Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson, people have very different views of him. Some people think he is the "King of Pop" others think he's really stupid and messed up. I personally don't have much of an opinion of him, some of his songs are fun, but I have to admit he is a bit weird. Really, who else has changed their whole skin colour? People can say a lot of bad things about him, but at the end of it all almost every knows that he was actually a great singer and performer.

Have you noticed that he became even more popular after he died? Why is that? It's happened before, think of Mozart and musicians like him, their music was hated until after they died. When he was alive he was definetly popular, but after he died it's hard to go a day without someone talking about him or hearing one of his songs! Michael Jackson even made an album to only be released once he died. For a long time after he died he was all over the news, radio and internet. But I think that people really don't understand that he was a person like you and me. He had siblings, parents, a wife and kids! They all would have been very upset when he died. People just think of Michael Jackson as a stupid singer that maybe made some bad choices, or choices that we don't agree with.

I think that his death was very public. I kind of wonder what his family felt like. Imagine if your brother was very famous and maybe a bit weird, then suddenly died and everyone was talking about it. Also wherever you went there would be cameras and people asking you about his death. After someone dies you don't really want to talk about it or even think about it, but if it was someone famous you're kind of forced to.

Michael Jackson was a great musician and performer, but we need to think of him more as a person than some entertaining thing. It was awful when he died, but I think that it isn't right that he's more popular when he's dead.

-Fiona XOX

RIP Michael Jackson

The Holocaust

"The Holocaust was one of the worst things in our

history", "The Holocaust is very much alive.

The wounds are still there. The scars are still there.

The influence is still there." Those are some

quotes about what people thought about the Holocaust.

A few days ago a holocaust surviver, Eva Olsson, came to speak to my school about the horrors of the holocaust. She was a very great speaker and gave me a better idea about how life would have been like if I was like her. Her speech was very moving and touching, I couldn't believe what awful things people would do to each other.

Some things that impacted me the most were how she lost all of her family, they took her younger cousin away from her and she got separated from her mother and father. She told us how mothers who were holding children would have a shot through them both to save a bullet. I can't imagine how hard that would've been. Other mothers were forced to watch their children suffer and slowly die. I can't believe that people would do things like that!

I will always remember how many people were killed for the smallest differences! Hitler hated a certain religion and decided just to kill them off. That is very wrong, and is such an awful thing to happen! I don't think anyone will ever be able to forget what happened because of hate.

I really wish I knew what was going through Hitler's mind at the times when he thought about killing people and while he was doing it, did he ever feel bad about what he had done or did he think it was right? I would also like to know what the people were thinking who were being killed, or watching their family and friends die, it must have been awful. I would like to know how people stayed strong through the whole time. If I was in their situation I would've completely broke down, which they must have, but I have no idea how I would get through it.

The lessons Eva was really trying to teach us was not to hate ever. You shouldn't hate anyone or anything, not a certain religion, or a person originating from one place, or some place not the same as you. All of that killing was because they hated them and decided to eliminate them. People can easily put those instructions into use everyday, I mean everyday you hear people saying: "I hate math!" or even "Wow, I really hate Joshua!" Eva was encouraging people to say: "I don't like math" instead of using the word "hate". So in every day life don't hate anything, you can strongly dislike it, but not hate.

So in conclusion, don't hate things, the holocaust and all of those deaths was caused by hate. The holocaust was a very awful time and we can't let it happen again.

-Fiona XOX

Teamwork

Last week my school went to a team building thing to help our class work better as a team. We did things like a inuit blanket toss where someone sits in the middle and the rest of the class pulls the edges, launching the person in the middle into the air. It was a lot of fun, but kind of scary because you had to trust the whole group to catch you again when you come down. We also did "Mission Impossible" where the group moved one person around using ropes and they were suspended in the air.

Teamwork is very important, I don't think we could get by without it. Think about it, how many times have you asked someone for help? Or maybe played a sport, all sports use teamwork. Lots of things you can't do just by yourself, you need help. Most people use teamwork everyday, I know I do. Teamwork can be something simple, like getting help on a math question, but it can also be something big, like a championship soccer match. We all need teamwork.

I think that on that team building day for my school our team listened to each other well, especially on "Mission Impossible" during that we each saw things differently and maybe one person knew when or how hard to pul on the rope and the other person had no clue. We helped each other and shared our ideas. Sometimes our team did have a bit of trouble going out of our comfort zone, I know I did. Some people had no problem at all with some of the things we did, but others were a bit scared. We could've trusted each other more.

That day helped me learn about being a leader and team member by giving me a chance to be those things. Sometimes I had an idea and I shared it with the team. Other times though I didn't no what to do at all, and the team came up with an idea. So I learned how to listen to other people ideas, but also to express my own.

So I think that teamwork is very important and that everyone does use it at some point. Lots of people can get better at teamwork though, and that's part of why this day really helped.

-Fiona XOX

Little Things

Have you ever noticed how little kids and babies can have fun with anything? Toddlers love seeing anything new, even the most common thing like a leaf or the TV remote they can play with and have fun with. As you get older you lose that. Most things only have one purpose, the TV remote is to turn on the TV, not a magical wand. A bed is for sleeping, not playing on. A bunch of pillows and blankets are for bedding, not for a fortress. When you're younger everything is amazing, yet anything bad can easily be fixed. For example if you cut your knee, your mom would just kiss it and make it better.

When you get older you also expect more of everything. When you have a small problem with your computer, or a thread on your shirt is loose it's a very big deal and must be fixed immediately. When you're a toddler a pencil is amazing, how it can write and leave marks. If something goes wrong for them they might cry a bit but then they get over it quickly and do something else!

Everything amazes a young child from a bug to a tap on the sink. I think we could learn something from them and be less harsh about things that don't work but focus on small, amazing things that work perfectly. If you have a little brother, sister or cousin play with them or take them on a walk. See what they like and try to notice the small things like they do. It will be truly amazing...

-Fiona XOX

Quote

"Be great in act as you have been in thought" William Shakespeare

I think this quote means that people think of doing great things, but never really do them. Like you could think: "I'm going to help out at the food bank this weekend," but you never really do it. It maybe a small thing like: "I'm going to help my mom clean up tonight," or "I'll take care of my little brother so my parents can concentrate." We've all done it, thought of doing something nice or good, but somehow never got around to it or forgot.

I'm sure you can think of a time you did that. Just the other day I said that I'd clean my room and study for an upcoming test, but instead I ended up talking to my friends and going shopping, something that I like doing, but I could be using my time better. Than that night I realized I hadn't cleaned my room or studied, instead I just went out and had fun. Those things do have consequences though, since I didn't study I won't get a very good mark and since I didn't clean my room I'll get in trouble with my parents.

Next time you say you'll do something, whether it's a big thing or just a small thing, make sure you follow through with it.

- Fiona XOX

Poverty

So in class we have been reading about poverty. I think that poverty really shouldn't be happening, we could fix it! Lots of people don't even realize that poverty isn't just in places like Africa. Poverty is probably in your own neighbourhood, but mainly in big cities. It's true that poverty is at it's worst it places like Africa or Iraq, but it's still there. I was surprised to see that every year a child dies before their fifth birthday. Also, in the USA 17% of children live in poverty.

In class we also read these stories about teenagers that went to Kenya, Africa and Sierra Leone. A girl named Kamara, who lives in Sierra Leone talks about how her family lived in hiding, living in a bush. They saw awful things wherever they went. What if you and your family lived like that? Without your house, clean water, good food, a bed. I definitely don't know what I would be like if I lived like that, it would be such a hard life. They can't even get away from it! That's how they live, everyday, every night. We also read a story about a boy named Jason, when he was 12 he visited Kenya as a volunteer. While he was there he met two young girls who lived there in poverty, yet seemed happy. Of course they both spoke different languages, so it wouldn't have been easy to communicate. Jason tried talking to them by yelling: "Hi!" at them, but instead the girls got scared and hid. Then Jason went over to get some water, which they don't normally have, but they had because there were many visitors. The girls were overjoyed when they saw that there was clean water. Clean water is a normal thing for us, if we want water we just go into the kitchen, grab a cup and fill it up with water. There we go, but for them if they want water they have to take a big barrel and go down to a river or lake. Even from the river where they get their water it still isn't clean. Think about it, animals drink and swim in there. Imagine having to drink from there, having to do all that and drink from a dirty lake. Most of us have never done that or will have to do that in our life. For those kids it's what they do everyday.

We also read a story about a girl named Charlotte who helped work in a school in Africa. There was a young boy who seemed even less privileged than the others. His name was Benet, he was very short and skinny. One day he was so sick that he was coughing up blood. Charlotte took him out of the classroom and talked to him. He didn't seem to want the attention, he was probably used to being ignored. Benet had pulled out a bottle of water and boasted it was from the ocean, Charlotte compared it to her own water bottle, which also had water in it, the two looked very different. Benet's was more brown or green and Charlotte's was clear. Benet thought she was drinking some sort of pop, like Sprite or 7 Up. His water was from the Maasai ocean, where animals drank, went to the washroom, where people bathed, washed clothes and yet they also drank from there. I can't even imagine drinking from there, but to him it was what he always drank from.

After reading these I realized how lucky I am, to not have to drink gross water or hide in a bush, seeing dead bodies around my street. I live in a home, drink clean water, have good food and go to a great school. These children have never had any of that. I can't imagine living like that, can you?

-Fiona XOX

Hey!

Okay, start of the blog thing! :) Hmm.... now let's figure out how to work this! Sweet, different colours! Arial, Courier, Georgia, Lucida Grande, Times, Trebuchet, Verdana, Webdings! Ok, so that was my tester blog!!!