Coast to Coast Week Without Walls

For my week without walls trip I chose to go on the biking trip to Arugam Bay. This trip was an amazing adventure and one of the most challenging weeks of my life. We began our week with a multiple hour bus ride to our first hotel. We stopped half way through to practice our cycling.

The fourth day forced me to undertake new challenges and develop new skills. We rode sixty miles that day. It was by far the longest distance that I had ever cycled. It was extremely difficult and many times I wanted to quit. However, I stuck through it until the very end. This was extremely rewarding. I developed my fitness skills through this exercise. My legs were sore each day of the trip. However, each day we learned to push ourselves even harder in order to reach our destination. 

One of the many fun activities we did was going to the elephant orphanage. This is a very famous site. We learned about why the elephants were there and the goals of the orphanage. I believe that it is a great project and responsible for changing the lives of many elephants.

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One day of the trip the teachers asked for volunteers to go to a local school to help the children with bike safety. I volunteered along with three other OSC students. The teachers taught us how to assemble and place the lights onto the front and backs of the bikes. The children were grateful for our help. Though we only made a small contribution, the kids will have a safer ride to and from school each day. This activity dealt with an issue of global importance; poverty. It was very difficult to only do this much for the students. Many of the student had broken breaks and handle bars.It made us all think about how fortunate we are. But what we thought about most is how we could do more or how we could use what we learned that day to improve our own community service groups at OSC.

The picture below is from an extremely windy day where we biked 50km. On this day collaborating with other cyclists was key. We created a system that lessened the effects of the wind. We would cycle in a lie so that only the first person would receive the obstacle of the wind. We chose the strongest cyclist to take this role.

On the second to last day we made lunch as a group. We collaborated together while planning and initiating the meal making process. I was assigned the job of gutting the prawns. This was a disgusting and unpleasant job. However, the prawns were the center of our meal so we all had to do our part.We all worked together throughout the meal serving process to create an organized way of distributing the food fairly.At the end of the meal we ensured that we left a clean area behind us. The food was surprisingly good!

Helping Hands

This week in Helping Hands we taught the children colors. We did this through to activities. The first activity was reading the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar to the children. As we read the book aloud, we had the children name the colors and the different foods they saw.

 

 For the second activity, the children colored in a caterpillar and pasted it on a colored sheet of paper. Each section of the caterpillar was labeled with the name of a color. The children had to apply what they learned about colors from the book and color in the directed color. I was surprised by just how much the students enjoyed this activity.

For this weeks session I had to plan and initiate the activities. Throughout the week before I had to think about a fun and effective way to teach the kids colors. I try to find a new theme each week to focus on. Each week I will also try to reinforce the lesson from the week before. Being a leader in this service group helps me develop new skills. I have greatly developed my skills in organization. Before each session I must ensure that I have a clear planned out lesson. I must have all my ideas and materials ready for each session.

Soccer

Today we played a game against the middle school OSC boys soccer team. This was great practice for the team. With each game that we play, we reach a whole new level of playing. The key in soccer is being a team player and communicating with your team. I collaborated with my team members before and throughout the game to create different plays. As the game went on we were each able increase our awareness of our different strengths and weaknesses as soccer players. My strength is centering the ball and dribbling past defenders. I believe that I can greatly contribute to our success in SAISA. I believe that the entire teams greatest weakness is fitness. We often become tired and out of breath. In order to be successful in SAISA we must increase our fitness levels. We have weekly soccer practices that each member of the team must attend. My attendance shows my commitment to my team!

RCCI

This week in RCCI our focus was on keeping the students active and teaching them to communicate with others. First, we played sports with them such as soccer and cricket. This activity helped me develop my skills in patience. At times this activity was frustrating and difficult. However, through working collaboratively with my other group members we were able to make the activity fun for everyone.

 Later, we danced with the students. This is by far their favorite thing to do. They are especially fond of Michael Jackson songs. During this activity I undertook new challenges. I am very uncomfortable dancing, however I saw how much the kids enjoyed when we danced with them and because of this pushed past my comfort zone.

Helping Hands

This week in Helping Hands we focused on teaching the children the names of the different body parts. We did this through two activities. The first was teaching them the song Head Shoulders Knees and Toes. The children were very excited for this activity and seemed to really enjoy it.

 This activity helped me increase awareness of my strengths. I learned that I have become comfortable talking in front of a group of people. I believe this skill is very important and will help me later when presenting in my different classes. The second activity was tracing the students on a large piece of paper and having them label their body parts. This was a great activity because it taught the children the spelling and location of each body part.

I worked collaboratively throughout this session with the other student leaders and teachers to ensure that everything ran smoothly and that each child received the attention they needed.

Planning for the Oscars

This month the  SGA is focusing on planning for the Oscars. This school event is a favorite of many. It is a time where the entire secondary school comes together. There are many details that must be worked out before the date of the event. The most important detail is funding this event. The entire event will be expensive and we must fundraise to ensure that we have a successful Oscars. I worked collaboratively with the other members of SGA to come up with ways to raise money. Our first event will be a bake sale.

This is a picture of the chocolate chip cookies I made.

Each SGA member brought a different thing for this weeks bake sale. I made chocolate chip cookies and brought them for the sale.We took shifts selling the baked goods. I increased my awareness of my strengths through this sale. I learned that I work well with others. We all discussed and then agreed on set prices for each good. We created different promotions in hopes of selling more goods and raising more money for the school.

We are now focusing on promoting the Oscars. We have to get the OSC students excited to come to the Oscars. We have done this through making large posters and hanging them around the school. This activity has helped show my commitment to this club. I spent many lunch hours hanging and taking pictures for these posters.
At each meeting we are discussing the set up of the Oscars. On the day of the Oscars we will each come in for multiple hours to help set up. We must hang decorations and create a fun environment for the students.

Goals for Week Without Walls

In a week my classmates and I will leave for our Week Without Walls trip. I chose to do the Coast to Coast trip to Aragon Bay. We will be doing a mix of biking and driving all the way from Colombo to Aragon Bay. Throughout this trip will be in very unfamiliar environments. We will learn to consider ethical implications. Firstly, at certain times we will be biking through a Muslim communities. Here we have to be very aware of  how dress. We must wear modest clothing in order to avoid offending individuals of the community. Second, we will be biking through areas where people have very little. We must ensure to be respectful of the socio economic differences.

We will be biking a total of 250 km. On average we will be riding about 50 km per day. I have not ridden a bike in many years. I believe that the large amount of biking will help me develop my skills. I also hope that I will become fitter and healthier from this experience. Biking with a large group of people will teach me to collaborate with others. Communication during biking in a group is crucial. If one person fails to communicate, it may cause an accident and many injuries. It is important to be extremely attentive throughout the biking experience.

 I will also develop my teaching skills. Each week with Helping Hands I teach children English. This is extremely rewarding and enjoyable. During week without walls we will visit a school. Here we will both teach the students and learn from the students.

I am very excited for this trip and cannot wait to begin this amazing journey!