Ways to Organise Your Life For Exam Block

As the term comes to an end we all know what is coming… Exam Block! Below are a few tips to stay on top of school and keep your life organised.


    1. Have a Calendar with all your exams and assignment due dates somewhere where you always look.

    2. Tell your family when you have exams or assignments so they don’t plan anything and interrupt your studying or exam day

    3. Make a checklist of what you want to study for each subject

    4. Be extremely organised the night before your exam so you can have a good sleep and not have your bad organisation in the back of your head

    5. Share your resources with your friends. The more study the better!

School Birthday parties

I love birthdays. Every time one of my friends has a birthday we have a birthday party for them at morning tea or lunch break. We usually bring some lollies, chips, drinks, some savoury stuff and a birthday cake (Don't forget the fruit). This post is about some ideas of foods you can bring for a friend’s birthday.

Oreos are a really fun thing for birthday parties. Not only do they taste amazing, they are also really fun to play the Oreo game too. The Oreo game: you and a friend hold onto one side of the Oreo each and decide a dare, then you twist the Oreo and whoever has the icing in the middle has to do the dare.

Drinks are really important for a party. What we usually do is bring some drinks and keep them in the home ec fridges until the party. My favourite drinks are pink lemonade and fairy floss lemonade, but anything is great!

Sausage rolls are also great for parties. They are easy to make the day before and to bring, cold to the party the next day.

 You always need a cake at a birthday party. I am usually the person who makes all the birthday cakes. I always ask what the birthday girls favourite type of cake is. Its usually chocolate cake. My favourite chocolate recipe is this:

                http://addapinch.com/the-best-chocolate-cake-recipe-ever/

                This icing is amazing too:

                http://natashaskitchen.com/2014/03/26/perfect-chocolate-ganache-how-to-glaze-a-cake/

Whenever I make a chocolate cake, I also like to cover it in some type of chocolate. For example, for my friend Sophie's birthday I covered the cake with Malteasers.

You always need some type of lollies for a party. I suggest the natural confectionary chewy lollies, because they have questions on the back of the packaging that are fun to ask, that or fantales.

 Finally, you always need some type of sweet for a birthday. Some good examples of sweets are:

                Cookies (this recipe is amazing, it tastes exactly like the snickerdoodle cookies you can buy at Mrs. Fields) - http://www.averiecooks.com/2014/09/the-best-snickerdoodles.html

                Brownies - http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1223/bestever-brownies

Cookie dough slice - http://therecipecritic.com/2013/09/chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-bars/a

3 minute Pilates Routine

We’re all very busy. I mean, keeping up with what happed to CeCe on Pretty Little Liars is very exhausting. Also, Instagram is just so time consuming. But, it’s important to keep your fitness up, however, that doesn’t mean working out for an 2 hours every day. Simply doing a little bit every day or every second day is great. Here are just some of my 3 minute fitness routines:

Easy – Whole Body

Crane pose – 30 seconds

Standing forward bend  - 30 seconds

Wide angle seated pose – 30 seconds

Tree pose – 30 seconds

Camel pose – 30 seconds

Cobra pose – 30 seconds

Upper Body

Crunch – 30 seconds

Heel touch – 30 seconds

Plank – 1 minute

Twist – 1 minute

Lower Body

Toe raises – 20 seconds

Calf Raise – 20 seconds

Side split squat – 40 seconds

Pelvic raises – 40 seconds

Knee raises – 30 seconds

Wide angle seated pose – 30 seconds

5+ Bad ways to study

Study can be boring and difficult. This is why it is essential that we know the best way to study and what are some bad ways for us to study.

1. Don’t study with friend - this may be fun but can be very distracting
2. Studying with music - it has been proven that music distracts us when we study
3. Texting or calling - means that we are trying to multitask and we get more distracted this way
4. Don’t sit in a noisy area this will be very distracting and it is really easy to get off task
5. Don’t study for too long or too late this will make you tired and cut down on your sleep
6. Don't study without any idea of what you're going to do or achieve

How to set up your afternoon for study

Hi guys,

As we all know, homework can be difficult and sometimes we aren't really motivated to do it. But we all know deep down that homework improves our academic performance and helps us keep on top of class work.

When you get home it is important to get into the right head space in order to do homework.  Here are some tips to be concentrated, be quick and be productive.

1. Get the work out of the way. When you get home and have had something to eat it is ideal to start on work straight away so that you are not leaving it to the last minute.
2. Have some good brain food when you are home to ensure you have enough energy after a long day.
3. Look in your planner at the homework that has to be completed and prioritise the events that have to be done.
4. Look over notes from the lesson that you have homework for you to get into the right mind frame.
5. Ensure you have little breaks between switching homework tasks to refocus and reset.
6. Spend quality time doing work but don't overdo it, spread the work out if it is not due for another week, do a little bit each night. 
7. Get organised for the next day after your work is compete so it is easier to get going in the morning.

I hope this helps you set up your afternoon for homework and that you can get into some good homework habits.

Here are some examples of how to list and prioritise homework and assessments:

5 Premade Lunch Snacks

So we all know how hectic the week can be and how we don't have time to bake in the afternoons. Well, here are 5 delicious school snacks.

This zucchini slice is really delicious and all of the ingredients are ones you would have at home. I like to make it on the weekend and have it ready for lunch for the week.

www.taste.com.au/recipes/5546/zucchini+slice

These pizza scrolls are amazing, they are my number one thing for school lunch at the moment. You can substitute the sliced ham for shredded ham, which is tastier and quicker. http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/13380/cheesy+ham+scrolls

This is a zucchini, cheese and pasta slice recipe. It is very simple to make and is so delicious.

https://www.donnahay.com.au/recipes/zucchini-cheese-and-pasta-slice

This banana bread is so good! It tastes more like cake than a bread. It's really nice if you add in some almonds or pecans or really any nuts you might have. It doesn't keep for too long, so you could make it on the weekend and freeze individual slices in plastic bags, so that all you have to do is grab a frozen slice and put it in your lunch box.

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/13693/banana+bread

These are my favourite cookies, they are soft on the inside and gooey and delicious. They freeze quite well to,so again, you could freeze them ready for lunch.

http://allrecipes.com.au/recipe/8897/amazing-soft-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies.aspx

Elective: Home Economics

This semester for home economics we have been doing food studies. We have been focusing on convenience foods, and how you can make healthy fast food at home. We have cooked:

• Pizza
• Noodles
• Burgers
• Curry

And we are going to cook:

• Soup
• Sausage rolls
• Birthday cake

Last term we had an assignment where we answered questions about fast food, analysed two types of takeaway pizza and made a magazine article about the health consequences of fast food.

 We had an assignment this term where we had to research fast, balanced evening meals for a family. We then chose a recipe and changed it so that it was balanced and healthy, and cooked that meal. Here are some examples of meals that some of the girls cooked.

Mustard Chicken with Broccoli Mashed Potato and Beets and Beans Salad

Beef Bangali Curry with Cauliflower Rice, roti, Raita and Mango Chutney

Chicken Pie

Butter Chicken

This term we are also making children's birthday cakes and decorating them. I will post some pictures of the cakes when later this term.

Next semester we are doing textiles. We are making a hoodie and a skirt. I will update you with some pictures of the finished products next semester.

If you're really into learning the cooking basics and the nutrients that make up food, you will really enjoy home economics.

Electives: Japanese

The year 9 Japanese class has recently made onigiri. Onigiri  is a Japanese rice dish. The class made this dish with rice, and added tuna mixed with mayo in the middle of the rice ball. Then we shaped the rice into a triangle and added seaweed on the outside. They were very delicious. Other than that we are also learning about how to say our daily routines. Our daily routines consist of the days, and what we do. We have also been learning how to tell time, which is very interesting.

Currently in Japanese we have two upcoming assessments, these are a reading exam and a weekly routine speaking assessment. These two exams will require time and effort, and some studying. By practicing and revising Japanese, the reading test will be easy. As for the speaking exam, it will require more than studying. For our speaking we will have to make sure we know what we are talking about and if our pronunciation is correct. To make sure our speaking is clear and understandable we listen to each other and give constructive criticism back.

Japanese is a great subject for you if you enjoy learning about different cultures, or if you want to increase your expanded knowledge of vocabulary. It is a great way to meet new people and to be given fantastic opportunities such as; going on the Japan trip and seeing how the culture is truly like in their homeland, doing the Japanese exchange, learning new traditional Japanese dishes, and meeting people from Japan. Japanese offers a variety of exciting content, you learn many different things. These things include; learning how to cook Japanese dishes, being able to read and write Japanese. Overall Japanese is an interesting subject that you will have fun in and learn so many new things.

How To Improve Your Marks

Days when you have exams
1.    Make sure you are getting at least 8 hours of sleep, you will feel better for it in the morning.
2.    Have all of your equipment in a clear bag the night before so you are not running around your house like crazy in the morning looking  for that extra pen or white out
3.    Get to school slightly earlier if the exam is first up
4.    have a good breakfast and make sure that you take enough food for before and after your exam.
5.    Remember to fill up your water bottle to avoid thirst during and exam
6.    Before you go into your exam room run over any methods, formulas or facts you need to remember
7.    Stressing isn’t going to help you so clear your head of any hindrances or un exam related thoughts
8.    When you get into your exam flick through the paper so you know how much you need to complete
9.    When you reach the end of each page check how you are going for time
10.    When you think you have finished check over your exam 2-3 times, you might pick up silly mistakes that make all the difference.

Tips
-    If you have homework that is not due in for a couple of days try and do it on the day you get it to get it out of the way
-    In an exam don’t use liquid paper
-    Don’t put assignments off or rely on resources at school such as the printer the period before something is due in
-    Right in your exams, assignments, and any other due dates for your diary
-    Put 100% effort in

I hope this worked for you, it works for me! Remember your marks aren’t going to improve unless you put the effort in to change them.

Electives: HPE

Hi so now at least one post a week is going to be about an elective you can choose to do so you guys have a better understanding of what each post is. This post is about HPE and it is written by Jemma Bosch.

Hi all,

This term in H.P.E we are doing volleyball. This is fantastic sport which is heaps of fun. This sport is for anyone and here is a little bit about it if you are interested in doing this elective in year 9…

So far we have learnt how to dig, set, hit, serve. As well as team work skills and games, here are the skills so far.

Digging

Setting

Hitting

Serving Underhand

We are learning a wide variety of skills. This subject is for everyone and is very educational.  I hope this may influence your subject choices for year 9 and 10. Throughout this term we are also learning about sports injuries and prevention which is very engaging. The assessments are a great learning curve which involves reports, letters, evaluations and creating multimodal presentations to help others learn. We look forward to a great year ahead doing touch and rhythmic gymnastics, after just finishing out lifesaving unit. You should choose H.P.E because it is fun, great for fitness and many useful skills are learnt. I hope this was a helpful little snippet of life in health and physical education. 

Year 9 Study Guides

Study Documents for Year 9 Tests 2016

Term 1 Ecology:
(Elli Novak)

Study cards: https://quizlet.com/131898218/ecology-flash-cards/

Quiz:  http://www.poll-maker.com/Q3BCSB2

Term 2 Home Ec :
(Eva Bamfield)

More Term 2 Home Ec Flashcards: https://quizlet.com/141433720/flashcards
(Katie Christofis)


Hpe Term 2 Flashcards:
(Jemma Bosch) 

Term 2 Science Study Cards:

(Eva Bamfield)