1) First CCA observation
In Week 1, I informed my SCM that I was interested in observing the Drama Club (known in AJC as StAJeworks) as that had been my CCA for three out of my four years in the NJC Integrated Programme and theatre is something that I am rather passionate about. On Wednesday afternoon, I went to observe the group and was given a thorough update of what had been going on during the past weeks as well as their upcoming programme by their teacher-in-charge, Mr Bell. It turned out that the group had just organised an inter-house drama competition for the JC1s and that it had been a great success, which explains why they were in such high spirits that day (they were playing warm-up games when I entered and the noise they were making was near-deafening). I was informed that the group was about to embark on a major production to be staged at the end of Term 2, a performance that would include a mixture of live theatre as well as pre-shot film, and that would involve other performing arts CCAs such as the choir, band, and even the dance groups. This was the first time that StAJeworks was attempting something on such a large scale, and it was wonderful to see how enthusiastic the group and Mr Bell were about the project. While I only spent a couple of hours with the CCA, I could really sense the strong bond that they had with each other and their liveliness was a breath of fresh air for me, as up till then I had only encountered students in the classroom, where their behaviour would naturally be vastly different. I left feeling very excited about being a part of this dynamic group, and am looking forward to the weeks ahead, where I will get to see the students prepare for the production.
2) Humanities Department meeting
There was a Humanities Department meeting on Thursday morning, and our HOD began by going through a process of goal-setting for the 'A' Levels this year. This started with a presentation of the recently released A Level results for History and Geography, as well as how they compared to the results of the past 2 years. It was good to see that the History grades were increasing in quality over the years, but I also felt a little stressed on behalf of my CT and the other JC2 teacher, as it meant that they would have a tough act to follow. After a short process of negotiation, the teachers finally settled on a set of projected grades for this year, and we moved on with the other things on the agenda, which included a discussion of the upcoming History-Geography-Economics fieldtrip (Artscapade) and an introduction to an assessment strategy known as the Patchwork Test Assessment by our HOD. The practicum teachers were informed that we would have to prepare a lesson plan for critique during a teachers' workshop on 4 April (the same day as Artscapade, which would coincide with an overall college learning day for the students) and assigned two chapters of the "Skillful Teacher" book to read as a means of preparation. This lesson plan would actually have to be executed within 2 weeks after the critique, and our CT encouraged Marcus and I to get started on planning for it as soon as possible. As for the Patchwork Test Assessment, our HOD informed us that it was part of her practice to share new teaching strategies with the department, and it was quite interesting to learn about this one. The basic premise was that it intends to assess if students are able to relate different topics within a subject discipline to each other, and requires teachers to design a series of tasks for students to complete over time. These can include reviews of articles or videos, conducting interviews, or even going through a webquest, and the final product would be a project that requires them to synthesis and consolidate whatever they have learnt in the smaller tasks. While I am still uncertain at the moment of how and when I could implement this strategy in my classroom, I think it is a really commendable practice for the HOD to share new pedagogies and ideas with the department, as that fosters a positive culture of sharing and mutual assistance. I do feel that the Humanities Department in AJ has a friendly atmosphere, and have so far never been afraid to ask for help or guidance when required. In return, my requests have never been denied, and I always feel that my CT and the other teachers are in fact willing to go the extra mile to help and make me feel comfortable.
3) First formal lesson observation
I had my first formal lesson observation with my CT on Thursday afternoon, and once again I learnt a lot about how to improve my teaching strategies. My CT reminded me again to be careful with how I defined certain key terms for my students, especially since this lesson involved me giving them a template to work with, as even the slightest error in phrasing could affect students' understanding of the concept. I also realised that I should have asked them to write their answers on mahjong paper or just use the visualiser to directly flash their work, instead of getting them to transfer the issues brought up during their group discussions from their foolscap paper to the whiteboard. The latter strategy, which is what I adopted, wound up eating into the time that I had planned to use for review, and this was unfortunate as there really was quite a lot to be evaluated with them. There were also some minor issues to do with classroom management, such as one of the boys getting up to walk around the classroom while I was writing on the whiteboard, and later repeatedly using somewhat hurtful language on his peers (i.e. words such as "retard") during the group discussion. I did not notice the former incident and wasn't sure of how to respond to the second, which led me to just give generic instructions such as asking him to lower his volume. My CT advised me to be more aware of the classroom situation even while working at the whiteboard (that proverbial ability to have eyes in the back of my head!) and to directly address the misbehaviour in future by taking the student aside to speak to him privately about why such words are unkind and should not be used. I will definitely keep all this in mind, and again I really am grateful to my CT for being able to keep track of all these blind spots and provide useful suggestions on how to tackle them in future.
4) Track and Field Meet
With my fellow practicum teachers!
Despite having several periods of teaching experience since 2008 (the year of my first teaching internship, which ultimately led me to take up the MOE Teaching Award), I'd never had the chance to participate in a school track and field meet, and much less take part in the staff race! We were informed by the PE department a few days before that they needed more signups for the staff race, and four of us practicum teachers decided to put our names in. Friday came, and we all showed up for school in our sports attire, ready to take on the 8 x 50m relay. There were so many things to smile about that day - the adrenaline rush from the (admittedly very short) race, the lively atmosphere of the track and field meet as a whole, the great time of bonding with the other staff over our sponsored bento lunches, and of course, the half-day holiday to celebrate the good A Level results and the end of Term 1! The icing on the cake was a dedication that my H2 class wrote for Marcus and I, wishing us the best of luck for the staff race and a really sweet "We love History!" This was read out by the emcees of the event, and we couldn't really believe our ears at the time as it seemed unbelievable that they would do such a thing for us despite only having 3 weeks of lessons. After the event was over, we asked the class to stay behind so that we could thank them, and their warmth towards us has really inspired us to continue giving them our best, both in and out of the classroom.
With some members of A34, our shared H2 class
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