CAS journal entry 3/8/2023:

This past week Diego and I have been working on finishing up teaching students on how to accurately and effectively prepare for Model United Nations. A big part of this CAS project is teaching students what MUN is and how to get the most value out of the experience. We have been mostly focused on teaching the ninth graders about how to write position papers and what MUN even is, however we also need to teach the 12th graders how to properly chair the committees because they are an extremely important stakeholder in the success of this project. It is extremely important that the 12th graders practice the IB learner profile qualities of being caring, open-minded, and good communicators to help the students in their groups feel comfortable to put themselves out there, and also to maintain a positive learning environment. The 12th graders have the opportunity to be really inspirational role models to our community, and this experience will be even more positive and engaging for our students if they practice being strong and caring leaders while chairing the communities. Diego and I recognize the 12th graders’ impact on MUN, and we have been focused on training them on how to be strong leaders so they can feel confident taking on this important role. As well, the rest of the school holds a big stake in the success of this project because it could shape their view on not only our community, but also how they view global politics. Diego and I not only recognize the importance of the 12th graders creating a positive learning environment, but also the students to which this learning environment will benefit. Diego and I are trying to show our community how fun and exciting politics can be to hopefully inspire our students to go out in the world and make a change. We recognize our ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade students as being important stakeholders in this project and we are trying our best to make sure they get and give the most during this experience.

The presentation that Diego and I presented to the 12th grade 

From teaching the 12th graders and our overall community on how to do well in MUN, I have been identifying my own strengths and areas for growth, recognizing the ethics of my actions, and have been further recognizing the importance of working collaboratively. I have learned a lot about not only myself throughout teaching our students, but also about the importance of learning, kindness, and our community. Throughout teaching the students, I have noticed how public speaking is a challenge for me but I also notice I have been gaining more and more confidence talking in front of groups of people and I have also been learning the role model I can be for our La Paz community. I have been emphasizing in every teaching the importance of being really engaged and caring in MUN. I recognize that if Diego and I show our excitement and interest in MUN, that our community is more likely to see MUN as an exciting event they are interested in. I have also noticed that working collaboratively with Diego is helping us both create a more positive and overall interesting learning experience. I could not have done this project without Diego, and I have been really appreciating working collaboratively with him throughout this project and his support in the areas of challenge that I face such as public speaking and being a strong leader that does not let people take advantage of me. 

Next comes Model United Nations. These last couple of weeks have been a countdown until the actual event and we are doing our final preparations to get ready for the big event. We have been practicing the qualities of being reflective, knowledgeable about our topics, and creative as we work on the more technical aspects of our project. We have been doing a lot of research to make sure that we fully know our topics so that we can be resources ourselves to have students come and talk to if they have questions on the topics. We have also been reflecting on what we have learned from past presentations and teachings to students to make sure that we can improve the learning environments in the future. Lastly, we will have to be creative as we create the signs for model united nations and the final finishing touches to make it a truly unique experience.