I discovered something really cool. Well, it isn't really a discovery, though... Oh well, let's just call it a "discovery".

Anyways, I was thinking about it in art class. It takes more than a penny to make a penny, and yet a penny worths a penny!

It doesn't make sense! I guess nothing in life makes any sense...


I told you it was a great discovery, maybe even greater than Christopher Columbus's!


That was totally random!!

Ms. Annelies Groen

Here is what I've written about Ms. Groen for my English assignment. In fact, I received a pleasant and acceptable grade of 95% given out by Mr. Parkes (if you want to learn about him, please visit the previous blog posted on October 6, 2006.:-).


Ms. Groen is currently a design and technology teacher at Deer Park who has an exceptional teaching style, serious environmental concerns and fascinating hobbies. The most unique quality that leads Ms Groen to her successful teacher career is creativity. She puts a tremendous amount of effort into designing interesting assignments such as the construction of a “straw” tower, the production of a “mousetrap” car, and the making of a wooden squirrel. She captures student’s interests by using hilarious jokes and modern machineries such as the scroll saw and drill press. In addition, Ms. Groen often organizes friendly contests to motivate and encourage students to be creative, critical thinking and hardworking. Moreover, she realizes the importance of after-school tutoring, and always makes herself accessible to students. It is not hard to find her pointing to the vivid but eccentric diagrams and explaining the detailed steps in a clear and logical way, or helping girls with the frightening scroll saw in the lab. She is, beyond doubt, a brilliant educator.

Ms. Groen is deeply concerned about the environment. The three “R’s” are always her top priorities. She reinforces the importance of environmental protection and explains how benefits could be achieved by consistently following the three “R’s” principles. When assigning a specific project, she habitually adds details about the potential negative impact on the environment to let the students realize numerous environmental issues, such as acid rain and global warming. She demonstrates how to be environmentally friendly by using good-on-one-side papers instead of clean, white ones for rough work, and turning off lights immediately before leaving Room 109. In order to improve the air quality and promote energy conservation and efficiency, Ms. Groen bikes to school every day in the summer takes the subway during wintertime. Moreover, she has been committed to being a vegetarian for a long time as she believes that animals are human being's friends and killing them for food is cruel and immoral. She is a very responsible and consistent environmentalist.

Finally, Ms. Groen has a number of fascinating hobbies, of which woodworking is the most unique one. It appealed to her at an early age because her father had done it quite often. She was lucky enough to have access to all those working tools and became an expert woodworker during her adolescence. Unfortunately, she is not a very talented guitarist. She had difficulties in achieving decent grades during guitar playing tests in high school, and was cut from folk groups and bands every year she signed up. Although Ms. Groen has kept strumming and picking for over thirty years, she is still unable to play well. Reading a wide variety of books is also very enjoyable for her. She can read exceedingly fast and summarize key points accurately. Thus, while Ms. Groen may be an expert woodworker and a fast reader, she is not a very gifted guitarist.

Here are some bits of information I know about Ms. Groen:

• Dutch
• has five siblings, she is the oldest
• about 38 years old
• has a sister who is a teacher as well, but she teaches in Vancouver, or somwhere in BC

Sorry, but I don't really know much about her. Not as much as Mr. Parkes. It is kind of weird, for Ms. Groen taught me for two whole years and Mr. Parkes only taught me for less than a month. Maybe it is because of the chattiness between these two teachers. Quite frankly, I like Mr. Parkes a bit better than Ms. Groen, though I consider both of them my all-time favourite teachers. I like Mr. Parkes on account of his humour, bizarre hobbies and teaching techniques. I like Ms. Groen only because she is nice.

P.S. Some of the information in my piece of writing (in italics) may not be accurate, for it was merely a school assignment. (e.g. from what I've known, Ms. Groen once actually played in a folk group:)

Mr. Jamie Parkes

"I hate it when I hear people say that it's okay if you lose,

as long as you've had fun doing it. It is NOT okay, because there

is nothing more fun than winning."---Jamie Parkes

Mr. Parkes is my English and History/Geography teacher. Sounds like an ordinary, grumpy, old man who yells at his students all the time, doesn't he? Well it is actually the exact opposite. Interested? If yes, keep reading, if not, you should definitely KEEP READING!

Background: All right, starting with his childhood, which I don't really know about, due to his dearth of explanation to the class. He was born in Great Britain, around 1976. At a young age, his whole family moved to Toronto, Ontario. According to him, he grew up in the roughest community of Toronto, where kids went to school with knives, guns and other frightening weapons! It is a real mystery how Mr. Parkes lived through all that crap. Despite all the violent events which occurred frequently in his community, he did not get all upset and frustrated like I would have, in fact, he managed to achieve excellent grades at school. And that's not it, Mr. Parkes had won the Canadian Mathematics Award and an award (I forgot the name of it) for a persuasive (or is it debate?) piece of writing about the disadvantages of death penalties, which was recognized and accepted by the Canadian government! Wow!

Hobbies: Now, you may perhaps start to think that Mr. Parkes is a brainy nerd. He is brainy, but not a nerd! Not for a man like him! For one thing, nerds wear huge, round glasses, and Mr. Parkes has contacts instead. He also has a good number of hobbies that most un-nerdy people wouldn't have. The most well known one would have to be his addiction to "Star Wars". He is so obsessed with Star Wars that his "force", which he is unable to use but thinks he can, wears out after a period of time in which he did not watch one of the movies. The doors at Sobeys, a local store, would not open for him after a Star Wars drought*.

Mr. Parkes also enjoys traveling around the world. This summer he took a trip around Europe. He has also been to the Dominican Republic, Newfoundland, and the United States. Yet, despite his numerous vacations, Mr. Parkes has a fear of flying. He is so afraid of his plane crashing that he must take sleeping pills before boarding. Fortunately, he gave us an explanation of his eccentric quirks, which turned out to be a thrilling adventure:

Mr. Parkes was riding on an airplane with his friend Chris, going to Dominican Republic. All of sudden, the plane began to shake violently and nonstoppingly. Passengers who did not fasten their seatbelts went right up to the ceiling (glad Mr. Parkes was smart enough not to be one of them)! Every one was baffled, astounded and of course, horrified. The stewardesses acted like morons. They did not even make one single attempt to calm the passengers down, even though they were probably going to crash in less than ten seconds, some even started to sob like infants. Mr. Parkes, who had always considered himself "Darth Vader", a courageous character in "Star Wars", was as aghast as the idiotic stewardess. Unable to contain himself, he shrieked: "Chris, we're gonna DIE!!!", which made the situation even worse. God bless 'em all, the plane finally stopped shaking, and safety landed upon their heads. Mr. Parkes and the rest of the passengers were informed after landing that the shaking was caused by entering a certain zone that changed the air pressure. Since then, whenever Mr. Parkes has to ride a plane, he would always trace his memory back to this terrifying ride and imagine all the horrible, but innovative (in a way) things that might happen to the plane.

Besides that, Mr. Parkes is addicted to a movie series called Rocky. He keeps a poster of Rocky VI in his classroom, and even referred to it when our class was discussing the Russian history while doing a novel study on "Animal Farm". In fact, he was so in love with it that he let our class watch Rocky IV and V the whole week before Christmas Break! It was this that made me an official Rocky Fan too! I decorated my binder and room with Rocky pictures just like how Mr. Parkes put up the Rocky poster in his room. Then, I wanted to rewatch the Rocky movies so I borrowed them from him and he never refused! By now, he knows that I am addicted to Rocky and kept reminding me that Rocky VI is going to come out on March 20th over and over again. He can be annoying sometimes...

Marriage: Unlike Mr. Parkes's second favourite character in Star Wars, Anakin Skywalker who has a wife (named Padme) and loves her tremendously, he (Mr. Parkes) would not marry for anything. He hates to have a wife because they would tell him what to do. He would not be able to have any fun, such as playing basketball, football, soccer, badminton, hockey or raising his kitten. His email adress is Parkes_4_life.

Around September 2006, when I asked Mr. Parkes whether he had a girlfriend, he completely denied it by declaring that he hated girls. However, on Tuesday October 4, 2006, when he went to a James Blunt concert, my friend spotted him dating a girl his age. The next day, when half of the class demanded for an explanation, he claimed that the girl with him last night was his sister who, according to him, lives in Ireland. I knew Mr. Parkes had a girlfriend, he's just too much of a suck-up to admit it because he wants to be cool. He may hate girls, but he does LOVE women.

Invention: Mr. Parkes one day came up with this brilliant idea about how to bath cats in the toilet: (original copy)

It is quite easy to bath your cat in a toilet. First, you must thoroughly clean the toilet. To do this you must find an old rag in one of your cupboards. Then take out some Mr. Clean and soak your rag in it. Next, use the rag to scrub around the inside of your toilet bowl. Make sure to put a lot of pressure on your rag as you scrub. It is only through the use of "elbow grease" that the dirt can be removed from your toilet. Once your toilet is clean, you can add the appropriate amount of shampoo to the bowl. A capful is all that is required. Third, obtain your cat and soothe him while you carry him towards the bathroom. Fourth, in one smooth movement, put the cat in the toilet and close both lids. When this step is completed. flush the toilet three or four times. Finally, stand back and open the lid. Your cat should jump out of the bowl in a fit of terror. Once it dries itself off, you will notice that it is perfectly clean!

Stagefright: Although Mr. Parkes stressed that he was unafraid of anything several times, he has stagefright. He just simply gets frightened and nervous when speaking to the loud, vibrating microphone because his voice would sound different. He said that it was also because of his horrible experience in Grade 9. Mr. Parkes was elected the president of Student Council in Grade 9, and whenever he had to make speeches, his older brother and friends would always sit at the front and yell: "Bonerack (Mr. Parkes's nickname, which he got from being very bony and thin), you're an idiot!"

When he was leaving Hodgson and begin his new career at Deer Park, the Grade 8's there urged to him to make a speech, he refused, no matter how many times the students pleaded and begged him. And finally, in June 2006, at the Deer Park Grade 8 graduation, Mr. Parkes made a speech. His hands and voice were shaking, it looked and sounded kind of amusing. After the speech, he was crying, with tears streaming down his pale face... I actually felt sorry for him.

Kid-ish Personality: Even though Mr. Parkes is in his early thirties, he is sometimes very childish. For example, one day after school, Luofei and I were hanging around his room (again...), he was so excited to show us the new car that he bought on the computer. Mr. Parkes sounded extremely excited and enthusiastic, just like my little brother who got the choo-choo train that he always longed for. Luofei and I were excited to see it too because we thought the car would be some great BMW, but it turned out to be an ordinary black car.

Mr. Parkes still did not finish his orientation yet. He showed us the interior, and said: "ooooohhhhhhh, look at the driver's seat! Isn't it cool?"

Another time after school, Mr. Parkes was showing off his celphone (which was ordinary as well) and the ring tones. They were mostly Rocky music, but the last ring tone was absurd--it was "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"! I could not believe my ears! How can a thirty-one-year-old adult have a kids' song as his ring tone?!

Mr. Parkes is so kid-ish sometimes. Actually, he is kid-ish ALL the time except when he's talking to Mr. Thatcher, the principal.

Idiot Test: One day, I was hanging around Mr. Parkes's room with Luofei (my best friend) after school because we were waiting for our friend Maddy to finish her test. Then, we were bored so we went on this game site called addicting games. Luofei and I begged Mr. Parkes to take the idiot test, and he took it probably because we were annoying him so much and he wanted us to be quiet. All went well until Mr. Parkes came across this question that told him to click on "number 4", BUT, unfortunately, he clicked the square instead. The result was quite obvious. He was classified as a fool...

Mr. Parkes was so mad and probably felt sorry for himself so he decided to take it again. This time, a question asked him to click on the yellow button, the blue one, and then the yellow one again. However, smartly, he clicked on the yellow button, the blue one, and then the blue one again! The result wasn't much better than last time, Mr. Parkes was classified as "almost average".

I felt really sorry for myself because I have a "fool" teaching me Grade 8 English and Geography. (Jokes, I didn't actually mean it, Mr. Parkes)

Teaching Traits: Though he may sound all humourous, casual and somewhat friendly, he is an awesome teacher. For some odd reasons which I am still unable to figure out, every one in my class actually pays attention and is attentative during English and/or History/Geography classes. Not that he yells on top of his lungs to silent the students, or gives out detentions and extra homework, people including boys, just seal their lips and listen to him. It's not so smooth with the other subjects where the teacher had to yyyeeeeellllllllllll incredibly ear-piercing and no one would shut up! It's almost magical. A powerful and mystifying magic that can't be depicted in words or conveyed easily.

Moreover, unlike most dumb teachers who assign retarded projects that you learn nothing from it , Mr. Parkes actually teaches students practical writing styles, for instance the expository writing, that we will encounter and deal with throughout our academic career. One thing, maybe the only thing I don't like about Mr. Parkes is his strict and high marking standards. In grade seven when I had Mrs. Jong as our English teacher, I usually got low-end eighties. And now (grade eight), I received a warm welcoming mark on my first assignment---71% . Is it him who is unfair, or is it just me simply asking for more than I deserve?

Here is one of his successful teaching methods to engage students' interests:

I dragged my feet as I strolled languidly towards my tiny, wooden desk with a rusty and dusty drawer and a piece of pinkish gum stuck on the edge, and looked up at Mr. Parkes, who was sinking down on his black, comfy office chair enjoying a rather fat peach, as usual. He greeted us in his usual, economy way, and made some random jokes that are somewhat clever and humourous.

"Hey, did you know that the sky was actually green, not blue, everybody?" Mr. Parkes started the topic chattily as some girls shrieked: "What?!?!?!"

After the yaps and gasps had died down, Mr. Parkes continued to prove his point step by step, as though he were an expert who had done many research on this topic. He clearly stated with no doubts or whatsoever, that the sky only looked blue to us because of the light spectrum. His supporting evidence were: 1. Albert Einstein had previously proclaimed so, and 2. God in the Bible had also believed in Mr. Parkes's theory! Mr. Parkes also prompted us to ask our science teacher about the colour of the sky and wasted no time in assuring us that the answer would be green. Approaching the end of his amazing speech, he asked: "Now how many of you believe that the sky is green and not blue?"

Mr. Parkes smirked, evil-ish-ly and triumphantly, as dozens of hands went up. That was not a good sign, was it? He had this cute, evil smile that always taunts you when he wins (an argument, basketball game, whatever).

"Well, guess what? You guys are all wrong. The sky is indeed blue, but I was still capable of persuading you to support my opinion. And this is what we are going to do for the following days--persuasive writing." He announced and ended with a note of finality.

Mr. Parkes is the greatest teacher ever!!!!!!!!!

*Mr. Parkes swore to God that the adventure at Sobeys was true.

I (well, my friend, actually) found out something pretty exciting today. The word "STRESSED" is "DESSERTS" spelt backwards! All right, it's random, I know, and you're probably screaming at me. But I'll bet my stapler that nobody had ever discovered this in the past until they read my posting.

English is an interesting language. This is one of the valuable lessons I learned through my own brilliant discoveries.