History
This week I had my first lesson observation by my second Cooperating Teacher Ms Nurashikin. The focus of the tutorials was introducing my students to the basic requirements and techniques of writing essay paragraphs using the PEEL framework. Clearly this was a relatively dry and technical topic and, although a necessary component of the History syllabus, may end up boring the students after a short while. As such, my solution was to insert some thinking exercises (e.g. evaluations of sample topic sentences) into the lessons to get the students actively involved, as well as assess how much they had understood the lesson content. In the event, my students generally proved to be highly motivated and showed great interest in the lesson, probably because they understood the importance of mastering essay writing skills in the History examinations. I was particularly pleased by how my students were able to quickly grasp the essence of writing essay paragraphs and ask highly relevant and intelligent questions about the topic. As such, my next step would therefore be to incorporate more hands-on practice in order to hone their ability to write good essay paragraphs and internalise the skills and techniques over time..
Project Work
For the PW lecture and tutorials this week, the emphasis was on familiarising the students with the essential components of the Preliminary Ideas (PI) as well as the assessment criteria. In this respect, the PW teachers discussed the different PI components in great detail, paying great attention to the importance of innovation and originality, and also showed students some sample PI formats for reference. One particularly interesting way of inducting the students into the PI process was to get them to evaluate a sample PI proposal in terms of its originality, feasibility and manageability. From their subsequent group presentations, it was obvious that the students were good in highlighting the flaws in the proposal but had much room for improvement in coming up with constructive solutions to remedy the flaws. Hence, the latter area is probably something which the PW teachers and the students have to consciously work on over the coming weeks.
Hockey (Boys)
This was the first week when I observed the responsibilities of a teacher taking charge of a CCA as part of my NIE requirements. My initial feelings were one of dread, as the training sessions were frequent (twice or thrice per week) and usually lasting till late in the evening. Moreover, the incidence of injuries was pretty high due to the nature and competitiveness of the sports itself. However, having participated in their team talks (conducted after each training session), I was truly touched by the students’ dedication and devotion to hockey and inspired by their determination to do well in the upcoming inter-school competition. An added motivation for them is the danger of the disbanding of the hockey team should they perform poorly, primarily due to budget constraints. Therefore, I have resolved to try my best to assist the boys to the best of my ability and forge close bonds with them, so as to give them the full confidence of my support as their teacher in their valiant endeavours.
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