The video lesson i have put on youtube has now accumulated over 3,000 views with the majority of the comments being positive, and the only negative comments being constructive critisism rather than the rude negative comments present on other videos similar to mine. I greatly appreciate the politeness displayed by those watching my video.
I had made the second part to this lesson many months ago but have still not been able to update is due to technical problems regarding my inconsistent internet connection. I have attempted uiploading the file in the school technology labs afterschool, when the bandwidth is higher, but the time for the upload is stil about 4-5 hours, which is niot practical as the labs close approximately 1-2 hours after school finishes.
I have also placed a link to my CAS blog to my first video which should give it greater exposure.
Through this i have undertaken new challenges and learned new skills through the introduction to the world of running a youtube channel, replying to comments on my videos, etc. I have also increased my awareness of my own areas for growth throught the constructive critisism given to me by a few of the people who have viewed my video. I have also perseverance and commitment in this activity through my repeated attempts to upload my second video, which has unfortunately not yet worked out for me.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
SOS childen's orphanage
For the past 2 semester of school (approximately 7 months) i have participated in the afterschool community service program concerning SOS Children's Orphanage. In the course of this activity, the group interacts with a group of childen from the SOS children's orphanage, teaching them to speak english. A presentation is also given each on the country of origin of one of the members of the group. I have not done such a presentation as the children and I are all from the same country. However, this has allowed me to bond with the two children i have been assigned to more than most of the others in the group who cannot speak sinhala, and therefore are limited in their communication with the children.
I personally have development a bond with the children i have been assigned to and have become attatched to them to an extent. This is unusual for me as i am usually not very approving of the behavior of small children as the ones i have been exposed to are generally overindulgent and unappreciative. This is greatly contrasted by the humility and politeness displayed by the children who visit from the orphanage, particularly in the two chilren i take care of.
Through this experience, i have undertaken a new challenge and developed new skills, s the interaction with children is very new to me, helped plan and initiate activities such as the occasional parties thrown for the children like the upcoming christmas party, and engaged with issues of global importance through the interaction with and aid of children who are facing difficult situations in their lives, brought on by their lack of financial security and the loss of their parents.
Also, I have worked in collaboration with the two leaders of this program to make the presentations and learning process more organised. In addition, we have planned many parties for them during which allowed me to collaborate with others in a productive manner, to better entertain the children.
I personally have development a bond with the children i have been assigned to and have become attatched to them to an extent. This is unusual for me as i am usually not very approving of the behavior of small children as the ones i have been exposed to are generally overindulgent and unappreciative. This is greatly contrasted by the humility and politeness displayed by the children who visit from the orphanage, particularly in the two chilren i take care of.
Through this experience, i have undertaken a new challenge and developed new skills, s the interaction with children is very new to me, helped plan and initiate activities such as the occasional parties thrown for the children like the upcoming christmas party, and engaged with issues of global importance through the interaction with and aid of children who are facing difficult situations in their lives, brought on by their lack of financial security and the loss of their parents.
Also, I have worked in collaboration with the two leaders of this program to make the presentations and learning process more organised. In addition, we have planned many parties for them during which allowed me to collaborate with others in a productive manner, to better entertain the children.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Archery National Championships
Last week, on November 11th, I participated in the Sri Lanka Archery National Tournament in the under 18 age division. I had not practiced very much for this event due to school ogligations and other restrictions. In truth, I only had two days of proper practice in preparation for this event.
Somehow, I still I still managed to ecieve first place in my division.
However, my victory this year was much more slim than it has been in previous years. The competitor who came second to me had only 3 less points that i had. This differs to other years in which i usually had a minimum of 20 points ahead of all other competitors. Personally, I am dissapointed in my performance compared to my usual performance. This is undouibtedly due to my lack of practice.
In addition to my participation in the tournament, I also aided younger and first-time competitors, giving them tips on their technique and providing moral support.
Through this experience I have incrased my awareness of my strengths and areas for growth as i realised that with a lack of practice my performance will inherently be hindered, worked collaboratively with others as i helped organise and run the event as well as compete in it and aid other competitors, and deverloped new skills as i view this experience as a learning experience and my participation in the tournament as a practice session in which many of my flaws were revealed, enabling me to correct them in the future.
Somehow, I still I still managed to ecieve first place in my division.
However, my victory this year was much more slim than it has been in previous years. The competitor who came second to me had only 3 less points that i had. This differs to other years in which i usually had a minimum of 20 points ahead of all other competitors. Personally, I am dissapointed in my performance compared to my usual performance. This is undouibtedly due to my lack of practice.
In addition to my participation in the tournament, I also aided younger and first-time competitors, giving them tips on their technique and providing moral support.
Through this experience I have incrased my awareness of my strengths and areas for growth as i realised that with a lack of practice my performance will inherently be hindered, worked collaboratively with others as i helped organise and run the event as well as compete in it and aid other competitors, and deverloped new skills as i view this experience as a learning experience and my participation in the tournament as a practice session in which many of my flaws were revealed, enabling me to correct them in the future.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Archery National Team/ Junior World Championships Qualifiers
On the 27th, 29th and 31rst of August, trials were held at Sugathadasa Stadium to qualify for the national archery team as well as qualifying for the Junir World Championships (only under 18 participants).
The distance was two sections consisting of 6 rounds of 6 arrows each, at a distance of 70M.
I was the only person under 18 participating and many of the people who were competing do archery for a living so i wasnt expecting to win but as practice for the Nationals which are next month, but i faired much better than i thought, and the results arnt in yet, but i think that i might have scarped a qualification for the national team.
A very good score would be 300-310 out of a possible 360 points per section.
On the first day my scores were 242 and 243, which i was not dissappointed about considering the little amount of practice i did in preparation.
My scores on the second day weere much better and on par with the scores of the more serious adult competitors: 284 and 287.
My scores on the final day were better yet and it is these scores that might get me a place on the national team because they don't average your scores in consideration but take you two best scores from the three days in consideration: 290 and 304.
This experience greatly increased my awareness of my strengths and areas for growth through my drastic improvement through the course of the competition, and I developed new skills through the experience i gained, learned to better work collaboratively with others despite the fact that archery isnt a team sport because i was able to interact with people who i usually would not, such as people that do archery for a living, most often on contract by one of the armed forces.
The distance was two sections consisting of 6 rounds of 6 arrows each, at a distance of 70M.
I was the only person under 18 participating and many of the people who were competing do archery for a living so i wasnt expecting to win but as practice for the Nationals which are next month, but i faired much better than i thought, and the results arnt in yet, but i think that i might have scarped a qualification for the national team.
A very good score would be 300-310 out of a possible 360 points per section.
On the first day my scores were 242 and 243, which i was not dissappointed about considering the little amount of practice i did in preparation.
My scores on the second day weere much better and on par with the scores of the more serious adult competitors: 284 and 287.
My scores on the final day were better yet and it is these scores that might get me a place on the national team because they don't average your scores in consideration but take you two best scores from the three days in consideration: 290 and 304.
This experience greatly increased my awareness of my strengths and areas for growth through my drastic improvement through the course of the competition, and I developed new skills through the experience i gained, learned to better work collaboratively with others despite the fact that archery isnt a team sport because i was able to interact with people who i usually would not, such as people that do archery for a living, most often on contract by one of the armed forces.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Karate Tournament - 1rst Place
Recently, I competed in the Kenseikan All-Island Karate Tournament. To clarify, Kenseikan Karate is a sub-sect of Karate (almost like different teams), where there are subtle differences with other sub-sects of karate, such as Shotokan or Wadokan. therefore the tournaments is organized not by the Ceylon Karate Association, but by the smaller Ceylon Kenseikan Karate Association. Only practitioners in Kenseikan Karate can participate, and it is seen as an opportunity to rank the practitioners in each sub-sect, which is used in decisions such as which members from the sub-sect will represent the sub-sect in larger tournament to come, such as the Western Province or All-Island.
In this tournament, I came in first place for Kumite (sparring) in the under 18, brown belt division. This was my second tournament. In my first tournament i did not do as well as i wanted but afterward i trained very hard for this tournament, and it payed off.
My plans for the future include attempting to qualify for the All-Island Tournament, which can only be achieved by ranking in the top three in my division in next years Western Province Tournament, which will be very difficult due to the fact that there will be nearly 200 participants in my age group alone.
Through this achievement and the training that led to it, I have undertaken new challenges by varying and further intensifying my training routine, increased my awareness of my strengths and areas for growth as I have now become much more comfortable in the tournament atmosphere and have identified and fixed flaws I observed in my first tournament, and developed new skills, also through my additional training, as well as training specific to skills needed for tournament sparring.
In this tournament, I came in first place for Kumite (sparring) in the under 18, brown belt division. This was my second tournament. In my first tournament i did not do as well as i wanted but afterward i trained very hard for this tournament, and it payed off.
My plans for the future include attempting to qualify for the All-Island Tournament, which can only be achieved by ranking in the top three in my division in next years Western Province Tournament, which will be very difficult due to the fact that there will be nearly 200 participants in my age group alone.
Through this achievement and the training that led to it, I have undertaken new challenges by varying and further intensifying my training routine, increased my awareness of my strengths and areas for growth as I have now become much more comfortable in the tournament atmosphere and have identified and fixed flaws I observed in my first tournament, and developed new skills, also through my additional training, as well as training specific to skills needed for tournament sparring.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Summer Vacation Goals
Rugby: This is a sport that i have not played seriously in a very long time and hope to gain some skill in over the holidays. I have currently enrolled in the CR&FC (Ceylon Rugby and Football Club) Rugby Academy, which holds lessons weekly on Saturday mornings. I will be reporting on any developments in upcoming posts.
Karate: There is an upcoming karate tournament which i hope to participate in and hopefully achieve medals in both sparring and forms competitions.
My Youtube Guitar Lesson Channel: I hope to make a series of lessons for the COMPLETE arrangement of Cliffs of Dover by Eric Johnson. This will prove to be a daunting task because there is no accurate arrangement on the internet so i will most likely have to learn it by ear with the help of a software called Transcribe which allows me to slow down the track to more easily hear the fast passages within the piece. This will prove to be very difficult as this is a very long, technically complicated song, but very rewarding, because if i succeed, I will be the only person on Youtube to have a complete lesson for this very popular song for aspiring guitarists, which should greatly increase the popularity of my channel, which is currently doing well, with the number of views on the first video nearing a 1000 and no negative comments or "dislikes" so far.
My Own Playing: I also hope to take the initiative of transcribing my own instrumental solo from a jazz standard, namely Sunny - by Bobbie Hebb, popularized by Frank Sinatra.
Service: I also hope to find a suitable community service activity to participate in during the holidays, but have yet to have found one.
Karate: There is an upcoming karate tournament which i hope to participate in and hopefully achieve medals in both sparring and forms competitions.
My Youtube Guitar Lesson Channel: I hope to make a series of lessons for the COMPLETE arrangement of Cliffs of Dover by Eric Johnson. This will prove to be a daunting task because there is no accurate arrangement on the internet so i will most likely have to learn it by ear with the help of a software called Transcribe which allows me to slow down the track to more easily hear the fast passages within the piece. This will prove to be very difficult as this is a very long, technically complicated song, but very rewarding, because if i succeed, I will be the only person on Youtube to have a complete lesson for this very popular song for aspiring guitarists, which should greatly increase the popularity of my channel, which is currently doing well, with the number of views on the first video nearing a 1000 and no negative comments or "dislikes" so far.
My Own Playing: I also hope to take the initiative of transcribing my own instrumental solo from a jazz standard, namely Sunny - by Bobbie Hebb, popularized by Frank Sinatra.
Service: I also hope to find a suitable community service activity to participate in during the holidays, but have yet to have found one.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Final Reflection for the Year
My CAS goals at the beginning of the year were:
Creativity: One of my greatest interests and hobbies is guitar, and i seek to learn it very seriously but there is no music course offered in school so i have taken it upon myself to teach myself. I am currently learning out of Modern Method for Guitar ( http://www.berkleepress.com/catalog/product?product_id=11250) which is currently the main textbook used for the Jazz program in the Berklee Undergraduate School of Music. My goal for the following year is to cover and master all topics presented in this book. This book is however a basic level book, and after finishing I hope to move on to The Guitarist's Guide to Composing and Improvising by Jon Damian, reputed as the best very best jazz guitar tutor in the world. I hope to master the content of both these texts by the end of the two years of the IB DP.
Action: Throughout the course of the two years i would like to be active in as many sports as possible, particularly during the first as it will be impractical during the second year of the IB DP. I hope to participate in SAISA Basketball and Track and Field. I also participate in karate outside of school and will be competing in my very first tournament in November, the Western Province Tournament, in which the first 3 will qualify for the All-Island tournament, which i will try my best to obtain.
Service: I have joined the Hope For Kids activity, in which we regularly visit the Maharagama Cancer Hospital, and spend time with children suffering from cancer. We hope to organize a fund raising program for this cause as soon as possible which i hope to take part in.
_________________________________________________________________________
To be honest, i do not believe that i have put anywhere near the full amount of effort i should have, even though i have completed most of my goals, or at least come close, i still feel that i am lacking, particularly in the service component.
However i will not be discouraged by my shortcomings this year, and will use them as model for what no to do next year.
Currently, my only goals in mind are to score highly on my end of year exams, as they will make a large part of the grades considered when my predicted grades are decided next year, which will be put on my university applications, and in addition i am also doing a Physics AL outside school, as well as the SAT's, so i have a lot of studying on my hands.
My main method of studying for these exams will be to do past papers, because this is what has been of most use to me in the past.
I have now for the past 2 weeks begun a minimum 5 hour/ day study schedule and hope to follow through with it to the end of my exams.
All in all, CAS has been a very rewarding experience for me, and has greatly helped me become for self-aware (from all the reflection). I hope to pursue it much more diligently next year.
Creativity: One of my greatest interests and hobbies is guitar, and i seek to learn it very seriously but there is no music course offered in school so i have taken it upon myself to teach myself. I am currently learning out of Modern Method for Guitar ( http://www.berkleepress.com/catalog/product?product_id=11250) which is currently the main textbook used for the Jazz program in the Berklee Undergraduate School of Music. My goal for the following year is to cover and master all topics presented in this book. This book is however a basic level book, and after finishing I hope to move on to The Guitarist's Guide to Composing and Improvising by Jon Damian, reputed as the best very best jazz guitar tutor in the world. I hope to master the content of both these texts by the end of the two years of the IB DP.
Action: Throughout the course of the two years i would like to be active in as many sports as possible, particularly during the first as it will be impractical during the second year of the IB DP. I hope to participate in SAISA Basketball and Track and Field. I also participate in karate outside of school and will be competing in my very first tournament in November, the Western Province Tournament, in which the first 3 will qualify for the All-Island tournament, which i will try my best to obtain.
Service: I have joined the Hope For Kids activity, in which we regularly visit the Maharagama Cancer Hospital, and spend time with children suffering from cancer. We hope to organize a fund raising program for this cause as soon as possible which i hope to take part in.
_________________________________________________________________________
To be honest, i do not believe that i have put anywhere near the full amount of effort i should have, even though i have completed most of my goals, or at least come close, i still feel that i am lacking, particularly in the service component.
However i will not be discouraged by my shortcomings this year, and will use them as model for what no to do next year.
Currently, my only goals in mind are to score highly on my end of year exams, as they will make a large part of the grades considered when my predicted grades are decided next year, which will be put on my university applications, and in addition i am also doing a Physics AL outside school, as well as the SAT's, so i have a lot of studying on my hands.
My main method of studying for these exams will be to do past papers, because this is what has been of most use to me in the past.
I have now for the past 2 weeks begun a minimum 5 hour/ day study schedule and hope to follow through with it to the end of my exams.
All in all, CAS has been a very rewarding experience for me, and has greatly helped me become for self-aware (from all the reflection). I hope to pursue it much more diligently next year.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Youtube guitar lesson Channel
In order to fulfill my goals for both creativity and service both which i am lacking in, i have taken the initiative to create a channel on you tube to provide free video guitar lessons. This has helped me to Undertake a new challenge as i am completely new to teaching anyone anything, Developing new skills as providing lessons for other people made me be more critical about my own playing when i know that it will be under the criticism of many people. This is the link to my first lesson, on the introduction of Cliffs of Dover by Eric Johnson.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me1OBH76MpY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me1OBH76MpY
Long Overdue Post: SOS Kids
Recently, i joined the SOS Kids group which works with children from a local orphanage, first interacting with them through games and presentation, and then swimming with them in the school swimming pool, making sure that they are safe, as well as active and entertained. This activity allowed me to Work Collaboratively with Others through aiding other group members to converse with the children because none of the children are fluent in English and very few of the other group members can speak Sinhala, and well as engage in an activity dealing with issues of global importance. Unfortunately, i have missed many meetings with the group, but hope to consistently attend from now on. My goal is to be CAS leader next year for SOS Kids.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Week Without Walls
During WWW the goal of our group was to help refurbish one of the schools constructed after the tsunami, to provide education for those who has been displaced. I also participated in the planning of the trip, although i was not able to go on the pilot trip. The planning involved deciding leaders for the groups in which other students will be sorted into based on their allocated jobs in the refurbishment process. It also involved planning the purchase of materials to be taken which would be used for painting, and playing with the children.
I participated in the painting of the interior of the single classroom of the school, as well as parts of the exterior, along with playing with the children, in which everyone participated.
My ability as a native sinhala speaker came in handy because it allowed me to converse freely with the children(even though most of them seemed afraid of me).
At the end of the week, the entire group performed a small skit after we watched the performance that the children had arranged for us.
In addition, after our service we also visited the Hambanthota Port currently under construction as well as the Yala National Wildlife Sanctuary.
These experiences made me aware of issues of global importance through exposure to the major infrastructure development of the port, as well as the wildlife i witnessed on the safari in Yala.
These experiences made me aware of issues of global importance through exposure to the major infrastructure development of the port, as well as the wildlife i witnessed on the safari in Yala.
The service portion of the trip also helped me undertake new challenges, and discover areas for improvement (such as keeping paint off my clothes), as well as working well in others in a large group.
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