My reIIecLIons, udupLed.

Attuchment ut Boon Luy Secondury School: , Jone o11 -

Joly o11
On my IIrsL duy oI uLLucImenL, LIe VIce PrIncIpuI oI LIe scIooI, Mrs. Yew,
conducLedun InducLIon progrumme Ior LIe group oI us 'uLLucIees`. n LIuL
sIorL Iour, wus deepIy Impressed by LIe scIooI`s dIrecLIon und
pIIIosopIy. We were LoId LIuL Boon uy Secondury ScIooI beIIeves In
IeIpIng every sLudenL ucIIeve IIs IuIIesL poLenLIuI. know LIIs mIgIL sound
IIke u gIven, buL In reuIILy Iuve know LeucIers wIo Iuve LIe mIndseL LIuL
II u cIIId Is In LIIs sLreum, IeJsIe cunnoL go beyond u cerLuIn bencImurk,
so LIere`s no poInL IeIpIng IImJIer unywuy`; und remember IeeIIng very
dIsIeurLened IeurIng LIuL. So, no, know IL Is noL u gIven; und II u scIooI
udopLs IL us ILs drIvIng pIIIosopIy, IL onIy goes Lo sIow LIuL LIe scIooI Ius u
Lrue pussIon Ior educuLIon.
wus uIso moved by LIe scIooI`s pusLoruI upproucI wIen IL comes Lo
dIscIpIIne.
RememberIng my own IIIe us u secondury scIooI sLudenL ubouL q yeurs ugo,
cunnoL IeIp buL wIsI LIuL my uImu muLer Iud LIe sume upproucI. Do noL
geL me wrong: LIInk LIuL Iurd dIscIpIIne Is exLremeIy crucIuI. However
do uIso LIInk LIuL sLudenLs Iuve Lo IIrsL undersLund wIy LIey ure punIsIed
beIore LIey ure ucLuuIIy punIsIed. know oI LeucIers wIo do noL cure Lo
expIuIn Lo sLudenLs LIuL LuIkIng excessIveIy In cIuss Is noL uIIowed becuuse IL
Is dIsrupLIve und LIereIore dIsLurb oLIer sLudenLs wIo reuIIy wunL Lo Ieurn.
nsLeud, LIey send LIe dIsrupLIve sLudenLs ouL oI cIuss every LIme LIey LuIk,
udopLIng LIe Lone 'no meuns no, no quesLIons`. Over LIme, oI course LIese
sLudenLs become deIIunL. PerIups, Lo LIese LeucIers, LIe Issue seems Loo
obvIous Ior u need Lo expIuIn und LIey ussume LIuL LIe sLudenLs uIreudy
know. Or perIups LIIs Is LIe mosL eIIIcIenL wuy oI munugIng LIe cIuss,
especIuIIy wIen u syIIubus Is wuILIng Lo be deIIvered. BuL LIuL Is noL
educuLIon.
To be IonesL und quILe personuI, Iud one reuIIy bud experIence us u
sLudenL In LIIs uspecL. n LIe second IuII oI my secondury scIooI yeur,
wus noL re-eIecLed us u sLudenL councIIor. TIIs cume quILe u sIock Lo uII oI
my IrIends und councII senIors becuuse my rupporL wILI my scIooImuLes
Iud uIwuys been ubove uveruge. TIey Look LIe quesLIon Lo my scIooI`s
dIscIpIIne mIsLress, wIo wus uIso In cIurge oI LIe SLudenL CouncII. Under u
serIes oI quesLIons und uskIng Lo see LIe eIecLIon resuILs, sIe IInuIIy
reveuIed LIuL wus voLed In by LIe scIooI buL sIe decIded Lo remove my
posILIon unywuy becuuse sIe LIougIL my quuIILIes ure
noL IIL Lo be u sLudenL councIIor, LIougI sIe never eIuboruLed. PersonuIIy
wus very IurL und ungry, becuuse us u LeucIer wIo wus In u posILIon oI
power, sIe IuIseIy reveuIed resuILs oI u sLudenL eIecLIon und pusIed LIe
responsIbIIILy Lo LIe sLudenL popuIuLIon wIIcI Is ImpossIbIe Ior me Lo
conIronL. Second, wIen my purenLs wenL Lo consuIL Ier wILI LIe InLenLIon
oI IeIpIng me become u 'beLLer sLudenL` by LIe scIooI`s sLundurd, sIe sLIII
never reveuIed my quuIILIes wIIcI sIe deemed undesIrubIe. Toduy, yeurs
Irom LIen, Iuve IeL go oI LIe IurL und unger; buL cunnoL IeIp LIInkIng
Iow sIe Is never un educuLor wIenever recuII LIe IncIdenL. L Is eusy Lo be
jusL u LeucIer, buL IL Is so dIIIIcuIL Lo be un educuLor.
Here In Boon uy Secondury ScIooI, Iuve seen so muny educuLors. TIIs Is
LIe one LIIng LIuL moves me mosL. PusLoruI upproucI sounds uII rosy und
nIce, buL , Ior one, know Iow dIIIIcuIL IL Is Lo IoIIow LIougI IL becuuse oI
course IL Is mucI eusIer Lo jusL scoId und punIsI wILIouL IIrsL
undersLundIng und expIuInIng. BuL do noL see LIuL In LIIs scIooI. nsLeud,
see LeucIers LuIkIng Lo sLudenLs wILI puLIence, cure, sympuLIy und mosL
ImporLunLIy, empuLIy.
TIere wus u purLIcuIur evenL LIuL especIuIIy moved me. wus ussIgned Lo
sLund In reIIeI Ior my IIsLory menLor, Mr. DuunIsIsIuI In qJ1. L wus LIe
IIrsL LIme ever sLepped InLo u normuI LecI cIuss. Iud no Ideu Iow IL wus
goIng Lo be IIke or wIuL Lo expecL, becuuse uII my IIIe Iud been wILI (und
LuugIL) sLudenLs wIo suL quIeLIy In cIuss und dId uII LIeIr Iomework.
orLunuLeIy, LIere wus unoLIer LeucIer In LIe cIuss LogeLIer wILI me;
unIorLunuLeIy mIssed Ier nume. DespILe LIuL, we Iud u greuL LuIk und
Ieurned u IoL, u IoL oI LIIngs Irom LIuL LuIk. SIe LoId me LIuL IL Is deIInILeIy
noL eusy Lo LeucI u normuI LecI cIuss, buL IL Is uIso u reuIIy IuIIIIIIng, IeurL-
wurmIng journey - us Iong us you reuIIy Iuve u IeurL Ior
LeucIIng. wus LoId LIe In LIuL cIuss oI qo, IuII oI LIem Iuve sLopped
comIng Lo scIooI uILogeLIer despILe Iouse vIsILs, pIone cuIIs. And LIose
wIo do come Lo scIooI don`L uIwuys IIsLen In cIuss. BuL wus uIso LoId LIuL
LIese sLudenLs ure reuIIy wurm peopIe. TIey ure LIe onIy ones wIo wuve
und suy II Lo Ier ouLsIde scIooI, wIo wouId 'escorL` Ier Lo LIe Iood courL In
Jurong PoInL Ior IuncI, wIo wouId muke Ier IeeI IIke sIe LoucIed LIeIr
IIves. TIuL wus u reuIIy reIIecLIve duy Ior me - kepL uskIng, wIuL Is goIng
wrong? WIuL Iuve we done Ior LIe young peopIe wIo ure noL ucudemIcuIIy-
IncIIned buL ure LuIenLed In oLIer wuys? WIuL cun we sLIII do? How cun we
do more? kepL LIInkIng oI LIe oLIer IuII oI LIe cIuss wIIcI never goL Lo
see und LIougIL, LIey ure LIe ones wIo need un educuLor more LIun uny
oLIer sLudenL In LIIs scIooI - Ius our educuLIon sysLem provIded und
ensured LIuL?
n my sIorL q weeks oI uLLucImenL uL Boon uy Secondury ScIooI, muny
sLudenLs und LeucIers usk me II experIenced cuILuruI sIock, sInce
gruduuLed Irom RIver VuIIey HIgI und LIen Hwu CIong; und subsequenLIy
reIIeI-LuugIL In RIver VuIIey HIgI Ior monLIs. To be IonesL, LIe unswer Is
no. deIInILeIy meL sLudenLs wIom `ve never encounLered beIore, Ieurd
sLorIes `ve never experIenced beIore; buL don`L LIInk LIuL consLILuLes Lo
'cuILuruI sIock`. EveryLIIng und everyone meL Iere In Boon uy Secondury
ScIooI mude me IeeI wurm, weIcomed, curIous, InLrIgued, und moLIvuLed.
PerIups IL Is LIe IucL LIuL couId sense u wurm IeurL In every LeucIer und
sLudenL`s - even LIe 'nuugILy` ones - LIuL never mude me IeeI ouL oI pIuce
In LIIs scIooI. wouId never IorgeL Boon uy Secondury ScIooI -
everyLIIng Iuve seen, Ieurd und IeIL Iere.

RefIections 27/6/2011
Day 1: CIass Observation- Mrs Ng's E-maths cIass (3E2/3) for 2
periods. Topic: Trigonometry
1) AImost the entire 1st period was spent settIing the students down
from their break
THOUGHTS: Could it be done quicker? Will imposing a sense of
urgency in the students after their break cause unhappiness? s a
sense of urgency even necessary, or am asking for too much? There
needs to have either balance or compromise one for the other: time or
student welfare?
OLLOW UP: according to Mrs Ng who knows her students' progress
best, taking time to settle down was more reasonable because the
students are usually very on task and a few more minutes to settle
down will help them get into the mood better. may differ for other
classes)
2) Class is well-behaved, generally very reserved and a little on the
unresponsive side. Students will respond only when called and observed
(while walking around as they tried to do sums on a worksheet while Mrs
Ng went through the methods/answers) that some of them wouId rather
wait for the answers on the board than to reaIIy try it out.
THOUGHTS: !erhaps it could be the fact that they knew that answers
will be provided eventually so there is no need to think by themselves,
but could be wrong too, maybe they were thinking silently? But was
wondering, how can we, as teachers, be assured that the students are
truly learning and thinking/understanding the content during the
lesson? How do we ensure that as we are teaching and writing the
answers on the board, that they are not merely copying them down?
noticed that Mrs Ng did consciously ask individual students thought-
provoking questions like sourcing and drawing out alternative answers
and the subsequent steps to the problem. However, the blindspot
could be that only a few individuals are truly catching the flow and
thinking on their own and really learning while the rest are just copying
things down, completely in their comfort zone. How can we address
this issue? ):
Note that I start off my observations with all the tiny little details like sense of urgency and things
that may not even matter cos there is practically nothing else to pick on or learn about since the
students are close to being angels. I was dying for some classroom-chaos-adventure that one
would get from the truly neighborhood schools. BUT THEN AGAIN, I'm thankful.
Day 2: PersonaI Thanksgiving
I'm starting to recognize the blessings from God. I'm getting more
acquainted to my fellow MOE scholars (Frida is a Christian too and
she is genuine, humble and thoughtful. Marcus is the typical
confident RJ jock, smart, intelligent, articulate and great at sports, I
feel comfortable goofing around with him, exchanging sarcastic
remarks. Kenneth is the humble yet sufficiently confident RJ dude, a
pleasant friend to talk to and share stuff. I find him quite the sweet
boy even though he hasn't explicitly done anything sweet to anyone.
Just the vibe. Extremely tall, good-looking complete with an
incredible personality Justin stands out from the other 2 guys
not just because of his built (pretty small for a guy) but also because
of the way he expresses himself. Very confident, strongly
opinionated, frequently sprinkling his conversations with
perspicacious remarks He is incredibly intelligent and actually
quite a pleasant person to hang around with (unexpectedly,
heehee). So far, I have been relishing the times we had, having
breakfast, tea breaks and lunch breaks tgt, exchanging our ideas
about teaching styles and our opinions regarding how the school
functions, as well as sharing about our past secondary school
experiences and some other random stuff about our lives. The other
trainees (mainly Yue Yun and Jasmine and Huey Miin) join us
frequently and it was refreshing to just engage them in chit-chat.
I enjoy such pure moments cos unconsciously I feel that I am
training myself to speak coherently and articulate myself properly to
my fellow trainees and to hear them 'debate' and discuss about
teaching styles and matters as such, I feel that I am learning quite a
fair bit
Day 2: CIass Observation- Mrs Ng's E-Maths CIass for 1 period
1) noticed that Mdm Ng has quite good rapport with the students and it
was evident that she was loved by the students even though the material
she taught was dry. The students like to interact with her, sometimes joking
with her and she was also consistently trying to engage them by telling the
occasional joke and relating the maths concepts to real-life applications
(e.g. trigonometry is used in G!S etc)
THOUGHTS: s it advisable to give the worksheets before teaching
the material? Because from what observed, the students started
doing the worksheet even before Mrs Ng gave any instructions to do
so or even taught them the correct way of approaching the questions.
t also appeared as though the students were not paying attention to
Mrs Ng delivering her content when the worksheet in front of them
was a 'valid' distraction. Then again, questioned myself, does it even
matter? s this even significant enough an issue to be concerned
about? Students do not necessarily have to be all eyes on the teacher
and "responsive to be considered learning effectively.
2) also had the opportunity to witness different Iearning abiIities and
styIesfrom the students. Some students learn better by interacting with
their neighbours, some asked a lot of questions directly to Mdm Ng as she
went through the basic of obtuse angles. t was quite obvious that these
students who were asking the questions were genuinely giving thought to
what was being taught to them (especially because the questions they
asked were the exact ones had in mind). There were also quite a few
students who rather sit back and absorb everything like a sponge. What is
the true effective Iearning styIe? guess there is no fix learning style for
such diverse minds. Being a teacher means that we must be able to
identify the learning styles of the students and be understanding and
flexible with the way we deliver our content. Quoting V! Ms Yeo,
"differentiate, taiIor-make, customize

Day 2: CIass Observation- Mrs Ng's EngIish cIass for 1 period
1) 30 minutes, think, is far too short a period, cos by the time the students
came in from other classes and settled down, close to 10mins have
passed. Mrs Ng took another 5 more mins to go through the agenda for the
coming term, the assignments leading to the grading system etc. And by
the time she can get to lesson proper, there was only 10mins left.
THOUGHTS: Maybe am too hard up on the time factor cos given
that it was the first English lesson of the week, perhaps it was good to
settle down gradually and not rushed into work too quickly, which
could be counter-beneficial. Students were asked to refer to the
Straits Times and using the N supplement, to pick out sports phrases
(which would be useful for compo in future). was thinking whether
they were other alternatives to reading that particular article or any
article for that matter. But i guess it wasn't wise to overload the
students with so many aspects when reading the newspapers.
Newspaper reading should be a delightful exercise.
Day 3: PersonaI RefIections
I'm beginning to realize that I feel like I'm doing a dual-learning
process whenever I go in for class observation. I felt like I was re-
learning a lot of things as a 'student' and also keeping a close eye
on the nuances of the teacher, the style, the speech pattern, the
way they respond to the students and the students behaviour in
class. Even though I had expected class observation to be quite a
relaxing task, it turned out exactly the opposite I'm challenged
to think more and reflect and evaluate more than I am used to. It's
like I can't just sit there and take note of how the teacher teaches
but the blind spots, the potential difficulties/questions that the
students may have, and alternatives to the method of teaching etc. I
have to constantly question the system, the style, the materials
provided and at times, it's quite the mental workout 8 a teacher, I
need to en8:re that all the 8t:dent8 are appropriately and 8:11iciently challenged
mentally and engaged.
Week 2: PersonaI RefIections
There is also a danger o1 :ndere8timating 8t:dent8 or having too low an
expectation for certain students: we may overlook and downplay
their potential or even overplay their achievements which could be
counter-beneficial if taken in the wrong way.
Week 3: PersonaI RefIections
So anyway, I've been giving this issue some thought: the first week
of attachment, I felt like I came in with an open-mind, super
optimistic about the things I can learn and indeed, with my fresh
perspective, I seemed to have a myriad of suggestions and ideas
and opinions with regard to the teaching methods employed by
teachers I observed. Now, as I progressed to the end of my third
week here, I see that i am so terribly wrong in coming to such quick
conclusions abt things. It is really not that easy to just implement
whatever I had in mind because as I witnessed the amount of
content material and skills needed to be delivered, as well as the
suffocating need to accede to whatever the Cambridge examiners
request in order to ace the O's, I saw the innumerable limitations
that teachers face everyday. So even if I once had those
supposedly, in my opinion, brilliant ideas and blindfolds that I
managed to pick out, I need to reconsider and rethink them through
by taking into account those limitations it's really not easy being
a teacher. Its not just the many roles you have to assume, and the
workload and responsibility entrusted in your hands, this 'job' I do
requires a quick mind, a patient soul, an empathic nature. I will need
to acquire more experience, listen more, train myself to become that
awesome teacher I know I can be.
Week 4: PersonaI RefIections
I envy the amount of dedication and effort Marcus puts into his
work. Even Justin, Kenneth and Frida seem to be more meticulous
in preparing for their teaching opportunity than me. Am I doing
enough? Am I doing just the bare minimum to get through my day or
am I constantly pushing boundaries? What have I learnt each day
that would potentially be useful for my future teaching career? I
seem to have not made full use of the time spent at ZHSS and I'm
beginning to feel that tinge of regret. ): Will I be able to salvage what
I have lost? Should I extend my teaching attachment by one more
week so I can learn more, observe more classes and try to get more
teaching opportunities? I think I have fallen into the trap of being
comfortable in my own zone, being totally satisfied with whatever
that I have and not yearning for more or actively seeking to
challenge myself. ): One evidence is that I have stopped doing daily
reflections and instead accumulated a week's worth of learning into
one simple paragraph.
$ummary of Note-taking during observations:
nvoke students to think by asking questions to why you are using that
method and ask why you suggested this subsequent step
Provide the incorrect methods/answers and ask them why they are
wrong
A lot of preparation is required before each lesson: possible
difficulties students may have, confusing concepts to be clarified, how
to make topic interesting, video/visual aids. ( didn't get to do lesson
planning proper but realized it was going to be a whole lot of
administrative and research work)
Always write the Iesson objectives/agenda at the side of the board
so that students know what to expect and are clear about the
progression of their learning (especially English, where there is
possibility of digressing)
How to ensure during newspaper reading that students are truly doing
what they are supposed to do: pre-empt them with the
questions that you are going to ask and that you
Lessons in generaI:
realized that need to train myself not to be negatively affected by
the slightest noise or the students' body language but to use it to
gauge the class progress. must learn and train myself to use these
as information to guide the way teach instead of compromising my
teaching by letting it test my patience. must always remember that
different students have different learning styles and so cannot expect
100% attentiveness 100% of the time.
Be consciously aware of students' welfare. Secondary students like
teachers who engage them (who doesn't?) and know them, so put
myself in their shoes, understand that they may be unattentive or
restless because of the amount of work piled on them, stress, family
issues. Don't ever demand anything but still remain firm so that they
know you mean business.