Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Our Class Poem: 6th Class 2013-2014: Enjoy! And... Take It Easy.

Memories of Our Class
Scoil Talbot, Mr Stuart’s (& Orla’s) Class 2013–2014
In the month of September
– I wonder if you remember? –
I was excited to say
you’re each intelligent in many-a-way.
And now it’s June
I’m singing the same tune…
Each of you’s different but each of you’s equal;
The game of life you’re winning,
because your potential you’re fulfilling.
No matter what say the rest,
you know God gave you a mission to be your best.
You learned to
“remember the past with gratitude, live the present with enthusiasm, and look to the future with confidence”
and to ask to “help me see with your eyes, listen with your ears, speak with your words, laugh with your laugh, and
love with your heart!” — to pray is the way.
You learned how to learn by aiming at a target; What’s great is you stick-with-it until you say “Got it!”

So, just who have we got, in this class that’s so hot?

Well, we got the two Adams — aren’t we lucky to have known ’em!
Bubbly Mr O’Connor beaming his beautiful smile ever so bright,
And calm Mr Morrison always wisely thinking carefully before getting the answer right.

We got three shockingly-talented and expressive people so artistic:
Wicked-writer Kerry, so super-insightful, our Councillor majestic;
Honest, kind, generous Alex so creative and ‘mathletic’;
And of course gentle, loving, dependable Adesuwa, so elegant and athletic.

And so many people—18!—made a giant jump in maths
Led by talented languages-learner Anjoola, an enthusiastic teacher of dance;
She made her giant jump better than any man, by telling her beautiful bustling brain: “Yes. I. Can.”

There’s enthusiastic and caring Chloe O’Connor; who to know is for us all both a joy and an honour.
To receive even just one of her big smiles, we’d all run for miles and miles!

The two Cians kept us all entertained — Having the craic was where they aimed!
Whenever your mood was down they’d have the remedy:
One after the other they’d spontaneously share their comedy!
They each developed their many intelligences:
Mr McCann especially in English and becoming a leader
Mr Donegan especially in Maths and becoming a coder!

And then there’s Ciara Murphy, not just resourceful but ever so helpful,
You’d be right for thinking you can’t get someone more friendly:
—But be warned: in soccer she turns deadly!

David is surely the greatest Man City fan, wouldn’t you say?
He’s so good at soccer we might see him with them on the telly one day!
After that career he’ll have many a choice: with his ‘Maths Master’ brain
He can create a life that all depends on his aim.

We’ve got more news we just have to publish… Dean Barry made the biggest jump in English!
Our superfast runner, with a beautiful smile and joking all the while, good at art, & a huge kind heart.

And the two talented Bolger boys — with such great performances to recall we must tell all:
Enthusiastic, hard-working, resilient Reece — memorably bringing down the house with his personal and powerful Slam Poem that was just zinging!
And quietly-confident and contemplative cousin ‘gentleman Evan’ — who hushed our minds and opened our hearts with his T’s‑Got-T singing !

Independent-minded, musical, and forever-fizzling Fisayo proved herself quite a writer.
She could become so famous that one day we’ll all be proudly shouting, ‘I knew her!’

Where would this class be without our oracle and animal-lover Glen McHugh?
If we ever had any question, asking him was the only thing to do.
Has there ever been a young man so articulate and wise
So perfectly-mannered with nothing but patient loving kindness beaming from his eyes.

Passionate Kaitlyn McBride’s a girl in any sport you always want on your side;
When she sings it’s like it’s to heaven you’ve flown after you’ve died.
She’s so full of so many abilities which she’s only beginning to discover;
And when she succeeds in ignoring others there’s no quicker learner.

And we’ve copped-on and quietly-popular Kellie O’Rourke, who’s ever so humble,
Whose success in life will make the world rumble!
True friend to all, an active listener,
Whoever’s not going to her school will madly miss her.

And then there’s our two Green Team leaders always fully alert and alive
Who led the whole school in getting Green Flag number five!
Of us all who showed she ‘gets’ Einstein’s saying “Questions are more important than answers”;
it must be Leah the pianist and typist record-breaker—as well as runner, singer, and dancer!
Teaming up with magnificent all-rounder and medic Maia Sloan,
A writer-extraordinaire — especially of poems.

And thankfully we’ve lovely and mellow Marilyn Obeng;
We’ll never forget her dancing the hit song Antenna to win T’s-Got-T with her sister;
She looked so comfortable and happy—we’re sure going to miss her!

There’s ever-jovial and drama-class-loving Morgan Murphy
Hard-working, brilliant-debating, & justice-seeking…
My guess is: in his future careers this world a better place he’ll be making!

And there’s the smiling Sean, ever-more confident and bubbly bright,
And because he’s ever-more thinking, he’s ever-more right!

And of course we all love our easy-going, jovial William — truly one in a million!
His future will be full of many great deeds,
Because wherever he aims his powerful mind, he succeeds!

And thank God for Rebecca, our 7-month wonder, so grateful just to be alive;
Consequently her happiness is boundless — just like her optimism and kindness!
If you think for a minute, we see she makes us realise
That thanking God for all the good and small things in our lives is ever so wise.

Now, many memories with time gradually fade away;
What matters more is to know that you had many a fine day.
But before time makes your Class memories history
I recommend you straight-away record some details so they won’t be a mystery.
Here’s some additional things I myself will keep in my memory so deep:
  • Your Climate Change work and presentations, what’s to say except “Congratulations!”
  • Your confirmation copies: so full of your Spirit, they surely God did much please.
  • Your brilliant set-up-your-own business ideas: you’ll surely do so with ease.
  • Your end-of-year Maths results: When I saw them, how fast they made my pulse!
  • Your interest in psychology & controlling your mind: peace-of-mind is what you’ll find.
  • Your self-created Friday prayer sessions, especially to Mary and Jesus;
    it’s through opening our hearts to God’s Love that we learned that Jesus needs us!
  • The Debates of the Day: On the road to independent-thinking, you’re well on the way.
  • Friday afternoon’s Talbot’s-Got-Talent, where week after week was repeated
    the powerful singing and acting to which we were all treated.
  • And, of course, our School Tour in Blessington Lakes’ Avon Rí
    What a way to finish our primary school days with great glee!

Each of you is creative, multi-intelligent, and a wonderful act of creation;
Collectively so brilliant we had many moments of elation!
And now we’ve arrived at the end of the year; you move on to secondary while I stay here.
I sincerely hope, as the years come to pass, you’ll long remember the inner growth you experienced in our 6th Class.


I hope you liked the poem. And, in case you haven't already seen them, our class photos are up on the school website if you click here. Good luck to each one of you in everything you do. I'll miss you and continuously wish you nothing but the best. Secondary school may seem a bit of a big change, but it's a change that will suit you. I can see each one of you continuing to blossom as teenagers into the wonderful, beautiful, helpful people you are. Four bits of advice, which I've found useful to live by, and one blessing... take it easy, just do it, grow till you go, to pray is the way, and God bless you. Martin Stuart


Thursday, June 19, 2014

Links for AMAZING singing and songs by PS22, a great 5th class in New York: WE can do that! :)

Yes, thanks from me to Mrs Shaw for telling me about PS22, a 5th class in New York City who have their own youtube page. Click here for their youtube page. Wow! We've already enjoyed some songs; try out some more yourself.

First of all, the Cup song: yay! Fun! 

And, of course, their version of our graduation song, Happy! 



Friday, May 30, 2014

Our Best Links for Learning How To Code--Learn in just one hour!

I'm so glad you so liked coding this morning. And I'm so impressed with how well you worked in pairs to learn together... you were great! This video is a cool one that encourages us all to give it a go... give it an hour!

And so here are the links for you to get really good at coding by yourself.

  1. The Games We Played This Morning (You Choose Which... I recommend the Grades 1-3 game for everyone to begin with) thanks to twynker.com
  2. Next week we're going to go on to the Learning Section of Code.org, where we'll get to control an Angry Bird! :)  
  3. And when you've finished that, then you're ready to code to create your own game with the Flappy Bird! (Tip: look at the 2 minute video first [it's in the bottom left corner])
    (THIS is the game that I created... have fun!)
  4. And for the one or two of you who get really really good (maybe more of you???) then I recommend the Code Academy page which is meant for grown ups to learn, but maybe you can give it a go? I'd say you're well able for it. 
Why code? Well, in this video will-i-am reckons "Great Coders ARE today's rock starts... that's it!". If you want more reasons, well, it's art (it's YOU who is CREATING, not just using), it's fun (you get to build great things), it's problem-solving (you get to expand your brain so you can solve real-life problems easier and quicker), and it's YOU who is IN CONTROL!

Yes, it's "hard" at first but so is everything. Stick with it, that's the way to become good at anything.


Monday, February 17, 2014

'Work' You'll Enjoy For Your Strengths and Needs

So, like we have learned, we all have strengths. We all have needs. We are all unique. We are all intelligent in many ways

Think of YOUR strengths, YOUR needs. 

What ones do you want to 'work' on right now? YOUR choice...

  1. Maybe do "a little, a lot", which means do 30 minutes now, and take a break, 30 minutes later today, and take a break, and so on; OR
  2. Maybe do a different "a little, a lot", with 30 minutes today, 30 minutes tomorrow, 30 minutes the day after, and so on... make it a great habit for yourself

First of all, before you try out MY links, give yourself a present and click here on Scoilnet and try out the links on the right hand side, sorted by subject. Enjoy!

Now, here are some of MY great links sorted by subject (just a few links per subject)...

Drama
I love when people IMPROV, but sometimes you can't beat a good script... 
Music
PE/Physical Education
PE is hard to do in the home... but not impossible! 
ICT/Computer Skills:
During your life, you'll be typing maybe 100 times more than you'll be hand-writing. Wouldn't it be good to be good?
  • Ten-Finger Typing from typingweb.com Can you improve your speed each day? Yes, you can. Now, no cheating! Ten fingers to do it right. Within a little while you'll be up to 20 words per minute, and maybe even faster! School record... 39 words per minute. 
  • Already pretty good at ten-finger typing? Go straight on to the Most Common English Words typing. 

English Reading: 


Irish Reading and Sounds


English Writing
The best writing site I've found... just in one site we can learn about how to write better... better arguments(!), better reports, better recounts... better! All on the the BBC KS2 English Writing site. And, if you want to make sure you know the basics, use the bbc ks1 site!

Vocabulary (The Words We Use)
How good are you at finding the right word to use at the right time? We ALL need practice at this. First we have to understand new words, and then it's so important that we USE them.


Religion
As Christians the key to following Jesus' example is (1) know about Jesus and (2) pray -- open your heart to God.

Maths/Engineering/Construction/Science


Geography

History
History is HUGE! There's so much it's hard to put in enough links. Which do you find most amazing?

SPHE
We all know how important it is to make the best decisions for our selves. 
Art
Art is hard to do on a computer. So don't! Do it yourself at home without the computer!! Or, if you really really want to do it on the computer, try these... 

Have you ever heard any child ever say they're bored? 
With the web and all the great stuff above, could they be bored? (If you do have a younger brother or sister who's saying that, just show them this post and let them loose to enjoy themselves!)











Friday, February 14, 2014

Valentine's Day: Our 6th Class Love Poem -- "You Are... "

You Are...
The Winnie to my Pooh!
The Beat to my Heart!
The Doors to my Heart!
My Honey to my Honeyjar!
The Pages to my Book!
The Pillow on my Bed!
As Crunchy as my Crunchnut!
The Bounce to my Bouncy Ball!
The Fillet to my Chicken Fillet!
The Ice to my Cream!
The Hair to my Head!
The Heart to my Break!
The Milk to my Cereal!
The Key to my Heart!
The Cheese to my Cheese String!
The Honey to my Pot!
The Love to my Lovely Day!
The Toe to my Toenail!
The Music to my Heart!
The Handle to my Door!
The Shoe to my Foot!
The Note to my Music!
The Doorknob to my Door!
The Looney to my Tunes!
The Scarf to my Neck!
The Socks to my Feet!
The Pupil to my Eye!
The Nostril to my Nose!
The Sweet to my Heart!
The Map of My Life!
The Story of My Life!
The Rubber to my Mistakes!
The Tea in my Teacup!
The Colour in my Rainbow!

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Some of My Best World War One videos and resources for you...

I promised Glen and you all that I'd post up some links to the videos that we looked at today. I might as well also post up some other resources at the same time.

Remember, this year, 2014, it is EXACTLY 100 years since World War One began. Everyone thought it would be over after a few weeks. Nope. It lasted four long horrible brutal de-humanising years.

Is there ever any sense in a war? All the killing. All the heart-ache. All the injuries to the bodies. All the injuries to the minds. Can we really not sit down and work out our problems peacefully? Would you support a war?

Recruitment Posters (Which ones work best? Would they work on you? Notice how they try and put pressure on you to join up.)

Photos of Real Soldiers At War (Would you like to have lived like this? And probably died? Or maybe survived after seeing so many of your friends being killed?)

A Little Bit of Information on the Different Types of Battles: Land, Sea, and Air (which was safest? which was most important?)

A 'FUN' Video Introduction to WHY did everyone go to war... did it make any sense? was there a better way to work out problems between countries? did anyone get to vote on it? or was the decision made by the people in governments only? 

Shellshock--a short video on the horrible way many people were left: Soldiers were in SHOCK at how horrible it was to be in a war and to watch people being killed almost every day. (DO NOT watch this if you are afraid of seeing how bad soldiers were affected in their brains.)

A Sad Video Showing How Hard It Was For Families To Get Bad News from the Front Line of the War

A Real Letter (read by an actor) to a Mother from a French Soldier in the War 

A few Maps: They tell a story: See what you can work out... map of Europe BEFORE the War 
and map of Europe AFTER the war... 



map of Africa before the war (with the names of the European countries in charge)... 


map of the world before the war (with the names of the European countries in charge)...




What can we learn from it? Stop the video at any spot and ask yourself a few questions. Like: (1) What was it like to be there at the time? (2) Was it exciting? (3) What would those people say to you if they could talk to you? 

I've got more. To do with a BIG horrible battle (called the Battle of the Somme), the Blitz in London in 1917, and more. Enough for now.




Monday, February 3, 2014

Some Useful Climate Change Websites for us to do research...

So, next week, February 12th we'll be presenting in the hall our knowledge about Climate Change. Working in one of four groups, you'll be an expert!!

Remember the four groups:

  1. What is Climate Change?
  2. What are the causes?
  3. What are the effects?
  4. What can we do about it?

Here's some websites to help us revise what we learned two weeks ago...


  1. From the USA comes NASA's info on climate change, presented for kids your age
  2. eschooltoday has lots of well-presented pages
  3. the bbc also has some good pages, but they're for older kids so just look for the most important bits (ignore most of the detail!)
  4. And this is a lovely-looking site featuring Tiki the Penguin

Most importantly, don't forget your great great notes in your Notes Copy from our afternoons learning all about Climate Change.

(Edit 4th Feb: For the group doing the "Effects" of Climate Change, have a look at today's news ...
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/ireland-facing-a-fortnight-flooding-due-to-atlantic-storm-factory-29976498.html ), especially where it says...
Some experts believe the melting polar ice in the Arctic as a result of global warming is fuelling the increased storms.
Peter O'Donnell from Irish Weather Online warned that many areas will be unable to take more heavy rainfall. "January was 70pc above normal for rainfall and about half a month's worth is likely to fall this week," he warned.
"This relentless heavy rainfall will be overtaxing the ability of smaller streams and urban drainage systems to cop. Eventually there will probably be some persistent flooding problems. These can be even worse near backed up tidal estuaries of rivers near the coastlines," he said. Residents coping with flooding in Limerick heckled Government ministers as they visited the scene of the storm damage in the city.


Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Raising the American Flag Today...

This morning was something really different, something that was also really good... Raising the flag of the United States in Scoil Talbot! Who would have thought! Of course we did it as a symbol of our huge heart-felt thanks to the company Xilinx, who have been so generous to the children of Talbot over the years.

And so here's a couple of links to stuff you might want to look at about America. Let me know if you find other really good sites for learning about America.

Enjoy!






Thursday, January 16, 2014

New Dance Moves For 6th Class 2014

Hi everyone,

So, good work on kidblog.org/mrs2014. Now it's time to use this site a bit too!

Here's a couple of the Dance Videos that we watched today. Enjoy!!


  1. My Favourite: The Lads in Oakland... such movements! Wow! I'd love to be able to do any. Can one of you teach me? :) 
  2. The Lads of Diversity in the Final of 2009 (Britain's Got Talent! [sure has!])... great FUN, and fun is so important when dancing.
  3. An extra one: the Best One To Practice To... this guy is a great teacher: give it a go at home: it's not just good oxygen going into your brain, it's... FUN! :) 

Friday, June 28, 2013

The Prayers You Prayed For Yourself and Others At Your Graduation Mass

This here is what you prayed today, and all the many caring adults (mostly your families) prayed today, in the Prayers of the Faithful at the Mass.

I’m putting them here so that you might sometime, maybe a few times, pray them again. 

Lord, this morning we’d like to say “Thank you!”  Thank you for loving us and taking care of us in school all these years and making sure we were safe. Lord, hear us.

Thank you for our parents and guardians who have given us so much love all these years. Lord, hear us.

Thank you for everyone who has helped us during our time at primary school, including all the teachers, all the SNAs, all the school staff, and all the volunteers. And a special thank you for Fr Joe, who confirmed us last month with the Holy Spirit, and for Fr Marino and Fr Brendan, who helped prepare us for Confirmation. Lord, hear us.
  

Lord, this morning we’d also like to ask you some asking prayers. Please bless us children now as we prepare to leave primary school and begin a new part of our life’s journey in secondary school. Help us make good choices in our lives. Lord, hear us.

Lord, please bless our parents and guardians for their loving care so far. Help them to ‘be there’ for us as teenagers. Lord, hear us.

Lord, please bless everyone at Talbot with health, peace, and happiness. Help them continue to work hard and work well for all the children. Lord, hear us.

  
Lord, we have grown to be a family, like brothers and sisters. Help us get better at loving others by putting other people’s needs ahead of our own wants. Lord, hear us.

Lord, we say sorry and ask your forgiveness for the bad things we have done. We wish we didn’t do them, and we’ll try to live better and better. Please help us live like Jesus, and not sin again. Lord, hear us.

And, Lord, we know you ask us to follow you and live like you. But we also know that it’s not easy to do that. So help us become stronger and stronger Christians by praying to you more and more. Help us always remember you are there for us. Lord, hear us.


Teacher: Lord, we pray for all these beautiful children, each a wonderful act of creation, as they leave us at Talbot and move forward in their lives. Help them on their mission to become great Christians. Help them give your love to everyone they meet. Help them support each other. Help them make good choices, choosing good friends, choosing the right paths, and staying away from all that is bad. Keep them close to you. Lord, hear us.

The Class Poem — with you in it, with many memories in it...



(I told Megan O'Meara I'd put this up. It won't be up forever, so if you want to cut and paste the text now is a good time.)


In the month of September
– I wonder if you remember? –
I was excited to say
you’re each intelligent in many-a-way.
And now it’s June
I’m singing the same tune…
Each of you’s different but each of you’s equal;
The game of life you’re winning,
because your potential you’re fulfilling.
No matter what say the rest,
you know God gave you a mission to be your best.
You learned to “remember the past with gratitude, live the present with enthusiasm, and look to the future with confidence” — to pray is the way.
You learned how to learn by aiming at a target;
What’s great is you stick-with-it til you say “Got it!”

So, just who have we got, in this class that’s so hot?

Well, we got Katie the dancer, so caring and sweet;
and Ian the boxer, so chatty and neat.

RTE’s horse-mad laughing Luke Farrell so happy-go-lucky;
and “Mrs Brown’s” entertaining Luke Corbally so honest and bubbly.

We got the multi-talented and well-named Blessing,
who leads by example and puts up with no messing.

We’ve caring Courtney so constantly cheerful — she’s a joy to be around.
And we’ve gentle Djena so constantly thoughtful — she’s totally sound.

We got ever-reliable, ever-friendly, Councillor Megan O’Meara
Always ready to ask: “How are ya?”
Hugely organised it seems she always has a plan;
And of course Ireland has no greater JLS fan.

And magnificent Morgan so impressively knowledgeable;
In history and maths is his enthusiasm unmatchable.

And we’ve generous Jamie, dependable and so helpful;
What a calm Councillor he is, apparently un-flusterable.

We’ve got the independent and imaginative Jessica,
who knows the value of being alert, ready to say… “Aha!”

And we’ve been graced by a hard-working gentleman, ever-admirable Emmanuel;
who, being so honest, could anything to anyone sell.

There’s big-hearted Adam always so laid-back and funny,
and thorough Tiernan, so richly-talented and usually on the money.

Relaxed Ryan’s passion is soccer, especially United;
When Sir Alex left, we mourned his loss of the boss.

Ever-improving in every-thing Nadean’s bright smiles got us through the dark winter;
Every day she steps closer to hitting her targets right in the centre.

And thank God for mellow Megan McGrath; so musically-gifted
when she plays to heaven you feel drifted.

And of course our ever-listening, ever-blossoming, terrific twins Nicole and Jade;
of this year in English and Maths great success they made.
I hope that one day, “I met Niall Horan!” they can say.

And we’ve elegant, easy-going, and jovial Leah;
who sometimes can’t wait til 2:40 so she can say, “See ya!”

And adaptable Ajibola our amazing friendly artist,
Who in improvements in reading wins the prize that is first.

Sakirat could win the X-Factor with her singing and dancing,
and personality so full of wonderful life a pop star could ask her to be his wife.

Quiet confident Kacper is in class so friendly,
but be warned: in team sports he turns deadly.

And who’s our favourite, deep-feelings poet?
Sure, it’s the wise and all-wonderful Agata, don’t you know it.

Many memories with time gradually fade away;
What matters more is to know that you had many a fine day.
But before time makes your Class memories history
Maybe record some details so they won’t be a mystery.
Here’s some other things I’ll keep
in my memory so deep:
  • Our ‘Faith Friends’ night
    when the first Pope Francis first stepped into our sight.
  • Your confirmation copies,
    so full of your Spirit, they surely God much did please.
  • Your progress in Maths and English
    so huge the news we must publish!
  • Friday afternoon’s Talbot’s-Got-Talent where week after week was repeated
    the powerful singing and acting to which we were all treated.

Each of you is creative, intelligent, and unique;
Collectively so noisy, you can’t hear me speak.
You get busy having the craic;
often so much, I’ve to go on the “shhh!” attack.

But when the chips are down and there’s work to be done,
You get in there and work, down to the very last one.
And now we’ve arrived at the end of the year;
You move on to secondary; I stay here.
I sincerely hope, as the years quickly pass,
You’ll remember the good times you shared in 6th Class.

Memories of Great People...