What have you done this term?

Grade 11students are off to a great start.  This week I just want to remind you to check your portfolio over the break - remember a little bit every week means less work in the long run.

That looks a bit like a rabbit rather than a hare, but I hope you get the point.                                                                                     ⇢

Some of the CAS experiences you have participated in:

• Teaching Swedish - to refugees and other students at the school
• Playing football - school team, local teams, with refugees
• Nepal group - web page, social media trip planning
• GEA - establishment of the Gender Equality Association
• Amnesty International group - campaign to protest the treatment of activists in Turkey - now run by grade 11 students
• Rhino group attended National Day against Rhino poaching 
• Student Council - grade 11 now in charge
• On-line research - cyclone watch/Species identification in the Amazon Rainforest and Serengeti National Reserve
• Dance to Health project teaching primary students to dance and raising money for the cancer foundation
• Music groups
• Individuals playing and composing music and singing
• Sports - running, going to the gym, yoga, pilates, skating, cheer leading, water polo
• Blogs/websites/instagrams about football/food/restaurant reviews/etc.
• Arts and crafts from knitting to lino prints to sketching and photography
• Badminton lessons ending in a tournament
• Volunteer work at Red Cross, Stockholm Film Festival, Hemlösa.se (giving out food to homeless people in the mornings), Korean and Japanese schools on the weekends
• Year book pages
• Student newspaper - now run by year 11 students
• Recycling plastic bottles
• Volunteering at a cat home
• Music performances at a hospital

This list is by no means exhaustive.  It is just a sample of the great experiences that our students are getting as part of the IB Diploma Programme.  

Enjoy your winter break.


Still looking for new ideas.  Bored during the break.  Try some of these online service - research projects:

Satellites Over Seals (SOS) 

Identify seals in satellite pictures to help scientists

Scientists are asking the public’s help in searching satellite images of Antarctica. This is the first-ever, comprehensive count of Weddell seals. Documenting how the seals’ population numbers change over time will help researchers better understand how climate change and commercial fishing in the Antarctic impact these iconic species.

Study Adélie Penguin breeding 

Count & tally individual penguins in photographs from study site

Part of our research is monitoring the number of penguins that breed at Cape Royds every year. Knowing the numbers helps us understand what is happening to penguin populations as changes in their habit occur. Just outside the colony is a camera that takes a picture everyday of the penguins. This allows us to see the changes in numbers as the season progresses and compare year to year. We need help counting the penguins as the daily photos are not saved. If you would like to help us with this project read on!

 You will need:

• Access to the internet everyday Nov to Feb.
• The Penguin Count Data Sheet 
• Graph paper (optional)

Play a computer game and help Alzheimer's researchers

Help scientists analyze brain blood flow movies - are blood vessels flowing or stalled?

One symptom of Alzheimer’s that has been known since the discovery of the disease is reduced blood flow to the brain, but until now, nobody knew why. That is why this aspect of the disease, which likely contributes to cognitive problems and accelerates injury to brain cells, has remained untreated.
New specialized imaging techniques have allowed Cornell University researchers to discover a potential cause of the reduced blood flow. This suggests new treatment approaches that could slow progression of the disease to delay, or even prevent, the onset of symptoms, and possibly restore some cognitive function when symptoms are present.

However, understanding the molecular basis of the process, and homing in on the specific pharmaceutical targets using current methods could take decades, limited primarily by the need for extensive manual image analysis. Crowdsourcing this analysis to citizen scientists could reduce that time to just a few years.

Last week's blog prize was never claimed.  In order to win this week's prize you need to write down all the animals that appear on this week's post and give the paper to me personally.  The competition is open until the 9th January at 5 pm.  

Still standing.... Exams are over - take time to reflect!

In the last few weeks you have had a lot of exams, assignments to hand in and most of all a lot of stress.  What is good about all that?  Well for one thing it is now over - for the moment.  It is easy to lose sight of the small things in the midst of all the extra pressures.  CAS is one of the things that often gets pushed to the back of the mind when there are pressing deadlines. 

Take some time, now that it is a bit calmer, to get on top of what needs to be done to keep your portfolio in the green.  Take a look below at some of the inspirational reflections people have done.  

If you spend 10 - 15 minutes a week up-dating your CAS portfolio it will not become a burden or a big task.  

Keep standing!

Some inspirational CAS reflections

Dance for Health - organising dance classes in the primary school

Another challenge we faced, that really tested our collaborative skills was on the day of the college fair the auditorium where we usually hold our dance classes was occupied. We had to find a place big enough to hold 18 kids and have enough room to dance and to teach. We went around different classrooms asking if it would be ok to hold the lesson, we got denied quite a few times, however we came to an agreement with one of the art teachers that if we put the tables exactly back to the correct placements, we could use the room. We then had to all split up and search for the kids, making sure they all knew about the location change. I have to say it was quite hectic working in a smaller space and also the new distractions of the location, but we made it work and got through more the choreography.

Horse Riding - Competition review

 I went into the ring with a good feeling, my horse felt ready for the class. I remembered my mistakes from the previous day and was quite determined not to repeat them. It was important to remember breathing, good last stride and relax. This worked perfectly for the first phase, however in the second phase I again made mistakes. I took a risk coming to the second last fence, the angle was slightly off meaning it dropped. Then I ceased to ride which resulted in a unusual stop from my horse, however we rode the parkour to a finish. In the end it payed off and we ended 4th. However, it was very clear to me that the results could have been much better if I hadn't made silly mistakes. This is something that will be addressed in the next Training, to keep relaxed and keep breathing which are two things that I sometimes forget in the ring and when things become a bit stressed I make silly mistakes.

Giving out food to homeless people

One problem we have is limiting the amount of food that is given out. We let the people taking food choose which products they'd like, but since our quantity is limited we have to restrict the amount they take. For instance, they may be allowed to take 3 pastries, a salad, and a baguette. However, sometimes people do not listen to you and try to take 4 pastries. This causes there to be some commotion. Another issue we have had is that we become very stressed when we do not have enough volunteers. If it is only 3 people we may have trouble keeping things in order. We have also had issues in attending the past 2 weeks since we have had an excess of schoolwork, leading us to be very tired in the mornings and requiring more sleep.

By being involved in an organization like this I feel like I am directly impacting people in Stockholm. Since it is only once a week, it is not that tiring and I feel as though more people could be participating in this. The activity means a lot to me, I feel like I am actually making an impact when doing it. So many people are dependent on this organization and I feel satisfyingly helpful when I am there. One thing I can apply to my life more generally is that I can do more to help others. I have realized that performing even small tasks makes others happy. It has taught me to be more thankful for the things I have in my life (health, happiness, wealth).

Knitting - a visual reflection

Tracking cyclones on https://www.cyclonecenter.org/ - an audio reflection

audio recording

If you have got this far, well done. You should have a good idea of how to reflect. The first person to come with the name of the songs from this week and last week's posts  written on paper will receive a prize.

Please Reflect...

How do I do a good reflection? A reflection should be meaningful and something that helps you understand what you have been doing and its impact on you and possibly others. It should not just describe what you have done.

On the pages at the side here, you will see some sample reflections.  Read them and see if they inspire you. Remember that a reflection does not have to be in writing.  You can record it, take a video of it, sing it, write a poem....

Reflections should not just be about how fantastic you are and what you achieved.  They should also be about what you could differently, what you did wrong, what impact your experience had on you and others etc.  The following is an excerpt from the CAS guide.

Elements of a Reflection

•       Describe what happened.  Memorable moments, obstacles, difficulties,successes.
•       Expressing feelings.  Show how you felt about your experiences.
•       Generating ideas. Rethinking or re-examining choices.
•       Asking questions. Questions about people, processes or issues

      Remember to relate to the learning outcome as much as possible.  These are the questions that appear on  Managebac the first time you reflect on or provide evidence for an experience:

For each of your activities, you will want to show evidence of:

• planning and organization
• effort and commitment
• active reflection
• personal development and achievements

To guide your reflection, you may consider the following at different stages of an activity (prior to starting, during, and after completion):

• What do you perceive and notice?
• How you feel being involved?
• What problems have you encountered?
• What do you think and feel about the activity itself?
• What does the activity mean to you?
• What value does the activity have?
• What did you learn from this activity, and how might you apply this to your life more generally?

      

      Your reflection could be a series of questions that you ask yourself about what you did and how it impacts (or doesn't) on the community.  You do not need to praise your experience but to be critical of it. 

                 

               Volunteer opportunities

Barnfonden - Christmas Village in Kungsträdgården 16 and 17th  December

People are needed to help at the Christmas Village.  The description is only in Swedish but I am sure there will be plenty of tourists around who you can speak to so I encourage you to apply on voluntärbyrån.  See me or a Swedish speaking friend if you need help. You would be giving out information and Christmas joy for an organisation that helps children all over the world. Apply before 3rd December.