What's going on? (TWO)

Helloooooooooo. :)

So, here's another update of what's been going on with a few of my recent activities.

As previously mentioned in the last blog post, I had received news that I would be able to be a Classroom Assistant to English teachers, if organized properly. I was able to do so! Ms. Chandler (English A) and Ms. Smith (ESL) both agreed to allow me to assist them in the classroom, and I met them both yesterday to organize what I would need to do for the classes. I will be tutoring the classes as follows:

Grade 8 with Ms. Chandler, Week One (Mondays 3.30PM - 4.30PM)
Grade 9 with Ms. Smith, Week Two (Fridays 1.15PM - 2.15PM)
Grade 10 with Ms. Chandler, Week Two (Wednesdays 3.30 - 4.30PM)

With 8th Grade, next week, I will be presenting my experience as a Community and Service MYP Student last year, and how literature and movies can make a reader or viewer feel empathy for a student. We will be discussing how in the past and how we ourselves can do the same and find motivation and inspiration for Community and Service projects in this same way. With 9th Grade, I will be reading the same book, Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo, and talking with students individually to evaluate their understanding of the book and its characters. Just yesterday, I had my first experience with Grade 10. They are working on what I (really, truly enjoyed when I was in 10th Grade last year and) learned previously with the book Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I helped groups of students with the organization and preparation for their main project in literature. I hope I can learn from the challenges this activity will bring but most of all, I hope that I can share with Grade 10 the same motivation I had when I was in that class. It is clear that patience is importantto have in this activity in my CAS program in particular.

Also, on Monday, we had a 'friendly match' with roughly 30 young students from IS Hong Kong and Monaco. There were a few personalities, and the mixed teams (ISP and IS Hong Kong and Monaco) made it easy to interact in a subdued competitive environment. The weather was icy but I believe practice will continue as normal next week. Attached below is a photograph of me warming up before one of the games. :)

Piano has also been continuing on a regular basis. Its been moving along wonderfully and I feel my appreciation for classical music and love for playing piano grow with time. We had an extra-long lesson during the Touissant Break on a Friday morning for practice ofcourse, but also to buckle down on my understanding of my Piano Theory. We talked about the possibility of taking a theory exam in the future. Bonnie Brown, my piano teacher, has been playing since she was three-years old in Australia and is an award-winning solo and collaborative concert pianist. She made learning the piano a very fulfilling and fun experience for me and I'm glad to be so lucky as to have her as a teacher. We will be learning Bach's Prelude No. 1 in C Major BMV 846 (which I think is beautiful!) after I have completed learning Beethoven's Sonatina in G. Here is a link to a video of the piece being played that I found on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ9sRP5rXsc & here is the link to my piano teacher's website if you'd like to know more about her: http://www.bonniebrown.net/

That's all for now! Don't forget to keep checking back for updates on what's been going on! :)