Hello!

Well, now it is a new year, and I am finally in high school! I am really enjoying it! Homework is a bit annoying sometimes, but oh well. How are you guys coping at school? Please tell me by commenting on my blog!

Hi! I have had quite a few questions about swimming. So here are the answers:

My favourite stroke is freestyle because I feel really free and happy when I am doing it.

My best stroke is back stroke.

I am on the swim team, and It is just about to start up again, as we do not swim in the winter. I live in Australia, you see, so it is just getting to be spring.

I dont really want to be a proffesional swimmer when I grow up. I want to be a Marine Biologist at the moment.

I do not dive. All I can do is the usual, bomb, pencil and forward flip!I don’t really like it because it hurts my head!

Swimming

 

Hello. If you have read my ABOUT ME page, you would know that my favourite sport is definitly swimming. I love to swim, and basically I just love being in water because it helps me think. I started swimming when I was about 1 year old, I think, or however old you need to be to start learning to swim. My dad taught me how to swim, because he was quite good. But before I learnt how to swim, my mum and dad still took me and my sister into the pool in the summer and just held us and let us float around. I think that is where I inherit it from.

 

When I was little, my sister and I had swimming lessons at the local swimming pool, but we quit after about a year because the people were not very nice and they made us swim in the outside pool, which was very cold in winter.

 

Then we both moved schools, to somewhere with a 25 metre pool, and by this time we were in year three. I discovered a talent for swimming, and I got into the special team before the year was out.

 

And now I am in year 6, and I am still swimming more than ever. It is almost time for the swimming season, where my mum said that she might buy me a pair of swimming skins, which are specially designed to be more streamline, a tactic copied from shark skin.  I really want the ones that go down to the ankle and only have very thin sleeves.

 

It is almost the swimming season, so here are a few tips;

Freestyle- your arms should be sort of like a torpedo, but it is a bit hard to explain. But keep your arms bent, because if they are straight you are not going to get anywhere.

 

Breastroke – Remember to glide! I had this problem when I was little, and now Breastroke is my worst stroke, but I never used to glide after the stroke, and that slowed me down.

 

Backstroke – Backstroke is probably my best stroke, warring with freestyle. Some coaches tell you that you have to count your strokes out from the wall to the flags, and if that works for you, that is great, but it doesn’t work for me, and it never has. Leaving the wall is not a problem, but if you are anything like me then it is going into the wall that is the real problem. Mark a place on the ceiling when you should stop swimming and just kick into the wall. Please tell me if this tactic works for you.

The Poison Throne

By Celine Keirnan

This is book 1 of the amazing Moorehawke Trilogy, and at the moment I think It is the best book I have ever read.

This book is about 15 year old Wynter Moorehawke growing up in medievil Europe. She lives in the Palace, and she goes away for 5 years. When she comes back, everything at the palace has gone horribly wrong. So she seeks her best friend Razi, and together with Razi’s friend Christopher, the sneak around the palace to find clues to the whereabouts of Razi’s missing brother, Alberon and the heir to the throne, who has turned against the king and run off into the forest.

This is a compelling novel involving court intrigue, romance and epic disaster. Will our three young heroes be able to save the kingdom before it tears itself apart?

I loved this book so much that i have read it three times! I would not recommend this bok for readers under 12, but if you have read it, I would love to know what you thought about it and what you would rate it out of ten.  

The Crowded Shadows

By Celine Kiernan

As the second book in the epic Moorehawke Trilogy, I believe it is even better than the first.

In this book, we follow our young heroes on their quest to save the kingdom. The set off into the forest, searching in vain as they continue their search for the Rebel Prince, the kings son you is going against the king and has run off with kings former friend, Oliver.

But, just as things started going smoothly, the infamous Loupes Garous, also known as The Wolves, a group of treacherous thugs, threaten to kill them. So, with the Wolves on their tails, they must seek the help of Christopher’s former allies, The Merron People.

So, with the help of the Merron, will our little group make it to the Rebel Princes lair? …

Oh. This book just takes the breath from me, it is so good. I have read it three times, just like the first book. But, unlike book 1, this book is set in the forest, not the castle. In this book, there is not much courtly behavior, but you grow to love the characters more and more as read on. This book is more about romance and danger, an interesting combination.

I would really like to know if you have read this book, and if so, did you like it and what would you rate it out of ten?

This is a book for older readers, perhaps 12 – 17, but if you are old enough to enjoy this book, I am sure you will love it!

On the 9th of August, last Monday to be presice, there was a huge assembly held in the hall to welcome Jessica Watsen to our school. 

For those of you who don’t know who Jessica Watsen is, she is a normal girl of 17 who followed her dreams and sailed around the world. She was at sea for 210 days/7 months!

The assembly started with a presentation of some of Jessica’s photos and vidios of before, during and after her journey. Then she got up and talked to us about her journey. It was very interesting to listen to because she told you that even if you are just a normal person, follow your dreams and you could make them come true, just like she did. 

Then we watched a bit more of the presentation. Following that, some grades sent representatives to ask Jessica several questions. Some  of them were very interesting, and I was pleased to hear the answers, but some of them I thought were not so good. When it was kindys turn to ask a question, a little girl called Annabel asked Jessica if she had seen any sea creatures on her voyage. I thought she did a very good job!

 

Some of the Habits of Mind I believe Jessica used were: Persisting, because without persisting she could never have acheived her goal. Another HOM I believe she used was Thinking Interdependantly , because she didn’t try to do eveything on her own, she accepted help. She also used Thinking about her Thinking ( Metacognition ) because she really had to think about what she would do if she got into trouble, or if she really wanted to go through with the idea. I am sure she used many more HOM.

Jessica taught me a valuable lesson. She taught me that if you persevere with your goals, and you want them enough, you will succeed.

What did you think about Jessica Watsen visiting our school?

If you could ask her one question, what would it be?

This week in Journal Writing, year 6 have been doing colour poems. This is when you refer an emotion to a colour. Here are some that I have done.

Happiness

It envelopes you in a bright, warm hug,

It is illuminated in warmth, light and friendship

  

The taste of hot buttered popcorn,

The smell of the sea in my nose

 

It is smiling, relaxed companionship,

Like laughing in the sunshine

 

It is like walking through a meadow,

Or down a beach to the surf, laughing all the way

 

It is like having a picnic with family and friends

 

It is having a great time,

Then going home, cheerful but tired

 

Happiness

 

Depression

It eats at you ’till there is nothing left,

Nothing but a cold, lonely existence

 

The taste of damp and mustiness fills your mouth,

The smell of stale sick overwhelming

 

It is like a black hole that sucks you down

 

People approach you, but you can’t see them

People speak to you, but you can’t hear them

 

It is like a long, empty corridor with no end,

Or an empty room with no door

 

It is black and echoing

 

Depression

 

I hope you like my poems! Oh, and by the way, I have never experienced depression, so don’t worry!

 

Hello Reader,

I hope you have a great time reading my blog!

Alice