News

Keeping up with the news can be both time-consuming but at the same time, life & knowledge enriching.

Reading the news, watching news on the television was not my interest when I was younger. I used to fall asleep when the news was on and miraculously, i will wake up when the news was over.

However, when I went overseas to pursue my degree, keeping oneself up to date with the current affairs was inevitable. One had to keep up with whatever was happening back home, happening in the current country (wherever you are), and also keeping up with whatever was happening in the world.

One had to learn how to be street-smart, be self-reliance, be more confident, and lastly, learn how to be independence.

Independence is something that cannot really be taught, but something that one learns from within.

Coming back to the news....in the past week, Amy Chua's memoir on bringing up her daughters created a semi-backlash, a furor, and of course, many questions on how the Asians raise up their children.

The Straits Times published an article today about 'We are not all Tiger Mums'.
It was a very interesting read with quite a number of views given by other mums.

Is it right to label some mothers as "Tiger Mums"?

There are some people who will and will not agree, depending on which continent you are living in.

As a parent, do we want our children to do well in schools, do well in life, namely their career? Of course, WE DO. I may not be in the capacity of a parent, but judging from the phone calls that parents has made to me, and vice verse, and from the parents' visit to this just on Friday, parents DEFINITELY WANT their child to do well.

As a teacher, how do we ensure that our students will do well under our charge? Should we use the mentality of a "Tiger Mum" to teach them? Or should we do so as a capacity of a teacher.

Yes, the role of a teacher cannot really be define clearly. We are a role model to them, we guide them, we nurture them, we scold them when they have done something, we encourage them, we mold them, we advise them, we 'fix' them and of course, we TEACH them.

We need to learn, We need to grow with the times, We need to move on, We need to be BOTH critical and creative and definitely, We need to REFLECT.

term 1 week 2

think positive & stay positive

ever since i started teaching, the above quote has always been part of my life...no doubt there has been ups & downs, but if one can always stay true to their own belief, nothing is impossible.

Nothing Is Impossible versus Just Do It

2 very different slogans by 2 different sports company.
1 by Adidas, the other by Nike.
Both very successful in their own way, but also during different time.

Nike was more like my generation...the Generation X
whereas, Adidas is more the Generation iY.

Nike's slogan was very popular and very catchy when it first came out, and with all the media on the sports' culture back than on Michael Jordan etc, with Nike Air etc...it was number 1 back than.

but now, Adidas can be considered as number 1 in the sports field. The way that the brand was marketed, together with the popstars, the fashion line with popstar designers and fashion designers.
Whoever came out this slogan has got it TOTALLY ACCURATE in all sorts of manner. Regardless whether is it to do with life, work, passion etc...NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE.

Nothing is Impossible is something that we need to teach all of our students. Being face and tasked with a normal technical form class, we told them that they should not give up, but to REALLY STRIVE for the BEST and believe in themselves. Not just for the NT, but all the classes.

how can we make the students believe in themselves?
how can we make the students strive much harder?
how can we make the students see the link between what we are teaching them now and also the preparation for their future?

perseverance is something that the youth (not all of them) of today lack
how do we teach them perseverance?
is it something that can be taught or learned thru hardship/trial & error?

something to ponder about

term 1 week 1 - A new journey

this is my 1st post of the year and it is also a entry which i find very hard to pen down my thoughts.

Like what Mr Chin mentioned during my interview last November, it is going to be a roller-coaster ride, and at the current moment, i am perched right on top of the ride, just before the great descent.

No doubt it is going to be a challenging year, i do hope to learn as much as i can from my fellow colleagues.

Last November, as part of my training (and new job scope area) i attended a 3-day course on Habitudes. This was a real eye-opener to me, as i learned about different metaphors and how i can relate and teach them to our students.

It was a struggle initially, as it was something new to me. However, thru the guidance of the facilitators, we actually learned alot from them and learned how to facilitate,lecture and admin a 20 minutes lesson (by actually coming up with a lesson plan, teaching the whole class, and displaying the 3 mentioned roles). We MUST pass this 20 minute lesson plan before we get our certification and it was a TOTALLY NERVE-RACKING.

It has been an exciting week 1, with a new form class (3t2), new form teacher to work with, NEW colleagues, sec 1 orientation and CCA Open House.

Anna and I attempted to sit down and go thru our dept's action plan, and we realized how everything comes together within the 4 units. We understand that there are many more things that we need to figure and work out.

There are some areas which i would like to further blog about:
- work review
- Art unit
- Big picture