Monthly Photo Post – December

 

To make my blog more interesting and to keep track of my favourite photos that I have took in the past month, I have decided to start up a ‘Monthly Photo Post’, where I will choose my favourite picture of each month.

About This Photo

L-R: Myself, Khyle, Oran, Sonia, Thomas, Adam & Jack

This photo was taken, while on the Transition Year christmas Trip in Belfast. It was taken while we were out shopping, in the city, after going ice-skating. This trip was really fun, and I have really happy memories of the day. We were heading back to the bus at this point, before going on to see the Coca Cola Lorry, outside the SSE (Odyssey)  Arena. I also liked this photo, and chose it to feature as my ‘Monthly Photo Post’ as everyone was so happy, and we all were having such a good day! This certainly is one of my most fond memories of my Transition Year so far!

TY Christmas Trip in Belfast!

On Wednesday, 16th of December, TY Students went on their annual Christmas Trip. This year, the trip was to Belfast, and was simply, amazing! At 8:30, in the morning, those going on the trip, gathered at the school gates, and headed for the bus. We headed up the road towards Derry, and picked up any other students who lived along the way, before heading for Belfast.

When we reached Belfast, we first of all went to Dundonald Ice Bowl, where we were taken to ice-skate. We were given an hour and a half on the ice. It was extremely hard to skate, and needless to say I fell on the ice a good few times. The activity was really fun however, and it was an unforgettable experience!

After skating, we headed for the city, where we were given two and a half hours to shop around and get lunch. Myself, Oran, Donncha, Khyle, Jack & Adam, got off the bus and headed tp get money changed, before going on over to Pizza Hut, where we had lunch.

After Lunch, the six of us headed to the Victoria Square, where we went shopping in shops like – Topman, Pull & Bear, Superdry, House of Fraser, Hollister, Urban Outfitters & The Apple Store. It was really nice to get a chance to take a look around these shops, as there aren’t any near us in Derry or Letterkenny, and also there was a great ‘Christmassy’ atmosphere about the place!

At 3:45, we all gathered at the bus stop, where we waited on the bus to take us to our next part of the trip. We were taken to see the Coca Cola Lorry, which was parked outside the SSE (Odyssey)  Arena in Belfast. We all lined up for a group photo, and ot turned out really well! After this we got on the bus again, and left for our fonal stop.

At about 5:15, we arrived at Junction One, a large discount outlet center, in Antrim, and were told that we had an hour to shop around. The center was quite quiet, but we didn’t mind. About 10 of us went to shops liek – Adidas, Nike & Bose, but for about thrity minutes of the shopping time, we spent ot in Costa, sitting down and drinking coffee, which was actually quite enjoyable as it was nice to sit down after a very long day!

We then headed for the bus at 6:15, and were back at the school at about 8:00! It really was an amazing Christmas Trip!

  

Gaeilge – Mythology – Fionn agus an Brádan Feasa

Irish Mindmap

Continuing on my trend of blogging about the many Irish Myths & Ledgends that I learn about in my TY Irish Module, I have yet again decided to blog about the tale of ‘Fionn agus an Brádan Feasa’ or Fionn and the Salmon of Knowledge.

The story follows a series of events of the great warrior of Na Fianna – Fionn MacCumhaill. At a young age, Fionn was sent to live with a man who was known to be the most clever man in Ireland. this man was Finnéigeas, who lived on his own near the banks of the River Boyne. Finnéigeas spent hos days writing books and poetry.

One day, Finnéigeas heard that there was a Salmon of Knowledge and that it would have the answer to all the worlds mysteries, however ths would only be accessible for the person who ate this salmon. It was a myth that was of great importance at the time, and it was taken very seriously.

Fionn was assigned to Finnéigeas as a student, as he wanted to become a fully qualified warrior. One day Fionn was sent out to catch the salmon of knowledge. He caught the fish with no dificulties. He took it back to the house where he began to prepare it. The fish was sat on an open fire where it was left to cook, while Fionn watched over it. Foolishly Fionn leaned over the fish, where he burned his thumb on the fish.  Immediately Fionn put his thumb in his mouth, without thinking about the consequences of eating the fish that was meant for Finnéigeas. Fionn suddenly realised that he had received a talent of major importance, that was meant to be for Finnéigeas, but it was too late, and Fionn was deemed the smartest man in Ireland!

Blog Challenge – The Six Word Story

Blog Challenge - Six Word Story

Over the past few weeks, Transition Year Students have been set the task of undertaking their most recent Blog Challenge. The challenges aim to encourage the students creative skills, and to showcase them on their blogs. The most recent challenge that I have received was the ‘Six Word Story’ Blog Challenge.

The Six Word Story, was first created by Ernest Hemingway, when he was challenged to write a compelling or shocking text in all but six words. He wrote many of these, but one of his most famous would have to be “For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn.” The aim of the stories are to both shock, and make the reader think about the background of the story.

Our challenge then took this concept one step further and decided to not only allow the reader of the story to imagine its premise and background, but allowed them to visualise the story with a more tangible item. We were all asked to present our six word stories in some sort of creative way. The six word stories were one of the assessment that we have done for our Creative Writing portfolio.

My six word story is: “She’d never live beyond those bars…”, and I was really proud when I came up with it. I then was asked to present these six words in some creative way, and therefore I decided to try and draw a picture, describing a story, as I hadnt realy done much drawing so far in TY. I wanted to see how I could do aswell, and how I would be able to visualise text creatively.

My picture visualises a woman looking out from a prison cell. Her face is motionless, yet it remains cut up by the cell bars. I feel that this drawing doesn’t give much away about the background of the story, but I think that is for every reader to find out for themselves!

Irish Architecture Foundation – Architecture Module

My 'Space Study' for Architecture

On Tuesday past, Transition Year students were introduced to a new module that we will study in our ‘Design & Woodwork’ class. This new concept is a new module that we will study called ‘Architecture’, which is brought to us by the Irish Architects Foundation, and is taught by our teacher – Mr Boyle.

Since a young age I have been very interested in designing and drawing. I used to spend a lot of time drawing town plans and house design sketches, and I had also wanted to do Technical Graphics for my Junior Certificate, however the subject did not go ahead due to a lack of numbers in interest in this subject. Therefore, this module is of major interest to me!

Each student is given a ‘Design Journal’, which is a little blue book. In the book is many different sections leading up to a design process. One of the two sections that I have already completed is a ‘Space Study’, in which I chose an area that either appealed or didn’t appeal to me.

The area that I had chosen was my local library, in Buncrana, as it is somewhere that has really interested me from an architechtural point of view. I love that an old church as been incorpotated into a public building, and that a totally modern part has been added to the side of the building.

So far I have really enjoyed my expereinces with this architecture module, and I hope that the rest of the module will be as enjoyable

Finishing My First Work Experience!

Me and my little sister Dearbhla, pictured just after my last day at work experience at her "Big School"

Yesterday, I was very saddened to have finished my first placement. I had been in this placement over the past 13 weeks, and was really sad to say goodbye and get ready to start on my second work placement.

Since September, I have been lucky enough to work in my past primary school – Scoil Naomh Pádraig in Drumfries. There are only about 60 – 70 students in the whole school, and therefore  I felt like I had grew to know them all well and had built up such a great working relationship with each and every one of them! I was even able to teach my little sister Dearbhla (pictured above), who had started “Big School” this year.

I was extremely lucky to be allowed to actually teach the children in the school music, as it is a major interest of mine. Every Wednesday I went to my work experience and from 10-11 I taught the middle classroom (1st, 2nd & 3rd classes), from 11:15-12 I taught the  infant classroom (Junior & Senior Infants), and from 1-2 I taught the senior classroom (4th, 5th & 6th classes). It has been one of the most insightful experiences that I have had so far in my TY, as it is amazing to see children who may have had very little music knowledge, comprehend and engage in lessons and activities, quickly develop music skills and understand theory!

On top of getting the chance to teach every single student in the school, I was also asked to help to arrange the school’s two annual Christmas plays. This year the senior students have been preparing for a play called ‘Cinderella Rockerfella’, which is essentially, a pantomime styled version of the play – Cinderella. The junior students have also been very busy practicing for their own adaptation of ‘The Nativity’. In this aspect of my work experience, I was asked to teach all of the students their songs, that they will sing in both plays, as well as coordinating students when there cues are to go on and off the stage. And if that wasn’t enough I was asked to create a backdrop for the plays!

Whenever I am not teaching music to the children, or wasn’t organizing a school play I was either working in the office or I am providing assistance in the classroom. These were both as enjoyable as teaching music. I believe that this placement was a unique opportunity as I have essentially done three placements at once – an office placement, a teaching placement and a placement that deals with music. It was safe to say that there was never a moment when I was bored on my first placement.

I would like to thank all the staff of the school for their continued support, constant dedication, accommodation and appreciation of the work I carried out throughout my thirteen weeks.

 

My Experiences with Transition Year Road Safety – Topic Review: Alcohol & Driving

Alcohol & Driving: The Effects, Perceptions and Opinions

Road Safety, is one of the 14 modules, that I study in Transition Year, and it is a subject that is totally new to me, as there is no topic like ‘Road Safety’ on either the Junior Certificate or Leaving Certificate curriculum. The subject is extremely interesting and thought-provoking, which allows for a lot of discussions of opinions and perceptions in the classroom. This is why I decided to do a blog post on a topic of my choice.

The topic that I have decided to write about is ‘Alcohol & Driving’ as it is an extremely interesting, versatile, and sadly prevalent topic in Irish Society today. TY Students were also lucky enough to attend a conference on this topic, and its wider effect on people, in November in An Grianán Hotel, in Burt, however this blog post will be based on what I have learned in my TY Road Safety Module.

Upon, learning about the topic, I grasped many new perspectives on the  topic. I firstly learned that alcohol is a ‘sedative’ drink, and this means that it can alter the drinker’s behavior, health or mental well-being in some way as soon as it is consumed. As soon as alcohol is consumed, it travels straight to the liver, before a sizable amount of the alcohol hits the brain within minutes. When alcohol reaches the brain it is described as a ‘Mind-Altering Drug’ which can affect a persons functions in some way. The way in which alcohol affects a person can vary drastically. Although there is concrete research that suggests some theories of why this is so, it is widely unknown how and why some people can’handle their drink’ better than others.

Another, aspect of this topic in my Road Safety Module, that I noticed, which had really interested me, was the concept of a ‘Blood Alcohol Concentration or BAC Level. This is a measure of the amount of alcohol per head amount of alcohol in a persons blood system. The legal limit for this is 0.8g/l. This means that for every litre of blood  in a persons system, only 0.8 of a gram of alcohol is allowed to be in their system to be under the legal drink driving limit. It was extremely interesting to learn about this topic, as it was something that I had never learned about or experienced before.

I hope that this post will sum up TY Road Safety in a positive light, and that it may help to illustrate the topic of ‘Alcohol & Driving ‘ in a clearer light.

Transition Year Hill Walking Trip

Hill Walking in Uriris

On Friday, 4th of December, Transition Year students were once again away on another trip. This trip was more local than others, and it was a trip where we went out on a hill walk.

We left the school after our first class, at 10 O’Clock, and headed on a bus to Leenan, outside Urris in Clonmany, where we were met by our guide for the day – Charlie McCarron, who is also the man who is in charge of the TY Tourism Enterprise project, which we will start this January. We were also accompanied by one of the PE Teachers & TY Tutors in Crana College – Mr McMullan, as well as a group of Spanish Students, accompanied by the Spanish Language Assistant in our school – Julia.

We arrived at the foot of the hill, at about 11 O’Clock, where we began to walk. The initial climb at the start of the hill was probably the most challenging for me, as I felt that this was because we were still getting accustomed to the concept of climbing, however we were still walking on a paved pathway, and therefore we had time to get ready to properly begin to climb. As the hill began to get steeper, it started to be easier to walk!

After about an hour and a half of walking, we reached a lake, and we had our a break, where we ate our lunch. It was extremely windy where the lake was and it was very cold, however we braced the elements, ate our lunch swiftly, before moving on with our hill walk. Shortly after our lunch, we had reached the summit of the hill. It was very surreal being at the summit, as it was like being on a very high cliff, looking over Lough Swilly despite being at the summit of a hill.

On our descent, we took a different route back down the hill. This route was quite steep, and quite slippy, and needless to say some of us managed to fall! Luckily enough I didn’t fall, and remained dry for the duration of the walk! When we reached a more gradual descent down the mountain, we began to walk in pairs or groups, where I made my way back to the bus with Thomas.

We reached the buses at about 2:00, and headed back to school to be in time for our buses home. This trip was really fun, and actually was one of my favourite trips in TY so far. A big thanks to Charlie McCarron, for taking time out of his schedule to guide us on this hill walk!

Using ‘Kahoot.it’ in Media Studies

Using 'Kahoot.it' in Media Studies

On Tuesday in Media Studies, Transitoon Years experienced a very different type of lesson to the usual double on a Tuesday evening! This was because, we were given the chance to play on a website called ‘Kahoot.it’.

Kahoot.it, is a website that allows many people on various devices to play against each other in a round of questions that are selected by an administrator, who in this case was my Media Studies teacher – Mrs Morrison.  The class were then given an access code,which brought us into a game, where we were all able to compete against each other. We were given a quiz on a set topic, and these topics were ‘Interet Safety’ and ‘Media Studies’. These topics were really interesting and relevant to our class!

When it got to playing the game, it was really fun, and everyone was taking it extremely competitively. We could not see the questions on the screen of our device, but only on the computer of the teacher. This was really interesting, and it turned out that I had one of the rounds of the games! It was something really different, and something very unique!

Drugs & Alcohol Talk

Drugs & Alcohol Conference

Last Thursday, Transition Year Students were invited to a talk based around the theme of ‘The Impact of Alcohol and other Drug usage on the Individual, Family & Community’ in the An Grianán Hotel in Burt. the conference was brought to us by the Lagan Area Primary Health Team & Community Youth Forum. The conference was extremely eye-opening and it was on something that I hadn’t really thought about or experienced before. The day was full of guest speakers from all over Ireland, and all represented different aspects and perspectives on the matter.

The first speaker was Dr Sínead O’Gorman, who is the Clinical Lead in Emergency in Letterkenny General Hospital. She had previously worked in Alice Springs in Australia, where she had said that she experienced many cases surrounding alcohol, and drugs, before she left for Ireland, thinking that this theme didn’t occur much in Ireland, however she said that she had found it every bit as prevalent. She had spoken very powerfully, and very insight-fully, about the topic, and she really helped me to understand the concept of the theme of the conference. Her talk was extremely interesting, and it is no wonder that her Master’s thesis was on “The effect of alcohol on foetal lung development”!

The second speaker that we experienced was Brian O’Donnell, who is the Road Safety Officer of the Donegal County Council. His perspective came from the side of the Road Safety Authority, An Garda Síochana and the Donegal County Council. His talk was very shocking and moving, as it contained many startling statistics about deaths on Irish Roads, under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol . I was honestly shocked by the high volume of deaths caused by these substances, and it was unbelievable to learn about the way that the three associations which he spoke about deals with and tries to prevent these incidents on our roads.

Another speaker, who I thought was very moving, was a man who had talked about his own personal experience when it came to drugs & alcohol. James ‘Jimbo’ McCann, is a now recovered alcoholic, who had turned his life around after he had fell on hard times, and lived on the streets of Derry. Jimbo had decided one day that he had enough, and began to work as a volunteer with the association ‘Foyle Haven’, where he was then offered a job at his current position as a Coordinator the association. His speech was really poignant, yet also moving, and it was truly inspiring!

This conference was really interesting, and was on something I had never experienced or thought about before. This has been one of the most thought-provoking aspects of my TY so far!