Blog 1.6- BREAKKKKK!!- Naboni, Grade10

Firstly, I apologize for the delay in my post. The overwhelming workload of the final exams had me convinced that there were only five blogs to do, and I completely overlooked the fact that there was one more to go.

Now let's dive into what happened on the last week before finals. Wow, can you believe it? We are already done and dusted with finals! Time really does fly when you're having fun, or in this case, loaded with studies. Finally, it's over and now we can enjoy a long-term break. Hooray!

Monday morning was off to an exhilarating start as we entered our beloved AEP room. We immediately noticed that the SQUARDLE webpage was open on the smartphone, and we knew that we were in for a thrilling challenge. Our task was to find 73 words, and though it seemed daunting, we were up for the challenge. 15 of the words were already filled in, making the task somehow easier. With excitement and determination, we set out to find the remaining 58 words.

Next, we did vocals after so many days. We read an article on DOGONews that was titled "Adidas "Super Shoes" Help Tigist Assefa Shatter Women's Marathon World Record". It was the same as before. We each read one sentence and after reading we went around the room and stated a fact that was mentioned in the article. The article discusses how Adidas "Super Shoes" played a significant role in Tigist Assefa's world record-breaking women's marathon performance. The facinating thing about it is the price of the shoe. It's worth $500.

The next day consisted of only two periods. We started with Sqardle again, but this time we had to fill in only 22 words. Completing the task was relatively easy and took us less time. Afterward, we started working on our vocabulary in the same way as last time. Each of us was assigned some words that we had to find the meaning of using a dictionary. Later on, we took a quiz on the vocabulary webpage where we had to answer for the word that was assigned to us.

These vocabulary lessons have been incredibly helpful to me in many ways. In our English syllabus, we had to do narrative writing, and I found myself using a lot of the words I learned in these lessons during my exam. Moreover, I have noticed that some of these words have started to appear randomly in my everyday life. It's amazing how once you learn a new word, it seems to pop up everywhere.

Finally, we were tasked with writing another essay. This time, we had to write about the number of hours that young people in Chester spent engaging in different activities weekly between 2002 and 2007. When I first saw the graph, I was intimidated by the sheer number of bars present on it. My mind immediately convinced me that I would not be able to jot down anything coherent. At the end of the class, I managed to write down some of the most noticeable trends. Honestly, that was the toughest essay writing I have ever done. But phew, I ended up getting a 90% at last on the seatwork.

The rest of the classes before the finals just consisted of us playing contexto, unscrambling a scrambled essay, and our vocab quiz as well.  In our last class of AEP, we took our finals. We were informed that there would be three essays in total - two of them would be from the ones we practiced before, and one would be new. We just had to write one out of the two old essays. I was happy to see my favorite essay among them, which was about aquatic species. The new essay was not difficult to comprehend, as it was about comparing the drinks sold in two different cafes. We were given two periods to complete the two essays, so I was quite relaxed throughout.

That was all covered up of all the tasks we did before term 1 finished. The finals are over! However, the thought of my upcoming results is constantly on my mind and it's starting to make me anxious. Gotta enjoy the long break though! Goodbye tilll Term 2!

Signing off,
Naboni

TILL ANOTHER SEMESTER👋(FINAL BLOG)-Naboni

Hello! We are back with another AEP blog! THE FINAL BLOG!  WE ARE ALREADY IN THE 3RD SEMESTER??? How fast the time even pass???? I just realized it's been almost 10 months since I have been in this beautiful community, FIS✨. 10 months filled with wondrous experiences and moments to add up into the album of memory. Being in FIS and meeting with so many amazing people here has changed my life completely. I can’t believe is going to be one whole semester soon, since I have come to know that many people and become close with most of them. With the school year, the AEP class will soon also come to an end. It’s bittersweet to think of an end. Well if I make a list of ‘ALL THE AMAZING THINGS THAT HAPPENED TO ME THIS SCHOOL YEAR’, joining AEP class would definitely be on that list.

Even by not being one of the major subjects, AEP class has taught me the most out of all the subjects. As English is not my first language, I have always been insecure about my English grammar. No matter how much I tried to learn the structure of a tense or all sorts of verb names, I ended up forgetting them after 1-2 weeks. At some point, I just gave up learning grammar. Now when I joined AEP, I have come to learn with Miss Disa’s influence, that grammar is not the most important thing to be proficient in English. We can start with small things; for instance just by reading children’s articles or playing different word games or blogging! Yet we haven’t totally discarded grammar, we still had various grammar lessons on topics that are needed in day-to-day life, like the use of before, by, until, and conditionals, etc. I really love how Miss Disa conducts all of the classes with her entertaining videos which makes the lessons crystal clear.

At the beginning of the second term, we did a 14- days challenge which I think is one of the best things I have done for myself. On the period of 14 days, we had to make a game plan for the day and do certain easy tasks throughout the day. Those tasks are based on self-improvement and that basically teaches you to set agenda and fulfill it. In the beginning, I thought it would be so hard to get through the challenge. But soon I found out, it is not that difficult to do a series of easy tasks by the end of a day. It was also satisfying and tempting as you put a tick mark beside your do-to list when you finish a task. Even though it was relieving after 14 days to complete the challenge, I created some habits of keeping several of them till now. For example, I have come to sort of adjust my sleep schedule, I try to stay hydrated throughout the day and sometimes find myself doing the exercise snacks. My favorite part about the challenge was doing one kind act a day. It felt awesome to be in need of someone or to make a person happy when I kept track of it. I think the 14-day challenge is a great way for anyone to use for building a habit in the long run of life. 

I mostly love AEP because of its less workload. We never have any exams or quizzes like all the other subjects, we just do some simple seatwork after we finish any grammar lessons. I remember once we were given a presentation to make because Leo managed to confuse Miss DIsa with the sentence ‘Help me with my homework.’ The purpose was to research whether ‘help’ in the sentence is causative or not. Well thanks to Leo, cause the collaborative project was much enjoyable to do. Other than that, on oral days we read some amusing and fun articles from DOGONews ( these are the children’s articles I mentioned about before) and we go one by one reading two lines of the articles and stating one fact from the article after we finish reading it. I have come across many interesting articles while doing oral like octopuses throwing debris at each other, a one-eyed cat becoming Cadbury’s Easter bunny, a 10-pound goldfish, etc. Another of the signature thing for AEP class is playing Scrabble on rainy days. It has always been Boys vs Girls. Sorry to the boys we always end up defeating them still I appreciate their hard work. We start every class with a warm-up word game, which turns the calm class tumultuous as a lot of brainstorming is required.

Well, I guess that covers up all the things I have got to experience during the semester. AEP class has helped me a lot in improving my English and learning new vocabulary and has bought me closer to my classmates. Sometimes I wish I had joined AEP class before, but then I would not be able to get the experience of the rowdy ESL class. I think I am the lucky one who got to experience both of the subjects. Still grateful to Miss Sarah who thought me capable of AEP class and suggested me to join it. All the talented people, MIss DIsa’s cheerful jokes, 10 minutes of hallway walks, warm-up games, easy Mondays, scrabble on rainy days, Teddy and Alice are all the things that define our AEP class. 

This is the end of the blog I guess. But not the end of AEP. Definitely, coming back next semester, with a new chapter. So adios? No. See you later!👋

14 Day Challenge Debrief- Naboni

Keeping track of goals has always been really helpful to me. At the beginning of the third semester, Miss Disa provided us with a 14-day challenge, which was a similar pursuit I do regularly. The challenge involved a game plan for the day, a kind act, a task to complete by the end of the health, and a snippet of healthiness. The plan had to be made consistently for 14 days in the morning at 7 pm, and right after 12 hours at 7 in the evening, we had to give feedback on how the day went. Possessing the misdemeanor of procrastination, for a person like me, the activity is an aid to build up good habits and prepare you for the long run in life. 

Even though I prepare a to-do list of tasks almost every day, laziness strikes me and I fail to fulfill all the tasks by the end of the day. But knowing that my grades will depend upon the way I perform in the challenge and I am not doing it alone, as the whole AEP class is doing it, gave me a boost of motivation and an adamant mindset to finish the task at the end. I would say, the most healthy habit that I made in the span of 14 days is, the habit of drinking water which I bet I haven't done enough throughout my lifetime. From the very first day, I decided to drink at least 7 cups of water a day. After some days I figured out, it happened automatically without me keeping track of it. It has had a huge effect on me as for now, I am still regularly drinking enough water as required. Staying hydrated, not only helps me to stay active but also it has a visible effect on my skin. One thing I wish I could do was to replace coffee with water, but I find it difficult yet to function properly without drinking at least one cup of coffee a day. Well, maybe some other time, in some other challenge tee hee. Also, the daily calisthenics along with making a healthy habit, provided me with a solution of how to tackle laziness. Now whenever I feel unfocused I get out of my study area and try to take a walk or some light exercise for 2- 5 minutes. That helps my mind to again get on track. 

Sleeping early. A huge battle in my life is to fight with insomnia( maybe this has a bit of an exaggeration😝). During the two weeks of 14 days challenge, I actually managed to sleep before 11 every single day! Yes, I was even surprised! The first 3-4 days were all about rummaging through the blanket or the pillow in my bed for some hours until I fell asleep, but then it definitely worked in my favor. Well, I guess I passed that challenge, but I haven't passed my real challenge in life. As for, after that two weeks, I got back into my old ways. I am still trying to gain a proper sleeping schedule and hopefully will be able to succeed one day.

As for the game plan, I mostly kept it on my mental health. I feel like sometimes I forget that keeping sound mental health should also be one of my priorities while I focus on my growth. So, I took advantage of this challenge and decided on a game plan that would help to keep a positive mindset throughout the day. It was hard to keep up with those some of the days but overall I would say, the game plans did show a beneficial effect on my mood all around the 14 days. 

Last but not the least, my favorite of all challenges was to do at least one act of kindness a day.  As I have always been a giver, it was the easiest for me. At first, I was not sure what this would entail, but then I found out that keeping track of kindness is a great way to improve my mood and connect with others. Somedays my kind act was as simple as greeting everyone I meet warmly with a smile or texting a friend to let them know I am there for them. On other days, I helped the people around me with doing chores or helping with my studies, etc. 

Overall, I believe this 14-day challenge is really helpful as it has helped me to build a lot of good habits. I would definitely try it again when I feel the need of making a new habit!

NABONI Blog 1- A new experience AEP CLASS

"I am the little New Year, ho, ho! 
Here I come tripping it over the snow.
Shaking my bells with a merry din –
So open your doors and let me in!”
                                                    —Anon

Here comes another year; another era! A new year, 2023! For me, 2023 is a year of development and experiencing new things. It is a new year and thus the start of a new semester. I joined a new class called AEP, quitting my former ESL classes. AEP is a more advanced English class. Just like the verse above, I walked through the open door of the AEP classroom and officially became an AEP student. I was already familiar with the pupil of the class as I had once joined a class with them during the first term. Every single member of the class possesses high brilliance with most of them being super sophisticated in English. I was quite sure that it would take me forever to catch up with them. Honestly, I still freak out sometimes during the AEP classes of perceiving how they present their various talents. In total, the class consists of 7 students along with two other exceptional members, Teddy and Alice ( Teddy is a teddy & Alice is a plant!). AEP class is conducted by Miss Disa, a beautiful, native English woman. She makes the class activities amusing, interactive, and super entertaining! Even every class begins with a warm-up game! We had 6 weeks before the third term to finish our second-term coverage. With cheerful laughter and Miss Disa’s wholesome jokes, the followings are the day-day activities that we did throughout the second term-

Planning:

According to our schedule, we have one period of class on Monday and luckily a double period on Tuesday! On a Monday morning, my very first class in AEP started! Monday morning is a special day for all the people on AEP. On this day Miss Disa likes to keep things slow and relaxed. As well as it was the first class, thus there were a lot of chit-chats and we made our planner for the whole semester. It helped us to have a grasp of what we were heading toward and to keep a productive routine. Some of my friends introduced me to the applications that we will be required on the road and showed me their previous tasks so I have an idea about the upcoming assignments. 

Oral:

The next day was an oral day. On the oral day, we read amazing facts from DOGOnews! We read three articles that day. One is about Octopuses throwing debris at each other, a humongous so-called goldfish, and a bird thief. Each of us took turns reading 2 lines from the articles. After that Miss Disa went around the table and made everyone state a fact that was mentioned there, after finishing each article. This is to test our memory and how focused we were during others read their parts. Oral is fun and relaxing. It is my favorite activity because I like to get familiar with new facts.

Grammar lessons:

The rest of the semester we mostly focused on grammar lessons on voices and causatives. We started with voices of how to change passive voice to active and vice versa. Miss Disa conducted these lessons with her own-made youtube videos and gave us seatwork after making the lesson crystal clear. Then we had the lesson on causative. We were given to do a pop quiz and teamwork after the discussion of the lesson. The teamwork involved all of the students in AEP to make a presentation on, why ‘Help me with my homework’ can not be causative. We made the presentation on one day and presented it in the next class. That went off pretty neatly.

Games:

As I had mentioned before AEP class is filled with playfulness. We spent a lot of the time in the semester playing different brainstorming games. So, after the AEP presentation, we were rewarded by Miss Disa to play scrabble. Boys vs Girls. We, the girls ruled the game and luckily were far ahead of the boys! During the whole AEP classes, I have got familiar with so many other games and I kinda got obsessed with some too.  Those include wordle,  griddle, phrazle, hurdle & my personal favorite contexto. These games basically require you to guess words or phrases with a limited amount of guesses. Contexto is a bit different. It does not give any clue about the number of letters in the word and there are also no limitations. So, you just keep on guessing random words until you find out the word of the day!

I believe AEP holds a huge credit for my improvement in English, and if I continue the classes I can improve further. The second semester ended much quicker than I had expected. And here goes one more semester and the school year ends! We yet have to go through another two major exams. So here I end the blog cause I need to save energy for the upcoming battles. Stay tuned to know how the AEP classes continue in my next blog!