Parent Mid-Term

My mom did this for me so here goes...

Have you read your son/daughter's blog?

Yes. I read it occasionally when I am able to get the time. It's quite interesting to see her positivity towards gym. 

Was there anything that stood out to you right away?

Yes! She seems quite happy with gym, compared to her attitude towards it before. When she was younger she would love it, then she stopped liking it. Now, she likes it again. Gym has always been one of those classes. I did not know how much she expresses in gym.

What did you learn about your son or daughter that you didn't know before reading this blog?

I didn't know how much she enjoys the people and the class. She has told me about buddies, and talks about it often. She loves to run in activities, especially adventurous games. She has been like that since childhood. I was not aware of the fact that she has leader qualities, I know she is quite confident in that. She took leadership as well, but i was not fully aware of her leadership in gym. 

What is missing in the blog that you think s/he should include for the teacher or peers?

She likes to take pictures, there's not many on this. There's also not many out of school posts; she goes on walks all the time. She likes going to the beach often, it's funny that she has not talked about that. That is definitely something that I think should be included. She loves walking or jogging on the beach with her sister.

If you were evaluating him/her on his/her blogging efforts, what would you say? What would you give him/her out of 25? How did you come up with that number?

That's a hard question! I think she has done a fair job of posting blogs. She posts detailed posts and posts often; there are some time gaps though. I think she is just missing evidence of pictures and out of school activities! I would give her a 20 out of 25. What you do outside of school is a huge part of your life and I personally believe that should be included. I came up with this number by looking at the overall blog. Her blog is done well, but I feel that pictures and what you do outside makes a big difference. Little things can express a lot more. 

Healthy Living:

 What do you notice about your child's health choices outside of school?

Her health choices have gotten a lot better. She loves to have fruit, especially apples, strawberries or mangoes. Nectarines are also something she enjoys to eat. One thing she particularly likes to have is cut up strawberries, a bowl of grapes and she also loves blueberries. A snack she eats often is greek yogurt with some type of fruit in it; usually strawberries. She avoids having chips and overly sugary foods; she also avoids having food with a lot of oil. She doesn't like eating out too much, and likes to happen simple food. She loves having fresh salad, and homemade salad dressing. 

What exercise/eating choices are encouraged buy the family/household?

Her dad works out a lot, he has always been like that. He works out everyday, so he is a major motivation and encourages her a lot. Her sister will workout with her, she will take her when she works out. She likes running, so she will run on the field sometimes for fun, or she will go to the beach and jog. We all try to eat healthy, avoiding eating out and oily foods. Her dad really support healthy living and is a huge part of being healthy in our household. We all encourage each other and motivate each other to be healthy and active.

What improvements do you think your child could/should make to further his/her understanding and participation in his/her own health?

I think one thing she really needs to understand is daily physical activity, along with eating well. Sometimes, she will not eat because she is not "hungry." I personally feel this is wrong, and she should eat when it is time for a meal; we need nutrients to make us grow. I also try to make sure she gets even a little bit of exercise during the day; I will make her run up and down the stairs sometimes. I think she should make a schedule and pick workout days, this will help her. She also needs to understand that your health really affects your work. While focusing on her work, she forgets she needs to take care of her health as well. This is a main cause of lack of physical activity; she forgets to make times for it.

If you were to evaluate your son/daughter on their progress towards personal healthy life choices what would you say? What mark would you give them out of 25 for his/her efforts and demonstration of those efforts in the blog? How did you come up with that number?

I would say she is getting better. She has improved an awful lot from when she started to be more healthy towards her living. She will pay attention to what she's eating; a lot has changed in what she eats. Her physical activity is still in progress, and I personally believe it will get better. I encourage her to add physical activity to her daily schedule no matter what happens; even 15 minutes is okay. A little goes a long way. 

I would give her a 15 out of 25. I think this is a weak point. She definitely needs to work on this because it a huge part of her life, and should be added. I came up with this number by looking at her blog and seeing how many posts she has about her life outside of school. This is something that deserves to be on her blog, but is not! I encourage her to post more about this, it is also as important as in school life.

Tree Planting

       At the starting of the year we did tree planting, which was a great experience. We got to spend time with nature and give back to the community. It was so nice to just be outside and embrace the beautiful trees we have. Each individual planted around 3-6 trees. Harina, Mansi and I planted trees together. We planted about 8 trees, and that went successfully. It was muddy, slippery and wet, this made tree planting a little harder. It was also hard to pick up the trees, but we got through it! Everyone was doing a great job and it was overall a lot of fun! I would love to go back and see how those trees have grown. Overall it was a great experience with nature, and I'd love to do it again, when the weather is nice again.

Leadership Interim Report

          
Community Leadership till now has been one of the best experiences of my life. I've learnt a lot from this class; there have been so many wonderful experiences. It really does feel great when you give back to the community; it's like you are taking care of a part of you. Community Leadership has taught us more then just that; it has taught us all how to be leaders. Everyone has been given an opportunity to lead, and we all learn from it. Each leader has a different leading style, and as time goes we all learn from each other. In general this class is a wonderful experience and you learn something from every part of it.

        We have many leadership values, and personally I feel I can connect to everyone. I think I have fulfilled these values with the class, and I think everyone has adhered to these values. Personally all of these are used in our everyday class activities or even actual events. I think I really do adhere to these values and often even in my daily life use them. I definitely always have a positive attitude; in every class I come with a positive attitude and smile on my face. I personally find that keeping a positive attitude is very important and helps a lot through your life. I think till now though all these qualities have came to me; one value I often here a lot towards me is that I am selfless. Many people have told me I am selfless, which is quite understandable. I’m always helping people out, which may be the reason; I personally love helping people. Another value I personally value a lot is honesty; I find honesty is very important in life. I think that without honesty you will go nowhere; honesty is in everything you do. Being an honest person is not easy, but it definitely makes you feel great that you don’t have to worry about the lies you’ve said. I personally do think I have adhered to each of these values especially these three, along with equality, personal & social responsibility, commitment, teamwork, everyone’s voice, and creativity. I think all these values are important in life, and I think I’ve done a pretty good job living up to them. If I did have a top five it would be a positive attitude, selflessness, honesty, respect and personal & social responsibility.

            There is so much to enjoy about this course; this course has so many opportunities and moments to enjoy. I think I enjoy organizing events and volunteering the most like Grade Eight Retreat and Remembrance Day. It is very fun to do that and it truly teaches you leadership. I enjoy having class discussions and playing games with the class as well. It’s nice to see the class bond as a team and everyone laughing together. This course is personally serving me very well; I am learning new things everyday. This course is different from other courses; it has a complete different meaning and purpose. I’ve really enjoyed this course till now; it has been a wonderful experience. I have learnt so much from this course in terms of leadership and responsibility. This course has been a great experience till now with lots to learn, and I look forward to the rest of it!   

            I don’t think I want to change anything about this course; this course is fantastic. I’m personally very happy I took this course because it was one of the best decisions I’ve made. I’ve learnt so much through this course and I’m so glad I was able to take it.

            I think I deserve a G as a work habit. I think I’ve been well in class in term of behavior and focus. I’m always involved and respecting my peers. I don’t really talk when others are and I respect my peers when we are working. In terms of a grade percentage I think I deserve a 92%. I think this grade fits pretty well. I’ve been doing pretty good in this class, and been working quite hard towards it. I’ve been enjoying this class a lot, and I am looking forward to all the experiences and memories yet to come. (:

Grade Eight Retreat Reflection

I personally believe that the grade eight retreat was an experience that we all learnt from. Overall I think the activities went well, people were engaging in the activities and were having fun while doing them. I also think the lunch part went very well. It was very well organized and everything was done properly. I would definitely want some of the things more organized for next year. There was a little lack of organization in some leader roles and with some games; there was a lack of explanation. Some of my strengths were that I treated everyone equally; I didn’t favor anyone. I was also very involved and made sure everyone was enjoying himself or herself, while also making sure that the naughty kids were being controlled. I think I was also a loud speaker and was able to project my voice in a good way. There is always room for improvement and one of the things I think I should improve on is explaining activities, I felt a little weak in that. I didn’t really explain much and would always get someone else to most of the time. Another thing I think I should improve on is always having a back up plan. There were some things that didn’t work out, so I feel there should always be a back up plan incase something goes wrong. A moment I had as a teacher was when there was a kid who was injured, and was trying to hide it. He was crying and grabbing on to his wrist but he wouldn’t move and refused to get ice. I gave him some strength and assured him it would all be okay, and he agreed to get ice. I felt like a true leader there because it was definitely a tough time, but I was able to get through it. A time where I felt like a learner was when I was spending time with the younger kids. When you are young you don’t see yourself the same way as you do when you’re older. Looking at the young kids you see how different things are when you grow up. Now that I’m older a lot of the time I’m just thinking I have this much work, or I need to complete this. These kids taught me to enjoy myself while I have it. I learnt to enjoy myself when I spent time with these kids, and all in all it was just such a wonderful experience. I learnt to just let go, and have fun for a bit. One of the most challenging things was probably to get the kids to listen. Kids are very hyper and filled with excitement so it is hard to get them to listen and get in control. Although they were hard to control, I was still able to go with the flow, and just keep on going no matter what happens. All together I think this was a great experience and I would love to do it again!