I have no holiday this June!
Things to Do
Academic
Mark practical books. (started)
Prepare CME admin.
Mark workbooks.
Mark SPA Skill 3 (DONE)
Practical Coursework
Mark Practical Coursework. (DONE)
Prepare mark list. (DONE)
Prepare Comp Matrix. (DONE)
Prepare teacher's answers. (DONE)
Course
Balanced Scorecard Course (DONE)
Data Logger Course (DONE)
Admin
Call parents to check for Internet and PC availability. (DONE)
Update data on PC and Internet availability. (DONE)
Call 3 parents of failures. (DONE)
Call 2 parents for Physics. (1 done)
H1N1 admin (DONE)
Prepare Olympiad admin package. (DONE)
Send student leader nominations. (DONE)
Class committee final structure.
Supervise Happy Toilet drawing (DONE) and painting (DONE).
Work Review admin. (DONE)
Balanced Scorecard Dept Plan (DONE)
Finalize EL Dept ISPL (DONE)
Clear mailbox to 50%.
Teaching
Teach extended programme 4E1 and 4E6. (DONE)
Remedial groups for 4E6. (DONE)
Remedial groups for 1E2 (1st done) and 1E3.
Remedial groups for 4E1.
Remedial groups for 3E5. (1st done)
Teach 4E1 extra lessons. (DONE)
Teach Olympiad group. (OVER)
NCC
Follow Spec Course II (DONE) and Spec Course III last day. (DONE)
Finalize NCC admin. (started)
Finalize NCC Leaps points.
Finalize Camp admin. (DONE)
Attend Camp. (DONE)
NCC photos (DONE)
Supervise the NCC Room move. (DONE)
Create leadership form (DONE)
Resource Generation
Finalize Sec 3 online project rubric. (DONE)
Finalize Sec 2 video rubric. (DONE)
Finalize Sec 1 eLearning. (DONE)
Finalize Physics poster.
Do Physics eLearning (2 weeks) (DONE)
Do EL eLearning (writing) + HBL (2 weeks) (DONE)
Finalize Sec 1 EL SOW. (DONE)
Finalize Sec 1 EL Food unit. (DONE)
Finalize Sec 1 EL Supernatural unit.
Speech Day Programme Book (DONE)
Others
Tidy car.
Tidy table. (started)
Do serious dating that we cannot do during term time. (DONE)
See cancer specialists. (DONE)
Send car for servicing. (DONE)
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
I attended a Physics Sharing at TJC yesterday, conducted by a TJC senior teacher. And that's the difference between a JC teacher and a secondary school teacher. Almost all of the secondary school teachers there had weak Physics concepts and did not know most standard misconceptions or explanations. (But I'm a trained JC teacher...)
And he also mentioned that sometimes what teachers do in secondary schools is quite strange. For example, there was one school that took students out to experience an MRT ride to see inertia at work.
Yes, exactly. If you ask me, almost all students would have experienced that before. And experiencing it does not help you to understand or explain about it. The real reason why secondary schools do it is that it looks good. It is fashionable to have out-of-classroom lessons.
And he also mentioned that while Temasek Academy (IP) students do a lot of interesting lessons (THINK ©, PBL, Inquiry), the JC students actually don't because they are more focused on the A Level exam and preparation for university rigour. For bread and butter results, direct instruction of concepts is the way to go.
And he also mentioned that sometimes what teachers do in secondary schools is quite strange. For example, there was one school that took students out to experience an MRT ride to see inertia at work.
Yes, exactly. If you ask me, almost all students would have experienced that before. And experiencing it does not help you to understand or explain about it. The real reason why secondary schools do it is that it looks good. It is fashionable to have out-of-classroom lessons.
And he also mentioned that while Temasek Academy (IP) students do a lot of interesting lessons (THINK ©, PBL, Inquiry), the JC students actually don't because they are more focused on the A Level exam and preparation for university rigour. For bread and butter results, direct instruction of concepts is the way to go.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Over the weekend, there was a series of articles in the ST on MFA overseas offices. And there was an article on the embassy in Indonesia.
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Anyway, career teachers (not Ps, VPs, HODs and others) seem to have short lives. Many of my primary school teachers are dead. And apparently, a study in the UK proves that career civil servants (non-head) have short lives. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitehall_Study
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Anyway, career teachers (not Ps, VPs, HODs and others) seem to have short lives. Many of my primary school teachers are dead. And apparently, a study in the UK proves that career civil servants (non-head) have short lives. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitehall_Study
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
It has been most demoralizing this few weeks. Not only have my students not been studying, I've also been way too busy to coach them properly. And the usual stresses of being a teacher. And the unfairness.
It's really meaningless.
And I received some numbing news last week that not only am I a physical wreck, but I failed two cancer screening tests. My ENT cancer marker is astronomical while the GIT cancer marker is slightly high. This means that I most likely have a malignancy or am going to develop one in the near future. And that was why they called me by phone. The report will only be ready next week.
And I'm too busy to do anything about it until next week. Mid-Year exam marking as usual.
I'll start marking again at 9 pm after I take a shower and then read the papers.
It's really meaningless.
And I received some numbing news last week that not only am I a physical wreck, but I failed two cancer screening tests. My ENT cancer marker is astronomical while the GIT cancer marker is slightly high. This means that I most likely have a malignancy or am going to develop one in the near future. And that was why they called me by phone. The report will only be ready next week.
And I'm too busy to do anything about it until next week. Mid-Year exam marking as usual.
I'll start marking again at 9 pm after I take a shower and then read the papers.