Practicum went up a gear today as I received my teaching time table for the next 9 weeks. It has become more exciting as the coming weeks finally became clearer as to what I have to do and who I have to teach. This has relieved some of the unease that I have felt over the last few days.

Today, I observed a J2 tutorial conducted by Jamie and a J1 lecture done by Nanda.

The tutorial was with the J2s who were clearly more well grounded in addressing essay questions While some of their introductions are still rather weak, it is clear that the students are still able to verbalize their critiques towards their peers' introductions. The problem is probably how they can translate such thoughts and ideas into writing under a very constrained environment such as an examination context. I thought that this was probably something that the Innovians have yet to master in terms of coping with the time trial during an examination. It is essentially pitting the pace of your thought process and the speed of your handwriting against the hands of time.

What I witnessed was perhaps the faster and better class of J2s for when I reflected with Jasper, he revealed that the group he observed was a slower and more passive bunch. While my group managed to finish off 3 sample introductions, his group barely made it through one. Once again, this hammered home the reminder that the abilities of students in this school come from a very wide spectrum. Being a teacher here, we must be aware of this and tailor our lesson plans according to individual classes' needs.

Nanda's lecture went on without any major hiccups. However, it did brought home the point that one's own content mastery must be adequate. This came from the fact that there were students who asked questions during the lecture, all of which Nanda answered well. I was imagining, however, that if a teacher does not know his or her stuff well, it could incur unnecessary embarrassment for the teacher or worst, the respect of the students should such a flaw persist. Hence, it is a critical necessity that a teacher constantly updates his or her content mastery all the time.

Day 3

Nanda returned today and I was glad to have him back. I tagged along with him, including with his civics class. It was a very fruitful experience as I managed to see how tutorials and lectures were conducted by another history teacher in Innova JC.

Classroom Management

It is indeed true that teachers have to be firm at the outset. Seeing that this was only the second time that he was seeing his JC1 civics class, he was firm with them about handing in essays. However, the class was generally well behaved and enthusiastically participated in the discussion that transpired. That itself took me, and even Nanda, by surprise. For those who seemingly weren't paying attention, Nanda utilized peer pressure to make sure the student paid attention in class. I also managed to see his lecture with the J1s and J2s. It is a little bit of balancing that needs to be done with students from the H1 stream and the H2 stream. I noted that teachers can drive the students in H2 a little harder while those from H1 need to be handled with more delicate hands as they face a lot more work from other subjects. One runs the risk of losing their interest and enthusiasm for the subject if one were to slave drive them too hard in the discipline of History. Hence, a balance must be sought between these two. I also got to see Weilun conduct his tutorial with his J1H1 class. He was firm with them at the outset before relaxing his grip on them. Class discussions were frequently carried out and though he was not familiar with all their names (or so I thought), he engaged certain students to call out their classmates to answer his questions.

Lesson Plan/ Strategies/ Pedagogies

He issued a task of a short essay, no less than 300 words, about which event was the most important, to the student, in starting the Cold War. It was intended to see where the students stood in terms of their argument skills, essay writing skills as well as their content mastery. I reckoned that it was because the topic (Origins of the Cold War) was rather familiar with the students and hence, they had no big issue with the content.

It was the way they delivered it and argued it that was a problem. First and foremost, they seemed to be very narrative and descriptive in the events. It was as though they copied and pasted whatever they learnt from the secondary school textbook and regurgitated everything here. It is a rather chronic issue amongst JC1s that must be altered. I pointed out to Nanda that it would be good to explicitly lay down the difference between a secondary school essay and what is required in an 'A' Level essay. These are the skills that must be drilled into our students right from the outset. Nanda also did talk about the skills of argument in an essay such as a general point, elaboration, evidence and then elaboration. He also relayed to the students about the crucial need for a criteria to compare factors and reasons upon. Another pedagogy he taught the students is about perspectives. While some students asked for his perspective on the question, I thought he handled it well by indicating that he should not prescribe the students' own perspectives and skew them to his, seeing that he is their teacher. What was important was their own point of view and how they argue and support it.

More importantly, the students did question one another and Nanda's points, exhibiting critical thinking and analysis. While some of them did not seemed to be paying attention in class, they were also just facades as they still asked some pertinent questions pertaining to the topic, showing that they were paying attention. The level of participation and questioning took Jasper, Nanda and I by surprise for we all concurred that if each class was to show such levels of understanding and participation, we would be very happy.

One point that I raised up for Nanda's lecture is that we can always insert the meaning of tougher words that students may have trouble understanding. This idea was coined from the fact that I noticed a couple of students asking about the meanings of certain words. It is good that the students make an effort to ask. However, it would also facilitate their understanding of sources and lessons if tougher words have their meanings written down, perhaps in a smaller font at the bottom or side of the lecture/tutorial notes.

During Weilun's tutorial, I also pointed out that his tutorial was rather teacher-centric, a trait that I myself am often guilty of as well. It is easy for us teachers to get carried away with our own chains of thoughts, making our own links with the dots about the topic or subject at hand. It becomes more explicit when we start to lose the interest and attention of our students, especially when they become confused with our own chain of thought. We must always remember that they are not at our level and are unable to keep up or even see our perspective. I suggested a remedy that the vice principal in Northbrooks Secondary School gave me. It was to constantly involve the students to share with their own thoughts, getting them to answer the questions that you might ask, even if they are intended to be rhetorical. This would keep students on their toes and ensure that they are continuously thinking and tuned into the lesson. Also, if they were displaying lackluster behavior, involving them in the discussion would bring them back into focus on the lesson as well.

Summary

On the whole, it was yet another fruitful day because of the large variety of teaching that I got to learn from. What I noticed thus far is how I have been noting down the lesson structure of both lectures and tutorials and see how I can synthesize what I learnt in NIE with what I am learning here. It is certainly crucial that I get a sense of how things are like here, how the general student culture and abilities are like, how their responses and thinking processes are like before I start on my lesson plan. The issue that I am concerned about is how I can alter and change my lesson plans to suit to the needs to the students for effective learning. Hence, I do hope more observations within the next two days will help me understand this better.

Another thing that has made these two days beneficial is how Jasper and I always sit down with Jamie to reflect about our lesson observations and relay our concerns to her. It is also great that Nanda and Weilun constantly ask us to feedback to them how their lessons were and whether there is any improvement that they can make. More importantly, they are very approachable and helpful in clarifying our doubts and concerns. The reflective culture of teaching was certainly not exhibited during my time as a student but it is very much prevalent now in the teaching world. Without a doubt, it does help teachers to revise and improve in the way they deliver their lessons, plan their lessons and the strategies they use.

Day 2

Days 2 was spent observing and reflecting with our CT, Jamie. For Day 2, I shadowed her for her lecture and got my first chance to see the JC 2 students. The topic covered during her lecture was the Global Economy.

Classroom Management

Jamie comes across as a very firm task-master. She is very firm with the students but she also knows how to balance between being firm and going easy on them. The lecture went through without much hiccups except a couple of students coming in late, forcing Jamie to ensure that they knew their basic manners such as apologizing for being late or interruptive.

Lesson Plan/ Strategies/ Pedagogies

On the whole, Jamie often filled her lecture with probing questions, asking several students to answer them. This provided the impetus for a more interactive lecture rather than a fully teacher-centric lecture. However, the lecture group was still rather passive and sometimes, none wanted to answer.

I was wondering what the reason could be but also deciphered that this might have been because the students were not entirely familiar with Jamie yet, seeing how it is only February. I also feel that these students also lack the self-confidence in answering to a big audience and the confidence to argue for their own answers.

Summary

More reflections were done at the end of the day, together with Jasper and Jamie. We sat down in her office and talked things through. We were concerned about the level of understanding and the amount of scaffolding we would need to provide for the students. We were told to lower expectations, in view of the fact that we ourselves came from top schools. Lowering expectations were never a problem. The issue that I was more concerned with was how to scaffold these students and how much to scaffold them so that I do not transgress into the area of spoon-feeding them as well. I gathered as much that this would have to be discovered through experiential learning when I get to teach next week.

Day 1 in IJC

It has been a while since I reflected about teaching on the ground.

My entrance into Innova Junior College has been largely smooth, for which I am thankful for. The colleagues are excellent while the school leaders have been very nurturing and supportive. My first day at the school reaped some rather beneficial fruits as the group of new teachers shared their portfolios with the school.

It was heartening for both the school and the new teachers to see that our goals, ideology and beliefs largely aligned towards the same direction. What struck me most was the theme of the year 2012.

Monitor, Motivate, Mastery to Shine.

Given how students in the school seem to lack that sense of motivation and some form of mastery, I felt that it was appropriate that the school took up the mantle and spearhead the cause in helping their students. It is also encouraging to see that the school's policy gears towards not only looking after the well- being of students but also that of the teachers. Its goal of establishing a strong and well-supported staff culture was one that resonated well with staff members, both new and old ones.

What struck me most was essentially the school's policy towards grooming leaders of tomorrow. As teachers, we are indeed shaping hopes of the future. However, we never know where the limits of our influence lie. For Innova Junior College, to perpetuate the notion of grooming leaders in students is one firm step forward in helping students to gain more confidence about themselves and their capabilities.

To be leaders of themselves.

To be leaders of others.

To be leaders of leaders.

How does an individual lead others when one is unable to master him or herself? Indeed, to look after others, one must start looking him or herself first. I firmly believe in the goal of student leadership and in the process, helping them to be leaders of themselves. However, I also recognize the reality that not everyone can be leaders of others or to reach the pinnacle of the pyramid, be leaders of leaders. Hence, the very foremost goal should be helping students to be masters of themselves.

All in all, it was a great induction process by Innova Junior College. I thoroughly enjoyed the process of learning the policy and directions of the school, meeting new colleagues and getting a gradual feel of the school's culture and atmosphere.

And I can safely say that I truly like what I see.