Reflection # 10 (action)- Ballet Club

           Having wanted to teach children ballet was one of my goals. Through this opportunity to initiate a Ballet club in our school, I was really privileged and a bit worried at the same time. Though I had assisted ballet in my Ballet School at Le Conservatoire De Danse De Ballet, I had never taught them ballet by myself through my own lessons. Hence, I was really nervous on the first day of ballet class on August 2014. Since I will be teaching the lower school kids from grade 1 to 5, I had to think of lessons that would fit the average level of their skills. A hard thing that I faced was having to match the beat of the song to the movement of the lesson planned. I didn't realize how the number of beats was important in relation with our movements. But after a while, I was able to manage it. In the beginning we had about seven students. Surprisingly and also unexpectedly, a boy also joined this club, it was Robert. I was surprised how flexible he was and how he got interested in learning to dance ballet. He actually has a lot of potentials. By teaching these children, I was able to strengthen my teaching skills and also being able to handle them.

                After two to three more meetings, more students began to join this club. Now I had about 10 students. Though the kids began to go a bit wild, I was able to control them. It was at first very difficult for me to handle them because they were all so noisy and running all around. My voice is not that loud and so it took some time for me to get their attention. Overall, I really enjoyed teaching them. They were all so active and willingly wanting to learn more. Their enthusiasm made me proud and happy. As I struggled dealing my time management with academic studies and other extra-curricular activities, I was only able to do this club for the first semester. Many of the students wanted me to continue it for the second semester but since I was not confident with myself, my ballet teacher continued this to teach the children.

Reflection # 9 (service)- Education Outreach

            This year some of our seniors has come together to initiate the Education Outreach programme. We met up from August 2014 to plan ahead for our activity with the children on February 26, 2015. As we needed the money to do something, we did a fundraising activity on Christmas Bazaar at our school. We sold mini kimbob's and BBQ on that day. Surprisingly, the BBQ has already been sold out just in the morning. So we had no more for the afternoon. Some people who bought in the morning wanted to eat again and so a lot of people came back in the afternoon to buy some more. But since we didnt have anymore and we couldnt even order more because the meat was unavailable, we pursued them to try the mini kimbob's that some of our Korean mothers has made. Some actually really liked it and bought 5 rows of it. However, there was a period of time wherein we had no customers at all and so we thought of 'buy 5 and get 1 more' theme. Fortunately, this worked really well. In no time, we sold all of our food in just half the afternoon and so we were able to go home earlier than expected. Our overall revenue was about more than 3000 peso which is a big success to us. From this money, we bought two or three bottles of shuttlecocks and six volleyball ball's for the children that we will visit on February 26. The left over money was bought for candies and other treats for the children after they will play dodge ball with us.

              When we finally went to visit them on February 26, we first greeted the principle or the teacher that was in handle of the kids. Unexpectedely, they gave us corns and drinks for us to have while waiting for the kids to settle down in the court. It was really delicious as we were quite hungry that time. We were also really grateful for their generosity towards us. When the kids finally gathered around the court for us to have a mini activity with them, we were quite surprised with the number of students. They were all from grades one to six, they were about 50 or more students. To play dodgeball, we first divided the group into girls and boys as boys may hurt the girls. Then into this we divided them once more into two groups. Joanna and I handled one of the girl's group and Jae Sun and Julie handled the other team of the girls. At first, they were really shy especially the girls and so we started the game. After a while, they got the hang of it and so they had fun. The girls kept on screaming when the other team had the ball. It was really fun seeing them laugh and smile and enjoying the game. The boys' team was handled by our boys. They also had fun and seemed contented. When it was already 4:30pm, the children still wanted to play more but since they had to be dismissed, we had no choice but to end the game and our meeting with them. We first lined them up and gave them the candies and treats that we bought for them. They all liked it and some even wanted to have some more and so we tried to even it out with the others. After giving them the treats, we gave them the sport materials that we bought for them. The teacher was really grateful and he thanked us very much. The kids were also very happy to see the new supplies that they will be able to use soon. We told the teacher that these volley ball balls are not expensive ones and so they can be relieved and use it as they like to. A thing that concerned me a bit was that, the things that we provide them with and the enjoyment that was given to the kids could not be continously provided for and so it is a bit sad for us and for them as well. However, I believe that giving at least this small happiness to them was a pleasure and a great appreciation to all of us and so through this activity the value is within our own memories that we had on this day. Our seniors hope that next year, the next seniors or juniors would continue this service activity and help out more schools.

Afterwards, the children did a 'thank you' song for us which we were happy to see. 

We also took photos altogether with some of the teachers and some of the kids.

 

Reflection # 8 (service)- NHS one-on-one tutorials

              This year the National Honor's Society has provided a one-on-one tutorials with the lower school kids who are in need of help with their studies. We started on January 20 from 3-4pm in the library. This is going to be held every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and so the NHS members, with other volunteers who are willing to help out, would show up on one of these days. I normally went on Mondays and Fridays to teach the kids. We first had two to three kids and then the numbers grew to six or sometimes even more.

               My first day doing tutorials was with Kenzel and she was really obedient that I didnt have much trouble managing her. The first day went smoothly as only two kids were there. Me and Don handled the first day, teaching math. Though the lessons were for lower school standards there were some questions that even I had troubled with. The multiplication section got me embarrassed as they had to solve it by hand and the kid got the answer wrong so I also tried to solve it to show her where she got it wrong. But I couldnt get it right for two to three times, this really embarassed me to myself and to the children. Fortunately, I was able to find out where the problem was and so I felt relieved and contented. On this day, the children focused on mathematics. They stayed with us in the library for an hour and a half. They actually worked really hard and I also got to befriend them. Overall, my first day teaching with them was really memorable as I got to review the material and learn new aspects that I didnt discover before.

 

 

                 After several days teaching these children, I realized how much work they had to do for the day. Though they are still very young, they have a lot of homework for almost every subject and this is seen clearly in their assignment notebooks. Some of their homeworks were even actually demanding. Due to this, there was even a time wherein one of the kids seemed to rely on us to do their homework. This made me consider the ethical implications of my actions as I needed to restrict and control myself in guiding them to the answer. Since we are tutoring them for this school year, if they depend and rely on us later on they would not be able to do it by themselves. They may get lazy and not do their homework if we just help them with everything. Thus, I believe that they should try to do it by themselves first and if they have a question they would then ask that time. Some kids, however, doesnt seem to need any help. Some already got to know how to be independent of their studies. Seeing these kinds of children made me to reflect on myself when I was their age. Before, I would remember being lazy and continuously seeking for assistance with my homeworks. Due to this, sometimes even now I would have a hard time doing my works. Hence, I believe that getting to learn how to do one's own homework independently even though its not all correct, would be a big benefit in the long run. But of course seeking for help at a young age is also beneficial as they can know where their mistakes are and where to improve in.

                Overall, through this activity, I was able to get along with the lower school kids and they seemed to like me as well. I also got to realize how hard working they are and how they are interested to learn new things. I also believe that my teaching skills has improved and have gained new knowledge through them. I was able to learn how to be patient with them as well. Having been teaching them for already more than a month, I also got to realize how difficult it is to be a teacher. When one doesnt understand for the first explanation, having to repeat the steps and guide them is not so easy than I thought it was. Once again, through this activity I was able to respect my teachers' strength in always trying to help us and give us more advice.

Reflection # 7 (action)- Playing Football

              I joined football this year to learn how to play soccer. Though I was interested in learning how to play football long before, I didn't get the chance to play because of ballet. Through this opportunity, I hope I would be able to increase my awareness of the rules in football and increase my stamina. Our first tryout was on February 2, 2015 Monday which was held at the field from 3:15-5:15pm. To play football I needed cleats and so the day before February 2, I bought one in the mall. Having been excited to this day, I worked really hard on my first day of tryouts and I actually really enjoyed it. While everything seemed to go well, while dribbling with the ball I happened to lose balance due to the grass in the field which was a bit bumpy and so my cleats were unstable and I sprained my left ankle. As I sprinted when this happened, the fall was quite bad. It took some time for me to get up again. Others didn't think that it was a big deal and I also didn't think that too when I fell but when I felt the pain after I fell to the ground, I realized that it was not a small accident. After a minute or two, I got back up as I didn't want others to get worried and perceive me as a weak person. Though the pain was there, I continued to play on as if it was okay and normal. When I got back home, the ankle got swollen and bruised up. Both my knees were scratched and bruised as well. I got an ice pack and compressed it to my ankle. I thought the injury would wear off quickly but as the days passed, the pain was still there and the bruise as well. On the first day I wasn't able to walk well, I limped quite badly and so I had to rest it well. But on Wednesday, February 4 which was just a day after the accident I played again because it was a tryout and so I couldn't miss any days for practice. Luckily on that day I was able to at least walk and jog a bit. However, I still couldn't move my left foot sidewards which is an important skill in playing soccer to catch the ball and to pass the ball with it.

             After a week has passed, my ankle has still didn't heal. This worried me because I needed to dance ballet again soon and play football so I went to have a check up by a doctor. I got an x-ray and fortunately there was no fracture but the doctor said that I should rest my foot for at least 10 more days or better go back to playing football after it gets fully healed and back to normal. I got a medical certificate for my coach to see it.

When hearing this, though I was a bit relieved I was also sad because then I can't join football anymore. Tryouts would soon be over and ISAAC is coming soon so we can't miss anymore days. Since I had no other choice, I told to Ms. Meghan and the girls about it and they understood. Despite the fact that I can't play football anymore, I learned a lot from the tryouts and I even got to know new people and get along with them. 

              

    

 

 

Reflection #6 (service, creativity)- Cambiare Kabataan Music Program

          Getting the chance to be in contact with Deborah Francisco, one of the teachers in “Jesus the Christ Center”, I had the opportunity to teach violin in that elementary school for those who are interested to join the Cambiare Kabataan Music Program. I went there every Friday 3:30-4:30pm right after my school. It was on November 8, 2013, that I had my first lesson with them. I was very excited and a bit worried because it was my first time to teach violin to someone else. Despite this nervousness, the children happily welcomed me and so I didn’t have much difficulties getting along with them. There were four students at the beginning but after a while two more students joined in. I first taught them how to hold the bow and the violin which one to two students struggled a bit because the violin was too big or too small for them. Since these students couldn't afford to buy a violin, only one violin was held for all six of them to play with. So while one was holding the violin, others had to observe and wait for their turn to actually play it. This was one of the disadvantage from this activity, as they were waiting for their turn others sometimes fidgeted around and didn't pay attention well. Despite some of this children, some were actually really enthusiastic to learn and waited patiently. They even asked me again whether this position was right and whether it was the right chord that they are pressing. Seeing them actually learning and listening made me happy and I also learned from them. As I see their enthusiasm, I prepared more lessons for them and we  even began to learn how to play a simple piece called "Long-Long Ago". They liked it and they also wanted a copy of the note sheet to practice the fingering at home which astonished me. They were really bright and kind students.

 

 

           I had also taught them how to play the piano once and they also really enjoyed it. Since there were two piano keyboards, all of these six students were able to play easily on them, unlike the violin. I taught them how to play "Jingle Bells" as it was the season of Christmas on December. They seemed to really like it as they kept playing it over and over again. There was this one boy who quickly learned the notes and played it well, he was a clever boy and this made be really proud. I believe that through this activity, the kids have learned a lot from a short period of time and I hope they will continue to seek for their interest. Their passion in music has touched me and seeing many children already talented in other instruments such as the guitar has influenced me to strive for better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

             On our last session on December, each student was given a certificate of participation. Giving this certificate to each of them made me feel that it is really the last day to see each other again. This made me sad as they were really bright students and I wanted to continue to teach them if I had the chance and time.

 

 

 



              On the last Friday of the month of December, my friend and I were invited to play a song for the Cambiare Cafe so we decided to play "You Raise Me Up". I played the violin and my friend played the piano. We practiced two to three times together and though it was a short practice session, we were able to play it successfully on that day. It was a memorable day as we were able to buy some snacks and drinks for the proceeds to go to the Restored Lives Organization and to this music program.

 

 

 

Reflection #5 (creativity, service)- White Coats on Every Kid

            In joining White Coats on Every Kid, there were three activities that were most memorable to me. One of the activity is the "Egg Drop Challenge", done on October 19, 2013, which is to design a system to protect a boiled egg from cracking or breaking from a high fall.  Our group used these materials to accomplish the task:

• Three balloons
• CD
• Strings
• Tape
• Plastic bag
• Scissors and
• Socks

Step 1:

We first blew up the three balloons and tied it together.

 

Step 2:

We then taped the CD in the middle of the balloon to balance the weight of the three balloons.

Step 3:

Then we placed the boiled egg inside layers of socks carefully so that it will not break.

 

 

Step 4:

We placed the boiled egg wrapped in socks on top of the CD and taped it.

Step 5:

Next, we got a plastic bag and made holes at each four side of the corner and placed strings into it.

Step 6:

Finally, we tied the strings with the top end of the socks. We then tested it by letting it fall to the ground. At the end, we were able to succeed in not breaking the boiled egg. The children really enjoyed it and we were all happy that the egg didn't break. Also, in the process we all became close.
 

 

 

But before we did this activity, we did an ice breaker. The game was that people had to hold hands in a circle and then knot up. One person will be left out and be the one to untangle the hands of the people within the circle. Eventhough the kids had some difficulty in finding out the solution, they enjoyed the process and even we had fun.

 

              The second activity that was also memorable for me  was held on October 5, 2013. It was the making of bubbles out of recycling plastic bottles. The materials that we used for this experiment were simply:

• Plastic bottles
• Rubber bands
• Detergent
• Food coloring (Red, Yellow, Blue) and
• Cloths

When the kids arrived they looked very interested on what we will be making today so we started it as soon as possible. We gave each one of them a plastic bottle which the bottom part was already cut out beforehand for the safety of the kids. We then helped them wrap the cloth into the plastic bottle with a rubber band. Some needed more hands than the others. After that we dipped the cloth with the mixture of water and detergent. The kids then went out to blow out bubbles, they enjoyed a lot. We as well made one for ourself and tried it out. To give off some more interesting effects we added three different colors of food colorings into the cloth. We gave them the plastic bottles so that they can continue making bottles at home. After this, they had to answer some questions that we prepared for them to learn about surface tension and how the bubbles were able to make the round shape. They also had to draw their observations from the plastic bottles that they made. At the end, though it was a bit messy cleaning up the bubbles and food colorings on the ground, seeing the kids having fun made us happy as well. Actually seeing them so concentrated on this experiment impressed me too and we even befriended each other.

             The third activity was held on November 16, 2013, which was building a soda straw rocket. The goal for this activity was to find the method of which the rocket will fly the farthest. The kids will do trial and error to find the most efficient way rockets will fly the farthest. The materials that we used were:

• Plastic drinking straw
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Scotch tape
• Colored pencils

Step 1:
We printed out the given rocket patterns

Step 2:
We then gave them colored pencils to color the rocket pattern. Some even wrote their names on the "rocket body" to identify who's rocket it is.

Step 3:
We cut out one rectangle shaped piece of paper, this is the "rocket body". Then we curled it lengthwise around a pencil and taped it into a tube form.

Step 4:
Then we cut out two rocket fin units to line up the rectangle on one unit with the bottom of the rocket body and tape it on. We did the same thing for the second fin and taped it to the opposite side of the tube.

Step 5:
We bended both the fin so it forms a shape like this below

Step 6:
Then we got the straw and inserted inside the rocket and lined up the front of the rocket with the end of the straw. We taped it. This rocket has no nose cone. We will later find out whether having no nose cone or having a nose cone affects the distance the rocket travels.

Step 6:
We then launched our rockets outside an open ground by blowing the straw.

Step 7:
We then repeated steps 1-5 to build a second rocket but this time with a nose cone. We pushed the rocket body up to the sharpened end of the pencil and twisted the end of the tube close to the sharpened end to form the nose cone. Then we removed the pencil and inserted the straw.

Step 8:
We then launched it out in the open field.

As a result of the rocket experiment, the kids found out that the rocket with a nose cone can fly farther than without it. Moreover, they learned that the angles also affects the distance of the rocket flying. Overall, it was a really fun experiment for both the kids and for us. We got to be more close with the kids by helping them make the rocket. I mostly enjoyed the part when we launched the rockets. The kids kept on blowing the straws so the rocket deformed so the kids made another again and again. They really liked it and I can see from their facial expression and their sound of laughters. This activity was meaningful because it felt like I was back to my lower grade and I actually felt being a part of them.