IB Workshop Reflection

Student Name	Yasmyn Ntege
Activity Name / Description	IB Workshop
Location	Aga Khan Academy, Mombasa
Was it C, A, S or a combination?	SERVICE
Hours of CAS	15 Hours
Dates (Initiation – Completion)	13th – 15th February

Here at Aga Khan, we are lucky to have a school driven by constant development in both the learners and the educators. This is one of the things that makes our school different from the others. It understands that all members of the learning process must strive for efficiency and so it provides opportunities such as this, the IB Workshop to enrich the teacher’s minds and open them up to new teaching approaches and better understanding of the teaching subject in question. My role in this whole workshop, together with a few other DP1 students was to act as helping hands to facilitators, teachers from both outside and inside the school and to the staff.

As the workshops were running for two and a half days straight, you had to choose shifts and the number you had was up to you. In total, I had three shifts, two on Saturday and one on Sunday morning. In preparation, for the workshop, we met as all the volunteers during lunchtime and planned our shifts, the manner in which we must act and the responsibilities we all had. I decided to take responsibility and typed out the names of people who signed up for the various shifts. This also meant that I had to check in with people and ask them whether or not they were comfortable switching to this shift for certain reasons and also making sure people had enough shifts so that they were able to have sufficient content to write about in their reflections. Two was the minimum amount of shifts one could have but I made sure nobody, unless due to unavoidable circumstances, had at least three shifts like myself.

On the day, it was our responsibility to wake up early and have a quick breakfast to be able to help with the set up of what would act as the lobby area. It was the front of the commons and that would be where the teachers met for their tea and snacks throughout the whole workshop. It is also where they register in the morning and take their packages with them. My responsibility that morning was to sit at the tables and assist teachers who were looking for their badges, show them to their snacks and then direct them to the place where their workshop will be held. It wasn’t stressful and the teachers were very polite. There were some new faces and I made sure to introduce myself accordingly.

After registration, we as the student volunteers were to split up into the different workshop locations and act as helping hands to the facilitators when they needed us. It was relaxing as they teachers didn’t always need something so I got enough time to do work or read a book. The jobs we did then were to fetch water for the teachers, direct new teachers to washrooms and at the end of the workshop, clean up the spaces for it to be used in the next session.

This went on and I learnt a lot from the teachers during the breaks and lunches. We were advised to mingle with both the old and new teachers and I was quite shy at first but sort of overcame that shyness and mustered the courage to talk to them. This is something that has stuck with me since and I am now a lot more vocal and confident when it comes to my teachers. I also learnt a few more things about my teachers I didn’t know like the fact that Ms Emma learnt French for a while and we were able to engage in a short conversation as I am currently taking French at school right now.

All in all it was a nice experience. We were even treated to a delicious dinner at Mr Bill’s house, which opened us up to more conversation opportunities between the teachers and us. Next time I would probably take more shifts and also be more productive during the down times so that the whole experience is a positive one. I would definitely advise the grade below me to sign up for it and share with them my experiences so they are better prepared with a lot more fore-sight than I had at the time.

SUPERVISOR: Mr. Vlad Gogelescu & Mr. Shoqout Husein