Hey Everyone!

Well for those of you that havnt heard I am currently computerless (at home) because it decided to attack me and burn the crap out of my finger. While it sucks that its screwed for now I am grateful that it didnt electicute me or that it didnt do it when i wasnt there to keep it from burning down my room :S . The crappy part is now i have to come to the Uni in order to go on the computer. So if you send me somthing and i dont respond for a while you now know why. On an up note my finger has returned to its natural paleness cept for one small burn blister YAY (when my comp attacked me my skin turned balck on the top part of my finger)

As for my assignments 2 of 3 are finished (YAY!) including my MASSIVE SOSE/Arts assessment. I do have to say that Im quite proud of it :) Ive named my Unit of Racism/Discrimination "We Will Make The Difference". Its unique i think and empowers the students to (as Ghandi said) "Be the changed [they] wish to see in the world".  If you would like to view my assessment (all 18 pages of it) let me know. We had to do activity plans, a sumative assessment task with rubric, teacher resources etc. which is why its 18 pages :)

Since my Ipod needs my comp to charge it ive been without any music devices :( so when i get on the school comps i pull up my fav canadian radio station  (KX96 ) and have been listening to it while i do my work. Its been aweosme to hear news/traffic from places i actually recognise lol Altho i have to say the night announcer needs some practise but the musics good and i get to listen to the newest country and get caught up on some GTA news.

Just a reminder to check back on Sunday for links to see your Mothers Day gifts from Myself, Jess, Jay, Cam and Maddie. I wil be posting them on Sunday my time so they should be here Sat night/Sunday morning Canadian time.

Todays Quote of the Day:

"Aw, poor guy. I understand. It's not easy being banished. Take my buddy Bigfoot. When he was banished he fashioned an enormous diaper out of poison ivy. Wore it on his head like a tiara. Called himself "King Itchy". - Monsters Inc

xoxoxox

Manda

Hello Moon, Hello Stars...

 Well i had a had a super busy (and yet productive) day today converting oxygen into carbon dioxide...oh and doing my SOSE/Arts assessment :) Cant wait to hand it in tho...common friday!

Yesterday I had prac where i taught my first full hour long lesson to the 7/6s. It was a maths graphing lesson and we looked at Picture graphs and Double Column Graphs. Overall it went really well. They took a little longer to do the graphs then expected so i had to cut one of the activities out but they were really engaged with the tasks once they got started. Sandy said I need to work on my diciplinary skills and be firmer with them, but i always seem to get that feedback after the first lesson (or at least i did last semester with the 2/3s) so im not too worried...its not like they were running round crazy or anything lol. But when im not so nervous then im much better at it so im sure itll be much better next time. 

On another note we got a new kid in our class today (which brings our total to 28). His name is Zane and while hes in year 7 he reads/writes/does maths all at a yr 1/2 level. maybe even lower for maths since he got most of his simple addition questions wrong. With spelling we determined that he cant spell most three letter words so were starting him on the yr 2 spelling booklet come monday. I thought at first he was so far behind because he was ESL or from a different country or somthing but Sandy informed me that theres no real reason except his mom is a single mom and has been really sick and not able to bring him to school so he has a really really high absence rate. Very sad case. But so far an okay kid, although I already caught him hanging out with one of the troublemakers so only time will tell. 

On a completely random note I want to know why everybody in this damn country needs things to be chicken flavoured!? Like really, there are chicken flavoured chips and chicken flavoured mac and cheese and thats just the start. Im disgusted with this. If you want chicken then HAVE SOME! grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr you dont need your chips to taste like it. **grumble grumble**

Todays quote of the day (and my new fav philosophy on life) :

When life gives you lemons make chocolate milk and leave them wondering how you did it! 

Thats all for now...to INFINITY AND BEYOND!

Ps. a huge THANK YOU goes out to Jen and Julie for the fantastic birthday gift. Thanks Girls!! Miss you both <3

buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....

I could not, would not, in a house.

I would not, could not, with a mouse.

I would not do them with a fox.

I would not do them in a box.

I would not do them on a boat.

I would not do them with a goat

I would not do them here or there.

I would not do them anywhere.

I have too many assignments to cram

I do not like them, Sam-I-am.

LOL I heart Dr. Suess ..On a random note did you know that there are only 50 Words used in the entire book? Kinda cool.

I have some cool random stuff to share today:

This article is about a faked pregnancy that made me laugh… maybe she just wants the husband to stick around ? LOL

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20100428/sc_livescience/nobabypandamomwasfakingpregnancy

This is another random thing I found. Theres actually a small place in Aussie names Canada Bay

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Canada_Bay

Oh so I forgot to share this a few weeks back when it happened:

Some Aussies were talking about a Billy and how it transfers heat etc. So I leaned over to ask one of my friends.. here was our conversation:

Me: Wtf is a Billy?

Mike: It’s a can that’s used to boil water over a fire..

Me: OH! I understand now, I thought it was a person or something.

Mike: What do you guys call it in Canada?

Me: A can that's used to boil water over a fire. LOL

Have a Good Day!

Ps: i saw a Demotivational Poster the other day and i thought it was pretty funny even if i dont agree with it lol

Atheism: Look, nobody reallly knows where the world came from. But i think Id rather trust the dudes in labcoats who aren't demanding I get up early every Sunday to overdress and apologize for being human. 

Hey People

Hope your enjoying your weekend. I saw this article and thought it was cool so im passing it along. Check it out http://news.yahoo.com/s/ygreen/20100427/sc_ygreen/sixamazinghybridanimals  its all about hybrid animals. I think the zebra ones my fav. I would name him Zonk... or socks cuz he reminds me of the socks thats the wicked witch wore in Wizard of Oz

 Anyhow other then that i battled a giant moth today which im quite proud of myself for.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Manda

xoxoxox 

Bonjour Encore Mes Ami(e)s :)

 Just wanted to give you and update on the marks i got back:

I got a 6 on our presentation from last week (WOOT)

and six 6s and two 5s on my science assessment one.

 If your wondering what that means :

I could fail the rest of my assessments and still pass WOOT as long as i get over 30% lol that makes me happy to know. YAY for me kicking ass.

Also before i was just guessing as to what 7/6/5/etc meant as far as percentage but the other day a friend showed me this. Its the breakdown of each number:

Pass Grades

7 - High Distinction

Work provides evidence of an exceptional level of achievement of unit learning outcomes, such as

• thorough and well reasoned critical analysis and evaluation of concepts, theories and practice from the field of study
• creative and insightful application of well integrated theoretical and practical knowledge to professional contexts.

Percentage range: 85%-100%.

6 - Distinction

Work provides evidence of a very high level of achievement of unit learning outcomes, such as

• thorough critical analysis and evaluation of concepts, theories and practice from the field of study
• insightful application of integrated theoretical and practical knowledge to professional contexts.

Percentage range: 75%-84%.

5 – Credit

Work provides evidence of a high level of achievement of unit learning outcomes, such as

• critical analysis and evaluation of key concepts, theories and practice from the field of study
• effective application of theoretical and practical knowledge to professional contexts.

Percentage range: 65%-74%.

4 – Pass

Work provides evidence of an acceptable level of achievement of unit learning outcomes, such as

• adequate analysis and evaluation of key concepts, theories and practice from the field of study
• sound application of fundamental theoretical and practical knowledge to professional contexts.

Percentage range: 50%-64%.

Fail Grades

3 – Marginal Fail

Work provides evidence of limited and/or disconnected learning which fails to demonstrate that unit learning outcomes have been achieved. Students who receive a grade of 3 in a unit may be eligible to apply for supplementary assessment.

Percentage range: 40%-49%.

2 – Fail

Work provides evidence of minimal learning in relation to unit learning outcomes.
Percentage range: 25-39%.

1 - Low Fail

Work provides little or no evidence of learning in relation to unit learning outcomes.
Percentage range:  less than 25%.

See and i wasnt aware that there was three different levels on which one can fail LOL and none of them said "Epic Fail" (i think they should use that instead of Low Fail). Its still makes me happy to know that so far this semester Ive gotten nothing less then Distinction (very high level of acheievement).

As for all the Assessment 2's they are BRUTAL. So much work needed and for my group one i feel like im the only one doing any work. I might need to go rambo on someones ass. ..and just cause i could id make a kicking ass rubric where i would score at least a 6. Because i can. actually that sounds like a fantastic idea.. if i get bored enough i might just make one. LOL instead of a 7 it'll be called "Chuck Norris", a 6 will be "Jackie Chan" - or someone whos really good at martial arts, a 5 will be "Rambo", 4 would be "Rocky", 3 would be "someone who works out"  , 2 would be "Paris Hilton" and One would be "child" yes youd have the fighting capabilities of a 1 yr old. LOL. this is fun.

Alright enough of my nerdy rubric making. Hope you all have a fantastic day!

xoxoxo

Manda

Hey Everyone

So I should be getting my Science/Tech Assessment 1 and my final mark for my presentation that i did last week  today :) so check back later today/ tomorrow too see

Last night I got the most thoughtful gift I've ever gotten in my life. Nate adopted a Pygmy Hippo from the Toronto Zoo in my name :) YAY! I named him Swamp Bucket (Swampy for short). Swampy's ugly and i love him already! Sadly i only get him for a yr but my name should be on the wall outside the zoo. So Awesome!!! Love you baby <3 

See pics of Swamp Bucket here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2123458&id=119100065&l=fab1f353c1

Other then that exciting news nothing else really to report. My cough just seems to get worse everyday. I have now lost the majority of my voice too (sad days)

Todays song of the day:

I thought id continue along with the B.P. videos from yesterday with.. Welcome to the Future. (this is the one he sang in front of Obama)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhkVNnLcVX4

Well thats it for right now....

Manda  Panda <3

Ps i heart Mr Adkins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXJhSgvbn_Q&feature=related

Dear Nona,

Your lack of Brad Paisley knowledge makes me sad so allow me to educate you... here are some of my fav songs by him. (click on the name of the song to see the video and hear the song)

 Letter To Me  

 "If i could write a letter to me and send it back in time to myself at 17..."

Its a very cute song. Video is him singing at his high school reunion with flashbacks to him as a teenager.

Then  

"..and i thought i loved you then"

cute song about how he never thought he could love his wife more then at that moment. This song reminds me of Nate all the time (awwwwww) 

Little Moments  

"yeah i live for little moments like that"

The video for this song is fantastic. id def reccomend it. Its a song about all the things she does and how much he loves her in those moments. Love someone includes loveing their flaws. sounds really mushy but the video made me laugh, especially at the end (Thats his wife at the end of the video with him -- its the actress that plays the sister in According to Jim)

I Wish You'd Stay

"I wish you the best, i wish you nothing less then everything youve ever dreamed of, and i hope that you find love along the way...but most of all, id wish youd stay"

warning this video will most def make you cry. or at least it makes me cry lol. still a fantastic song. The video follows 3 ppl as they say goodbye : A little boy who found an injured bird and nursed it back to health, a woman saying goodbye to a soldier at the airport, and a father saying goodbye to his daughter as she leaves for uni ..then again as she gets married. Amazing job done on the video as brad sits and watches the tapes while he sings.

Two People Fell In Love 

" ..all because two people fell in love"

Shows the chain of events that all started when two people fell in love. 

Waitin' On A Woman

"yeah she'll take her time, but i dont mind, waitin on a woman"

This song's too cute. Andy Griffith plays the old man that gives Brad advice about waiting on a woman.

Not to make anyone cry or anything but this song always reminds me of Papa and how he'd wait patiently by the front door for you to say all your goodbyes and such at parties. <3

She's Everything

"Shes everything I've ever wanted, everything I need, yeah shes everything to me"

Great song ..but then again im a sucker for the sappy ones.

He Didn't Have To Be

"I hope I'm at least half the dad that he didnt have to be"

You probably will remember this one. This is the one Melissa danced with Uncle Chris to at her wedding. A great video too :) 

Some of his really Funny Songs

I'm Still A Guy  

"In a weak moment i might walk your sissy dog, hold your purse at the mall but remember Im still a guy "

A funny song from a guy to his girlfriend about no matter how much she changes him, he'll still always be a guy. LOL ..theres no official video - that ive seen. 

Ticks  

"I'd like to check you for ticks"

A guy is trying to using convince the girl from the bar to go with him with the  excuse that he would never do anything inappropriate - he just wants to check her for ticks LOL

Online

"Im so much cooler online."

Jason Alexander stars in this video where hes a huge loser LOL and pretends to look like and be brad paisley when hes online. too funny

 That's Love  

"alright so you bent the truth, thats something you'll have to get used to, thats love you'll see, everone commits a little bit of purgery, its no crime if you ask me, its love."

A song about how couples lie out of love. i love this song. 

Celebrity

"cause when your a celebrity its adios reality..."

Jason Alexander is in this one too about the privledges you get when your a celebrity. 

I'm Gonna Miss Her  

"yeah im gonna miss her when i get home"

His wife gives him an ultimatum... fishing or her. So hes gonna miss her... LOL This is his real wife in ths video too 

Alcohol

"ive been making the bars lots of big money, and helping white ppl dance [..] you've had some of the best times you'll never remember with me..Alcoholllllllllllll "

Me Neither  

"Me neither, im glad that we agree.... "

Brad is trying to pick up a lady by asking her all these questions where her answer is No..he says good me neither....

Ok now i feel better. LOL Other then the music, nothing new today. I have a really shitty sounding cough that seems to be getting worse everyday.  

My Ipod died today while i was doing work @ Uni so i was listening to Brad Paisleys new cd on youtube instead and i fell in love with it. I want to buy it i think :) (its called American Saturday Night)

My new fav fun song from the CD : The Pants  "Its not who wears the pants, Its who wears the skirt" LOL i ♥ it !

My fav mushy song on the cd is "I hope thats me" Honestly the sweetest thing ever. Heres a video of Brad explaining the song and lyrics are here if you wish to read them: lyrics

This other song reminds me of somthing Dad would have sung before chris was born. It's called "Anything Like Me" by Brad Paisley. My own comments are in blue and i bolded the parts i think most apply :)

Heres the link : Brad Paisley: Anything Like Me

and heres the lyrics : 

I remember sayin I dont care either way
Just as long as he or she is healthy Im ok
Then the doctor pointed to the corner of the screen
And said you see that thing right there well you know what that means

And I started wondering who he was going to be
And I thought heaven help us if hes anything like me [ hee hee]
Hell probably climb a tree to tall and ride hes bike to fast
End up every summer wearin something in a cast
Hes gonna throw a ball and break some glass in a window down the street
Hes gonna get in trouble oh hes gonna get in fights
Im gonna lose my temper and some sleep
It safe to say that im gonna get my pay back if hes anything like me

I can see him right now knees all skinned up
With a magnifying glass tryin to melt the Tonka truck [ Or trying to cook eggs LOL]
Wont he be a sight with his football helmet on
Thatll be his first love til his first love comes along
Hell get his heart broke by the time hes in his teens
And heaven help him if hes anything like me

He'll probably stay out to late and drive his car to fast
Get a speeding ticket hell pay for mowing grass
Hes gonna get caught skippin class and be grounded for a week
Hes gonna get in trouble were gonna get in fights
Im gonna lose my temper and some sleep
Its safe to say that im gonna get my pay back if hes anything like me

Hes gonna love me and hate me along the way
Years are gonna fly by I already dread the day
Hes gonna hug hes momma hes gonna shake my hand
Hes gonna act like he cant wait to leave
But as he drives out hell cry hes eyes out
If hes anything like me there's worse folks to be like
Aw hell be alright if hes anything like me

Good Morning Sunshine :)

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend. Mine was great and it all started with my presentation on Thursday.

As many of you (anyone who's on Facebook) know, I was working on a massive (40%) group 50 min presentation on "How to appropriately/ respectfully teach both indigenous and non indigenous students". This is the assessment I’ve been devoting my life to up until now lol. When we finished (we were almost 20 mins over on time :S woops! ) the prof said we did excellent :) she only had one complaint but everything else was great. She really liked the way we started with examples of  our ideas today -- we started with the clip from the song savages by Pocahontas (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wr42kNOuRA just the first 35 seconds) then we looked at some horrible comments people posted on YouTube about the indigenous people of Australia such as "dirty filthy race of people" "they should be taken away and shown how humans live" "drain on my economy " stuff like that. Then we moved into the MySchool website where we looked compared two schools tests results (one with %20 indigenous and one with 1%) to show the difference. -- we then moves on to the new Australian curriculum -ACARA -  and lastly moved on to different teaching strategies that will aid you to teach...such as learning math through stories (i.e. there are 10 stars that got lost and fell from the sky. You and your friend need to help them return . How many do you each carry..And just using the terms like sharing instead of dividing etc.) . Another thing she LOVED was our four scenarios. (each group had to create 4 scenarios that could be encountered as a beginning teacher) She said ours were really well done (WOOT since I made them all YAY ME)

After our presentation I went to go pick up my marked Arts/SOSE assessment 1. To say I was nervous was an understatement  as these have the potential to ruin or make your whole weekend. So when I picked it up and saw D- on it I just about cried. That is until my friends reminded me that D- here is actually pretty damn good (somewhere between 75-80%) and that the D stands for Distinction or level 6 out of 7. So YAY !!! I’m glad I did well especially since I had the cranky pregnant one mark mine. 8-)

Please excuse this whole paragraph while I rant....  

Have I mentioned lately how much I dislike having housemates?! well just one really: Daniel. -- just a reminder..He’s the one I saw going into the other girls room in only a towel, the one who felt a need to tell me his whole life story etc. Alright so on Sat I decided to just have a lazy day after a long week and it worked out well cuz none of the housemates were home ...until about noonish when Daniel knocked on my door. Apparently whatever he wanted to tell me (that he saw the new Eclipse  poster) was so important he couldn’t go get dressed so he just stayed in his towel fresh from the shower when we had our chat and his "Sugar Mama" (as I call her -- she only ever is over when he needs $$) showers. Then they go back to their room and she leaves to go get groceries and he cooks dinner. Well I get hungry and go out to the kitchen where he comes in IN HIS TIGHY WHITEYS (WTF!?) to keep cooking. A) I am not the only one in the damn house B) You KNOW I’m home c) EW just EW. So not cool. This is then further heightened when he comes to chat again on Sunday (once again in his towel ) while Sugar Mama (aka Catalina ) showers. Then as if they have some  issue with getting dressed she comes back into my room in just her jeans and bra. WTF ?! can these ppl not put on clothes?! grumble grumble..

On an up Note Gabriella went back to Italy. While I wont miss the loud Italian being shouted through the house I will miss her cleaning that she does after Daniel because lord knows I’m not doing it.

Sunday was prob my fav. day of the whole weekend. On Sunday morning (ANZAC Day) I got up really early and went with Amy and Tammy to go see the Parade. I wanted to go see the wreath laying ceremony but it was a dawn service and started at 430am – lets face it anyone that knows me knows that I don’t voluntarily get up that early ever lol.  On my way downtown for the parade (around 8ish) I swear to god I saw a pimp. A real live pimp...or at least he used to be lol He was sitting in front of me and had a pimp hat (complete with feather)  Huge Gold rings on every single finger, a suit, and a giant whale/shark(?) tooth with gems in it on a thick gold chain around his neck .He was awesome. Anyhow once I got downtown and found Amy etc. The parade was close to starting. The fighter jets flew overhead at exactly 10 am which signalled the start of the parade J now there were 2 really awesome things about this parade. 1) as each group of veterans walked by they held a banner with their battalion number/name on it as well as a list of the wars they faught in. I thought this was really cool especially to see the ones that are still helping out in Iraq and stuff. 2) everyone clapped as the veterans went by. While this seems like a small feat it was really great considering the parade was 3 hours long and yet not one vet walked by without getting cheers and applauses. I think its an amazing thing this country has done to honour their vets with such a huge display (its also a national holiday J ). I only ended up staying for an hour of the three though because Amy’s boyfriend is in the Australian Air Force and once they marched by us we walked to the end of it to meet him and his friends where we then went out for breakfast beers :D lol --- side note: how lame is it that you cant get a beer in this country before 1 pm unless you have a full sit down meal?!  “ Ok so ill have a beer with my bacon and eggs LOL” hee hee – Here are the pics from the first hour of the parade (don’t mind the large amount of pics of the Air Force/ Brendan  cuz Amy doesn’t have a camera so she was using mine) : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2123321&id=119100065&l=7db40600b5

Well now that you’ve read my 1144 word update (yes I checked) ill leave you with one last video to watch. I was laughing so hard when Keenan showed me it. If you don’t laugh then you  have problems.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRuNxHqwazs  400 BABIES bahahahaha

xoxox

Manda ~ 63 Days

Ps. 

Dear Mom and Nathan,

Please note that you are never allowed to go away together again as i am terribly lonely without ethier one of you. 

That is all

-Manda 

PPS

Jess is the Queen of Awesomeness. It shall soon be revealed why. for now just note that she has been upgrated from saying "My Daddy said ima princess" ....to "Amanda made me Queen Of Awesomeness". 

Hey Everyone

Today was UBER long. (yes its a word). I had prac with the 7/6's all day then a meeting with my group and tutor and then another meeting with my group afterwards. I hate Uni . im so over it and aussie and i wanna go home. On an up side i met two canadian guys on the bus today. They were from Calgary and were doing aid work in PNG but came to aussie to travel a bit. It  was only their second day here. They made me miss home immensley. 

Omg ..so as im writing this Lino and his new girlfriend are making animal noises in the dining room. wtf. Yes they are litterly making different animal noises, cats, dogs, elephants, horses etc. its scary how realistic the yappy dog bark is. ugh. While im happy he's found a girlfriend , i miss the house being quiet at night. Long gone are the days i could actually focus to do work and didnt have to deal with animal noises or her screaming -he chases her around the house? i really dont know why --> i guess yelling at the top of you lungs would helps you run faster. huh who knew.LOL She also has a high pitch loud giggly laugh which mostly annoys me. At the same time tho it makes me really sad cuz Nate and i always had that much fun when we are together and it makes so so so jelous that they have each other and fun and i get neither. I want Nate to come back :( ... pls? ... ill learn how to flair my nostrils? LMAO Babe <3 ....scrabble?

On an up side i have the next two mondays off of Prac as both mondays are holidays. I dont wanna spend that long without seeing the kids tho cuz the 3rd week is when im teaching them so its really best if i dont go 2 weeks without seeing them .

Anyhow i miss talking to peoples. Ive been going to bed before midnight each night cuz im so worn out so i havnt been able to chat with ppls and then ive been getting up really early and leaving for school / prac. I vote that everyone that reads this should send me an email, because i miss you all and need some kind of distraction from my schoolwork and the animal noises. seriously, this isnt the zoo, stop with the f*cking animal noises. sheesh.

xoxoxoxoxo

Manda