of The Year

This is what I discovered: 

Richie McCaw has been named New Zealander of the Year for 2016. The former All Black captain was presented the award by John Key. Over 300 nominations were received for the award, and one in 300, Richie McCaw won! The New Zealander of the Year award is awarded to a New Zealander who has achieved great things and made the country a better place.

I think that this is a great thing for Richie McCaw, but how does being a great sports player make the country a better place? I know it's great entertainment, and it helped our countries team win the world cup, but it still isn't really helping.

I read this information from Kiwi Kids News.

I wonder what kind of prizes/perks there are from being awarded New Zealander Of The Year? 

Answer: The New Zealander of the Year Awards are powered by KiwiBank, and the prize for each of the six categories is $5000 and a trophy. 

• New Zealander of the Year
• Young New Zealander of the Year
• Senior New Zealander of the Year
• New Zealand Innovator of the Year
• New Zealand Community of the Year
• New Zealand Local Hero

Meanings of 3 words: 

Achieved: Succeeded, a goal you have succeeded in completing.

Entertainment: Being provided with or providing enjoyment and amusement.

Presented: To give or award ceremonially or formally.

The Marama Way

In Marama, we have the Marama Way. It's about co-operating, being brave, and doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right place. 

In Marama, we have our expectations because we are seniors who set the tone in our school for the younger children. We set the expectation, therefore we have to be role models, and to be role models, we need to be trusted. We need to remember that what we do when we think nobody is watching, is who we really are.

I am a year 7 student, so I am still learning to fit into our Marama Way, but I should have it all sorted by the end of term one. 

Our Marama Way is an important thing for us all to understand, so we can set the tone and be good role models, even when we think nobody is watching.

Apple Tower - Team Building

I am in the Bionic Bunnies learning team. We were given roughly 25 straws, a roll of sellotape, and a pair of scissors. We were told that we had to make a free-standing tower that would be able to hold an apple above ground.

Here are some questions that I answered about this activity.

Q: How did you feel when working as part of a team?

A: When working in my team, I felt included, and that our task would be completed faster with others.

Q. Is there anything you would do differently next time?

A: Next time I think our group needs to stay focused on the current activity. We wasted half of our time talking, and we had completely forgotten what we were supposed to be doing.

Q: Did everyone have a role in the team?

A: We all were included and doing something; we had split our group in half, and then we had each half working on a different part. Then we brought the different parts we had together, and then... We had our tower! This meant we were all doing something, and also that it would be done faster!

Q: How did you plan for the task? Did everyone share their ideas?

A: We planned our task by thinking of a stable and strong structure that could hold the apple. Everybody shared their ideas, and by the time planning was over, we had the perfect design!

I really enjoyed this activity, and I hope to do something like this again!

Multiple Intelligences

After taking this test, I have discovered how I learn. This can help me a lot with my learning, because it will direct me to alter the way I learn to fit my type of smart.

My three highest types of smart are musically, logically, and intrapersonally smart. Musically means that I like to learn through music, and I also like to play and make music. Logically/Number smart means I like to use numbers and logic in my spare time, and I learn well through logic. Intrapersonally smart means that I like to work independently and alone, rather that work with a group of friends.

I learnt quite a bit about how I learn. I learnt that I learn musically, and that I am an independent learner. I now know that I can try to learn while fitting in with the way I learn, so I can make my learning experience the best it can be.

This smarts test means that I know my strengths and weaknesses. I can now build up things I am not good at to make them strengths, but still work on my strengths enough that they don't become something I am not so great at again.

Discovering how I learn best has had an awesome impact on my learning. I can now, throughout school this year, work on the things I didn't get a very high result on.