For Terms 3 and 4 Innovat[ED], I did the chicken group. I thought it was a lot of fun and We did a lot of things that I had never done before. It taught me quite a few things.
In term 3, We looked at how we can maximize the wellbeing of the chickens and how we can use them as a learning resource for the early childhood classes. We were also made rosters and were assigned jobs to maintain the chicken coop and look after the chickens at lunchtime. This taught me about organization and responsibility because I had to prioritize my lunch time to make sure that I could get everything else done as well as the chickens. We also did projects such as making storybooks about the backstories of the chickens which was fun because it taught me about creativity and I got to use my art and creative writing skills.
This is a story board for one of the books
In term 4, we organized tours of the chicken coop for the pre primary and year 1 classes. We learnt communication skills because not only did we have to send emails and talk to the teachers but we also had to communicate with little children and keep them engaged. I had a lot of fun interacting with the kids and teaching them about what we know.
In conclusion. The chicken group was really beneficial because I learnt quite a few of the ASC capabilities as many new skills. I also has a lot of fun.
My Grandma because she was at the hands of the nazis until she was 9 and then she worked for the rest of her life to provide a good life for herself and her family. She worked really hard on the farm and when she got divorced, she continued that work by herself. She does everything she can to look after everything
A time that I showed Grit
I was playing basketball and I sprained my ankle. I had never injured myself majorly before and so it was a new experience for me and an opportunity to develop some grit. The first challenge was the rest of the game, I sprained it at the very start and so I played the rest of the game with a sore ankle. The other challenge was doing things in my every day life. I had trouble getting up and down stairs and getting into bed and generally doing things in my every day life. I wasn’t used to these things since I had never injured myself majorly before and so I definitely developed my grit and learnt something new.
Activities to improve grit
Setting challenging goals and then working to achieve them. I think this activity is good for developing grit because you have to use grit to get to the end product and it can be done over a long period of time and can be done again and again. It also teaches you other things such as skills and about setting and achieving goals. It improves your determination and your grit.
On the 16th of June, there was a showcase to present our work in Innovat[ED] and how we had expanded our design thinking skills and gained key ASC capabilities.
Our stall at the showcase
At the very beginning, I was going to paint a mural on the back of the year 7 & 8 lockers. I empathized with the school and I thought that the locker room would really like something too brighten it up and make it look good, especially with the tours and other things going on. I developed a lot of creativity.
After a while, I realized that this project was a bit advanced for me. It would require a lot of equipment and permission and I didn’t know how to paint. I had no experience doing this kind of thing and at first, it seemed like an exciting opportunity to try something new but I gave it some thought and found that I was probably going too far out of my field. I decided to quit that project and try to do something new.
My original mural design sketches
I joined a group that was making cat blankets to donate to cat haven because I was a keen sewer and I hadn’t done anything like that before. I had a bit of sewing experience before and I wanted to put it use. I learnt collaboration skills because I had to co-operate with my group members to get things done.
Our prototype and our test subject (Aisha’s cat)
We extended our creative skills by thinking up ideas for our cat blankets. At first, the blankets were going to be made out of flannelette, but it was expensive and we were introduced to a better idea. They discovered that there were ASC sport shirts that had been mis-printed and they were forgotten and un-used. It was good to use the fabric for free and know that the shirts would remain un-used otherwise. This way, we extended our problem-solving skills.
The showcase pretty successful. We had decent communication skills and a lot of people liked our stand and we explained the project well. I think we lacked some organization skills because we could have been more productive and have made an actual product in time for the showcase and the prototype was left at home so we couldn’t show it. We used our problem-solving and creativity skills and we found alternatives and solutions to our problems.
Overall, the showcase and the design process was a really fun experience and it was the perfect opportunity to learn. I improved my creativity, problem-solving and collaboration.
Aisha and I at our stand. Asha was absent on the day of the showcase.
The Christmas market is an opportunity where students start a business and make a product. They are to then sell their products at the annual Year 7 Christmas market. Not only did we learn lots about economics and business, we also learnt several ASC capabilities. I was in a group with Asha, Emily H and Domi. We made laser-cut bookmarks which were based off traditional Chinese bookmarks and handmade stickers with designs which we did ourselves.
Our stall at the Christmas market
What I learnt
Effective communication: Being in a group of 4 is hard because everyone has different ideas so we had trouble agreeing on things and it was hard to make sure that everyone knew what they were doing. There was also some miscommunication and last minute plans. Effective communication was a key part of this project and was something that I learnt.
Collaboration: Since I had a larger group, We found it harder to spread tasks out evenly and easily. Some people were doing tonnes of work and some were doing nothing. I learnt a lot about collaboration and spreading out the workload. I learnt to make a plan and to stick with it and to check in often to see if someone needs help.
Creativity: Although this task is in a casual environment, it is also quite competitive. The teachers wouldn’t invest us if your design was un-original. We had to think of creative products and market strategies. We also had to use our creativity when we hit a roadblock. We had to put our heads together and think of a creative solution.
Problem solving: We faced a lot of challenges along the way and we had to find a way to get around them. One of them included the art shop. We bought paint and superglue from an art shop but we found cheaper and higher quality products in another shop. We tried to get a refund but they only did exchanges. Not only did this take a lot out of our budget but we ended up not using the stuff we bought. We had to find a solution since we only had a couple of dollars left for other things. We learnt a strong lesson about problem solving and looking around for a better price.
Overall, I think the Christmas market was fun and I learnt so much about economics and I learnt important ASC capabilities and I grew as a person.
Throughout Term 2 and Term 3, The Year 7s embarked on a journey known as Project Utopia. In this project, we had to build a utopia that was livable, sustainable and compatible with the UN’s Global Goals. The project went across several subjects including English, Humanities, Science and Innovat[ED].
During Term 2, We learnt about what makes a Utopia. We read The Giver, a book about the faults in a supposedly perfect world. We learnt about the livability factors and what makes a place desirable to live. We learnt about the geographical concepts which is tied to livability and we did individual planning and research. All of this would help us make our Utopia better.
Model and CoSpace
One of the first important decisions Domi (My partner) and I had to make was whether to do a physical model or to do a CoSpace. At first we were going to make a physical model but then we lost weeks worth of work when our plan got scrapped. Time seemed to be running out. Our facilitator expressed his concern for us and suggested we use CoSpaces. In the end, we managed to achieve both. It required a lot of divide and conquer and work at home but we pulled it off. I learnt were how to use technology I hadn’t used much before (CoSpaces). I learnt the importance of time management and I learnt how to be more organized. I also learnt how to problem solve.
Our CoSpace
Accreditation
Accreditation is when a teacher or facilitator recognizes that you have found a suitable solution to a problem. Domi and I gained accreditation in 3 of the global goals. Goal 3, Good Health and Wellbeing. Goal 11, Sustainable Cities and Communities and Goal 13, Climate Action. We spent a long time thinking up a good solution and only get a few accreditations rather then rushing through with less detailed answers and gaining lots of accreditations. I learnt that sometimes you need to wing it. When getting accredited, there were lots of questions that we weren’t expecting so we had to wing it. It was okay though because some ideas we made up, we built on them further and used them.
Oral presentation/Public speaking
In English class, we had to write a speech to give to the parents and guests on showcase night. We presented it to the class to get feedback before we presented it at the night. We tried to share out the work load evenly so I wrote most of the speech and recorded the fly through to accompany it. I learnt problem solving skills since this was apart of our divide and conquer plan, Collaboration skills and how to use technology I hadn’t used much before (Loom).
Constitution
In humanities, we learnt about democracy and government systems. We needed to find a way to run our community and to write a constitution. We decided to invent a new type of government which was a communist/democracy hybrid. It is a committee that decides everything but it is made up from members of the public. It included separation of powers, voting and more. As a part of our share the work out plan, Domi wrote most of the constitution. I still contributed though, mostly ideas. Our constitution was a success as it was shown to other classes and sent to the ASC head of marketing. I learnt Creativity by creating a new system of government, Collaboration since we had to agree to things and input ideas and Problem solving since this was apart of the share the workload plan.
Overall, the Utopia Project was an amazing opportunity to learn and show skills. I learnt collaboration since Domi and I have different Ideas and we had to agree on things. I learnt problem solving skills because there were things that didn’t go our way but we were able to make according changes and get the job done. We learnt organisation because time wasn’t on our side so we needed to divide and conquer and do lots of work in our own time. We learnt creativity because our design was pretty basic but by adding interesting features such as camel milk instead of cows, you can find some interesting and effective solutions to a problem. I enjoyed the Utopia Project and it helped me grow as a person.
Semester 1 2020, I was 7y class representative. Although it was cut short by Covid, I still learnt a lot. As class rep I had a lot of responsibilities such as making sure the homework board was updated and I had to turn up to several meetings. I learnt about the responsibility of leadership and you need to be prepared to work with anyone.
