Ramai pelajar saya keberatan apabila tugasan mereka dianalisis dalam kelas. Mungkin belum menjadi budaya kita untuk  menganalisis kesalahan yang dibuat. Namun, saya dapati kegiatan menganalisis kesalahan dalam karangan banyak membantu bukan saja pelajar yang terbabit malah pelajar-pelajar yang lain. Saya telah jalankan kegiatan ini dengan pelajar menengah atas. Pada awalnya memang pelajar agak  keberatan, namun setalah dijelaskan dengan lebih mendalam, pelajar dapati ia membantu mempertingkatkan mutu penulisan mereka. Karangan pelajar yang telah diperiksa ditanyangkan dan pelajar yang lain mengenalpasti kesalahan dari segi ejaan, kosa kata, isi, format dan sebagainya. Dengan berbuat demikian, pelajar tidak akan mengulangi kesalahan yang sama. Namun, saya amati ada pelajar yang masih segan untuk berkongsi analisis mereka. Oleh itu, latihan analisis karangan berpasangan dijalankan dan pelajar tersebut akan berkongsi dengan saya pandangan mereka. Saya dapati cara ini lebih berkesan daripada menyuruh pelajar membuat pembetulan tanpa mereka sendiri mengetahui kesalahan yang dilakukan. Cuma saya dapati proses ini memerlukan masa yang lebih oleh itu perancangan yang bijak dari segi masa perlu diambil kira. 

Pelajar kerap menghadapi masalah menggunakan kata adejktif yang baik bagi karangan deskriptif terutama untuk menjelaskan perasaan, keadaan bentuk dari segi fizikal (luaran) mahupun dalaman dan membezakan sikap dan sifat. Penggunaan filem membantu pelajar untuk lebih memahami perkara-perkara sedemikian. Ini terbukti apabila saya menggunakan filam Badang semasa menngajar  kata adjektif dengan kelas 2N. Saya dapati pelajar lebih faham bila saya tayangkan kilp-klip ringkas filem tersebut dengan pelajar mencatatakan perkara-perkara yang dilihat. Saya menggabungjalinkan ia dengan karangan deskriptif iaitu menceritakan watak Badang. Pelajar mampu memberikan gambaran  tentang watak dengan menggunakan kata adjektif yang sesuai.  Malah, saya yakin penggunaan filem mampu menjadikan pengajaran tatabahasa dengan lebih menarik dan berkesan jika digunakan dengan bijaksana dengan persiapan yang baik. 

Penggunaan KWL bukan baru malah setiap guru mahir menggunakannya. Ia merupakan salah satu wadah yang saya gunakan bagi permulaan pengajaran saya bagi mengarang, membaca, kefahaman dan sebagainya. Penggunaan KWL dalam pengajaran dapat membantu menarik minat pelajar, menggalakkan aktiviti berfikir dan berkongsi dalam kalangan para pelajar tanpa mereka sedari. Semasa mengajar karangan, KWL digunakan dalam permulaan pengajaran di mana pelajar berkongsi tentang pengetahuan mereka tentang isu yang dibentang. Pelajar kemudian berikan pandangan tentang perkara-perkara yang mereka ingin lebih tahu. Dalam proses pengajaran pelajar melakukan aktiviti berkumpulan, sumbangsaran, perkongsian maklumat dan sebagainya. Pengajaran diakhiri dengan pelajar berkongsi tentang perkara-perkara yang telah mereka pelajari dan menilai semula sama ada apa yang diharapkan tercapai. Jelaslah menlalui KWL pengajaran lebih terarah dan berpusat pada pelajar

The visit to Toronto, Canada was truly an eye-opening one for me. For one, I have never travelled to this part of the world before. This is also the first time I will be presenting and attending an ICT related conference. The thought of learning excites me.  This is my 7^th year in the teaching career and the 3^rd as a Head of Department for ICT. Looking back, it had been a steep learning curve for me as I juggle being a good teacher in the classroom and leading innovation and integration of ICT as a whole school approach in Yusof Ishak. The journey though arduous has been fulfilling. One of the key challenges as an ICT Head is planning successful integration of ICT as part of pedagogical approach in the school Success would therefore meant the following factors:1.      Customization of use of ICT in various subject matter.2.      The number of teachers’ initiatives in using technology to meet various learning needs. Teachers are therefore the key in making successful integration a reality. There are however, many barriers preventing the desired outcomes. Barriers such as resistance to change and the lack of time are some of the perennial problems that HOD ICTs like me faced in schools. As I travel to Northern America, learning the strategies to improve ICT integration and getting insights to good ICT management in schools became my main resolve.   The Two Ps to ICT Integration As I sit through the sharing by the key note speakers and the concurrent session, there seems to be a unifying message of sort that strings it all together, that technology is firstly not the be all and end all of ICT integration. Yes, the tools of emerging technology are exciting and ‘sexy’ to use but to successfully sustain the use should be a more important intent than adoption of the technology. Placing technology as the main aim of driving ICT integration in school is to put the cart before the horse. Put it simply, it will not work. Meaningful Pedagogy is thus the more crucial issue that the school needs to put in place before expecting pervasive use of ICT in the classrooms. Teacher, therefore need to be expert designers of classroom instructional activities, integrating ICT as part of meeting the pedagogical needs would seem more logical and more likely to sustain the use of it. Hence, meeting the learners’ need is the most fundamental objective in any efforts to introduce ICT in the curriculum. ICT integration is not the tools but the people using them. Hence, sustaining its use and making the use effective would mean ensuring ease of use for the people using them. It makes common sense that when people find the use of technology not only easy but also meets major needs in the classroom; they will want to use it and thus ensuring that the use becomes a more long term feature in the school. Hence, the 2 Ps, pedagogy and people needs to be considered carefully when designing programmes for ICT integration Interactivity vs InformativeProfessor Carmel McNaught of Chinese University of Hong Kong was one of the keynote speakers for the conference. She mapped the use of ICT in schools over the past 20 yrs of development and concluded with some key learnings for the participants. Of all the key points, one stands out for me. That interactivity of the ICT activity is more important than the content. To sustain the interest of the learner and make the learning meaningful, the ICT tool in use cannot only be a content giver or the mere downloading of information. Designer of the activities needs to be mindful of providing interactivity, giving feedback and allowing community sharing. This concurs with the social constructivist theories which still remain a fundamental pillar in the heart of teaching and learning.

At 15 years old, I am not sure whether I will be eager to learn about how healthcare is managed in Singapore and about Medisave and Medishield. When I realised I have to teach my sec 3 students this topic, I wondered how I am going to deliver this lesson. Of course, I could run through power-point slides explaining the healthcare system and also show video-clips on CPF, Medisave and Medishield, which I was lucky to find. Isnt there any way else I can teach this topic to  make it more interesting and relevant to the life of the student?

The road accident that my youger brother met with about 5 years ago, when he was a poly student, came to be useful for delivering my lesson on Medisave, Medishield and role of individual in the management of healthcare in singapore. As a lawyer had been engaged to handle my brother's accident case, the lawyer had given my brother a record consisting a collation of the medical bills incurred over 5 years and photographs of the damages caused to his legs by the accident and the types of surgery he went though during the 5 years. I created power-point slides explaining the cause of accident, the nature of injury and surgeries that my brother had (with selected photograps for a visual impact of the medical surgery to make student understand the high medical cost incurred by my family) and the financial status of my family 5 years ago. One of my brother's bills was given to my students as worksheet.

After the power-point presentation, after explaining to the students how the family financial status prevented us form making cash payment for the high medical bills incurred, students were introduced to Medisave and Medishield Accounts through my brother's Medical bill that was given to them. I explained to the students how the government subsidy reduced the original sum incurred in the bill and how the remaining amount was paid by my family through my father's Medisve and Medishield. Using a diagram it was explained to the student how an individual salary is deducted for the CPF account and how these account is them subdivided into 3 various accounts, including Medisave and Medishield Accounts, to make the students understand the role individuals play in Singapore in the management of healthcare. A video-clip was then played on CPF contribution to Medisave and Medishield Accounts and how this was used for Medical expenses to reinforce what was learnt in the lesson.

Though it is difficult to say how much the students understood what are Medisave and Medishield Accounts and what is the role of individual in management of healthcare in that one lesson, what was motivating was the various many questions asked by the students towards the end of the lesson, ranging from my brother current medical condition to what happens to those who do not have CPF and when one can withdraw their money from CPF and what happens to their money if they die earlier than their retirement age. One student even asked if he can write a will and request that his money in CPF be given to his pet animal.^^ When the class, including myself, laughed at his question, he added, "Cher, I am serious!."          

Suddenly, CPF savings and how it can be used became relevant to the students!

The following are feedback on the lesson from some students:

Use of real life story help me to understand how medisave and medishield help us when we need them.

Wei Lin 3E2

The lesson helps. It somehow taught me how lucky I am now. I like appreciate myself more.

Danial Asyraf 3E2

It really helped me to understand the lesson better. This lesson has left such and impact that I can really tell the meaning of Medisave and Medishield and how it helps us. This lesson, especially the photographs, got me totally into the lesson.

Maria 3E2

I think it really helped because the worksheet has the bill. Then it showed how the medical bills were reduced by Medisave…so it makes it clear. Then the story also make me want to use the overhead bridge instead of just crossing the road.

Christden Velonza 3E2

The lesson helped alot. If you have not use your own story, I am afraid that I may not have undersstood the lesson well. Now I also know how to read medical bills.

Cassandra 3E2

Starting the lesson wasn't clear for us to understand. I got mixed up with Medisave and Medishield. But after the explanation I can undesrtand even better.

Verlynn 3E1

Imagine this – Instead of studying in the textbook about the 118 elements of the Periodic Table, a student can now discover them up close on a large Apple iPad screen. With the flick of a finger, the student is able to rotate the elements 360 degree or read up on the story of the elements. The student can even see the elements in 3D using special 3D glasses.  

In fact, I can be almost certain that if I were to ask my students which would they prefer – the textbook or the iPad, most of them would pick the iPad over their textbook. However, is learning taking place in the above scenario? Would my students know what they are supposed to learn if I give them an iPad each and let them explore the application (app) by themselves? How can I improve on the above scenario to ensure that meaningful learning will be taking place? 

One of the things which I have learnt from attending the conference is that the problem to the above scenario can be solved by having a good lesson design. This is where the role of teachers is important because teachers would be the ones coming up with the lesson design. With a good lesson design and the help of technology, the students would be able to carry out meaningful learning in a more engaging and interactive way than before. In most cases, this would mean that both students and teacher can get to benefit and this brings me to the next question – what is a good lesson design using technology and how can I come up with one?  

I believe a successful lesson which is able to marry pedagogy with technology is one which students are highly engaged and yet there is no loss in the rigor of the lesson. A teacher who is a good lesson designer is able to see the “gaps” in a lesson and use the appropriate technology to fill them up. Technology should not be used in such a way that the students will be short-changed for the sake of increasing engagement level in the students.  

It is not true that all lessons conducted without the use of technology will be plain and boring. However, in some cases, technology can serve as a useful tool for teaching by increasing the level of engagement or helping the students to grasp certain concepts which would be difficult to understand using direct teaching. Perhaps a good way for me to start improving my teaching would be to look at those lessons which students often complained as boring or have difficulty understanding and think if it is possible for me to close the “gaps” using technology.   

Attending the conference has allowed me to think more about the role of technology in teaching and learning and how I can use technology creatively to improve my teaching. In addition, I have learnt that technology is useful in teaching and learning only if teachers are good lesson designers who are able to use technology in a way which encourages meaningful learning in our students. We cannot assume that learning will take place on its own by feeding our students information in a “more interesting” way using technology. Teachers have to construct the correct learning environment for the students in order to leverage on the benefits technology brings.  

It is true that the iPad app mentioned in the first paragraph is able to provide my students with much more information about the elements and in a more interactive and interesting way as compared to a textbook. However, if the lesson design is not good, my students would soon realise that I am just feeding them information in a more creative way. I have to ensure that there is a good learning structure created for my students to engage them in meaningful and enjoyable learning.

It had been a fruitful and eye-opening experience attending Ed-Media 2010 held at Toronto last month. Although most educators share the same sentiments of struggling to marry ICT and class activities together, these sharings did bring me to think further about my perspective using technology to engage my students.

In planning a successful ICT lesson, I learnt to reflect on a few questions such as “Who are my students?  Why am I teaching this?  Which content do I to focus on? I also learnt that the end of the lesson, to get students’ feedback on their learning and ask again “Is this going to last?” and “Can I do better the next time?” While the world faces the same restriction with ICT tools and the curriculum design, how about adopting the correct mindset of learning the use of ICT with our students.  We have to be creative with the young minds and take on an open-mind towards learning.

In the concurrent sessions that I attended, students seemed to enjoy using familiar tools such as Facebook, Google Wave and video conferencing which could be used to build a lesson on. Learning in these social networking platforms begins when teachers and students illicit responses and feedback immediately and synchronously, otherwise students will feel bored. Thus, for these collaborative learning environments to be successful, they must be companied with interesting task questions which relies on the curriculum designer. Our imagination is important to our kids as without imagination there would not be invention and creation in the new era.

Familiar tools are required, otherwise special training is required for both the teachers and students and it might result in frustration in students and resistance in teachers to try out new technology.  Generally, most teachers face difficulties in motivating kids these days as they seek instant gratification and arent’ so easy to please.

The idea of an avatar is a popular choice in games such as Second Life and other gaming choices. A teacher went on an intensive study to play Role Playing Games (RPG) and realized that there are also many female gamers taking on characters online.  These youngsters are very intrinsically motivated to discuss and chat about important aspect of the games in a forum using a much higher standard of English language.

 There were other concurrent sessions that focused on learning outcomes such as an action study by a Japanese school on the effect on audio and note-taking on tablet PCs showing improvement on students memory - visual and audio strategies for self-studying. A teacher emphasized her work on building students’ portfolio using PowerPoint slides and ensured that students are employable at the end of their education. ICT tools can also serve as a form of assessment such as using an application available on Ipod for teachers to review and set MCQ questions.

In conclusion, I feel that it is important for the lesson designer to understand the pedagogy behind the use of ICT tool. It should serve more importance than just a motivational strategy and dependence on the technology to make the lesson interesting.  The main idea is still on developing skills and the passion towards learning rather than leading to an empty brain in our students as we know that the rapid change in lifestyles and development in technology might leave us with nothing at the end of the day.

Moving ahead, I have brought also teaching moments and good values back to class such addressing student attitude of being easily conceited nowadays. As educators, we might not be always able to satisfy the needs of our digital natives and keeping an open-mind to the volatility within the next few decades in terms of ICT.

I feel proud in my heart that my school, YI is indeed a competitive school and one of the leading school in ICT both in Singapore and worldwide context. For my learning and experience this time, the credit goes to Qiu Wen and Daryl have put in alot of effort for their research. Nevertheless, I feel energized and willing work hard to be part of the team under my wonderful RO, Daryl.

Last but not least, we also had fun during the trip. We visited the winery and Niagara falls and did shopping after working hours! It was definitely a good way to relieve stress. J I also managed to network and made a few new friends in this trade and coincidentally met NIE ICT lecturer, Dr Cheung Wing Sum, who also presented his research paper during this conference. It was indeed a memorable and unforgettable business trip.:)

Hitler's racial policy and his final solution to the Jewish question (Holocaust) is part of the Sec 3 history syllabus. This topic is both easy and difficult to teach. Violence and conflict of the pasts are topics that easily captivates the students. Images in the form of photographs and video-clips on Holocaust can be used for visual presentation to disseminate contents. This is the easy part.

But how to teach values, skills and also check students understanding of lesson in a meaningful way? No doubt the topics of racism and mass murder due to racial/religious differences are sensitive, the topics also create opportunities for teachable moments as well.

For the lesson the students watched a trailer of a movie on Holocaust, Schindler's List, to engage their attention and also to give them a glimpse of what they are going to learn for the lesson. Students were asked questions on what they saw bringing their attention to specific details like "Nazis officials smiling and shooting at the corpses of Jews burning. Students were then posed questions like "What were these Nazis feelings towards Jews. With this students were introduced to Hitler race theory that claims German race to be be Aryan/superior race and Jews as inferior race, who needs to be treated as slaves. Propaganda/anti-semitic posters targeted at the Jews were also shown to the students for them to visualize and understand how Hitler's race theory was put into practice under his rule. 

The students were given a summary of other rules that were implemented against the Jews in Germany and how all these eventually led to the execution of the Final Solution to the Jewish Question - the Holocaust (planned and systematic mass murder of the Jews). The students also watched another video-clip on how the were Jews tricked to having a bath in the concentration camps, which eventually turned out to be gas-chambers where the Jews were suffocated to death.

For greater depth, one of the victim's experience, Anne Frank (a Jewish girl who left Germany with her family to Holland and later went to hiding to be safe from Nazis) and her diary was introduced to my students. Images of where the she and her family hid themselves were shown and the students also read 2 selected diary entries of Anne Frank, which described about her family's experience while in hiding. Students definitely got a more insightful learning experience as they had the opportunity to read the experience of a victim of Hitler racial policy. 

After a short discussion on the diary entries students were given the following task:

Students are to imagine that Anne Frank survived the concentration camp (she and her family were eventually discovered by the Nazi officials and sent to different concentration camps). They are also to imagine themselves as Anne Frank and write a entry into Anne Frank's diary describing their experiences in the concentration camps, their thoughts and feelings about the experience of the Jews in the camp and their thoughts on Hitler's racial policy. Indeed the objective was to give students an opportunity to be part of history and also to check for their understanding.

The folllowing are two of my students impressive diary entries:

A poem by Amirudy 3E2

Dearest Kitty,

I’m finally out, free from the tortures of Germany’s hell

But I wish I could say the same for the others that fell

Words can’t describe how I currently feel

For my knees kneel tired, my lips dried seal

I’m free from whatever that is contrary to sane

For I don’t want to ‘forget the unforgettable pain

Kitty, how long has it been? Days seemed like years,

When I experienced the sum of all fears

No more gunfire shots that’ll go through souls

My mental distortion shall unfold

Kitty, you are my dearest companion, one I wish I could hold

Because you’re precious to me, prices soar like gold

Now, I’ll pray for those who have lost all hope of life

To the fathers, the mothers, the husbands and wives

I’ll never forget nor forgive what Alois little brother has done

For shadowing the lives of the Jews away from the sun

Bergen-Belsen, that name brings a distasteful bell

Of a place I will forever remember as the camp of hell

 Yours Anne

 Christialyn Villaflores 3E2 

12 April 1946

Dearest Kitty,

It’s been a long time since I last wrote to you. I am happy to see you again my dear. After all that we’ve been through, it’s finally over. We are all free…

A month has passed ever since the humble British liberated us from the evil dictator Hitler and his demons, the Nazis and the SS. We are now living in peace in our new home “Israel.” It mean “struggled with God” like we had to struggle to survive for 2 years under the evil clutches of the Nazis. Kitty it may have been a month since then, but I can still remember the fellow Jews and what I have been though, like it was only yesterday…

It was hot all over. The sun was scorching hot on our heads as we are forcibly working on the dirt. Everyone is hungry and thirsty for we did not have a proper meal in ages. All of us are dry and sticky for we haven’t bathe in days as well. I heard some men whispering among themselves on how to escape. If everyone in this camp looked the same and there were Nazis everywhere, it felt like it was completely impossible for any of us to escape! Men, women and children hair was shaved off by the Nazis.

They were all brutes who showed no mercy to us Jews. I always wanted to kill all of them. But if I do that, it would only feel as if I am like them. Every night I felt like crying whenever I heard the people screaming. The Nazis said that they were only giving the Jews time to “bathe” but later I realized that they were lying when no one came out alive from the “bath chambers.” I was scared to die. What they have done was completely inhumane. They were slaughtering us like dogs! I always asked myself, “Why are they doing this?! We are also humans like them! We all deserve to live. We aren’t just rats for them to trap and kill!”

But now it’s all over. We are finally free. But I still grieve the lost of my mother and sister who had struggled to survive. If all this never happened, they would still be alive, including all those who had suffered and died in the hand of the Nazis.

 If I have one wish, I will wish all of this never happened…

 Yours Anne  

The diary entries of students were generally very insightful,in-depth, heart-warming and some revealed maturity in thoughts about the concept of race, human rights and racism.

                                  《醉人的春夜》 

      “再遇到人，一定开口。”陈静想着，抬头望了望巷口昏黄的路灯。夜深了，四周黑(hēi)漆(qī)漆(qī)的，没有人影，远处传来一阵阵犬(quǎn)吠(fèi)声。“唉！自行车偏偏在这时坏了，真倒(dǎo)霉(méi)！”她从心底发出无可奈何的叹息。　　突然，身后传来一串自行车的铃声，陈静只来得及“欸(èi)”了一声，骑车的小伙子已经一掠(luě)而过。　　咦(yí)？骑车的小伙子又回来了。陈静心里却紧张起来：这么晚了，他……“你刚才喊我？”小伙子跳下车。“啊，没……”，矜(jīn)持(chí)和自卫的心理交织着，陈静说不出话来。“是车子坏了吧？”一双似笑非笑的细长眼睛望着她。她稍稍平定了下来：“是啊。”小伙子查看车子后，说道：“哎呀！没工具，我帮不了你。”陈静心里又是一片黑暗。“这样吧，前面岔(chà)口(kǒu)的左边有间车(chē)铺(pū)，这时还有人，你去看看吧。”小伙子跨上车子，飞快地走了。陈静气呼呼地说：“哼！这种人！”她差点哭了起来。12点了，哪家的车铺这时还开门营业？　　他不是骗人吗？不信归不信，来到了岔口，陈静忍不住朝左边方向望去，果然有间店铺还亮着灯。她犹(yóu)疑(yí)地站住了。店铺里走出一位扎着辫子的姑娘，向陈静喊：“姑娘，来吧！”“哎呀，是车铺吧？”陈静觉得周围一下子亮了起来，颓(tuí)丧(sàng)、惧怕，消失得无影无踪。　　这是间临街的店铺。一个年轻人正在整理晾干的衣服。“请进，就是地方小了点。”年轻人站起身。陈静一愣：“是你？”“是我。”年轻人笑了，“我说有人嘛，还能骗你！”“我哥哥一回来，就急忙把我叫起，说有要事，原来是……”姑娘跟在陈静后面，说话像是开机关枪似的。陈静感激地笑了笑：“太麻烦你们了。”“没什么。我哥哥怕你不敢进来，才让我招呼你。其实，你也是胆子太小，我就不怕。“说得陈静怪难为情的。　　会者不难，车子很快修好了。“多少钱？”陈静打心里希望这小伙子多收她点儿钱。“钱？”小伙子一愣(lèng)，旋即笑了：“给五块钱吧。"一只大手满是油(yóu)污(wū)，伸到陈静面前。“哥——”快嘴的姑娘拉长了声音叫着，“你开什么玩笑！我们又不是修车的。”她把那只油污的手打下去，对陈静说：“姑娘，他就是这样，跟谁都爱开玩笑。”　　一路上，微风吹着陈静的长发，发丝拂(fú)到脸上，怪痒痒的，也很舒服。她觉得今晚的路灯格外明亮，亮得耀眼；空气中，也似乎有种甜美的味道。　　    啊，你这醉人的春夜！ 

教学内容：了解故事的情节和人物心理变化过程。 

教学目标：运用情节山脉图理解文章内容和人物的心理描写和其他细节描写

教学难点：人物心理变化如何推动故事情节发展

教学重点：人物心理描写和其他细节描写设计意图：通过情节山脉图，让学生熟悉课文并且理解人物心理变化是推动故事发展的关键。同样是好人好事的篇章，但是通过细节描写，让故事内容具体、真实感人。

教学流程：

 一导入新课

吴金良是当代写实型小小说作家，他的早期成名作《醉人的春夜》写的实际上是百姓生活中的好人好事。为什么他写的这篇小说成为他的成名作，而我们写的这类别题材的作文却让人觉得编造？请看他的作品《醉人的春夜》。

二默读全文，了解故事内容。学生说出文章的六大要素。

三学生分组完成课文理解问答

读后思考：　30分　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

1．文中“再遇到人，一定开口。”什么情况使陈静下定决心现在一定要开口呢？　（4分）［复述题，从第一段找，再串起来］    

2．陈静看到小伙子离开又回来，她有什么反应？为什么？(4分)［理解题，根据上下文，找隐含信息］   

3．姑娘招呼陈静进店，她前后心理又有什么变化？(4分)［根据上下文，找出，串起来］   

4小伙子不直接告诉陈静那间店是他自己的原因是什么？(4分)［找出妹妹的话，再根据上下文，回答问题］   

5请说说下面两句话在文中意思。(4分)

1.    陈静心里又是一片黑暗　［本来陈静希望什么？结果小伙子帮上忙了吗？让陈静心理觉得如何？］ 

 2.    说话像是开机关枪似的。［机关枪的声音是怎样的？］　　 

6你认为陈静、小伙子、和小伙子的妹妹是什么样的人？请从课文中找出例子加以说明。(6分)［他们是怎样性格的人？根据他们说的话、做的事加以寻找］     

7陈静为什么觉得“春夜”是“醉人”的？(4分)［陈静对“春夜”感觉是什么？为什么有这样的感觉？］

四请学生跟随老师画出情节，巩固课文内容，讲评理解问答。

五总结文章细节描写，尤其心理描写。

六结合本文，要求学生完成情境作文，运用细节描写。

附：理解问答答案

1． 文中“再遇到人，一定开口。”什么情况使陈静下定决心现在一定要开口呢？（4分）［复述题，从第一段找，再串起来］ 因为她的自行车坏了，1／夜深又很难遇到人，1／如果再不请人帮忙，1／回家就很麻烦。1／

 2．陈静看到小伙子离开又回来，她有什么反应？为什么？(4分)很紧张，1／虽然她希望有人帮助，1／但是很胆小，1／害怕夜深遇到坏人。1／ 

3．姑娘招呼陈静进店，她前后心理又有什么变化？(4分)不再犹疑1／，颓丧、惧怕心理消失的无影无踪，2／感觉周围亮起来，心理高兴起来。1／ 

 4小伙子为什么不直接告诉陈静那间店是他自己的理由是什么？(4分)小伙子担心陈静胆小，1／叫妹妹起床招呼她，1／好让陈静放心，1／还有他要回来找工具，才可以帮忙她修车。1／ 

5请说说下面两句话在文中意思。1.    陈静心里又是一片黑暗本来她希望小伙能帮忙,1／但对方又爱莫能助,1／让她从希望中又陷入失望。2／2.    说话像是开机关枪似的。      形容说话很快，而且连续不断。

6你认为陈静、小伙子、和小伙子的妹妹是什么样的人？请从课文中找出例子加以说明。1.    小心谨慎(小伙子又出现时，陈静有自卫的心理)、害羞(矜持的心理)2.    有同情心(又回去找陈静)、乐于助人(帮陈静修车)、细心(担心陈静不敢近来所以让妹妹去招呼她)幽默风趣（“给五块钱吧。）3.    乐于帮助人(愿意帮哥哥招呼陈静)、胆子大(对陈静说：“你也是胆子太小了，我就不怕”)

7陈静为什么觉得“春夜”是“醉人”的？答：因为小伙子和小伙子的妹妹有同情心，在她遇到困难时，得到他们的热心帮助，使她感到人间有温情，所以觉得这个春天的夜晚特别迷人。    

 教学反思： 　之前，有时为了省事省时，自己讲，学生听，学生利用课后理解问答的练习，体会理解文章内容。在这次准备课程中间，怎样让学生了解这篇文章内容，怎样让学生理解人物内心变化和其他写描写解？用思维导图还是运用列表方式还是其他方法呢？后来试着利用情节山脉图，通过画情节山脉图，很容易让学生了解故事内容，特别对于程度较弱的学生通过反复学习，学习课文内容，理解课文词汇有很大帮助。人物心理描写词汇直接标示图上，心理变化过程相当直观，容易理解陈静这位敏感女生内心变化和主题。从中，自己觉得任何一篇文章要找出适合学生程度的教学方法，否则事倍功半。   虽然，准备这次的课花了整整一个礼拜闲暇时间，但是教学效果却不尽人意。因为，课堂上，有的学生听课不够专心，连文章的时间、地点、主要内容回答不出来。有的学生没有记笔记，有的没有完成课后作业，有的只听没想。花了几近90分钟才匆匆完成情节山脉图。教学效果跟自己预期想象差很远。上完这节课，自己相当沮丧。回想自己目标、希望，自己一个星期的付出，心灰意冷。学生错吗？学生错在哪里？自己错了吗？又错在哪里？冷静想了相当长时间，应该错在自己教学生不严。因为看到很多学生平时懒懒散散，每次讲骂提醒，效果不大，懒得理睬，结果在关键时刻，学生“原形毕露”，教师“自食其果”。作为一个教师，应该在严格要求学生基础上与学生关系密切。虽然学生与我关系不错，但是没有宽严结合，自己教学效果无法实现，更主要学生学习进步不大。        

教学中，平时忙于各种杂务，很少花时间准备课程，教学效果当然无法很好体现，因为教学过程不够紧凑，教学流程就不够顺畅；教师自身教学能力也无法很好提高。要让学生听懂、学会，教学背后一定要准备“十年工”，教师一定要克服环境局限，否则，只是一个照本宣科的老师罢了。 

 题目问法／题型

·        是什么？What?

·        为什么？原因？Why?

·        结果怎么样？如何？How?

·        A和B的区别是什么？（要分别说明A和B的特点）

·        同意不同意？为什么？Agree/Disagree? （要充分说明自己的理由，最好可以举例说明）

·        从哪里可以看出？How can you tell?

·        举例说明Give Examples/Evidences

·        解释词语/句子（在文中的意思） Give meaning/Explain (contextual meaning)

·        作者的用意是什么？（鼓励/分享/批评/说明 + 文章中心思想）

·        本文给你什么启发？你学到了什么道理？（最好根据文章的主题/中心思想回答）

·        自由回答Open-Ended，例如：如果你是作者你会怎样做？

答题技巧：

1．            解释词语/句子－（在文中的意思）Give meaning/Explain (contextual meaning)：　　必须根据该词/句子在文中的意思(contextual meaning )，用自己的话加以解释，而不是从篇章中抄出答案。你的答案即使不完全符合标准答案，只要意思接近，就可以接受。如果问“句子在文中的含义”，要结合文章中人物或道理。不可用原句中的关键字词。要解释全部的含义，而不是一部分。

2．            题目分题－有些题目含有两个部分，就必须按顺序写出个部分的答案。从题目中有多少个问号，可以略知一二。

3．            题目中分数比重－分数比较多，题目难度较高，答案通常较长。反之，分数较少，题目较容易回答，答案通常较短。

4．            自由回答Open-Ended Question通常出现在最后一题，分数比重较高。如果要求你发表自己的看法，内容或理由必须充足（2-3点具体阐述），而且必须联系文章的主题。因为分数较多，不要期望你只写了三言两语就可以拿到满分。

5．            做完一题，就要全文上下检查是否有漏掉的要点。

6．            就近原则。寻找答案时，先看题目关键词出现的最近的部分，再到远处找补充的答案。

7．            题目问题后有“试举例说明”或“试具体说明”时， 先回答问题，再举例或说明。

8．            注意题目中的关键词问法，答案要紧扣问法。

9．            若题目问文中例子的用意，先说明例子为了说明或证明什么，再具体分析例子怎样证明。

10．        如果文中可以直接找到答案，尽量只改每个句子一两个词，而不是全用自己话概括，否则容易丢得分点。

11．        最后一题如果是“评价题”，不要只停留在文章本身，而是谈你对这一观点的看法。

12．        答案要让考官不看文章也能明白

理解篇章《橘子好吃吗》

一、引起动机 

总结上几次课小组比赛的结果，鼓励落后者努力加油，领先者再接再厉。

  二、发展  1． “小评审”比赛（Think-Pair-Share） 

1)      老师回顾理解问答步骤：一懂、二抓、 三串、 四查。

      快速理清6要素。（一懂）

2)      学生分为4组，2－3人一组，老师投影出学生回家功课答案。每组学生给一位学生的答案举牌打分，并写出有何缺点。

3)      评论正确的组加1分，并有机会补充答案。

4)      若此组的答案还不够完整，其他组抢答补充答案。补得题目几分，就加几分。

5）老师点评，给出正确答案。

2.   “火眼金睛”与“穿针引线”活动 

1)      老师根据几道推断题，用提问抢答的方式，引导学生一起完成理解分析思维导图。（“火眼金睛”活动）（二抓）

2)      要求每位学生当场根据思维导图串联答案。（“穿针引线”活动）（三串）

3)      继续进行 “小评审”比赛。（四查）

4)      老师给出正确答案并点评。

 三、总结  

1)      老师点评学生的表现，并让学生在贴纸上写出今天学到的内容。

 2)      老师统计获胜和落后组，并颁奖。 

下节课引导学生自己画思维导图来分析问题, 并串联问题。

The creative, interesting and thought-provoking history projects submitted by my students were my inspiration to write this reflection. In term 2 my secondary 3 students were learning the concepts of authoritarian regimes and communism and about communist rule in Russia. Video-clips and photographs, among other tools, were used to make students learn and understand these complex concepts. After many lessons, some students still had many difficulties understanding, relating and differentiating between the concepts of authoritarian regimes and communism. I had one more tool left to help them understand these concepts better and that was to make them read the novel, Animal Farm, and do an individual project based on it as their March holiday homework.

Animal Farm, though a novel depicting the lives of animals in a farm, was written to capture the Russian history, in particular, reflecting the rise of communism and Stalin in Russia and the lives of people under the communist/Stalin’s rule. The animal characters in the novel represent the various historical characters in the Russian history. Students were given the task sheet and 2 chapters of the Animal Farm. For those who were willing to take up the challenge, they were encouraged to do the project based on the whole book. The characters in the book and their relation to the historical characters were explained and one part of the Animal Farm movie was also shown to the student in class to help them visualize the animal characters as they read the novel to complete their project. They were also encouraged to watch the cartoon version of the Animal Farm found online on You-Tube.

For their projects, students were expected to relate the characters and events in the book to what they have learnt about the Russian history and do a comparative study. The form of their final products was left to their own imagination and creativity. Looking at the projects submitted by my students, I am glad that I did not want the project to be on power-point slides as this “forced” them to think of other creative ways to present their projects.  

Some students imagined themselves as Russians and did diary entries of their experiences under communist/Stalin rule. The diary entries were very interesting as the feelings, thoughts and emotions revealed (which are usually not found in history textbooks) and the language used by the students to reveal these thoughts and emotions in their diaries depicted not only their understanding of the topic but also how they put themselves in the shoes of Russians living through this historical period. The students have definitely given in-depth thoughts to the historic events to reflect on the experiences of the Russian people who lived in this time period.

A couple of students studied the propaganda posters used during Stalin’s regime. They printed out various propaganda posters from the internet, analyzed and interpreted these propaganda materials to understand the Russian history under communism. One of these students designed two propaganda posters of her own to criticize communist rule: one was using the animals and the other using the actual historical characters. Two students reproduced the farm and the scenes in the book in 3D format using toy-animals, plasticine, styrofoam boards and etc. A couple of student also reproduced the novel with their own thoughts and reflections on the book and many other students themselves felt that the books produced by their classmates were fit to be placed in a library or even sold in a bookstore!     

The time, effort and creativity of these students as revealed by the high standard projects submitted by them were indeed heartwarming. The success of this project can be seen in the students’ reflection, where they indicated that the Animal Farm novel enabled them to understand better what they learnt in class about the Russian history under communism and Stalin. Maybe the story-telling format of the book enhanced students’ understanding of the historical events and the student’s conscious effort to link the various animal characters in the novel to the actual historical characters kept them well engaged as they read the novel.

The down-side of giving project work: I am still going after some students for their projects!

除了帮助学生有效地记笔记以外，思维导图也能让学生扩散思维，帮助学生在阅读课文后，更有效地掌握课文段落之间的关系。本教案希望通过思维导图，让学生更进一步了解课文的主角－－白医生的为人和性格。

教学步骤：

1）引起动机：学生观看有关无国界医生的短片，然后与全班同学口头分享看法：什么是无国界医生？无国界医生和普通的医生有什么不同？一个好医生必须具备哪些条件？

2）学生听了课文朗读之后，思考以下问题，并通过思维导图从课文找出有关白医生／镇民的资料，从中推断他／他们的为人及性格。
a) 白医生是个怎么样的医生？[例子］
-白医生是个家喻户晓的医生因为……..
-白医生是个不计较金钱的医生因为………..
-白医生是个不辞劳苦的好医生因为……..
-白医生是个尽职尽责的医生因为……..

b) 镇上的人如何对待白医生？
-在白医生还没死前
-在白医生死后
-镇民重视白医生的葬礼吗？从哪里看得出？

c) 其他人物：新娘和墨西哥孩子的父母

教师引导学生完成思维导图。学生课后再完成教师设计的问答题。

Teaching ‘phrases’ through games  As an introduction, I presented an explanation of different phrases with examples through a PowerPoint presentation. The students responded by forming their own sentences using the various phrases called out in the introductory explanation.  Students then played charade games to find out various phrases through actions. They also played a similar game but this time by drawing sketches to describe the given phrase for their team to identify it correctly. The third game that was used to get familiarize with the phrases was situation play. The students acted out a scene for their team members to identify the appropriate phrase fitting the scene acted out. Finally I gave a sentence and the students elaborated the sentence using appropriate phrases. This game also helped the students to expand their vocabula

Teaching ‘phrases’ through games  

As an introduction, I presented an explanation of different phrases with examples through a PowerPoint presentation. The students responded by forming their own sentences using the various phrases called out in the introductory explanation.  Students then played charade games to find out various phrases through actions. They also played a similar game but this time by drawing sketches to describe the given phrase for their team to identify it correctly. The third game that was used to get familiarize with the phrases was situation play. The students acted out a scene for their team members to identify the appropriate phrase fitting the scene acted out. Finally I gave a sentence and the students elaborated the sentence using appropriate phrases. This game also helped the students to expand their vocabulary

To deliver a lesson using a multi user virtual environment (muve) is something new but I see a lot of potential in it.

First, it gets students out from their usual classroom setting in the artroom, secondly there is no "space constraint" in the virtual environment as we are working on a virtual space.

We in the amidst of having trial lesson on second life portal for Sec 3E2 on curating and setting up a virtual exhibition. As a hopeless IT idiot myself, there is a lot question such as administratives rights and age limit for students but nevertheless we still try to resolve them. With help from Innova JC, they shared with us how historical settings and characters from literature are simulated in their virtual school. We also manage to secure 17 avatars from ijc and confine them within the virtual gallery for the purpose of fulfilling their role as a virtual curator and not having to worry that they will teleport themselves to adult sites.

For the task they have to form a curatorial team of 4-5members. Discuss what makes the exhibition different from the rest, what kind of artwork is not always seen in the gallery. As a curator, students have to research find out more about the artworks/ artist statements.They also have to decide how to categorise the artworks chosen. For example,Theme (Eg, Belief from Singapore Art Biennale 2006),Chronology(Eg, Art of our Time from Singapore Art Museum), Medium (Sculpture, Water Colour Painting),choose a theme for the exhibition, come up with their criteria for including certain works and excluding others, select a range of artworks based on a given theme the curator(s) have decided, organise the artworks chosen. 

 I am quite excited about the project myself as I think it is a good learning platform for the kids. The first lesson on orienting themselves on secondlife went on well as they were happy creating objects, changing their avatar appearances and moving around. It is good start and I hope the next few lessons will go well.

People of all age group enjoys songs/music and our students are definitely plugged into their MP3s to listen to their favorite songs. After experimenting with 2 songs to meet lesson objectives for my Sec 3 history and social studies lessons, I wish I can find song for every topic I have to teach!

For my lesson on how Tsar Nicholas II of Russia lost his support among the poeple, which eventually led to the rise of communism in Russia, I used the song 'Ra Ra Rasputin.' As part of the lesson preparation I had already typed out the lyrics of the song on a worksheet so that students can follow the lyrics to find out more about Rasputin and his charateristics. The upbeat music definitely caused some students to move to the rythm while some others try to sing the song using the lyrics. Both of which was highly encouraged. At the end of the song, students were randomly called upon to share their understanding about Rasputin based on the song. I also selected some phrases which have hidden or indirect information and asked the students to make inferences about Rasputin based on these phrases from the songs. One such phrase that I picked from the song would be the following:"In all affairs of the state he (rasputin) was the man to please." Through this activity, using the lyrics and a political cartoon as historical sources, students were made to understand that Russian people had a bad impression of Rasputin, which caused them to lose their respect and support for the Russian Tsar as the Tsar and his family had close relationship with Rasputin. 

It was interesting to observe students trying to draw images of Rasputin using the information from the lyrics and the political cartoon and the questions they asked about Rsputin and his relationship with the Tsar's family. The lyrics of the song had definitely got them thinking. But what I consider as the success of using song for the lesson will be when during their class test many students managed to recall the information about Rasputin and his relationship with the tsar to answer the essay quetion on what are the factors that led to the rise of communism in Russia. Notably, neither the notes that I gave my students nor their history textbook consist any information on Rasputin. I introduced the aspect of Rasputin and how he was a factor for the fall of Tsar to go just a little beyond the textbook.The textbook and notes focuses on other factors. Yet many students remembered the lesson which had introduced Rasputin through the song alone and they used information about Rasputin to answer their essay question. The presentation of historical information in the form of song had enhanced the students ability to retain and recall the information.

I used the song titled 'Zombie' for one of my social studies lessons on the conflict in Northern Ireland between the Protestants and Catholics. The objective of the lesson was for students to understand how the conflict became very violent in the 1960s and this period is known as 'The Troubles Period.' Many of my students seem to be quite familiar with this song and again the spontaneous one, notably they were girls, sang along with the song.p  Again students were asked to make inferences about the nature of conflict in Northern Ireland and some of the phrases that were selected from the somg would be: "Another mother's breakin, Heart is taking over, When the violence 'causes silence We must be mistaken" and "In your head, in your head they are fighting, With their tanks and their bombs, And their bombs and their guns, In your head, in your head, they are crying."

Towards the end of the lesson, the students had to add 5 or more lines to the lyrics of the song 'Zombie' as a form of reflection on the lesson. They had to follow some guidelines: These lines should show what you have learnt about the conflict in Northern Ireland and also how you feel about this conflict in a multi-ethnic (racial) society. You can compare Northern Ireland’s conflict with the harmony we enjoy in Singapore. 

The following are examples of what some students wrote:

What has happened to humanity? Will this war ever end?Will we learn to live in peace and harmony? Understand each others differencesAccept each other as who we areBut the way we are behaving nowI don’t think we’ll go very far!In your head, in your head, Zombie, zombie, zombie, Will you let it end like this?                                                          

Melissa 3E2

People are dying, my heart is breaking, Help me, help them, help us, We want our freedom, our landNorthern Ireland is ours! Think about what you are doing,Think about the others around you! Put yourself in other people’s shoes, Spare a thought for us!

Cassandra 3E2

Help me to be free, All I wanted you to see, is that I’m not a bird you need to cage. Let’s end all this cruel rage, Let’s join hands making it all equalTwo differences can always lead to success, Instead of this war becoming endlessly restless Let the future turn into unity, Rather than this endless brutality     

Christialyn Vilafores 3E2

Stop, killing the innocents and the war! Protestants had taken the land People of Northern Ireland were being tortured by the British. The war had never stopped till today. The Irish wanted peace. All the innocents had turned into zombies!

Jing Ping 3E2 

The students' reflections were reflections of their understanding of the causes of conflict in nortehrn Ireland and the meaning of chaos and violence and also a reflection of how they put themselves in the shoes of those sufferring due to the conflict in Northern Ireland. I did not give any specific instruction to put themselves in the shoes of those experiencing the conflict. The mood of the song, I feel, did the trick. The song did not just came to an end with the end of that lesson. But during other lessons on Northern Ireland I kept referring to some of the lines in the lyrics to make students understand the relationship among all the lessons and the rationale for using the song in that lesson. For example, when i was trying to explain to the students how the conflict in Northern Ireland became a civil war, I referred back to these lines in the song "In your head, in your head they are fighting, with their tanks and their bombs, and their bombs and their guns."                                          

I found songs very helpful in the delivery of my lessons. They were useful to make lessons interesting and keep students focused, to enhnace students' understanding of the lesson, for students' retention and recall of information and as evidences for what had happened and what is happening and also to make students put themselves in the shoes of those experiencing the various issues and problems.

During the Sec 2 study skills workshop, the students were taught to use Visualisation as one of the many memory techniques taught. The students were asked to practise this skill on any topic of their preference. Some did drawings for the topic of Romeo & Juliet, some did drawings of the digestive system etc. Some have nothing to draw at all which prompted me to ask them if their mind was just as blank too. The students responded that they were taught the topic but they were not taught to draw the topic thus they can't really visualise the drawing they need to do.

 This led me to think back to the times when my own bio teacher in sec school who forced us to practise loads of biological drawings! Till today, I can still recall certain structures well as a result of those practices. While we tend to show many pics/animation/video in class to illustrate certain concepts, I guess it will be good to train students to draw out some concepts (not possible to draw all concepts) that they can picture to help them in retaining certain concepts.

Hope this can help our students who always tell us that they can't visualise certain science concepts taught!

Term 1 2010 has come and gone. As I sit and reflect on my own teaching, I can’t help but think about the lessons that I have gone through with 4E4, my math class. I love teaching this class, not because I  know them (I taught them for a term in 2009) but they are generally a nice bunch of students who seem willing to learn. Compare them to some of the other graduating class I have taught so far, I have this sense that they are much more motivated and teachable.

However, teaching them is not easy. Most of them are generally weak in their Mathematics foundation and they struggle to understand the concepts taught. I struggle too, thinking about the amount of time that they have and knowing how important it is for them to clear this subject so as to win a place in the polytechnic.

I have recently started teaching a subtopic on vectors. It did not go well as I can sense that they were having trouble trying to solve the little post lesson exercise I handed them. I went home thinking about the lesson, decided that I have to try again and this time perhaps with a different approach. Taking time to prepare the lesson, I decided that in order for the next lesson to be successful, the activities and resources have to be re-crafted all over again and in a more succinct manner. I took time to break down the mathematical process into simpler steps and put them down in worksheet form. It worked. They seem to get it the second time.

As I reflect on this, I realize that more often than not, I take for granted that things that seem so simple to me are actually a mystery for our students. It is not difficult to imagine this as I recall my experience in learning driving, it was sheer challenge to me then, shifting gear and handling the steering wheel. It is a contrast now that as it has become a second nature to me. I guess this is the same for our student, they struggle at new knowledge and it is only right for us to demystify the process for them.  

The key to demystifying, I think, is to make the process as explicit as possible. Explaining all the steps in the process in a clear way that leaves no room for doubt. Explain the purpose of the assignment and activity; state what it is used for. Provide different context for them to apply the new knowledge, help them in their transfer of the new knowledge. Also, provide all the necessary steps in written directions so that students can then internalize them and know how you want an assignment to be completed.

I hope the next few starting lessons in term 2 will become better as I look at this process.

Just sat in for two sessions with pupils of Sec 2 N3 for the programme organised for them. It is quite interesting as far as the content materials are concernced. The materials are defintely use and suitable for the pupils of the level. The session on responsibility and target setting is most apt for the pupils. The pupils are well engaged and should always be reminded of the skills that they have been taught.

The trainer may not be so motivating herself and she has the art to impart the knowledge of discipline to pupils. Mrs Yip, the trainer

meant no nonsense when she dealt with the topic on 'Premarital sex and STIs'. After which the pupils were taught about the skills in mind mapping in which I too have a refreshing course in it as well. There are some other aspects which I learnt as in some of her usage in instructions to pupils.

In short, its never too old to learn.

I tried the One-Minute Paper in my classes. I find it is applicable in my classroom teaching to developing the reflective skills of students.

The One-Minute Paper: can be used at the beginning of a lesson to draw their interest or to get their responses about the specific subject matter covered during lesson. It encourages students to think with a purpose, getting them to be aware or be prepared for the topics covered during lesson.  

I used at the end of the lesson as well, the one-minute paper can be used to assess students' comprehension of ideas covered in the discussion.

Reflection plays an important role in learning and self-development. For teachers, taking time to find out how students are learning after each lesson helps to develop our teaching skills as we try out different approaches/teaching techniques to teach more effectively. For students, being a reflective learner also help them to be critical, to make sound judgements and to analyse how effective their learning is. Students get to be more aware of what and how they are learning. Therefore, it's important to develop students' own reflective capacities as reflective skill is associated with higher thinking skill and learning.

The 2 techniques that I find applicable in my classroom teaching to developing the reflective skills of students after reading the article by Stephen D.Brookfield:

1) The One-Minute Paper: can be used at the beginning of a lesson to draw their interest or to get their responses about the specific subject matter covered during lesson. It encourages students to think with a purpose, getting them to be aware or be prepared for the topics covered during lesson.  

2) The Critical Incident Questionnaire: effective in getting constant feedback from students about their learning experiences in class as teachers and students may perceive the learning activities in classroom differently.

Developing students' reflective skills is not easy, but as the old chinese proverb says "A journey of a thousand miles begin with one small step". The 1 approach that I think I will adopt in my classroom to help my students to be a reflective learner will be The One Minute Paper.

It is important to be aware how our students are experiencing their learning and perceiving our teaching.

the 1 -min test:  Student are asked to write a quick response to a specific question about subject matter of the day in the class before lesson start. Alternatively used at end of lesson it can be used to guage the students' comprehension of ideas covered in lesson.Theme/issues that emerged can be use to meet the needs of the students in the next lesson, or to address students' misconception.

student learning journal: Students are asked to kept a log-book containing their personal difficulties , or summaries of their own progress in lesson.Upon exam/test, they can have a quick scan of their "error" and thus not repeating the same mistakes.

A skillful teacher is one that is skillful and caring. This teacher has content knowledge and also the ability to discover students’ potential. Pushing students to their maximum limit and teach them other skills along the way using teachable moments.

This teacher also cares for the students and is always willing to go the extra mile to nurture students in a holistic manner. He/she will set a role model for students to not be so self-centred. This caring attribute will work hand-in-hand for the teacher to discover the student’s strength and weaknesses so that the student can be stretched to the limits to achieve and bring out the best.

Marcus

I used Wii sports for one PE class and a war game for one history class. The results I believe were good. The students in the normal tech PE class proved fast learners. They could set up the equipement fast and also could pick up the games fast. I believe that this showed all students are fast learners. We just need to find the way to engage them.

Darren

Inquiry Approach

A process of inquiry which involves questioning the obvious phenomena.

Puts authoritative answers to tests by relying on investigations (e.g. experiments).

Feasible to stress the “Why’s” and use the “How do you know’s”.

Provide opportunities to practice phrasing answerable questions, for isolating problems, inventing workable hypotheses, and for deriving from data the simplest possible principles.
The purpose of inquiry teaching is to foster the students’ ability to think and speak the language of science through cognition of its structure.

Guided Discovery-Inquiry Approach

It occurs when the learning process of guided discovery involves inquiry.

If carefully planned, this approach can enhance the inquiry skills of students, as well as to ensure a general relevance of the lesson to the curriculum.

In this approach, teacher provides considerable structure for students to perform experiments but no answers are given.

Student “discover” for themselves.

The teacher may do this by:

raising thought provoking questions;

suggesting lines of inquiry;

conducting exploratory discussions;

allowing pupils to observe/manipulate materials, equipments;

providing guidelines, safety rules; and

using some audio-visual aids.

Implementation

E.g. Science Guided Discovery-Inquiry Lesson

Objective:

To find out the factors affecting the density of an object

Method: Using demonstrations

POE 

Prediction  - A teacher may ask students to guess which fruit till float (grapes with skin intact versus skinless grape)

Observation  - Teacher then performs the experiment to test the students' prediction.

Explanation - Teacher links the observation to theoretical concept and reinforces the understanding by giving another type of scenario (e.g. orange with skin versus orange without skin).

Summary

Guided discovery-inquiry approach ensures that knowledge is gained through investigation.

This process enables student-centered direct exploration of concepts.

Teachers taking on the role as a facilitator.

Students' learning become more vivid and well assimilated with teacher's further elaborations on concept taught.