Summary of the first period

In the first period I studied physics, chemistry, English and Finnish. Because I am a senior I can onky have 4 courses because I've done most of the obligatory courses and now I'm mainly studying the subjects that I'm going to do the matriculation examinations in. 

The autumn examinations are often at the beginning of September which means that the first perion is still ongoing.

I did the matriculation examinations in English and health education, now I'm waiting to find out my final results. I'll do a separate post about the matriculation examinations so if you're interested you can read it or then post a question in the comments.

After the autumn matriculation examinations the seniors have a special day called "100 aamua" which is when seniors have 100 days of school left they come to school wearing their PJs. I think this is a fun tradition in Finnish upper secondary schools.

For more pictures go to Instagram @jylla_tapahtumat

Introductory day #2

Thos year we decided not to only have a day for the first year students when they can get to know each other in their own class but to introduce the whole grade with each other. Unlike introductory day this part 2 was only an afternoon when we went outside and played a few games limbo,3D,Big Fat Pony etc. 

The afternoon went really well, everybody had fun and everbody enjoyed themselves (not only the first graders but also tutors and homeroom teachers). 

I think this kind of thing should become a tradition, because then you don't only get to know your own class but also the entire year. Due to this we can keep developing Jylla's unique spirit that has been apart of the school since 1923.

To finish off I'll put some pictures of the afternoon. You can see more pictures on Instagram @jylla_tapahtumat

Introductory day 2015

So as an tradition in our school we have an introductory day for the new students, which means that we spend the day competing and having fun together.

To quickly tell you what it's all about. Each class chooses their own theme for exanple pyjamas, nerds etc. and also the tutors have their own theme. Then each class competes against each other and at the end of the day the class that has the most points wins and also the class that has the best overall attitude and everyone is dressed in their class' theme wins an award.

This year we were lucky to have nice weather and that we could spend the day at the beach. To start the day the first year students gathered at school to do a morning workout specially planned for them and then they were escorted from the school to the beach. At the beach each and every student gets "marked" which means we draw a J on their forehead to symbolize that they've been taken in to the school and the they have to take a vow that has become a tradition. After this we sterted with our games (treasure hunt, sand sculpture competition, own cheersong for their class (had to go with their theme), a relay and lots more. Also we have an individual competition Mr. And Mrs. Jylla that is also a tradition.

Here's a picture of the tutors (theme: law enforcement) and this years homeroom teachers.

Here's a couple or pictures to show you what the atmosphere was like.=D

More pictures on instagram @jylla_tapahtumat

What's up? The beginning of the term

It's been a long time since i've written anything here so I'll just quickly tell you what's been going on.

So the fifth period went well and well after that it was finally time for our summer holiday. In upper secondary scool our holiday is the same length as it is in comprehensive school that means 10 weeks. During the summer I was working and spending time with my friends and family.

Our school started on the 12th of August with the new students starting at 9am and the returning students (2nd&3rd year) starting at 11am. On the first day we the tutors are with the new students for the whole day playing games, getting to know one another and going through some basic stuff (rules, important dates etc.) 

On the second day of school we spent the first class with our tutoring classes before starting our own studies for this year. During the class we showed the new students around the school and played a few more games.

Now I'm a 3rd year student also known as an Abi, which means that we are the oldest in school and this is for the most of us the last year of upper secondary school. 

This was just a quick information on what has been going on since my last post. I know it's been a long time and I'm sorry for that. But now that school has started I'll be more active. =D

The Finnish parliamentary elections

Before Easter the school had arranged for us second year students an hour long question and answer session with 7 candidates that were participating in the Finnish parliamentary elections. The seven candidates were Inka Hopsu Vihr.(the Greens), Sanna Lauslahti Kok.(The National Coalition Party), Säde Tahvanainen SDP( Social democrats), Kaarina Järvenpää KD(Christian democrats), Jukka Karhula Vas.(Left Alliance), Ann-Mari Kemell Kesk.(The Centre Party of Finland) and Simon Elo PS.(Finns party) unfortunately we didn't have a candidate from RKP (Swedish language party).

During this Q&A two of our students asked the representatives some questions that they could answer Yes, No or ? and some questions were adressed for a specific candidate.

Joustoviikko

Our school was the first school in Espoo to try out this new studying method if you could say. 

So what is joustoviikko then?

During joustoviikko you have school from 8am to 4pm everyday for one week. You can choose from about 10 different courses one that you want to attend English, Swedish, biology, French , physics and chemistry etc. Then for one week you'll have that subject and you will get a course for it. Some courses where "easier" than others for example in biology we studied in the mornings and did our own presentations in the afternoon but in some other courses the lessons were held in a museum or in a cafe.

Joustoviikko was a fun and new experience for us and we'll have to see what is going to happen in the future.

Here are some pictures from different courses that were held during joustoviikko, hope you enjoy!

More pictures on Instagram: @jylla_tapahtumat an here is If you understand Finnish so that you can read more about joustoviikko at www.bit.ly/jyllajousto

The beginning of the fifth period

So our fifth period started a few weeks ago, in this period I've got English, Swedish, Finnish, physics, biology, religion and maths. Not long to the summer holiday, only one exam week and then we'll have our well earned 10 week holiday =)

We had three weeks of the fifth period and then we had "joustoviikko" (check my next post to read more about it). Before joustoviikko we tutors went to Stockholm as a thank you for our hard work and to also plan the next term and the future of our school =). I'm really excited about our ideas and hopefully we'll get to execute some of them =D.

We are having a few exciting events still before the summer holiday like our shool's annual musical and some other events.

Here's a nice little quote to finish off this post =)

Early spring

There's only one week left of the fourth period and then it's exam week again. I'll have six tests during the exam and then one afterwards. 

In the 6th English course we need to do a survey or a presentation about a topic of your choice. I'm doing with one of my friend a survey on Social media. We've started our survey with doing a question sheet on Google forms to gather up answers from anyone who wants tomparticipate in our study. Next we'll go through the answers and do a summary of them. Then we'll turn in the study for our teacher to vheck it and to evaluate it. The survey/presentation is a part of our course grade. English isn't the only subject where you need to do a presentation, I've done presentations in Russian class, Finnish, health education and earlier English courses.

Last week we had a lecture by Kai Mykkänen about the situation in Ukraine and what is Russia's part in the situation. This was the first of a series of lectures that we are calling Studia Generalia. We'll have more of these kind of lectures of current events.

Not long until it's our Summer holiday but before that one more period left =). And lots more events that you can read about here or you can look at pictures on our Instagram page @jylla_tapahtumat or Facebook: Espoonlahden lukio.

Fourth period

Fourth period started 3 weeks ago. In this period I have physics, chemistry, math and to balance it out so that I haven't only got sciences Russian, English and history. In addition to these subjects I had the last practice for Wanhat. 

If you are a 3rd grade student (Abi) you'll no longer have classes in the fourth period. Instead you'll have study leave so that you can study for your matriculation examination however in the beginning of February are the listening comprehension parts of the exams and also the tekstitaito part of Finnish/Swedish/Saame or S2. The rest of the exams will be at the end of March at the same time as our next exam week. Matriculation examinations are twice a year in the autumn and in the spring, this means that you can distribute your exams for the spirng and autumn so that you don't have so much studying at once.

I want to remind you that yhteishaku is about to start and also wish you good luck=). I hope you'll get in to the school you want=D.

Remember to check out our Instagram @jylla_tapahtumat to get the newest info and pictures of things going on in our school. 

Last weeks of the third period

Hey there! I thought I'd write a quick update on what has been going on :)

Last Tuesday we had our second visiting afternoon for 9th graders. There wasn't as many as there was the week before but there were a lot. This year we have had the most visiting 9th graders in a long time =D

So as you know we are in the middle of the third exam week of this school year. I've had three tests already (Finnish, physics & biology) and I have three left (Swedish, chemistry & geography)

Our Finnish test wasn't like a normal test. We had our test in EMMA (the museum of modern-art). In EMMA we had to fill in a paper with five questions and we had to use the things and knowledge that we had learned during our course. This was my fifth Finnish course and we had to study about literature and the literary movements (The Antiquity - postmodern).

For my Swedish & English or for any other language's test I use Google's study app called Quizlet. Quizlet is an app where you can write a word and an explanation or an translation for the word. Then you can choose between different studying techniques (games) which one you want to use for studying. Quizlet can also be acceseed via a computer or a smartphone or a tablet (An app is available for your mobile devices). I really like using Quizlet because it makes studying easier and you can even search for other people's wordlists and use them for your studying. (This is not an advert for Quizlet or Google, this is me telling about how I study)

Just a friendly reminder for all you 9th graders "Yhteishaku" is almost here and if you're still thinking of what school you want to go to go and have a look on Instagram: @jylla_tapahtumat, the school website jylla.fi and on Facebook: Espoonlahden lukio for more pictures and information.

This is a very inspirational quote for me and for anyone really=D. Especially if you have a dream or a goal just remember you can't achieve anything unless you try=)! 

First week of 2015

On Wednesday the 7th we had our first day of school after our Christmas holiday. After the holiday classes go on normally as if we hadn't had any holiday between our classes.

After the holiday we have 2,5 weeks of school and then we have our third exam week.I have 6 exams this exam week (Finnish, Swedish, biology, geography, chemistry and physics).The third exam week is the last exam week of the school year when Saturday is an exam day.

On Tuesday we had our first visiting afternoon for 9th graders. This means that 9th graders are welcome to visit our school and the tutor students show them around the school and tell them a bit of our school. We have a second visiting afternoon on Tuesday the 20th of January and we have a visitong evening for the parents of 9th graders on the 3rd of February and 9th graders are also welcome to come along their parents. 

Now I've got three days of school until the exam week begins on Thursday. Usually I start studying for the exam week 1-2 weeks before it starts because there is no possibility that you'll learn everything you need the evening before the exam. Studying for an exam means reading theory from the book and doing excercises. 

Here is a picture from the visiting afternoon on Tuesday. 

Remember to go follow the Instagram accounts @jylla_tapahtumat and @espoonlahden_lukio and Facebook: Espoonlahden lukio to get the newest news and pictures of what is going on in our school.