Over the past two weeks I mainly continued working on my goals.
In DAWG we supplied all the teachers with boxes for the food drive. We also gave them all the information about the food drive (even though most of the teachers knew the details). However the school still hasn't gotten excited over the food drive so we need to work on exciting the school.
I found out that as a Theater Arts student, taking part in the school play would not get me creativity recognition as the school play would be counted as a grade for me. Therefore to get more creativity recognition I began to help the Visual Arts teacher paint sets for the Primary School musical. The musical was based on the works of Dr. Seuss so the sets were quite crazy like the illustrations in Dr. Seuss' work.
I missed Recycling on the 16th as I was sick and on the 23rd I had to have a rehearsal for the Founders Day Assembly.
Football on the 17th was quite fun. Even though I didn't do as great as I did on the 3rd of September, our team once again won. The final score was 4-3 and I did make some good saves even though I wished I could've kept the scoreline lower. On the 24th the football activity was cancelled as it was rained out.
At our school assembly we learnt about a diving activity that would be taking place in November. This interested me greatly as I didn't have my PADI certification. I decided to sign up for the activity as it would be something new and this became one of my goals for the year: To get my PADI certification.
On the 24th of September 2010, I was the Master of Ceremonies for the Founders Day Assembly. This required me to use Theater Arts skills that I had learned (cold readings) and I think this applies to the creativity aspect of CAS.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Reflection 6th September - 12th September 2010
The past week for me was one that was primarily service based, however action and creativity did make an appearance. With school being cancelled on Friday, football was cancelled, and after the SGA disco from the previous Saturday, the SGA didn't have any major events. However the DAWG activity began, and the Recycling program went ahead this week so I had a lot of service done.
DAWG started on Tuesday and as a student leader I helped lead the group. We were mainly comprised of 6th and 7th graders, so keeping them focused and helping them come up with realistic ideas was tough, but I managed. As I mentioned in my previous reflection, we wanted to brainstorm new ways for the secondary to get motivated to support our food drive, so instead of having a pizza party, we decided to have a movie night, whereby the class that contributed the most food and supplies would get to choose the movie and come in for free. I'd like to think that this helped combine creativity and service as I was creative within a service program
During Recycling on Thursday, I collected Recyclable materials from classrooms and helped organize and transport them to the recycling center. I went along in the Recycling truck as we took the materials to the center and I saw what was done with all the recycling we collected and how we made money off of the paper and cardboard. What the school basically does is sell all our recycling to a man near school, and he makes a profit off the materials we give him. It was a pretty insightful experience
While SGA didn't have anything happen, as the president I did come up with the idea of organizing a video game tournament within two weeks time. The basic idea i got was to have all entrants pay an entrance fee and then the winner would get all the entry money as well as a small trophy. I initially wanted us to use an FPS (First Person Shooter) but all FPS' are rated M for Mature. I thought we could side-step this issue by having all entrants have their parents sign a permission form, but if we can't get an FPS approved, we may just play a sports game e.g. FIFA 10. If we get support from this event we may have more video game tournaments throughout the year to raise school spirit. I emailed the SGA's supervising teacher and she said my idea had potential so I hope the idea works. Another long term SGA goal I have is for a hallo ween dance for the end of October, and unlike the last dance I want to make sure this one is planned perfectly. Hopefully these ideas of mine will continue appearing in future reflections
DAWG started on Tuesday and as a student leader I helped lead the group. We were mainly comprised of 6th and 7th graders, so keeping them focused and helping them come up with realistic ideas was tough, but I managed. As I mentioned in my previous reflection, we wanted to brainstorm new ways for the secondary to get motivated to support our food drive, so instead of having a pizza party, we decided to have a movie night, whereby the class that contributed the most food and supplies would get to choose the movie and come in for free. I'd like to think that this helped combine creativity and service as I was creative within a service program
During Recycling on Thursday, I collected Recyclable materials from classrooms and helped organize and transport them to the recycling center. I went along in the Recycling truck as we took the materials to the center and I saw what was done with all the recycling we collected and how we made money off of the paper and cardboard. What the school basically does is sell all our recycling to a man near school, and he makes a profit off the materials we give him. It was a pretty insightful experience
While SGA didn't have anything happen, as the president I did come up with the idea of organizing a video game tournament within two weeks time. The basic idea i got was to have all entrants pay an entrance fee and then the winner would get all the entry money as well as a small trophy. I initially wanted us to use an FPS (First Person Shooter) but all FPS' are rated M for Mature. I thought we could side-step this issue by having all entrants have their parents sign a permission form, but if we can't get an FPS approved, we may just play a sports game e.g. FIFA 10. If we get support from this event we may have more video game tournaments throughout the year to raise school spirit. I emailed the SGA's supervising teacher and she said my idea had potential so I hope the idea works. Another long term SGA goal I have is for a hallo ween dance for the end of October, and unlike the last dance I want to make sure this one is planned perfectly. Hopefully these ideas of mine will continue appearing in future reflections
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Reflection 30th August - 5th September 2010
This week was quite big in terms of the goals I set and how they dealt with the CAS program. While the DAWG program has not yet begun for the school year (it begins on Tuesday the 7th) I had recycling and football this week, not to mention the fact that the SGA hosted its first event.
With recycling I went around school to make sure all the teachers were equipped with boxes to put all paper they want recycled. I felt like I was helping make a difference in terms of recycling because I was equipping the teachers with the tools to help them recycle.
Football got underway on Friday afternoon and it was exciting to say the least, I joined football to develop my skills as a goalkeeper and my skills were certainly developed as I was allowed to play as a goalkeeper. Even though it had been a while since I'd last played, it was like riding a bike. I remembered all the skills I'd learned in the past even though I was pretty nervous and worried that I might make a mistake. In the end I came out more confident about my abilities and happy with the fact that I signed up
The SGA event that was scheduled for the 4th of September, a Saturday, was badly planned. The rest of the executive committee and I hadn't gone through the right channels for organizing the disco and in the final week we were rushing to get chaperones, security guards, tickets and posters ready. In the end we got everything ready and the entire SGA came in on Saturday at 2.00pm (the dance was scheduled to start at 6.00pm) and we began decorating and prepping the auditorium. In the end the dance was a success and went ahead without problems, although we would've liked a better turnout. What i learnt from this ordeal was to plan at least 2 weeks in advance for the next dance! What made us all proud, though, was the fact that we raised around $150 to donate to the relief effort in Pakistan, and that made us all feel as though the work we did was worth it
With recycling I went around school to make sure all the teachers were equipped with boxes to put all paper they want recycled. I felt like I was helping make a difference in terms of recycling because I was equipping the teachers with the tools to help them recycle.
Football got underway on Friday afternoon and it was exciting to say the least, I joined football to develop my skills as a goalkeeper and my skills were certainly developed as I was allowed to play as a goalkeeper. Even though it had been a while since I'd last played, it was like riding a bike. I remembered all the skills I'd learned in the past even though I was pretty nervous and worried that I might make a mistake. In the end I came out more confident about my abilities and happy with the fact that I signed up
The SGA event that was scheduled for the 4th of September, a Saturday, was badly planned. The rest of the executive committee and I hadn't gone through the right channels for organizing the disco and in the final week we were rushing to get chaperones, security guards, tickets and posters ready. In the end we got everything ready and the entire SGA came in on Saturday at 2.00pm (the dance was scheduled to start at 6.00pm) and we began decorating and prepping the auditorium. In the end the dance was a success and went ahead without problems, although we would've liked a better turnout. What i learnt from this ordeal was to plan at least 2 weeks in advance for the next dance! What made us all proud, though, was the fact that we raised around $150 to donate to the relief effort in Pakistan, and that made us all feel as though the work we did was worth it
8 Critical Learning Outcomes
The IB developed a list of 8 critical outcomes to act as a criteria of sort for the CAS program. Any aspect of CAS that you interact with has to connect to one of these learning outcomes. By doing this the IB allows you to reflect on why you do what you do in the CAS program, rather than just doing CAS to accumulate hours and be done of it. Below are the 8 critical learning outcomes:
- Increased their awareness of their own strengths and areas for growth: They are able to see themselves as individuals with various skills and abilities, some more developed than others, and understand they can make choices about how they wish to move forward.
- Undertaken new challenges: A new challenge may be an unfamiliar activity, or an extension to an existing one.
- Planned and initiated activities: Planning and initiation will often be in collaboration with others. It can be shown in activities that are part of larger projects, for example, ongoing school activities in the local community, as well as in small student-led activities.
- Worked collaboratively with others: Collaboration can be shown in many different activities, such as team sports, playing music in a band, or helping in a kindergarten. At least one project involving collaboration and the integration of at least two of creativity, action and service, is required.
- Shown perseverance and commitment in their activities: At a minimum, this implies attending regularly and accepting a share of the responsibility for dealing with problems that arise in the course of activities.
- Engaged with issues of global importance: Students may be involved in international projects but there are many global issues that can be acted upon locally or nationally (for example, environmental concerns, caring for the elderly).
- Considered the ethical implications of their actions: Ethical decisions arise in almost any CAS activity (for example, on the sports field, in musical composition, in relationships with others involved in service activities). Evidence of thinking about ethical issues can be shown in various ways, including journal entries and conversations with CAS advisers.
- Develop new skills: As with new challenges, new skills may be shown in activities that the student has not previously undertaken, or in increased expertise in an established area.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Goals for Grade 11
CAS is something every IB Diploma student has to take part in. CAS stand for Creativity, Action, Service, and it deals with extra-curricular activities and engaging students in multiple aspects of extra-curricular activities. This blog will help track my development through the CAS program and it will help me record my feelings and thoughts throughout the next two years. To keep me focused through CAS I've set some goals for Grade 11:
- Be the most engaged SGA President I can be. As the SGA President there are certain expectations I have to live up to, many of which center around my campaign promises and annual school events organised by the SGA. The SGA will help me connect with all three aspects of the CAS program. This goal connects with multiple learning outcomes of the CAS program as it increases my awareness of a strength of mine and it will help me develop that strength (I have always considered myself a capable leader while knowing that i can grow as a leader), help me undertake new challenges (being president is new to me), plan and initiate activities (one of the main responsibilities of the SGA president) and help me engage with issues of global importance (the proceeds from our first event are going to helping the victims of the 2010 floods in Pakistan).
- Develop my football skills. I have already signed up for an after school activity that involves playing football. This will help me connect with the action part of CAS. In terms of critical learning outcomes, I will be able to develop existing skills, work collaboratively with others and show perseverance to an activity.
- Help DAWG branch out. As a student leader for DAWG (the Dog Awareness Welfare Group) I've noticed that there are ways that DAWG can improve, a prime example would be with our annual food drive. In years past I've noticed how the secondary school doesn't contribute nearly as much food for the dog pound as the primary school so I want to brainstorm with the rest of the members of DAWG to try something new. DAWG connects with the service part of CAS. DAWG will help me plan and initiate activities, work collaboratively with others, engage with the global issue of stray dogs and develop existing skills as I have previously been a leader in DAWG.
- Paint sets for the Primary Musical. This connects with creativity and service. I have never been a great painter (ask the Visual Arts teacher) and so I wanted to paint sets to develop a new skill.
- Get my PADI Certification. The school will be offering a diving activity that will allow students to get their PADI certification and i joined. This will connect with the action part of CAS. The activity will help me develop new skills.
- Become more environmentally conscious. I plan on doing this in my role with the Recycling Activity offered at OSC. We help the school recycle most of its paper and plastics and this would help me be more environmentally conscious. I'd also like to help Recycling branch out into possibly help the school converse electricity. Recycling will mainly help me consider the ethical implications of my actions and engage with an issue of global importance.
These 5 goals are goals I will do my best to achieve and I also feel that they would help me grow as a person. I look forward to the coming year, and I plan on remembering these goals at all times.
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