For our CAS project, we came up with an exciting idea to help struggling MYP students and also put good use of all the hard work we put in while preparing for MYP e-assessments. This gave birth to the PLA initiative which aims to develop the skills and knowledge of students in a personalized manner while making use of our experience from the MYP.
LO1: Identify your own strengths and develop areas for personal growth.
I realized that my strength was that the material I had collated during the MYP years and the experience I had, I could use this to help others. Another one of my strengths was management, I am good at planning and organizing. I could use this to set up the program and ensure that volunteers teach the subjects they are best at and students receive appropriate attention.
LO2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.
The biggest challenge was managing this project during distance learning. Initially school was closed and the only medium of communication we had was Gmail, this wasn’t always fast and efficient. Some students who signed up did not reply to the messages. This problem was overcome by assigning few students to the volunteers so that they could do regular follow-up and clarify any doubts.
LO3: Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience.
When I had this idea I sent a mail to the teacher with details of the program and had a short meeting to get approval. We sent out forms and made a spreadsheet to organize the responses and other details. We made a group on Google Chat and used it to send instructions, any links/materials, etc.
LO4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.
When school started the timings and routine changed so it was difficult to manage the one-on-one sessions. However, we showed commitment and asked them to schedule meetings for after school hours and in the mornings. This way we ensured that students got the support they required.
LO5: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.
The biggest benefit of working collaboratively is division of labor, me and my friend both had different interests. We could work to our strengths and take on the tasks which we enjoyed more. As responsibility is divided, the tasks become less stressful and it is an overall enjoyable experience for us as well.
LO6. Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance. LO7. Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions.
It is important for us to help those around us. We had our MYP e-assessments during lockdown so it was quite a struggle for us to cover the syllabus and manage with online classes. However simple help from our seniors in terms of suggestions for textbooks or websites to refer to aided us to a great extent. We wanted to continue this cycle and build a practice at our school where elder students help younger students with study tips, doubt solving and what they learnt from their experience.
Overall this was a very rewarding project, we got great feedback from the participants and we were able to see the impact of the sessions on improving their understanding of the syllabus.
Evidence:
