Kangaroos and Much More to Come

Posted on September 19, 2011 by admin

My first 6 days in Australia have been a completely different experience than anything I could have expected. Upon arriving here in Melbourne, Australia, after a full 24 hours of traveling, I’ve been flooded with a new lifestyle that cannot be replicated anywhere in North America, let alone Montreal!

My first night here was when I saw my first kangaroo. We were driving in the car around the countryside area of Melbourne when within 5 minutes we saw a whole group of kangaroos. There were at least 20 of them, and I was able to take some great photos, but seeing them jump around on the field was amazing.

Since the day after I arrived here, I’ve been attending Ivanhoe Grammar School‘s Plenty Campus, one of two campuses that are run by the school. Here, I’ve taken classes similar to those at LCC but the atmosphere is completely different. The school has multiple small buildings around a central courtyard where all the lockers are. It’s very different than LCC’s campus which can all be accessed indoors. The people at Ivanhoe, and also everywhere else I go, are very nice which adds to the amazing feel of Australia.

The weather has been great, but because it’s spring here, the nights are cold. Today, however, is the hottest day since last summer, reaching almost 30 degrees!

In my first six days, I already feel like I’ve experienced enough to last the next five weeks, but I know that there is much more to come. In a week, Ivanhoe takes a two week spring break and I plan on going camping with the wonderful family that I’m staying with. I’ll also explore the city of Melbourne and maybe go to the beach once or twice in those two weeks.

I’m very excited for what Australia has to offer and hope to see and experience as much as I can over the rest of my exchange period. I’d like to thank Ms. Shadley and everyone at Round Square and Ivanhoe for making this exchange happen!—Jeffrey Morris ’13

Duke of Ed Bronze Trip: New Friends, New Skills and Teamwork

Posted on September 15, 2011 by admin

This year, the grade 9 class had the opportunity to participate in an incredible experience trip that introduced us to the Duke of Edinburgh program (view photo gallery). Not only did we learn useful outdoor skills, the trip also afforded us the opportunity to bond with the 20 new students we welcomed to the class of 2014 at the start of this year.

The moment I heard that this year’s trip was taking place in Notre-Dâme de la Rouge, I knew it would be amazing. This town has already had a great impact on my life: my late uncle was the mayor of Grenville Sur la Rouge for many years.

Canoeing, tenting, hiking and skill management are all examples of the many activities included in this excursion. Grouped into pairs of houses, we had the chance to interact with new classmates and some “old ones” whom we did not know so well. Each activity consisted of a new skill, more concentration and teamwork. The canoeing activity clearly brought out the best of each advisory’s team spirit and leadership. The risk management brought out the best of our fear and concentration, and paid off with a new accomplishment. The hiking led to intense conversation and new friendships. Culminating by some astonishing waterfalls, the hike was one of the best activities of all. Last but not least, the team challenges activity helped us build new aptitudes and further developed collaboration between advisees as well as our interpersonal team skills.

Some of us were given the opportunity to sleep in tents on a separate island close by. This involved canoeing with our necessities, assembling and disassembling our tents and enjoying hotdogs and marshmallows by the bonfire.

Overall, this year’s experience trip was unforgettable. Thank you LCC for giving us the chance to dive headfirst into a new school year. —Victoria Van Ryswyk ’14

The Wonder of the Brain

Posted on September 9, 2011 by admin

Today I learned something that really surprised me. I learned about brain development in Executive Functioning. We heard about the University of London and the amazing discoveries they made when they did an extensive study on memory.

The scientists at the University of London were interested in how the brain changes or expands when it needs to hold a lot of knowledge. They decided to study London taxi drivers. In London, taxi drovers have to pass an extremely hard test called “The Knowledge.” This test takes about 2.5 years to study for, and cabbies generally make about twelve attempts at the test before they pass. It takes a really long time to become a taxi driver in London because it is a very complicated city with many roads and streets. The scientists that studied these drivers believe that an area of the brain called the hippocampus is what helps the taxi drivers pass “The Knowledge.” They know that the brain is composed of billions of minuscule nerve cells called neurons. These tiny cells are linked by branches connecting them to each other. The scientists discovered that mastering “The Knowledge” had a substantial effect on the brain making the hippocampus larger. This means that humans can change their brains and become more intelligent if they work hard!

That study proved that anyone can be smart if they keep trying, persevere and do their best. It means that no one’s intelligence is fixed because it has been scientifically proven that human brains can transform or grow!–Grade 7 Student

Grade 7: Discovering Ourselves as Students

Posted on September 8, 2011 by admin

After today’s session, I have learned many things that surprised me the most about myself. In class, we took an opinion survey in our Executive Functioning packet that focused on things to do with school and being a student. There were many points to rate ourselves on. For example, a couple of the issues were, ‘I like school work best when it makes me think hard’ or ‘I like school work best when I can do it perfectly without any mistakes.’ We were to give ourselves a score from one to six on how well the question described you. Then we added up the points according to what number score we gave ourselves and matched the result answer with the range the profile number falls into. We then read the section that applies to the result to see if the sentences matched the way we think and feel about our school work. The sentences that I read applied to me as a student but I did find out that I may have had a tendency to care more about my marks then the actual learning. Now I appreciate that learning for the sake of learning should be valued more. I have also realized that although some of my past marks weren’t as high as I would have liked, the more I enhance my intelligence by making mistakes and can still have fun while I’m learning! –Grade 7 Student

Grade 7s Ponder Growth and Fixed Mindsets

Posted on September 8, 2011 by admin

In class today, we learned about what it meant to work harder, and how to achieve better marks. Lots of people think they know the answer to this question, but it turns out that they really don’t! We learned that to “work harder” really meant to change your method of learning; not just to look over your work over and over again or to do it longer, but to use a different tactic or strategy of learning. Knowing HOW to work harder will really help me in my school work.

Another method of learning we learned in class today is to use the right tools. For example: if you hire a handyman for your house, but he brings no nails, drill, or hammer, how does he work on your house? The same goes for learning. If you always use the right tools to learn, you will succeed.

The last discussion in class today was about growth mindsets and fixed mindsets. People with growth mindsets tend to succeed more, by embracing challenges instead of avoiding them unlike people with fixed mindsets. They do not give up as easily as people with fixed mindsets, are very persistent, are not afraid to try, learn from mistakes, and do not think that if someone succeeds that they will not succeed or feel threatened by them. Clearly, what I have learned today will change the way I complete my schoolwork in grade 7. –Grade 7 Student