Written by: Lanz Tan, Year 10

I’ve always wondered what it would be like to be the teacher; to have to assign work and experience the pleasure of giving detentions. Well, Year 10 has just had a taste of that experience (minus the detentions, of course).

Since the start of 2015 the Year 10s have been assigned as tormentors--or rather, mentors--for the Year 7s, serving as a beacon of hope for their otherwise doomed presentation for Kidspeak.

Kidding aside, it has truly been a privilege for us to serve in their learning experience and it has been unexpectedly rewarding to get to know the younger years. Kidspeak this year involves Year 7s pitching their ideas for Global Awareness. I think that this educational journey has been beneficial not only for Year 7s, but also for the Year 10s in that we get our own classroom roles reversed. Being students ourselves, we are frequently at the back seat of the learning bus; the teachers driving us through lessons, assessments, homework and much more. It’s satisfying and worthwhile to observe this experience unfold vice versa.

Here is how some of my year group has reacted to Kidspeak so far. Although there have been some bumpy rides like: "I make appointments with my kid but he always ditches,” and “One of my partners said ‘hi’ to me then ran away,” the consensus has generally been positive:

“Many people think it’s the Year 7s that are apprehensive and nervous about meeting their Year 10 mentors. While this may hold some truth, it is easy to forget that so do the Year 10s, as we are plagued by questions of doubt: Will we be a competent mentor? How will my kid be like?” - Jason Ng 

“It's doing pretty good. Since this is the first year that a year group has experienced being both a mentee and a mentor, it's easier for the mentors to help because they have been in their shoes” - Manu Lopez 

“It's going pretty well. I'm having a great time helping out my partner with whatever he needs to do, since I would've wanted that help when I was younger. Also, it's an interesting experience to meet someone younger than you and to see their mistakes, as well as understand that it's almost like looking at a mirror three years ago.” - Max Jao 

“It was a rewarding experience as we got to share our experiences with our tutees which may hopefully help them in their project” - Anonymous

“My kid’s really cute and nice and such a pleasure to work with.” -Julia Tan 

“We're guiding them on their presentation.” - Euan Thomson 

“My tutee is very diligent and stays up till midnight doing homework” – Adam Clarke

Overall, it has been excellent to see some  shy Year 7s come out of their shells. They got to know us and we to know them. I certainly remember how shy I was when I did Kidspeak three years ago, but today I can say that even up until now I’ve maintained friendships with the year group who helped tutor me back then. I hope that I can be to my Year 7 tutee what that year group was to me. This whole experience also makes us Year 10s  appreciate teachers more, as we finally are able to realise how difficult it can be to impart knowledge to others, or even get them to listen for that matter.

Written by:

Elijah Lagman, Year 12

Learning power is a concept that originated from the Primary School, which the Senior School combined with the IB learner profile characteristics and formed their essentials into a puzzle that is now in almost every classroom in BSM. Learning Power embodies the traits of an ideal BSM student and is prevalent throughout the school. I, along with some other students, have formed an initiative that strives to encourage students to question, research and reflect on situations that are important to them, and afterwards share these ideas with the rest of the BSM community.

The Learning Power Initiative (LPI) is the brainchild of my interest in an unusual but interesting topic - intelligence: nature or nurture? Ms. Johnson led several talks for the senior school last year, and these talks inspired me to organise a seminar that explores this question using neuroscience research and personal anecdotes. I shared my ideas with Mr. Peñalosa and fellow student Jake Vergara and we developed the notion that students should share ideas that are not normally discussed in a classroom environment. This molded the foundation of LPI.

LPI endeavors to highlight students who portray the learning powers in ways that the school may not conventionally celebrate. Our team believes that an integral part of being a BSM student is not only about global awareness, sports and academics, but also the development of a student’s passion. This burning desire should be nurtured and acclaimed both by the individual and the community. The Learning Power Initiative is an opportunity for anyone to share personal passions and interests, as well as urge others to pursue their own. This, in effect, aims to create a more interesting, unexpected and, most importantly, zealous student who does not necessarily follow conformity. LPI will be a platform for sharing ideas that are noteworthy yet not necessarily “mainstream”.

Our team will support this effort through seminars and publications focused upon integrating the Learning Powers in specific themes such as leadership, success and intelligence. Due to its overlap with other projects, such as Mrs. Mann’s Kidspeak Project, LPI seeks to cooperate with school organizations to support the development of students’ individual identities that make them unique.

If you are interested in sharing thought-provoking, interesting and unique ideas, let us know! We are an interactive team that aspires to promote ideas that may inspire others in a domino effect. I believe that once an idea is planted, it grows like a virus. With LPI, I hope that with your help, this ‘virus’ will motivate students to become idiosyncratic, influential and amazing individuals.

Written by:

Elijah Lagman, Year 12