contact
Hi. My name is Steven Elder and this is my 14th year as CAS Coordinator at Rowland High School in Southern California in the USA. If you’d like to contact me for any reason leave a comment on this page and I’ll be automatically notified to reply. Hope you have a great CAS year!
Comments
Hi Steve!
My name is Sarah Jackson and I am a first year CAS coordinator at Muskegon High School in Michigan. I wanted to get your insight and opinion on a few things. I was unable to attend training this past summer so I am hoping you can answer a few questions. Are we still tracking hours? From what I understand we are concentrating more on the growth than hours. Also I have a student who is playing with the West Michigan Youth Symphony every Tuesday night…can she count all of her hours if she continues this through the entire school year? What about when kids play a sport? Can they count all of thier hours that they practice and play games toward Action? If not, where is your cut off at? Do you only allow a certain amount of hours to be obtained per activity? Does it even matter if the focus is not on hours but more on the growth of the students (AIMS and Learning Outcomes)? I would love some feedback on this issue. I know that I can count the activities…I am just confused as to how many hours are acceptable or if it really matters.
Thanks for any input that you may have!!
Sarah Jackson
Hi Sarah. Let me see if I can answer some of your questions:
Q: Are we still tracking hours? From what I understand we are concentrating more on the growth than hours.
A: You’re correct. The focus is not on tracking hours but instead meeting the 8 Learning Outcomes, however, IBO still wants students to come close to earning 150 hours. Most of my students earn way more than 150 hours so it’s usually not a problem.
Q: Also I have a student who is playing with the West Michigan Youth Symphony every Tuesday night…can she count all of her hours if she continues this through the entire school year?
A: I’m assuming this activity is not a class in school that will help her obtain the IB Diploma so I don’t see why she couldn’t count all these hours. More importantly than counting hours is deciding which Learning Outcomes she’ll meet through this activity.
Q: What about when kids play a sport? Can they count all of thier hours that they practice and play games toward Action?
A: I count all of their hours, even practice hours. I bet some CAS Coordinators don’t count practice hours but I think it’s only fair.
Q: If not, where is your cut off at? Do you only allow a certain amount of hours to be obtained per activity?
A: I used to allow a maximum of 35 hours per any school-related activity, but I threw this requirement out with the new CAS Curriculum that switched the focus from hour-counting to meeting the 8 Learning Outcomes.
Q: Does it even matter if the focus is not on hours but more on the growth of the students (AIMS and Learning Outcomes)?
A: I personally don’t think it matters any more.
Q: I would love some feedback on this issue. I know that I can count the activities…I am just confused as to how many hours are acceptable or if it really matters.
A: How did I do? Did I just confuse you even more? I hope not. Write back if you need me to clarify anything. Have a great day.
Hi,
This blog is great! I saw your link on the OCC in the CAS forum. I posted this question there also, but would love a quick answer since it is almost the end of the school year.
I read on another school’s CAS guidelines that students there are expected to create proposals for CAS activities to be completed or worked on during the summer between their 10th grade and 11th grade school years. The VP at my school has said that the IB really stresses that the CAS be completed DURING the 11th and 12th grade school years. I cannot find anywhere that states this type of limitation and it seems to me that summer vacation is a great time for some students to get their feet wet without having to manage schoolwork at the same time. Is this allowed?
Do you, or have you heard of, schools doing an information session about appropriate CAS activities and completing proposals for CAS projects at the end of the sophomore year that will be done during the summer vacation??
I would me most appreciative of any feedback you could give me.
Thank you.
Once a student finishes grade 10 they ARE 11th graders so we allow them, and even encourage them, to begin their CAS activities in the summer between grade 10 & 11. We don’t accept activities before our students finish grade 10, but once they do they are encouraged to begin CAS activities. Does this help?
Dear Mr. Elder,
My name is Carlos Hernandez, and I am a new Community Service Coordinator for high school of Colegio Internacional de Carabobo, Valencia –Venezuela, and wonder how I should calculate hours for the students. Could you please be so kind as to guide me? Questions pop up in my head you know, for example, are all kind of activities and different type of services worth of the same amount of community service hours? What would be a fair criterion? How are normally the Creativity Action and Service hours calculated?
Thank you so much in advance!!
Sincerely,
Carlos Hernandez
Hi,
I would like to join a gym to complete the action part of the CAS by taking aerobics/dance/yoga/cycling classes, but I’m not sure if those hours can be counted. Do you think it will be alright?
Please reply soon
Thanks
Jasmine
As long as you have a non-family member adult over the age of 18 who will serve as your activity adviser I think the activities you’ve listed definitely count as Action. Remember, it’s not about hour-counting anymore but about meeting the 8 Learning Outcomes. Hope this helps. Happy New Year.
Hi,
I am at the start of my IB program, and I would like to know if blogging counts as a CAS activity (creativity). I am writing about my city. Can I do that?
Thanks,
Ieva
Hi Leva. You’ll have to check with your CAS Coordinator. Personally, I would allow it for my students as long as they were meeting one or more of the 8 Learning Outcomes, but you’ll have to check with your own CAS Coordinator. It sounds like a worthwhile activity to me. Good luck
Hi Steve
I have spent an hour going through your CAS corner and I just love the APM. I Would like to take your permission to try it with a few students for a couple of activities for them to see how other students are proposing cas actitivites.
Your corner is interesting and quite resourceful. Thanks for sharing.
Vijayashree
Hi Vijayashree. Thank you for asking but you may absolutely use any document you find here for your own personal use. Thank you for the nice compliment and good luck with the APM
Aloha Steve,
I am so glad I stumbled upon this blog and all its information. Our school is in the process of becoming an IB school. Many of us have received training on IB and we are looking forward to be able to use that coveted IB World School label very soon. As we are getting ready to put all the pieces in place, we want to make sure to pay particular attention to the CAS piece, which seems to be at the heart of the IBDP. Would you happen to have some specific suggestions on what a CAS coordinator would need to be aware of before the CAS program is put into place? Is there some “leg work” that can be done to do away some pitfalls that may otherwise arise? I have studied the CAS guide and am aware of the what the IB suggestions are for starting the program. Maybe you have some insights that are not listed in the guide? It seems to me that rolling the CAS program out properly, with all the pieces in place, would be of utmost importance to avoid confusion later. Fortunately, we do have Managebac
.
Thank you for your time,
Sabine
Hi Sabine. I’m glad you found my blog helpful. I don’t pay enough attention to it so I’m glad there’s stuff here that’s still helpful. I think one thing that’s important for students to know is that when they say they’re going to do an activity that they choose that: 1. they have to list at least one learning outcome that they’re going to meet through the activity, 2. that they have to provide evidence that they met the learning outcome(s), and 3. that their evidence needs to show these 5 things: what happened, why it happened, how it happened, what its value was, and what the student learned from it. If the IBO ever audits your kids and looks through their evidence, these are the 5 things they’ll be looking for.
Does this help or were you looking for different advice? Please let me know. I’m happy to help. If you have ManageBac you’re golden
Did you look at the CAS Quick Start Guide on my blog? It boils down the entire CAS curriculum to just 2 pages. My students have found it helpful, maybe you will too.
Please let me know how else I can help. Don’t be shy
Hi,
My son is planning to volunteer in a hospital in our home country which is an developing country in asia. We live in North America. He will work there for a month. Will this be counted for CAS hours?
Thanks in advance.
Gita
Hi Gita. I would count this as CAS but you’ll need to check with his CAS Coordinator at his school to be sure. It sounds like a great activity to me
Thank you for your blog .It is reassuring to know we can lean on your years of experience as I have yet to have any managerial experience of CAS. Rather bewildering !