2012 Korean summer camp kicks off

The much awaited Korean summer camp to be held from 27^th July 2012 till 19^th August, 2012 bloomed into life on 26^th July 2012 with 16 little champs from Korea arrived in the Vizag airport. This year summer camp attracted many enthusiastic students from Korea to Vizag.

Their little friends from India as well as existing Korean students of Oakridge had been waiting eagerly to welcome them aboard.

The camp had various fun frilled activities and excursion plans in the pipeline for the students. Activities like outdoor and indoor games, clay modeling, fashion designing, painting, music and science and technology were offered as a part of this 24-day camp. English-as-a Second Language (ESL) course is being offered to the students on a daily basis.

                                  

 All the activities mentioned above are ensured to give learning and fun for sure. No wonder, the children got excited and got engaged from the day one.

Through all these featured and colorful theme activities, the international students will not only get a chance to learn about traditional art and culture of India thereby building a bond with the host land but also enrich their learning beyond classroom.

The motive of the camp had been to provide an educational, recreational, social and cultural experience filled with happy memories where new friendships are forged and returning year after year becomes a priority. This camp is going to expand international influence of Oakridge’s education and promote international cooperation between the two countries.

The fun journey has just started. More chronicles of learning experiences from each of these camp champs are yet to come. 

It is all about number games!!!

Math is no longer hard and stressful as the mentors of Oakridge have come up with many creative and new methods of teaching them to the students.

Students of classes V A & B sections have done an activity on 11-07-12 related to Integers, Students were given few sentence strips to find out which strip will go into 'Positive and Negative Integers' column. Simultaneously, they played the 'Deck of Cards' in which every black card in their pile represents a positive number and every red card represents a negative number. This activity made them understand to add and subtract Integers thereby imbibing the logic behind Integer numbers.

No more are we going to listen to students whining how boring math is drives me crazy.

Science is Fun

Science is all around us in our daily living and the more you experiment with science and observe, the more fascinated you will become in finding answers. Children learn interesting science and technology facts by experimenting with different materials that react in surprising ways.

Grade VIII B was given different metals like copper turnings, zinc granules, magnesium ribbon, & iron filings & was asked to infer the properties of metals.

Little scientists experimenting

Remember to always have fun with your science experiments and don't worry if your experiments don't come out as you would expect- some of the greatest scientific discoveries have been made by mistake.

Experimenting has always been fun in school, the best part is to carry them out all by ourselves. Students of Grade VII B have done the lab activity in connection to the topic sublimation; they performed heating of iodine and checked the transfer of solid iodine to gaseous state of iodine vapors. 

The Sound Blitz Elocution

Oakridge always concentrates in co-curricular activities which have proved to be educative and of immense interest to the children. Such activities not only engage the children but also groom them for a better future.

Thus a Sound Blitz Elocution competition was held on 9 July 2012 for the  students of Grade IV and XI. This competition was an inter house competetion where the students participated with entusiasim to rise and shine in their house name.

The best way to predict your future is create it

Red mark on a paper has more power when they are students generated. It is not really tough trying to motivate de-motivated students, but at the end of the day it largely comes down to finding out what will motivate them. We all get motivated by different things and there really is no one way out to suit everyone. It is the most challenging job for teachers as they should know how to deal with the kids.

Therefore a Coffee Evening was arranged for Grade X at the Lawson’s Bay campus. This session was totally curriculum related based on what efforts will be taken to cope with the weak children.

Rise and Shine with morning assembly

Morning assembly is when we reconnect with entire school family at the beginning of each day. In order to make the assembly more effective and interesting and to break the monotony of customary assembly practices Oakridge always plans to make the students learn and share something new.

The assembly conducted by the students of Grade VIII B where they sang the song ‘I Have a Dream’. They spoke about the various kind of reptiles found in the world. They presented this information under the head, ‘Did you know facts?’

                                                                          

Tutti Frutti preparation by the kids

A game with food and nutrition related activity was developed to provide an opportunity for the children to understand the nutrition knowledge concepts. This included preparation of fruit salad by the Grade IV A and B students. The students were asked to get fruits from their residence and prepared the salad in the class. Through this activity they understood about the presence of different nutrients in the fruits.  They also became aware of the different benefits that fruits provide and how healthy it is to consume them.

Seeds of creativity

Watching plants grow is a fun and educational experience for children. Their enormous curiosity and excitement over anything new, makes them naturals for gardening. Growing plants with kids teach them how nature works, responsibility in caring for something, an interest in environmental sustainability and pride in them for the results.

Therefore students of Grade V A were taken to the school garden where they were explained about the Vegetative Propagation. After this activity the students understood that plants do grow without seeds.

Glee

Glee: Some know it as a synonym of happiness, but most recognize it as the new TV show that has taken the world by surprise with its outspoken views, musical-like setting, and lessons about teamwork and harmony. Although the second season was not greeted with much fan-fare, Glee has slowly worked its way back to the top.

Glee is about a group of high school students who have formed a ‘Glee’ club, more widely known as a show choir. While the show does focus on issues teenagers deal with on a day-to-day basis, it also puts across important messages such as teamwork, working towards a goal, and accepting different people as individuals. As a new group in the school, the Glee club has to work hard to prove themselves to the other students and staff members.

What is most noticeable about this show is its integration of song and dance: each episode contains around four or five songs, quite reminiscent of Broadway productions.  Some of their covers are truly spectacular and magnanimous, including Teenage Dream (Katy Perry), The Time (Black Eyed Peas), and Marry You (Bruno Mars).

Cat up a tree...

Ever have a cat-up-a-tree? Ever seen a catapult? The following was received from a missionary in Romania. God's care, creativity and timing is awesome!

Suddenly a bright idea struck the pastor! By tying the wispy branches of the tree to the bumper of his car and slowly driving forward, he could bend the top branches enough to reach his terrified, precious kitten. Carefully, the brave rescuer executed the brilliant plan.

However, just as the pastor reached for his furry friend, the rope snapped and the wide-eyed, frozen kitty flew through the air as though catapulted into space.

What to do? After a fruitless search the dejected pastor gave the care of his former companion into the hands of his Creator.

While shopping not many days later, the pastor bumped into the grocery cart of a woman from his church. Knowing her reputation for disliking cats, he commented on the fact that she had cat food in her basket.
"You'll never believe what happened!" replied the woman. "My little girl has been begging me for a kitten for months and I continually responded that we have no need for a cat. She has such love for animals, and one day when she again asked for her very own cat, I told her that I would not get a cat for her, but if God gave her one, she could keep it."

Satisfied with the answer, my daughter ran into the backyard, got down on her knees, closed her eyes tightly and prayed, "Dear God, please send me a kitty of my very own to love and care for. Amen."

"She opened her eyes and what do you think she saw? A little kitten with paws outstretched flying through the air. It landed right in front of my daughter and has been part of our family ever since!"

Now, rewind back to our own life, how many of us keep worrying from the pastor's perceptive and miss out seeing the miracles from the little girl's perspective?

Generation Gap- A whiff of rugged individualism

The only thing that changes is the change itself. All aspects of the world – way of living, living enablers like Technology has been witnessing the light of change every second. The result is a gap on the levels of acceptance and readiness to accept the change is very much evident among the various generations of people.

For e.g.: To get a contact number when parents flip on the yellow pages, while their children quick dial to tele help.

It is increasingly tougher for the youth to get away from the digital screen more often whether it is academics or socializing all is done in front of it. But this is neither appreciated nor entertained by the older generation as they believe in face-to-face interaction and practical experience is more important for survival in the society.
This results in various conflicts of interests and ideologies between Gen-Now and Gen-Next.

 Apart from technology there are several other reasons that lead to this kind of conflicting problems. The people in different generations are brought up in entirely different ways, due to this upbringing every generation’s mental framework differs from other. The physiological and behavioral patterns are formed on the basis of circumstances and surrounding one undergoes. So when the people of different generations meet each other they are induced to differ in opinion, communication gap and conflict.

Further this difference lead to likes and dislikes that differ from each other and people cannot live in peace with each other and they are unable to respect the likes and opinion of each other.

Generation gap is something that has been taking place in the society for a long time, but recently it has become more acute. It is caused due to conflict in ideas and thoughts taking place between the parents and the children. When there is difference of opinion among the parties then feelings cannot be expressed even though it exists between them as there would be no proper channel to fill in the gap. To be frank there are is no quick solution to bridge the gap, other than the two generations realizing the situation and becoming the bridge themselves.  Self-Realization is the key.

Steps that can be taken to reduce the friction:

•    Realization and a high level of understanding.

•    Sharing of childhood memories opens the door to understanding.

•    Understanding the theory of limitation as both the generations cannot be satisfied as per their wants.

•    Spend qualitative time with each other as it creates an emotional bondage.

•    Develop the attribute of respecting each other.

 

CARE AND CONCERN IN ACTION

Once a teacher asked her pupils to write an essay on the topic - “If I had to be a house appliance, which appliance would I like to be, and why?” One of the smartest kids in the class wrote the following which can be an eye – opener to many parents:

“Above all I would like to be a TV SET, because, were I a TV SET, my parents would look at me often, they would take more care of me. They would listen to me much more attentively. They would tell others to ‘shut-up’ when I am speaking. They would not tell me to go out of the room or to go bed in the middle of a game or when I do something I like, as they never go to bed until the TV program is over.” (“TOUCH”, Newsletter of Family Service Centre, God).

The less attention parents give to their children, the more they grow experiencing the absence of love. Love received from parents is basic to the formation of one’s values. The child retains attention to love. So if they are not getting the attention they got to believe that they are not loved. Love is the most important characteristic that wishes the happiness of others. It is only when the child feels the love of his/her parents that this conviction is created within the child’s heart and mind. And, this keeps growing and assists the development of his/her own values and behavioral patterns as an adult.

Attitude is a decision…

What makes a winner or a loser? Is it the right attitude, perception or the right way of thinking? This was the thought shared by the principal in the Assembly. He spoke about the traits of a winner in contrast to a loser some of which are


The Winner always has a program.


The Loser always has an excuse.


The Winner says: "Let me do it for you";


The Loser says: "That is not my job."


The Winner sees an answer for every problem.


The Loser sees a problem for every answer.


The Winner says: "It may be difficult, but it is possible.”


The Loser says: "It may be possible, but it is too difficult."


When a Winner makes a mistake, he says: "I was wrong.”


When a Loser makes a mistake, he says: "It wasn't my fault."


If one does ponder over this, the obvious answer would be that people are successful because they choose to think differently. How do we develop this thinking? Children today are more exposed to challenges and so it becomes all the more imperative that they develop the right attitude to be resilient to stress created by outside influences and be focused on their goals. It goes without saying that this is not something that can be taught, but one needs to change their mind-set which will definitely set the stage for them to be achievers in the long run.

A Healthy Mind leads to Healthy life

We "burn with anger,” or "tremble" with fear or feel "choked up" with sadness. Everyone experiences such horrible feelings but such emotions make us feel physically and emotionally disturbed and weak. Feelings are driven by emotions and thus we experience varied feelings through different emotions.

This is because our body and mind are closely interconnected to each other and emotions play a big part in shaping one's health. And hence, any negative effect on mind causes major challenge to good health.

At times you may have experience stomach ache or headache before an important exam. This is nothing but a sign of stress and fear of failure. You might also feel fatigue and puckish but that is all because of the feeling. If before the same exam, you replace feeling of fear with confidence and start thinking positively, chances of success will increase.

In Hindu mythology, Ravana was a very learned and intelligent man. However, he was filled with negative thoughts of jealousy, anger and hatred which led to his defeat by Lord Rama who was symbol of love and care.

Finally you should know that your mental state is what you think and as a result you feel what you want. So make up your mind with positive thoughts for - A healthy mind is what leads to a healthy body and a much happier life.

Engaging through Number Games

On 27th June there was an activity conducted by the school in relation to ‘Numbers’ where the students were involved in arranging the numbers in the form of ‘Hindu-Arabic System’ and ‘International System’.

The teachers chalked out certain online games at the later part of the activity to keep the children’s interest intact with math.

Student’s Blaze a Trial

Activities relating to both academics and non-academics have always been an integral part of Oakridge. On 25th June the classes of V A were explained about various parts and types of seeds. Now the kids are able to distinguish between different types and functions of the seeds.

Similarly on 26^th June the students of class V A and B were explained about the presence of nutrient contents in different food items. The students were actively engaged in the activity comparing the wrappers of the food items.  They were explained about the manufacturing and expiry dates along with the veg. and non-veg. labels mentioned atop the wrappers. Apart from educating the children about nutrition this activity was taken up to create awareness and to make the children cautious before purchasing any food product.

Experimenting with Benedict Solution

The students in Oakridge inculcate through the process of learning by doing. In situations like this students get the first hand information about the lessons. Thus the students of class VI A carried out certain experiments in connection with the lesson “Components of Food”.

They performed the experiment of testing carbohydrates with the Benedict’s solution. The students furthermore saw that the solution of glucose when tested with the Benedict’s solution and heated changes the color from blue to red inducing the presence of carbohydrates in it.

An Educative Walk in the Garden

The students of class V B were taken for an educative walk to the school garden. They were further explained about stem cuttings and layering in the plants.

The value of practical experience acquired through such outside classroom activities however increased by discussions makes sense to the student of what they see or do.

Enhancing Lab activities with chemical reactions and equations

In connection with the topic chemical reactions and equations students of class X A performed certain lab activity on types of reactions. They were successful in answering the questionnaire given to them after the experiments.

Activities like this not only allows the teachers to evaluate where the student stands but also gives an opportunity to the students for self-assessment and to understand where they stand among their peers from other schools.

What you see is what you get

Later on in another activity the students of class II were introduced to pattern recognition and at the same time they were asked to create their own patterns. The creative handling of these shapes by the students gave them a thorough understanding of geometrical patterns. These activities have tickled the Oakridger’s grey cells and pumped their adrenalin.

 

Coffee Evening

The recent activities in June have kept the teachers, students and the parents engaged throughout the month. Oakridge believes in having a great relationship with the parents on regular basis. Therefore it makes sure that most of the programs held by the school involved parents in it. Beginning with, there was a “Coffee Evening” arranged by Oakridge, Vizag campus for Class III, IV and V where the parents were briefed about the functioning of the school. The parent’s queries were also clarified by the Principal, coordinators and the teachers.