We have had a service program in school which continued for 6 Saturdays where the students for government schools were invited. We had to fill out an online form and select what we wanted to teach. We were many options to select from like Dance, Art and craft, Cooking, Frisbee etc. I taught art and craft as it is my passion and it felt like a privilege to pass on my years of learning and understanding of various art techniques to other kids. The resources required for the actives was provided from the school.
Brief of all the sessions
Session 1:-Puppets
Session 2:- Bookmarks
Session 3:- Nameplates
Session 4:- Watercolor
Session 5:- Paper Quilling
Session 6:- Paper Flowers
LO1:-Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth
Not being able to communicate with the students due to not being able to understand Gujarati and what they were asking me. To solve the problem, as the students were divided into groups I combined my group with a person who can speak Gujarati, due to this I also started to understand a bit of Gujarati.
LO2:-Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process
The challenges that we faced was not being able to get enough materials for the activity we wanted to do. For the first session, we had got enough material that be could use. For the second session, we were asked about what all material do we require for making bookmarks, and we received all of them. For other sessions 4 sessions, we were not asked for the material. Session 4 did not seem to be fun for the kids from the government school as it was painting. They made about 2-3 painting just because there was a lot of extra time. For session 5 we were provided with all the resources and this ended up being fun for the kids. The last session was not at all organized we were provided with materials and were told to make them do anything, we had to ask for material again and again as we were shot of it due to less planning. Also, we used to get to know about the activity one day before which did not give us enough time to prepare what we want to make them do.
LO4:- Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences
This session took place every Saturday for continuous 6 Saturday. After attending 2 to 3 session I felt like I do not want to go for the sessions. But I still woke up and went for the sessions, because it made me feel good by passing forward something that I have learned to others.
LO5:- Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively
Not being able to build a working relationship with the juniors who selected the same activity, as our idea did not match. So before starting the sessions we all get together and give the juniors a chance to share their ideas first and then we gave our ideas, making them feel involved in the process. Also, we were paired with a group of people who would not talk to us and they did not even know what or how to make the kids do the activity because even they did not know anything about the activities themselves.
LO6:-Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance
This was a small step towards helps others. I helped the students of government schools learn something new. Helping these kids learn what I have I learned in many years made me happy. Seeing their faced fill with joy and excitement before the activity begins also encourage me to do more.
For me, these service sessions have been very interesting and also have been a way of looking back to what all I have learned in my experience with arts in the past 10 plus years. I have attended all the sessions as seeing the smile on the face of the kids made me want to come for the next session.
