French club: steady progression

Or should I say: steady degradation? Last Wednesday, the second meeting of our club took place, and we discovered that we were down to just one participant, which was, in a way, beneficial for that person as they received greater attention from us, the mentors. Unfortunately, we were unable to find proper venue for the activity, which caused us to move to the small library where it was difficult to conduct the tutoring as we had to keep our voices down and the desks were occupied by other pupils; we also wasted a lot of valuable time whilst tried to find an appropriate free space. Regardless of that, we had actually thought of a lesson plan, and that enabled us to use the short time we had much more fruitfully than during the last session; we decided to help the student with the imperfect tense, and we began by testing their knowledge of it, and then proceeded onto some practices exercises which we invented on the spot. Overall, I think that our participant has left with greater knowledge of that subject and seemed eager to return next week for further aid.

Our student completing an exercise 

For next week, we certainly have to find an available site which we could occupy for the club, as the fact that we had to remain huddled in the library as these conditions made it troublesome for us to carry out the activity, and it was uncomfortable for our pupil to work there. In order to improve the quality of our mentoring, we figured that we should prepare more thoroughly for each session by providing the student(s) with worksheets which would contain both explanations and exercises, so that our student(s) could keep them permanently and refer to them in the future during exam preparation, for example. We also decided to extend the parameters of our club by inviting students from younger years (7-9), as we wish to advise as many people as possible in order to help them improve their level of French, which would in turn increase the amount of participants in the club and potentially make it a more appealing and fun experience. 

Me guiding our student

International Day preparation: group division

During the last CAS session we began discussing the upcoming International Day, which is to take place on October 18th; this is a very important celebration in our multinational school where we value the different backgrounds and cultures of every single student, which is why it is essential that careful consideration is put into planning this event. I, along with Cveta and Alissar, volunteered to help in sorting out different groups for the celebration.

This proved to be a rather difficult task as we required precisely ten groups of students, although the relatively small size of our year made it problematic to assign more than two people per activity, despite the fact that at least three students are needed to run one successfully. Another issue was that we had to group pupils according to their nationalities, which was at times impossible as some students in our class don't share the same origins with any others. Finally, we came up with the following rough draft of the teams:

Draft of group divisions 

Only after having drawn up an idea of the divisions were we informed on the fact that we had to create ten groups in order to fill up the timetable for the day; this led to some serious confusion as we were running out of students to place in the new groups that had to be created. I ended up doing a good deal of persuading since not always did people end up working with those they wanted to work with, and this allowed me to develop my communication skills. Ultimately, we managed to create a set list of groupings for the day in which we fulfilled all the required criteria:

Final groups decided upon

I believe that we managed this task decently as we had completed the groupings rather swiftly, which gave our fellow classmates more opportunities to come to us with any questions, and it also provided them with extended planning time for the future. Although if we were to do this again, we should make sure that we are well aware of all the possible implications (as for example the need to have ten teams) so that we wouldn't end up amending the list more times than is needed; also, we could consider grouping people with their friends, as it would let us be more caring when considering the plan that we create, hopefully making the time they dedicate to the activity more enjoyable. This would optimistically make these activities interesting for students to participate in.

Sports Day

Luckily last Thursday the weather was pleasant enough for the school to host Sports Day without any trouble; although we didn't have the sun appear from behind the clouds until after lunchtime, there was no rain to hinder the progression of the activities. Judging by the feedback I've received from various students in the school and their happy, joyful faces, I can easily conclude that the day had been a success and that everyone enjoyed it.

Myself, Cveta and Momoko were in charge of the obstacle course, as had originally been planned. We arrived at school rather early in order to set up the activity as well as to test it so that, if need be, we could make the required changes. We checked that everything was safe enough for all year groups to use since we didn't want any unpleasant accidents to occur, and luckily all of the obstacles turned out to be hazard-free; for the most difficult part of the course, which involved climbing a tree via a rope ladder, we even asked some of the year 13 boys to test it out for us, since we figured that if the ladder could hold them, it could hold anybody. 

Me testing out the rope ladder

Throughout the day, we had to change a few things here and there within the course, for example: we made it longer in order to make it both more challenging and entertaining. Thankfully, our careful planning had indeed paid off as we had hardly any issues with the obstacles and the participants; we were able to quickly deal with all the minor problems that we encountered, which made me realise that I am actually quite good at making decisions right on the spot and dealing with an unexpected situation swiftly. We ensured to explain the rules thoroughly so that there was no misunderstanding, and we also monitored the performance of each student to avoid any unfair play. Above all, we tried to make the pupils enjoy our activity, so that we could contribute to the overall success of Sports Day, and I believe that we managed our role with much enthusiasm and made it a delightful experience for everyone due to our good teamwork. It had certainly been a new challenge for me which I had enjoyed, and I think I had been diligent throughout the whole day since I truly wanted my first big event to be outstanding (further down the page I will include a video of a student completing the course).

Team spirit

                 

Cveta and I also volunteered to keep track of the scores throughout the day so that everyone could be conscious of the achievements of the house teams; we asked one student from each activity to promptly deliver their results to us so that there would be no delay. We were able to quickly update the points so that everyone was well informed on the progression of the ranks, and it was amusing to watch the different reactions of both students and teachers upon viewing the results (unfortunately I had forgotten to take a photo of the scoreboards).

Ultimately, I believe that I managed my tasks well enough, however there's always room for further improvement: me and my teammates should've definitely tested the obstacle course prior to the big day since if we had encountered some sort of issues, we would've had more time to think everything through and come with an alternative. We could've also customised it according to the year group which was participating in order to make it more entertaining and a challenge which was safe enough for the students to attempt. As for the score displays, I believe we should've made the whiteboards a little more interesting and eye-catching by decorating them with relevant drawings and/or images. For the next Sports Day, which has been planned for next summer, I will try to either organise a different activity so that it would be a new challenge, or I will create yet another obstacle course and I will keep in mind the mistakes made this time around. 

French club: initiation

I, along with two of my classmates (Dasha and Natalia), decided to organise a French club for IGCSE students who may require any sort of help with either the language itself or the actual preparation for the exams; having passed our French IGCSE's with good grades, we concluded that we have enough experience and knowledge to tutor those who are either only at the beginning or halfway through the course. We decided to make the activity run once a week on every Wednesday, which would both allow us extra time for preparation as well as give the students more opportunities to come with queries which they wish to be answered.

Sign-up sheet (I apologise for the quality)

Yesterday, the very first club took place, and we had a grand total of two year 10 students; we began with asking them what sort of help they desired, as well was what their experience of learning the language is. Having figured all of that out, we began with a brief explanation as to what the exams will require from them, and gave tips on how to gain the most out of their level of French; all of us contributed to the discussion and helped each other out by filling in on any information which may have been missed. Our two apprentices seemed to have enjoyed the session, and upon leaving they assured us that they would gladly attend again the following week. This was indeed a new challenge for me as I have never previously organised a club, especially one where you take on quite a lot of responsibility since you'll be helping pupils out with their first major exams; this is one very important reason as to why I will be devoting a lot of my time to this activity, all because I understand the importance of passing exams with a good grade and I wish to help out others by sharing my erudition with them, which will in turn bring out the caring aspect of my character.

Me tutoring the students

With this being our very first experience of hosting a club, we made a few errors which we will work towards correcting for next week: a misunderstanding between ourselves and the French teacher had occurred concerning the day of the week and the time the club will take place, as during Wednesday lunchtime the teacher prefers to reside in her classroom, which is why we should've confirmed everything with her prior to beginning the activity, so that neither of us would be interrupted from our work. We also lacked a concrete plan of what we were going to do on our first day, which caused us some confusion and loss of valuable time; for the next session I will promptly consult with my group as to what they wish to do during the lesson, and I will also make sure to discuss with the students any questions which they may have, so that we could help answer them during the next club. 

Sports Day preparation: obstacle course

Another activity that I had volunteered to help out with for Sports Day was organising and initiating the obstacle course; I chose to work in a group of three with Momoko and Cveta, and throughout the week we met to plan and discuss how we would run the activity, and we also contacted the teacher responsible for it so that we could confirm our ideas with him. During one of our most recent gatherings, we came up with the following plan for the obstacle course:

Plan of obstacle course

The initial idea was that we would have two or three people from each house team in each year group completing the obstacle course, we would record their timings and then award them house points according to their performance: 5 points for first, 3 for second, and 1 for third places. The main idea of the course would be to collect an item that would be located on the tree (far left of the map), and in order to do that, the contestants would have to pass a series of obstacles: they would start nice and easy with some weaving poles, which would be followed by hula hoops through which they would have to go, then a small agility ramp to jump over, after which they would have to limbo beneath two poles, and finally jump in sacks towards the tree where the collectable item would be placed. As we planned this activity, we tried to gather as many ideas as possible in order to have a wider range of options to pick from, also giving ourselves the ability to mix and match so that we could come up with our own solutions for the course. During the meetings that we've held, I tried to communicate my plans in an understandable manner; furthermore, I didn't disregard what was being said by my teammates, which made me rather open-minded; ultimately, I think that we have come up with quite an original and entertaining obstacle course which our fellow students will hopefully enjoy.

However, upon reviewing our work, we realised that there were many areas to improve upon, as for example the fact that not all of the students will be able to participate in the activity due to lack of time; we figured that if we do this again, we ought to pay greater attention to that, so people don't feel left out or neglected, which is why we might consider coming up with an obstacle course that would either be shorter (to buy us more time) or would involve paired activities (so that all students would get a chance to participate). We should also acknowledge the fact that within our school we have people of varying ages, all the way from 11 to 18 years old, and consequently they have both different preferences and physical abilities, which is why next time we may try to alter the obstacle course according to the year group which will be participating, so that it would be more engaging for the contestants.

Guitar playing: back to basics

Last Thursday I began my guitar classes, which I, unfortunately, had to drop last year due to lack of time, however this year I am determined to develop my skills swiftly in order to be able to play both classical and modern music on guitar. Moreover, I'm really fond of this instrument, which will make my experience of learning not only educational, but also entertaining.

The first thing which was asked of me by my teacher was whether or not I remembered anything from last year, and I felt really embarrassed at having to admit that I could recall very little. We began with simply revising the technical part of how to properly position the instrument, in which way to pluck the strings correctly, etc. Afterwards, we moved onto some very basic exercises, and I was glad to discover that even though my mind remembered little of what was learnt, my fingers were able to repeat the exercises correctly, and in fact, quite easily as well: that made me realise that due to the effort I had put into learning this instrument last year, I was able to train my fingers enough for them to recall the correct positioning and movement.

For the next lesson my teacher asked me to continue practicing the exercises in order to jolt my memory of how to handle the instrument correctly, and he also asked me to memorise the positions of the natural notes on the fretboard as well as the way they are recorded on paper. I will try my best to find enough time during the weekdays to practice my guitar skills so as not to disappoint both myself and my teacher on the following lesson.

The homework given to me

Once the lesson was over, I recognised that I was very wrong indeed to not have revised at least a little bit prior to the class, as not only would I have felt more confident and been able to achieve more during the practices, but I would've also appeared as more respectful towards my teacher; now I will make sure that whenever something like this happens next (for example if I have to come back to class after a long break), I will certainly go over the material which I have previously studied in order to give myself more lesson time to learn new aspects of guitar playing, as well as to be more courteous towards my mentor. I also realised that I wasn't concentrating enough during class, as I let my thoughts wander to my schoolwork and personal issues, although I should've been listening attentively to all that was being said to me and trying my hardest to understand the essentials of the instrument, as they are vital in learning to play it; next lesson and for all the others to come I will try to commit myself to the fullest and pay due attention and consideration to what my teacher tells me, so that I could develop my guitar skills significantly faster.

My beautiful Almansa

Sports Day preparation: advertising poster

During the CAS meeting that took place last Thursday, my classmates and I discussed the upcoming Sports Day event, which is to take place this Thursday, provided that the capricious Moscow weather permits it. There were items on the to-do list, and I volunteered to help out with creating an advertising poster. 

Once at home, I gave careful thought to the the way I was going to approach this task: considering the fact that the poster wasn't supposed to be informative, but rather act as a sort of an ad for the upcoming event, I decided to include colourful images of various sports, along with the date of the event. I chose an A3 size piece of paper in order to give myself more space for the photographs, which I was planning to make quite large, so that they would potentially attract greater attention. I came to the decision that putting the text in the middle and the photos in the corners would make the poster look more attractive as opposed to some other arrangement, therefore I began with the title and the date. I am by far not a visual artist, which is why I chose to use printed letters as templates instead of actually drawing them by hand:

Layout of the title using template letters

Once I was done with the initial layout of the title and date, I moved on to adding some colour to them: I concluded that the brighter the poster is going to be, the more beckoning it would appear, which is why I went for vibrant red and blue:

Displaying my art 'skills' in colouring the text

Upon dealing with the text, I began searching for vivid images that were hopefully going to make my notice look more interesting. After gluing everything together and rubbing off the pencil lines, I ended up with the following:

The finished poster

Looking upon my creation, I decided that it turned out quite alright due to the planning that I had done: it had the desirable colour, and it got the main message across. However, I realised that in order to improve my abilities in art, I should try to begin drawing the elements of the piece myself, which is why I decided that whenever I do another poster, for whatever reason that may be, I will try to hand-draw the lettering instead of using templates, and possibly try to use shading in to bring the text out more than simple colouring-in does. I could also try to work with both smaller and larger paper sizes so that I could make better use of the space available to me.

CAS plan for autumn term

After this week's introduction to the IB Diploma Programme and the element of CAS, I and my fellow classmates set off to create our blogs. Prior to beginning my experience of CAS blogging, I would like to develop a plan of action for the upcoming term in order to keep myself organised and contribute equally to all three criteria: action, creativity and service.

Creativity  

This term I will indulge myself with various creative activities, including guitar playing and composing music. Having taken an interest in music in my early years, I would like to learn to play classical guitar; last year I was unable to achieve that, however this time I'm dead-set on mastering that skill. I will be having guitar lessons twice a week, every Monday and Thursday, and I will post video accounts of all new pieces that I will learn to play. 

I will also attend composition lessons in order to develop my skill of appreciating and composing music. Primarily I will be composing for the piano, although once I'm more or less acquainted with the guitar, I may begin to compose for that instrument as well. Every Wednesday I will attend that class and review my progress with the pieces which I will be writing, as well as film myself perform them once they're completed. It is indeed a challenging art, however I would like to develop that skill to be able to enjoy my experience of music even more.

Action

I have always enjoyed swimming, yet I've never properly learned the different styles available in that sport. This term I will try to improve my crawl ability, as well as learn another style of swimming. I will attend the pool at least once a week in order to achieve that, as well as keep myself in good shape; as a dedicated swimmer, I will show great commitment to this activity.

I will also walk my dog at least once every week; it isn't a necessity as such since he has enough space to run free around the territory of the house, although frequent trips to the forest will allow him to enjoy the nature and they will, hopefully, help me keep up both his and my physique. Being a loving dog owner, I would like to make the bond between myself and my dog even stronger, as well as help him maintain a healthy lifestyle. I may, in fact, try to leash train my cat too, who knows...

Service

For this final criteria, I will help out both the local community at my school as well as the community of the city. Concerning the school, I will help organise upcoming events such as Sports Day and International Day; that will not only enable me to help out the school, but also to work collaboratively with my classmates and teachers. Outside of school I will try to aid abandoned animal shelters and the Roma community in Hungary by helping out with whatever necessities may be required, as well as by raising money for both causes. 

Outside of what has been said above, I will grasp every opportunity that I receive to be creative, active and to aid those around me that require assistance. Above all, I will consider the ethical implications of my actions carefully in order not to disappoint those that I will be interacting with. Hopefully everything will go according to plan and the first 'season' of my progression through CAS will be successful.