Today we tried something new after we haven't seen each other in a while. I learned a simple chord progression and some variation techniques. We played several chords in a certain pattern which sounds like a typical country song. It goes from A to E to D and back to A. It sounds a bit boring if I play just by the chords, so I added some variations to it that it sounds more abundant and interesting.
Creativity.
I was involved in many creative activities this semester and I believe I achieved some parts of my initial goal and I'm getting closer to it.
My father learned classic guitar while I'm learning bass guitar, however, today my father lied ill and we couldn't have guitar class today. Instead, I practiced what I learned last week at home by myself. During the weekday, I didn't have much time for practice and I couldn't spend so much time for it. Since the first semester is over now, I've got more free time. I will manage my time well and will try to practice it everyday.
I completely forgot about our tuition class with Alex and came home. This was the last week before the holidays since he had SAISA boys football practice. I'll check with him whether or not he has time on Friday. (Tomorrow, he has football. Wednesday, we all have Swimming Gala and I have an appointment on Thursday. So Friday is the only option we got at the moment.)
Since my little brother is trying out for SAISA boys football, I had to stay afterschool yesterday. Then, I saw the Girls Basketball team was practicing and Filippo in my grade and Umeshan were coaching them. I helped them coaching and had a match with girls to teach them some team tactic or simple skills. It was fun. :P
Yesterday, Alex and I were supposed to have a math class after school, however, Alex is trying out for SAISA boys football practice that we couldn't have class this week again.
I thought we won't be able to have class on Tuesday till the SAISA football season is over. So we changed the time to Monday after school.
I also talked to Ms.Huijnen who's current my math teacher as well as Alex's and she told me that Grade 9 which Alex is in, has just started a new chapter, probability, and Alex is doing fine yet. This week is the second last week before the break, which means that we have only one class left. I hope we won't miss that class.
By the way, instead of tutoring math, I helped the SAISA Girls basketball team after school with Filippo since I had to stay after school anyway.
We had the Prison Babies coming at OSC. However, I was sick (I got a flu) that I couldn't play with them. I might make them sick as well! So I had to come home after saying Hi and Bye to the children. Because of the SAISA boys football team arrived at school today, everywhere was crowded. So the children played at the gym.
I think we have got only one more week before the December break. I wish I'll get better soon and can play with them at last week.
We had the Inter-house Music competition today after school. I was involved in one of the acts this time with Gee in 12th grade. We performed the beatbox for 3-4 minutes. It was a bit disappointing since we couldn't really practice much for the actual performance. I think we could have done better if we had more time.
Still, it was fun. Yellow house where Gee and I are in, came in the third place which I think we did pretty well.
We had the rehearsal for the Inter-house music competition today after school. It went pretty ok, but we found out we need to work on the transition more. Since tomorrow is the Poya holiday, Gee and I can work on it personally and hopefully will be ok on the real competition.
I had the bass guitar class yesterday (Saturday. 28th November, 2009). I learned how to play all the scales on the bass guitar and further developed the skills that we learned last class.
Babies came to our school last Thursday, but only 5 of them came. It was disappointing a bit. Anyway, one of them, Thail (hope I spelled his name corrctly) wanted to play football with me and so we went down to the primary field to play football.
There was a new little baby came this time. She looked a bit scared, but soon she seemed to like the place playing with us. I heard the eldest girl who gradually came to our school won't come to our school anymore since her mom is discharged soon. It was kind of sad news to hear, but I believe it's good for her that way and hope she'll not forget us.
Last Tuesday(24th November, 2009), I had NESA math competition and Alex also had the SAISA boys football practice that we decided to have class on Wednday(25th November, 2009). However, Alex came up with another excuse and couldn't have class :P 'We'll certainly have class next week' was what I thought, but then coming up Tuesday( 1st of December 2009) is Poya which is a holiday in Sri Lanka that we will miss another class.
By the way, I told my mother to come pick me up at 4:00 pm because of the math tuition and it was canceled that I had to stay at school till 4:00. I, instead, played football with 12th graders and Adrian in our grade till 4:00 while I was waiting for my mom.
I had math test after school, NESA test, and Alex also had the SAISA Boys football practice that we couldn't have the class today. We'll have it tomorrow if possible.
We brought them to the Victoria Park today. It was the first time we brought them OUTSIDE of school. It was really fun! and the children also looked excited. We played there for about half an hour. However, this time only some of the children from the prison came. We hope more of them will come next time !
From the beginning of the year, I've been playing badminton with my friends at lunch and after school and sometimes with my brother at home, since my brother challenges me all the time even though I always beat him so badly. There are some of friends of mine who are pretty challenging, and playing with them is always fun.
I've also been playing table tennis with my brother. He has improved a lot and it's becoming challenging for me to play with him now. (aiyo. I need more practice. Can't lose!)
Like I mentioned earlier, playing badminton and table tennis is just for fun and to keep my health. In that meaning, I think I've met the expectation pretty well.
I had another class with Alex today. He asked me to have the class yesterday because he had a math test today. But then, he said he suddenly changed his mind yesterday after school, that we had class today. He said he did pretty ok on his test...... We'll see. :P
He said he started the new chapter, statistics, in class. He said he learned the concepts of median, mean and mode. He seemed to be doing ok with them. We went over the questions and he struggled with some questions, but I explained them to him.
I had the bass guitar class today.
I learned the forth chord progression further more; forth chord progression in different fingers.
Many of my friend at church are busy nowadays preparing for the coming Christmas; some are practicing worship dance, choir is practicing the hymn and the church band is also practicing something.
Last Sunday, I watched them practicing and the drummer seemed to be struggling. While my friend, who is the lead bass guitarist and who can also play drum, guitar and piano, showed him what to do, I played the bass guitar for him. It was actually the first time I played with the others and it was really good. While the drummer went to bathroom, I played the drum as well since I can play drum before the bass, it was also really really good.
I feel I'm improving a lot which is good :D
We had a planning session this week, 12th November 2009.
We realized that we have only four weeks left before the December break and we wanted to do something new and special for the children. Since their outdoor activity is limited to coming to OSC and we haven't brought them out of the campus before which we were not allowed before, we planned to go to the Victoria Park next week.
We are also planning to have a party at the end as usually we had the parties around the Christmas for last two years. We want to give them small gifts and some basic needs such as clothes and juvenile goods for them which we'll get from the fund-raise. We are planning to fundraise as well to collect some toys, clothes or anything that the children may need. We thought that many parents whose children are in the primary would have something that the prisonbabies need but their own children don't need anymore. I hope we can collect many for them to give.
We had no school today because it was the Professional Development day for the teachers. As so, I could not have the math class today with Alex. Instead, I sent him a text telling him to study math. (I'm so evil. haha)
Because of the coming up Christmas service and many of my friends have to practice each performances they are involved in, we decide not to have basketball practice till December.
We(Sunday Basketball team) are planning to have a match with our school basketball team (OSC Geckos) later and the other international and local schools'. I really look forward to do it.
Children from the prison came to our school last Thursday, 5th of November 2009.
We played with them at the primary front field which is bigger than the field where we used to play. Then, we to the primary library to watch the film. I hope they enjoyed the film (they looked bored a bit since they couldn't get what's going on in the film). It was time for them to go that we said goodbye for that day.
We are planning something new this time. We hope to bring them to McDonald or anywhere outside of school since their visit to OSC is the only outdoor activity they have. The new Head of the prison is really supportive and it seemed to be possible to bring them outside. I hope we can do that as soon as possible!
I had a math class with Alex last Tuesday as well, 2nd of November 2009. We had Poya day on Monday that both of us almost forgot about the class, but still I remembered it and could have a class.
He was still working on the factorizing, but a bit advanced level. As the questions are much more complicated, he seemed to be struggling with it. But it was just because he hasn't yet learned it in class. So I explained the concept briefly and how to do it. He didn't seem to get it 100%, but still he could do the questions not so badly. I believe he is not used to those questions at the moment and he'll get it soon.
I played basketball today from 3 to 5:30. However, many of my friends had to do the church service helping the children that they couldn't come this week. Only 6 younger students and one senior came this week. There were some local students as well that we played match with them.
However, the manager of the school gym came and said VERY RUDELY that we can't play there. We asked him why, but he kept saying, 'No you can't play. Go away!' We had to leave and finished it early.
It wasn't so fun this week. But I still had a little fun with the younger students taking the pictures of me for this blog. :P
I had a bass guitar class again yesterday, 31st of October, 2009.
I learned the 4th Chord progression this time last week. Certain types of music usually go by the patterns and the 4th is the most common pattern, especially the Jazz music usually goes by the 4th. Derek, my guitar tutor, told me that it'd help me get used to every sounds and learn all the notes on the guitar neck.
I couldn't practice it last whole week because I had math and chemistry tests as well as many assignments due on that week.
So yesterday, I practiced it with him and basically further developed the skills. He said we'll learn the 7th as well next time.
We had the third math class on 27th of October, 2009. Like I mentioned earlier, he's working on factorizing and expanding at the moment. He seemed to be confused with expanding last week that I gave him 20 simple questions on expanding for homework to help him with better understanding the concept.
He didn't do his homework; he said HE FORGOT. So he and I went over them together. However, amazingly, he was getting the concept very well and he could do the part he usually struggled with last week. I could see a significant improvement this week. I felt proud of him ! haha.
He seemed to be doing ok with this chapter. We'll see how it goes and I'll try my best to help him.
I played basketball last Sunday as well(25th of October, 2009) from 3:30 to 5:30.
Not so many people came last week because many of them lied ill or injured. It was only 10 people including only 6 seniors. We played several matches, but it wasn't so fun unlike usual. Besides, the local students had a conference and it was crowded around at 5. So we ended up early this week and dismissed.
Hope we'll play much more fun match next week.
I had the second math class with Alex last Tuesday, 20th of October 2009.
He had the test on the chapter, Area and Volume, and he said he didn't do so well even though we worked on it last class. As he started a new chapter on factorizing and expanding, I tried to explain the part he didn't get. He seemed to be weak at expanding the numbers in bracket. I tried to go over as many questions as possible with him so that it'll help him understand the concept better.
We were running out of time and he seemed to be not so clear about the concept. So I gave him 20 questions that I just improvised. He said it was too much, but it's not. He has to be used to those questions, was what I thought. (I'm so evil :P)
I'll see him how he did next class. He's listening to me pretty well and there's no significant improvement yet. I believe I'd see some improvement soon !
The children came to our campus this week. It's been two weeks we haven't seen them because of the one week-long summer break we had. There were more children came this time and I believe that's because we visited the prison last time and we opened their mother's minds to send their children to our campus. It's certainly good thing to have more children. Besides, they seemed to be getting familiar with us that they don't cry anymore!
It's really happy to see the smiles on them every week. :)
Today, I AGAIN played basketball. However, the court we usually played were booked by the other local basketball team; I could have recognized two of them. One was the Asian International School basketball team and the other was Colombo International School basketball team.
So we went to other local school, Amal International School. There were many familiar Chinese friends whom we played basketball with several times before.
We played basketball with them today as well. They played it regularly and so they are well organized. It's always challenging to play with them since we have some younger children in our team.
I forgot to charge my camera that I couldn't take the photo this time.
I played basketball AGAIN this week. I couldn't play last week because of rain and football match, I was so excited this week looking forward to play. HOWEVER, the basketball court where we usually play were booked for other local girls' basketball teams because they had match there. So we had to wait for them finished that we couldn't play it properly for about 2 hours.
While we were waiting, we learned what are the roles of each position from the elders. I'm more like a Guard type basketballer as my strength is fast dribble and fast pass. As we learned, we also practiced to improve on our each strength.
After their match, we could have a match with the another local group who was waiting for the girls finished like us. We played for like an hour and half. I didn't really realize it, but today, I felt I'm improving slightly more and more. My pass and dribble which are my best strengths are getting better and better and I contribute more and more to the team to win. It was fun.
I regularly take bass guitar class every Saturday for an hour. It's been about 9 months learning bass guitar from my teacher, Derek, who is the famous guitar player in Sri Lanka. I was absolutely a beginner at first; I've never played bass guitar before. (I used to play Piano, Violin and Drum before, but I have never played any sorts of guitar.) From August when we started our semester, I took about 9 classes with him which is about 9 hours.
My personal goal, at the beginning, was to do the church service playing bass guitar in the band. In the long term goal, I want to preach the gospel and do the missionary work in the foreign countries for the less fortunate people with my father who plays guitar.
At first, I felt that there's no significant improvement after each class, but then, now I'm able to play most of the songs by the chord and I believe that's a huge improvement for me that I'm coming closer to my goal.
We visited the Prison today as we planned last week. This was the second visit for me and it has changed a lot. I saw they were building the school for children last year and this time the school has already built up. It was really good news for the children that they have this place to learn and have rest.
When we arrived, the children were learning Sri Lankan traditional dance. We took them to the other side of the school and painted the picture AGAIN. We tried to plan something different from last week, but then, we couldn't do anything about it since we were not allowed to take anything in the prison.
After painting, we took them outside to the field and played with them. Like I said earlier, there are many new children and fortunately, I felt that they were opening their minds to let us in. They didn't cry much compared to last week and the first week and I could have seen the smile on their faces this time. They are really adorable children, I realized that once again this time.
I'm unable to speak their language, so I didn't understand what they were saying, but still I could feel that they liked us. I was so happy :D
Ms.Huijnen asked me to tutor one of the younger graders math and help him understand better the basic concepts learning in class.
I had Alex Panduro from 9th grade and I had the first class with him yesterday, 6th of October, 2009.
I tried to explain how to measure the volume of the shapes since he has the test coming up on Thursday, 8th of October, 2009. I couldn't really explain fully becasue of lack of time, only half an hour.
Today, in fact, I couldn't play basketball because of rain; it was canceled. Besides, there was a football match between JICA(Japan International Cooperation Agency) and KOICA(Korea International Cooperation Agency) where my father works for that I had to come cheer and participate in as a player.
Warming up
Last Thursday, 1st of October, six children have come from the prison.
As we planned last week, we first watched the Tom and Jerry with them in the Primary Library and painted coloring pictures outside. We tried to choose to show them 'less violent' chapters of Tom and Jerry, otherwise they may behave a bit violent imitating Tom and Jerry in the animation. We attempted to do something new instead of just playing randomly in the primary field like we did last year and it seemed that it worked pretty well. Children didn't seem that they were understanding the animation, but since they have never watched such thing before, they seemed that they found it interesting; they looked like they liked the music or the gestures that Tom and Jerry made.
After that, we came outside to paint. We have painted on the blank paper with them quite a lot before, but coloring the pictures was something new that we haven't done before. So I believe children liked it. The elders did it very well (even better than my own one! I tired to paint one, but it didn't really look good), but the youngers didn't really know what they were supposed to do that what they did were just scribbling. But STILL, I found the 'potential' artistic ability in them that they can be the second Pablo Picasso!
I played basketball with my friends yesterday as well, 27th of September 2009, from 3:30 - 6:30.
Many of my friends are going to other International Schools such as British School, Colombo International School and Moir Elizabeth School. Since, many from Moir Elizabeth went on the field trip and came back on late Sunday afternoon, many of them didn't come to play basketball this week.
But fortunately, there were the local school students' basketball team practicing from the school where we played at, we could play match with them.
We had the first day with the children from prison last Thursday. This year, I saw many new faces, in fact, I only recognized three of them from last year out of ten children came this year.
The supervisor of Prison Babies, Ms. Skelly, has divided the group into 6 small groups since we have too many students than the children. We decided only two group to be in charge for a week and other two groups in charge for another week.
So the two group in charge this week are Hella's and mine. Hella and I met in the IT lab and tried to come up with some brilliant new plans or activities to do with them this week. We, however, had a hard time to think about it as because most of them are new that they are still a bit scared of us. Besides, we did research on several activities we can do with them, but most of them require some sorts of communication and we don't speak Singhala that we can't really explain it well, they look unreasonable to do with them.
We can still do paint with them. Watching a movie will be good as well (but still we need to find something doesn't need language.) As I have involved in this project for last two years, I found that the children like the physical outdoor activities more than anything else. So we better plan at least one indoor activity for first 10-20minutes and one outdoor activity for another 10-20 minutes.
From last two years, I found that we always do the same activities every week that I found it boring a bit. Children seemed enjoying them, but I want to do something new with them.
I don't know what to do yet but I'll think of more activities we can do with them for Thursday.
