During the first semester of online learning, the DP1’s and DP’2 had the opportunity to lend a hand in teaching some of the MYP classes.  I assisted Ms. Dilini, who is in charge of the Sinhala language in the primary section and we were able to coordinate some interesting lessons for the kids. We hosted storytelling sessions where we shared the story in both languages and helped them to build bridges in the vocabulary. The students were very enthusiastic with a lot of questions and we were able to have an interactive enjoyable day. I was really sad that we couldn’t continue the lessons with going back to school at the beginning of the new year and preparing for the mock exams. So, I thought it would be great if I could plan my CAS project in coordination with this experience.

I reached out to Ms. Dilini and proposed my idea to conduct a class for the Sinhala language kids. She was very happy to go forward and after discussions, we decided that I would do two classes for the grade 5 students.

It is true when people say, there are some things you have to try in order to understand how difficult they are. This is absolutely true when it comes to teaching. Since the grade 5 students were learning different units at the time and their knowledge varied depending on how long they’ve learned Sinhala, it was a difficult task to formulate a lesson plan that suited everyone. So in the end, I decided that the best way would be to do a review task of all the units they had covered previously. I planned a review lesson where I went over the basic vocabulary, then I created a Kahoot with a mixture of vocabulary and related-terms. I realized that with the age, they mostly preferred fun activities that would at the same time help them learn.

I had to teach two back-to-back lessons that day which was a bit tiring on my voice but nonetheless, I enjoyed it very much, and was a great experience for me. There were about 12 students in both the classes and they were very keen and helpful to me to continue the lesson. I loved spending those hours with the kids and enjoying their playful banter. Ms. Dilini was also extremely helpful in guiding me to complete the lessons successfully. Overall, I was glad to teach the MYP students once again and believe it was a nice way to complete my CAS project.

Learning outcomes:

• Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth.
• Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.
• Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience.
• Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.
• Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.
• Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions.