The service sessions were organized to provide a platform for us to teach unprivileged children the basic skills which would help them to grow holistically. There were six sessions organized wherein we taught the children sports skills, basic computer operations, and cooking skills. Here I was teaching frisbee skills to the children. These sessions were organized on Saturdays from 14th July to 18th August, so that we could do something productive at the weekends and it was also easy to manage time. Many children from different government schools visited us. Our main goal was to teach them the skills which we know and give them the advantage to learn something which they would not have got the chance to learn. We also tried to make it appear fascinating to them as it was a new experience for them, which was very different from their daily academics.
LO 1:- Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth.
This activity had helped me identify my strengths and weaknesses. As when I was teaching frisbee to children, it gave me a feeling of relief and satisfaction because I was able to teach the children doing successful throws and catches. It had helped me identify my strength in teaching frisbee. I had also identified my weakness, that when I am speaking to a large number of people I tend to become nervous. I came to know that I had a little, stage fear. It is important for me to know my strengths and weaknesses as when the opportunity comes I could take advantage of my strengths. And I could also work on my weaknesses so that I don’t miss any opportunities. I would also want to work on my weakness, which is stage fear. Because overcoming on my weakness would help me to present my ideas to a large number of people. And it could benefit me.
LO 4:- Show commitment and perseverance in CAS experiences.
The fact that it was arranged in six different sessions, with each one being on different Saturdays had made it very long. There were also other academic related deadlines. So my presence at the sessions was questionable. It had required me to manage my time and prioritize my work.
LO 5:- Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.
It is usually easy for me to work with other people when the people around me are of my age group or are familiar to me. But, when it gets to work with unfamiliar people, or of different age group then it takes time for me to work productively. Because my teammates were familiar to me and of my age group so it was not an issue with me. And at the beginning of these sessions, it was not easy for me to teach the children as we had to communicate with them in a very local language. But, gradually as the classes passed on we had learned to communicate effectively with them, and the children had also started cooperating with us. It was very important to work collaboratively with others, as it gives me a chance to know other people and also gives an experience of how to solve different problems in different ways. Working collaboratively had helped me learn from others how to manage a big amount of children, and how to bring their interest in what we are teaching.
And I was able to make it to the sessions, as I should be along with my team if we want to teach children productively. It is not usually for me to commit to things if I am not really interested in it. But, it is really very important to commit to things as it gives me an intention to work and I could work more productively. And many of my teammate’s commitment had helped motivate ourselves as a team.
Conclusion
While this activity I realized that I was a good communicator, as it required me to communicate with my teammates and with the children whom I was teaching so that I could teach effectively. I was also caring as the children were younger to me so it was important that I carefully talk with them, and take care of them while they were practicing throws so they don’t hurt themselves. Through this activity, we were able to teach different skills to other children which they might not get a chance to learn somewhere else, and these skills might also help them in the future. I think that I achieved success in achieving my goals, as I was able to see a big smile on the faces of children. And this made me realize that the children felt satisfied and happy. I was happy to know that my students were able to learn something because of me. At the end of this activity, I came to l know that when I keep myself motivated then it helps the whole team to work productively. I could also use this learning in my academics, as in many group task if I would have a commitment then it would also help others to work effectively.
Evidence
