Storylines 2014

This Thursday, the extension group is heading to the Storyline's Festival at the Vodafone Events Centre. Similar to last year, we will be hearing from four New Zealand authors, Jill MacGregor, Juliette MacIver, Cath Mayo and Paula Green. Below is a short biography about each of the authors we will be seeing.

Jill MacGregor was born in Dunedin but currently lives on the Kapiti Coast. She was a VSA teacher in Tonga for two years. She has travelled throughout the Pacific Island exploring and experiencing the cultures and the village life. Her ‘Children Of The Pacific’ stories are based on her own experiences in the islands.

Juliette MacIver is an author of Children’s books, who grew up in Wellington and went to Victoria University. There, she completed a degree in linguistics then got a diploma in teaching English. When she was young, she always enjoyed writing but never really thought she would, ‘Be A Writer’.

Born in Auckland, Catherine Mayo writes novels for young adults. She is a musician and is apart of a band called Gentle Annie.

Paula Green lives with her husband on the West Coast of Auckland. She writes poets and Childrens stories. Including Flamingo Bendalingo and Macaroni Moon, she has published eight poetry collections.

My Mascot

During class, we were given the task to research and create our own mascot. We learnt about the past mascots, such as Shera the tiger from the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth. Then we had to draw our own mascot and write a background story. A mascot is something that is supposed to bring good luck to an event or organization. They can also be a representative for brands and other things. 

I have chosen to draw and make my mascot a sheep because of how common they are in New Zealand. His name is Waipounamu, meaning south. I have decided to name him this due to the popularity of sheep in the South Island of New Zealand. He has a silver fern going across his fluffy coat. 

Life Education Caravan - Marijuana

Being the age we are, our (Team 5's) visits to the Life Education Caravan were mainly focused on drugs and alcohol. We learnt about the effects it can have on people and listened to a few people who shared their own experience with drugs and alcohol. Many things were talked about and one of them was, Marijuana. I have decided to write a quick paragraph, highlighting some of the main things we learnt about it. 

Usually seen as a gateway drug, Marijuana can be easy to access, cheap and it can lead you into the web of addiction. ‘Once you start, its hard to stop.’ This drug is quite common and is referred to in a variety of ways, such as, weed, pot, herbs, tinnies, etc. The effect it can have on you, not only changes the way you think but also the way you look. It damages the brain and stops you from reaching your full potential.

Astria Countdown To Impact #2

Gloria and I, tried to play the game, Astria, everyday but it we found it quite difficult, especially when we were close to finishing. It would start glitching and freezing but soon, we found out it wasn't just ours. Soon we were told that every else was having the same problem and that there was a bug in the game.

Luckily, we recieved a new link and were able to finish the game. But we did do a few things on Wednesday and Thursday when we played. We figured out that we have finished all the areas, except for the part that involved the council. So we presented our chosen solution, which was Solar Sail, to the council and waited for their approval. There were a few reasons as to why we chose it such as how, this idea resulted in less deaths and the information that was given about this idea seemed more credible. 

Not long after explaining why we chose this option, out of the four, we continued on our journey to saving the planet. It ended up being quite an effective choice and we saved the planet and killed no one while doing so. 

Overall, the game didn't end up being very hard but it was pretty enjoyable. I do think if it had more activites and tasks, it would've been better. But the game was quite good.

Astria Countdown To Impact #1

The Extension group have been given the opportunity to trial a new game, which is designed to help improve literacy skills. It was designed and created by a group based at the Auckland University.

Gloria and I paired up and started the game. We acted as the Alpha Leader in the future, whose duty was to prevent an astroid from destroying many lives and their planet, Astria. There are different area's to the base that you can explore to try and find clues and information. 

The most difficult thing for me was finding the right people to talk to for the right information. Also, another thing I found hard was rating whether or not some of the pieces of information were very credible.

Today, I think Gloria and I did quite well for our first time. We achieved a lot more than we thought we would, especially in the time we were given.