FAI Junior Cup Final

Kilbarrack United have reached the FAI Junior Cup final. They will be playing against Sheriff YC in the Aviva Stadium on Sunday next June 2^nd. Some of the team members from Kilbarrack United came to the school to tell us about the Junior Cup Final. They were accompanied by the men from Aviva board.

We all went out to the yard to see them. First came a marching band and they were followed by members of the team. They brought the FAI Junior Cup with them. I held it and it was very heavy. They had workers walking around with flags and Kilbarrack United crests.

Then their special guest arrived it was Ray Houghton. He played for Ireland and he scored a famous goal against England in Stuttgard 1988 in Euro 88. Everybody in the school got his autograph. At the end of the day all of the school including me wished them luck for the Fai Junior Cup. It was a fantastic day and I enjoyed it.

Gonggi a Game from South Korea

On Thursday Miyoung taught us how to play Gonggi an ancient Korean children’s game. It is played with five grape-sized pebbles. Gonggi can be played alone or with other people. When you play Gonggi, you throw a pebble up in the air, and then you pick up another pebble and catch the pebble that’s in the air. In Gonggi there are five levels. Inside the pebbles are tiny balls of led. We dropped one and all the tiny balls of led fell on the floor. We played it for about 20 minutes and really enjoyed ourselves.

A Glimpse of South Korea

Miyoung's portrait by Jennifer O'Hara Doyle

This is Miyoung a teacher from South Korea who has been working with our class all week. She taught a lesson on South Korea and showed us many interesting pictures of life in her country.We enjoyed comparing our lives with the life  in her country almost nine thousand kilometers  miles away.

Korean pictures by Miyoung

I was interested to hear about the ancient observatory at Chumsungdae. The tower is cylindrical in shape and was built in 600 A.D. It  is the oldest surviving observatory in East Asia.

I was intrigued by this roof that is made of wood. These roofs are usually found on temples or on the homes of wealthy people.

We were fascinated to hear that Miyoung has a pet hedgehog at home. In Ireland hedgehogs are wild animals and don't usually live in captivity. Miyoung assured us that this is a genetically modified hedgehog. He looks cute and tiny and is ten months old.

Images of South Korea

Microsoft Education Summit

I’m attending the Microsoft Education Summit in the Aviva Stadium Dublin. What a fabulous location for the summit.

 Pupils from Clontuskert National School gave a marvellous presentation on their use of digital technologies. Their Ringfort Project was a winner at the Eircom Junior Spiders in March.They also demonstrated some new pieces of software that I hope to introduce to my pupils in the next few weeks.

 Click Clontuskert Blog to read more about their projects.
 Today you were amused when you saw a picture of the first Smart phone in an old text book. How technology has advanced since you were born!

Now view Microsoft's Vision for 2019 to get a glimpse of their vision for the future.





 Some of the products depicted are already a reality. Look out for the coffee cup with the drink’s temperature displayed.

 I couldn't resist taking a few minutes off to view the fabulous stadium.

Aviva stadium Dublin 

Can you see the light shining at the exit for injured players. I think that this is a machine for irrigating the pitch.

The irrigation machine is resting.

Weather Lore

We are very fortunate to have numerous broad leaf trees growing in the grounds of Scoil Eoin. Since Easter we have paid several visits to the trees to monitor the arrival of new leaves. We were hoping that the leaves on the Oak tree would open before the Ash tree.
  

The buds on the Ash tree are beginning to open.

  



















Have you heard the old rhyme?

Oak before Ash then we'll have a splash.
Ash before Oak then we'll have a soak.

 Unfortunately the pictures show that the Ash tree has won the race this year. We hope that the message in the rhyme will not come true otherwise we will have a fairly wet summer.

The buds on the Oak tree will not open for at least another week