Author: mclau55618@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg

Lighthouse Motor Skills Reflection 2

mclau55618@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg Service 0 Comment

After our first two visits with the children, I feel it is important to highlight the challenges that have been undertaken and identify ways in which we can develop new skills to improve them. One of the main barriers that we have faced is our barriers in communication, as we can only speak and understand English we cannot communicate with the students with a hearing impairment without an interpreter. In the next seven sessions, the children are unable to visit us, and as such we will be learning Singapore sign language through the use of online videos, in order to be able to make an effort to be able to interact with all students. We are also developing our body language and facial expression to appear more friendly and approachable, with the goal of allowing the children to feel comfortable in the new environment. This was important in tackling learning outcome 2, we were adapting to the challenges that faced us and took action through our planning to improve this and achieve our goal.

Another piece of information that we discovered was that the visually impaired (VI) and hearing-impaired (HI) children could perform activities alongside each other. Initially, we had developed separate activities for the VI and HI children, however, through trial and error, we discovered that the children prefer to choose their own activities rather than to be assigned ones, and can often interact with all kinds of students. This allowed us to see the students working collaboratively on different art pieces, no matter the disability. It also changed the way that we collaborated on the activities.

One main challenge that we faced was surrounding commitment. We only have a limited number of sessions to plan our activities and brainstorm new ways to keep the children engaged. One of the things we noticed was that attendance was much lower for the sessions were we planned which in turn, made it very difficult to run sessions with the children. This was a challenge we faced which we had to overcome with collaboration. We divided the volunteers up into groups, each leading a different activity. Even when volunteers were not at the sessions, we learned that good collaboration and communication was crucial to maintaining organisation in the sessions. We achieved this through emails and follow-ups to delegate tasks, running smooth and successful sessions with the children, tackling learning outcome 5.

Representation

mclau55618@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg English, Uncategorized 0 Comment

Something that we discussed in class was the differences in races and how they identify themselves. The example that was brought up was how Indian people may move to Australia for example and identify as Australian however it is completely different the other way around. Part of the reason I believe that this happens is that the nationality of many Asian countries can be identified by appearance however this is not the case for white people. Someone from Australia, America or England may look the exact same but have a different identity. This has pushed me to think about how we identify ourselves and our race and what may be the reasons that someone might identify as a different race? That being said, I also recognise my bias in this subject, being from two privileged countries as a white female so may not understand their background/ reasoning for preferring a different race.

Advertisement Analysis

mclau55618@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg English 0 Comment

This is an advertisement for a diamond company with the words ‘and she thought these things only happened in movies’. In this ad, the phrase is meant to express the excitement she experiences from receiving a diamond, as it ‘only happen[s] in the movies’. The phrase does, however, has an unintended meaning. The use of the word ‘she’ belittles the woman in this scenario and the plain background with the diamonds on top provides the impression that ‘she’ is only interested in diamonds. Additionally, the comparison to a movie fantasy demonstrates the importance of a diamond in this woman’s life, implying that it is the role of the woman to love jewellery and appreciate gifts from their husbands. The company that makes these advertisements, develops their ads to strictly male audiences in order to convince them to buy their wives a diamond. In that case, by referring to the woman as ‘she’ and implying they are to solely love diamonds, the company is creating a culture of men that believe they must buy diamonds for their little wife.

The use of the word ‘she’ can also influence one’s interpretation of the phrase. It could be understood that the ‘things’ that ‘only happen in movies’ could refer to the belittlement of women. Unintentionally, it has the meaning that she thought a woman being treated this way only happened in movies, however in receiving the gift of the diamond she understands that it is a reality.

Ta Nehisi Coates Words

mclau55618@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg Uncategorized 0 Comment

Ta Nehisi Coates argues that there are certain words that belong to certain groups and shouldn’t necessarily be used openly or freely by those that are not associated with that group. One of the references he made was to the n-word and how it is not appropriate for a white person to use it in order to mock or associate themselves with the black community. I agree with this statement as it is a relationship and community that white people have no connection to this, they should not be allowed to use that word. Additionally, it is part of a mentality that certain white people believe they are entitled to what they wish, for example, they are entitled to the use of such a word. In a way, the fact that this word is taboo to those that are not black, it creates a social divide in which black people have the power over white people, contradicting history, and potentially the reason so many racist white people misuse this word.

The comparison of such is not extended to solely race, but many different groups have words that are ‘off-limits’ to those not within the group. For example, Coates mentioned that his wife and her friends refer to each other as ‘bitch’ but that it would not be correct for him to do the same. Historically, derogatory words such as ‘bitch’ were more widely accepted but it is interesting how people cannot grasp that the same avoidance of words such as ‘bitch’ should be extended to the n-word.

Reception of the Help

mclau55618@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg English 1 Comment

In the New York Times article, Stockett recalls how she got the original idea for the book. Although the book sheds light on the perspective of the maids, the way Stockett talks about her characters provides an interesting question on the representation of identity. “She worried that readers wouldn’t trust her if she only wrote about black characters” and “felt better” once having written Skeeters perspective as well. Given the racism and prejudice black people already face, it is quite naive of Stockett to “feel better” about showing the white perspective. Even though Skeeter was more liberal than her childhood friends, she did not necessarily think of blacks and whites as equal. As she is a white woman writing the book, by feeling the need to include a white person she is reinforcing the racial stereotypes already in place. It can be argued that it is her novel and is fiction thus she may write in any perspective she wishes, however, it is important to recognise the irony of a white woman writing about a black woman’s experiences from imagination. That being said, if it encourages people to talk about the problems taking place in society, is the potential inaccuracy of the black characters cancelled out by the public attention to the black community received?

Football Reflection 1

mclau55618@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg Activity 0 Comment

This year I will be doing football and attempting to build on my skills from the previous years on the team. For the first time, I will be captaining the team which is a very new skill. As such, I will be tackling LO1, to reflect and identify my own strengths which will enable me to be a good leader. Additionally, I will discuss with the team and the coach to identify areas for growth and improvement as captain which will permit me to be the best role model I can. Now given more responsibility, I think it is very important that I reflect on my performances during training and games so I understand where I can improve my game. I can also discuss with coaches anything they feel that I can improve on or any areas that we must focus on as a team, in addition to identifying our strengths in the sport.

In doing so, I will also to addressing LO2 as it is very important that I develop skills and identify challenges that we have undergone as a team in order to develop fully. With a new position on the team, it will definitely be a challenge initially, learning how to adapt and take on this role. It will enable me to develop my leadership skills as well as my communication and teamwork which come naturally with the sport. It will increase my expertise in being a team player as well as adapting to the new and welcomed challenge of being a leader.

DJ Club Reflection 1

mclau55618@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg Creativity 0 Comment

DJ Club is an activity where we learn how to mix different tracks and create engaging ones to interest an audience. I was interested in doing the activity as I really enjoy listening to music and was fascinated by the creative process behind mixing different songs. It is a small group so each class we get to practice our skills in the activity. I aim to meet LO2 as I am developing new skills because I have never attempted to DJ before. I believe that this will be challenging as we only have a short amount of time to learn how to DJ and the sessions are fairly infrequent, once a week. Additionally, I will also be meeting LO4 as I know that it will be difficult to learn such a new skill but I will practice and persevere. I would like to be able to smoothly mix two songs by the end of the activity which will count as my performance for CAS. I will regularly ask the teacher in charge for feedback and help in order to ensure my progress is on track.

The Help Book Cover

mclau55618@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg Uncategorized 0 Comment

The seemingly unrelated book cover for the Help could represent how people were wary of using a black woman on a cover. This is ironic as a large message visited throughout the book is the idea of black representation and by not using a picture of black people they are contradicting their own message. The cover is fairly plain but the 3 birds on the cover could represent different characters in the book. For example, the two birds on the left could be representative of Minny and Aibileen and the bird on the right could show Skeeter. This would work as the two birds on the left are closer, like in the book, and Skeeter is on the outside. The bird on the right has its head faced down, representing shame or lack of pride, this can reflect how Skeeter is ashamed of how white people treat black people. Additionally, the shading around the two birds on the left and the light around the bird on the right could reflect how society saw black people as less meaningful

The Characteristicss of EI

mclau55618@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg Uncategorized 0 Comment

Strengths: One of my strengths is being curious about people. I have lived in many different countries and am always curious to understand other backgrounds and points of view and how they differ from mine.

Weaknesses: One of my weaknesses from the different characteristics is seeking perfection. I often find that I seek perfection in my everyday tasks and struggle to appreciate something if it was not done to my idea of ‘perfection’. It is relative to my approach to tasks and not to do with external pressures so it is something that I will try to work on.

Representation in the Help

mclau55618@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg English 0 Comment

Issues with representation in the help:

  • a white woman talking about a black woman’s problem

Even though it is not the black woman talking, if the white woman has a platform and the ability to tell a story to a large audience, so long as they are ok with it, I do not think it classifies as misrepresentation. The maids telling the story don’t actually want to be identified as despite the fact that their rights are important, in this case, they don’t want to risk themselves getting fired. In this case, it is more about telling the story than who is telling it, as the idea is to open up the mind of a white population to the experience of a black person.

 

 

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