Practicum Week 2

This was another week spent settling in, with lesson observations taking up most of our daily schedule. I got to observe a Project Work (PW) lesson for the first time, and also delivered my first H1 tutorial, which also happened to be an informal lesson observation by my CT. In addition to these, I gave my second Paper 2 tutorial, and co-taught a second Paper 1 tutorial with Marcus.

1) PW lesson observation

Marcus and I were asked to observe the PW lessons conducted by Ms Tan, one of the few "PW specialists" in AJC, and we did so on Tuesday morning. Even though the PW question paper had yet to be released, the PW department had given the students an ssignment which required them to select and do research on one significant invention in recent years that they felt was innovative and insightful. During this tutorial, the students were divided into groups and asked to share their research with each other and then decide on one which they wanted to present to the class. Ms Tan gave them about 20 minutes for this discussion, and then randomly selected a representative from each group to present their idea. The biggest takeaway which I got from this tutorial was Ms Tan's method of prompting responses from her students - using a spinning wheel divided into 6 segments ("Who", "What", "When", "Where", "Why", and "How"), she got each group to focus on one word, and they were asked to formulate questions that began with their assigned word after each presenter had finished. If their questions were too surface-level, she would step in to prompt them towards more higher-order thinking. I thought this was a very interesting way of developing critical thinking and questioning skills in the students, and the process of student Q&A helped to make the lesson more lively and promote peer learning. It is definitely a technique that I would consider using in future, particularly for classes that are more reticient and less willing to engage with each other and the subject material.

2) First H1 tutorial-cum-informal lesson observation

On Wednesday morning, I met my H1 class for the first time during the tutorial slot. I was rather nervous at the beginning as it was my first lesson observation (albeit an informal one) with my CT, and I knew that I would only have an hour with them instead of the usual 90 minutes due to a pre-planned schoolwide fire drill.  Thankfully, I already had introduction slides and activities planned from my first H2 tutorial last week, and I was thus able to breeze through the introduction component fairly quickly. A few issues arose during the lesson proper, however - my CT pointed out that I could have better defined key words for my students and scaffolded them towards a reconciliation of the multiple perspectives brought out in the tutorial question instead of leaving them hanging with disparate sets of arguments to consider. He also advised me to watch my lesson pacing and to not be over-ambitious in my planning, in the sense that certain tasks were too complex to be completed within the stipulated time-frame. Marcus was present in this lesson to help me monitor the students during the group discussion segment, but my CT reminded me that I would not have the luxury of his help in formal observations, and emphasised the importance of being able to track and manage student behaviour on my own. However, he reassured me of several good points as well - he praised me for having a good variety of questioning techniques and the quick provision of feedback and evaluation once students responded, and said that my voice projection and demeanor were good as well.  This made me feel more positive about my performance during the lesson, and I really am thankful for a CT who is honest, constructive, and yet kind in his feedback. 

3) Overall lesson reflections

After my tutorials this week, I really recognise the importance of being well-versed in subject content. Four years of pursuing my own disciplinary interests (many of which have little to do with the JC syllabus) in the university have left me very unfamiliar with the content that is required for my current teaching, and much of these first two weeks has been spent on reading and research to ensure that I am prepared for class. My classroom experience has also taught me the importance of time management and lesson sequencing, and I hope that over time, my familiarity with my classes and their preferred working style, as well as the amount of time it takes on average for them to perform certain activities, will increase. This would help me to plan lessons that are appropriately paced and accessible to them, and make for more effective teaching and learning on the whole.

Practicum Week 1

A candid photo with Marcus on Day 1

Adjusting to the new school environment wasn't particularly easy during the first few days as my CT was away on reservist, although he did his best to communicate information via SMS and a pre-prepared list of instructions. My SCM and two Geography teachers (who were asked by my CT to help brief me and my fellow History colleague on practicum) were very helpful and approachable, and their briefing sessions with us were light-hearted yet informative - I was able to gain some insight into the school culture, and could feel their warmth and enthusiasm in welcoming us to the school. Once my CT returned on Thursday, we had formal meetings with the HOD and VP2, and I was touched by their care and concern for our well-being as well.

Some of the highlights of this week included:

1. Focused Conversation 1

Our FC1 took place in a group setting, with 4 out of 5 of the practicum trainees (one of them was unable to make it for that timing as she had to chaperone some students to NUS, and she had her FC1 at an earlier timeslot) as well as our SCM and another senior teacher present. It was a good opportunity to share and learn from each other's NIE experiences, and I enjoyed seeing my peers' showcase of their lesson artifacts and other materials. The Q&A was a good opportunity for reflection, and I felt that our SCM and senior teacher were not only constructive in their feedback, but also provided a lot of sound advice on the teaching profession.

2. Lesson observations

During this first week, my History colleague (Marcus) and I got to observe several lectures and tutorials, some of which were conducted by Geography and Economics teachers. Observing lessons that were not from our subject domain was a good learning experience - since we were not familiar with the content, it was really an opportunity for us to pick up on other aspects of teaching such as classroom management. Since AJC does not adopt any standardized school-wide approach to discipline, each teacher is free to craft his or her own classroom management style, and observing these lessons gave us new perspectives on how to tackle common classroom issues such as unresponsive or sleepy students, as well as how to enforce expectations, pace lessons, and pose questions that stimulate higher-order thinking. We also got to learn more about the profile of AJC students. 

3. My first tutorial

My first tutorial (an unobserved one) was on Thursday, and my CT was very kind in providing Marcus and I with many suggestions on how to set our expectations for our classes. Unfortunately, during my tutorial, the unexpected happened - I was unable to connect my laptop to the projector, and wasted about ten minutes moving from room to room to try and see if the laptop would connect while leaving my students unattended in the original venue. This was a major blunder, and I realise on hindsight that I should have gone to the tutorial venue beforehand to ensure that everything was working fine before conducting my lesson. While I attempted to mitigate this problem by giving them a small introduction task to do while waiting, I still felt like I was wasting everyone's time and creating a terrible first impression. Thankfully, my students remained patient and responsive despite this bad start to our lesson, and I was able to improvise by explaining things verbally and using the whiteboard instead of the Powerpoint slides which I had prepared beforehand. This whole experience was really a major learning point for me, and I've since made it a point to check my classrooms beforehand if my lesson  happens to require technological support. I've also realised the importance of taking responsibility for my mistakes and being accountable to my students - before starting the tutorial proper, I gave them a sincere apology, and I felt that doing so helped me to build some rapport and (hopefully) transmit the value of responsibility and honesty. These are qualities which I would like to see my students develop, and I hope that by first modelling it for them, they could learn from my example.

4. My first co-tutorial
As Marcus and I are both History teachers on practicum, our CT advised us to try co-teaching. In other words, we should sit in for each other's lessons where possible, and while one of us executes the lesson proper, the other helps by maintaining classroom discipline and checking on the students during group work segments. On Friday, we had our first co-teaching session, and we decided that the aim of this tutorial should be to familiarise students with the demands of an essay, since essays are the primary assessment mode in History at the A Levels. We sought our CT's advice on how to introduce essay-writing skills to our students in a fun and accessible manner, and he suggested using a question on pop culture to arouse their interest and ensure that the focus would be on their skills instead of their ability to grapple with content knowledge. We put his suggestion into practice, setting a question that required them to assess the merits of Lady Gaga in comparison with Bruno Mars and Katy Perry, and the students responded positively to this. The introductory paragraphs which they wrote in groups of 4 were fairly indicative of their ability - we could see clearly, for example, where they struggled with organisation of ideas and overly narrative writing - and we also took note of the group dynamics as that would give us a sense of how to organise the class for future collaborative learning experiences. When we asked the students to present their work, however, they were a little reticient, and we had to do a lot of probing and scaffolding to find out why they wrote in the way they did. After some discussion with each other and our CT, Marcus and I thought it best to attribute this unresponsiveness to a lack of confidence in our students, unfamiliarity with our expectations, and perhaps insufficient rapport as well, and we decided to just give them more time to find their footing and be more encouraging in our efforts to get them to speak up.

QED523 NIe-Folio Task

The Graduand Teacher Competencies Framework (GTCF) provides a holistic integration of the revised V3SK model (i.e. Values, Skills and Knowledge of the 21st Century teacher) and MOE’s competencies framework of beginning teachers as expounded in the Enhanced Performance Management System (EPMS).
Choose ONE core competency from EACH of the following dimensions: 

• Professional Practice 

• Leadership and Management 

• Personal Effectiveness 

Reflect on your personal development of these three identified competencies as you train to become a teacher. For example, what do these competencies mean to you? Why do you think these competencies are important and how do you see yourself developing in them?Are there specific challenges that you face as you seek to develop these competencies? Capture personal reflections such as these in a 800 - 1000 blog post.

Professional Practice
As professionals, I believe that teachers need to always set their sights on and be clear about who we are working for - the students. As such, a commitment to providing quality learning for the child is crucial. This in itself is no easy task, as it requires the teacher to have an integrated understanding of how students learn and develop in general, as well as the specific background, needs, and interests of their own students. This requires a great deal of work outside the classroom, as the teacher needs to take time to get to know each student in order to maximise both their learning and their character development. On top of this, the teacher must be able to effectively manage the classroom environment, as there would be no point in having a thorough understanding of how to approach the class (e.g. through designing a wide range of instructional materials that are intended to cater to various learning styles) if basic discipline and order has not been established. Though this sounds like a tall order, teachers must be able to juggle the (often scarce) resources of time, space, activities, and student attention in order to engage their pupils. Meaningful assessment is also important, and I believe that assessment for learning should take place as often as - if not more often than - assessment of learning. Providing prompt and constructive feedback to students on a regular basis can go a long way to promoting learning, and also helps teachers to monitor students' progress and modify their instructional activities where necessary. As such, it contributes to the development of both teacher and students, since both can grow to become reflective learners who are resilient, adaptable, and open to improvement.

Leadership and Management
Working in teams is one core competency which I feel is very important for teachers, especially with the new emphasis on collaborative learning in not just the classroom but the staff room as well. Many Humanities teachers have a bad reputation for hoarding instructional materials, perhaps because of the difficulty involved in generating and consolidating them. I feel, however, that this is a practice that will ultimately backfire - if teachers keep their information and ideas to themselves with the aim of preventing their colleagues from borrowing from the materials that they have so painstakingly created, it is impossible to gain a fresh perspective on their work. This third-party point of view can be very helpful, as colleagues (particularly those teaching the same subject) also have experience in communicating the content and concepts, and may therefore be in a position to target existing "blind spots" and offer new insights or teaching strategies that could boost the overall quality of the work. In my opinion, the ideal working relationship is one where both parties have positive feelings about each other and are open to exchanging their work and seeking constructive feedback. The resultant synergy could well make the whole greater than the sum of its parts, and the students are thus able to benefit from the hard work of two or more teachers as opposed to just one.

Personal Effectiveness
The core competency under this domain that resonates most with me is resilience and adaptability. Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once famously expressed this idea in this simple quote - "never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever give up". Having had some teaching experience prior to embarking on my practicum journey, I must say that this rings true, especially at low points when the classroom feels like a treacherous jungle that is impossible to navigate, and when work just never seems to end. Lesson plans do fail embarrassingly during the execution process, and the spread of extra-curricular events (all of which require involvement) can be very tiring, especially when layered on top of the already heavy classroom commitments. At these moments, a tough spirit and positive outlook is necessary, and I've found for myself that perseverance and optimism need to go hand-in-hand in order for me to reach that metaphorical light at the end of the tunnel. and that . Given that the students whom I will be encountering belong to the so-called "strawberry generation", whose feelings are easily bruised and who tend to give up when faced with obstacles rather than attempting to stay the course, I feel that this is one quality which I would definitely like to pass on. I hope to lead by example and teach my students that reaching a breakthrough at the end of a challenging period is one of the most satisfying feelings in the world.

As for adaptability, I believe that teachers really need to be very quick-thinking in the classroom, as the successful delivery of a lesson depends on so many different variables, some of which - such as student behaviour or even the proper functioning of necessary technology - are extremely unpredictable. This means that a teacher needs to always be on her toes and ready to modify previous plans to suit the classroom context. This adaptability is really what I would consider a "survival skill" of sorts, and I look forward to exercising it during the ten weeks ahead.

"Changing Education Paradigms"

I recently watched this video - an animated piece that was adapted from a talk by Sir Ken Robinson, a world-renowned education expert - as part of my QKS520 course, and found it really thought-provoking. There were many salient points raised, but I was especially struck by the following:

1. Modern-day children are actively besieged with information from a whole variety of sources, but are forced into an artificial passivity and docility in the classroom. "We are getting our children through education by anaesthetising them, [instead of] waking them up to what they have inside of themselves."

2. Schools unfortunately require and result in a "production line mentality", where students are divided by their age, not ability, and "funneled" through a system of standardised testing and curricular.

3. Divergent thinking = "an essential capacity for creativity"; the ability to see multiple answers, possibilities, and interpretations of an issue, and to "think laterally". This ability seems to be very strong in young children, but diminishes as they go through the school system. Why?

As a teacher, I certainly hope to be able to fully engage my students and cater to their specific interests and learning styles. I certainly do not wish to push them through a syllabus which they have no emotional investment in, and am fearful of falling into the trap of creating a "mechanistic" drill-and-practice routine in my classroom. While I acknowledge that academic achievement is important, I feel that the teenage years are possibly the most exciting in our lives, and I want to stretch my students; to foster a real love of learning; and to build them up as people, not mere grades-generating machines.

QED526 Reflections (Week 4 - Classroom Environment)

After going through the material on Blackboard, I felt that my most significant takeaway from this E-Learning lesson was the importance of the classroom environment in not just fostering a positive learning space for students, but in enabling them to develop social-emotional skills.

As a student, I never really paid much attention to my classrooms - I generally felt that my learning was more dependent on my teacher and peers rather than the physical space I was in. However, looking back, I realise that some classrooms definitely did engender more positive attitudes towards learning, and these tended to be the ones that veered away from the traditional configuration of horizontal rows and bare walls. My favourite classroom was the one I had in Secondary 2, as my school organised a classroom decoration contest and gave each class a small budget to buy paints and other decorative materials with, and gave us free rein to work as a class on a design that we could call our own. The result was a bright and welcoming space, and each of us even got to paint an icon that we felt represented ourselves as individuals on the back wall. While this contest was only carried out once (logistically, it was a nightmare - the school wound up having to hire professional painters to repaint the entire building at the end of the year), I really felt that it helped to foster camaraderie amongst the students, and our "personalised classroom" created a sense of pride and symbolic identification in us. To this day, it remains one of my most cherished memories of my secondary school years.

Moving ahead to what I as a teacher could do to nurture a sense of class culture and develop social-emotional skills in my students -- I think my best teaching experiences took place in classrooms that were lively; not just in terms of my students' behavior, but in terms of the space itself. I like having my students sit in interior loop arrangements, where they can move quickly from sitting in rows (during the times when my teaching strategy is direct instruction) to groups (when collaborative learning methods are used) by simply turning around or joining their tables together. This ability to quickly transit from a teacher-focused to a student-focused environment reflects my own personal pedagogical approach. I feel that these arrangements naturally allow for camaraderie to be built, since students are always aware of the co-dependent nature of their learning, and frequent group work helps to build social ties. Furthermore, in terms of social-emotional learning, students will quite naturally develop skills such as social awareness and relationship management through collaborative learning. I would thus hope to design my future classroom as such.

QED526 Reflections (CJC Video)

3 things I have learnt from the video:
- Need to be observant to students' needs and understand where they are coming from
- Tolerance and understanding is key, no matter how difficult the student or the situation
- A problem child never exists alone; need to engage the rest of the class in your management strategy (e.g. laying down rules for the class as a whole and enforcing them across the board consistently)

2 things that I hope to apply in school in future:
(this somewhat overlaps with the things I have learnt from the video, so I selected just two that I really wish to be able to do)
- Maintain a calm and firm demeanor no matter the situation
- Always wait and assess things over time, don't jump to hasty decisions or actions

1 thing that struck me:
- "Every day is show time" -- how true! One of my favourite quotes is about how teaching is essentially a performing art, and this quote from the video really reminds me of it.

QLK520 Reflections

• To what extent do you think you will be able to apply what you have learned in this course to your future teaching career?

1. Please answer in terms of the communicative skills you have learned as well as the "blended aspects" – the online and F2F elements of the course.
2. Support your answer with examples if possible.

Prior to this QLK520 course, I considered myself as an above-average communicator, especially in the area of written communication. Years as a Humanities student have made me comfortable expressing myself in writing, and since English is my first language, I have always been fairly confident of my ability to communicate verbally as well. That is not to say, however, that the course has not been useful for me - on the contrary, I found the modules to be rather enriching on the whole, and found the section on oral communication particularly helpful. By getting a chance to prepare short speeches on topics relevant to my future teaching career (such as matters of school discipline) and then deliver them to the class, I felt that I was able to improve on the essentials of oral communication, such as tone, pronunciation, and pace of delivery. The feedback from my tutor and peers was also useful, although I would say that the most eye-opening experience was being able to watch my own speech on video, since that really highlighted the nuances of my communication style that I previously wasn't aware of. This included my posture, physical gestures, eye contact, and even the pitch of my voice. I've now realised that I tend to speak rather quickly and use fillers in my speech, and that my physical gestures can sometimes convey a lack of confidence, particularly when I am unable to make eye contact with the audience. These are some things which I will definitely bear in mind and do my best to avoid while in the classroom in future.

As for the "blended aspects" of the course, I felt that it was a good idea to offer students the freedom to choose whether they would prefer to take certain modules online or face-to-face. However, I feel that if I were to do the same with my classes in future (i.e. upload materials online for their independent study) I would centralise all their online module requirements on a single web-host to avoid confusion. While students are indeed becoming more IT-savvy, I feel that easy access of course material and submission of assignments remains imperative, and I would therefore restrict the number of online platforms to just one.