Name of Activity: Writing articles - journalism update
Date(s) of Activity: 9.8.2017. and 7.8.2017.
Approximate # of Hours: 4 hours/two days
This Activity is: Creative
Learning outcomes:
(1) Increased my awareness of my own strengths and areas of growth
(2) Undertaken new challenges
(3) Planned and initiated activities
Explanation and reflection:
I must say I am pretty proud of myself in terms of journalism and my journalistic experience since a lot pieces of writing on our school’s website is my work. I wrote two articles for two really important events for my school. It’s been a whole year, and the school day has come again. I feel pretty sad because this is the last one for me, but I’m happy because I will leave marks on her for sure. I feel like journalism is something I really enjoy doing, and it became one of my choices for university.
Bees absconded on August 8th, 2016. It was heartbreaking. Many more ants than normal. Turns out the hive was overrun with wax moths, and because its a new hive, they weren't strong enough to get rid of all the pests. I dealt with the situation and removed the empty combs for 6 hours.
Those who know, do. Those that understand, teach. (Aristotle)
I have never been the best person at working with other people, which includes teaching. Some times I have explained something to a friend but it has never gone further than that. So having joined Local School and Local Library represents quite a challenge for me.
The first class we had on local library was getting to know our students. I joined with a really good korean friend and our student is a woman. She knew a little bit of english already so we didn't have to start from scratch, and we are still deciding if that was good or actually a difficulty. On one side she already knew many things of simple sentence composition and vocabulary was missing so teaching that is not that difficult, but one the other hand the fact that we do not have to teach the basis leaves us in a position where we do not really know what is missing from the basis and teaching english grammar is not easy at all.
We are mainly focused on vocabulary and simple grammar. I'm normally the one that get the working sheets and my partner is the one that helps me during the class as I am not the most patient of people. I get annoyed really easily when someone does not understand something, and I usually make the mistake of blaming it on them instead of taking care of it myself. The worksheet is get from English for Everyone which is a great place and has exercises for all levels. Sometimes they are a bit childish but they are quite useful. Our student manages to remember most of the grammar we teach her, for example that we are contracts to we're but vocabulary is much more difficult and we have to review them every week. I find it very stressing because I try to tell her that she has to revise everyday so that she starts to use the words naturally, but we are not making much progress so I think she isn't.
Also it has represented a challenge because she doesn't try to learn them, if we tell her a word she just nods and I could ask her 5 minutes later what does the word mean and she doesn't remember. So I'm trying to make her write down every word she doesn't understand. It is also like she doesn't care. I say this because every week (we have class once a week) we ask her what did she do over the week, this is a way to see if she has progressed and she always answers "Nothing" and then she starts talking in spanish which does not help anyone.
I am trying to force myself to be more patient, I know that English may be an easy language for me but for the rest of the people it is not like that. I also see it with my father who is not the best in english and I get annoyed when he asks me questions. I feel I am learning to be more patient and that my methodology for teaching is improving so this activity has really been helpful in a context outside of CAS.
(Drugs face woop woop)
Learning outcomes:
undertaken new challenges
planned activities (does this count, i dont know, i'll check)
Remember tonight... for it is the beginning of always (Dante)
Hi, this is a (brief) introduction to what this blog is about. 2 years from now, hopefully, I will be starting college. Until then I'm enrolled in the International Baccalaureate (IB) , a demanding school program that enforces the idea of improving oneself as a person and human being. One of the core components is:
C: creativity, defined by the IB as "Creativity is interpreted broadly to include a wide range of activities that involve creative thinking. Creativity provides students with the opportunity to explore their own sense of original thinking and expression."--> let your imagination go wild.
A: "Action is focussed on getting involved in physical exertion that contributes to a healthy lifestyle. The aim of Action is to promote lifelong healthy habits related to physical well-being." --> do some exercise because being healthy is cool
S: " Service requires students to understand their capacity to make a meaningful contribution to their community and society. Through Service, students develop and apply personal and social skills in real-life situations involving decision-making, problem solving, initiative, responsibility, and accountability for their actions." --> try to be a little bit more selfless and altruistic.
In order to fulfil this component one has to complete 50 hours of each, being 150 hours in total. But It goes even deeper than that, we cannot do it just to get the diploma so we have to show understanding and reflection, thats what the journals are for. In these reflections we have to show at least one of the eight learning outcomes:
increased their awareness of their own strengths and areas for growth
undertaken new challenges
planned and initiated activities
worked collaboratively with others
shown perseverance and commitment in their activities
engaged with issues of global importance
considered the ethical implications of their actions
developed new skills
So this is how this two year journey begins, a brave dive into the world of responsibility.
Antonia Osorio
About me:
I'm 17, female, Belgian/ Chilean. Im in Greengates School Mexico.
Oh, the famous CAS hours. Every IB student knows you can't pass IB without CreativityActionService! Lets be honest, sometimes these CAS hours can be pretty time consuming and difficult to manage when there's a pile of homework waiting at home for you.
The purpose of CAS hours is simple. They are there to give the IB some kind of dimension... They help students become 'well-rounded' people. I would say that makes a lot of sense because CAS motivates students to move outside of their comfort zone and try a new sport, take part in a different activity, learn new skills and develop as an individual.
Many students ask: 'Can I get CAS hours for that?' - You can answer that question yourself.
- Think about it -
1) Would it be a new experience for you?
2) Is this activity/responsibility helping you learn something new or are you helping someone else by taking part?
3) Is this activity something you're personally interested in? - (Because there is no point in doing an activity or taking part in something you have absolutely no interest in or wouldn't enjoy doing.
If you are doing it for the sake of getting the hours done - It is neither an effective experience for you, neither for the people that you are doing it for/with because if you have no interest in that particular activity you won't be very motivated to give it your best effort. However if it is something that interests you or you would like the experience it is more likely that you will enjoy it and you will see it less as a 'task', a 'chore' or a 'must' but rather as a breather before homework and something you can feel good about doing.
