Photography Club - Some examples of my photos!

I thought it may be interesting to post a few of the photos I have taken for photography club in this semester. I've been focusing on the rule of thirds and I've been experimenting with different effects and angles within my pictures. I realise that I still have quite a long way to go in my photography, but it's a really nice experience to be part of a group in which we are all learning and are able to critique and support each other in our aims. I need to be a bit better about posting and commenting on other people's stuff, but I will try my best to make more time for this from now on. I hope to go on the photography trip next year!

195 mm
ISO 400
O EV
f/5
1/1000

95 mm
ISO 500
O EV
f/4.2
1/125

300 mm
ISO 400
O EV
f/5.6
1/500

[Edited - turned into black and white, and contrast raised]
14 mm
ISO 160
O EV
f/3.5
1/1600

ISO 800
42 mm
O EV
f/5.6
1/8

ISO 800
42 mm
O EV
f/5.6
1/80

ISO 160
34 mm
O EV
f/6.3
1/125

ISO 160
33 mm
O EV
f/6.3
1/160

ISO 100
8.7 mm
O EV
f/3.5
1/250

ISO 160
23 mm
O EV
f/4.5
1/100

ISO 400
25 mm
O EV
f/6.9
1/60

ISO 320
42 mm
O EV
f/5.6
1/80

ARTSCO Mural Painting

Final mural!

On April 12th I did another mural painting for ARTSCO. We had originally planned to go to SODAS for a service event, but there had been some mishap with the organisation and it didn't work out. However, we took the opportunity to finish off our cheshire cat mural. The other ARTSCO members attending were Cora, Sabrina and one other girl. I was a little disappointed that more people hadn't shown up, but I think that there were enough of us to work effectively.

The mural was almost complete, but it still needed to be outlined with black. We first tried out using large black markers, but they didn't work very well and so we decided to use paint. Sabrina and I went down the art room and gathered a collection of different colors of paint, as we'd hoped that we could possibly start another mural that day, but Ms Lillis told us that there was now a stricter process in terms of panel distribution, and so we decided not to. Armed with Cora's wonderful paintbrushes we started on the Cheshire cat, and the transformation of the mural was incredible. The black lines really were the perfect finishing touch on our piece, and they made the entire painting pop.

ARTSCO team!

We dragged over a few picnic tables to stand on, and then spent the large majority of the 3 hours outlining the cat. The sun was really bright at some points and looking at the mural (especially looking up when trying to reach the higher parts) was challenging. However, we also finally managed to do the teeth of the cat - in my view, the most important part. There was a little trouble regarding the spacing and angles of the lines, but when we made mistakes we let it dry and then painted back over it with white.

When we finally finished up we all stepped back and were extremely proud of what we'd accomplished. I think that we all worked very well together during this event and bonded a lot more. I love carrying out creative activities like this, especially as it so directly influences our ISK community. I'm glad that ARTSCO has allowed me to have these opportunities, especially as my creative side is so often restricted during normal school days and other service groups. I really enjoy seeing our work each and every day as I move around the campus - it's a very rewarding experience. I think that I may run for a leadership position in ARTSCO in the coming year, as I so enjoy this club and what it aims to promote within the community. I'll see how things play out!

Piano Class

Today I had another piano class, but I have not been consistently blogging about every single session so I will talk about the general topics we have covered over a series of meetings. We have, as usual, reviewed what I already learnt with each session and have explored a number of new notes [shown in the pictures attached]. I am beginning to learn how to move my hands about the keyboard, work with chords, and improve my timing. It's often hard to go fast when you first learn the new notes, but with practice you learn fairly quickly. I'm a little nervous about putting all these notes together in a piece, as there are so many and it's going to be increasingly difficult to distinguish between them. All the different lines and symbols in a piece of music can get very overwhelming and I'm afraid that I won't know which part of the keyboard to move to.

New notes

More new notes

 I am finding piano a lot more interesting recently and I enjoy the new challenges that I'm being presented with. Furthermore, I feel that Rachel and I are beginning to bond a lot more in our lessons, which is really nice. Today she told me that she's been studying the piano for 24 years, and that she still wants to learn more. We also spoke about the concerts coming up, and whether or not I'm going to be performing a piece. I haven't quite decided this yet, but I feel like it may be an option sometime next school year (when I have had time to progress more).

Example of a song I'm currently do ing

II really like the fact that we're beginning to open up to each other more - I feel a lot more supported in my learning, and I really appreciate everything she's doing for me.

Interact Board Meeting 1

Today I attended my first interact board meeting! I have recently become the secretary of notes for this club, which means I have a position on the board and will attend meetings to take notes and contribute to planning and direction. This was not a formal meeting, as it involved the old board members and was a general wrap up of what we'd done and a planning of upcoming events.

During the meeting we talked about the golf tournament coming up - we discussed the necessity of raffle tickets and the attendance of interact members on the actual day of the event. We then went on to speak about attendance of lunch meetings and events (connecting to the fact that not many have actually turned in raffle tickets for the golf tournament). We decided that we need to be stricter in our regulations, perhaps fining people who don't show up to meetings or having a 'three strikes and you're out' policy. I thought that some of these were a little harsh, but I suppose it's necessary in order to keep the club running effectively.
We also moved on to discuss new service project ideas. Some interact members get a little bored with the trips that we have, and we want to provide a greater variety of events. We thought that there should be more mural painting opportunities, and that there should be a different method of signing up to go on these trips. The mass struggle of signing up all at once at the start of the year was a big problem for the board, and so we've been thinking about reverting to a signing up the week before (on facebook or on Mr Bissmeyer's door).
Furthermore, we discussed the awards - interactor of the year and the kamran fazal award. We brainstormed potential candidates, nominating various people, and came to two decisions (which I shall not yet reveal!). We want to give out these awards during assembly, to promote interact club and honour these two students.
The meeting was concluded with Adele handing over the interact medal to Tamara and thanking all those involved in the running of the club.

I'm really excited to become more involved in interact - I've never really been on the official board of a club before, and I think it'll be interesting to see how things are organised and carried out. Our next meeting is on May 9th, and will only involve the new board, and I'll start properly carrying out my duties at this point. I really hope that I manage to develop my confidence and leadership qualities in this role throughout the next year or so. I feel that this is a great opportunity for me, and I'm looking forward to the upcoming meeting.

Tutoring for NHS

On April 8th I attended another tutoring session for middle school kids. This session was with kids with learning disabilities, and there was only one other NHS member attending with me. Mrs Mahaffy was present this time, and there were around 5 kids. I was excited going into this, as I knew that the presence of Mrs Mahaffy and the increased support needed by this group of children would give me far more opportunities to interact with them than during my last visit.

When I arrived I was assigned to work with the same boy I that I had on my first session, which was nice. I think it's really nice to develop a strong relationship with a particular student so that you're both comfortable and effective while working together, and I think I'm on the road to doing just that.

Tisae was working on his math test when I first arrived, and Mrs Mahaffy said that I should look over what he'd done and then help him with the remainder of his problems. He had completed the first part of the assignment well, and we moved on to work on variables. He had to solve equations such as: x + 100 = 30,000. Fortunately, this was something I actually knew how to do! I guided him through the process, telling him to isolate the variable and complete the same steps for both sides of the problem. He caught on pretty quickly, but had a bit of trouble with the creation of equations themselves. I also helped another girl with her test, and she struggled more with the concepts but gained clarity as we progressed through the paper.
I realised how challenging it is to describe something that you view as being so simplistic to someone who hasn't yet grasped it - it's difficult to put what you know into words and communicate effectively. I tried to help by asking him questions to guide him towards the concepts, but I think that I need to work on my teaching methods a little more. I feel like I may of told him too many answers straightforwardly.

After we had finished with the math test we moved on to a review of his science essay. He had written a very interesting piece on Olympic sports and the importance of exercise. When reading it I learnt a great deal about this area!
He had finished up but needed to go through it once more before he printed it. He read it out loud to me and then we went over each paragraph in depth together. There were very few errors in his writing, but there were a few grammatical, formatting and structural problems and possibilities of a rewording of sentences. After we were both happy with the essay we printed it out in the commons and headed back to the classroom, where we said goodbye.

This was a very nice session, I felt a lot closer to Tisae and think that I managed to guide him pretty well. I feel that tutoring the students with learning disabilities is more engaging and tests us more than with the other kids. I feel like I am actually needed when I go to these events, whilst during my last visit I could sense that my presence wasn't as necessary.
Tutoring is definitely helping my communication and collaboration skills, and allows me to test my leadership qualities and push myself in a variety of areas. I am very glad that NHS has started doing this - it allows us to help the community (as Mrs Mahaffy was clearly in need of some assistance) whilst developing as people at the same time.

Last 2 KCCL Trips

 This Wednesday, the 2nd of April, and on the 19th of March I went on two more KCCL trips. We followed the normal schedule, leaving school at around 3:20 and coming back at 4:30-5 in the afternoon. I was really excited to get back to KCCL, as I missed the last trip due to other appointments and such. These two times a few teachers came along with us - on the first trip the middle school principal, director and Mrs Roberts tagged along, while on the second we were accompanied by Mr Montgomery, Ms Houriez and Mrs Cain. I think that it was really nice to get some teachers to come along with us, as they don't often see what we all do on Wednesdays, and our projects are so wonderful.

Painting the pooh mural with Hannah and Eric!

When we arrived some kids were in the garden doing tiquando whilst others were working in the classrooms. We had focused on painting on both of these trips, wanting to finish the murals that we had started on the walls of the building. Some murals even had to be painted over with white paint due to some mistakes and miscommunication. We all headed to the storage room and hauled out the paints to the back. The paintbrushes, that were previously extremely stiff and dirty, had been cleaned and we had even managed to purchase some new ones with money we raised! It was a real treat to have a series of spotless white paintbrushes set out in front of us after so many struggles with the stubborn old ones! However, they weren't clean for very long!

On these two trips I focused on finishing up our mural of pooh bear and piglet (with the words 'friends stick together!' above it). Hannah and I had drawn the design for this quite a while ago and I was eager to see it completely finished. Eric also helped us out with this, and we made good progress. We had some issues mixing the same colours after our previous paint supplies were lost, but we managed to pull it off. We finished the colouring for pooh and piglet on the first trip and on the second worked on outlying everything in black (which improved its appearance drastically) and going over some areas of piglet. By the end of the second trip we had finished up and I was very proud of our work. After we had finished I went around and helped other groups with their designs. The building looks so beautiful at the moment, it's completely covered with vibrant colours and designs and you can't help but be in a good mood when you see what we've managed to transform the school into.

The kids all helped us paint throughout these two trips. Some kids were kept in the classroom, but the ones that came to help were very interactive and sweet. They would help us open cans and then take cups of paint and stand beside us and join in the work, making conversation as they did so. I think that all the children seem a lot more at ease than they were this time last year, and it's really nice to see their development.

These two trips have been really fun, I enjoy working creatively on the painting and I'm pleased that some teachers have got to see what we've been working on. Hannah is an amazing group leader and I love how passionate she is about this cause. I hope that she rejoins next year and this kind of work continues!

Group Update

I thought it would be useful if I quickly updated where I am in a few clubs ...

Interact: I have just finished my last service trip and handed in all of my raffle ticket money. I have almost finished with this club, but I've enjoyed every moment of it and will definitely be joining next year. Furthermore, I have been elected as the secretary of notes (not sure if this is the right term) which is a leadership position on the board of interact for next year. I was pretty proud of myself for stepping up and running for this role, and I'm glad that it's a fairly low-key position in terms of public speaking for now. I'm really excited to start getting more involved in Interact in the coming year!

Track & Field: I have temporarily stopped training with the track and field team due to an injury. I have tendonitis and so my right leg hurts unbelievably whenever I try to run. Apparently I have developed this due to running while growing, and must now go into physiotherapy to be able to start running once more. I don't want to injure myself further, so I have taken the advice of the doctor and stopped running for the time being. My first physiotherapy session is on April 12th and until I get the advice of the physiotherapist I will be swimming every morning and doing yoga on friday (as usual). I really hope that Mrs Smyth is not too disappointed in me and still considers all the hard work I did the rest of the year when she looks back on me. I feel really disappointed that I can no longer run, but I'm glad that I still have the option of swimming and yoga. Hopefully I can resume normal training soon.

NHS: In NHS at the moment I am attending tutoring sessions every other tuesday. We have arranged to have a staff party on April 8th during activity-lunch time, and have decided to postpone our idea for an elementary spelling bee for next year (due to the amount of time and planning that it will take, and the small time that the seniors have left with us). We are also going to sell snow cones at the flea market in a few weeks time. Furthermore, leadership positions are opening up for this club and I've thought about running for a small role (perhaps secretary). This would require giving a speech, but I think I might go for it. I'll see how it goes though!

Save the Rhino: In Save the Rhino we are currently focusing on giving short presentations to the group about the issues and potential solutions of the wildlife crisis. Last meeting Wout and Nidhi gave a presentation about the KWS rangers becoming corrupt and turning on the animals, raising questions about how we could revert this process. I found this very interesting and I think that this focus on communication is critical for this club. I have volunteered to give a short presentation next meeting with Aqila, and I'm excited to practice my speaking in a setting where I am both comfortable and passionate. Leadership roles are also coming up for this club, and I'm thinking about applying. This is a topic that I feel very strongly about, and I hope I can contribute more to the group.

Round Square - First Impressions & Thoughts

This year I have decided to join the Round Square group at ISK. I actually found out about this group last year, and my friend lucie and I had originally been very interested in attending the conference - however, it didn't happen and we were slightly disappointed. Nevertheless, this month I am attending the Round Square conference in South Africa! During this conference I assume that other students and I will be coming together to discuss world issues and the IDEALS of Round Square, also venturing out to learn more about the environment and culture of our location. The IDEALS of Round Square are as follows:

I - Internationalism
D - Democracy
E - Environment
A - Adventure
L - Leadership
S - Service

These IDEALS will be incorporated into all of our conferences, and in our club at ISK we will be trying to incorporate them similarly into all of our clubs. I think that this is an extremely valid and crucial goal - so many students here at ISK view CAS as a monotonous chore that they must complete merely for CAS, while it is so much more. I think that we should appreciate where we are living in the world and all that we have, becoming more worldly and developed individuals. The IDEALS will spread out like an umbrella over ISK, and so this club is the core to all other activities. We hope to gather more students to join, as not many came to the introduction meeting. We want this to be a very open and friendly group, it will not be a "secret society" of sorts!

In Round Square at the moment we will probably be focusing mainly on democracy in the IDEALS. This is because student elections are coming up and, unfortunately, the students that are elected to become leaders are generally the extroverted popular individuals. The more introverted and quiet students are really very good leaders, and I think it's really a shame that they don't get presented with more opportunities. I am personally not extroverted and I've experienced this frustration with wanting to lead, but not having the support. I think if we manage to get elections to be more democratic and fair a great deal of students will benefit and be able to grow in their new roles.

I'm really excited to be part of this group. I'm in quite a few groups and I've seen many of the IDEALS lacking in them. I think if Round Square manages to gather momentum and take effect it will be incredible to see the changes that occur in the mindset of the students and club activity. I am excited to finally be able to make more of a difference!