Tech: Final Session For Cooking

Today we had our final session of food tech. Before I talk about what we cooked, I would like thank Miss Heka for each session she has provided for us. She has been a great cooking teacher, and I have enjoyed each second of our sessions. Today we cooked Fish Cakes. It was a lot of fun, and with the spice included packed quite a punch. Unfortunately I am not the greatest fan of spice, although I loved the flavour of this dish. I am sad to leave food tech so soon, although I am quite excited to move on to the next rotation.

Writing: Should New Zealand Ban Plastic Straws

This week for writing we needed to create a point of view poster with a partner on whether or not we should get rid of plastic straws. Alex and I needed to show both sides of the argument as well as write down our own opinion on the issue. We both had the same opinion which was that we shouldn't get rid of plastic straws because they are more efficient and cost less than paper, bamboo and metal straws.

Persuasive Speech

Last week we presented our speeches and I was lucky enough to make it into the whole school competition. My speech topic was about plagiarism. I really enjoyed both writing my speech, and presenting it. I have linked my speech below if you would like to read it.

Plagiarism… What is it? According to Google, plagiarism is the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own. My name is Jack, and today I want to warn you about the dangers of plagiarism.

Plagiarism is a form of copying. Many people from a range of ages plagiarise on a day to day basis, although most people don’t ever think twice about the risks they may be taking. A common misconception of taking work or ideas can be misinterpreted with taking inspiration. Two of the most close, yet differing practices. Think about a time you plagiarised. The quick look over your shoulder to get the answer. Writing a text about a topic and finding the perfect article relating to the text. A simple copy and paste? Almost everyone has plagiarised one way or another, nobody’s perfect.

No matter the reason, nor the outcome, plagiarism can be dangerous. Plagiarism is a lie that can continue for as long as you make it. Although plagiarism isn’t just your simple copy and paste. It can go from stealing a small answer, to even identity theft! Some things no one should ever endorse. It is a slippery slope that one day may end up with a worse consequence than being sent to the principal’s office. It can cause your work in school to deteriorate, and for your credits in college to dreadfully be damaged. Copying something word for word? Plagiarism… Taking all the credit for a group project? Plagiarism… Taking and image without attributions!? Plagiarism… There are many many forms of plagiarism. So many that you may plagiarise without even knowing it!

So don’t plagiarise… Plagiarism is so incredibly simple to pull off that most of the time you get away with it. And there’s no better guilt trip than getting away with the lie that you mischievously pulled off. Although don’t let the rush of theft get over your head.

So don’t plagiarise, there are many dangers that are involved with the process. Although that doesn’t mean you can’t take inspiration. If you find a good article, feel free to modify ideas (So long as you give proper attributions), if you’re a little lost in a project, ask your peers for help, and most importantly if you are in a situation where you can plagiarise? Think twice, make a choice, make the right choice. Thank you for listening.

Tech: Cooking | Week 4

Today we had the next session of tech, although again unfortunately Miss Heka was absent. So this meant that we were doing another worksheet. The worksheet we did today included a wordfind, a blank page where we could draw a pizza, a page with actions that we needed to label, and a page that showed an image and we needed to circle each hazard in the image. Unfortunately it was not as fun as it would've been to cook something, but it was still a fun session.

Reading: The Story Of The Dawn Raids and The Polynesian Panthers

For the past week in reading, Rakino group has been reading a text that all revolves around the story of the dawn raids and the Polynesian Panthers. If you did not know the Dawn Raids were evacuation protocols which involved the police going to Polynesian homes and forcing them to show their passports that stated whether they were allowed to live in the country. If demands were not met, they were locked up and later kicked out of the country. Our challenge was to read the text and answer questions. With this new found knowledge we needed to create a DLO that showed both perspectives of the issue.

Tech: Returning To Tech For Term 3

Today we had our first session of tech for term 3 this year. Unfortunately Miss Heka was not here today so instead Miss Elice was here to give us worksheets to fill out. The worksheet was about Greece and the history of food there. We started by reading a few pages that gave us a bunch of information about the topic. Then we got our first few questions. After that there were a few pages which all contained a wordfind. That was as far as we got into the worksheets, there were still a few pages remaining, but I managed to complete 1 wordfind in the time we were given. Although we couldn't do cooking I still had fun.