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Ukraine

Recently a war was started by the Russians against Ukraine, to try to invade them. We have been witnessing through social media and the news the horrible things that the Ukranians have been suffering. Deaths of kids, wounded pregnant women, and people hiding and having to run away from their homes. They are currently losing everything they have, and even being separated from their fathers, sons or brothers. It is all happening in front of our eyes, and I, along with many of my friends, felt so frustrated because we didn’t know how to help. 

We were then given the opportunity by the school to participate in a volunteer project in Las Rozas, to help organize and package food, clothes and medicines. It was really a beautiful and moving experience. We spent around 3-4 hours helping around, and we were all so fast that we finished sooner than expected. There were many different groups of people that had different jobs and it was really interesting seeing how everyone was involved, people from all ages, schools and places around Madrid. 

My friends and I only participated the last day, but in only a few days 49 tons of food, clothes and medicines were obtained and sent to the frontier of Ukraine. It was really a beautiful experience seeing everyone come together to help.

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Padel tournament

A few of my classmates have organized a padel tournament as their CAS project. Every Friday at 9, most of the teams play at least one game. In each game, the first to win 3 sets wins. Everytime you win a game, you earn points. 

My partner in the competition is Adela and we have been having a lot of fun together. We have won 3 of the 3 games that we have played up until now, so it is getting more and more exciting. We both play outside of school so that's an advantage, and even though I have been playing for only like a year and a half, I have really grown to love this sport. 

The first game that we played was against two of my friends, who, along with Adela, are the organizers of the tournament. It was quite even, but we still won. This competition is a really great opportunity for us to enjoy the time that we have left together as a class, and also get to know the younger students better.

It is really fun seeing everyone get competitive while still taking it as a fun game against friends. 

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Christmas cookies

This year we did a Secret Santa exchange of gifts in my class. The idea was to think of a small but funny or sweet gift to give each other since this is our last year as a class. I was given a set of Christmas cookie molds. I love to bake and I love Christmas so it was the perfect gift.  And with everything going on with COVID, it can sometimes be hard to feel the holiday spirit, so my friend and I decided to start the holidays by baking some Christmas cookies and decorating them. As always, we had some difficulties with the decorating part, but it was a really fun experience, and the cookies turned out delicious. 

The recipe itself for the cookies was really simple since they are normal butter cookies. Once the dough is ready, it has to be put and extended on top of a smooth surface in order to start creating the shape. Then they are put in the oven for 15 minutes. While they were in the oven we tried making some frosting, but we weren't able to obtain the right texture. We had to try many different recipes and techniques, but nothing seemed to work, so we decided to do a normal mixture between water and powdered sugar, and then we added the coloring. 

We even added some sprinkles that we had bought when we bought the rest of the ingredients. They definitely did not end up how we had imagined, but it still was an activity that required us to think outside of the box, even if they ended up looking like simple cookies. And it also made the holidays feel a bit more like a normal Christmas. 

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First Aid Programme

CAS PROJECT

The second CAS project that I have been able to form part of is the First Aid Programme with the Red Cross. I was asked to form part of it by a few of my classmates who needed some extra help. We had the great opportunity to learn from experts from The Red Cross, who came to the school to explain the different steps we need to take in case of an accident.

The first step, and one they really highlighted, is to make sure that before you help the victim you are safe. Because if you get hurt then things will just have gotten worse. Then you need to try to stimulate the victim in order to figure out if they are conscious or not and what their situation might be. Then, if they are not responding, you have to call the emergency number (in Spain: 112) and give all the information that you have. Now, you can begin to actually aid the victim. 

To see if the person's breathing or not, you have to carry out the “head tilt- chin lift maneuver”, to open the airway and facilitate breathing. Because of COVID, it is not recommended to bring your face close to their mouth, so just by  looking at their chest you can see if they are breathing. If not, the CPR technique needs to be started, until the ambulance arrives. We were able to even practice the different techniques in special mannequins. It was an experience that has given knowledge that, hopefully I won't have to use but that is really important for everyone to have. 

A few weeks later, we gave, along with volunteers from The Red Cross, the same talk to students from 1º BACH. And hopefully they were able to understand the different steps because many horrible accidents could be avoided. This project has made me realize how important it is that everyone knows how to act in case of an accident, saving a lot of people’s lifes. 

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Recycled Halloween decorations

Because Halloween was around the corner, we wanted to find a way to get into the festive mood, and forget about the exams ahead of us.

Furthermore, in order to not only decorate our class, but also do it in an original way where we could also set an example and contribute to the community, we used recycled material for the decorations.

It was a great way to explore our creative side and work together as a class. We only had an hour so we had to divide into groups and help each other out. 

Looking back to last year when we also did a creativity project as a class, it’s interesting to see how much our dynamics have changed and how we are able to communicate with each other much better.

We are looking forward to Christmas and thinking of a new creative way to get into the Christmas mood while also spending time together.

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Pádel II

In previous posts, I explained my experience starting padel last year with one of my friends.

I still believe that it is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made because it’s not only good for my physical health but also for my mental health. It is a great opportunity to clear my mind off school, while also doing some exercise.

This year, because we enjoyed it so much last year, we decided to sign up for a second day every week; so now we have classes Monday and Wednesday, one hour each day.

I have definitely noticed a lot of improvement, especially with the hits against the wall, which was what I had the most trouble with.

Every Monday we do at least one exercise to practice the different hits of the ball against the wall. I tend to have the most trouble with seeing where the ball is going to go after it hits the wall, and therefore placing myself right. But like I said, I have improved a lot in this and therefore have improved my defense.

We often establish challenges by punishing the losing team with some sort of physical exercise. In this video, my friends had lost the game and therefore had to do their punishment.

Time-wise, it’s definitely a challenge managing my time with these two classes, plus my school work, plus other extracurricular activities; but I believe it’s worth it.

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Host students

This year, because we are the oldest students in school, we were given the opportunity to introduce the new students to the school. We were a group of 7 students, each assigned a grade. 

In my case, I was in charge of the new students staring 2ºESO, which were only three so it wasn’t too much to handle. I introduced myself and showed them to their classes.

I was told to wait until their tutor got there, but the two girls were in Borja’s class, and he was there when we got there so I said goodbye to them and left for the next class.

With the boy who assured me that he wasn’t nervous at all, it was different because his tutor took longer to get to class, so I had to wait with him for a while.

I explained how the exams and classes worked, and we talked about his teachers, while we waited for his classmated as well as his teacher. Meanwhile, I was able to say hi to a lot of my old teachers, which was kind of a nostalgic moment because it really felt like it was the start of my last year in school.

Spending some time with the younger student made me realize how much things change in school when you grow up. The responsabilities are no longer the same, and the work is obviously much harder.

I am grateful for this experience because it really made me reflect on my school experience and on my future. It also provided me with a great last first day of school, and I hope I was able to give some reassurance to the new kids.

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Hiking + tourism through Cantabria

This August my family and I decided to take a 5 day trip to Cantabria, more specifically to Santander and its surroundings. My brother took his smartwatch with him, which allowed me to measure the amount of steps, hours and kilometers we walked each day.

The first day we walked all over the city of Santander from the harbour to the lighthouse, as well as a number of beaches and the Jardines de de Piquio and more. 

By the end of the day we had walked over 24.105 steps in only one afternoon (4 and a half hours).

This was my first time in Santander and I really enjoyed it. The combination of trees + city + sea is amazing. 

On the second day, we got to do a bit of hiking. One of the most famous villages close to Santander had a beautiful route through the woods. It was raining a little bit and the route was quite steep. The goal was to reach a small church-like building at the end. The hike lasted about an hour and a half. 

We spent the rest of the day visiting other villages close by.

At the end of the day we had walked around 15.289 steps, which felt like a lot more but at least we stayed active throughout the day. 

The third day the hike was more of a hike because we went to the Picos de Europa. This was probably my favorite part of the whole trip. The views were amazing and the weather was great. We walked for about 2 hours, stopping every once in a while to take pictures. 

This took up most of our day so we finished it by walking around a bit more through a village closeby.

That day we walked 17.914 steps (12.80km).

Our last full day was the 8th of august, in which we visited Comillas as well as San Vicente de la Barquera.

I had already been to Comillas, but it was really fun going back.

This day we walked 20.375 steps in total (14.75 km).

On the 9th we just toured around Santander a bit more and then drove back to Madrid.

It was one of the best parts of this summer. Due to COVID we haven't been able to travel like we usually do, so this was really a great experience.

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Be My Eyes

I found this app on social media and thought it was a beautiful idea. 

Before downloading this app, I had never stopped to think about how hard it must be for a blind to person to carry out daily activities. The purpose of this app is for us, the volunteers, to help the blind community to carry out these simple tasks. For example: opening their mail or turning on a TV. 

All you have to do is create an account and when someone needs your help, they will call you through the app and you just pick up the phone. 

There are over 323.976 blind people and 5.034.297 volunteers that form part of the Be My Eyes community. I have only had the chance to help once because they have only called me a few times and sometimes I wasn't available.

The one time I was able to help, I got to help a man restart his computer. The call only lasted a few minutes but he seemed really thankful.

I wish more people knew about this app because even though it is a really simple act of service, it can have a great impact on saving them a lot of time and frustration.

10/08/21

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Sexual assault talk

This, for me, was the part of the CAS project that I was more passionate about. 

I feel like sexual assault can be a bit of a taboo subject, but it is a very important issue that shouldn’t be ignored because it is very serious. 

My classmates (Ari and Alvaro), and I, are aware that we can’t create much of an impact with this talk, but the purpose of this talk was to raise awareness and inform the younger students about what exactly is sexual assault, the different ways a person can suffer from sexual assault, and the effects it can have on the victim both physically and psicologically. 

As well as ways of making sure that there is consent and everyone is comfortable. We also wanted to make it clear that this talk was directed towards both girls and boys.

This last part was probably the hardest part for the students to understand, especially for  the boys.

I was a bit scared of how the students would react to the subject of the talk because, like I said, it is not commonly discussed, specially in school and they aren’t as mature at that age, so I wasn't sure they would take it seriously. Some of them seemed a bit more reluctant but others seemed genuinely interested. 

As the older students in the school, I feel like it is our responsibility to discuss this kind of issue with the younger ones because they are more likely to listen to us, so I hope they did.

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Collage

Spirit Week

As part of the CAS project my friends and I organised (Spirit Week), the first activity I carried out was the collage.

Every person participating in the Spirit Week had to carry out an interactive activity and an awareness talk. This was my interactive activity, and I did it with Pilar, Cristina, and Liang.

The purpose of this activity was to encourage the students from 1ºESO to show their creative side, as well as think of what defines them. We asked them to bring newspapers and magazines, and although most of them didn’t, it was a success.

It was way more challenging than I expected because we were four people managing four classes full of students, and they had a lot of energy. Furthermore, we were lacking materials like scissors and papers. However, in the end I had a lot of fun despite the stress. 

As we grow older, we lose track of the younger and new students feeling in our shoes, so I enjoyed meeting them. I would probably say that it was one of the most fulfilling experiences I’ve had in CAS, and even though they were hard to manage, I had a lot of fun.

14/07/21

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Compost machine

After getting the opportunity to participate in teaching children how plants grow and feed themselves, we were able to repeat the experience. But this time, we had to explain how a compost machine works. 

It was a bit of short notice because Aaron asked for our help the day before, but we managed to pull it off. We explained to the students form 1º of Primary, the different steps of how to work a compost machine. They were able to see for themselves the worms, and even grab some sand and compost. Some of them were nervous because they didn't want to touch the worms, and it was really cute. 

It was really fun seeing all the kids so excited to learn and participate in the activity. This time we focused a bit more on the different materials necessary and why. 

I love getting to interact with children and I am glad I got to do it again. I hope they enjoyed the activity as much as we did, and maybe we will be able to interact with them again in the future.

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Pádel

Este año debido a que había riesgo de que establecieran medidas de confinamiento, mi amiga y yo quisimos buscar una actividad que fuese al aire libre, y así por tanto durase más antes de ser cancelada.

Nos pareció que el pádel podría ser una actividad divertida y  encima tenemos un club muy cerca. Por lo que empezamos a jugar en septiembre.

Aunque aprender a jugar un deporte puede ser difícil, siento que he aprendido bastante a lo largo de este curso. La primera parte del vídeo es de principios de curso, practicando el globo, y el segundo vídeo es de esta evaluación, practicando el mismo golpe.

A veces es un poco decepcionante cuando tienes un mal día y no te sale nada (sobre todo me suele pasar con los globos que es mi golpe favorito) , pero me lo paso muy bien igualmente.

Algo en lo que me gustaría mejorar es en la defensa. Los ataques se me dan mejor. 

Hace varios meses me propuse mejorar mi defensa, y como solemos realizar un ejercicio en el que una persona se sitúa en el lado del profesor y tiene que recibir los ataques de la pareja en el lado opuesto; a partir de esa defensa se sigue el punto. Este ejercicio me ha ayudado mucho a mejorar.

Voy una vez a la semana, una hora; normalmente somos tres en clase, más el profesor; aunque el tercer miembro ha ido cambiando a lo largo del curso. Ahora mismo somos mi amiga y yo, más un niño de unos años menos, y a veces también viene otra chica. 

Empezar pádel ha sido una de las mejores decisiones que he tomado, porque he descubierto que se me da bien y encima me encanta. 

A partir de ahora empezaré a publicar más mis progresos ya que ya tengo un poco más de técnica y me puedo empezar a centrar más en golpes concretos.

04/05/21

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CAS Project

Spirit Week (introducción)

Como actividad más importante de CAS se nos ocurrió a varios de clase organizar una Spirit Week. 

Esta actividad consiste en que cada día a lo largo de una semana se centre en un tema. 

En principio la idea era realizarlo en la semana de la feria de CAS, pero no tuvimos tiempo ya que es necesario cuadrar horarios y preparar bien el temario. 

La idea consiste en lo siguiente: 

El primer día es el Día de la Ciencia, en el que un grupo (formado por Adela, Álvaro, Annie y María) llevaran a cabo una serie de experimentos en el laboratorio; y ala vez estarán en videollamada por Google Meet con varias clases de un curso (el cual todavía está por aclarar). De esta manera, los alumnos también podrán llevar a cabo los experimentos, con la supervisión de sus profesores.

El segundo día es el Día de la Concienciación. El objetivo de este día es impartir dos charlas para informar a los alumnos sobre temas importantes. Uno de estas charlas es sobre la agresión sexual ya que Abril fue el mes internacional contra la agesión sexual; y será realizada por Ariadna, Álvaro y yo. Me pareció importante que hubiese al menos un chico ya que los niños de ciertas edades tienden a hacer más casos a otros chicos, más que a las chicas. La segunda charla es sobre cómo tratar con niños con discapacidades. Será realizada por Adela, Jaime y Annie. 

El tercer día es el Día Contra los Estereotipos, y el plan es realizar una charla (llevada a cabo por Pilar, Cristina y Liang) pero el resto de participantes estaremos de fondo para que puedan ver los diferentes tipos de personas que hay y ver que es normal. 

El cuarto día es el Día del Arte en el que se realizarán dos actividades distintas. Por un lado un collage con niños más pequeños (realizado por Cristina, Liang, Pilar y yo); y por otro lado actividades musicales con alumnos un poco más mayores ( Julen, Jaime, Ana y Ariadna).

Finalmente, el último día es el Día de las Redes Sociales, en el que Ana, Julen y María realizarán una charla para concienciar a los alumnos sobre las realidades detrás de las redes sociales. 

Todas las charlas serán impartidas a través de Google Meet. 

Este proyecto ha sido el que más ha costado organizar ya que son muchas actividades y encima no es fácil hacer una organización con otras 11 personas. 

Los principales organizadores de este proyecto somos: Liang, Ariadna, Álvaro Cameo, Jaime y yo. Fuimos los que distribuimos los grupos, pensamos originalmente en la idea, y hablamos con la directora. El resto de alumnos nos han estado ayudando bastante y llevarán a cabo diferentes actividades. 

Llevaremos a cabo este proyecto en el mes de junio ya que es el mes en el que muchos cursos ya no tienen exámenes y tienen más tiempo.

05/05/21

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Rugby

El rugby es un deporte en el que la primera jugada empieza con uno de los dos equipos dándole una patada al balón, para que el equipo contrario intente cogerla.

El objetivo es llevar el balón hacia un área que se encuentra fuera de la pista y del lado contrario al que empiezas. En este caso sí que puedes pasar el balón, pero solo hacia los compañeros que se encuentren detrás tuyo. 

Todas estas características las aprendí el año pasado ya que me tuve que examinar de rugby; pero debo admitir que se me habían olvidado muchas cosas, por lo que volver a jugar me ha ayudado a recordarlo. 

Dividimos la clase en dos equipos. Al principio no era tan entretenido, pero según avanzaba el partido, ambos equipos empezamos a entender un poco mejor el juego, y nos volvíamos cada vez más competitivos. 

Como siempre, en el fondo daba igual quién ganaba o perdía, pero aún así todos somos humanos y queremos ganar. 

Me di cuenta de que es un deporte bastante difícil ya que tienes que correr rápido y ser bastante ágil para que no te quiten el peto, porque si te quitan el peto tienes que parar la jugada, y posar el balón en el suelo. 

Al ser bastantes en el equipo, no siempre todos teníamos roles importantes en las jugadas, pero aún así era divertido participar.

A pesar de que no es de mis deportes favoritos, y no creo que nunca lo sea, fue muy divertido jugarlo con mis compañeros. 

04/05/21

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Flag II

En esta tercera evaluación hemos vuelto a jugar al flag, y me lo he pasado aún mejor. 

Dividimos la clase en cuatro equipos, y fuimos rotando. Mi equipo ganó algunos y perdió otros, pero fue una buena experiencia de todas formas. 

A veces intentábamos probar jugadas distintas para sorprender al equipo contrario, y a veces simplemente tirábamos el balón y a veíamos a ver cómo se desarrollaba la jugada.

Algo que he notado jugando al flag esta segunda vez, es que, no sé si es por la clase, o porque nos estamos hemos crecido, pero me he dado cuenta de que a todos probamos todo. Es decir, normalmente no me atrevería a ser quarterback, porque me daría miedo fallar o tirarla muy corta. Pero esta vez me atreví, y jugamos todo el equipo en todas las posiciones. (En la foto aparezco con mi equipo, preparándome para tirar el balón).

Este deporte me parece menos duro, supongo que porque lo jugamos en unas pistas más pequeñas de lo que sería habitual.

Descubrí que no soy mala quarterback, aunque a veces tiraba el balón demasiado lejos. Pero si volvemos a jugar, volveré a intentarlo.Ya que casi todos los años solo probaba ser center, así que es normal que fallase.

04/05/21

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Cerámica

(Las imágenes del medio era lo que quería conseguir)

Cada evaluación intento probar a hacer algo de creatividad que o bien, nunca he hecho no hace mucho que no hago. Esta evaluación decidí que esa actividad sería cerámica. 

Recuerdo que de pequeña solía hacer figuras de cerámica con mis hermanos y mis padres, pero eso fue hace mucho. Así que mi amiga Liang y yo decidimos volver a intentarlo. Además, había oído que la cerámica es muy relajante y que incluso se utiliza como terapia, por lo que me pareció apropiado ya que 1º puede ser estresante. 

Normalmente las actividades que he ido probando y publicando  a lo largo de este curso han salido todas bastante bien, (aunque tuve ciertos problemas con la última actividad de picnic y pintura). Pero me temo que no puedo decir lo mismo de la cerámica. 

Sabía que no iba a ser tan fácil como parecía en los videos que cogí como modelo, pero no pensé que saldría tan mal. Al principio, cuando Liang y yo empezamos con la cerámica, sí me parecía relajante, pero después de unas horas intentando hacer las figuras que tenía planeado hacer, me empezó a parecer estresante. 

Lo primero que hice, simplemente para ir probando la cerámica, fue unos anillos simples. Después hice el joyero en forma de corazón, y finalmente intenté hacer una seta para colgar los pendientes. El joyero no salió tan mal, pero la seta fue un intento fallido que acabé rompiendo y tirando. 

Creo que quizá lo correcto sería acudir a alguna clase de cerámica si de verdad es algo que algún día me apetece. O seguir intentándolo hasta que salga. Tenía pensado darle el joyero a mi madre por el día de la madre, pero no me gustó como quedó, así que no se lo dí.

Al igual que otras actividades de creatividad, lo que me ha enseñado esta actividad es a tener paciencia, y no darme por vencida cuando algo se complica.

04/05/21