Blog #18

My hockey team's first preseason game ended in great success. We won it 7-3, and I picked up two assists. Our next game is today.
On Friday, we had a sub for Mr. Nakamoto in math, which means we can actually learn something. We learned about maxima/minima and solved equations that expressed everyday situations in which we need to apply those concepts.
Then, in PE, we played an entire class of flag football. We get tested on throws next week, and I'll have to work on those.
Not much happened in socials. In AS we finished watching the NOVA series, and caught a glimpse of the myriad project choices. I have a tough time deciding which one to choose, because all of them are quite interesting.

Blog #17

In the morning, we "learned" about vitamins and minerals and reviewed information about fats and carbohydrates in Science. We also debated whether taking vitamin supplements was good for you.
We were given work to do in English class, and that was it. We explored some themes in A Midsummer Night's Dream and wrote down quotations to support our claims.
In band, we played some highlights from Carmen. I enjoyed my drums part. There were crescendos, accelerations everywhere. Over all, this is a really energetic, marching piece.
Finally, we got our french projects (poems about ourselves) back. I scored a perfect on both the written and oral compoenents. Twas No surprise, really, because the first project was quite easy.

16

Today, Mr. Nakamoto finally taught us something in math. Well, not exactly "taught". It is a review, and most us already understand the nature of quadratic functions.
In PE, we played flag football with kickoffs, which was much more exciting.
Junior Reach for theTop practice at lunch was fun. I answered about 1/4 of the questions, and I'm sure I"ll be a strong member of the team.
In AS, we watched the second part of the physics DVD. It is basically reiterating the same thing while slowly introducing the history of string theory.

Blog #15

Today, I finished my well-formatted poster for my mentorship project. Making them was a flash. I simply put everything neatly in tables and made the table lines invisible, then selected "5 copies to print". Ah, technology.
In school, we had a new science teacher, Ms. Kot. Personally, I don't like her very much. She seems too young and too inexperienced. Also, she is fussy about discussions in class. I like to actively participate in class discussions, not "be called upon when raising your hand."
We heard the student council rep election speeches today. They were all good, and cliche-ish. All of the candidates said "I will listen to your opinions." or " your opinions will be heard" or "do you want a rep who takes time to listen to your opinions?", etc. I don't always get this cynical, but do people actually communicated with their council reps and express their "opinions"? I don't think so. Everyone is too caught in his or her affairs, and that just seems to be too insignificant.
In English, we had Scott Bellis, an actor at Bard who played Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream come over and talk to us. We had very informative discussions with him, often interrupted by awkward pauses in between. At the end, we read a segment of the play together, and he autographed our works.

Blog #14 - Bill Clinton hammers Wallace

BIG NEWS! Bill Clinton turned very, very, (let's say) heated with Wallace of FOX news in an interview. In it, Bill Clinton denied that he had not put his full energy into finding and killing bin Laden. He even criticized his right-wing criticizers. I quote "they did not even try.I tried, and I failed. But after I failed, I left a comprehensive report..."
In my opinion, Bill Clinton has always been political-savvy, and he deliberately did this because he knew that this would be on the newspapers everywhere today.
Today, I got up at five in the morning to get to my hockey practice at kerrisdale arena. This is my first practice of the season, and I have a preseason game on Thursday. Fun fun fun!
At school, Mr. nakamoto taught us more ways to tinker with our graphics calculator, but no math.
Then, in PE, we played some touch foot ball.
In SS, we learned about tectonic plates.
Finally, in AS! We watched an exciting, well-made, awesome, informative program about the quest to find out the ultimate theory in physics that will describe every phenomenon in the universe. I had watched this program before, and I look forward to our research project.

Blog #13

A full day saturday is all I need to catch up with my homework. I finished the social studies map, and also did my french homework.

The rest of the time, I simply played hockey outside and watched a controversial CNN news report about the issue of whether Bin Laden is dead. A French newspaper published a "leak" in french intelligence, claiming Osama bin Laden had died of Typhoid. Personally, I agree with the Arab government intelligence, who are dubious about the verity of the report. Fake news are everywhere nowadays, and it's hard to figure out which ones really happened.

I just received my first hockey season practicce notice. It is to be on Monday. My new coach is a 4th year at SFU. He is also a ski instructor at Blackcombe. Mm, this should be interesting.

Blog #12

Today, we learned that Mr. Low isn't going to teach Science for us anymore. He is transferring to U-Hill, where he has been offered a permanent job. These things happen, and I'm not even sure about whether I'll like our new teacher. I'll have to wait and see.
Afternoon's highlight is our trip to the Bard. We saw the comedy "A Midsummer Night's Dream." The play itself was hilarious, funny, and entertaining. It was filled with laughter from both the actors and the audience. It was an enjoyable afternoon.

Blog #11

Today, I took advantage of the Pro-D Day to finish my English postcard. Ms. Densford's instructions weree ambiguous, so I am sure that most of the class is going to be confused tomorrow. Then, I observed that many math contests are coming up, so I did one for prep. The rest of the time, I played hockey outside and covered most of my textbooks.

Blog #10

In science, we did the most ridiculous activity. We were told to divide our LINED PAPER into nine squares. Then, we rubbed some samples against the paper. This is to test for the fat content inside. We had these bits of margarine, peanut butter and starch solution. We literally rubbed or dabbed them onto the LINED PAPER. This does not seem like a proper lab activity for me. First of all, it was not very sanitary. Everyone was passing around these greasy packets of samples, and I have no idea how long they are past their best before date. We also should have used other kinds of paper instead of the line paper, which made it seem very very unorthodox.
English was another work period. Ms. Densford is gone with the IB retreat, and we had a period to work on our assignments.
Band was also interrupted by the preparation of the clubs day lunch event. I had to bring these heavy drums and other equipment into the gym. But that gave me an early dismissal, which I used to my advantage. I bought my lunch, and was the first one to sign up for the two of my desired clubs (dissection and reach for the top). I am so lucky to be in the dissection club. It was so popular last year that I was in the waiting list.
Finally, in French, we presented our poems about ourselves. I did a relatively good job, because my pronunciation was almost seamless.

Blog #9

Today, Mr. Nakamoto's math class is, as usual, unproductive. He gave us some worksheets to work on, and the entire class was a study period. However, it makes sense not to teach stuff in this class because the next he'll see us is next monday, so any "concepts" or "methods" he would have taught us today will be forgotten.
Then, we ran six laps for P.E. I did exceptionally well, beating my last time by 5 seconds. And considering my last time was the grade 8 record, it is a huge accomplishment.
In SS, we worked on a physical map of Canada, which depicted the major lakes, rivers, inlets, bays, oceans, and other bodies of water.
Finally, in AS, we drafted the 10Principles of Effective Mentorship in a summit. I find it strange how both summits put Trust as number 1. After all, it was the example Mr. Olson gave us, and I think that this shows how our minds are locked permanently on Trust as the most "important" principle.

Blog #8

Today, we had Science in the morning in which we talked about nutrition and the different molecules that our bodies need.
Then, in English, we were given another assignment which tests our understanding of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. We had a discussion period, and our group's discussion was moderately productive under my constant reminders.
At lunch, someone set off some really loud firecrackers in the cafeteria, which caused some havoc. Some people thought it was gunshot and ducked under the table, others just sat in shock. Wow, I wonder if our school is safe. If people can sneak firecrackers in so easily, who knows if they are going to bring in other more lethal weapons?
In band, we have a student teacher, and you know what that means. Patience... I managed to go through the entire period without showing signs of boredom.
Finally, in French, we looked at some french comics, etc.

Blog #7

Today, I did have a day to relax, only doing minimal amounts of homework.
I woke up at 10, and watched it rain outside...
I finished the SS map finishing touches, and sketched out my plans for the english postcard.
Now that I have finished the hockey pre-season, I am waiting to be put into a team. Anxiety!

Blog #6

I just got back from a tiring and entertaining hockey practice. We did some drills, and then we had a 45 minute scrimmage. We have only 60-second shifts, so we have to constantly hustle from the bench to the ice. I scored a breakaway goal after intercepting a long pass, and deked out the goalie. It was fun. We are going to divided into house teams after this eval session. I look forward to the season.
In other news: I am hoping to get all my homework done tonight so I can relax tomorrow. It is going to be a difficult task.

Blog #5

Today, we spent another work period in math. The majority of the class is still not back from Keats Camp.
Then, in PE, we worked on some plays in football. My spiral is perfect now, and I just need to work on interceptions. We played a little scrimmage, which was fun.
After that, we had a work period in SS, in which we colored the maps...very monotonous job, I assure you...
Finally, in AS, we had a work period.. wow, the entire day is...work...
After I got home, I got a lot done. I finished my mission statement, selected my mentorship topic, completed the 10 principles of effective mentorship, started on my english assignment, and started viewing the Master and Commander website.
It feels good to be on task.

Blog #4

Blog

Today, we reviewed lab safety rules in Science. The rules are fairly straightforward. It all comes to common sense.
Then, we had a chaotic study period in English. Whenever Ms. Densoford left the classroom, the rest of us would start talking and fooling around. I am most appalled at our naive behavior.
During lunch, we played some cards, and that kept us occupied until the bell.
We got a new piece in Band. It is about the bravery of a Hawai'ian king.

I got to go home early today because my Pre-IB french class is, well, gone. I took advantage of the free time to catch up on schoolwork and such.

Blog #3

Today, I have to hurry because I have a hockey practice right at 9:30. Today, we did not have much of a class in math because most of our grade 11 math class comprises pre-IB 10 students, who are currently on their FABULOUS retreat at Keats. Then, in P.E., we started on football. After some practice, I pretty much mastered the spiral.
In SS, we simply started by reviewing some basic mapping concepts. We are to complete two maps for homework, one is the political map of Canada, the other physical.
It is a good thing that I took extensive notes on the movie in AS, and I will have plenty of information at my service when I do the assignments posted online.

Blog #2

Today, my computer almost crashed. After five unsuccessful reboots, the computer screen still froze after opening a web browser window. After waiting for about 2 hours, the problem was somehow fixed. (I should really get a new computer, this Pentium III processor I got over 3 years ago is really starting to deteriorate.)
Today's events:
Our assembly was the first major highlight of the day. In this assembly, our principals made some formal and (forgive my criticism) woefully rhetorical remarks. I rather like Ms. Bailey's speech, which had more substance and clarity. She told us about the troubles we must overcome as we get older. She hinted that high self-esteem may not always be a good thing, because we are bound to face criticism from our peers. I found her advice very realistic. Although it sounded cynical, it was very true.
In second block, the intermediate band (of which I am a part) performed for the grade 10 assembly. I played O Canada on the drum set, and then on mallets for Ode to Joy and Jazzy Brown Jug (a piece of swing-jazz style music).
In English, we got our old quizzes back (yes, we got a quiz on the second English class). I got 100%, but Ms. Densford still corrected me in several places where I made mistakes on punctuation, modifiers, and some prepositions. I found her remarks very helpful, and she inspired me to be meticulous in all my subsequent compostitions.

Blog #1

This is my first blog of the grade 9 school year, and it starts on a very interesting day. It is September 11, exactly 5 years after the initial attack on the WTC by the Islamic fascists. Right after I got home, I turned on CNN and watched there afternoon live coverage at ground zero. Shortly after, President Bush made his national address. In his speech, the President reiterated the topics of his past speeches on terrorism. In addition, he added a touch of poingancy by relating to his personal experiences with people who had suffered on that tragic day. Overall, the speech was well-written, and the fact that the President could memorize all that information astounded me. After the Presidential Address, I continued watching Larry King Live, in which Larry King interviewed some widows who had lost their husbands in the WTC incident, and also some survivors. One of them was blind, and his dog helped him get out of the Tower. It was an amazing story.