My Learning Profile

I learn best when the teacher writes what we are supposed to do on the board. I like this way of learning because if I ever forget what I need to do in class, then I can look at the board. If the teacher tells us what to do by talking, I will probably forget what to do. That has happened to me a lot of times and after a while some of my teachers found it annoying because I would keep on asking them questions. In all, I like this because I am a visual learner.

When I am in class and learning, I need to have a pen with me because I often like to click it or flip it. This is another thing that I find drives teachers crazy. It drives them crazy sometimes because if they are not gestalt, they often don't do that kind of thing. Also last year I often got in trouble because I would click and click and they would get really annoyed so I had to stop and when I stopped, I often lost interest on what we were doing. Also when I am in class, I have to sit in a place where I can see easily with my left eye. Also, I have to sit in a place where I can hear with my right ear easily because when we did the tests to see which side of the body (leg, arm, ear, eye) we were, I found out that I am all right except for my eye. Those are some things I need to do when I am in class. I would like my teachers to know this about me.

My 10 Memories

Taylor Mali, a famous poet that is known world-wide came to ISKL. He told us about his life and all his techniques for when he got up on all the stages and told his poems. He encouraged us to dig deep down into our memories and find ten and write about them. Here are some of mine.

I remember the time when I was two and I cut my head open at my favorite pizza restaurant.

I remember the time when I got the best present ever on the worst day of my life.

I remember the time when I had just finished school and my grandmother picked me up for a change and I asked her why she picked me up. She said that I had gotten a baby sister.

I remember the time when I got in a car with my dad and I kick the gear shifter by accident and the car rolled all the way down the hill.

I remember the time when i was in a ring floater in the pool and I accidentally bent down and my head went into the water and stayed there for about 15 seconds and when my mom noticed she jumped into the pool and got me.

I remember when I was about 4 and my croc got stuck inside an escalator

My name-Norman

It means Northman, which refers to a viking. It is from an old Germanic name. Throughout my whole life, I have never wanted to change my name because since I was little, I asked my mom what Norman meant and she said that it meant viking so ever since that time, I have loved my name. If I did want to change my name, I would change it to Jamie because I think it is a cool name. I have had a nickname and only my sister calls me by it. She calls me “Abang” because in Malay, “Abang”, means big brother so that is why she calls me that. I have been teased about my name when a friend of mine called me “Norman the doorman” and that made me really mad and he would not stop, so everyday he would come up to me and call me that. I said ok fine, he is calling me that so I shall call him Spongebob Squarehead. I did not want to be mean or anything but because he made me mad and would not stop, I called him that.

Before I was born, my mom and dad were expecting a girl because that is what the doctor said so they were coming up with names and my mom said that I would be called Jane then my dad said no because he wanted me to be called Harley. He wanted me to be called Harley because he loves Harley Davidson motorbikes and I have been riding with him ever since I was three. When I was born though, I turned out to be a boy so my mom and dad were like “uh,oh”, so they decided to name me Norman because that was my great grandfather’s name.

Me in Three

When I take the first step into my room, the thing that first think about is my laptop. I think about my laptop because everyday I am always on my laptop whether is it a game or Facebook. For I am on my laptop everyday, it is pretty much something that represents me. Ever since my dad showed me a computer game when I was little, I loved computers. It was so fun because the game I played was really colorful When I was a little kid, I enjoyed looking and playing with colorful things. One day in fifth grade, I waited by the car pickup/drop off place was with my friend Sam and he had a Macbook laptop and he was playing a cool game. I was talking to him and I said “Boy, I wish I had a laptop” and I didn’t feel sad After about ten minutes, Sam died in his game and my mom came. What a coencidence I grabbed my bag, said bye to Sam and walked to my car. My mom told me that there was something special waiting for me at home. The whole car ride home (2 minutes) I was wondering what it could possibly be. Finally we got home. I dropped my bag and ran upstairs. Before I got to the top, my dad stopped me, he made me close my eyes and he walked me up the stairs. I got in the room and said that I could open my eyes and when I did I was like there is nothing here! Then, I saw something on a box that said Macbook. I could not believe it! I got a macbook. I thanked my mom and dad so much and they both helped me set it up and the exact same one I am using right now. That is one thing that I think represents me.

Another thing that I think that represents me is my Rockband box. In case you did not know, Rockband is a game that I play on my PS3 and it is pretty much a virtual band where you go on tours with like a guitar or drumset. This was another thing I got for my birthday. For my tenth birthday I got some PS3 games, a PS3 and my mom said I could not have an electric guitar until I am twelve, so my dad decided that because I could not have a real electric guitar to get me a virtual electric guitar. That day was an awesome day because we went to the themepark with all my friends, had an awesome birthday cake and some pretty epic presents. That is another thing that I think represents me.

The final thing that I think represents me is my radio. I chose my radio because everytime when I walk in my room, even when I go to bed, I turn on my radio. I love music. Music to me is like a second sister. Sometimes when I have a bad day at school or I loose a piece of paper that was really important, I would turn on my radio and most of the time it would cheer me up. My Ipod also goes with that because my radio is where I put my ipod if I need to charge it. Also I can record the music from the radio and play it on my Ipod. My Ipod was the second electronic thing I have ever got. I got it in 4th grade and I really like it because that is sort of like my second planner. I can store phone numbers, games, music and other things that are on there and because I always use my ipod, sometimes I store my homework on there. All in all, those are the three things that represent me when I walk in my room.

Norman-bio poem

Norman

I’m sporty, nice, funny, helpful

I have many relationships which include my parents, sister and friends

Things that I love are off road vehicles and rugby balls

Three feelings that I have felt are sadness, happiness and stress.

Three fears that I have are lightning bolts, snakes and sometimes even my sister

Some of my accomplishments was when I got an A on a really hard test and it was also when my team won a rugby tournament

Before I die, I want to experience skydiving and awesomeness

Lives in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Salim

The End Is Near

1) The piece of work that I am most proud of is the one literature circle that I got an A+ on. I am most proud of that because at the start of the year, I would get b's and c's on them and then in the middle of the year, I started getting a's on them and that lasted until now. Even though in fifth grade we did lit circles, you only had to do one part of a lit. circle. At the start of 6th grade, we had to do a full lit. circle and then later in the year, we had to do double that. Those are some reasons why that is the piece of work that i am most proud of.

2) One of my greatest challenges this year was just to fit in. It was one of my challenges because the whole "middle school" thing was really different than elementary. After watching some movies about middle school, I've seen that the high schoolers bully the younger people and in my case, I am one of those "younger people". Another challenge for me this year was the homework. In fifth grade, every friday we didn't have homework. Also we always thought we had a lot of homework but come to think of it now, it's nothing compared to sixth grade homework. My final challenge this year is math. When I first started math at ISKL in third grade, I actually enjoyed math. As I kept on moving up to higher grades, I started loosing interest because we learned harder things and I just didn't like it. That is why this year, I didn't do very well in math. Those were some of my challenges for this year.

3) Throughout this year, I have learned many different things about myself. A few weeks ago, Mr. Whighting came in and told us about learning profiles. After doing a couple of tests with my hands, legs, eyes and ears, I found out that my letter for profiling was "I". "I" mean that I was a gestalt learner and I had to sit in a certain place in the class in order for me to learn best. So I did. I found that I learned way better. I payed attention more because the ear that I liked to use best was facing the teacher. Those are some things that I have learned about myself throughout sixth grade.

4) To evaluate your work habits, choose 1 of the following from each category ( and provide explanations):

a) Behavior

Could be improved
Satisfactory
Perfect - the model student

Explanation: I chose satisfactory because although I do well in some of my other classes, occasionally I fool around in Humanities and Math and Science.

b) Participation

None
Satisfactory
Actively participate in class

Explanation: I chose the following because in class, I always participate and if I don't know something or I am confused, I ask questions.

c) Organization

Needs serious help
Satisfactory
I'm super organized

I chose satisfactory because most of the time my organization is good but sometimes I loose permission slips and turn my homework in about a day late.

d) Effort

Needs serious help
Satisfactory
I always go above and beyond what is required.

I chose satisfactory because most of the time when we are required to do something, I meet the grade level standard and about 1/10 times, I go above and beyond.

One goal I have for 7th grade next year is to always listen in class. I chose that as one of my goals because I find that when I don't listen and talk to my friends, I miss out on some information and later on during the class, I don't know what to do. That will really help me next year because sometimes I don't understand things and I think that is because I miss out on information and then when you have questions that you answer, I don't know what to write. Those are some reasons why I chose that as one of my goals for grade seven.

Another goal I have for grade seven is to go above and beyond. I want to go above and beyond for some of my pieces of work because I find that sometimes, even if I do what I'm supposed to, I don't get an A+. Sometimes that is because I have missed out some information or some dumb error like that. I find that if I go above and beyond, I will have a higher chance of getting 100/100 because if I miss out on something, I will have some back up information. Those are some reasons why I chose that goal for grade seven.

One piece of information I have for the class of 2018 is to not leave all your homework until the very last minute because then your work will keep on building up and building up and then you have to do all of it at the very last moment. Unless you are a super A+ student, you can't leave it until the last moment because then you become stressed and you do a very bad job. That is one piece of advice I have for the upcoming sixth graders.

Lit Circle Blogpost #5

When Jonas was talking to the giver and he said I can't go back, I can't, it showed what would happen if he was able to make choices everyday. He didn't want to go home because he was under a lot of stress and he thought that if he went home, that guilt would still be inside him and he would just have to tell his father what he has done and what knowledge he has gained from the tape the Giver played. What I mean by that is, when he has the choice of going back to his house and he doesn't, it shows that sometimes in Jonas' community, choices are good but sometimes they make you stress out and you start thinking about things that could happen and sometimes they might not be good either. " I won't! I won't go home! You can't make me!". Jonas sobbed and shouted and pounded the bed with his fists. "Sit up, Jonas, " The Giver told him firmly. Jonas obeyed him. Weeping, shuddering, he sat on the edge of the bed. He would not look at the Giver. " You may stay here tonight. I want to talk to you. But you must be quiet now, while I notify your family unit. No one must hear you cry."

The next morning when Jonas had a feeling that told him to not take the pill, he said that this could be love. What I think he means by that is when he was talking to the giver, and he says what if Fiona finds out that the old's get killed too. I think he says that because he cares about Fiona a lot and for the first time, he is experiencing love." What about me? Do you lie to me too?" Jonas almost spat the question at the Giver. " I am empowered to lie but I have never lied to you". jonas stared at him. " Release is always like that? For people who break the rules three times? For the old? Do they kill the old too?" when he says that,it really says that he cares about Fiona and if she ever finds out, he wants there to be no impact on Fiona. The same thing might happen to Fiona. She could be very shocked and she might want to ask for release. Those are some reasons when freedom and choice in Jonas' community might make a big effect.

my comments were on zifan's blog

The Giver Blogpost #2

When Jonas learns all about colors, he claims it isn't fair that nothing has color. Why does he say this.

I think that Jonas says that it's not fair to not have color because there are many reasons why. One of those reasons is that if Jonas was going to a party or something and he wanted to wear really nice clothes, he wouldn't be able to. I think that if I was in his position, I would feel really stressed because colors help you express things such as your feelings. For example if I was angry I would choose a bright color, possibly the color of blood such as red. Also color helps explain all sorts of things. For example if there was a person who painted a picture and he wasn't able to use color, then might as well not paint the picture because the color is what helps express the painters feelings. It also helps express moods because if you were sad, you would use a light color. If you were mad, you would choose a dark and bold color. I think those reasons are why Jonas says it's unfair that nothing has color.

If there was color, I think Jonas' community would be shocked but at the same time happy. I think that they would be shocked because for many years, they have been living with the same things and with the same color. It would be very boring to live with the same thing for years because nothing new is ever going to come out. If color starts to appear in Jonas' community, I think that people would be very happy. I also think that more things would come out of the shop. Even if the same old things came out with color and a few modifications, I think a lot of people would buy those things because they are a shock to the community. If we could compare those things to our lives, the new things that came out would be like ferraris. The normal things that all of the people would live with would be like hondas or toyotas to us. If I were to live with the same thing for a whole bunch of years, I think that I would go nuts because I would have to live with the same things for my lifetime. Those reasons are why I think that Jonas says it's not fair to not have color.

The Giver

Would you want your future to be decided by others? Why or Why Not?

I would not want my future to be decided by others. I don't want it to be chosen by others because if they choose something for me that I don't want and I can't change it, then why bother living. Also when other people choose your future for you, it leaves you stuck with that one thing for the rest of your life. Although in the Giver, Jonas' future is decided for him, he has fun. One thing that he doesn't get to do is have a proper life. Jonas doesn't get to have a proper life because in the story all the people's futures are decided and they have no chance to explore. Another reason why I would not like my future to be decided by others is because if they choose for me to work in an office, there are different levels. When I start work, I might be at the bottom and not at the top. What I mean by that is that there are different levels of society. In Ancient Egypt, there are peasants, artisans, scribes, government officials and the pharaoh.

If my future was decided for me, there would be ups and downs. Some of the ups are that you don't have to find a job on your own. One down about that is that when you do find that job, you could be put in a lower level of society then what you should be put in. Also another down about that is that if you are put in a low level of society, then you will get paid the least. The higher up you are in society, the more you will get paid. There are more people at the bottom of the levels and less people are at the top of the levels. Those are some reasons why I would not like to have my future decided for me by the people who control or decide for people.

If my future was decided for me then I would get some friends and did what Martin Luther King did, which was stand up for your rights. I would stand up for my rights even if I knew that I was eventually going to get killed. I would do that because even if I die, I would have probably started the plan before I died. The plan that I would come up with was probably boycott the place we work at. If you are reading this and you are thinking how are they going to survive without money, then here is the answer. I would ask everybody to combine their money so that we could all live on each other. The person who had the most money would have to chip in the most. It would also have to be the other way around. If this plan didn't work, then we would all still be able to survive because he didn't chip all our money. This is what I would do if my future was decided for me.

I think Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs created monuments because after they die they want their family to be able to look up to them. Also I think they created monuments because after they die, they want to be known. Sometimes they create monuments because they believe that it will protect their tomb or wherever the pharaohs place the monument. Some Pharaohs had a very short time period of life so they were not able to make huge monuments but they were able to make small monuments that they believed would protect their tomb and the pharaoh in it's afterlife.

Some of the monuments that I think were like the Ancient Egyptians' were the Twin Towers. I chose that one because like I said in the paragraph above, some people make monuments so that they can be well known for what they have done. Another monument I chose was the statue of Liberty. When the U.S. would go out onto the sea and trade with other countries around the world, they would eventually come back and when they come back to the New York Harbor, they see the statue of Liberty and I think that every time they see it, it makes them feel welcomed and safe because they are back home. Another reason I chose it is because they were given the statue of liberty by France to celebrate America's first 100 years as a nation.

Google Docs helped me and Michelle a lot because we were able to chat on panther apps and then we were able to work together and send messages throughout our work because one of us made the document and shared it with the other person. This let us work together and it also helped because if we didn't finish it in class, then we were able to do it for homework. That was how Google Docs helped Michelle and I.

The challenging part for us was the imovie. It was the most challenging part for us because we weren't exactly experts at it. We have used it in third, fourth and fifth grade but when it got down to sixth grade it was really hard for us. It was hard because when we put in a picture and wanted to set it for a time like 5 seconds then they would all be five seconds. If we made one picture 25 seconds then they would all turn 25 seconds. Finally in the end we got the help of Ms. Narsiman. She helped us with the buttons and all we had to do was when we set the number of seconds we had to click "do not apply this for other images". After we had that sorted out we were all right. That was the challenging part for Michelle and I.

What I learned from this assignment is that sometimes while we were working Michelle and I would have fights because we wouldn't agree on something. That was because Michelle was a logic person and I was a gestalt. A logic person is a person that likes to have things written down so that they know what is going to happen. A gestalt person is a person that doesn't like bullet notes and wants to know the big picture. They are also really creative but on the other hand Logic people like to put a lot of information down and often aren't very creative and gestalt people are really creative but when they get too creative then they often forget about the important part which is the information. Sometimes it is good to put two different types of people together because then the piece of work won't be too artistic or there wouldn't be too much information. Sometimes it doesn't work out though. That is pretty much what I have learned from this assignment.

The place I call Home Reflection

Overall I think I did good on my presentation but next time I could use a peer editor and it would be helpful if I double checked my work. Also some of my information was incorrect because some of the sites had incorrect information. I think I did good on my environmental factors and background information. I could use some correct information for my population and more information on how malaysia got captured by the Japanese and the British. For my next presentation I found out that someone people have notes and it summarizes the slide for you. I don't know about other people but for me it really helps because when I present I have trouble remembering it and I remember it because when the rubric says that you have to memorize it, memorizing will help you get a better grade. Also I found that using notes is helpful because the other presentations that were good, most of the presenters were using notes. Next time I could use a peer editor and notes. This will give me a better grade depending on how much I researched and how much thought is put into it. Overall I think I did OK but I could use a little more information and I need to check my information.

Here is the link to my presentation:https://docs.google.com/a/iskl.edu.my/present/edit?id=0AYwG_6tMglzmZGZjcXBmbnNfMzZmaDNzcXBocQ&hl=en

Winter Break Vacation

This year one of my goals is to get either a's or b's in all classes because I find that if I have good grades now it will lead to a good future because you gain all your knowledge in elementary, middle, and high school and then when you get to university or college you need to know things otherwise you pay all that money for nothing. If you get kicked out of university or college you don't get good jobs and when you don't have good jobs you don't get money and you end up living in the streets. If you do learn when you're in school and you are finished with college you can go on and get a master's degree. Then you can become a doctor or a teacher and you earn a lot of money.

My other goal for this year is to help the some of the new kids because when they get to know the place a bit more they are basically your friend because you have helped them know the school and know different people and if you lose some of your friends at least you have made new ones and if they are from different places you might learn about them and their country and you could maybe try a new sport or something and it could be one of your new hobbies. Also if you are not so sure about a class or they are not so sure you can help them out because you have spent so much time with them and you don't like to do something and cannot be convinced to do it. Lets say reading isn't the thing you enjoy the most,  and your friend has some really good books they can help you out. Those are the two New year's resolutions for this year.

I spent most of my holiday in Bali but some of it in Port Dickson near the beach and the rest in Malaysia. I was in Port Dickson with a friend and his family and I was with my family. As you can see my break didn't have snow included. It took us an hour to get down in a mini van. It wasn't very miniature because about 8 people fit in. While my friend and I were in the back and our parents were talking and talking and talking until we got there. It was really boring because we had nothing to be entertained by and our parents were talking 24/7. There were several times when my friend and I fell thought that we were there because there were signs that said "Avillion" and since that was the name of the place we were staying at, we thought we were there. We finally got there and we were about to check in and we saw someone that looked like a friend but it turned out to be some other guy from Sweden. So we got our bags and went to our room and my friend and I checked out the place and it was really cool but what was really scary was that when you were showering and after you are done, the place where you hang your towels up was right above the ocean and if you drop something in there, you are never going to get it back. We always dropped things so we decided to hang all our wet stuff outside the room on the balcony.

After a while we looked out the window and saw jet skiing and banana boating. We grabbed some money and headed over to the beach. This was my first time jet skiing so I had a guy on the back and he was only on for about 2 minutes to show me all the controls and stuff so when we were out in the middle we started jumping over waves and all that. It was kind of scary but it was so fun that I didn't think about if I would die and get wept by the waves or anything bad. After that we drove slowly back into the middle and the fun thing about stopping is that the engine stops and then the waves behind you push you and it feels like you are going to fall. Then we told the guy we wanted to go banana boating and we wanted him to tip us over but only at the end so we drove around the island and came back. The guy told us to put our hands up and then he suddenly turned and we fell off. It really hurt though because my friend was behind me and when we fell he fell on me and the person behind him fell on him. So that was the bad thing about getting tipped over. Well then we walked back and figured out that it was time for dinner and that was basically the end of my first day there. After a couples nights of swimming at the beach and hanging around the fourth day we were there we rented a room for karaoke. Not saying that we were good singers but we rented it just for fun. It was really fun that night but we had to make it quick because the next day we were leaving. We woke up the next day in our beds, forgotten how we had gotten there. The other thing we realized was that our parents were gone and that they were already checking out! They left us a note saying come to the lobby as soon as you get up. We have taken all your stuff so don't worry about that. We were out in about 5 minutes. As we rushed to the car, we were running and I burned my leg on the exhaust. It didn't hurt that much but it did leave a mark. We were on our way back to Kuala Lumpur. That was where I spent some of my holiday over the winter break.