Northern Corridor Character Assessment Program : Journal Part III

Continuation of Day 2 – Night Session : The Drum Circle
The children were surprised when they arrived at the classroom. The chairs were arranged in a big circle together with all the musical instruments and the children were excited to choose which musical instruments they wanted. Firstly, Amien asked them to name the instrument themselves. All of the names were so funny. Some of the names were of cartoon characters, and some named the instruments whatever they wanted it to be called. Then they were introduced the real name of the instruments and told what they’d be doing with the instruments such as jembe, maracas, tik-tok, tambourine, kompang, etc. At first, they were just playing around with the instruments. After that, they started to follow the beat to make it synchronized. This session also taught the kids about teamwork, listening skills, leadership skill as well as building their confidence. There was a section where a child was selected to lead the drum circle.

Day 3 – Character Analysis : Study Skills
The kids were punctual and ready in the classroom by 8.30am. They started with a morning energizer according to their respective groups. Every student was given a number, which when called will need them to lead the exercise with different style. Every time they switched the exercise instructor, there’ll be new music background as well.

On day 3, all activities were conducted in the classroom only. Since this was the last day, we focused on enhancing their learning skills. Overall, there were three approaches we introduced. These include:

1. VKA (Visual, Kinesthetic & Audio)
Every child has different style of studying. We gave the young participants a set of questions for them to answer about themselves. After tabulating the score, we helped them identify which categories that they fall into. After that, we separated the children according to these respective categories: Visual, Kinesthetic & Audio. These groups drew a picture of their dream holiday on an island. During the brief session, they were shown the difference between the three groups. These styles can help them to study more effectively.

2. Mind Mapping
The kids drew a mind map about themselves. They used colors and picture to describe themselves. This is an attractive way of studying. The brain will absorb the information fast and consequently the kids will learn things faster.

3. Goal Setting

Every child needs to be exposed to goal setting. It’s very crucial so that they can have a goal of what they want to achieve. There are barriers or challenges that they’ll face in achieving what they want, most importantly they need to work hard and they’ll be successful. In order to achieve their goal, they need to take action, starting with what they’ll do in daily basis to ensure the goal is achieved.