Grade 7 Sections C & D Reflections of CAS Trip

On October 29, 2013, students accompanied by teachers went on a CAS trip to Vivekananda Vidhyalaya, a small school just 15 minutes away from Oakridge. 

Following are some of the reflections of the memorable trip:

Amili: My plan was to teach art and craft for an upcoming poster-making competition. My team consisted of Anjali, Akhila, and Simron. We did not have any problems and so things went on smoothly. We had a disciplined class and everyone learned from us.

Pooja, Laxmi, and Nandini won the best posters in the competition. Before leaving, we gave the best posters to the Principal and she was happy to receive them.  I will always remember this trip. I am looking forward to go to the CAS trip again to teach art and craft.

Yashi: We went there in connection with CAS (Creativity Action Service) to teach any one thing to the children of the school. My plan was to teach students art and craft, how to draw and many more things related to art.

My team had 3 members including me. We were excited and happy to go to the classroom appointed to us. All of us divided our work equally and finally we decided that our plan would be to conduct a story-telling session followed by a pictorial representation by the children to demonstrate their understanding of the story. 

Initially, I was not able to control the children and organize my work as I thought of. But, my friends and teachers helped me to take control of the situation. My experience taught me how to organise my work and work with my teammates.

In my second visit, I improved my ability to do my work properly with better planning.  In my next visit, I would like to teach innovative concepts to the students and make the learning process more fun and interesting.

Kriti Arohi: We were asked to teach the students (in groups), as there were only about fifty or a hundred pupils. We took turns teaching…I taught Math. The students were enthusiastic and listened carefully to our questions. It was very interesting to step in our teachers’ shoes. The sun’s rays were scorching and persistent, but we were under a huge banyan tree, which cooled us very quickly. 

The language barrier proved very difficult as most of the students spoke Telugu.  Two team members who knew Telugu managed to translate what we said to make our speeches more understandable.

As a team, we cooperated successfully and planned our work meticulously. In our second visit to the school, we understood the student psychology a lot better, and so, the result was much better. I had a quite interesting experience at the school.  I look forward to our next trip, and I am sure that my fellow peers feel the same. 

An Oakridger: My team taught English because it helps the students to learn an international language. Our plan was to teach basics of written and spoken English, shapes, food, etc. We started with a topic like fruits: we wrote the name in English and drew a picture next to it; we asked them to say it, and then they copied it down in their notebooks.

As a 4-member team, we cooperated very well and thoroughly conducted the teaching session.  I loved the amazing experience of teaching the adorable children.

Akhil Reddy: We went there to share our experiences about cricket and also to teach a few things about the game. We learnt a lot from the match and everyone strongly supported for the welfare of the team. Unlike the last match, we played much better and I think both the schools are gaining mutually from this interactive experience. In the next match, we will try to play better. I think that the next visit will be even more exciting with many other interesting and informative activities.