Education Week

What I remember most about his week was definitely the NAPLAN testing. Which wasn’t really a part of galileo really, but it went with the theme for the week (ironically I guess)

So we started off the week with a video about the school system, things like the way we are tested and how all of our school work and testing leads up to getting a job and a spot in a good University. I agree that the way education is set up isn’t exactly ideal, but I highly doubt that there’s another way to do that would agree with people more than what we have now. I think that Galileo is a great way to get a break from normal school and learn some real life skills that will stay with me for a really long time, and I really do think that it’s making me more independent (I didn’t expect it to), whereas sometimes normal school sort of pushes you to rely on other people.

On the Monday of education week we went on our mini trail. Anna wasn’t there on that day so it was just me, Eva, and Sam. We had arranged to go to The Wheeler Centre, and had sent an email to someone working there on the Stella Prize, but they never actually returned any of our attempts to make an appointment. So we went there without really knowing what to expect, and I guess we got a little more than we had expected… We were basically given some booklets on The Wheeler Centre and told a little about what sorts of things they did there. We were then told that everything we needed for our literature project would be on their website, and ushered out the door. We weren’t entirely sure what to do with the 2 hours or so we had left, to we decided to go to the bookstore across the street. We spent around 45 minutes in there, looking at different books and reading, basically just browsing. It may sound boring, but bookstores have always been a place that I could easily spend hours in without getting the slightest bit bored.

The skills workshop on Tuesday morning was definitely the best yet. We learnt how to play chess (I already basically knew the rules, because of playing as a child) and then had to partner up and play. Anna and I basically failed our game, studying the board for 5 minutes at a time, trying to find a move that wouldn’t disturb any other pieces on the board (opposition’s pieces included). I found that I became accustomed to moving my queen or king one square to the left or right and then moving it back on my next turn just to get out of disturbing the serene state of the game, while Tracey and Rebi had already both won the game once and were starting their third game. Quite a few times John would come around to check on the games would come over and tell me that I was in check or that Anna’s bishop was right in line to take my queen, and we would realise that both the pieces had been in the same spots for at least 5 turns, and we hadn’t even realised.

The multiple intelligences class was also very interesting. I went into the class thinking I was good at thinking visually, musically and linguistically, and came out of the class having learnt I was very mathematical/logical,kinaesthetic (????), and linguistic. But I think that the tests were just a little too specific, like I’m just particularly skilled at hoola hooping and I’ve always been good at Sudoku. But when we did the online test I learnt I’m very musically, linguistically and mathematically intelligent. But then again I think that the test was mostly based on your own view of your skills, so if you ended with a score with lots of extremely high numbers, you’d obviously put mostly 5’s for questions like ‘You are good at solving maths problems’, which would probably be a lot more accurate with ACTUAL tests. But as we saw with the tests set by the Galileo teachers, it’s kind of hard to really tell where you are intelligent. These were my scores:

 

 

 

LEARNING GOALS REFLECTION

SKILLS

For my first learning goal I had communication. I still feel as though communication is a goal of mine, and I haven’t REALLY been able to improve on it yet. If I’m put in a group with people I dont know, I’d say im a little more comfortable with talking to other people, and thats a good start for me.

Leadership. I’d say my skills as a leader haven’t improved much at all yet, but hopefully I’ll get better.

I’ve gotten a little better at listening. To the teacher and to other students as well, but as with all my other goals, I could improve a lot. I still get distracted REALLY easily, and i still cant seem to stop drawing on my hands and arms.

KNOWLEDGE

I’ve learnt a little more about divergent thinking. Now that we’re in education week I feel like I’ve learnt about the flaws in the education system, which was a large factor that was touched on in the divergent thinking youtube video.

We went to the Magistrates Court and Parliament House, so I’ve learnt ALOT more about justice and the law. But i still feel like I’ve only brushed the subject.

I dont really feel like I’ve learnt much about sustainable living at all yet. We’ve learnt a little about eating healthy and stuff along those lines for camp, but it hasnt really come up yet.

PERSONAL

I think that I may have started to focus a little more in class, but I’m sure that I can go a lot further to improve my learning.

I’m not entirely sure why, it’s probably all the random groups that we’ve been put in, but I do feel like my confidence has risen a lot over this term. But obviously (as with the other goals) I could be more comfortable around people I dont know very well.

As we dont have much to bring to call in galileo, theres not MUCH to go on as to whether my organisational skills have improved. But I hardly ever bring my folder into class, so I think I should really improve on that, and I am almost always late to class, which is beginning to become a problem.

 

I think that health week was the most enjoyable week yet, and I expected to really hate it because I REALLY hate sport, and I just assumed that that was going to be the only aspect of health we were going to talk about, and if not, it was only going to be about personal goals and other boring and unnecessary things, mostly because of health class (sorry), but I learnt that wasn’t the case.

 

We did a few lessons about ‘what is health’ and things along those lines, coming up with the idea of physical – exercising and dieting mostly, mental – self esteem and stress, and social – your friends, family and community relationships. On Tuesday morning we watched an insight video that was vaguely disturbing… then we found out our community service groups and I was glad to see that I had ascot vale special school. I’d been hoping for it because I really wanted a chance to work with the kids with learning difficulties. We chose our trails and thankfully I got the one I was hoping for, the Collingwood children’s farm, over the other two which were both mostly about physical health if I remember correctly.

 

On the Wednesday we went on our trails, and I was SO glad I chose the Collingwood children’s farm. It was surprisingly really fun, even though we spent a lot of time cleaning up the garden bed. We then went to lunch at lentil as anything, which had seriously good quality food for whatever price you thought it was worth, or however much you could afford. I think that it’s a great way to accommodate for people who may not have enough money to go out and buy food for themselves to be able to eat as much as they need to.  It was a great day and I really do think it improved my mental health for the day, as it gave me an excuse to get out into the sunshine and to do something for the community.

History week was all about, well, history. I’ve left this a little bit late so I don’t remember much about history week, but this is what I remember.

So we had a lesson on ‘iconic historical moments’ where about half the class were in loft with John. We looked at a few photos that depicted iconic moments in history, such as the little girl on fire running from the Vietnam war, the monk who set himself on fire to make a statement etc. There were also some photos of people like Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson (sort of…) who were just extremely iconic people. We listened to a few iconic songs and then we were told to pick an iconic photo and song ourselves. I couldn’t really decide on a song but I decided on this photo of Albert Einstein with his therapist that id seen somewhere a while ago.

I just thought it was a really great photo, showing how even though he was genius, maybe even BECAUSE he was a genius, he had problems just like the rest of us.

The for trail we all went to the Koorie heritage museum where we got a tour of the flagstaff gardens with a woman named donna (I think). She told us all about where the trees came from, the different uses for them and white settlement. Then we went into the museum where we sat down and listened as she talked to us about all the different languages that the people in all the aboriginal tribes in Australia spoke. Then we got to look at some old aboriginal spears and boomerangs and a wombat fur cloak. It was an overall fun and interesting experience.

Is it easy to be healthy in Melbourne?

Yes. It is definitely easy to be healthy here, but, like all things, you have to put in effort to achieve good physical, mental and social health in Melbourne.

We may have an extremely high obesity rate in our population, but it really is quite easy to be fit and healthy in our society here in Melbourne today. For one, there are an extremely high amount of gyms here in Melbourne. We may have less gyms than some places in the world, but we are extremely fortunate to have the amount that we do, compared to other countries. They’re also not expensive and many people visit regularly so it’s not going to be ‘awkward’ going to the gym or anything along those lines.

We have the largest and oldest tram network in the ENTIRE WORLD, therefore I don’t think it’s going to be TOO hard to catch a tram in to work or school in the morning. Catching a tram or any other form of public transport to and from school or work is a great way to boost all forms of your health, it easily improves your mental health, giving you a chance to get out into the sunshine, read a book, feel you’re doing your bit for the environment. It also boosts your physical health because it is most likely that you’re not going to live right in front of the tram stop, you’re probably going t have to walk at least a little while, and if not, why not just get off the tram a stop earlier than you need to and walk the rest? And try listening to music while walking to the tram stop and/or while on the tram, I find music can always get me into a good mood. And because trams are usually filled with students, businessmen and just straight up friendly people, it’s a great way to get your social health up by talking to a few people, and back on the subject of mental health, giving your seat up for someone who is elderly, disabled or pregnant is a great way to feel good about yourself while helping out members of the community.

It’s extremely easy to have a good healthy diet in Melbourne as well. Our large range of unhealthy fast food outlets are vastly outnumbered by the huge amount of healthy, fresh, restaurants dotted around the city. Sushi is always a good option with a sushi bar at almost every corner in the CBD.  Others would rather go for a salad or a freshly squeezed juice, the choices are limitless. It’s a common opinion that healthy food is ridiculously more expensive than fast food, but that’s only because we don’t know where to look. With McDonalds’ and KFC’s everywhere you look, it’s easy to miss the small, quirky, health food restaurants around the city. An easy example of healthy, fresh food being just as cheap and easy to come by as fast food is, obviously, the middle eastern style restaurant, ‘Lentil as Anything’. After visiting this great place on a trail, I was in awe of the quality of the people who work there and, of course, the food. It’s the sort of place you could go everyday for lunch without feeling guilty about ruining your diet or just emptying your wallet. It sells healthy, fresh, vegetarian food without a price tag. You can enjoy the food and then pay however you see fit for the meal that you enjoyed. And there’s no one there to judge you either, with a box on the way out, reading ‘donations appreciated’. You can pay from 5 cents to 50 dollars, the choice of yours. I think that it’s a great way to encourage people to eat healthy, AND to support people who may not have enough money to cook or buy their own food.

On the same trail I mentioned earlier, my group went to the Collingwood children’s farm. This was a great way to boost your mental health, as we fed the animals and helped clear up some weeds in the garden bed. It was a great experience and I would definitely do it again. Volunteering is a great way to feel good, knowing that you’re helping out the owners of the farm and also the animals was a great way to start the day. We’re all also doing some volunteer work in community service. I’m going to the ascot vale special school with 5 other people, and helping out the kids in class. It’s great to see the kids being able to get all the great opportunities we got, even with their learning difficulties. They really are extremely nice and they seem genuinely happy all the time.

Being healthy in Melbourne is really an easy feat. With so many great restaurants, parks, and great people, our vibrant city makes it easy to be healthy in your physical, mental and social life.

Positivity Diary – Health Week

Day 1.

Monday.

The positive experience of the day was definitely finding out where I was going for community service. I’d been kind of hoping for ascot vale special school, because I really wanted to be able to work with kids with learning difficulties, and when I found  out I had ascot vale special school I was seriously relieved. I was also really happy with the group I was going with, there were a few people I knew, and a few people I didn’t.

 

Day 2

Tuesday.

The positive experience for today was choosing the trail for tomorrow. The choices were between a thousand steps (to be frank the thought of it terrified me), the random football one (I hate football so that wasn’t going to happen), and the Collingwood children’s farm. Obviously I wanted the children’s farm and managed to get my preference in time. Most of my friends were doing the same trail as well, so that was a positive experience by my standards.

 

Day 3

Wednesday.

Positive experience for today was basically the whole day. We went to the Collingwood children’s farm, which was great, to help out with the animals and the weeds. And then we went to lentil as anything for lunch, where the food and the people working there were also fantastic. Then we went to a park near the restaurant to do a little exercise and caught the bus and tram home. It was overall a great day.

 

Day 4

Thursday.

The positive experience for the today was community service. We left for ascot vale special at lunch and caught the 59 down to stop 28, got to the school and were allocated to our classes. We were put in the class with the 13 year olds who were planning their trip to ALDI. The teachers and students were all really nice and it was a great experience to get to work with them.

 

Day 5

Friday.

It may seem like a small thing but the positive experience for me today was being able to sit out for sport. I absolutely hate the beep test. Either that or the bell for the end of the day.

 

Written? Pictorial? Oral?

I believe that the most reliable source of historical fact is pictorial. Although it definitely depends on what KIND of pictorial history you’re referring to.  When it comes to paintings or tapestries, they’d most likely be just as reliable as a written piece, seeing as it would be very easy for the painter to paint the scene as THEY interpreted it. Whereas with a photo, the camera can’t lie (though maybe that rule doesn’t apply so much nowadays), for example if there was a photo of a slave being whipped, you can’t say that the photographer was being bias or depicting the scene in a way that was untrue, however the photo shows it to be, that’s the way it was (to some extent, you can never know all the reasons for people doing the things they do).

An example I experienced would be when we went to the Koorie heritage trust museum. There were many different types of canoes carved out of different types of trees there, those canoes were most definitely used in the time that aboriginal Australians owned this land, made their own canoes and used them, there’s no denying it. But if there was a painting of a man using a canoe, there’s no proof that the scene that was painted actually happened, it would’ve just been a man deciding to paint a picture of a man with a canoe!

Written history can also be extremely informing, but there is an extremely large margin for bias and opinion, just as there is with paintings and tapestries. I’d probably say that written history is the most known and used form of history, but bringing me to oral history, much of what is written in history books is passed down by word of mouth, which would DEFINITELY be somehow influenced by bias and/or opinion. So I’d definitely say that oral history is the least reliable kind of historical fact, because there’s no way to keep it absolutely genuine and accurate.