Monthly Archives: November 2008

Hello? Hello! We’re Skyping Tasmania!

Blogging is one way of connecting with people–Skype is another!

Through the student blogging competition we’ve connected with Miss Wyatt in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. Many of us have read and commented on her grade 6/7 class blogs. On Thursday at 2 pm our time we will meet up via Skype for a face-to-face chat. It will be 9 am Friday for them.

We know we have a lot in common, but we also know that there is a lot that we think we know, but we don’t know, you know?

So to prepare for our conversation, please think about…

  • what we should know ahead of time about Australia and Tasmania so we don’t sound foolish
  • what questions we can ask to learn more about life in their community
  • blogging questions for these experienced bloggers and their teacher
  • what we can show that would give a good picture about who we are and how we live
  • anything else we should do or say that would help us understand each other better

Share your thoughts in a comment below!

And if you want to read more by Miss Wyatt’s students, go to her sidebar and look for them under 2008 Students.

Photo credit Tassie Flag by ozjimbob

Our Elections Were Free and Fair

Have you ever had a class election?

Our class has. Different people had different roles in our election. There were five people running for three seats. Another role was campaign manager who helped with promoting the person running. Different parties put up signs all around the classroom and one party even had a video to present.

When it came down to voting day more roles were added to keep the election fair. One of them was the Returning Officer whose job was to keep the voters’ privacy. For example if someone was looking at someone else’s ballot the Returning Officer would escort them out of the polling station.

Another important role was the Poll Clerk. His job was to make sure people only voted once. For example once the Returning officer handed the voter his ballot the Poll Clerk would make him sign on the voters list then he would cross out his name. When the voter returned to put his ballot in the box the Poll Clerk would sign his name on the voters list to show that the voter had submitted his vote.

Many people tried to disturb the privacy of the voters but it was dealt with.

Someone tried to put up political advertising at the polling station, but he was stopped by the Returning Officer because you can’t influence the voters.

Someone tried to spy into the voting booth, but the Returning Officer put a stop to that, too!

An unregistered voter (Mr. Green, our principal) tried to vote but was not allowed to. He was not between the age of 9 and 13 and was not a resident of Huzzahnia!

One voter tried to vote in another person’s place but the impostor was taken away!

One candidate threatened a voter to get his vote, but the Returning Officer called the police and he was taken away.

All in all it was a superb election and everyone had fun!

Huzzahnia’s Class Council Election!

Guest Post

By a Division 16 student… the Returning Officer

Friday, Nov. 14 was an important date for Huzzahnia.  We held an election for our classes new council.  During the “All Candidates Meeting”, candidates delivered their speeches persuading people for their vote.  Here is an interview with one of the five candidates who’s nick-name is “Turtle Eating Crumpet”

R.O.: What was it like running for class council?

T.E.C.: I think it was a great experience, and it was fun to stand up and make people laugh in my speech. The monkey suit was the BEST!

R.O.: What will you try to change in Huzzahnia?

T.E.C.: My council and I are planning a party soon, but we’re not sure of what to do (yet).

R.O.: Do you believe that the thoughts of the residents here in Huzzahnia are important?

T.E.C.: Yes I do, and that’s why I ran! I believe that a council works by thoughts of other people, and that helps them to decide what they have to do in order to NOT BE BORED WITH THEIR JOB (Oh, so far I’m not…)!!

R.O.: Did you enjoy working with the other candidates during the election and afterwards?

T.E.C.: There were times where I felt like I couldn’t do anything more than what the other candidates had done, but I enjoyed it all the same. Although I did have a great time with my team and our election was fair. We were all nice to each other, and we weren’t allowed to do anything negative. I wouldn’t have anyways, though.

R.O.: Thank you for contributing to our needs and wants through out the election and for months to come.

During the election, I as the returning officer faced many challenges from unregistered voters to pencil bandits. Residents would come up one by one to get a ballot and proceed to the voting booth after signing the voters list. After all the votes were in, Hayden and Ms. Smith counted the votes and our new class council was announced!

It was an exciting day for one and all, especially the new class council! Thank you to all the candidates, and well done! Congratulations to our new council!

Is there an election where you live? Have you ever been envolved in an election? Please comment!

Our Classroom: A Democratic Dictatorial Monarchy?

As Queen of the Universe and Supreme Ruler of Huzzahnia,

I declare that I will occasionally provide opportunities for direct democracy, through secret ballot or show of hands, and I may also grant some decision-making power to the directly elected class council. But it depends on how I am feeling.

This is my official Toadstich which grants me amazing powers, most notably, hp 500, which comes in very handy.  My royal sword is a great comfort to me.

This is my Mythl: please note my Queenly Power. It helps me keep my head while all about me others are losing theirs.

These wonderful playing cards are the creation of Daniel and Kris. They developed the concept for these cards back in grade 3 and are reviving it now. I am thrilled, and look forward to reading their blog post on the topic soon.

Remembrance Day Assembly

Guest post by Brittany

On November 10th, 2008 there was an assembly at our school.

It was the day before Remembrance Day and all the classes in the school headed to the gym. As all the classes were going to the assembly, students were fixing their poppies. If you don’t know what a poppy is, it’s a type of flower to remind us about all the soldiers killed in WW1 and WW2, and other wars too.

The assembly talked about the wars and soldiers, and why the soldiers died then to make peace today. Also in the assembly students sang a song about Flanders Fields, and we shared our Hands Up for Peace images. There were two videos made from our teacher. Here is one of the videos from the assembly.


(Note from Ms Smith: This is not the same video we shared at the assembly; a few of the images are cropped, but I think the students’ messages come through.)