Podcasting! :)

On Friday we had two men come in to our class for half of the day. They are involved in podcasting. We had a workshop, a really good one at that, on how to create podcasts. It was soo much fun! A great start to the weekend.
They put us into groups of five or six girls. Three of the groups went off to a different classroom and the other two groups stayed in Mrs L's room.
We were told to pick a random topic that could be discussed or made into something like an ad. our group chose the topic of new Irish Takeaways being opened. We began our script with two radio show hosts talking about Irish takeaways. I played the role of one of these show hosts. We then had an AD prepared for a new Irish takeaway which was called "Paddy's Potatoes". We made the ad humorous as this is what generally catches people's attention.
when our script was written and we had it rehearsed, we had to go up to the computer that was set up and record it as a podcast. Our first recording was really good, so we didn't have to keep recording it! ooh yeah! Then we started making it sound really good by adding in background music to the ad and radio show hosts.
When everyone was finished making their podcast, we all got to listen to one anothers. They were all really different but really good.
The podcasting was a really good and worthwhile experience. We also learned that the word podcast comes from both ipod and broadcast.!

Niamh! :D

Back from our world trip.. So Soon!!! :)

Today, I presented my geography trip to my class along with Chloe and Ruth. Ruth gave a presentation on Jamaica, Chloe presented on Australia and I presented on Madagascar.
We were the first group out of the class to present our projects so we really didnt know what was to be expected of us!
So, we just went for it and we got through it smoothly enough! I feel that i presented my project reasonably well enough! I just hope Mrs L thinks so too.. (wink,wink!)
I thoroughly enjoyed completing this project and i feel I learned a lot about other countried from doing this project!
As well as being educational and enjoyable, the project was also a lot of fun, having to pretend that we actually went to these countries and that we had actually seen the things in the pictures that we were showing.

Niamh! :D

Hitting the dance floor! :D

On Wednesday we had another exciting double P.E class of dancing. Sharon came in to us and showed us another great dance routine for banging out on the dance floor! We danced to a few different songs. The dance routine best suited the beat of Usher-Dj got us falling in love again.
This was our second class double P.E class of dancing. We will have one more dancing class before we move onto three weeks of pilates.
The dancing is a really good, fun and enjoyable experience!

Niamh! :D

Get off the pitch!!! :L

On Tuesday, Aoife, Leah, Ruth, Lauren and myself headed down to the GAA club in Naas to take part in a refereeing course. There were others there aswell. They were from Naas, Maynooth, Cappagh, Johnstownbridge and a club in Dublin. We were really lucky to have been given the chance by the school to do this course. The cost was €15 per person, but our school covered these costs for us. Unfortunatley there was a misunderstanding in communications along the way, as myself and Leah were of the understanding that the course was going to cover any GAA sport. We weren't the only ones who thought this as there were six lads there too who were told the same thing. The course ended up being just for camogie. In the end it wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. For the most part of the day we spoke about referees in general and the characteristics that go along with referees. For the last forty minutes to an hour we discussed the rules of camogie.
I did benefit from listening to these rules as i didn't already know all of the rules of camogie.
Niamh! :D

Mini Company Workshop! :)

On Monday we went to Naas for our third mini company workshop. Usually our two mini company teachers, Mrs L and Ms E come with us. This time round, however, Mrs L our TY coordinator and Mrs E came with us. We were joined in the workshop by CBS in Naas. The workshop was mainly focused on how we relate to people in our businesses. We were shown two video clips about addressing people in the right and wrong ways. I feel that we will benefit a lot from these two videos in our Mini company competition.
Our mini company beauty tips  book/download is, in my opinion, piecing tether really well. All six of us are putting in the work that is needed. The positions in our group have also been finalised.
They are as follows:

C.E.O: Orlaigh
Finance: ME
Web design, marketing and advertising: Niamh Mc and Niamh C
Editing and product design: Karen
Communications: Oriana

Our product and website should be on their way and ready to be sold in the coming weeks!

Niamh! :D

Back to school! :)

Well Friday was my last day of work experience. I really didn't want to leave when half three came around on the clock.
The week was so enjoyable and I did learned quite a lot about pharmacy. When I was leaving the pharmacy, my supervisor gave me a lovely bottle of perfume and a make-up palette! I was thrilled with this. He also asked me for my contact details in case they are ever in need of help over Christmas. It was a great way to end the week.
Believe it or not, I'm really looking forward to returning to school. I did miss seeing everyone throughout the week. I especially missed having lunch time with everyone everyday!
The whole experience of the working world was really really worthwhile and a great opportunity for us at such a young age.
Talk soon, Niamh! :D

Closer to the end than I thought! :(

Four days have come and gone..still almost feels like I'm on my first though!!! ''Time flies by when you're having fun!'' :D
Today, once again, was really good fun, enjoyable and interesting. I learned a little bit more about pharmacy, I enjoyed learning about it and I had fun doing my jobs. The employees are extremely nice. I met a few new faces today because some of the employees job share.
Today for lunch I met up with Chloe. For some really strange and idiotic reason, instead of finding somewhere indoors to sit down and eat, we decided to buy our lunch in a shop and we sat down in the freezing cold and gale force winds eating our lunch!
Tomorrow is my last day of working in the pharmacy. I hope it goes just as well, if not better, than the past four days have gone for me.
I shall write again tomorrow to fill you in on the ''buzz'' from the last day!

Niamh! :D

Wednesday!.. Already?! :)

Oh my gosh! I cant believe that it is Wednesday already. Ive only got two more days left of my first work experience. The past three days have just flew by.
Today was, yet again, another really good, interesting day. I got down to work first thing this morning and I kept going until lunch time at one o 'clock. The pharmacy got a massive order in this morning of "over-the-counter" medicines. E.g, Nurofen, Gaviscon Benylin etc. I was given the job of counting up all of the orders and making sure that they matched the quantities on the invoice. When that was done, the medicines had to be put onto the computer. They then had to be priced, using the price gun. When they were all priced I had to put them out on the shelves or else store them in the storage room.
It may sound like a pretty uninteresting and boring job but I certainly found it to be good fun. Before I knew it, it was time for me to go for my lunch.
When I came back after lunch, I continued with this job and soon enough my work for the day had been complete.
Tomorrow, I am going to be setting up a display on the front window for cold and flu remedies like lemsip and strepsils. I also have to design a poster for the shop which will have the details of their Christmas raffle on it.
Talk again soon, Niamh! :D

Tuesday..a boring day?! :-/

Tuesday, probably the most boring of days! The day after Monday, day before Wednesday which feels forever AND a day away. Well that wasnt the case for me today, however!!!
I had another interesting, fun and exciting day working in the chemist. I did quite similar jobs to yesterday but I didnt mind because I loved it. I did spend a bit more time working on prescriptions today than I did yesterday.
For lunch I toddled in next door and got myself a lovely, warm bowl of homemade veggie soup from Halo Cafe along with two slices of freshly cut brownbread. That filled me up for the rest of the afternoon so when I went back to the pharmacy after lunch I was all set for more jobs.
The afternoon was quiet enough, which gave me extra time to find out a little bit more about pharmacy and different drugs etc.

Niamh! :D

The working world! First experience! :)

Well what can I say, only, I cannot wait to get a job!
I walked into Walsh's pharmacy this morning at half nine on the dot, with a big smile plastered across my face as I walked up to the counter to introduce myself to the staff members. You know what they say, first impressions are lasting impressions! My supervisor is a really pleasant man and the four other employees are helpful and friendly too.
I got cracking on a task straight away. My first job was to "spring clean" the shelves that had all of the health supplements stocked on them. I know what you're probably thinking, cleaning and re-stocking shelves?! Hate that! But you're soo wrong! It was really good fun. I got to use the really tall step ladder and I learned a little about health and the different supplements for different parts of the body as I scanned through all of the boxes. I also learned the valuable lesson of "the lazy man's load!" At times, I tried to pretend that I had bigger hands than I really do, so I took more boxes than my hands could cater for and a few of the boxes took flying trips here, there and everywhere! I'm putting it all down to the learning process though!
Throughout the morning, I was assigned other small jobs so that I could get a taste of everything "for the first time"
My lunch break was from one o'clock to two o'clock. For that hour I went home to grab a bite to eat.
When I got back at two, my supervisor assigned me more small jobs to do like check the afternoon stock, order the receipts numerically and sort out some prescriptions (under the supervision of the pharmacist of course!)
Even though, I was floating around the place, doing small things throughout the day, I still really enjoyed myself.
As the saying goes, "it's the small things in life that count!"
Here's hoping that tomorrow will be as successful, if not even more! ;)

Niamh! :D

History- Local history project

We have been assigned a project on local history. This project will be graded, which will then be used for the result on our Christmas reports. We have been asked to choose a town which is associated with history and has historical significance. We have the option of choosing our own town, Celbridge, or else a town in which we have relatives or from which our parents are from.
I am going to research either Celbridge or Foxford, a town in the County of Mayo. My mam comes from this town. I have books on the history for both of these towns which makes the decision all the harder for me but the researching all the easier for me! It would be nice to really understand the origin of your own local town but it would also be interesting to learn about the origin of the town from which a lot of my relatives are from.
Either way, I feel this will be an enjoyable project because I like local history and learning about how things were in Ireland in the past.

Young Scientists!

On Tuesday afternoon we were informed that our project unfortunately was not accepted into the young Scientists exhibtion for 2011. The judges felt that our project wasnt original so they decided to leave it out, seeing as it had been done before. There was only one project in our school that made it through to the exhibition in the RDS which will be on in January. This project is based on the different quantities of anti-oxidants there are in different substances. I feel the girls who are doing this project will do really well with it.
Even though our project didnt make it through to the exhibition in the RDS, we will still get the chance to complete it and put it on display at the end of the year for all of the students in the school.

Double Dancing!!!

On Wednesday, we began our first dancing session for double P.E. A girl from outside the school came in to teach us how to move with the groove! Her name is Sharon. She is a really friendly and out going person. She is amazing at dance herself. We began with a simple warm up routine. When we were feeling the heat, Sharon began to get down with the hot and heavy moves. Some of the moves were simple enough, others were not so simple and it took some of us a while to catch on! We danced to quite a few different songs, like, Flo-Rida Club can't handle me, Taio Cruz Dynamite and Rhianna Only girl.
We will have dancing for our double P.E on a Wednesday for the next two weeks.
Overall I found the session to be very good and a lot of fun. We plan to dance the night away for T.Y night in May with some of the moves we are learning!

Niamh :D

Halloween Dress Up Day! :P

On Friday the 22nd of October, we had a dress up day in school. Our theme was obviously the halloween theme. The halloween theme was then further broken down into three other themes. First, second and third years were to dress up as something that you would find in a haunted house. T.Y and fifth years were given the theme of scary movies. Sixth years dressed up as the theme of Harry Potter.
A lot of the T.Y's made a great effort to dress up. Orlaigh Kennard and Ciara Mitchell represented class Amina in the parade at lunch time.
The day was really good fun and was a great end to the first half of the first term this year.

Class Amina!!! :)

Aaaaahhhhh!!! :L



Creeepy!!! :O