The space...

as promised

2011-09-06T18:32:00.000+08:00

5年前的作品。。。

2011-09-06T18:29:00.003+08:00

近期，我相当欣赏的一位歌手是hocc。原名称何韵诗，Denise Ho。他是来自香港的一位很有天份的实力派艺人。又会唱歌，作曲，演戏。我非常欣赏他，因为他无论对人还是对事都是很诚恳。他也会利用他的气质来帮助需要帮助的人。虽然他起出主唱粤语歌，但他近期夜开始唱华语歌。幕后又Wyman Wong为他填词，他每首歌都非常有意义。

在成長的過程中，我們都一度設定自己是一個怎麼樣的人，
但隨著我們經歷的事，碰到的人，遇到的難題
慢慢會發現我們離我們想像的自己越來越遠。
有時候也許也會讓自己感到很失望，也很討厭自己原來是這樣不完美，
也曾因此而倘淚。

但世界上的事情，就是如此，
成長，就是要學習從不完美，找出完美的角度，
我們都是Imperfectly perfect的。

青蔥

詞：青峰
曲/編：pan
監：何秉舜@goomusic/hocc@goomusic

小時候說的話你記得嗎
我們描述不遠的未來要變成太陽月亮
你現在實現了嗎還是跟我一樣
偶爾抱著沮喪睡著了嗎

我們都不知道蔥會開花
只懂得欣賞每頓晚餐永遠配角的綠光
人生從來沒答案理想從來有偏差
完美本來就包含瑕疵啊

鏡子中驕傲的臉龐帶著些許憂傷
成熟外表下純真的心沒變化
童年的幻想長大後的尷尬
看清自己的模樣

如果再活一次會怎麼樣
生命中走過的日子裡想回到哪段時光
自己是一面鏡子越細看越明白
就讓氣味在黃昏裡擴散

鏡子中驕傲的臉龐帶著些許憂傷
成熟外表下純真的心沒變化
童年的幻想長大後的尷尬
看清自己的模樣

鏡子中微笑的臉龐帶著些許昂揚
成熟內心中默默地開滿了花
童年的玩耍成長的不漂亮
都是自己的模樣

Will upload her older and equally meaningful Cantonese songs later.

the power of river processes

2011-01-17T18:31:00.000+08:00

How erosion affects lives of people

The power of erosion process

Erosion and transportation

2011

2011-01-16T16:21:00.001+08:00

Every year I made the resolution to revive this blog and add more resources. Somehow or rather, work just got in the way and this is pushed aside.

This year will be different. I hope.

It will be different.

a reflective post in this reflective space

2010-05-03T10:10:00.005+08:00

The mid-year exams are already here. I hope the kids are studying hard for the exam. Consistency is the best policy over here, if they want to see progress.

I am glad that VP made mention of the plan they need to draw up to achieve their goals. Upon reflection, I find that, hey! I am actually doing that too, but subconsciously. In a way, that is a good way to plan for our goals because it enables us to constantly reflect what we have done and how we can do things better. I think it is very important to look to ourselves if we want to see progress. after all, it all boils down to our aims, motivation and drive. Others around us can give us advice, or offer us help, but if we don't take it up and consider very seriously, we only have ourselves to blame. Key thing here: humility will take us far, not arrogrance.

One interesting and reassuring fact that I learnt when conversing with friends and colleagues the past week:

"The most important skill that employers are looking for in the 21st Century are 1) effective communicators and 2) critical thinkers." Finally! After all the emphasis on Math and Science, Humanities is going to be the most important subject in schools. It is probably going to be the best subject to get people to think critically of certain issues in society.

Even as I am typing this post, I can't help feeling sad that in 5 months time, my alma mata will be closing down. The school building may still be there, but what is left will just be a shell. I will miss the kampung atmosphere. I will miss the teachers too. I am what I am today because of the support given by my teachers and peers. Call me old fashion, but I will still say out loud that despite the flaws of the school, I remain eternally grateful that I didn't ask for a transfer to a school of my choice even though I could. I will miss the good old times. Thank you Chai Chee for the opportunities given to me to grow! It may be a small, poor (?? well, in terms of infratsructure) neighbourhood school, nothing can take the richness of experiences and lessons I hearnt in the four years I was there.

Reminder to self
Goals till the mid-year that I need to achieve (work and non-work):
1) help the kids to do their best and pray hard that they don't get distracted

2) sort out, edit and add new written pieces in the writing project so that I can really get the book published!! (must do it by the end of the year)

3) draw up plans, balance work and personal time and refocus so that I can go back to volunteering either with SPCA or one of the nature conservancy groups

4) find a nice getaway place to recharge in June!

5) at the same time, while recharging in June, think of the proposal that I need to submit to apply for Masters and email the profs for advice

Eulogy

2009-07-28T10:24:00.003+08:00

Goodbye Yasmin Ahmad. May you rest in peace.
Goodbye Yasmin Ahmad. Your masterpieces will be treasured.
Goodbye Yasmin Ahmad. You may be gone metaphysically, but your ideals will live through us in eternity.

As simple as your storylines are,
the lines on your face belied the rich complexities of life you experienced.

You made us shed tears for something that seem imperfect in reality.
A father watching his young daughter grow up.
An Indian wife speaking fondly, or perhaps not so fondly, of her late husband's habits during her eulogy.

You made us sit up and take notice of the mundane.
You touched our lives with such a simple thing called love.

In you, the message of love is epitomised and transcended across faultlines.
You will be dearly missed.

Eulogy

2009-07-28T10:24:00.001+08:00

First Person: Paris riots - 28 Oct 07

2009-06-06T05:23:00.003+08:00

video 2

Manhunt for escaped JI detainee

2009-06-06T05:23:00.001+08:00

ignore this. just getting video resources for my SS class to do socratic questioning to my kids ;P

Zombie VS Kids

2009-05-31T11:27:00.001+08:00

LOL!!

refugee children in Thailand

2008-10-18T10:24:00.003+08:00

2 videos which I chanced upon while searching for resources for the November fieldtrip. I shall put them up on the other website when the appropriate time comes.

A 10-minute excerpt from the documentary 'Sacrifice'

UN-made documentary about children refugee in Thailand

These videos talk about how the hill tribes in Thailand survive. They also bring across the dire situation these people are facing as they flee from Myanmar to Thailand.

shrieks

2008-10-17T18:27:00.003+08:00

Will miss her concert in Singapore, but neever mind, I shall save money and buy the concert DVD when it's out. :)

Life as it is

2008-10-17T17:51:00.003+08:00

While I am happy that everyone in my class is promoted, I somehow feel a little apprehensive about them going to Sec 3 next year. In a few months time, these people will realise that it is a whole different ball game in upper secondary. That's where the hard work starts.

I know some may think that it is ok to slack in Sec 3, but my question to them would be: how will you manage Sec 4 and how will you study and do well for your 'O' Levels if you do not even know the content for Sec 3? Always remember that you will be tested on work from both Sec 3 and 4 in the 'O' Levels. Don't give up if you struggle to understand certain concepts. Always have the right attitude and not let the subject control you.

It's going to be an exciting time for them next year when they will be exposed to many different choices. Ah, life will be much easier if we do not have to choose isn't it? But with choices come responsibility. We make choices everyday whether consciously or unconsciously. Some of these choices are going to impact our future, our career choices.

After all, it wasn't too long ago that I made the choice to enter Science stream in Sec 3. At that time, I harboured thoughts of working in the laboratiry. It seemed so recent that I made the choice to cross over to do a combination of Geog, Lit, Economics and Maths in JC. Because I loved the arts and humanities too much to give them up. And since then, my career choice has revolved around the opportunities offered by these subjetcs.

Some may say that I am foolish. Giving up the more lucrative Sciences and going into the Arts and Humanities. But I want to follow my heart. I want to follow my passion. Have I regretted? No. Life may be slightly difficult for me, but at least I can say that my decision is based on clear conscience.

And so what? It doesn't mean that I am condemned to some low-paying jobs. Even if it's low-paying I would still say it's worth the sacrifice. As long as I have a clear conscience. That's life. Life will not be perfect.

I choose to be happy to follow my dreams. Some may choose to sarifice their dreams for a well-paid job, but it doesn't mean that they will be happy. Choose and live with the consequences.

And be the best.

I guess for me, I am always making things difficult for myself. :P First going to some anonymous neighbourhood school then travelling on a road slightly less travelled. I guess I always have to prove to everyone else that I will be able to shine in what I am doing, regardless of whether I come from somewhere obscure. But then again, it's a challenge I relish. Sometimes with some negative aspects, but like I said again, life isn't perfect. Is it satisfying? Yes, it is.

So, if anyone asks me if I regretted making those choices back then during my school days? My answer would be no. Never. Not in my whole life.

prayers and dreams

2008-09-22T21:16:00.003+08:00

I think, everyone deserves to have dreams. But dreams will remain as dreams if we do not work to acheive our dreams. This I learnt it through the hard way back in P6. Speaking of which, cousin T is taking his PSLE this year. I wish him all the best.

I think, no matter how old we are, we deserve to have the rights to pursue our dreams. If anyone asks me, I would tell them frankly that I have many dreams that I want to pursue. But I need to be patient. For there will be a right time for the right opportunity.

With adequate planning, my next step would be to pursue a Masters degree. Not hopefully, but definitely. Am I being too overconfident? I think not. If I can work myself from anonimity in a neighbourhood school to TJ and then Honours in NUS, what is impossible? If it is a sin to dream, then I would say that a bigger sin is to not do anything to achieve the dream and blame everyone else for our failures, when it is obviously our fault if we haven't done our best. When it is obviously our fault when we refuse to accept failures and bounce back from them.

Food for thought as I was reading a book from McCabe.

People often complain of 'distractions' during prayer. Theor mind goes wandering off on to other things. This is nearly always due to praying for something you do not really want; you just think it would be proper and respectable and 'religious' to want it. So you pray high-mindedly for big but distant things like peace... or you pray that your aunt will get better from flu- when you do not care about such things; perhaps you ought to, but you don't. And your prayer is rapidly invaded by distractions arising from what you really do want- promotion at work... If you are distracted, trace your distraction back to the real desires it comes from and pray about these. When you are praying for what you really want you will not be distracted.

Never mind if your prayer seems 'selfish' or childish. If you will be honest in prayer, acknowledging that you are not very altruistic, that you do worry about your own interests, if you will just try to be, and admit to being, as you are, the Holy Spirit will lead you into a deeper understanding of who you are and what you really want. For prayer is not only a matter of asking, it turns out to be about learning as well, about growing up, about discovering yourself. When you lay your true desires before God, you begin to see them in better perspective. Quite often you find that they are not, after all, the things you really wanted. If you bring these desires out into the light, but the divine light of the Lord, you begin to see them as important but not the most important thing to you. And so through the practice of praying, God will often lead you nearer and nearer to realising that in the end what you wantmost of all is God himself.

Not saying that this is only relevant to believers of Christ. But in many ways, it is true that we need to look within ourselves in an honest way to learn and to grow up. There are many things that we do not like in ourselves. Having the courage to know ourselves will make us stronger and yet more humble as we are more aware of our weaknesses and vulnerability as humans.

It is only through such self-awareness and knowledge that we have the courage to overcome our failures to achieve what we dreamt to be.

Seeking some quiet moments

2008-09-21T20:27:00.003+08:00

Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah - C+YF

Be Not Afraid - St. John the Baptist Choir

1. You shall cross the barren desert, but you shall not die of thirst. You
shall wander far in safety though you do not know the way. You shall speak
your words in foreign lands and all will understand. You shall see the face
of God and live.

R. Be not afraid. I go before you always. Come follow me, and I will give
you rest.

2. If you pass through raging waters in the sea, you shall not drown. If
you walk amid the burning flames, you shall not be harmed. If you stand
before the pow'r of hell and death is at your side, know that I am with you
through it all.

3. Blessed are your poor, for the kingdom shall be theirs. Blest are you
that weep and mourn, for one day you shall laugh. And if wicked men insult
and hate you all because of me, blessed, blessed are you!

Sing - The Carpenters

2008-09-20T05:28:00.002+08:00

Aren't they cute?
Aww...

English lyrics below

Sing, sing a song
Sing out loud
Sing out strong
Sing of good things not bad
Sing of happy not sad.

Sing, sing a song
Make it simple to last
Your whole life long
Don't worry that it's not
Good enough for anyone
Else to hear
Just sing, sing a song.

Sing, sing a song
Let the world sing along
Sing of love there could be
Sing for you and for me.

Sing, sing a song
Make it simple to last
Your whole life long
Don't worry that it's not

Good enough for anyone
Else to hear
Just sing, sing a song.

Quiet reflection time@5am before madness begins again

2008-09-20T04:39:00.005+08:00

It's going to be a busy, busy weekend for me. Marking papers, setting test questions, preparing lessons, CCA stuff. See how I am going to cram all these into 2 short days. Why? EOY exams will be coming soon. Work after EOY will also be just as intensive as I need to prepare for the trip. What trip? This one. The sacrifices we make to pursue our higher calling. But it's ok. Since it's my passion and I am bound by my principle of 'converting' others to see the relevance and fun in taking up Geog, I am contented and happy in doing something that I like. Yeah, I know in this pragmatic society, the Humanities are seen as irrelevant. Perhaps true if we are merely looking at it for career development. But I firmly believe that without these subjects, our life would be less enriching as after all, where oh where are we going to know about world events and the universal values of human life, if not for humanities?

Humanities = Human-ities. Study of humans and we are all surrounded by them, being one ourselves. We are all guided by what we believe in. Beliefs do not come from nowhere, but through our experience in interacting with others and knowledge of what has happened, is happening and will happen.

Anyway, before I get too carried away... Was reflecting back to events that had occured since the year started. It has been amazing that I managed to learn so many things in this short period of time. Think I am now qualified to tell my juniors (esp SL) that 'Life is NIE is a rose. Wait till you graduate and become a full-fledged teacher'. Muahahahaha. They are going to so hate me for 'suaning' them.

Last week has been particularly eventful. Actually the whole experience marked a sense of deja vu for me. But I guess growing up has its pains. How we deal with it will influence how we develop as a person as an adult. Thinking back, I think growing up for me would be less painful if I had the support that I needed, but hey, I survived! Actually it is quite amazing because I could never imagine myself to be living the life now when I was a teenager. struggling to do my best and with other issues. Seriously I could never fanthom my post-secondary life back then. Guess, we mature and grow stronger as we get older and have more experiences in life huh?

Nevertheless, regardless of where we are, we need to always understand the context where one is living in, in order to know the person better and understand why they behave in certain manners. I would dare say that yes, it is easy to judge and make caustic remarks to the person, but wouldn't life be much easier and more beautiful if we take the time to show care and concern AND live in harmony with others?

*shudders* Ok, I know this sounds cliche and totally 'NE-ish'. Ugh. But I think there is no better way to put it.

looking to the Olympics for inspiration

2008-08-21T19:07:00.003+08:00

As the Olympics draw near to an end, I must really pay tribute to Usain Bolt. That man is incredible. Won Gold for 100m and 200m and broke both world records. He has got talent. And he definitely puts his talent into good use.

I must also raise my hat to Natalia Dobrynska who managed to lead in almost all the events in heptathlon. How, she has so much stamina, discipline and patience to train and excel in both track and field events. And I though running 10km is tough enough, but no, this is even more crazy.

Here is the video for the MAN:

I know I am biased towards the track and field events. Phelps won 8 golds and broke 8 WR in swimming but hey, swimming and competing in water is different from pounding your feet on the ground. So there!

Bon Jovi

2008-07-02T09:01:00.001+08:00

It's My Life lyrics - Bon Jovi lyrics

It's My Life Video - Bon Jovi Music Videos

Music Videos by VideoCure

breaks are good for the soul

2008-03-13T17:42:00.002+08:00

Black Swan - Thom Yorke

You know, it's always good to pause sometimes in life and reflect back on what you have done. Not too often, but sometimes it is beneficial to do so.

As I look back this term, there are lots of things that I am glad I did. Yet there are also some which I feel that I can do better. Since term started, I have been juggling with so many things that sometimes sitting down to mark is almost non-existent. I suppose sometimes I need to sacrifice my sleep to do the essential. But hey it is a tough balancing act for one who needs eight hours of sleep to function every day. No longer like the past when I can switch off during breaks before lectures or tutorials for a quick nap. Sigh...

But yeah, definitely can do better and this March break has been a godsend for me to finish marking the papers and doing some reflections.

Talking about break... I finally bought season 7 of CSI! Woohoo! Yep finally out in stores. Also grabbed the opportunity to snug season 4 since I left that season out for some reason or another. Season 8 is also showing now on AXN. But I am having mixed feelings about it as Jorja Fox will only appear for a few episodes. Things in the lab won't be the same without Sara!!! :(

volcano

2008-03-03T19:01:00.002+08:00

Ok, I have to admit the title of the song was the main attraction initially. Volcano... ok, gotta control myself before I start spouting all the volcanic terms. :D

Lyrics to Volcano

Don't hold yourself like that
You'll hurt your knees
I kissed your mouth and back
But that's all I need
Don't build your world around volcanoes melt you down

What I am to you is not real
What I am to you you do not need
What I am to you is not what you mean to me
You give me miles and miles of mountains
And I'll ask for the sea

Don't throw yourself like that
In front of me
I kissed your mouth your back
Is that all you need?
Don't drag my love around volcanoes melt me down

What I am to you is not real
What I am to you you do not need
What I am to you is not what you mean to me
You give me miles and miles of mountains
And I'll ask for what I give to you
Is just what i'm going through
This is nothing new
No no just another phase of finding what I really need
Is what makes me bleed
And like a new disease she's still too young to treat
Volcanoes melt me down
She's still too young
I kissed your mouth
You do not need me

And well,yes, my darlings finally got the act together for the road run and for the first time I took them since last year, I got to see them working hard together as a class.

Kudos to all who gave their best and showed the rest of the school that they are a class who share, who know how to work hard and have fun as well during the road run.

Of course, it is a little disappointing to see some who still do not want to play a part in the class and I really hope that these people can contribute their part to the class. Come on everyone! Let's feel love, spread the love and love one another! :P

Of course, sometimes I do wonder if they ever get what I am driving at, for example, like today. But, as long as they made slight improvements, I am quite happy already. I do hope that they exemplify a class with a conscience and who will be motivated to do their best in everything, no matter they like doing the activity or not.

After all, life comes in a package. Just like the job of being a teacher. There may be some things that I don't like to do but hey, all the more I should do it and give my best so that people or superiors will be impressed!

Oh, Geog Challenge is proving to be a headache with my team running in all directions. Hopefully the information provided for them would be enough. Can't wait to go back to NUS on Saturday. Hmmm... the best academic years I ever had. Worked like crazy staying in campus from 8.30am to 10pm almost everyday. But great times too as we were crazy as a bunch- climbing up to AS4 rooftop to view the sunset and night view of Keppel Harbour (the best view! And I could really feel proud of being a Singaporean when I saw the view of the port), chope-ing AS4 benches for ourselves, climbing over to the AS3 balcony to enjoy the night breeze and have night talks etc. Would definitely love to meet up with teacher friends and lecturers too. If, if, if I get to meet up with Carl, it would be great to discuss opportunities for field trips as well!

Well, before that, of course there will be Amazing Race on Friday! Yeah!! Friday afternoon will definitely be fun as well! :D

Oh caught the Six Nations match between England and France on Saturday (rerun telecast or not). Can't say that for the first time, I was sincerely rooting for England to win!

The incredible, super thirty-nines of two extraordinary four

2008-02-21T20:44:00.004+08:00

I have always believed that my adorable puppies are the best among the cohort. Knowing how to behave appropriately at certain situations. I always believe that if they give their best, they can beat the rest. They are smart. They can be quite mature at times.

Yet, it is sad that time and time again, the flaw that keeps popping up and shooting them in their feet is the lack of discipline and awareness of the surroundings. If only, if only they have the discipline. Then I won't have to punish them. If only, if only they have the discipline and constant maturity, then I wouldn't mind their cheerfulness and sense of humour, and cheekiness.

After all, what is so great about them is really their sincerity, cheerfulness and odd sense of cheeky humour. Which can be quite fun.

Only when they start getting too carried away then that's when I have, but no choice, to come down hard on them.

Sigh... =(

On the other hand... Midnight Monkey comes out to play! Interesting blog on disposing waste in Singapore.

A Tale of Two Sheep

2008-02-17T10:40:00.001+08:00

Shows where erosion takes place in a meander

not going to be the first time nor the last time

2008-02-17T10:20:00.003+08:00

It doesn't seem surprising that teaching is an energy sapping job. Ask any teacher and I am sure that none will disagree with this statement.

While some may disagree with my emotional outbursts with my kids, every teacher has their unique ways of dealing with their students. Knowing myself, it would be impossible to hide my feelings as I am a very passionate and emotional person despite many having the impression that I am quiet and reserved.

Hopefully my darlings will understand why such drama had to happen and they will improve their attitudes towards learning. Admittedly I am biased towards Geography, being a full-blooded geographer, it is difficult to separate the professional and personal vocation of spreading the gospel of Geography and juggling the job of getting results. Yes, I admit that I am getting very exam orientated because of my job constraints. Will I kill any interest in Geography by pushing them this hard? I have no idea. I can only hope for the best.

It's been a long long time

2008-02-11T22:01:00.000+08:00

Time!

I still hold on strongly to the belief that learning can be experiential and enjoyable when students have hands-on experiences in field trips; which was why I chose to microteach on field trips back in NIE. That belief was made stronger when I brought a small group of students out to the field to measure the velocity and properties of rivers in a small stream at Venus Drive. I could distinctively remember how the students were looking not too excitedly during the field trip. However, their attitude totally changed when they completed the fieldwork. So, instead of having trouble cajoling them to step in to the river in the beginning, they could not bear to get out of the stream at the end of the day. But it was fun. Reminded me of the great times I had as a student back in NUS doing research in a village for 3 weeks in Thailand.

Time!

If only I have the time to conduct fieldtrips for all my students. And if only they have the time for that. That would be fantastic. I guess, it is quite sad that Geography as a subject is quite disadvantaged in the Singapore education system? But, we shall have to make do with it and do our best. After all, who says that underdogs can't win the battle??

Time!

I wish I have all the time to talk to every single one of my students to get to know them better. I am still firmly convinced about my philosophy towards educating these kids. Results will come naturally when they are of good character. Well, speaking again from my experience. *g* I just feel sad that the system over here still puts a huge emphasis on results. Yet, like what my ex-teacher said yesterday when we visited her: It is inevitable in Singapore or we would not have survived and prospered. No easy solution, but it doesn't mean that I have lost hope. Come to think of it, it has been 10 long years since she first taught us. Time really flies and I can really understand how they felt about us when we were their students now.

Time!

It seemed only like yesterday as I stepped into school to do my Practicum. Really am grateful to Mel and my supervisor for all their advice and moulding of my perception and attitude towards teaching. I could not ask for more but they are to me the best CT and supervisor I ever had. The teaching profession would be disadvantaged if they were to quit.

Does Geography have any 'big ideas/concepts' other than space'?

2006-11-24T14:30:00.000+08:00

Having started this blog on a rather shaky post on Big Ideas/concepts, I shall attempt to write the 'last' post of this semester about the same topic. After reading Pearlyn's post on Big Ideas, I was struck by a thought that popped into my head. Concepts like 'globalisation' and 'uneven development' and the likes of it, do they really belong exclusively to the subject Geography?

Funnily enough, I did a search in the Internet with Webcrawler and I found a pdf. article that talks about 'enduring understandings' by Wiggins and McTighe. According to these two authors, 'enduring understandings' refer to important ideas and values that will last beyond the classroom. Interestingly, the article mentioned that the 'enduring understanding' in Geography deals with the issue of 'where we live influences how we live'. Why do I say interesting? Obviously when the article talks about 'where', it refers to places and spaces. Geography is viewed as a spatial subject where spaces are seen as 'abstract' containers which are filled with human, cultural, socio-political, natural landscapes.

On the other hand, it is of particular interest that the article has a section on Social Studies (how apt, since we will be taking SS next semester) which states that SS has an 'enduring understanding' of how

People really do see the world in fundamentally different ways. People behave as they do because of the things they believe in and value. People behave as they do for a reason.
Culture is dynamic and powerful. It shapes how we view the world, ourselves, and others.

This brings to my mind an interesting argument that we had in my Honours year during Geography Thought about what Geography is all about. And we had the benefit of having a debate with the Sociology Department about whether Geography or Sociology is important or not. It seems to me that what this article implies that Geography is inherently a spatial subject devoid of humanistic touch, while this is vice versa for SS. There appears a perpetual tension over whether Geography is the 'mother' of all subjects since it encompasses concepts from all disciplines from the sciences to social sciences and humanities or if Geography as a subject is redundant.

I think it is pertinent to consider such theoretical stands as we embark on our teaching career. The Geography syllabus has changed much since our times. What students are learning are far broader and deeper than what we did during our Secondary school days. The concepts of 'industrialisation' in the context of uneven development and 'gloabalisation' have taken prominent place in the Geography syllabus. Yet, such concepts do not appear only in the Geography textbooks. In Social Studies, students are taught the topic of industrialisation in Singapore. Social Studies seem to be more dynamic and vibrant as it even talks about the topic of geopolitics in Singapore-Malaysia ties, the Sri Lanka conflict etc. What I am arguing over here is that the lines can be so blur between Geography and SS that sometimes Geography teachers can have a mini, if not major, identity crisis.

If teachers can have such identity crises, what more can students face? Being amateurs in the academic world, they study such concepts in Geography and Social Studies. How can they not be confused by what Geography is all about? Being amateurs, they cannot be taught the most fundamental concepts of 'space' and 'place' (give and take, 'time' as well). These concepts are too abstract for their understanding. Even academics in the tertiary institutions are embroiled in this never-ending argument about space and place and Geography. If this is so, how can teachers confidently 'define' their subject to their wards? How to then teach Geography to students when they study concepts that are not exclusive to the subject alone? It is possible to say that one is a Chemistry, Biology, Physics and even History teacher in schools because their definitions are very basic and clear to students. What makes a Geography teacher? What makes Geography? Can we just give them the simple definition of "Geo=earth, graphy= study of" and so Geography is the study of the earth? When students think of Earth, is it an Earth which has only natural landscapes on it, or one that is seen from the outer space, or one that encompasses both human and natural elements in it? Can Geography be defined only with concepts like 'globalisation' etc., concepts which seem so far away from our students?

How can one demarcate the boundary between the 2 disciplines of Geography and Social Studies, for the matter? In reality, 'globalisation' does not belong to Geography alone. Other concepts like 'Regionalisation' cannot be claimed by Geography alone. These concepts are readily bandied about in other disciplines as well. In the case of 'regionalisation' and 'uneven development' etc., they can be key concepts in Economics as well. Even the late Edward Said's 'geographical imagination' does not have 'geographical' roots as he was not a Geographer. So what makes Geography? Space? The study of maps alone? Geography has to stay relevant in contemporary times. It cannot just be the subject which studies only maps. The above mentioned concepts belong almost exclusively to in the Economic sphere, which seem to suit to Singapore's pragmatic needs. Hence, perhaps this may shed light on why our Geography syllabus has changed so much since our times. The question, however, is Geography in our syllabus 'holistic' enough to make our students realise that it goes beyond 'regionalisation', 'uneven development' and 'globalisation'?

Also how does one tell a student that he/she studies Geography and hence he/she can explain some 'geographical' phenomena to the layman when 1) sub-discipline specialists like geologists, hydrologists, transport specialists (notice even ST do not call Profs. Paul Barter and Ragu geographers), ecologists are often interviewed in newspapers and not geographers when events of geographical importance had occured and 2) Social Studies serve only to confuse them even more?

WebQuest and its learning points

2006-11-24T11:13:00.000+08:00

Alright, after 5 days of craziness, the Coastal Management WebQuest is finally up and running.

I can finally take a deep breath and take a short break before I run off to settle the up and coming GESL Camp with the Deyi students.

This WebQuest was actually conceptualised way before the deadline. Yingqian and me had a rough idea of what we wanted to do- focusing on Coastal Management strategies and their effectiveness. We foolishly thought that WebQuest will be far more simple than the last ICT package that we had to do. But no... when we started proper, we realised that it was really plenty of hard work in searching for suitable websites and thinking of challenging scenarios for students to play around with. We wanted to create a scenario which may be relevant to the students' daily lives; which was why we thought of getting them to imagine themselves to be in the role of residents living near a coastal area. Better than getting them to be government officials, environmentalists etc. I think these roles are being over-used to the point that it scream boring to students.

Another reason why we focused on this topic was also because we wanted students to realise that coastal management is extremely important to Singapore. This may not be impact upon their lives directly, but we wanted to drive home the point that coastal management structures are here in Singapore and they play an important role in protecting our beaches like East Coast Park etc. I think this is really essential and necessary so that students will realise that this is relevant to their lives, and with their grasp of such geographical knowledge, they would be able to do something about it in the near future by creating awareness their friends and family members. If not, at the very least they are able to take something concrete back home. Hopefully with this WebQuest, students will see Geography in a different light and accord it with as much respect as they give to other more 'pragmatic' subjects like the Sciences.

The purpose of this WebQuest also serves to stretch the students' thinking skills and creativity. They will be asked to evaluate the effectiveness of coastal protection measures. Thereafter, they are to design a pamphlet or website to convince other residents of their solutions. In a way, the WebQuest activity has plenty of 'teachable' moments. By getting students to vote for the best solutions, they would have subconsciously picked up the ideals and importance of having public participation in policy-making as well as the importance of having fair and democratic decision-making processes. Politics with a small 'p', not with a capital 'P'. I know this is somehow idealistic of me to think that it may be possible for them to pick up or at least have some basic understanding of the importance of such ideals in the running of a society. But, one must have hope right? In a way, this is NE, in a very subtle way. Then again, there is the constraint of them having such ideals in schools but rapidly realising that such ideals are almost impossible in reality leading to the rapid descend towards apathy. But if we do not take the risk, we will never move forward, right?

Another one of my life'sphilosophy. Heh.

Let's talk about the technical stuff now. Making a website may seem deceptively simple. Usually I will tend to think, 'Oh, just make lor'. But after this experience (and a very good learning experience too), I realised that making a website can be very tedious. Geocities is simple to use. But I realised that Dreamweaver is definitely the most user-friendly programme to use. Alas, time was not on our side, or I would confidently suggest using the latter. Firstly, it was tedious when Geocities do not have grids, which means that the task of aligning bullet points and links was an extremely difficult one for me. Secondly, the Yahoo server can be quite cranky at times. I gave up making the site on FireFox after a few first tries. IE was much better. But, there were trouble saving the work at times, which wasted us quite a bit of time transferring our stuff from Word to Geocities and vice versa. Well, in terms of functions and features, Dreamweaver definitely had more and much advanced ones. Flash anyone?? It would also be much easier to do everything offline and then transferring the file to a server. I was put off by the jargon in Dreamweaver. What's the difference between 'html' and 'xhtml'? It was the fear of technology and the frightening thought of losing my work if I saved the file under the wrong code that made me and Yingqian chose Geocities.

I did not have the confidence to do it on Dreamweaver. I did not have the confidence to tell her that I will be able to do it with the mentioned software. There were many learning points during this steep learning journey. 1) I finally understood the fears that many of the older generation griped about with new technology. 2) I realised that in my course of teaching, I need to be very aware and confident of what I am going to impart to my students. If I do not appear to be confident to them, how are they going to buy in my ideas? Being a teacher is just like a salesman job, except that we sell ideas and not merchandise. 3) Building up of resources and thinking of captivating activities for students to do is no easy task. The younger generation are always more dynamic and more technology in-sync than a majority of us. (I feel so old now) It really requires a lot of effort from the teachers to stay at the same pace as them, if not stay a step ahead of them. The classroom environment is everchanging. Humans are everchanging. But humans also have a tendency to remain in their comfortable niches.

As the saying goes, 'If Mohammad doesn't go to the mountain, the mountain will come to Mohammad.' If students do not respond to our teaching techniques, then we must respond and change to capture their heart and soul. Sounds easy, but as illustrated in this WebQuest journey, this is not easy. It would seem unfair that teachers have to do the bulk of the adaption to students' needs. Why not students? Do we really need to treat them as our clients and potential customers in order to do our jobs? I will be highly disturbed the majority has this perception. Majority i.e. the official view. Are we to molly coddle our students and to serve them like kings and queens in school when in reality, the world does not care a hoot about them at all? However, from a macro point of view, the world is everchanging too. Technology is always advancing and the young are sold by such new ways of doing things. So does that mean that students are always right and teachers should always adapt to their cultures and habits in order to reach out and teach them?

Take for example, the use of powerpoint. Students are increasingly visual and virtual learners because of advances in technology. (Hell, I have just started to learn how to use an iPod nanno, which I am sure many teenagers are totally adept in using it) I am rapidly realising that the powerpoint could be (or already is) the upgraded blackboard/whiteboard where we just teach from there. Can the web be one day be the virtual blackboard? It would seem so, judging on how reliant and desperate we are in terms of having to do assignments in NIE that are ICT-related. Yes, the web and technology can be used to create a student-centred learning environment. But I fear the day when we go to school pondering, 'What's next after the Web?' for students to really 'enjoy' their learning. Telecommunications? Teaching through MSN? Webcast? Podcast?

Good luck to us all in our teaching careers.

Jolted out of my comfort zone

2006-11-22T19:50:00.000+08:00

'Teaching caused my breakdown'

I know the previous post was supposed to be the last for the Micro-teaching series, but I was quite troubled by the 'mosquito incident'. In a way that was a very poignant example of how sometimes teachers can lose control of themselves in front of their students. This comes in the midst of all the pressures that teachers face in schools. On top of having to produce students with good academic results, teachers have to deal with class management issues as well. And not to mention that teachers may sometimes be emotionally affected by events outside of their work life.

I know that teachers do have to maintain a sense of professionalism. Admittedly, I was not in tiptop condition on Monday as I should never have done that in the first place (have yet to recover emotionally from weekend blues actually, I was really feeling quite drained). Ironically, it is also the pressure of 'acting' professional that teachers may suffer from emotional breakdowns. It is really not easy to block all our worries and troubles even if it was easy to say so to others. This no doubt will have a great impact on the students especially if teachers act irrationally in front of students. Even worse, if teachers do something irrational to students.

Never say never. I was still shocked and highly disturbed by my reaction towards Latifah. Her misbehaviour may be minor, but it really drove home the point that if teachers were on the verge of a breakdown, even a minor event of misbehaviour by a student could set her/him loose. In a way, that was really a terrible experience and feeling. As most would agree, it is better to learn from our mistakes in NIE. And I must say I am really grateful that I committed this grave mistake on Monday for it jolted me from my so-called 'comfort zone' and forced me to face this very real and frightening issue.

It is very important, I think, for us to be very honest with ourselves at all times. We need to constantly question ourselves every morning if we are in the right state of mind to face our students. We need to also to be aware that recognising our inability to deal with work issues is not a failure on our part. But rather, it is the first step of saving our career. For many of us (and even for me), we may somehow have the mentality that recognising our weaknesses and going for counselling (or even taking a short break during school term) is a sign of of our vulnerability. In fact, to me, this is a sign of strength because we are courageous enough to save ourselves from plunging further into our problems. It would be a vicious cycle when we are emotionally unstable and drained and could not handle our students. And one day, we will break. Students will suffer as well. This is a lose-lose situation that we must avoid. Unfortunately, I could not avoid that on Monday.

I think it would be good for teachers to know where they can seek help when they are feeling down, wouldn't it? I think MOE does provide counselling services to teachers? I wonder what services or resources are available for us to utilise when we need them.

Nevertheless, I am really humbled by my experience on Monday.

"God is the only one who can help you see your humble circumstance from His viewpoint-a high position. It is a high position because of what God is going to teach you in this place. He does not intend you to stay there; it is merely a stopping place to learn some important things you would not learn otherwise. Press into God and trust Him for the outcome to your circumstances."

The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. - James 1:9

Microteaching: thoughts from the last session

2006-11-16T20:26:00.000+08:00

'No magic button' for class discipline

There is this line in the article which may take some by surprise.

"It is quite possible that children behaving badly in the High Street in the evenings are actually behaving OK during the day at school."

I think this holds some truth in the local context as well. It is possible for students to behave badly outside of school. Lack of parental guidance is one very good reason. Sometimes kids start to misuse the freedom that they have because they feel bored and need some excitement in their lives. Also being outside of watchful eyes, they may be more emboldened to commit some acts which may not be necessarily approved by the school authorities. Sometimes, it is not out of sheer rebellion. But out of a sense of curiosity. And once the curiosity has been filled, kids may feel that 'hey, since nothing bad has happened to me, let's do it again!'

I think when we know of such occurances, we should not be too quick to judge the kids. Very often we do not look at our students beyond the identity of a student. I guess, the reverse holds true for teachers as well. We need to be aware that students have a life outside of school and are susceptible to influences beyond the school compound.

And sometimes, we may be taken by surprise by some students whom we thought that they are model students. It is very easy for us to forget that they are still growing up and exploring their comfort zone. Some students may be able to hide their 'other' identity very well in school. I would not say that they are smart or stupid. But I think it is just human nature to adapt to certain ways to survive in a particular environment. Nobody likes to be condemned or hauled to see the DM or school counsellor in front of the whole class. Even if this is done on a one-to-one basis, it will still be very humiliating for the student. We need to realise that what these students do can fall into shades of grey.

I still can recall this incident in my alma mata. She was a very decent, quiet and polite girl. But somehow or rather, she was just not interested in her studies and was constantly playing truant. This came to a head-on when she arrived in school one day with several contraband items. I don't know if I am correct or not, but I guessed that the reason for her doing this is to get herself expelled out of school. Can't think of any other reason. We can't exactly condemn her cos what she felt that she was doing may be more beneficial to her rather than wasting her time in school. Seen from an educator's point of view, we would probably recoil in horror by now. But I am pretty sure, she had her reasons for doing so. Misguided or not, I would not know.

Then, there is the opposite of such students. Students who behave badly in class may behave in a decent manner outside of class. Perhaps, this is a typical rebellious student who tends to go against the authority in his every move. Perhaps, such students feel that they are not shown enough respect in class. But once they are out of school, they can behave decently. No doubt their behaviour may be a little loutish at times, but these may be the same people who have clear principles and will not hesitate to help others in need in public. It is particularly important for teachers to be sincere and take a positive interest in them, rather than being skeptical and mock and question them if we do not want to lose such students.

I think we really cannot judge students for what they are just on the basis of how they behave in school. Yet, it is a tragedy that teachers are so caught up in their work pressures that they tend to forget that it is entirely possible for students to display a set of behaviours in school and another different set outside school. Because students like any other human beings do have multiple identities too. And students (especially those who are street smart) may be even more adept in applying survival skills in order to survive in different environments than teachers.

Microteaching part 2

2006-11-13T22:01:00.000+08:00

Gonna pen my thoughts down before I plan my lesson plan for next week. And nope, I shall keep the cards closely to my chest. Since the 'students' are capable of springing surprises, I should spring a couple of surprises on them too. =X

Planning a fieldwork lesson ain't easy. Like the FSP, I am finding it quite tedious to think through all the risk assessments and do a recee around the campus to find something 'teachable' for the students. There is the safety aspect that I have to consider. I also have to put myself through mentally what my 'students' would be capable of when they are in the field. I am referring to the misbehaviours that they will spring on me. After going through all the possible scenarios (which bugged me for the entire weekend and I even dreamt of that), I realised that the issue of trust between the teacher and her students takes centre-stage when one is considering whether to take students for fieldwork or not. This trust issue lies in whether the teacher trusts the students to behave themselves. Like, will they create mischieve with weather measurement tools? If they damage the instruments, who will take the bulk of the responsibility? IMO, the issue of whether the students can learn independently can sometimes be taken for granted or overrided by this TRUST that teachers place a high priority on. This is especially so when my prospective 'students' next week could be springing some nasty surprises on me. Am expecting the opposite too where they don't do anything at all.

This brings me to the next point of reiterating what I said in my earlier post about who is going to benefit from fieldwork/fieldtrips. Really, if teachers expects, or rather had experiences with 'terrible' (sorry for the 'Timmism', but I am trying to be politically correct over here) students in the classroom, what would give them the incentive to plan lessons outside the classroom? In a way, this works in a self-prophetic manner. Teachers expecting the worst of the students, thus portraying an unenthusiastic attitude towards them; and the latter behaving in their worst manners as a form of rebellion. A vicious cycle results. Teachers will rely on teacher-talk to teach instead since this is the only thing that they are in control of. Should we blame them totally? Sure, what this institution is attempting to do is to churn out batch after batch of idealistic, enthusiastic teachers who are 'politically correct'. But in reality, teachers do have to conquer and struggle with their fears too. Not an easy thing to do. Writing academic papers in the comfort of one's office is comparatively easy to that. Definitely.

Oh, then there is this whole frustrating struggle with finding topics that are suitable for doing fieldwork within the school compound. Assuming that the teacher has somewhat overcome her trust issue and compromises by trying to plan a mini field work in school (students will be easily managed in school because of the space constraints and supportive environment), what topics can she choose?

1) Weather and climate. Sketching of clouds and predicting the weather is definitely out since that is taken out of the syllabus. No weather instruments can be used for fear of students not being able to take care of them. Not a feasible topic to do in school until the teacher is totally comfortable.
2) Vegetation. Unless the school is in the middle of nowhere in a tropical forest, the probability in attempting to do fieldwork in the school is zilch. You would not want to confuse students by getting them to 'pretend' that some area in the school with trees is a forested area.
3) Weathering and river. Unless your school is near a river (or canal in our case), huh?????
4) Natural resources. What natural resources in our schools? (Please don't tell me that the weather is a natural resource cos we know that natural resources in our syllabus meant something else.)
5) Tourism. Nada.
6) Urban settlement. Ok, if you want students to try to describe the morphology of the school compound. But that will need the extra effort to tie this back to the syllabus which covers the morphology of CBD area in Singapore. Students may get confused and we could be in hot soup. I will give this topic two and a half to three stars on the probability of being able to do some fieldwork in the school compound.
7) Geography of Food. What the hell is that?????????? Er... interview the aunties, uncles and maciks in the school canteen? Hm... sure!!
8) Industrialisation. Not going to waste my energy and saliva...

See? If teachers are really earnest in planning fieldwork, they would have to do it outside the school compound. How many fieldtrips can they organise in a year? Assuming that the school has 4 classes of Sec 1 and 4 classes of Sec 2, 3 classes of Sec 3, 3 classes of Sec 4 and 1 class of Sec 5 (this is considered a small school already), add the number of classes up which will give you 15 classes taking Geography. Take 15 multiply by 40 students in each class which will give us 600 students. If we want to plan fieldtrips for all the topics above... =X Not gonna say anymore.

Yes, this is an extremely pessismistic scenario that I am painting. Alas, that's me, I always like to expect the worst so that I can be ever ready to deal with any scenario that comes my way.

Microteaching part 1

2006-11-11T00:15:00.000+08:00

Microteaching has been going on for weeks and I have not made any posts about it. So here is my first attempt at it.

I think it is extremely commendable that all who had already taught took it in their stride whenever there was trouble in class. And I must apologise for being the source of some of the trouble. However, I must say that the past few weeks of microteaching had been very fulfilling. For Mr Yee's part, I learnt alot from him with regards to how to teach particular topics to the class. I dare say, I am more confident now in thinking of ways to teach students. As for Kenneth's part, class management is the main focus. In a way, I am glad that class management issues are the main focus.

To me, my philosophy has always been 'teaching values and attitudes comes first, imparting curriculum knowledge comes second.' For one to be able to manage a class, one has to inculcate in students certain values and attitudes. I could recall back to my relief teaching days back at my alma mata when I persistently talked to one boy after class for weeks and months before he finally responded and even asked me to give him extra lessons. From then on, I realised that nothing else matters but the attitude one holds places the most important part in influencing whether one wants to learn and pay attention in class. In a way, I like Clara's microteaching lesson as she attempted to teach more than just the curriculum knowledge to students.

What struck me after attending some microlessons in Kenneth's part is that nobody had ever attempted to abandon their lesson plans even though the class was disruptive. I think it was a dilemma for most of those who had already taught on whether to carry on with the lesson or to stop lessons totally to make use of certain 'misbehaviours' in class as a learning point for the class? Perhaps if the context took place in an actual setting, those who had already taught may have done it differently?

Whatever it is, every microlesson is a learning session for me. It is very interesting to see how others react to my 'misbehaviours' and those moments were enlightening as I attempted to put myself into the shoes of my future (or past) students. Not to mention that this is a wonderful opportunity for me to learn from others on ways to handle 'difficult' students that I came across during my studying and teaching days.

The life journey of our precioussssss FSP

2006-11-10T22:51:00.000+08:00

Taking a short break from writing my reflections for ID... here I present to you:

The life journey of Chinatown FSP

Looking totally stressed up

Flag raising anyone?

Hard at work

New arrival: FSP on impacts of tourism in Chinatown. Comes in VCD format too.

One unique copy that comes with a certain somebody's yucky handwriting

Totally exhausted

Ahh.. making our way to the 'pigeon-hole'

Some stick figure flashing the 'V' sign. Whew! (One of the rare moments when I let someone else handle my precioussssss camera.)

Slotting our preciousssss FSP into The 'Hole'

Take a closer at the time. Beep! It's 6 o'clock on a Friday evening.

Wait!!! Before the precioussssssss is slotted into 'The Hole', say 'Cheese' with the honorable preciousssss!!!

*sobz* Let me take a final shot of my precioussssss......

The camera woman indulging in one of the extremely rare narcissistic moments.
Anyways, I figured that this is nothing compared to having to live with the reputation of being the 'girl who err.. you know in class'.

This is tongue-in-cheek post, by the way. if you have not realised. Nevertheless, I must say that the pictures do not show the intense heated moments that took place behind the scene. A more serious reflective posting will follow soon.
Ciao!

Whew... planning a field studies package is tough

2006-11-05T17:39:00.000+08:00

Double post for today since the first post does not fit into this topic.

Honestly speaking, I never knew preparing for a Field Studies package can be so tedious. Whew...
The recee part was alright. But the difficult part comes when we had to think of appropriate activities for the students to do. We found ourselves going back to the objectives of this field studies trip as we planned our questions and activities.

Tourism, being a Human Geography topic, is a tough nut to crack.
1) As contrasted to Physical Geography topics, Human Geography topics lend themselves strongly to interviews and surveys. This was brought up in the last lesson with Mr Yee when we were grappling with the issue of communication and language problems. This, I must acknowledge, that would be a limitation of any fieldwork conducted by students. Conversing in dialect with elderly is something that I can do at ease. However, there is a need to consider that there will be non-Chinese speaking students doing fieldwork too. If you hadn't guessed by now... my group chose Chinatown as a fieldsite. I guess one solution is to make sure that every group must have at least 1 who speaks Chinese. Even then, students may not be able to converse in dialect when they want to interview the elderly in Chinatown about the impacts of tourism. This is perhaps one failing in the field studies package. The only solution that I can think of is to tell the students to look for someone who can speak Chinese and English.

2) Thinking of appropriate activities to be done within a two-hour period is a headache. We originally wanted students to do interviews, landuse mapping, sketch buildings and pedestrian counting. But we rapidly realised that this is overly ambitious for secondary school students. The toss was either to get students do all 4 but teachers will allocate different tasks for them to do and then they will come together to work as a collaborating team; or to cut down on the activities. We wanted to do the former originally. Happily and passionately discussing and planning away when we realised that this was too time consuming for teachers. Not very realistic. So, we dropped the idea and decided to do the latter instead. Didn't want to do interviews initially, but we realised that if we don't do interviews, we would not be able to document any changes over a certain period of time. Sketching buildings and pedestrian counting were activities that we were banking on. But someone pointed out that they did not fit our objectives, and so down into the rubbish chute they go. Landuse mapping was the most viable activity to complement interviews. So we stuck to that.

3) And then there was the safety issue to consider. We picked Pagoda Street and the HDB flats area because there would be no traffic. Students need not cross any roads. But, they would have to look out for pickpockets etc. Bringing students out is not that simple and straightforward after all. Not to mention that we kept reminding ourselves that the ideal teacher:student ratio ought to be 1:20. This means that we had to split the class into 2 groups and do all the logistics in ensuring that all the students can finish their fieldwork in 2 sites. Not going to be easy. a) We need to keep an eye on students, b) on top of that, we have to take note of our time.

We were berating ourselves for choosing a human geog topic as our Field Studies package by the end of our discussion. We were totally drained by then. But it was a good experience though.
I will never ever trivialise a fieldtrip or field studies trip again. As students, we thought that such trips were easy because we did not understand the tedious process of planning a good and educational trip. After this experience, I think I am starting to understand why teachers feel so pissed when students do not appreciate such experiences.

Off to do my FSP stuff!!

Question

2006-11-05T17:37:00.000+08:00

How honest should we be in our reflections?

Should we be very honest? And in the process sabotage ourselves?

Or should we hold back somethings that should not even be said in the first place?

Teenagers are growing too fast

2006-10-30T18:15:00.000+08:00

The weekend had been very eventful for me. First, I had an epiphany of sorts. Or rather, God willed me into realising that I had been running away from multiple issues that had been haunting me since ages ago. They cannot be resolved unless I make the effort to confront these issues and think of solutions. And I better resolve them all before Practicum starts.

That is on a personal note.

Work-wise, I had a MSN conversation with my P6 going on to Sec 1 cousin on Saturday night. I am going to produce an excerpt of the conversation below.

Shir: I am reading fanfiction now.
YB: What fanfic are you reading?
Shir: Go to www.fanfiction.net lah. You will find out.
Shir: I am reading Scooby Doo now. Very fun.
YB: ok...

O_O Thinking to myself- What the .....???!!!! She's only 12 and she is reading fanfic already?

YB: What rating??
Shir: Don't tell you.
YB: .................

On hindsight, maybe I should not ask her about the rating. Then again, I should not doubt her intelligence over such things. Like many other youngsters, she can be so smart over things that do not relate to her studies and vice versa for school work.

In case you have been feeling quite lost, fanfiction "a fictional account written by a fan of a show, movie, book, or video game to explore themes and ideas that will not or cannot be explored via the originating medium" (Dictionary.com).

Fanfiction.Net is one of the many websites that have a wide collection of fanfiction.
Now, the liberal in me felt that it is alright for her to read Fanfiction. But the teacher in me started worrying if her values would be influenced in a skewed manner.

1) Fanfiction like movies and TV shows have ratings, ranging from K, T to M. I am using the ratings from FF.net. K stands for Kids, T for Teenagers and M for Mature. No prize for guessing the type of content in stories that are in the M category. One very mild example can be seen here. Even then, stories the T rating are not that innocent either. Christopher Pike and R.L. Stine would have felt ashamed should they read the stories that are posted online.

2) The language is atrocious in some of the stories. Grammar-wise, spelling (Go figure: lose as loose, you're as your among the many other killer mistakes). How is she going to improve her English? The problem lies in her reading only fanfiction online. Books do not interest her at all.

I suspect that she is just one of the many teenagers who read fanfiction. And if she can surf the Internet without any parental guidance, many of the teenagers could be in the same situation as her.

What will I do if my future students are like my cousin who may be more 'knowledgeable' than me in certain areas? Perhaps, I should accept that it is normal for students to explore and develop through such avenues? The present is unlike the past when most of us had not even owned a computer when we were 12.

Honestly speaking, if I am ever faced with such students like my cousin in the school environment, I would be quite clueless as to how to deal with them. This is a totally different ball game from the past. This means that we would have to find a comfortable zone where we can relate to our students, and at the same time, maintain our authority in front of them. Not an easy job, I must say. How will they feel if we admit to them that we read fanfiction too? Is this an appropriate way to 'influence' them?

There is a disjuncture between how society still views teachers as being straitlace and prescriptive and the reality that we have to get under our own skins to find a comfortable space to share our experiences with students. Especially on the issue of sex. And if we do, when is the appropriate time to do so?

It is unfortunate that teachers have to take on the responsibilities of 'moulding' the values of our student when it is obviously the parents' responsibilities. I do not have to look far and I already have an exampe right at my doorstep. How to guide my cousin along without falling into the trap of being too preachy? How to guide my cousin along without falling into the trap of exposing too much of myself to her? How to share my experiences without her retorting that I am being hypocritical?

If this is going to be so tough on a cousin to cousin basis (does not help when she keeps referring to me as a teacher *rolls eyes*), I cannot imagine how difficult it is in the school/classroom environment.

Fieldtrips

2006-10-21T22:41:00.000+08:00

Ideally- as geographers, we ought to be passionate about them. I love to attend such fieldtrips too. Yesterday's trip to Pasir Ris Park and Labrador Park was fantastic. And as the Master puts it, "learning is experiencing". What I see and processed in my head, I will remember for long.

Ideally- all students who are studying Geography ought to go for fieldtrips for almost every topic so that they can understand the essence of Geography.

Ideally- all Geography teachers ought to and would love to bring their students for fieldtrips. Learning will never be the same again for students. Teachers can transmit their knowledge to students passionately.

Pragmatically speaking- how many of the Geography teachers have the time to arrange fieldtrips for their students? Arranging for one already takes up alot of time. Plus courses and other non-teaching duties that teachers have to fulfill. Arranging for fieldtrips just isn't top of their priority.

Pragmatically speaking- Geography teachers like any other teachers have a syllabus to follow and rush through. It is already stressing enough to teach what the students need to know for exams. Bottomline: the bosses want results. Fieldtrips or not. The goal of the education system is focused more on pragmatic results and on the economy. Is it in congruent with our ideals that students should enjoy learning for the sake of learning? It can be possible in Secondary levels, but unfortunately, this is often not the case, despite the ultimate aims of the education system.

Pragmatically speaking- Can we trust our students to behave themselves in public? Do we dare risk our rice bowl to achieve the ideals of (a Geography) education?

Pragmatically speaking- Do students have the time to spare for fieldtrips, save for the occasional one? CCAs, enrichment lessons, industrial attachments... Will this favour those who are exceptionally capable once again?

Pragmatically speaking- There is always the issue of safety of students and financial viability. If the boss is reluctant to push for fieldtrips, the subordinate will have a difficult time to convince him/her. This is especially so when there are others who share the same view as the boss. Or worse still, if the boss is not exactly what we expect him/her to be. You know what I mean.

Therefore, pragmatically speaking- as teachers, we have to remember too that this is not just a vocation for us. This is also our rice bowl. Blame us for being selfish, call us sinners if fieldtrips cannot be organised for students. But do not blame us totally. We want to and we dearly want to do it. But at the end of the day, do not forget that we are human beings after all who have to work to support our families. Do not forget that we are human beings who do not live in isolation. Do not forget that we are human beings who are battling our own fears as we trudge onwards on this path.

Do not blame us, teachers, totally. We are human beings after all. And all human beings are not perfect.

Fight the system if we have to. But we should fight smart for the sake of our own survival and for the good of the long-run. Yes, we should not be too pessissmistic, but let's douse our sense of idealism with the reality.

(Note: These thoughts are mine, and entirely mine. This is my personal opinion, therefore I am not speaking for anyone else. Cross-posted.)

Reflections on reflections

2006-10-17T22:30:00.000+08:00

What I am writing in the following paragraphs is going to very ironic since I am going to critique the purpose of having reflections in this so-called reflective space of mine over here.

In all true sense, I like having an online journal so that I can process my thoughts and put them down in concrete terms. And I understand the purpose of having this blog so that I can write and share my thoughts about my preparations and experience in microteaching etc.

However, what I personally disagree with is the mode of assessment of our personal reflections. This does not pertain to Geography, but rather more on the Individual Differences component. Yes, it is appropriate to reflect upon our personal experiences to relate to what we will learn in this component. The main questions that I would like to pose is: who has the right to decide on what is 'right' and 'wrong' in our personal reflections? Who is to decide on whose reflection piece is going to be worth more marks than the others? Besides, why does 'Individual Differences' not go beyond the issue of disabilities? What about gender? Social class? Sexuality? Ethnicity? These are a few of the many aspects which will mark one individual differently from the next, isn't it?

Personal reflections are very arbitrary and much entwined with our personal lives. And I resent very much having 'experts' to grade and judge upon my experiences and life when I am the sole expert in understanding and experiencing my own life. I think it is pretty unfair that the rubrics of such 'reflection' pieces are set by these so-called experts. One may say that life is always unfair. Yes, I agree with that as I have been at the receiving end of such 'unfair practices' due to my 1) education background, 2) disability and 3) other issues which I shall not write over here (except in my personal blog). And I have been fighting against all these for so long that nowadays I really feel very tired of doing so, but I cannot not fight.

Nonetheless, I think that it is extremely contradictory for this component to have a standardised set of benchmark (I assume so since you must always have one when you want to assess something) to grade our reflections when the main focus is on 'Individual Differences' on students. Don't teachers have their individual differences as well? We are exhorted to be true to ourselves by many (and it is a principle which I firmly believe in). On the other hand, when it comes to such 'reflective' assignments, how can we be true to ourselves when we want an 'A' grade? Are we being hypocritical or self-delusional? Are we shortchanging ourselves? Do we want to be just another 'teacher trainee' or 'teacher' in the system?

the relevance of Geography

2006-09-27T18:42:00.000+08:00

It's amazing. How time flies. It has been almost 4 months since I attended a series of courses at the Tourism Management Institute of Singapore. The sessions were pretty useful for me in a sense that I realise that in teaching, we can become very insulated from the real world. The world out there is so wide, expansive and exciting waiting for us, teachers to explore and put them into our lessons. After a few months in NIE, I realise that when one talks about teaching resources, almost none of us talks about linking what is being taught in school to what is happening outside in the working world. It is almost as if that the realms of schools and the working world are cut off from each other, which in actual fact, are not.

Such knowledge will certainly be very useful to teachers I think, as we attempt to make the lessons more interesting and relevant to our students. It is good to motivate the students to learn for the sake of learning. However, it is equally pertinent to motivate and prod the students to study and to make them see the relevance of what they are studying. This is actually one of the reasons why I wanted to take the course, as I wanted to know if there were any connections to what students are studying to what they might be working after they graduate. Mind you, I am talking about average students who may not excel in their 'O' levels and who may not see the relevance and importance of what they are studying in schools.

While the courses in TMIS are not as 'fantastic' as compared to the tourism modules that we take in NUS, what is being taught there can certainly be very impactful to us, teachers. I was completely astounded to know that much of what is being taught in the syllabus about tourism, is also being covered in the course as well, in a very practical manner. And I do see the importance of Maths and its link to Geography too in the industry if one has to deal with air flights and time lags.

I am very encouraged to know that Geography is not at all an 'useless', 'abstract' and 'easy' subject that students may see it to be (I know that there are students who think this way, back in my ESE time). But, I am also equally worried that Geography teachers of the present may miss the important point about linking Geography back to the real working world. Much of what I observe in today's ICT microlessons packages deals with somewhat unrealistic scenarios of asking students to put themselves into the shoes of government officials or some other roles that they know they can never be (I mean, come on, let's be realistic. Don't throw brickbats at me for even suggesting that). While I am not saying that this is bad, my point is there is a real urgency in drumming in to the students that Geography is very important and relevant to what they may be doing in the near future. It can definitely be a very practical and useful subject, as seen in the case of the Tourism Industry.

Not related to this post, but I find this highly interesting. and thought-provoking. Something on river/canals.

Linking one's history to the present

2006-09-21T09:33:00.000+08:00

This post has nothing to do with Geography and education per se. But rather, it acts as a continuation from the last post I made. Having attended quite a couple of lessons so far in both Literature and Geography, I have come to realise that really, the background and expericences of a school teacher is extremely important to influencing how one actually sees what teaching is all about.

The statement made by my Literature tutor about an ex-trainee teacher choosing to go back to a neighbourhood school to teach because he wanted to inspire and encourage them strongly reasonates strongly with me. I am once again reminded of why I am here, in NIE, my purpose over here, which thank God, that my Lit tutor made that remark. This comes from me, coming from a neighbourhood school background and literally working my a** off in my 4th year(coupled with some, ahems, hiccups here and there). Plus having to face with people and relatives who do not look very favourably on such schools. They did not actually say it out loud, but subtle as it might be, I could still feel it and it was not a good feeling at all. And it is still very poor school in fact in comparison to the other schools with spanking new buildings etc. The last time I went back, the roof still leaks!! Really makes me wonder if this would have an indirect effect on the self-esteem and motivation of the students when they see that other schools have new and plentiful of resources, while they have virtually none. In short, the place looks rather ancient in relative to the rest of the schools.

I have seen too many of my friends and schoolmates either dropping out of school or getting themselves into a whole lot of trouble other than studying. When I went back to reflief teach after my 'A' levels, I began to sense the fustrations and despair felt by the teachers back there.
The problem of how to 'motivate' the students and to 'keep them on the right side of the law' became very real to me and I was convinced that no matter how well I am going to do in my Uni days, I will go back to that battleground to continue the work that my teachers had done. Not that these problems weren't real to me back then, but rather I was rather absorbed in battling with my own issues back then.

Now, the purpose of this post is not to expose my sob stories or whatever. This is a post, a very carthatic one in fact, that allows me to reflect back on my aims and purposes in coming into the education landscape. It also allows me to realise more clearly the importance of where one comes from actually shapes their attitudes and perceptions towards teaching. I won't actually say which perspective is more valid than the other (though it took me a whole lot of energy to restrain myself from hitting out at those who take up rather 'elitist' attitude) , but rather, I am beginning to realise God's purpose in putting me in this place called NIE.

Not to 'mould the future of the nation', but to encourage and inspire my fellow neighbourhood school students/extended family (or whatever you want to call it) that 'hey, if I can make it out alive despite all the difficulties and unfavourable perceptions others heaped onto me, you can too!'

identity

2006-09-17T21:08:00.000+08:00

Reading the article in today's paper about the 'Hottest Teacher' in Singapore, I am, once again, reminded about how fragile the line is for teachers to segregate their work life from their personal life. Indeed, it is difficult to do so especially when our own perspectives and experiences can influence how we will teach and relate to students, as so often told to us by the 'experts' from a particular institution.

This brings to my mind the caption "Moulding the future of the nation", which we are so familiar with it. How do we want to 'mould' the minds of the young generation? How is it possible to 'mould' someone's mind with a particular idea/thought when it can be possible that some teachers may come from a different position in relation to the official position?

More applicable to myself would be: How is it possible to reconcile what I had learnt in the University to what is being taught in schools today? This is so especially in the realms of National Education and Social Studies, among other subjects. When I studied the module on Nation-building in Singapore under the History Department in NUS, I felt really free. Free in terms of how I am able to read from multiple perspectives of the same historical event. Free in terms of how we can critique the perspectives.

Education in Singapore can be very political, in my opinion. It is made even more political when we are told that education should be apolitical. When in fact, it is not.

How, then, is it possible to segregate work from our personal lives?

Maiden blogging

2006-09-09T15:42:00.000+08:00

I just added a new link to the blog. I discovered Cityscape by chance, and thought that this could be a teaching tool for the topics of Industrialisation or even perhaps Development, as well as Urbanisation.

It is pretty amazing to think back and look at how far/fast the education landscape has evolved. During my time as a student, all we need as a motivation to learn in the classroom is for the teacher to be genuinely passionate in her subject area and to really show care and concern for us. Being in a neighbourhood school, I guess we were hindered by the lack of technological resources as well. I used to wonder if I would be in this career if I did not fool around during PSLE and went to a 'better' school with much more resources. I guess this turned out to be a blessing in disguise as my experiences as a student led me to totally appreciate my teachers and inspired me to take up teaching as a career. Not to mention that this is God's calling as well.

Anyway, moving on to the present, I realised that being passionate about teaching is necessary, but not sufficient. On top of that, teachers have to think of creative ways to engage students, be it in technological or non-technological aspects. Times have changed. The teenagers of the present are constantly assaulted with technological and media advances, which makes them have a completely different notion of what would truly engage and motivate them to learn. Games, and more games. Movies. Filming. Audio recording. Blogging. Defininitely makes our task much harder with more resources available, actually. More challenging, but I am game to take up the challenge.

I think the use of blogs is an interesting aspect to promote learning by having students to process their thoughts and type it out. However, it is one thing to encourage students to voice out and produce blog entries in an informal and fun way, and another to grade a blog. Well, personally as a student now, I realise that taking the fun and 'subversiveness' of blogs out definitely do not increase the motivation of a student to really contribute to the discussion of a particular topic in an online journal. Difficult it is now to type something in this space now, well, at least I am more mature in understanding the need for online journals to be assessed. But I am not quite sure if teenagers will have the same level of maturity and understanding as us, student teachers. A topic to be further explored definitely...

Yet, it totally astounds me that globalisation and development (perhaps) can indeed aid in a student's learning process. Virtual networking of blogs and websites in the virtual space has somewhat trivialised the notions of borders and segregation, and time too. Collaborative learning with people whom students may not meet in real life is constantly taking place, whether consciously or sub-consciously in their own minds.

(However, I would prefer not to point this out to students. Students being students, once something is institutionalised or highlighted by figures of authority, will give that 'eeeee. yucks!' reaction. I am assuming that teenagers are a rebellious lot over here, of course.)

Interesting write-up on globalisation and development and teaching pedagogies

I really like Geography. Alot. *g* The relevance of this subject never cease to amaze me.

venturing out

2006-09-05T23:11:00.000+08:00

Testing... in the process of making adding new stuff into the blog

The space...

as promised

the power of river processes

2011

a reflective post in this reflective space

Eulogy

Eulogy

First Person: Paris riots - 28 Oct 07

Manhunt for escaped JI detainee

Zombie VS Kids

refugee children in Thailand

*shrieks*

Life as it is

prayers and dreams

Seeking some quiet moments

Sing - The Carpenters

Quiet reflection time@5am before madness begins again

looking to the Olympics for inspiration

Bon Jovi

breaks are good for the soul

volcano

The incredible, super thirty-nines of two extraordinary four

A Tale of Two Sheep

not going to be the first time nor the last time

It's been a long long time

Does Geography have any 'big ideas/concepts' other than space'?

WebQuest and its learning points

Jolted out of my comfort zone

Microteaching: thoughts from the last session

Microteaching part 2

Microteaching part 1

The life journey of our precioussssss FSP

Whew... planning a field studies package is tough

Question

Teenagers are growing too fast

Fieldtrips

Reflections on reflections

the relevance of Geography

Linking one's history to the present

identity

Maiden blogging

venturing out

shrieks