Creating Bookmarks

The service I did as part of my SNA was to create bookmarks for students to use during library sessions or whenever they read. This is a direct service and my primary goal was to create bookmarks sustainably, using recycled paper. The SDG goals that I chose were (4) Quality education & (12) Consumption and Production. The benefit of this service is to prompt students to read more. Aesthetic bookmarks can influence people to use them and thereby, read more. I believe this was a good method to help students read more as reading is very beneficial for students of all ages. Overall, I believe the service went well because I was able to achieve my goal of influencing students to read and use the bookmarks.

The process of my service was divided into 4 Stages, investigating, planning, creating and reflecting. During Stage 1(investigation), I began by recording information about students’ reading habits and observing them. I did this to gain some background information about how students read and how to increase their reading. Later in Stage 2 (planning), I initiated a plan for myself and created dates of when I would complete each task in my to-do – list. This plan was really helpful for me as it guided where I should be, to complete the whole process successfully. During Stage 3 (action/creation), I officially began to do my SNA where I created the bookmarks using recycled paper. I sketched, fine-lined and coloured the bookmarks in the best way possible. During the final phase of my process, Stage 4 (reflection) I reflected on the success of my overall SNA and process.

I must say that I am pleased with the service I have done due to its success. I believe it was successful for the students, prompting them to read more- as well as myself since I believe this project has developed my ATL skills and helped me achieve my learning goals. Some of the learning goals I was able to develop through this S/A activity were ‘Undertaking challenges that develop new skills’. I was able to develop this by creating bookmarks using recycled paper as I don’t usually do these activities often. I developed time-management skills by creating and sticking to a plan for the whole process. I have also persevered in action by following and completing the process through constant effort and work. 

I have also become more aware of my own strengths and areas for growth. For example, I realised that some of my strengths were being organised and the quality of my. Whereas, my weakness could lie in the fact that I procrastinated a little towards the end of the project. However, this did not have a huge impact on my project. Therefore, I believe this S/A project or activity was a successful experience for me as I was able to complete it successfully. I was also able to develop new skills and engaged in developing my ATL skills.