Update: Group Reflection on Max-Planck Show Garden Trips

A flowery visit!

As planned with several teachers and Mr Hombrecher last week, we had a get-together in school today at lunch time. This meeting would enable us to reflect on what we achieved during the trips and to share our comments or suggestions for improvements for future visits. 

Just as we were sitting down around the table, Mr Hombrecher presented me with a lovely bouquet of flowers freshly picked from the institute’s garden: a token of appreciation for all my hard work and effort. I feel very grateful to have received such a simple yet meaningful gift as I was not expecting any appreciation at all for my devotion in this project.

Today's meeting with Mr Green on the left, Mrs Hoffzimmer,
Mr Hombrecher and myself on the right!

Together with the teachers whose classes I accompanied this trip with, we began to exchange our opinions of the success of the trips and about what we learned during the whole experience. Simultaneously, Mrs Hoffzimmer produced a print-out of our school’s November newsletter to our guest. Within the newletter, there was one full page dedicated to the excursions - including a brief explanation, photographs that I snapped and even reviews of three students sharing their personal experiences! In addition to the flowers, I felt overjoyed to see the newsletter page - check it out:

Taken from Cologne International School November 2014 Newsletter

Overall, we had a very fruitful discussion regarding the current state of the show garden and also talked about the benefits and importance for the younger generations, i.e. the ‘city’ children, some of whom have never played in a garden before, to see and experience such natural environment in action. Furthermore, we talked about how consumers have a fixed vision of how vegetables in supermarkets should appear. As a consequence of this perfectionist vision we own and the tough demand we place, consumers throw away all the undesired food and immediately label them as waste. How irresponsible of us! Apparently, in Germany alone, every person wastes an average of 80 kilograms per annum! It is a shame that we raise major awareness about poverty in other parts of the world when we can simply begin change within ourselves in our own countries.

Additionally, another science teacher of the secondary school began to discuss with Mr Hombrecher about potential visits with older grades. I am very pleased to have been able to meet and keep in touch with such people and to make connections between our international peace school and their international research institute. 

A signature collection sheet to record all the supervisors that were
involved in this project

My Numbers spreadsheet to record my progress during this CAS activity
as well as all the hours completed

This CAS activity has thus officially come to a successful end. I have learned so much over the past weeks as I organised and executed the trips (altogether spending a total time of about 17 hours!). I hope to have a chance to work with them again in the future.

Evita ☺

Non-CAS: A Game of Ultimate Frisbee

Ultimately Ultimate Frisbee

Every Fridays, during the last two lessons of the day before we are dismissed from school, my senior class comes together to discuss our current CAS activities as well as plan our future Class CAS project(s). This Friday was no different - or so we thought!

Silhouettes of one's body movements as they play ultimate frisbee*

Our CAS co-ordinator, Mr Keane, spontaneously announced that we will playing ultimate frisbee in the sports hall today as a class. Our initial reaction was simply: WHAT? But after we digested the shock of not having our sports kit with us, we were excited for something different for a change.

As we split up into teams of five (mine included Mr Keane as we were short by one person) we discussed the rules of the game and began to play our first round. 

Twenty-five minutes, sweaty faces and several scores later - Mr Keane and a teammate of ours decided to take a break and sit out for the rest of the game. We were pleased with our score since we were leading by a few, however this meant that it was up to us three to handle the opposing team of five. Firstly, we attempted to persuade one of the other teammates to join us because we were winning, however their team bond was so strong that they decided they would rather lose together than to join the winning side. 

Enough said! The three of us were tired but we were now more motivated than ever to take on our stubborn opponents. As Mr Keane called for the second-half, we quickly came up with a strategy: one of us should be the decoy and run around distracting them as if calling for attention, whereas it would be the two players throwing the frisbee back and forth. As we tried it several times, it seemed that the plan only functioned for the first few seconds and then we would revert to playing our roles effectively as a team without any specific game plan. I think we worked better when we go with the flow of the game and play around the other players, instead of following a concrete arrangement.

Forty-five minutes, bruised knees and a small rip to my jeans later, we conquered with 11 to 8 - technically. In truth, our CAS coordinator called for a ‘sudden-death’ match point game and the opposing team, who then scored last, received the victory. It was an exhausting but very rewarding match.

This is exactly the reason why I love team in comparison to individual sports. Team sports does not simply depend on talent levels of players, but of the team coordination that is performed in order to reach a goal together. This requires good sportsmanship, strong support, excellent communication and understanding between players. Essentially, it did not matter who ultimately won. Instead, it was the fact that we played together during our CAS hour that brought us closer as a class. For this reason I believe we accomplished the following Learning Outcomes: ①, ②, ④, ⑤ and ⑧. We increased our areas of strength as we played Frisbee, undertook a spontaneous new challenge together as a team, worked collaboratively to score, showed perseverance throughout the activity as one team was behind by a few points and the other had two players less, increased our coordination skills and team effort!

Hopefully we will play more team sports such as this one in the near future to continue developing our teamwork and class harmony.

* Disclaimer: image is subject to copyright and belongs to ThinkStock by Getty Images.

Evita ☺

Non-CAS: Rollerblading

Let's go rollerblading!

Exactly one week ago, I had that very thought in my head just as I was walking home from a CAS activity that I have been committed to for the past month (see previous post!). The weather was simply perfect for autumn: about 18 degrees, accompanied with the gentlest breeze; curdles of clouds scattered in the vast blue sky with the sun rays dazzling the roads and houses.

The view from my home of the perfect autumn weather

It could not have been more inviting to spend the rest of the afternoon outside as the sun sets! As I changed my sneakers for rollerblades, I plugged in my headphones and played my classic Gospel playlist, thankful for the weather and the productive day I had had.

Let's go rollerblading!

As I went rollerblading along the path of the golf-course here in my village, it seemed like I was not the only one who had the enthusiastic idea to spend the afternoon outside, as I passed groups of locals who were taking a leisurely walk and then the busy playground filled with active children.

Rollerblading is one of my hobbies as it allows the most liberating sensation while feeling at peace simultaneously. When I rollerblade, there is not much to think about but to accept what you observe through your eyes. It makes you more aware that there is life outside when you actually want to appreciate the natural world we live in. It also happens to make your current biggest problem seem like a microcosm compared to everything outside your life.

The only thing I believe to be like it, would be ice-skating. However, this only works in cold conditions and is mostly available in ice-rinks. Whereas rollerblading is more flexible on the terrain and there is much more to see outside than in an ice-rink. Check out some photos I snapped whilst on the go that afternoon:

Panorama view #1 as I rollerblade outside my village

Panorama view #2 as I rollerblade outside my village

A glorious sunset on a glorious late autumn afternoon

On my way blading back home!

This has been a simple blog post explaining a hobby of mine and although I am aware it is not CAS, it is a favourable activity of mine that I would like to share with my readers. Just a little insight in this IB CAS blogger's other activities!

Yours truly,

Evita ☺

Volunteer Work at Bonifatius Retirement Home

Volunteering is truly inspiring! 

In general, I believe volunteer work requires a ceaseless amount of effort and energy. As well as those elements, determination and encouragement is vital to lead a successful experience. Thus, I have chosen to take on the challenge of committing to volunteer work at a senior retirement home as another CAS Service activity.

Activity Planning

At the start of our two-week autumn break, my friend and I decided to visit a senior retirement home located in our village to ask whether we are able to help and volunteer there regularly during our holiday. We walked there together on a Sunday looking for someone in charge however the nurses  were the only ones available. They advised us to return the following day as the social worker manager will be present and she will be the right person to discuss this with. 

From the Monday, 6th of October onwards, we were officially accepted to volunteer for a couple of hours during the weekdays there at Bonifatius Retirement Home. We met, discussed and planned with Ms Brill, manager of the Social Service (in German: Sozialer Dienst), what we would be willing to do and demonstrated our perseverance to her. On the same day, we started our first activity with the inhabitants by supporting them in an Arts & Crafts session. I was slightly shy at first but Ms Kirszniok helped us to get comfortable talking to the elderly by asking them simple kind questions and giving them advice as to how to be more creative when it comes to making the bird houses. She informed us that some might be reluctant to do these group activities as they consider them to be childish, when in fact they would be training their cognitive processing and expanding their creativity whatever their age. We stayed from 10 O’clock until noon on our first day.

Decorating bird houses with the elderly ladies on Day 1

This will be a very purposeful activity to increase my people skills and to learn to interact with seniors citizens who deserve respect, care and attention. Nevertheless, it is a personal challenge to engage with them because it will be in German, my second foreign language, and because I must be continuously committed to provide them with assistance. By volunteering regularly, I will build on my self-esteem which will be very beneficial in the future as I engage with people wherever I may go. Additionally, gaining extra work experience is always rewarding.

Throughout the two weeks there and even after that, Ms Brill will be our supervisor as well as her colleagues Ms Kirszniok  and Ms Nowak. I truly hope to achieve all eight Learning Outcomes as I dedicate my free time for this CAS activity continuously.

Reflection

On Tuesday, we attended a discussion round regarding Oktoberfest, a classic German festival that has now become the world's largest funfair festival held for 16 days, in the two weeks leading up to October; where over 6 million people visit every year. We were to invite the senior citizens by knocking on their apartment doors and asking them if they were interested to come join this discussion group. I felt more confident to approach them this time however, I did not act as natural as I normally would around them. As they gather around the main table, we began offering them beverages and helped them to their seats before Ms Kirszniok would introduce them to the topic. It was a great activity that I learned from, as I had not known so many facts about Oktoberfest before, and it benefitted the elderly by memory recollection and processing.

Discussion round on Oktoberfest

The next day, we played indoor bowling and board games with the elderly living in the first floor, as most were handicapped and unable to be as active due to old age. My friend and I assisted them during bowling and cheered them on as they played eagerly. An hour later, we played Memory Cards with two women who we soon started to converse with about our current interests. It was an enjoyable two hours and it was uplifting to know that you were somehow able to help those who have supported past generations long before our generation. 

On Thursday, we celebrated Oktoberfest together with the majority of the inhabitants of the retirement home! This was incredibly entertaining and although we were not familiar with most of the Schlager songs they sang along to, we clapped and danced nonetheless to the joyful tunes. We served them typical Oktoberfest food such as Bavarian white sausages with sweet mustard and pretzels and offered beverages as well as Kölsch beer to get into the festival mood. After a long three hours we helped some back to their apartments and wished them a good evening. This was my favourite day of all and perhaps it broke the ice of feeling awkward around the inhabitants as I grew used to their behaviours and pronunciations too.

One side of the cafeteria ready for Oktoberfest...

... and the other side of the cafeteria filled with excited senior citizens

Dancing to Schlager music!

Dancing with the elderly!

Dancing with the elderly!

By Friday, we were familiar with the environment we worked in and were very comfortable with the people living and working there. Frankly, I felt that I needed to try and speak more confidently in German with the seniors as it would be better to make mistakes in grammar trying, instead of speaking in simple short sentences that are grammatically safe. This time it was another discussion round regarding Oktoberfest but with another group of senior citizens. Afterwards, we helped them to paint pictures with water-colours!

Water-colour painting with Mrs Gersch (left) and Mrs Freitag (right)

It was overall a productive but exhausting week. I truly admire social workers who work in retirement homes wherever in the world. It requires full-time dedication to care for the elderly and occupy their time with fulfilling activities yet most people do not acknowledge the hard work that they do.

The following week, we organised a grand game of Bingo, had another two large Discussion Rounds about the Autumn season on two separate floors, i.e. two separate groups of inhabitants, and finally an hour-long senior gymnastics session to improve motor coordination in our bodies.

Preparing for a game of Bingo!

Noch eine Erzählrunde!

Throughout the hours volunteering during the two weeks, I learned to be more engaging with strangers as you never know how they will react until you try to interact with them. I believe the reason why most people avoid volunteer work is the fear of trying something completely different, going out and taking a chance to help others whom you are foreign to. As well as the fear of being judged and scrutinised by others for who you are.

My personal fear was conversing in German. However, I am aware now that that is a completely invalid excuse. Developing communicative skills is very important and thus whenever I was able to bring out a smile from them, it felt overwhelmingly rewarding. To think that I was able to influence such a wise aged person to be simply happy in the present moment made my throat numb. I hope to influence them positively every time I visit and to bring them an optimistic vibe into their lives.

The two week program we had planned for our volunteering with
our supervisors signatures!

To conclude, the whole experience of volunteering allowed us to complete 22 hours of Service! We continue to visit the retirement home even after the two weeks, once every week during the weekend.

My Numbers spreadsheet to record my progress during this CAS activity
as well as the hours completed

I hope this post did not overwhelm you and see you in my next post very soon!

Evita ☺

Grade 3 & 4 Max-Planck Show Garden Trips

Get Organised!

A month ago, I began organising something both exciting and educational for the younger students in my school. To be honest, it has always been a personal goal of mine to organise something for students, which allows them to experience what they learn rather than only to learn by listening and reading. 

After an unforgettably wonderful internship at the Max-Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne, I had been invited to visit the institute’s Show-Garden that was on display beautifully during the temperate summer months. During the tour and throughout my working weeks, I felt greatly inspired by plant biology and mother nature. Thus after much consideration and a ceaseless amount of support, I finally decided to plan, organise and initiate my first excursion for Year 3 & 4 classes in my school!

Work Experience at Max-Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in July 2014

Activity Planning

This whole process and CAS activity is most certainly a purposeful activity as I will have further improved my organisation skills as well as my public relations skills. I shall have learned to be more confident as I contact unfamiliar people and learn to work successfully with them on this project I hope to achieve. Furthermore, I believe it will be very challenging yet rewarding to accomplish such a task and to interact with children of ages 7 to 10, as well as their teachers.

To begin, I met with the primary school principle, Mr Pitzner and was introduced to a science teacher from the corresponding grades, Mrs Hoffzimmer. Following a productive meeting, I attempted to call the Max-Planck Wissenschaftsscheune (WiS), which literally translates to Science Barn in English. Unfortunately, the number provided in the WiS brochure did not function, leading me to contact my supervisor from the institute, as we kept in touch even after my work experience weeks.

The very next day, I managed to reach the person in charge: Mr Hombrecher. As arranged, we met in school and discussed in detail the necessary information required for us to organise a special week for all five Year 3/4 visits to the Show Garden this October, directly after the two week autumn holiday. Despite that I had to sacrifice an hour of Volleyball Club for the meeting In the next week, I was contacting both parties back and forth to update and provide them with further information of the excursions. As a result, I organised little meetings with both Mrs Hoffzimmer and Mr Hombrecher, my supervisors for this CAS activity along with a meet-and-greet for the teachers of the classes visiting. On one occasion, Mr Hombrecher was able to visit one class and introduced them into the world of plant biology.

Mr Hombrecher right of Mrs Neuhausen as she introduces the class to him

Reflection

Immediately after the mid-autumn holiday (and meanwhile tackling another CAS activity - which I will be reflecting upon super soon!), I returned to the first day of school and Day One of the five class trips with much energy! First up was Ms Hoffzimmer’s and Ms. Neuhausen’s class to visit Max-Planck’s Science Barn and Show Garden. The class was extremely enthusiastic and ready for a Science trip. To begin with, as we were walking about 2.0 km for 25 minutes from our school to the WiS, I asked several children what they expect to see and do today at the institute’s show garden. Many, to my surprise, only expected to see “nature” and had a vague idea of what the trip will be about. They were informed that it had a connection to their upcoming science topic which was Ecology. Nevertheless, they were in high spirits and in order to get them even more interested, I explained to them what I observed the last time I visited and told them about the vast variety of plants and vegetation that the Max-Planck Institute learn and investigate!

After about 3 hours at the Show Garden, it was unfortunately time for us to leave. The entire class had enjoyed the tour with witty Mr Hombrecher and his colleague, a challenging and interesting scavenger hunt for the origins of many common vegetations and also the quick race up the side of a small hill in the garden itself! The children learned about the origins of many crops that even I was unsure where some originated from: e.g. pumpkins originally came from South America and Rapeseed derived from Germany! Additionally they were taught about the important roles insects had in the garden as well as the Lotus effect.

One half of the class started with the tour and the other half - already on top of the hill after the race!

Off to a scavenger hunt!

Team work needed during the scavenger hunt activity

The next four days, of which I accompanied a further two, had similar programs for each class. On day two, I joined Mr Green and Ms Bangert’s class, of whom the children were all very obedient. Therefore I found this class to be the easiest to accompany. This time, the children were granted their wish to harvest some plants of their choice anywhere in the garden. Naturally, all went ecstatic and as a student myself, so did I, and raced with some towards the chilli and paprika plantations.

Class 3/4 C debriefing inside the Science Barn before heading out to the Show Garden

Tour begins first at the scent garden part of the whole Show Garden

Class harvesting time!

On Thursday, I lead Class 3/4 E to the Show Garden and this time we harvested mostly potatoes, carrots and one big pumpkin for the class to cook up and serve. Following the rest of the program for the day, I asked Ms Nowak's and Ms Augustine’s class if they enjoyed the trip: they all agreed joyously that it was a “super fun day” out! In fact, before I was to leave for my lesson back in school and they were about to go for lunch, they all presented me with an applause and thanked me for this trip. I was overjoyed and am very grateful for all the help and support I received to achieve this CAS activity successfully.

Ms Augustine's group being introduced to Cotton plant

Discussion at the world map of the origins of many various crops in the Science Barn

Ms Nowak's group working together to investigate the Lotus effect

Overall, it was very amusing to accompany these three classes. Although I did find at times that some children were slightly harder to control than others, as they would be interested or distracted by something else and not concentrated on the current activity. However to deal with this, I would tell them that something interesting is being said that they are completely missing out on and this revert their interest back to the present.

Learning how to interact with younger pupils of my school was a goal that I certainly achieved. I learned to be more comfortable with these children as they are so open-minded and curious about nearly everything. I think this trip has benefitted them well to introduce them into the world of Plant Biology at an early age and to interest them in our environment that suffers greatly from our developing world.

Of the 8 Learning Outcomes: I have…

1. increased my social skills from students from 7-10 years of age to teachers of my school and lecturers of the Max-Planck Institute.
2. undertaken the challenge of organising my very first school trip for Grade 3 and Grade 4 students.
3. planned, organised and initiated all five class trips successfully in collaboration with responsible adults.
4. worked together co-ordinately with teachers, specifically Ms Hoffzimmer and with Mr Hombrecher of the Institute.
5. dedicated time and effort into the trip organisation, sacrificing lessons (like SL Psychology, HL Biology, and HL Chemistry etc.) in order to accompany classes as well as accepted a share of responsibility for dealing with little problems during the trips.
6. engaged with an aspect of global importance: educating younger students of my school, the next generations, and providing them with an experience relevant to the importance of ecology.
7. considered the ethical issues that arise when dealing with students and the conditions of farming that provide consumers globally with organic vegetation.
8. acquired a brand new skill to organise school excursions and developing contacts with teachers in my school.

One half of the vast Max-Planck Show Garden

I hope to organise similar trips in the future for other classes of a different age and since I have improved my organisation skills and people skills with this successful CAS activity, I am confident that I shall be able to handle similar organisation tasks in the future.

Evita ☺