Thursday, June 28, 2007

7am to 5pm in school...

7AM TO 5PM IN SCHOOL...

7am is de time i usually reach sch...cuz i dun like to squeeze in de bus wif students...lol...and so far, i've only managed to go home early once, which is on de first day of sch at 2.15pm...de other days hav to stay back either bcuz of meetings, if nt CCAs...CCAs r quite fun, but meetings can get quite boring...as usual lol...but thru meetings, i've gotten to learn more bout how de sch works n oso how they analyze students' exam results, as well as how they plan stuff...so actually there's new things to learn too.. :)

Hmm...ever since I started this sch stint, many ppl hav repeatedly told me that teaching takes much passion to stay long in tis field...apparently de turnover rate is very high!! It's passion that makes u willing to wake up early in de morning n come to sch, and passion that makes u wan to make a difference in de students' life...hmm...do i really hav tat passion? maybe i'm still discovering i guess...heard tat teachers usually stay in sch frm like 7am to 7pm...how did they manage to do tat?? its passion i suppose..hehe..

"An effective teacher is not one who delivers lessons well, but one who is able to make students learn effectively." (a quote i heard frm a senior teacher)

Personally, I agree that de gimmicks tat tchers hav been encouraged to use (ie. demonstrations, interesting ppt slides, project group work n other stuff to make lessons interactive n engaging) do not actually help em to do well for their final exams. (which is de ultimate aim, right?) Those gimmicks can help students better understand n relate to de concepts taught, and maybe learn more effectively, but it does nt neccessarily mean tat they wld be able to answer de exam or TYS questions...Hence, i ever pondered whether its really useful to use those gimmicks to engage de kids in learning..well, perhaps if de tcher juz followed textbook n de students juz cao mug intelligently (which i feel is an easy method to score if u actually put in REAL effort, intelligently, of course), they might be likely to get de grade they wan.. And i admit this was wat i mainly hav been doin throughout my whole education life...i enjoy being spoon-fed as its an easy way to learn n can score as long as u cao mug...BUT den, i realised tat de setback is tat i end up forgetting de stuff i learnt VERY VERY easily..CM3231 on quantum chem is a gd example, sorry Dr. Lee...such tat when i hav to re-teach it to others, i find myself having to spend sometime refreshing myself wif de concepts...but for stuffs which i learnt thru project group work, i find tat it actually stays longer wif me, and i can remember em more easily...Plus, dat senior tcher oso said tat pedagogy research hav shown tat students learn better in groups than individually...no wonder got more n more group work in class... I believe if students learn things today, n return it all to de tcher de next day, teachers will feel quite sad :( so maybe incorporating those gimmicks r still worthwhile in de long run to help students to rem things they've learnt.. :)

A pity I haven seen anything REALLY interesting n innovative frm de teachers i hav been assigned to observe...maybe wil hav better luck next time... :)

Lyna

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

My Look on 1st day of sch!!!!

MY LOOK ON FIRST DAY OF SCH!!!

By the way, tis was how miss loh look like on de first day of goin to school...do i look fierce n stern?? Not in de least bit i guess...haha....

Lyna

Enhanced School Experience Day 1!!!

ENHANCED SCHOOL EXPERIENCE DAY 1!!!

Yup...today's my first day in dunno how many years back in sch again...but as a tcher haha...after 4 years in NUS and being able to wake up at like 11am to go sch, i hav to start waking up early like a student again..haiz...by de way, de sch tat i'm posted to is de sec sch of former project superstar winner, Kelvin Tan!!!!! haha...their pride!

Usually, schs shd hav their general office juz somewhere near de entrance rite? but seems like tis sch's general office abit hard to find..den my fren n i were like walking like tourists around de sch trying to find de office..haha...den was led to de staff room...and gosh! it was damn crammed!! lots of files, books, papers chucked everywhere...really messy n definitely a fire-hazard place!!! And they actually had too many new tchers cumin in, den got nt enuf tables..so got to share..haha...de sch shd really consider renovation..hmm...

Den after tat, had to go 4 assembly...haha such a long time since i did sth lidat...reminded of my good old days in sch..hehe...n as usual, students dun sing national anthem...haha...only tchers sing haha n maybe a few patriotic students..hehe...but it was really a gd reminder of de good old days in sch...And after assembly de principal intro de new tchers to de sch...thankfully no need to say anything...juz do de miss universe wave..haha...

Had a chat wif de principal n VP...quite formal hehe...n den de VP asked us to take on a CCA oso..and she was like saying, "Let me noe which CCA u wld like to take.." And I was like wah! can choose ar?? cuz i heard tat usually they'll juz assign since most CCAs taken up liao...immediately, i tot of de military band!!! tats my CCA frm pri 2 to sec 4!!!! haven been wif band for sumtime liao, so wanted to experience de feel of it again...enjoying de music we produce n oso de sectionals wif seniors...n of course nt forgeting de camps n farewell parties oso...good old dayz..haha...thankfully de VP readily agreed to let me take band...it made my day!!! was so glad!! :)

Received my timetable n it was nt very packed lah..mainly juz had to do observations in class...so seems quite relaxed...2 out of my 3 assigned tchers actually told me tat i need nt teach...juz sit behind n observe can liao...but doin observations only does get a little boring...sometimes i felt really sleepy n had to try hard to not doze off...(bad example to kids!) hav to start pinching myself...hehe... but de 3rd tcher i got, my maths tcher, was actually quite frenly n nice...n he was like saying "it's up to u whether u wan to teach anot.." tot it might be gd to try, instead of juz doin observations behind the class, which can be a sleep-prone task especially right after lunch and during double periods...n since its a sec3 class, they r nt too stressed to rush to finish de syllabus, so still got time for newbies like me to teach...haha...he doesnt use powerpoint or computer to teach..juz mainly follow textbook...so relatively little preparation work...hehe...maybe i'll start teaching it next week... :) As for now, juz sit back n relax a little first...looking forward to band practice on wed!!! :)

Lyna

Monday, June 25, 2007

Pre-ESE, Post-TPP

PRE-ESE, POST-TPP

Hmm..i juz realized an uncanny resemblance...de teacher which i previously mentioned running out of class in tears cuz being bullied is oso a miss loh...hmm..same as me..but hope i wun hav tat same experience as her..lol...so i've juz finished de 2-day teacher preparatory programme (TPP) n waiting to start my 1mth enhanced sch experience (ESE)...tink i rem more on de trainer's stories n experiences rather than de theoretical stuff on pedagogy she crash-taught us...haha...

Well, talking bout teaching experience, i dun actually hav sec sch teaching experience, but i'm goin to teach in sec sch..help!! hope it wun be tat bad, cuz i ever taught sec sch tuition though..but of course it's 2 completely diff matters lah..And after my first tuition lesson wif em, (they r sec 4) de kids were like saying, "florence, i learnt more today than wat i've learnt in sch so far..". And I was like ermm...r u praising me? or shd i be worried tat i'll hav much more work to do?? And there was one thing peculiar bout my guy tuition students (it was a group tuition kind of thing..)..got once i tot of passing tis tuition grp to a male fren to take over cuz i starting uni soon but de guy frens r still free-er cuz they had to serve NS first, n they were like super-disagreeing wif tat idea...saying tat they wanted a female to teach em...their main concern was tat dey din wan a MALE tuition teacher...lol...wat pschology is tat?? haha maybe i'll learn more bout tat on education psychology in NIE..hehe..do guys study better wif female teachers?? n vice versa?? lol....

As for real sch teaching experience, all i hav is primary sch relief teaching experience, which wld be quite diff frm sec sch...did tat during de break after "A" levels. I had to mainly teach primary 1 students, n sum pri 5 classes too..preferred teaching pri 1..cuz easier to handle..haha..but got sth interesting tat happened to my pri 1 class tat i'll never never forget!!!! It was quite juz after their recess time, n de students were having lessons back in class again..Of course, 1 of de most common qns tat my pri 1 kids as me is, "teacher, can i go toilet??" Since at tat time, it was after recess time, i tot tat toilet-goin was nt encouraged UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECCESSARY...(at least tat was wat y tchers did to me in pri 1)..And as a new freshie teacher, i haven mastered de art of telling whether a student REALLY needs de toilet, or juz wans to get out of class for fun..so most of their toilet requests were rejected cuz it's really quite disrupting 4 de lesson if pupils keep on asking 4 permission 4 toilet...all was well, until students started sniffing some unusual stench in de class...n i smelt it too...n it took me awhile to figure out where it was cumin frm...so i traced de smell by its intensity (like a dog..hehe), n yah, as u cld hav guessed, a gal poo-ed in class, n it was "big business".. I was like STUNNED!! Oh no shucks! wat shd i do?? my fault due to misjudgement of students' "toiletry urgency"!!! will her parents complain bout me?? wat wil de sch do to me?? So, in de middle of my STUNNED-ness, i let her go to de toilet, n asked for a cleaner to come n clear de mess...i was really afraid tat de poor gal wld be scared n embarrassed n wld cry..i felt kinda guilty oso, cuz its partly my fault oso...but thankfully, when i went to see how she was doin at de toilet, she was actually nt crying at all!! she's really quite brave! she was juz calmly cleaning herself up, n i heaved a sigh of relief..phew! i tink i'm n exactly very gd at comforting sad ppl..so really thank God tat she was so brave n nt easily embarrassed..haha.. And thankfully, I din get any complaints frm her parents or de school too..was very fortunate tat time..phew! So, after tat "impressionable" incident, on de next day in sch, i persistently reminded my class to go toilet during recess time..however most of de toilet requests, including IMMEDIATE ones right after recess, were readily consented by me.. dun wan history to repeat itself...once bitten twice shy...haha!!

Yup, looking forward to teaching next week....Pray tat God will grant me sufficient grace to overcome all that He wans me to, like dat poo-ing incident in my class..lol...

Lyna

A new beginning wif Teacher Preparatory Programme...

A NEW BEGINNING WIF TEACHER PREPARATORY PROGRAMME...

I'm about to start my journey of teaching...will I stay for long?? or will I back out halfway?? God knows! Either way, I juz wanted to track all my teaching experiences frm Day 1, n so tis blog was created...Thanks for ur support..haha!!

Just started reporting 4 duty on 18th June, juz de week right after my church camp holiday at Genting...quite sian...as i din hav much time to get over my "jet-lag" or rather, "holiday-mood-lag" since genting n here got no time diff..haha...but thankfully got no vigorous brain activities for tat week...mostly settle admin stuff except for a 2-day teacher preparatory programme, which was a crash course to teach us de ropes of teaching cuz we hav to do enhanced sch experience 4 a mth b4 starting NIE courses...de trainer I got for tat crash course was like..WOW..she's been in teaching for like 38 years liao!! wonder if i can stay tat long...haha...n she's earned her position as a cluster superintendent, so i guess her 38 years were well spent!! And she was oso ever de discipline mistress...haha...n she had an innovative way of punishing students..hehe..cuz de demerit point system makes students feel tat de more points they hav, de greater they r...apparently it din work..so she actually stopped it, n punished em by making em stay back in school to do cooking instead...n those who were punished were actually guys...quite LOL...haha but it worked!! Those students were proud of de pizzas n snacks tat they made, n proudly shared it wif others... So, moral of de story, an effective punishment requires innovation too..hahaha...den she gave us de theories of how to manage a class effective, they were gd, but nt sure if i'll actually rem n apply em when i'm teaching..hehe..but we had a gd time though, listening to her stories n experiences in school..haha..got to noe sum others who oso teaching chem n maths like me..hee so we can share lesson materials next time..hee!!

I've gotten my posting 4 enhanced sch experience liao...n it's to a neighbourhood sch..n i'm actually glad abt tat!! but shall nt reveal which sch it is for now first..haha...heard tat most ppl wld rather nt handle neighbourhood schs due to its discipline problems...but i tink i'll rather handle discipline problems of students rather than de high expectations of parents n students frm gd schs..stress...well, actually both hav stress, but I myself having grown up in neighbourhood schs (I'm frm jurong pri, jurong sec, jurong jc btw..haha n i stay in jurong east oso.. a pity got no jurong uni..haha), feel tat i might be able to relate better to neighbourhood kids rather than those fm gd schools...yup, so quite looking forward to my 1mth stint!! Only thing is tat I dun tink i look fierce enuf...or rather, firm enuf..students see me wil tink i can be bullied one..lol...my former sec sch teacher ever got bullied by a class n she ran out crying in tears...hope tat doesnt happen to me..it'll be one of my worst nightmares!!! Jia you miss loh!!

Lyna