Month: November 2017

Kahaani – First Rehearsal

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Below is a video of 1/2 of my Kahaani dance. It is from the first rehearsal so all of us had learnt the choreo just minutes before this was filmed.

I’m really excited for Kahaani as it is my first time participating as a dancer in the event, not just an emcee, which is what I have been for the past 2 years. I am really happy with the music as the dance is to a few of my favorite Hindi songs and the steps flow really well with the music so I am extremely hyped!

 What previous experience have I had with an activity like this?
I recently participated in Culturama and it was really helped boost my confidence in my dance skills. I believe that is the only activity I had that has prepared me for this show. Despite participating every year in Kahaani, I have always been an emcee and a GC member. This year, as there is no emcee in the show, I have the chance to be able to participate as a dancer.

  •  What am I good at? What are my strengths?
    I think I’m really quick with learning dance moves so that should be to my advantage. I also think that I ask questions when I have doubts. I sort out my issues before it is too late which is also something that will help me out throughout the rehersal process, especially as there are only 6 sessions in total before the show!
  •  What would I like to improve?
    I would like to improve in my overall grace when I dance. I want to ensure that my movements flow with more ease. This can only be improved through more practise.
  •  How has my involvement in this activity made me aware of my strengths and areas for growth?
    After the first rehearsal, I had identified which steps I would need to work on mastering at home and which parts of the dance were the most challenging for me. This helps me take initiative to perfect this in my own time and become more aware of my own areas of growth. 
  •  Have I improved and in what areas? How do I know?
    It is too early to say that but I do believe I can use the skills I gained as well as enhanced in Culturama can follow through here. 
  •  Why have I struggled in some areas?
    As someone who has started dancing recently, I am still not 100% comfortable with my dancing abilities and I am not very confident when dancing, this is probably why I am experiencing more struggles than others who have danced for much longer than I have. 

Learning Objective 1 – AWARENESS (Increased awareness of strengths and areas for growth)

TOK – Knowledge Question #2- Mathematics

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To what extent is “complete certainty” achievable?

Claim

TOK Terminology

 Complete certainty is never achievable. Getting a result more than once never assures complete complete certainty. Even if you prove something right, 8 million times, in the 8,000,001st time an alternate response could give another result. There is no physical way of ensuring that something is going to come out with the same outcome every time as nobody will go through an infinite amount of trials in order to confirm something. We can get very close to complete certainty but can never fully achieve it.

Real Life Example

AOK Terminology

 When confirming that triangles’ angles always add up to 180 degrees, mathematicians have not tried their theory on every single triangle that ever exists in the world. They may have tried it out on billions of triangles and have come to the conclusion. This makes their theory highly reliable and most probably certain but there is always a small slight percentage of the theory being falsified. With an increased number of trials, this percentage dramatically decreases and begins to approach 0 but it will never reach 0.

TOK Analysis

TOK Terminology

(+AOK Terminology)

 In any areas of knowledge, we can never be 100% completely certain that a theory or part of knowledge is correct but mathematics is the one area of knowledge in which theories and knowledge is the closest to being completely certain. As mathematics requires rigorous proofing before they can confirm a theory, this makes it the only area of knowledge to approach 0 on the scale of complete certainty.

Counterclaim

TOK Terminology

  People may argue that everything in mathematics is completely certain as math comes in the forms of questions with only one possible answer but multiple ways to get to that answer do exist. Complete certainty can be said, to be reached only in mathematics. There is only one answer to every equation and question, therefore complete certainty is reached.

Real Life Example

AOK Terminology

 2+2 can only ever equal 4. The world is absolutely certain that 2+2 can only ever equal 4. Even in an alternative universe, 2+2 will always only equal 4. This is complete certainty.

TOK Analysis

TOK Terminology

(+AOK Terminology)

 Complete certainty is about there only being one ever answer that we are 100% sure of. Mathematicians do enough tests to ensure that something is completely certain and before knowledge in mathematics can become public knowledge it has to be completely true. Without this, that part of mathematics cannot be taught to children in school and therefore everything in mathematics is completely certain.
ShortEvaluation  To conclude, complete certainty is never achieved. Despite this, mathematics is the only area of knowledge that comes close to confirming complete certainty.

 

IFP – Youtube Playlist

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Here is a playlist of some videos that are a must watch for IFP.

I believe that all of these videos have made me understand IFP and the topics we discuss in IFP better. It has also helped me relate my IFP learning to what is going on in the real world. It also helps me understand the implications of my actions in the world world through ‘Amanda Todd’s story’, the ‘Syrian Refugee crisis’ helps me gain context on how complicated conflicts are and how it is way more tedious that what we can see on the surface, the ‘how a hashtag defined a movement’ helps me understand how important people’s voices are when trying to build peace, ‘The price of conflict’ makes you think about conflict in a new light and begin to understand the complexity, ‘Malala’s speech’ inspires me to stand up for what I believe in and that any cause is worth fighting for, ‘Water walks’ helps me understand how severe problems are in other places which makes me realise how privileged I really am and finally, ‘Harassment is breaking Twitter’s free speech’ helps raise awareness of the impact of our social media presence and how everything is not interpreted the same by everyone.

I think that all of these are must watches to further enhance your IFP learning in many different contexts and scenarios.

 

 

IFP- Dear Mentor Group

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Dear Mentor Group…..

Here’s what we should do Tuesday:

  • Seth Godin Poem “The work not yet done”
  • Questions will be along the lines? –> How does this poem connect to us? How can we see what is used in our everyday lives? Why would we read this? What is the overall message of this?
  • Protocol –> First a set aside reading time. Then a short discussion as a mentor group on why we read that and our overall thoughts on the poem.
  • Why does this matter?
    IFP has taught me a variety of different conflict management strategies. I have more responsibility that our campus is a peaceful place for everyone and a safe space for everyone.

Culturama- Show Day

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Last reflection on Culturama:

Overall Thoughts and feelings:
I’m so proud of how the show turned out. It was a huge success and everyone that came to watch thoroughly enjoyed it. I can say Culturama was one of the best experiences I have ever taken part in and it has been an amazing learning journey. I’m going to miss my dance group especially the grade 12s and I’ve made some really great friendships throughout this journey.

  •  What was it about this activity that I found challenging/difficult?
    I’m not a dancer and I’ve never been apart of a dance show at school before so this year I found it hard to learn the steps and be able to perform them as best as I can. This is the first year I got into Culturama as well as the first year I’ve taken part in any dance showcase.
  •  What risks have I taken as part of this activity?
    I have performed a dance which I haven’t done in any recent years. I have stepped out of my comfort zone and taken a chance with such a big event. I’m very glad I took this risk because I realised that I am a lot better at dancing than I thought I was.
  •  What actions did I take to overcome these challenges?
    I practised, practised and practised. Even when the practise was over, another one of my friends from the dance and I would practise every Tuesday afterschool for 30 minutes to ensure that us non-dancers were able to perform the entire dance to the best of our abilities.
  •  Were there challenges that I could not overcome? Why/why not?
    I still managed to mess up in the final show, as you can see in the video, I skipped one of the steps. I was unable to completely perfect the steps because I am not a dancer but I am still proud of myself as I managed to perform without any terribly obvious mistakes.
  •  How will approach a challenge like this in the future?
    I will just have to continue to work hard and work even harder for the next dancer I take part in or in any performance I take part in, in the future.
  •  What new skills have I developed in this activity?
    I have developed my confidence skills and now I feel a lot more comfortable when performing on stage.
  •  How did I measure my improvement?
    During the first show (5:30) I was very nervous, my heart was racing but by the second show, I was a lot more calm and collected. I didn’t feel nervous at all for the second show although most of my friends were watching, my friends from Dover (the other campus) and my parents were watching!
  •  Why were some skills easier to develop than others?
    Some skills that I enhanced, skills I already had, were easier to develop like my confidence on stage was easier than developing my dancing capabilities as that was a newer skill for me therefore it took longer to perfect and was harder to get the hang of.
  •  How important were the skills I developed to achieving success in this activity?
    It was essential that I gained confidence because if I wasn’t confident enough I would have dropped out and would have not been able to perform during the show.
  •  How can I use the skills I developed in this activity in other areas of my life?
    By my newly developed skills, I now have more opportunities to participate in other dance shows such as Kahaani and Dance Showcase as well as Culturama again to keep up with my dancing as it is a new found hobby!

Learning Objective 2 -CHALLENGE (Undertaken new challenges)/NEW SKILLS (Developing new skills)

TOK- Knowledge Question #1 – The Arts

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Word count: 200-400 words

To what extent can one describe the knowledge produced in the Arts as objective?

Claim

TOK Terminology

 Knowledge produced in the arts are very subjective as everyone has a different opinion of what they consider good art. As everyone has different opinions on the way of considering something as nice or not. Arts cannot be considered objective as their is no right way to create something in the arts, there is no definite right or wrong in anyway therefore it cannot be objective. What is considered valuable or great knowledge is up to the eyes of the viewer and that of the artist, which are most likely different.

Real Life Example

AOK Terminology

 In the arts, it is harder to know what is considered knowledgable. A real example of this would be the Mona Lisa, everyone knows it is one of the world’s most famous, valuable and therefore beautiful pieces of art out there but this is an example of shared knowledge that has been passed on from others. It is something we are told to know but in our eyes, it may seem dull and boring. We may not see the value or the meaning behind it or just straight up might not like it therefore Art is the most subjective of the areas of the knowledge. In other areas of knowledge such as Natural Sciences, people have discovered, experimented and attempted to falsify theories before allowing sharing of the information to take place. It may not even be that great to the artist itself as art is so subjective, everyone will have a different opinion on any knowledge from the arts.

TOK Analysis

TOK Terminology

(+AOK Terminology)

 The arts are fully subjective as everyone has their own opinions on what they consider good or not. Art is created to be appreciated or many different reasons.

Counterclaim

TOK Terminology

 Art can be objective in the sense that grades cannot be put on it for exams if it is not objective to some extent. Art as a whole is highly subjective but for different circumstances, it has to be objective.

Real Life Example

AOK Terminology

 As an example of when art is objective, when grading IGCSE art grades, the examiners create a rubric of different things that are required to be done by the artist and there has a be a strict criteria on how art should be graded to ensure that personal opinion is not taken into account.

TOK Analysis

TOK Terminology

(+AOK Terminology)

 As art is more than just what is on the surface, it is impossible for it to be objective. Everyone has a different opinion on the look of art, weather it is beautiful or ugly, and the deeper meaning is usually not known to everyone.
Short Evaluation Overall, art is purely subjective but to an extent in different scenarios, it is required to be objective. Art is more complicated than just what can be seen by the ordinary viewer. Something this complicated has to be subjective.

 

Culturama – Dress Rehersal

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  •  How did I show perseverance/resilience/commitment in this activity? What things affected my commitment levels, ability to persevere or my resolve?

    From the first light plot over the weekend, I was having a bit of a cold which has lead me to not be at my full energy throughout all the rehearsals yet I have managed to persevere through it. I have tried my best and attended all the full rehearsals even though they have continued till 9pm every day this week! A lot of my school work is not getting done and I am having to stay up very late in order to complete it but as I have already committed to Culturama, it is essential that I attend every rehearsal in order to make it the best possible show.

  •  How did I maintain my motivation for this activity?

    I managed to maintain motivation through the idea of a rewarding and beautiful show on Friday. Most of my friend, that are not in Culturama, are coming to watch and my parents are also coming to watch, I do not wish to disappoint them as they have come to watch me dance. I want to impress them especially as I have never been in Culturama or any dance showcase in recent years, this will be their first impression of my dancing.

  •  How did I help others or how did others help me to stay committed to this activity?

    I helped keep others stay committed by trying to compliment everyone when they do a step well or when they adapt quickly to changes in order to keep them motivated. I also cheered for all my friends in other dances to keep them motivated and proud of their hard work. As many of my friends also cheered for me, I have felt more motivated to continue to stay committed throughout.

  •  What impact did my commitment or lack thereof have on the success of the activity?

    I believe that I know all the steps properly and I feel confident in my dance due to my commitment. As I attended all the rehearsals I am able to be this confident in our dance and I’m therefore working on perfecting my dance instead of trying to learn it which other people in the dance are doing currently. I am able to help out those who need help with dance steps due to my commitment which makes me very happy as well as proud of my commitment to the dance. 

Above are some photos from our dress rehearsal. I am the second person on the left from the center.

 

Learning Objective 4-  COMMITMENT (Showing perseverance, resilience and commitment in activities)

Chemistry- Stoichiometry Thoughts

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My initial three words on my thoughts for the stoichiometry unit:

  • Confused
  • Sad
  • Challenged

What words I want to have on the stoichiometry unit after completing it:

  • Confident
  • Happy
  • Challenged – I still wish to still be challenged after the unit as there is always new stuff to learn and challenge keeps it interesting therefore I would not change this to something.

After the unit:

My thoughts on it now:

 

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