Project Week CAS Reflection
For project week, me and a group of four other students planned to go to Cambodia to work with the Green Umbrella organization, as well as take part in a cycling activity from north to south Cambodia. Our first steps included communicating with the chairs of the Global Concern, to make sure we carried out the goals that they associated with the organization. This was a fairly simple process as two of my group members were co-chairs of the GC, therefore we had all the information necessary to make a successful visit to the organization.
My job was to communicate directly with the head of the organization in Cambodia and express our interest in collaborating with them in order to develop their teaching program. I feel as though it took a lot of perseverance and diligence as I was the main point of contact between the organization and our group. Over the course of a few weeks, emails were exchanged in order to organize a detailed itinerary, discussing the daily activities we would participate in.
As a group, one of our main concerns was to make sure that our visit to the organization would be effective. In addition to directly taking action for this cause, we also kept in mind the importance of being respectful and forming meaningful relationships with the students and volunteers at the organization. In order to do this, we carried out research and spoke to individuals who had experience with the organization and Cambodian culture in general, in order to better understand how to be self-aware during the trip.
Although we did not get the opportunity to go on the trip, I feel as though I grew a lot as a person and developed my understanding of perspective. Not only did I challenge myself through volunteering to have a main communicative role, I also feel as though I had a personal responsibility to make realistic plans – in order to benefit both the organization and my group members. I feel as though I had to be principled throughout, and keep an open mind in situations so that I could promote a constructive environment within my group. I think that these are skills that I can carry forward through my higher education and in general when forming connections with new people.
Overall, I feel as though the project week planning experience was influential on my group as we all experienced a new side of responsibility, and sometimes were pushed out of our comfort zone. Although I am slightly disappointed that I wasn’t able to physically go on the trip, I feel as though it was a positive learning experience.
English EOY Reflection
I think the most memorable pieces of work that I will take with me are Cyrano de Bergerac and The Great Gatsby. In both these pieces, the authors present interesting conflicts between the male characters and show how the course of their lives is ultimately dependent on women and the decisions that men make for them. In addition, these pieces are so memorable because, through the lens of the global issues of culture, identity, and community, the author characterises the males as egotistical and arrogant, when in fact they seem to be not in control over their own lives.
The biggest takeaway from poetry tasks has been the importance of showing not only what a poet chooses to and the effect it may have but also to question why exactly they chose to do so, and their intended meaning. By taking this factor into account, I have been able to elevate my analysis by exploring the literary techniques in more depth.
Pottery CAS Reflection 3
Kahaani CAS Reflection 2
Kahaani CAS Reflection 1
LO4 – Commitment
- How did I show perseverance, resilience, and commitment in this activity?
- How did I help others or how did others help me to stay committed to this activity?
Since I am not a dancer, participating in this activity definitely began as a challenge. With the quick and complex dance routines I initially found it difficult to perfect the moves and become comfortable with them. However, our dance group is extremely collaborative, perhaps because we are all familiar with each other, which further aids in the success of this activity. In addition, it is a very comfortable environment and thus I was not shy to ask questions and get help in order to improve my dance skills. Moreover, the dance group environment is very stress-free and understanding, which not only made me feel more comfortable dancing but also made me excited to attend every rehearsal and ensure that I was a committed member of the dance group. Furthermore, this type of environment allowed me to begin assisting others and especially working with my dance partner to make sure that we were performing the dance moves correctly and with proper form.
- What impact did my commitment have on the success of the activity?
By consistently staying committed to this activity, by attending every rehearsal during school and the holidays, I have improved my dance skills to another level and become much more comfortable in the dance group. As a result, I have been more successful in the dance routines as I am able to correctly perform the moves and ensure that the dances look clean and rehearsed. Thus, my commitment has aided in the success of the activity as we progress through rehearsals, leading up to the final performance in a months time.
- What things affected my commitment levels?
The initial challenges I faced did make it harder for me to stay motivated during rehearsals, as lots of time and energy was required. However, the fun and excitement of dancing and interacting with familiar friends made me very motivated to attend every rehearsal and ensure that I was putting my maximum potential effort into each dance, as I also wanted to improve my dance skills and appear properly rehearsed on stage.
Pottery CAS Reflection 2
LO2 Challenge
What did I find challenging?
After not doing pottery since middle school, I was fairly nervous before I began making my pot as I was not sure of which method to construct it and how to achieve the shape that I wanted. I found that ensuring the pot was stable and relatively symmetrical was challenging as the coils were not always the same size. I believe that the hardest task I came across was getting the right shape. Initially, I wanted the top of the pot to become smaller, so that the thickest part of the pot was the middle. Yet, this was hard to achieve as it would mean that there would be less stability at the top, and I did not want it to collapse. Hence, I decide to keep the top fairly large, which gave the final result of a plant pot-like shape.
What actions did I take to overcome these challenges?
To overcome these challenges, I made sure that I was ready to adapt my initial ideas in order to suit what would be best for the pot, in terms of stability. I also turned to my peers and the teacher advisor for assistance on how to best approach constructing the pot. In addition, I used my previous knowledge of using coils to form a pot, which meant that I did not spend large amounts of time experimenting with methods of constructing the pot manually.
What new skills have I developed?
One of the things I learnt during the construction of this pot was a tool that could be used to make evenly sized coils. Beforehand, I always used to make the coils by hand; rolling them out. However, by using this tool not only was I more time efficient but I also increased the stability of my pot as all the coils lined up on top of each other in uniform. I also experimented with the other tools to create an abstract effect on the surface of the pot.
How did I measure my improvement?
After finishing my main pot, I decided to work on something smaller, such as a tea light holder. Besides that the pot was smaller, I found it a lot easier to make it because of the work I had just done on a much larger pot. This meant that I was more independent and confident as I progressed through this activity. I enabled myself to be more creative and experimental with this second project, which allowed room for more fun and excitement. By making these two pots, I was able to visually measure the improvement I had made so far.
Unseen Text – Heart of Darkness
Text A
- How would you describe this voice?
- To what extent does it help us understand Heart of Darkness?
- What does this introduction to Lord Jim say about Conrad’s preoccupations, concerns, and style?
The voice of the this passage begins with a fairly frustrating tone as the author struggles to understand how some reviewers felt the need to point out the credibility of the novel and thus failed to have a more creative vision of the novel. However, as the text proceeds, the tone of the author alters to be more reflective as he explains the formation of Heart of Darkness.
The text helps us to understand how the Heart of Darkness is a “free and wandering tale,” in which the author has intended to leave plenty of room for his readers’ to come up with their own interpretations as they follow the “simple and sensitive character,” that Conrad has created. The novel that Conrad has wrote is very much reflective of how it was created. In the sense that the event (pilgrim ship episode) was the only thought that Conrad initially had for this story and the rest that followed was not planned.
It is the fact that men talked “all the time” and “other men to listen for so long,” that the author explained is what made the novel in fact “interesting.” The text shows how the author came to the revelation that it is the “listeners’ endurance” that reasons why this novel is worth reading and more importantly writing in the first place.
Paper 1 Reflection
Something I did well:
- Pay attention to the isolated line, and how it is used as a turning point
- Deep insights
Something I would like to do better:
- Properly differentiating between “the speaker,” “the poet,” “persona,” and “his.”
- Giving convincing arguments for lineation and the intention of the poet (e.g. enjambment)
- More careful attention to small details
- e.g. quoting correctly and therefore interpreting a metaphor correctly
- More variation in terms of vocabulary
- Better presentation of ideas in general.
Pottery CAS Reflection 1
LO5 Collaboration
Although my peers and I made our pottery products individually, the initial process of planning and discussing how we should approach our projects was definitely a collaborative effort. As the students who I worked with as well as myself were fairly new to pottery and the mechanisms behind what makes an aesthetically pleasing and sturdy pot, we found our first few sessions challenging. However, we decided to take an entire lesson to plan and brainstorm what we would like to make. Due to the vast amount of freedom we had to decide what we would like to make, this process was difficult but also incredibly creative. Ultimately, by the end of the lesson we were able to form individual ideas of our first project in this activity, through online research and also by asking questions to the teacher supervisors who already had pre-existing knowledge of pottery.
I believe that through our collaboration, we were able to discover new ideas as well as suggest our known. This meant that the ideas we had were endless, which gave us a great imagination and sense of creativity, which is crucial for being successful in this activity.
LO6 Global Value
Although I had not initially thought of the global significance of pottery, I began to get an idea of how pottery can be used on a global scale and carry important functions other than decorative elements. In this activity itself, although I am focusing on aesthetic pieces, I did carry out initial research which led to me to how ceramics are used in global development. What I learnt was that the use of ceramics as technology could be used to revolutionise industrial processes on a smaller scale. What I found most striking was that some cook stoves can cause pollution, and that women and children in developing countries suffer from respiratory illnesses such as pneumonia, caused my smoke and fumes caused by cook stoves and lack of ventilation. Sustainable ceramic technologies can be used to reduce these fumes as well as treat pathogen-contaminated water. This type of technology is not only sustainable but also has low costs which makes it a suitable alternative for daily appliances. After my initial projects which are mainly decorative elements, I hope to carry out additional research to investigate how I could create something that promotes the global advantages of using ceramics. Lastly, I think that even by conducting individual research on pottery, I was able to grasp a deeper understanding of how this material can be used globally and carry such importance.