TERM 1
1) Pottery
2) Health,hygiene and safety
3) Public speaking
2) Health,hygiene and safety
3) Public speaking
Pottery
One of my first modules of the year was pottery. I found pottery really enjoyable and fun as I have neverdone it before in school. I learned how to make a pot and the rules to follow when working with clay. The module lasted 6 weeks and during that time I made 2 pieces. My first piece was a free standing 3D image off my name and the second was a pinch pot that I turned into a fish. Once each piece was finished I painted them with pottery paint and they were put in the furnace. Overall the module was a really enjoyable class and it was a fun part of the TY program.
Health and safety
This module taught me a lot about safety for myself and others. In class we talked about hazards and what to avoid that could potentially cause us harm. I learned some useful practices like how a for extinguisher works and how to identify the differences between them and in what situations they would be used. We talked about the most dangerous areas in the school and we completed worksheets to enhance out knowledge of the subject. I thought this module was very helpful with some important topics to talk and learn about.
Public speaking
One of my first modules of the year was Public speaking and for this module our project was quite challenging. The project was to write a speech based on any topic and present it to an examiner. The speech had to be over 4 minutes long and we had to have everything written on flashcards and have a powerpoint to support the information. I wrote my speech on " The Economic and Social problems we have in our society for people with disabilities".
I chose this topic as i have a brother with a disability which made it a more passionate topic for me to write about. My teacher was Mr.Wall, he taught us the basics of the subject and he gave us some useful tips on what to include in our speech to gain our maximum result.
On the morning of the speech i was quite nervous but i calmed down when i saw the everyone that went in were all happy with how they did. The examiner was really nice and interested in what i had to say.
I really enjoyed the project because it made me more comfortable with giving speeches and i learnt a lot from the teacher. Overall i was really happy with my result and i got a 1st honours which i was really proud of.
I chose this topic as i have a brother with a disability which made it a more passionate topic for me to write about. My teacher was Mr.Wall, he taught us the basics of the subject and he gave us some useful tips on what to include in our speech to gain our maximum result.
On the morning of the speech i was quite nervous but i calmed down when i saw the everyone that went in were all happy with how they did. The examiner was really nice and interested in what i had to say.
I really enjoyed the project because it made me more comfortable with giving speeches and i learnt a lot from the teacher. Overall i was really happy with my result and i got a 1st honours which i was really proud of.
TERM 2
1) Forensics
2) RSE
3) Politics and society
2) RSE
3) Politics and society
Forensics
For my second term at school I learnt about forensics and looked into detail what a real crime scene was like and how they find out who did the crime and how it happened. We looked up made up situations that were very realistic and we would try to solve what would’ve happened at the crime scene. We did a few activities using Ink such as taking our fingerprints and examining tire tracks of toy cars and trying to match them with different examples. I thought friends ex was quite interesting and I found it to be quite a fun module that challenged us to work in pairs and try and figure out problems.
RSE
I found RSE to be a very interesting and important module to complete this year. In this modules i learned about different STD's and how they are transmitted and how to avoid them. We also talked about hygiene and how to protect ourselves and what to do if we ever noticed these diseases. Unfortunately a lot of RSE classes were missed do to musical rehearsals for the TY musical taking place during that time but i still enjoyed the module and i found it interesting.
POLITICS AND SOCIETY
I enjoyed politics and society as we talked about things happening every day life to do with the government and we share our opinions on what could be changed and shared our views on what we think the future holds for society. We participated in a project in groups of four where we had to discuss the future outcomes of the year that we were given. Margaret was given the year 2025 and we had to use what information we had today to try and figure out what would improve by then and we also made some predictions of new technology and possible things we could expect to happen by that year. We also learned about the laws of the country and we discussed new laws that may be laid out in the future Such as making the purchasing of firearms Illegal. I thought politics and society was really interesting and I enjoy the class activities that we did I thought the mother was quite relevant to the world around us.
Term 3
1) Careers
2) nutrition
3) mindfulness
2) nutrition
3) mindfulness
Careers
Careers this year i found it to be an important module to prepare us for the future. In these classes we talked about our future ambitions and also considered what universities we would like to attend. We were given different websites that could help us look at universities and what the requirements are to attend certain courses we would be interested in. We talked about our leaving cert subjects and we figures out what grades we need to get in these subjects to get the course we want when we leave school. We then completed a 10 page project on our ambitions for the future in which i talked about business and law in UCD based on what i had been resourcing in class. Overall i found this module very relevant and important and i really enjoyed it.
Nutrition
In the nutrition module we learned a lot about different food that we should eat and also other foods that we should avoid to stay fit and healthy. We talked about our mental and physical health and how they can change depending on what we eat and how much exercise we complete on a daily basis. We looked at our body weights and used that to figure out how much carbs and fats we need a day and how much calories our bodies need on a daily basis. We then all had to complete a 15 slide cahoot and present it to the class based on the topic of nutrition. I talked about protein bars and their misunderstandings.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness was a very enjoyable class in which we talked about our mental health and how meditation can help us during times of stress. We learnt different types of meditation techniques such as finger breathing and also how changes in our breathing can really calm us down. We meditated a lot in class listening the CD's where we would listen to someone telling us how to relax and feel at peace. We also talked about religion and how it can also help during times of stress to use our faith. We then had to complete a poster on meditation for our module project. I really enjoyed this module as it was a very relaxing class and i found it helpful as now if i ever get too stressed i know how to calm myself down.
Term 4
1) Computer studies
2) Leadership
3) Art appreciation
2) Leadership
3) Art appreciation
Computer studies
Computer studies this year we learned a lot about different programmes that are commonly used on the PC such as word or excel. We completed a course based on self examination on a website called E-learning in which we were tested based on our knowledge about programmes like powerpoint, word, excel, calendar etc. The quizzes are marked out of 100 and we were scored in points based on the percentage we achieved in each quiz. The points then add up to give a final score in which tells us if we are professional or intermediate at using these programmes. I found this very helpful and important for us to learn as we more than likely use these programmes in the future.
Leadership
In this module we looked at different people that were great leaders such as Nelson Mandela. We watched a documentary based on his life and how he spent 25 years in prison for trying the give black people equal rights as white people during the race conflict in south Africa. We wrote notes in class based on what we learnt to then use to complete our projects. Another film we looked at was a movie called Moneyball in which Brad pitt plays the manager of a basketball team in America called the Athletics in which beat the baseball winning streak world record in 2002 based on a low budget team that was created by their manager. We look at how he changed the game of basketball through getting unpopular players that had potential that no one saw and putting them all together to make an unbeatable team. I found this a very interesting module and i really enjoyed it.
Art appreciation
In this module we looked at famous artists, sculptures, architects, animators and cinematographers that changed the way these talents were perceived by the world. We were asked to pick a famous person that are known for their talents in these categories and then we had to find out how they became famous through researching their life and then we would make a project based on this information. It was interesting to see what person other people chose to do their project on and overall it was interesting to research and find out more about these talented people.