Swimming

For the past one month I have developed a lot of new skills, but one of the most important and meaningful ones was getting better and better in swimming. Just to compare with last year November- I was swimming 100m for 2 minutes and 10 seconds with 1 minute pause after each and now I can swim 100m for more or less than 1.10 minutes without any pauses. Plus I am also increasing the lengths every single time by adding one more. Therefore in November and before that, I was swimming only around 10 lengths. But now, after all this practice, I can handle around 20-25, but of course, after a certain number I get exhausted and I could swim more but it will be for sure slower.

But in the end, I have increased awareness of my strengths and areas for growth,I have also developed new skills and undertook a lot of challenges.

Pilates 2nd trial

After last time I went to pilates with my mother it turned out I liked it so we decided to go again.

This time it way easier, maybe the reason for this was that I was prepared and that I worked out in the gym the previous day. Plus I also had an aspirin just in case I get the muscular fever again.

So this time we did the same exercises as the previous time, but the instructor was different. In fact she was pregnant in the 4^th month, which absolutely amazed me and made me even more motivated. If a pregnant woman can do all that, why couldn’t I?

Even this time I had a little problem with the ab series but I handled it and I am sure with each next time I will get better. I have decided that in case there are days when I wouldn’t be able to go I can just write in youtube ‘’pilates workout’’ and have a 30 minute session.

Photography

I love travelling and I love the fact that we have so many vacation during the whole school year because during this time I get the opportunity to travel to different destinations and therefore capture every breath taking moment or just incredible views which I would like to share with you here, in my blog. Some of the photos are photoshopped using Photoshop or Digital Photo Professional, but I left most of them untouched, due to the fact that they are beautiful anywyas. I have undertook new challenges as I was using different types of cameras, some are even from phones, but for me that doesn't really matter. I have also developed new skills.

Valenitne's Day preparation

As everyone know 14^th of February is an important day for our school, since this is the time, when all the kids can have a disco organized especially for them, exchange secret valentine cards and have fun. That is why we had to plan and initiate a new activity. This year we decided to be more organized than last year. Mostly, it was Year 12s activity, but Year 13s also helped with what we could. I, for example, helped Dina sell the Valentine cards and promote the disco to as many children as possible.

The disco is going to take place on the exact day -14.02.2013 and unfortunately I am not going to be there, so that is why I tried to help with whatever I could while planning everything.

Taya and some other girls from Year 12 made amazing bracelets, which are going to serve as a badge or a ticket at the entrance of the disco, which is going to be in the big hall inside school.

Also I helped the rest of the girls organize how exactly it is going to be decorated. We figured out- the more balloons, the better.

In the end, I got more than 20 people who signed up for the disco and therefore I had to go around the school during the breaks and give them all an official letter to their parents, asking for their permission for their children to stay at school until 7:00 p.m. on the 14^th of February.

I have worked collaboratively with other people from Years 12 and 13, I have also planned and initiated an activity and I have developed my skills.

Winter day 2013

In the beginning of February, due to the constant Moscow winter, we had our Winter day. Me, Sabina and Matanat initiated the Snow Art activity. Sabina bought the acrylic paints and the brushes, although we also used some from the Art department, after Ms Platt proposed to us to use some of the materials from there.

During the activity groups of children from different years were coming and we had to act quickly because 1^st ) it was very cold and we didn’t want the paints to freeze, so we decided to mix them with hot water. That way invented a really usefull method for drawing in the snow- we found out that each bottle was used up in about 2-3  minutes and every time we had to fill it up with water - either going back to school or bringing a big basin with hot water inside. We also did that because most of the children didn't understand that they shouldn't completely empty the bottle and as a result we ran out of acrylic paints. However, thanks to Sabina’s food colouring paints, we discovered that they were long lasting, easily soluble in water and the final effect of the paint on the snow was amazing, due to the fact the paints were very strong.

At first, our group wanted to do snow sculptures, but since it's hard to build even snowmen with the snow outside, we decided drawing on snow was a better idea and it turned out to work very well. So during Snow day, we showed the children how to draw on snow and we hope they enjoyed it. I can say it from the looks on their faces . The only problem in the beginning we had was that we couldn’t organize the kids to draw something which they obviously didn’t want to, so we made them little competitions and this got them more motivated, so they were actually productive, instead of just wasting the paint on the snow, which was happening in the beginning. I think this activity was helpful for the kids to see to what extent is their imagination working and to also make the day funnier and more interesting for them.

Some issues that arised during the activity:

 We forgot to  bring our own bottles
 We also didn't think of how to fill them up quickly
 In the beginning of the activity we should have told all the children what to do or at least give them an idea, because they spent a lot of time thinking about what exactly to draw/ sculpt.

 Most of the groups were coming from a previous activity- hockey, which was taking place in the gym, therefore a lot of the kids weren’t wearing jackets, so we had to force them to get inside and put their warmer clothes on because we didn’t want them to have health isues.

 Students did not come to the even on time.

Positive outcomes from/during the activity:

 A lot of new ideas of making sculptures and not only drawing on snow

 We achieved the target which was to teach children to draw on snow and enjoy it

 The event was organized completely by year 13 with little supervision from teachers. As a result, we, as a whole group, managed to entertain the school, providing children with various outside activities and "Free Hot chocolate" service .

Therefore during Snow day we undertook new challenges, we developed new skills and worked collaboratively with others. And, of course, we planned and initiated new activities.

Jogging

During the February break I was in Spain. The weather was amazing, therefore I decided to proceed practicing sports there. I went jogging in the park 3 days out of 7, which is alright I guess and I don’t have the feeling I lost my shape. Of course it is much better to run in an amazing park on a dry path, not in the snow, but it was also an adventure, because Spanish people are really friendly so most of them were stopping me just to talk, or I had to give directions to tourists or translate form Spanish to English. Therefore I worked collaboratively with others and I undertook a new challenge.