Rivers Micro-Teaching Reflections

I had fun today. :)

I really enjoyed your session, Ron and Alvin, well done really!! It was an example on how 'Teach Less Learn More' can potentially be done. The pictures you showed at the beginning were a good way to stimulate my thinking about rivers, of water, and humans' interaction / relationship with it. Considering that this was 'Plan B', with the little hiccup of the video, it was really fantastic! :)

Classroom management wise, both of you have the presence (both physically and of mind) to command the respect of the class. Voice was loud, eye contact with class was good, moving around to check on the students during group activity was a good move. What more can I say? :)

A few suggestions on the pedagogy and lesson:

1) There was no doubt that the pictures were meant to stimulate our thinking about the inter-relationships between humans and rivers. However (and this perhaps because I was not concentrating?), I found myself jumping into the powerpoint slideshow of the pictures without exactly knowing what I’m supposed to look out for. Perhaps you can write on the whiteboard 1 or 2 really clear, but yet stimulating, questions for us to be pondering as we sit back and enjoy the slides with the jazz in the background? Think that would help sharpening the focus of the exercise a little and get the students thinking.

2) The post-activity after the slides can be refined too to achieve even better results. I found myself unable to draw a concept map with my group, for I found it a strange exercise to follow the 5-4-3-2-1. We already had 5 clearly segmented headings in the 5-4-3-2-1, and to do a concept map immediately after, I found the whole of my brain, both left and right sides of it, prompting me to draw a concept map with the same exact 5 headings. Which is a little redundant isn't it? I knew that wasn’t what teachers Tan and Tan wanted. :) And when I wrecked my head trying to be a little creative with the task, I found it hard to integrate all that we wrote down in the 5-4-3-2-1, for as pointed out in class, they were not immediately classifiable and in tune with your main theme of human relationship with water. Perhaps a guided post-activity, with groups allocated the tasks of drawing concept maps of a more specific theme (e.g. Water use in arid Africa, Human modifications of rivers, Floods – good or bad?, Why is water vital? etc) may be more helpful. Or otherwise, you can get groups to draw out concept maps based on these themes BEFORE the video/picture slideshows, then show them the stimuli, AND THEN, get them to now refine and add on to the concept maps with what they just saw. Just my two cents worth..

3) Your lesson was great in getting a larger wider feel and sense of the issue of water use, rivers and humans. However, in term of specifics that may need to be taught, e.g. dams, why are floodplains fertile, developed vs. developing countries use of water etc.. there is little time to address. The 'Parking Lot' idea from Dr Chang sounds great. :)

Disclaimer: This reflection (as most of my blog entries are) was typed on my laptop on the bus. Pardon if its a little bit rambling and incoherent at times. Auntie was looking over my shoulder.. :) Its all my genuine truest thoughts though. :)

Post-Microteaching Reflections

Its over. Micro-teaching is over. I survived..

It wasn't that bad, thank you class for giving me a relatively ok time. You all have been really kind and I'’m utterly thankful haha.

Just a couple of thoughts:

1) Content content. Whoever would have thought that pressure release is not really the 3rd physical weathering form to teach, but rather, is a precursor to other weathering processes? My teachers never taught me that! The danger of easy classifications in our typical geography textbooks, another reason why we should be non-reliant on conventional textbooks and really be using our brains more in deciding what and how to teach out students. Also, I must admit that I tried to 'smoke' the class by saying that the topic 'Rock types' is after the weathering lessons, in a feeble attempt to avoid awkward questions that will expose me inadequate knowledge of the rock types of even the landforms I showed on my slides. Better brush up on content knowledge, Mr Pang!

2) Relatedly, Dr Chang's exhortation to us to be thinking more deeply the way we wanna 'lead' the lesson makes tons of sense. If 'Rocks' really were to be a follow up to this lesson (which I think doesn't make sense – it should come BEFORE), the way my lesson is designed ought to reflect and point/hint to my students that fact. I tried to emphasize on 'Climate' as a controlling factor – but obviously failed badly cos I neglected to follow the factsheet I passed around class for students to fill in. There was some big idea, some structure I wanted to follow, to get the students DESCRIBING, and then EXPLAINING, and then INFERRING the climate associated with each weathering process and form. But obviously, without the factsheet to guide me, I made a lil mess out of it.

3) I'm glad a few of you reflected that you like the final activity, the one with the reshuffled pictures. It seems quite a simple task, and may be too 'scaffolded' for certain students of higher levels in certain schools, but I see value in helping students visualize and grasp the time-sequenced series of stages that is involved in processes like weathering. I had a torrid time finding the diagrams to make up the green, yellow and blue sets, and had to resort to using Paint to crop and alter other diagrams I have. It was terrible cutting out all the small lil multiple diagrams, and putting on double sided tape is a torture – I ended up sleeping at 4am for this silly exercise. Isaac suggested an alternative in simply labeling with numbers these pictures on a sheet and asking students to reshuffle the numbers in the right sequence. Possible.. not so hands on, but much less tiring for overworked teachers as well.

4) All in all, it was a good experience conducting an actual lesson. Makes me realize the importance of time discipline, and how things are really out of your control at times, depending on the questions that may be thrown up. Can’t wait for more actual experience!!

Hossan's Song for History and Geography teaching?

Haha.. Many of you would have seen this. But just to continue the theme of today's lesson on using films, videos etc for teaching... This is a possible teaching resource to activate schema when teaching Singapore's history, current political climate, or social studies in general. Enjoy...

Microteaching

2 microteaching sessions has passed so far, and the next one will be me and Eu Khim. Let me just pen down some thoughts before I'm slaughtered and slain.

1) There's no use being too entirely hung up about content knowledge, but being unprepared to tackle and handle impromptu questions and situations that may arise. This really shows how teaching is a skill, a very deep skill that needs honing over the years with experience. It is a multivariate skill that demands competence not just in content knowledge, but also in lesson delivery, questioning dexterity, quick feet, sharp eyes and a thinking head. Yes, we as students were particularly difficult at times, playacting as really hyperactive kids ('I'm a fairy?!?!'), but seriously, there are a thousand and one scenarios in the classroom that we cannot expect and prepare for enough. How do we engage a class of 40, of varying concentration and abilities, yet at the same time achieve practical objectives? No wonder lesson planning is so hard. Wanna talk about lesson objectives and learning outcomes? You can plan the most elaborate of lessons with the deepest of considerations and the most comprehensive of content coverage, but you'll never know what will happen. Over the last 2 microteaching sessions, we've seen how students got distracted by pineapples and Hawaiian babes rather than climate, and how students got so disturbed by hot/cold wet/dry deserts… Teaching really asks for a connection with the students and an understanding and ability to cater to their varying and unpredictable needs. Not easy. So to the 2 teams who’s passed through the micro-teaching ordeal - well done!

2) A paucity in content knowledge is a big nono too, as the students lose respect and attention for the teacher really easily in such circumstances. Imagine if a student asks you about Rossby waves during climate class? Can you handle that? I didn't know exactly know how to answer the hot/cold dry/wet desert question too during Edwin's lesson. In such circumstances, I feel it is dangerous to 'smoke'. Students aren't dumb. At the same time, sweeping their queries under the carpet will result in similar consequences. So what I'd do? Well, if I really cannot address the questions there and then, I'd tell them I'd get back to you. And pretty darn certainly make sure I do.. :)

Well, so here I am, sitting pretty in the library, trying to work on my content knowledge of my micro-teaching topic on Thursday, whilst at the same time cracking my head to think of helpful lesson delivery methods. Trying to envisage how the lesson would be, and imagining the questions that may come up. Running through in my head the type of questions I may pose, and how to follow up with more probing questions should I meet with blank faces. It is always good to be prepared, psychologically, mentally, and with the right arsenal of resources, content knowledge and questions to pose. A good exercise to go through before every lesson we will teach, especially when we first start out.

But right now, I need to prepare especially hard. 'Especially' for I'm paired in micro-teaching with the notorious Mr Eu Khim. Its gonna be fun. Real fun.

Reflections on fieldtrip to Bukit Timah Hill

I must say the unconventional appeal to the 5 senses in our fieldtrip to Bukit Timah Hill was quite refreshing. I have to admit I was a little apprehensive at first when Dr Chang handed out the cards and gave us instructions to ponder about our individual instructions privately. In my head I was thinking, 'This offers limited benefits to a student in the field. The scope of what he/she can learn is sooo soooo constrained by the task outlined in his/her card!'

But I was pleasantly surprised at the end of it, when we came together as a group to ponder and share the results of our pseudo-independent field research. It was a master stroke to just get each student to simply present their field findings, WITHOUT revealing the questions that was presented to them in the cards. I found myself really engaged during the group session, for I was really curious to know what tasks my classmates got allocated during the fieldtrip. As a consequence, I paid extra attention to each of their sharing of research findings. Learnt much in the process, a pedagogical masterstroke!

Some thoughts though:

1) More elaborate detailed tasks needed. My card basically required me to answer the questions: Why is the forest so dark? Why is the forest so humid? These were interesting, revealing questions, but how long can I be engaged with them? I can see, observe and feel the conditions described in the card within 1 minute, the rest of the fieldtrip is basically me pondering the questions in my head. Note that we really only just walked a little while (10 minutes?) around the forest before we convened to discuss our thoughts. In a real life scenario, we'd probably be bringing the students around much longer to take in the sights. If presented with only simple tasks, they’d be bored and disengaged in no time. So, yeaps, good challenging engaging tasks which can really trigger and sustain their interest will be really important. If not, there is the potential for the fieldtrip exercise to turn out just flat.

2) I think the idea of combining / fusing of the traditional and unconventional method of field exercise is a really good one (as always, isn't it). So, for example, the above mentioned problem of students being disengaged with boredom can be resolved pretty easily by giving them the con-current activity of worksheets to be filled in. Also, as mentioned during the field trip, the traditional worksheet method is fundamental too to get students to grasp basic concepts.

3) Any thoughts on what other ideas we can have, other than appealing to the 5 senses? Role play? E.g. pass out cards to each and every individual student, have them role-play a particular stake-holder of the area we have the fieldtrip at (e.g. conservationists, local dwellers, government development officials etc.). That would include some environmental management and human aspect to the field study. Oh man, I’m too much a human geographer.. can't really think of creative things.. esp if its natural vegetation we are talking about. Plantssss!!! AHHH!!!

That being said – have any of you watched David Attenborough’s The Private Life of Plants before? It's the most brilliant documentary ever. In it, (Sir) David Attenborough employed the (then) advanced technology of using time-sequenced videos to show how plants grow, germinate etc. Something so boring, static and non-interactive like shrubs and flowers gets a new breath of life!! Wow. I love David Attenborough and his BBC documentaries… I have the tapes if you wanna borrow. Yes tapes. Not even VCDs. VHS tapes.. haha.

David Attenborough's a good teacher. He's like an educator, communicating to an audience important knowledge that he wants to impart about the natural environment in his documentaries. And he does it pretty darn well, adopting new technologies and creative ideas/concepts/methods that will appeal and most importantly, relate to the audience. Are we able to do as such as teachers in the classroom? And in the field?

Orchard Turn - where can all the domestic workers now turn to?

Okay.. I'm really tired, shall post substantially on today's fieldtrip and last week's micro-teaching tommorow.

Right now, just want to ramble a little. Was at Orchard MRT on Sunday, and my goodness, was it empty and quiet at the busstop and around the station. Unlike most sundays. Why?

Orchard Turn construction, displacing and depriving the domestic workers of their favourite Sunday picnic spot!!

I wonder where they will now turn to... await with bated breath...

Geography's everywhere. :)