Scrimmage Against the Boys Team

 

This week in practice, we had a scrimmage against the middle school boys team from OSC. Though they were much smaller than us, they had many ball handling skills that we lacked. This was not only great for fitness but also for learning. Watching different plays from the boys team, enabled us to develop new skills as we were able to incorporate what we saw into our playing. Their quick touches enabled them to get the ball around quickly and pass our players. Next week we plan to do drills that will help us learn these quick touches.

 

 

 

The key in this scrimmage was working collaboratively with my other teammates. It was essential to communicate. This is an area of weakness on the OSC girls team. We do not speak on the field as much as we should. Our lack of communication created many sloppy plays and lost us the ball multiple times.

Learning Numbers and Shapes with Helping Hands

This week in Helping Hands we focused on numbers and shapes. The children already had some basic knowledge in these areas ; however, there was still room for great improvement. I planned and initiated two different activities. In the first activity the students used the ipad to play different games which taught them how to pronounce and identify each number. Once they mastered this skill, they moved onto addition and subtraction games.

Prior to this experience, the kids had never been exposed to an ipad. This was a very special experience for them. However, we had to consider ethical implications. We had to ensure that we did not seem showy by using this advanced and expensive technology. The local kids are not as fortunate as those from OSC. The money spent on an ipad could go a long way in their families, therefore we had to ensure to keep that in mind. The following is a picture of the children during this activity.

 

After the numbers activity, we moved onto an activity focused on shapes. We used blocks to show the different shapes and teach the children how to pronounce the different shapes. It was enjoyable to watch the children develop these new skills. They had the most trouble pronouncing the word rectangle. However, by the end of the lesson they had greatly improved in their pronunciation.

Soccer

Each week I can see the OSC soccer team improving. We have weekly practices in order to stay in shape for next season and for an upcoming tournament. This week we focused on passing and corner kicks. In todays practice, I not only saw myself developing new skills, but also undertaking new challenges. In the corner kick drills I had usually been near the goal in a shooting position. However, in this practice the coaches changed my position to the player taking the corner kick. This is a big challenge as one must learn exactly at what height they must kick the ball and have perfect placement. If the ball is not kicked high enough, it may easily be intercepted by the other team. However, if kicked too high it may be a useless play. I increased my awareness of my strengths and weaknesses as a player while doing this drill. I realized that I am good at placing the ball in the correct position. My weakness is my lack of power. My legs are not as strong as those of a few other players, and this causes my power when kicking the ball to be less.

Picture of me after soccer practice

 

The OSC soccer team takes our practices very seriously. However, we always ensure that we are also having fun while we practice. In order for a team to succeed ,the players must first bond and get to know each other!

SGA

This week the SGA undertook a new challenge. We decided to run the food stand at the SAISA tournament. Because this is an important responsibility, the PTA is usually in charge of selling food. However, the SGA saw this as a wonderful opportunity to earn revenue for the student government.

We worked collaboratively to assign different roles to the class representatives. Our goal was to think of healthy snacks that would still be appealing to the athletes. I chose to bring blueberry muffins as they are a tasty carb filled treat that would give the athletes energy. The following is a picture of the muffins I baked for the tournament.

In order to help create excitement for the tournament, we made this week spirit week. The four spirit days we decided on were hippie, spots and stripes, blue and white(the school colors) , and inside out day. Our school lacks spirit, therefore it was my role as a student government member to encourage people to show their school spirit and participate in each dress up day. I showed my commitment to the SGA through wearing crazy outfits everyday that fit the theme. The following is a picture of me and my friend on stripes and spots day.

Helpings Hands

This week I planned and initiated a very exciting activity for Helpings Hands. New Year is a important part of the Sri Lankan culture. It is celebrated in April as opposed to January as it is in the West. During this time of the year families save their money for gifts which they distribute to each family member. Therefore, this is a time when money is tight for many families. I decided to gather different food products for the families of the Helpings Hands local students. In this bag I included flour , dhal, rice, and other basic ingredients. In order to gather enough products, I published a statement in the weekly school newsletter asking students to bring these different food items. Each students was asked to bring these items to their homeroom teachers. Once I gathered all the products, I put them together in red bags made from recycled materials.During this session I distributed these bags. The following is a picture of the bags.

We also had the children complete an activity to practice their knowledge of the names of the different body parts. The activity was a relay race. The students were put into teams and told to sing head should knees and toes at the course. I worked collaboratively with the other student leader to ensure that the activity was carried out effectively.  The following is a picture of this relay race.

RCCI

This week in RCCI the students came together and watched a Disney film. The local students greatly enjoyed this animated film and attentively watched throughout the entire session. In this session we indirectly were dealing with an issue of global importance; poverty. The local students are less fortunate and unable to afford items such as televisions. Therefore, this experience was one that was unique for them as they do not often have the opportunity to use electronics such as these.

This activity also exposed the students to English. Hearing the Disney characters speak could teach them new basic English vocabulary. The students currently have a very limited vocabulary in English.

I undertook a new challenge this session, as it was my first week being the official student leader of RCCI. The local group arrived 30 minutes late. This created difficulties as many kids decided to leave to their homes. Due to this, along with a small group of other students I had to ensure that the activity was carried out correctly. After watching the movie, we gathered the students to eat snack. The following is a picture of the students eating their snacks.

Food and Fun Fair

The SGA organized the Food and Fun Fair. This took place over the past weekend. It was a fair filled with a variety of fun family activities. As an SGA member we had to ensure that everything went smoothly and as planned. Each grade had their own activity. Grade eleven was in charge of the slip and slide. Kids absolutely loved this activity and paid to go up to twelve times.

The SGA was in charge of selling beverages. We had to work collaboratively when picking shifts, picking prices, and selling the drinks. Selling the drinks was an extremely stressful process because many people did not show up on time or at all for their shifts. Because of this, many of us had to work multiple shifts. The lines of people were very long. There had been a difficulty in communicating that we accepted cash only as opposed to fair tickets. This miscommunication wasted a lot of time. During this time I increased my awareness of my personal strengths and weaknesses. My strength in this situation was that I was able to work quickly and manage money well. However , my weakness was my frustration. When people did not show up for their shifts or I had to man the table by myself, I became extremely frustrated.