Observed by Ee Moi

I have just finished 20 minutes on the cardio trainer.... feeling much better now.

I have never felt nervous when people observed my teaching.... not until today. Well, Ee Moi is a little fierce looking but she is usually very nice and there was really no need to have felt nervous... back to the reflections for this session.

Ee Moi assured me that it was a good lesson (despite the fact that I was nervous). I beg to differ.... She did point out two major learning points for me to think about:

1. Linking it all up in a big picture. Although this was provided in the beginning, she felt that it did not link up for her. I do agree that I lost the "touch' towards to end to bring the ideas back to the big idea - more practice on enduring understanding I guess.... it must be perfected so that even in the toughest of times, it oozes out like second nature.
2. Reflection as a form of assessment at the end. The ubiquitous problem of "Any questions...... no" is something I need to be conscious of.

Other smaller points to think about
a. Differentiated Instruction for the weaker/slower student
b. Lumping of questions (though this happened as I tried very hard to pose questions and swallow saliva at the same time)

On the whole the lesson was not such a wreck as I say it to be. The session was well planned and the structure of the session saved the entire show anyway. I was just disappointed as it did not give me that satisfaction I look for....

This proved an invaluable learning session for me... more later....

Written on 29 jan at 0720

Written on 29 Jan at 0720 am

Another start of the week. Last week was a rather uneventful week.

I had a rather dissatisfying attempt at group work with 3E2. This was the Geography Elective class. Upon hindsight I shouldn’t have tried it. I was afterall our 4th meething. This was due to the Sec 3 Camp and changes in time table.

The class responded well to the initial part of the jigsaw activity. They could get into groups, identify roles but trouble started after that. In their expert groups, we could not get the students to work on their task. Two possible problems I identified were: expert group size too big and dynamics between boys and girls. They were rather shy and the girls and boys sat in little enclaves. Discussion was sparse.

The situation got better when they got back into their home teams. The discussion started again and students were on task. On the whole the experience was less than satisfying and I really could have designed a much better jig saw grouping/activity. The purpose was to help them revise some facts and then draw out the big ideas of temperature and rainfall being important controls on natural vegetation. I’ll try something again for the next period.

I also had that 1.5 hrs long lecture with 3E4. The session turned out much better than I had thought. Perhaps the lecture pedagogy was so well practiced that it came as second nature. Having said that, CS also thought that the class went well. I was able to practice my questioning skill and sharpen it. At least I was able to drawn the link between the concepts and that came as a rather reassuring idea. During the single period, I could guide the students to complete a inference exercise based on photograph interpretation of a volcano. I wish I had audio recorded the session. I should do that the next time and capture the questioning process.

I have another 1 hr 40 min today with 2N1 and I will be using a web-based developed course ware to help me teach about settlement patterns. Hope it will work.


1440

I now have the new time table - 3 timetables in a year..... i was told this is normal.

Another week in ZHSS

I haven't seen 3E2 for 2 weeks now. Last Thursday I only had one 30 min period with 2N! as all the secondary 3 students were at a Sec 3 camp. The aim of which was to foster close bonds among students.

For that lone single period with 2N1, I simply used direct instruction to talk about ageing population in Singapore. I help the class devise an acronym LIMP to remember the 4 main responses Singapore has to an ageing population.

Looking after thea ged
Immigration - encourage foreign talents
More babies - encourage earlier marriages, etc.
Planning ahead - savings, medical plans, etc for elderly.

For planning ahead, the kids came up with the reason that one must save for old age lest one ends up selling tissue paper at the hawker center.

This idea was translated into the test today that I gave for the entire topic on population. I had to give credit to the students and they had remembered the idea behind the discussion, though not as accurate as I would like.

For 3E4, Phay Fun came in to do a "fake videoing" in preperation for the filming of the IBL project next Thursday on 1 Feb. The students were at ease and did not feel awkward at all. In fact, they warmed up very quickly and CS and I both agree that we will have no problems when thea cutal filming starts next week.

We do have one HUGE learning point. CS and I both did the activity on the activity book in which students were asked to examine the relative movement rates at different plate boundaries on a map. They were then asked to deduce what would happen to certain countries (the word position was used in the question). This resulted in some rather unexpected results. For both CS's and my class, students said that iceland would split up! This raises the question of whether the question has been poorly phrased in the first place.

2 other major conceptual problems we found were:

1. The relative densities of the oceanic and continental crust must be emphasised so that students can understand why the oceanic crust subducts beneath the continental crust. In this case, the lessons covered so far has not put enough emphasis on this important concept. THis also raises the relative importance of the concept in the entire unit.

2. The textbook used represented the relative motions of plates. The usual question of why north america plate seems to move is different directions occured. While it diverges at the mid-atlantic ridge, there is a transform boundary at clarifornia. I had to explain that these are relative motions and that the absolute movement of the entire plate was in deed to the west and northwest. In CS's class the students went further to ask why the Cascade Mountain range and the St. Andreas Fault were in close promximity - what was the plate boundary?? This raises the question of simplification of concepts in high-school textbooks. Luckily, both CS and I were aware of the actual nature of the plate boundary. What about a fresh graduate who has little training in physical gegraphy??

I am looking forward to a 1.5 hr class with 3E4 on faults, folds and volcanoes. I hope it works. Such a long session!

For the elective Geography class, 3E2, I have decided to use a JIG-SAW activity with the materials from the text to draw out the main control factors on natural vegeation - aka temperature and rainfall.... more this thursday.... ta ta.

Continental Drift and Population Growth

Today was the first day the new timetable is enacted but more on what happened last Thursday (11 Jan) first. A major highlight was the use of the plate tectonics jigsaw puzzle. I basically used the map of the major plates and cut the plates up along the boundaries. The activity in class consists of the following:

Step1 : Getting the students into groups.

This was the first time I did groupwork with the 3E4 students so I had to go through the 4 roles which I prescribed.

1. The COORDINATOR shows or clarifies the relationships among various ideas and suggestions, tries to pull ideas and suggestions together or tries to coordinate the activities of various members. The Coordinator also expedites group movement by doing things for the group, e.g. passing out materials or setting up chairs.
2. The RECORDER writes down suggestions, makes a record of group decisions, or writes down the product of discussion. The recorder fills the role of "group memory". S/he is also responsible if an oral presentation is required.
3. The ELABORATOR spells out suggestions in terms of examples or developed meanings, offers a rationale for suggestions previously made, and tries to deduce how an idea or suggestion would work out if adopted primarily upon relevant facts or information. S/he also suggests or proposes to the group new ideas. S/he offers a novel point of view concerning problems, procedures, goals, or solutions.
4. The information and opinion SEEKER asks for clarification of suggestions made in terms of their factual adequacy, for authoritative information and facts pertinent to the problem being discussed. S/he also asks primarily for a clarification of values pertinent to what the group is undertaking or values involved in various suggestions that have been made.
The students received this quite well and we proceeded with the activity with the students noting and enacting their roles very well.

The actual acitivty itself took a little longer than I had expected. I planned it for a 30 minute class but I guessed I spent a little more time on explaining the Gorupwork roles, resulting in the lack of time towards the end. The activity also involved labeling three main features on their jigsaw – Pacific Ring of Fire, Mid Atlantic Ridge and the Himalyas. The students had the textbook as a reference guide. I then used Socratic reasoning to get the students to explain why the features are found along the cut edges of the jig saw.

Luckily I was seeing them later that day and we picked up the lesson from where we left off. The next activity was to explain plate movements and the resultant boundaries. A deductive method starting from the explanation for features along the edges was used ending with the conclusion that there are 3 main types of boundaries – convergent, divergent and transform.

Overall, CS and I were very pleased with the learning arising from the activity. CS mirrored the activity for her class but it was not as successful. There were a few points to note.

The composition of her class was different. She had many more boys than girls while I had more girls in my class. The students were less comptent with crafting. To quote “Mrs Wong, I cut South America in two, how?” In the end, many groups could not finish. CS intends to carry this on to the next period the following day.
Students also had difficulty locating Himalayas on the jigsaw. This would be a good learning point for them.
The centrality of the maps was also a consideration. The jig saw was Asia centric but the text book had euro centric maps. This created some confusion when students were looking for the pacific ring of fire.

I will hear from CS after she concludes her class tomorrow.

Just before I left on Thursday, I received the new timetable that I am following today. To my horror, I have 4 periods with 2N1 today. 3 are back to back. This means a 1 hr 40 min session. I quickly designed a board game activity around the topic of population growth – causes and consequences. After the session I realized several points:

The spaces on the board game had to be redesigned as some spaces would “trap” the students. Eg. Two spaces ahead and two spaces back cannot be place in sequence with one space in between. Duh! That was silly.
The phrasing of the words should be more consistent with the wording in the textbook for easy discussion

Ms Chong, a relief teacher also sat in to observe the class so as to get an idea of what other things can be done in class. Her comments were limited.

On the whole I enjoyed the class on the board game but it was a little strenuous in terms of classroom management.

Just before going home, CS and I sat down to discuss our plan for tests and projects for the coming weeks. It seems that we are moving along at a comfortable pace.

More on Thursday then….

Another interview with the press

This time, the Straits Times asked about ENSO and Global Warming. See what they report about what I had say. Strange I don't remember saying those things at all.

One week into ZHSS

I’ve just finished preparing for tomorrow’s lesson and I thought it is the time to reflect on my school attachment last week. Last Thursday was the first day at school and I was quite surprised to find that I was allocated 6 periods. The three classes that teach range from secondary two to secondary three, from pure geography to elective geography, from normal acadcemic to express stream students. This wide range of students allow me to experience the classroom better. Although the HOD apologized that the timetable could be better I couldn’t help but feel that this was due to the fact that I am attached two days in a week only. This might even cause havoc for other teachers.

I received my timetable only the day before but I was prepared with multi-combinations of lesson plans. Not surprising, I was not able to stick to them at all. I had to introduce the students to the syllabus and make arrangments for classroom logistics. On the whole I was pleased that I was at least able to get the students to think about what Geography is for each of them.

I used the mood sheet as a device to get participation. One main problem I found was that students were not very skilled at taking notes. This lead me to “teach” how to take notes the following Monday.

Another drama that arose was the supposed “mass lecture” on Monday. I was quite sure CS told me that my attachment would spell the end of mass lectures (at least for the time I was there). In the afternoon on Thursday just before I left, a colleague told me that I had to conduct the mass lecture the following Monday. I instantly got into action to prepare the materials though I did not think it was the right thing to do. On Monday morning however, I found out that I did not have to do that. So I was frantically thinking of what to do for the lesson with 3E2. To standardize what I was doing with the other classes, I decided to run copies of the “How to take notes” guide and teach that instead. The outcome was reasonably satisfying. I basically talked through the guide with the students, explaining when I needed to and then en-acted a lesson from which they have to take notes. I went round and picked examples to show how note taking can be improved. I did this twice with each of the classes and I am quite sure they can start practicing the skill now. Oh and one more thing. I also started a competition so that the most beautifully decorated notebook wins a prize from me. I told them that the prize value will appreciate with their cooperation and responsiveness in class and depreciate if behaviour turns bad. That much for carrot and stick! Ha.

Well, I am quite prepared fro tomorrow now.. with jig-saw puzzles, groupwork and what not. Let’s see how it goes and I’ll blog about it more diligently than I have been.