Creativity - Action - Service

Creativity ♫ Action ⚽︎ Service ✙

According to the International Bac. CAS requirements, students must meet all eight Learning Outcomes in order to successfully pass the Core Programme of the Diploma Program. We must accomplish these goals at least once in our 18 months and show evidence of each. However there will certainly be some where we accomplish several times over. So here they are! Check them out:

A simple collage I complied to show all eight Learning Outcomes for CAS

① Increase awareness of strengths and areas for growth

② Undertake new challenges

③ Plan and initiate activities

④ Work collaboratively with others

⑤ Show perseverance and commitment

⑥ Engage with issues of global importance

⑦ Consider ethical implications of actions

⑧ Develop new skills

For more information visit the IB Organisation or Wikipedia.

Disclaimer: All images used in the above collage is subject to copyright. I do not own any of these images nor do I have rights on them. Thank you for your attention.

Evita ☺

juggle JuGgLe JUGGLE!

Practice makes PERFECT

As part of my core CAS activity program, I must select, plan and execute an activity already suggested to us by our school and CAS co-ordinator. Thus, after careful selection, a friend and myself have both decided to challenge ourselves to a simple, challenging yet rewarding activity of - learning how to JUGGLE!

Activity Planning

In addition to mastering a new fun skill, juggling has some interesting health benefits. It improves your concentration through regular practice. As well as a physical activity, it involves brain simulation and visual simulation simultaneously. In fact this is the perfect activity to develop hand-eye coordination!

The Learning Outcomes which we will realise include: ① ② ③ ⑤ and ⑧.

We began our activity by firstly planning how we will obtain juggling balls. Instead of directly purchasing some good quality balls, we decided to make our own; the true meaning of a CAS activity.

easy steps to follow to make three useful juggling balls!

After some research in the World Wide Web, I felt confident to begin my DIY. Whilst making them, I snapped pictures of my progress and complied them into this collage for the sake of this blog post! It was really enjoyable making the three juggling balls and it took no longer than an hour to accomplish.

The next step was to find a pro-juggler to teach us the essential juggling skills. We contacted a friend of ours in Grade 10 and asked her to show us how to juggle. She was more than happy to demonstrate and also gave us helpful tips.

We then proposed to set simple goals for ourselves in order to achieve each intermediate step and be consequently motivated to continue further. So far, I have done 4.5 hours of juggling and achieved the following goals:

Beginner Phase:

☑ Throw one ball from right hand to left hand symmetrically centred above in front of my face

☑ Throw one ball from left hand to right hand symmetrically centred above in front of my face

☑ Throw one ball continuously from left hand to right hand and vice-versa.

Intermediate Phase:
☑ Juggle two balls and catch in each hand successfully once
☑ Juggle two balls and catch in each hand successfully five times
☑ Juggle two balls and catch in each hand successfully for more than 10 times
☑ Juggle two balls effortlessly starting with the left hand (less-dominant hand)

Advanced Phase:
☑ Juggle two balls continuously with the third ball held in the left hand
☑ Juggle three balls and catch in each hand successfully once
☑ Juggle three balls and catch in each hand successfully five times
☐ Juggle three balls and catch in each hand successfully for more than 10 times
☐ Juggle three balls and catch in each hand successfully for one full minute

Finally the GOLDEN GOAL…
☐ Juggle three balls symmetrically centred above in front of my face effortlessly

I am very pleased with my progress so far and I hope to accomplish and master the skill within no more than two hours of practice in school!

Reflection post coming soon…
Evita ☺

Tour Guiding at Open Day '14

The 27th of September was a special Saturday - OPEN DAY @ CIS!

A week ago on Friday, we were given badges and informed that our class would be representing our school tomorrow as Tour Guides (being the senior students). Thus it was a chance to transform the task into a CAS Activity which benefits us!

As a class, we commenced a brainstorming session to organise ourselves accordingly for the following day. After a productive discussion, we concluded with a time-table dividing our class into groups of pairs for each half-hour shift and exchanged phone numbers in-case back up Tour Guides will be required. Along with wearing the badges, we decided to dress in matching white tops and black bottoms or vice-versa, an attempt to unite our class and to give a diplomatic ambiance!

Activity Planning

We decided that this would be a purposeful activity because it will be challenging to engage with many visitors and to be friendly to potentially new students. Moreover, we will be the role models of our school and so must be persevered and committed to invite others to do the same. It will also have improved my communication skills in both English and German for I should be flexible in either languages to introduce the school environment to outsiders. The Learning Outcomes which we will have achieved include: ① ② ③ ④ ⑤ ⑥ ⑦ and ⑧.

As soon as the day began on Saturday, everyone was excited to begin, including the teachers and the parents who helped out! After half a day at school, and two of my shifts, the successful day came to an end. 

Reflection

I believed that even only after a short time, the full one-hour shift pushed my people skills to its best! I am aware that I attain a generally good amount of the communication skill, however I do need improvement in the language area; i.e. my German and French. I lack confidence at times as I introduce visitors in languages other than English which might come across as nervous and unnatural  I hope to work at it every time I am outside of school, so that I will be forced to communicate in German with others. Nonetheless I was successful at the job and managed to invite many visitors into our school that day.

My class really did undertake a new challenge as we were bustling around for brochures to hand out, explaining to the visitors about our school system along with the IB and showing them around to the various sample classes that were being held. Our co-ordination skill was also tested and it turned out that we had time-tabled our times perfectly! Additionally, we helped one another by encouraging them what to say when at the entrance welcoming others and what to do in order to attract their attention.

Seniors at work!

This short project benefitted my classmates as well as my school because it was a day to invite and interact with students outside, into our international school. If my class is required to tackle this task once more next year, we would be more experienced in how to behave towards others and perhaps help organise for Open Day more by decorating and cleaning etc. I would be thrilled to attempt at this CAS activity once again!

I think this was a truly beneficial task that my classmates can apply to all areas of learning. It showed that we must be confident in order to be communicators; persistent in order to be risk-takers; open-minded in order to be unbiased and considerate in order to be caring principled thinkers.

Evita ☺