My insightful takeaways from the 2018-2019 annual exhibition - Part 3

In the third part of my trio blog set on my annual exhibition, I am going to be writing on my experience with basketry and bags as well as the annual exhibition itself.

On Day 5, I commenced my first lengthy project. I had to make a pouch. This was my favourite project as it was a blend of both weaving and basketry. To make the basic structure of the pouch, I had to weave but to build the three-dimensional shape, I made the cardboard loom such that I had to weave on both sides of the cardboard. Using a mind boggling pattern of colours, I slowly and steadily worked my way through this project. As it was forming to be a big and thick pouch, I could not finish it in school and hence had to take it home.

On Day 6, I brought my now finished and fabulously looking pouch to school. To give it a finishing touch, I quickly finger weaved a handle for my pouch and attached it. This was one of my proudest moments as I had toiled for six hours to finally see it finished😌😎 Later that day, a few others and I learnt how to make a Paper Basket from a teacher who often collaborates with HLC for innovative projects. After weaving the base using magazine papers, we bent the ends so that the base would start building upwards. After a few more weaves, a sturdy and compact paper basket was ready.

On Days 7, 8, and 9, I helped the teachers to organize and decorate our weaving and basketry classroom. We neatly arranged our products on tables in the order that we were going to present them in. We made wall hangings and our very own tapestry.

Our Weaving and Basketry classroom looked like a dream!!😄 😎

Our Annual Exhibition 2018-2019 was divided into two days. I was placed on Day 2; hence Day 1 was a holiday where I spent half the time relaxing and the rest for preparing my talk. The next day, as the visitors started pouring in, little did I know how awesome the day will turn out to be.

I was in charge of the reflection and feedback, which was one of the main areas in our exhibition. The reflection was the culmination of an hour long discussion between one of our teachers and few of us students(including me). Our aim was to note points of how we as a team progressed in this ten day journey. Our reflection had been divided into six sub divisions which represents six different skills : 1. Motor 2. Cognition 3.Social and Emotional 4. Language 5. Self Help and Adaptive 6. Aesthetic

I had to explain how we changed physically and mentally after the ten days. For example, when I sat on the floor for long periods of time in the first few days, my back used to hurt a lot. But towards the last few days it would be less strenous😌 After explaining the reflection, I had to ask the visitor to write down their feedback(All of them were positive and encouraging!!).

The day flew in no time; Although I had to explain the same topic over and over again, it was great fun. The most important thing for me is that because I kept repeating the same speech, the content sunk deeply into me. Personally, my biggest transformation as an individual was that prior to the exhibition, I always felt that going by tasks solo was the best; but after the exhibition, I became more open towards teamwork.

In conclusion, the 2018-2019 Annual Exhibition was one of my favourite and enjoyable exhibitions; I am eagerly looking forward to more such events😃