Tutoring 2

As I already posted some time ago I am tutoring my younger brother, who is in year 8.

This time I am going to talk about the things we did for the past week. After we covered Statistics we moved onto the next topic. Although I didn’t want to follow the book, I also asked him to tell me in which areas is he facing any issues, so that is why this time we did linear equations.

I plan our lessons the night before so I always have some tasks for him to do while I am checking his homework from last time. For this lesson I made him sketch graphs of different equations for example: y = -2x + 3 or y = 3x+4 and furthermore I explained to him that the graph of a quadratic equation  ax2+ b is a U- shaped curve. And that a changes the gradient of the curve and b moves the curve up or down. He already knew all those things but I decided to teach him one more time so that we could be sure he knows it.

During our last lesson I thought him how to match graphs to real- life situations. And I told him to look at what happens as the x-values increase by equal amounts.

During our lessons I love the fact that my brother is acting as we are not family but a student and a teacher, therefore he listens very carefully and respects me.

During this activity I have worked collaboratively with others and I have developed new skills, as I have improved my own sketching.

Pilates hurts

My mom suggested that we should go try the new pilates course in the gym which is close to our place. So we went on Saturday and I have to honestly say that I didn’t expect it to be that hard. I have a muscular fever right now, because of the many hard exercises we had to do.

Most of them are taken as ideas form gymnastics obviously, but there are some which are straining your abs. And I thought that if since I was swimming and going to the gym I wouldn’t have had any problems with pilates, but it turns out I was in a big mistake.

The hardest thing to do was the ab series, maybe partly because of the fact that my abs are not developed, but my hand and legs, I had issues with this certain type of series. But in the end I still managed to do everything correctly and repeat after the instructor.

During pilates I have undertook a new challenge and I have increased awareness of my own strengths and areas for growth.

Swimming

With the weather getting colder the risks for me to get sick after swimming are rising, but that doesn’t really stop me from doing it. The last few times I went to swim I felt pain in my hamstring. I thought it was due to a crick or something like that, but then I started having a lot of cramps and I went to see the doctor. They told me it wasn’t something serious but I sad to swim, if swim at all, slowly and to not try to reach some record but to swim just for pleasure.

That is why lately I have lost  shape and I cannot swim faster, but I am still doing it, therefore I am undertaking a challenge and I am also developing new skills, because I am working on the different styles of swimming, and as you know- not the speed is important, but the quality.

Jogging

 I have mentioned in previous posts that I have been jogging since last year but not that regularly. This year I decided to be more serious about it, so I am going jogging every Sunday morning and it usually takes place in my neighborhood as it is a closed areas so it’s the same as a park but with houses and a better route. So since September every single Sunday I have been running around the houses and jumping on the stairs ( I know it sounds funny but it is really useful, believe me!) in front of the main gates. At first I was very slow and I was thirsty all the time. I also couldn’t last more than 10 minutes, but now, after nearly 4 months I run for 30-40 minutes, with my music of course, and I control my breathing. Therefore I can say that I undertook a new challenge, I increased awareness of my strengths and areas for growth and I have developed new skills.

Tutoring

For the past 2 months I have been tutoring my brother in maths. He is in year 8, so although I am not extremely good in math and I cannot solve absolutely every question, I am capable of explaining to him the things which they are studying right now.

For the past month we covered the topic Statistics. I showed him how to calculate statistics and prohibited him of using a calculator so that he would learn how to do it by himself. Before that I explained to him the definitions of the range, the median, the mode and the mean.

From my earlier school years I have a lot of old notebooks therefore it was really helpful for me to show him how I did all those things when I was his age. I think this helped him understand it even better, because he saw different types of solutions. Below is a photo of the homework on this topic, which I gave him to prepare for the next tutoring. I took ideas for the tasks from an old bulgarian maths book and I translated it in english.

During this activity I develop new skills, as I am practically teaching my brother or at least helping him understand what he has already been thought. I also work collaboratively with my brother and I am showing perseverance and commitment.

Swimming - November

Now I go swimming almost every possible day I am free between 6 and 9 p.m. I am missing some of the nights because I have to study especially around the December exams, but I take it as a nice relaxation not that much of a pressure during sport.I see a little improvement in my swimming as last time I talked to one of the instructors in the club where the swimming pools are and he explained and showed me how should I swim.I love swimming since little and to be honest I don’t even feel tired after it. I actually feel refreshed and ready to do more and more things.During this activity I am undertaking more and more new challenges, I am developing my skills and I am also increasing an awareness of my own strengths and areas for growth.

Developing my photography skills

As I am travelling a lot I get the extra advantage to be touched by the beauty of a lot of different places around the world. Particularly those photos above are taken by me while i was in Bulgaria during the October term break,but i am also developing my photographic skills here ,in Moscow. During the winter I already have arranged a photosession to be made by me of some of my friends so I will post my photos as soon as the snow starts snowing.
By developing my photography skills I have increased an awareness of my own strenghts and areas of growth and undertaken new challenges.

Service October-November 2012

For Service I have helped the community as around the Halloween celebrations I had to hand out flayers around the houses and ask people if they would like to buy a pumpkin from the center of the neighbourhood i live in. 
I have also orginised a reading club for little children at the age at 5-8 who still can't read properly and really fast.So while I was in Bulgaria I met with them every day and tought them to read by handing them all of my old books.
The kids seemed to enjoy it although there were 2 boys who didn't seem to like reading in the begginig,but in the end they even told me they didn't want me to go back to Russia. So i guess and hope I will see them in December so that I could see their progress for the past month and help the develop their reading skills.
I am also helping my younger brother with his science and maths homework,because although I am not the best mathematician I solve all the tasks for year 8 with pleasure.
By doing those kinds of service I am developing new skills as I am working with children and I am also collaborating with them and I have considered the ethical implications of my actions.

Developing my swimming skills

As I have decided to proceed swimming this year I can proudly say that I am facing a huge improvement. Last year when i was starting to swim ,although i have been training swimming when i was younger,I realised I had lost the ability to stay underwater for longer time and to swim faster and right in a way in which i wouldn't get tired really fast.
So lately I have been swimming 3 times per week ,sometimes even more ,depending of whether I have time during the weekend or not, and i have improved my existing skill and developed new ones. I began to swim faster than ever and i don't get tired after 10 lengths. Which is unbelievable for me,because I didn't expect i could increase my resistance so fast but I am proud I did it. As I am swimming with less than 2 people in the swimming pool every time I am trying to compete with them so that i would force myself and be motivated to swim even more.
By practicing swimming I have developed new skills or If i can say I have renewed my old ones.I have also at least increased awareness of my own area of growth.

Developing my cooking skills

Last year in April I started cooking for Creativity. Back then i knew a few things and i was preparing them easily but they weren't so hard to make and It did cost me to put a lot of force to make them ,but since september this year, I decided to put an extra effort and actually start producing ''pieces of art'' in the kitchen.So far ,with several failed attempts for pasta carbonara which burned and a pizza which didn't exactly rose ,i can proudly say I am becoming much better as I am cooking every wednesday,friday,saturday and sunday. It is really helpful that my family is honest and they share they real opinion with me. So if they dont like the food i am prepraring for them they tell me exactly what is lacking.

I  have developed my skilles and collaborated with others some of the meals i have prepared, where cooked whiled i was with my classmates (for example the pizza burger on the 3rd picture).I have also increased an awareness of my own stenghts and areas of growth and undertaken new challanges.I will proceed cooking until I get as good as my idol -Jamie Oliver ,who inspires me to cook only by reading and looking through his amazing meals.

Ceramic Lessons

During the term break I went to Bulgaria. As  I am not russian and i don't really speak the language fluently , every time I go to my country I try to accomplish all the tasks for CAS i have set in terms of service,because it is way easier for me to communicate with orphanages ,for example,or donation charities etc in bulgarian.
So during my stay in Bulgaria I decided to sign for a ceramic class. I went there 4 times and produced my own cup for tea. It was really interesting as I have done this in my past,when I was little but I had forgotten how it is done,so it was very nice to remember how to do it again. I gave the cup to a friend of mine who works in a donation agency,so she promised me they are going to give it for charity. 
Although its just a cup and it't not worth that much for some people,it's hand made and it is unique which makes it price higher. Therefore  I hope people will buy it,not only because of it uniqueness but because they will help children in the orphanages.

International Day 2012

On the International Day in BISM this year ,year 12 were the one organising the activities ,same as we did last year,but we ,students from year 13 had to help them and to also translate for parents from different countries and lead them to the gym/hall/around the school. 
Although it seems as an easy task it was actually hard to accomplish it as we all wanted to help so everybody were trying to ''steal'' parent's attention and to help with the ogranising of the food and of the concert. 
This year I didn't participate in the concert,because i was struggling with a soar throat ,but i was trying to help with every other thing i could. After the end of the eating in the big hall,all the students and their parents went to the gym to watch the concert and Shaun,Peter,Daniel,Stefan and I stayed and helped the staff clean and put the hall in the way it used to be.
On the International day this year I have collaborated with others and worked in a team,also undertook new challenges and considered the ethical implications of my actions as I had to be very diplomatic and politely  behaving with parents and guests.

CAS PLAN JAN-MAY

Creativity:
1) Develop my photography skills by
2) Start drawing and improve by looking at pictures online and trying not to copy them but redraw them by memory
3)Cook

CAS PLAN Sept.- Dec.

CAS PLAN September- December:
1) Creativity-
-Ceramic lessons- always wanted to learn how to make a vase
-International day- organization
-Photography while traveling to beautiful places( learn how to make panoramic photos with GoPro camera
- Cooking for my family and try new recipes by learning how to cook faster
2) Action:
- Swimming at least 3 times a week x 35 minutes so that I could improve my strenghts
- Jogging during the weekends until it is snowing and then try on snow to see if I will improve my running
- Try a new type of sport/ activity such as pilates/table tennis/ tennis
3) Service
- Clean in the park after the dogs and my own dog
- Tutor my brother science
- Organize a reading club for little kids in Bulgaria
- Be a nanny so that I could spend my time wisely and help my neighbours

CAS Summer 2012

During the summer of 2012 ,i have done several things for CAS.
 Creativity:  I  decided to proceed with photography and cooking,as i want to improve both of them . 
During the summer i have been to a lot of different ,new places ,so i had plenty of time and ideas for photos. I met a friend who has graduated from one of the best schools for photography in Bulgaria ,so she gave me some ideas and showed me how to capture the right moments .I bought 6 books,related to photography and i will soon also upload some of my photos .
I also faced the opportunity of cooking for 20 people for a week. During that week I had the feeling i was like a chef in a fancy restaurant ,because none of the people could cook ,therefore i was their only hope and they couldn't complain, simply because if they had ,they would have been left without anything to eat. So i learned how to make different types of cakes and pies ,also pasta and pizza ,which are both at the top 10 of my favourite food .therefore i was actually really amazed of my skills and i also enjoyed every single second of it.
Action :As the summer is usually full of nice moments and a lot of energy i also didn't miss to practice my beach volleyball skills and i have also been swimming all summer long. As the sea is without borders i was swimming through huge distances every day . 
The other thing i did for action  was to go back to the dance school i used to go before while i was living in Bulgaria and as my best friend is already a ballet teacher there,she helped me improve my dancing skills,for which i am really greatfull to her .because it is really important for me to become more flexible as i have lost that quality of mine while i was in Moscow.
Service: During the summer I decided to help my really friendly 70 year old neighbours by cutting the grass in their garden and also hose it twice a week for free. As the summer in Bulgaria this year was abruptly hot and people were fainting on the streets almost every day i decided to make home made cold lemonade and give it to the ones who were passing along my house. It was again for free and i also wasn't sure most of them would like it but it turn out that people were actually comming back for one more glass and they were saying how tasty it was. So i kept doing this for 5 days every afternoon.
Another thing i did for service was to babysit 3 little kids for a week every morning during their mother was working. I decided to do it for free and to help her because when my brother was little and my parents were working i knew how busy they were and i was helping them with whatever i could so from there i have the training.
During the whole 2 months of this summer i have accomplished all the CAS outcomes ,as i have :
- increased my awareness of my own strenghts and areas for growth as i have become more flexible and learned how to cook . Also improved my photographic skills.
-I have shown commitment to my neighbours and the mother whose kids i was babysitting
-i have undertaken new challanges every day
-i have engaged with issues of a global importance by giving and making homemade lemonade for random people from my neighbourhood
- i have developed many new skills such as cooking,swimming during a storm and huge waves and by beeing something like a nany which actually gave me the opportunity to get to know children's nature more in depth and made me more mature.

CAS PLAN

CAS PLAN September- December:
1) Creativity-
-Ceramic lessons- always wanted to learn how to make a vase
-International day- organization
-Photography while traveling to beautiful places( learn how to make panoramic photos with GoPro camera
- Cooking for my family and try new recipes by learning how to cook faster
2) Action:
- Swimming at least 3 times a week x 35 minutes so that I could improve my strenghts
- Jogging during the weekends until it is snowing and then try on snow to see if I will improve my running
3) Service
- Clean in the park after the dogs and my own dog
- Tutor my brother science
- Organize a reading club for little kids in Bulgaria
- Be a nanny so that I could spend my time wisely and help my neighbours

School 4 Fair

On the 15th of June the whole Year 12 went to the primary BIS #4 to participate in  the annual Summer Fair. Sabina and I planned and initiated the juggling balloons activity. We decided to do a simple activity,because the kids were at the age between 3 and 11 years.The whole activity was to make the kids  try to hold the balloon  in the air as long as possible.If they managed to keep one balloon in the air,we were giving them 2 or 3 more.  Our activity was indoors and most  of  kids didn't exactly know that we were there. But then I put a loud music on, we made a poster for the kids ,which we put outside on the door and we were asking everyone to come inside and participate in our activity . We also decorated the room on the outside with balloons because we had plenty of them.We went outside to shout, invite kids and asking other groups to come inside. We developed new skills and undertook a new challenge  in the process. We also communicated with younger  kids and their parents and worked collaboratively with each other. 

  Most of the kids had fun and it seemed like they were enjoying the activity which Sabina and I organised.

CAS PLAN # 3

Creativity :
1. I will proceed with improving my photography skills and i will improve my photoshop skills too
2.I will make a design on the computer for t-shirts ,supporting an AIDS campaign and send it for approval
Action :
1.I will proceed going to the gym next to my place
2. i will start playing tennis table and participate in the neighbour's tournament
Service :
1.Tuition - help my brother with his maths work after school
2. Donate Blood in a hospital
3. Help when i get back to Bulgaria(or if i find people who would help me and translate as my russian is not perfect ) and go to an orphanage or a hospital and help with everything i could there (donate clothes/toys or just entertain the kids ,for example with a play ) 

Table tennis

Gym and table tennis

As i posted in my CAS plan,i am proceeding going to the gym and im also swimming there,because i have a big 25m swimming pool,available all day for me,and there are not so many people around 4-5 o'clock,so i usually go there,but i think that the next 2 weeks,around the exams i will visit the gym rarely,because i wont have so much spare time. But i have started to play  table tennis with my brother in our garage and it's going really well. I have played tennis 2 years and i wasn't so good at it,but i am actually getting better in table tennis. I haven't been to the competition in my neighborhood ,because it was canceled but i am preparing for the next one and i am also playing basketball ,again with kids from the neighborhood and i am playing volleyball at school with most of the boys. By doing those activities i am undertaking new challenges and i am also collaborating with others.

Istra Trip 2012

Istra Trip

From the 4th of June until the 9th, our Year 12 went to a trip in Istra,which is situated at around 40 km far from Moscow.The main task for all of us was to complete the Group 4 coursework. In this group i'm taking Biology SL,so i found the Istra trip really helpful.

During our stay in Istra we did several investigations,experiments and we had time every afternoon to write up our data .For each day we had to do 2 experiments ,except on the last day ,when was our individual investigation.Here is what we did during the 4 days:

On Monday we had 2 tasks-First ,we had to improve our orientation skills by finding 10 flags with the help of a compass and GPS and second we had to draw a map of the district and make a legend for it. On Tuesday we also had two investigations -the first one was to take samples from both the pond and the lake and to measure the pH of each and see what is the difference . The second one was to build a line transect ,but as we had to do it on a really steep slope it was really hard for our group.

On Wednesday we did another investigation using quadrats. We divided in several groups and each group was working at a different area.My group and I were first near the lake and after that we went in the forest. We had to investigate what is the difference in the populations of clover,speedwell and dandelion and what are the levels of moisture and ph between both areas.We did it all day.

After dinner we had to build a boat . I was in a pair with Sabina,but our boat didn't win,because we didnt have enough time to finish it and make it sale correctly. It was fun though.

On thursday we did  our own investigations. I actually did two-the first one was to investigate how does the light intensity affect the length of the leaves taken from both shady and sunny side from a tree and the second one was to investigate whether firebugs' movements are changing or not due to the light from a lamp. The first one went well -it turned out that the difference between both groups was significant,but for the second one -the firebugs weren't moving as much as i thought they would so the experiment's result wasn't so interesting.

Every day after dinner we also had other activities ,e.g games.We had a music quiz ,which we miserably failed ;we played hide and seek in the forest while it was pouring rain;we also played something like blindfolding and we had to put traps ,which also didn't work out to be really successful.

During Istra trip i have achieved all 8 learning outcomes as i have 

1.developed new skills by learning how to deal with all the experiments and how to orientate better

2.I have engaged with issues of global importance

3. I have been working collaboratively with others as most of the experiments were done in groups or pairs

4.I have considered the ethical implications of my actions by taking care of the nature

5.I have showed perseverance and commitment as i was taking notes of my investigations 

6.I have planned and initiated activities especially for my own investigations

7.I undertook new challenges during most of the experiments

8.And last but not least i have increased my awareness of strengths and weaknesses.

And of course i want to thank all the teachers -Mr. O'Connor,Mr.Gray,Mrs.Gray,Mr.Harper and Mr. Mann,for supervising and helping us 24/7 ,during Istra trip.! Thank you very much ! :)