跑吧，孩子

Week two basically went by in a flash. Without realizing it, it was already Friday. Perhaps the event which left the most impression in me was the lesson which I have conducted with 2 Integrity this Thursday. There were good and bad points about my lesson, and basically Mr Chua got me to reflect on my own lesson after it had ended so that I could know which were the areas where I could improve on, and which were the areas where I have done right. Overall, I was pleased with my performance and it was significant to me because it re-affirmed me that this was what I have always wanted and liked to do. I have learned that to be able to serve with passion in the career which I have chosen, I have to know what are the things that can keep me going on and where do I draw my motivation and sense of satisfaction from. For me, I have found that – to build a connection with the students and to deliver good lessons… :)

A little picture of the week and I am glad to say that after two weeks of bonding, we have came to know each other better, indeed and sincerely:


Itinerary

13/7 Monday
I discussed my lesson plan with Mr Chua for the “Irony” lecture and he gave me lots of constructive and helpful feedbacks and encouragement.

14/7 Tuesday
Observed 3 Excel for their Assembly period and the highlight was that the class could be a little more rowdy as compared to the other classes which I have observed. One thing which I have noticed was that the teacher, Mr Ng, instead built a strong bond with the class as a friend/teacher relationship and the students responded well to his method of teaching.

We had Positive Discipline induction with Mrs Tan at 230pm, and we had a chance to interact and talk with students from the “Step-Up” program.

15/7 Wednesday
I basically brushed up on my lesson preparation on “Irony”.

We met up with the NE ambassadors after class to have a group discussion and one to one chat to give our feedbacks on what we observed during the NE tour, and vice versa, the students shared with us their experience and ideas on how to improve on the tour.

16/7 Thursday
I observed Mr Edward’s Literature class for 3 Achieve and 4 Integrity so as to have an exposure to the Literature syllabus across the different levels, and also the different kinds of teaching methods adopted to teach the students. Lower secondary Literature was more fun and interactive while the upper secondary Literature was more of serious work and intensive preparation.

I conducted my maiden lesson with 2 Integrity for the “Irony” lecture, and Mr Chua gave me useful feedbacks on my teaching and classroom management. I have indeed enjoyed myself.

17/7 Friday
I observed the following teachers for the different classes:

Ms Maslinda – 1 Integrity, Literature – The students had a quiz and after that they did an activity-styled worksheet on “Tsunami”. The students had fun and some of them shared their instinctive reactions of what they would do if they were to encounter a tsunami.

Ms Lynn – 2 Thinking, History – The lesson was based on student presentations and one group impressed me because they actually infused hilarious pop quiz in the middle of their presentation. This got the students to participate in their presentation as well, and I thought that was a good idea. Generally, the students were a little soft during presentation so it was a pity that some of their contents were lost in the process. This is perhaps one area where the school and students could work on to develop their potentials further.

何老师 – 3 Achieve, 华文 – This was an impromptu lesson which I decided to crash because it had been a while since I attended a Chinese lesson, so I kind of missed it and wanted to join Stephanie in her lesson observation.

Ms Loola – 3 Thinking, CCD – The five of us were given 2 Thinking and 3 Thinking to go for their CCD lessons, and I decided to go for 3 Thinking because I had little interaction with the sec 3 level as the lessons which I had observed were mainly sec 1, 2 and 4. Thus, I would like to have a look at how the students in sec 3 level would be like, and if there would be any difference in the teaching methods and discipline skills.

In the afternoon, we brushed up on our skit for the NE project and worked on our report.

Kai Yiing