Creative Names

Making and Taking Notes

When the administrators of the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center inProvidence, Rhode Island, adopted six 'therapy' cats from an animal shelter, they had no idea that among them was one that possessed an uncanny sixth sense to predict theimpending death of terminally ill patients.

Oscar the tabby cat's story begins in 2005, when the newly born kitten was placed on third floor of the nursing center, home to patients that are in the last stages of illnesses like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and cancer. The kitten spent the first year lazing around and watching the bustling activity around him. Then, just before his first birthday, Oscar began visiting each of the 41-patients on the floor regularly, just like the doctors and nurses did.

Initially, the hospital staff did not pay much attention to the feline's behavior. However, after some of the people that Oscar was snuggled next to passed away, they began to notice a pattern - the cat only went close to those that were a few hours away from dying. Otherwise, he would curl up on a desk and spend the day sleeping.

To test if it was just a coincidence, the staff tried to place Oscar next to a patient they believed was close to dying. But the paranormal cat refused to stay put an

d decided to snuggle next to someone else. Turns out he was right because 'his' patient died that same evening, while the one whose death the nurses had thought was imminent, lived on for another two days.

Among the biggest believers in Oscar's paranormal powers is Dr. David Dosa, ageriatrician and Assistant Professor at Brown University. He is so convinced of Oscar's unusual 'gift' that he not only published a paper about him in the New England Journal of Medicine, but also wrote a book. Entitled "Making rounds with Oscar: The extraordinary gift of an ordinary cat’, the 2010 publication outlines the various pieces of evidence he has been able to gather about the cat's predicting powers. Also convinced is the hospital staff who has been using Oscar's foretelling abilities to inform family members so they can bid farewell to their loved ones before it's too late.

Of course, not everyone believes that Oscar has a sixth sense. Some feline experts think that his perfect timing may have to do with a certain smell that the cat has come to associate with death. Others speculate it may have to do with the lack of movement in people that are about to die.

Then there are the skeptics who maintain that Oscar's record is not as perfect as it has been made out to be. They think that the hospital staff and Dr. Dosa have simply 'cherry-picked' the occasions when Oscar has been accurate and ignored the ones when he has not. Fortunately, none of this negative chatter has affected nine-year-old Oscar who continues to provide comfort to sick people in their final hours!

Reflection of GC Orientation

Today we, (The Year Eight Girls) went to Girls College for Orientation Day. 

We were shown around the school by four students of the school, two year nines, and two year tens. They were called ambassadors. 

There were only two people I saw whom I recognised. One was Kate Wykes, who is my dad's friend's daughter. Another was Zoe -I don't know her last name- Who I did mariners with, which is a sailing/activities group of girls. They were both ambassadors of the school. 

We firstly walked around the school, until we reached the Drama class. We got given a bag of information about the school, costs, and bus routes. It also held a booklet with a map of the school on it, and a bus behaviour slip. After looking through the items we were given, we had to write on a piece of paper; Our name, the date, three words to describe ourselves, and what we were looking forward to. These pieces of paper are going to be given back to us in year 13, so they're like time capsules. 

A bell rang, and we left the classroom with the four ambassadors, and the drama teacher. We were given a piece of paper with pictures of the school, and we used the map on the back of the booklet we were given to match the pictures to the places they belonged to. 

I was rather impressed with the size of the school, and I'm pretty sure that I'm going to get lost... a lot. At least we can catch up with our friends at lunchtime, so that we can walk around together! 

It was rather overwhelming, but I'm still excited for next year! Also, pretty nervous, as I hope to get into the accelerant class, and I'm waiting for a letter!  

Movie Challenge Reflection

What your group did well?
I think that our plot-line was pretty realistic. 

What would YOU do differently next time?

I think speak a little louder, the audio was sometimes hard to hear in some points.

Based on the criteria, how would you improve your movie if we gave you time.
We only did normal angles, no shots from above, or clever positions. We could've been a lot more creative with it.

Teamwork: Able to work collaboratively as a team to produce a movie
We should've stayed in the same room together, talked to each other about things so that we were all aware of what is happening, so then we could work together.

Quality of message: Life Ed theme. Shows understanding or learning from Life Ed programme
Show some more REACH WITS, and maybe a flashback to life ed.

Able to use film making conventions: Camera angles, dramatic intention
We didn't really do any creative angles, except for maybe the one were the bus students walk out of the bus. That was still pretty bland, though.

Sound quality: Ability to ensure all dialogue is heard

It was a bit windy in the outside scenes, otherwise it was alright.

How to create a felt rock

Waimarino - Blade of Grass

My light green skin glistened as the rain poured down around me, puddling around my feet. A drop of water slid off my nose, and I shuddered as the wind hassled me, pushing me from side to side. A loud chattering noise filled the air as tall, lanky, things with two legs started to fill the clearing. Oh, not again. They obnoxiously trampled over me, the covers on their feet pressed indents into the ground. They dropped off the heavy objects on their backs, to the white cover away from the cold rain that fell from darkening clouds. After a while of mumbling, they ran over to a protruding board, that stood over the water. The twolegs made a line, and they started to dive into the lake. Screams of shock and excitement echoed around as the water enclosed their bodies. They clambered out, using an object that started underneath the surface of the water, and came out, leading onto the land. The twolegs wrapped their arms around themselves, trying to keep warm -to no avail.- They turned, and started heading back towards me, water running down their bodies, their wet dirty feet making a "Slap"sort of sound as they hit the ground. 

They entered a pool, surrounded by rocks, and submerged themselves, attempting to "shake off the cold." They stayed there for a while, the rain still pounding down around them, then came out, smiles on their faces. They started to spread out, going to various places around my home, Waimarino. 

I watched as one girl backed up from the Slip 'n' Slide, then ran forward and sprawled onto her belly as the water rushed around her, propelling her forwards. She splashed into the water at the bottom and rested there for a while, enjoying the warmth. 

A couple of people were on the water trampoline, struggling to clamber up the ladder. They were grinning as they finally climbed on, and bent their legs, then pushed up, propelling themselves into the air, bouncing. 

Across from that, the blob was being used, a boy sitting at the end of the colourful thing. Another boy jumped, landed. The boy at the end was thrusted into the air, shouting, and did a backflip, then landed with a "Splash" 

My view was blocked from the other activities, but I could her excited laughter and yet more complains about the cold. I wished they would just... leave. Their noise, their footsteps, their food wrappers. It disrupted my home. I sighed. At least they would be gone soon. It wasn't as if I could do anything about it, anyway. 

Life Ed - Addiction

Addiction is when you need a drug to feel normal

FAR = Faster absorption rates

MR JMICE = 

Memory

Reason

Judgement

Mechanical Skills

Concentration

Emotions

REACH WITS = 

Reason

Excuse

Asseritve

Change the Subject

Humor

Walk Away

Ignore

Tell Someone or Toughen Up 

Say no

This shows addiction to drugs and how it takes affect.