Today's lesson was the concluding lesson for our project and we wanted to make it a success for the children. It was indeed a success in that the children had fun. Although the materials were lacking, we managed to improvise on the spot and link all the joints together to create a very long caterpillar instead of small individual ones. The K1 class was indeed very excited to see the caterpillar and were very happy to know that each of them had made part of the caterpillar.
Also, our class managed to tie in the lesson to recycling at the end, when our group (me, Benjamin and Timothy) related the toilet rolls back to recycling, albeit the language being a little crude. Overall, the lesson was alright, although there were a few problems such as the children not knowing how to use the glue or tear the magazines into smaller pieces. However, with our help, they managed just fine and eventually each had two small joints of their own design. The group members then helped string all of these joints together to create the final product, a long caterpillar, which the children were all very excited about.
What's left now is to prepare for the showcase on Sunday, where parents as well as some members of the government body in charge of this kindergarten will be present. The products from our lesson will be on showcase and we will present some small gifts to the teachers.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Reflection on Lesson
The lesson was quite eventful and could be said to be one of our better, if not best, lessons, up till now. For a start, all the materials were brought thanks to Timothy, although they were not very well prepared and we could work on this by not pushing all the work to one member. Fortunately, we arrived early and hence had the time to prepare our materials right before the lesson started. Of course, when we were asked to do a dry run of the reading of the book, we realised that we should have practiced running through the book a few times before the lesson. Despite that, the storytelling still went quite well.
The lesson itself was quite smooth, and we were able to engage the kids in drawing their butterflies and they were also very interested judging from their more enthusiastic reactions than previous lessons. However, our lessons seem to have lost the original purpose of informing the kids about recycling through art. They seem to have totally forgotten what recycling is. For this, we have to work harder to improve on our next lesson such that they can see for themselves distinctly how recycled materials can be made into something aesthetically appealing too.
All in all, we have improved in terms of general quality of our lesson as well as preparation but can still be improved. We do have to focus more on recycling instead of the art itself.
Edison
The lesson itself was quite smooth, and we were able to engage the kids in drawing their butterflies and they were also very interested judging from their more enthusiastic reactions than previous lessons. However, our lessons seem to have lost the original purpose of informing the kids about recycling through art. They seem to have totally forgotten what recycling is. For this, we have to work harder to improve on our next lesson such that they can see for themselves distinctly how recycled materials can be made into something aesthetically appealing too.
All in all, we have improved in terms of general quality of our lesson as well as preparation but can still be improved. We do have to focus more on recycling instead of the art itself.
Edison
RE reflection
Hey guys, i got around 10 minutes on the computer so imma make this quick.
Today's RE period of 100 minutes, was mostly used to create our final sample product for the final lesson we are doing with Little Wings the following week.
Here are some photos to detail the RE period.
I felt that today was rather productive, because we managed to complete the 'prototype' and plan out the future of the project and stuff.
We could have done better if we managed to think of the send off gift for the kids, and if we could decide whether if we wanted to do the final exhbition in september and stuff.
Also, we had alot of joking done in the room, and certain videos was taken that can be used to blackmail brent. hohoho
Yishu
Today's RE period of 100 minutes, was mostly used to create our final sample product for the final lesson we are doing with Little Wings the following week.
Here are some photos to detail the RE period.
I felt that today was rather productive, because we managed to complete the 'prototype' and plan out the future of the project and stuff.
We could have done better if we managed to think of the send off gift for the kids, and if we could decide whether if we wanted to do the final exhbition in september and stuff.
Also, we had alot of joking done in the room, and certain videos was taken that can be used to blackmail brent. hohoho
Yishu
Reflection on RE Period
Today's RE period was one of the most productive ones we had so far, as we were able to accomplish quite a lot and produce a sample product for the next lesson from scratch, despite being 1 member down. Also, we managed to plan out a schedule for most of the other things that have to be completed for our project, such as the article and oral presentation slides. I feel that instead of splitting up work to do individually, next time we should meet up whenever we need to assemble a product, such as a sample for the next lesson, and do it together. Assembling the product together not only promotes team unity, but makes it much easier to do.
Benjamin
Benjamin
Reflection on Re period -- Timothy
Today's RE period can be considered quite productive. We were able to stay on task during this period despite the fact that Ms Aileen was not around to facilitate discussion during this RE period. We were also able to try making our sample together as a team so that we share a common understanding about the problems and flaws in our current art sample. Furthermore, we were able to distribute our work evenly among the group members and I feel like we are making some progress.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
5th Lesson- Butterfly Mobile
In my opinion this lesson was conducted much more smoothly than some of our previous lessons. The majority of our materials-barring that of last minute additions- were prepared well beforehand. Also we had sufficient materials for each child to complete their own piece of work this time.
However I feel that there are still certain areas we should improve on. Firstly I feel that we should be more united as a team and help each other with their parts of work instead of just setting one whole set of work to one person while the others remain detached from it. I feel that this will be a crucial area in helping us produce a more cohesive effort and greater enhance the quality of work produced.
Secondly, I also feel that we should remember that one focus of our lessons should be on recycling and not just on artwork comprised of many random things. I feel that our lesson products are drifting further away from recycled materials and we ourselves are also taking less pains to remind the children of the link between the product and the recycled materials it was made from.
All in all, I feel that although we have improved from where we stood last time, we still have a way to go before reaching a satisfactory level of quality. However I believe that we can certainly reach it if we set our minds to it.
Brent
However I feel that there are still certain areas we should improve on. Firstly I feel that we should be more united as a team and help each other with their parts of work instead of just setting one whole set of work to one person while the others remain detached from it. I feel that this will be a crucial area in helping us produce a more cohesive effort and greater enhance the quality of work produced.
Secondly, I also feel that we should remember that one focus of our lessons should be on recycling and not just on artwork comprised of many random things. I feel that our lesson products are drifting further away from recycled materials and we ourselves are also taking less pains to remind the children of the link between the product and the recycled materials it was made from.
All in all, I feel that although we have improved from where we stood last time, we still have a way to go before reaching a satisfactory level of quality. However I believe that we can certainly reach it if we set our minds to it.
Brent
19 July lesson
I thought today was a great lesson hehe. However, the success of this lesson was more due to the appeal of the product itself, rather than the process. I felt that our material preparation was still lacklustre today because we didn't anticipate possible problems that could happen during the lesson. Today's lesson proved that we should prepare way in advance to succeed even better. Although easier said than done, we should be more prepared for lessons in the future.
Today, we went to little wings by taxi, and reached early, luckily. This gave us time to touch up on our materials, and fix any loopholes that our materials had. The children were wonderfully obedient today, with neither of the notorious twins (Syafiq and Adi), causing a ruckus for us today. All of them did their work, and followed my instructions. (Brent and I conducted the lesson from different sides of the classroom).
I have taken some photos of the lesson today, but I will upload them another day.
tl;dr
1. Prepare better for the FINAL LESSON (FOLLOWING WEEK)
2. Anticipate possible problems during lesson.
3. Be more active with the children, be less passive.
4. Document the whole lesson (problem cos we lack the manpower)
5. Convey the recycling message more efficiently.
K I have to prepare for maths test tmr.
Yishu
P.S. tl;dr implies that what i summarised below tl;dr was mentioned in the reflection above. This is not the case. My bad
Today, we went to little wings by taxi, and reached early, luckily. This gave us time to touch up on our materials, and fix any loopholes that our materials had. The children were wonderfully obedient today, with neither of the notorious twins (Syafiq and Adi), causing a ruckus for us today. All of them did their work, and followed my instructions. (Brent and I conducted the lesson from different sides of the classroom).
I have taken some photos of the lesson today, but I will upload them another day.
tl;dr
1. Prepare better for the FINAL LESSON (FOLLOWING WEEK)
2. Anticipate possible problems during lesson.
3. Be more active with the children, be less passive.
4. Document the whole lesson (problem cos we lack the manpower)
5. Convey the recycling message more efficiently.
K I have to prepare for maths test tmr.
Yishu
P.S. tl;dr implies that what i summarised below tl;dr was mentioned in the reflection above. This is not the case. My bad
Reflection - Butterfly
I feel that today’s lesson could have gone better in terms of preparation of the materials. This was the lesson where we were supposed to prepare all the materials in advance for the children, and just let them assemble the butterfly themselves. However, although we succeeded in bringing all the materials for them, the materials were not fully ready for use. The plasticine was still in the packets, the wires had not been attached to the clothes pegs, and some of the butterflies were not in a very good shape. I feel that this is partly because we left Timothy in charge of doing all these things, which might be too much to handle. Next time, we should distribute all our work evenly, no matter who is supposed to be in charge of that particular lesson.
i feel that the lesson itself went quite smoothly. The children were interested in the story, and seemed enthusiastic about making their own butterflies. Most of them were also able to glue the butterflies to the clothes pegs themselves, although a few of them needed help. Most of them were also able to be patient and leave the glue to dry. Although there were some minor hitches here and there, such as one bottle of glue not working, overall the lesson was conducted very smoothly.
Benjamin
i feel that the lesson itself went quite smoothly. The children were interested in the story, and seemed enthusiastic about making their own butterflies. Most of them were also able to glue the butterflies to the clothes pegs themselves, although a few of them needed help. Most of them were also able to be patient and leave the glue to dry. Although there were some minor hitches here and there, such as one bottle of glue not working, overall the lesson was conducted very smoothly.
Benjamin
Reflection on Today's Lesson -- Timothy
Today's lesson can be considered both good and bad.We managed to complete it and take back many lessons with us today. We were reminded how it is necessary to prepare extensively before the actual lessons itself, like prepare 2-3 weeks before the thing itself and also look at every possible scenario that we might encounter. We can reflect on how the lesson was able to run so smoothly because we took a little time off before the lesson to ensure that whatever that we produce at the end of the lesson can be considered of a certain standard and is presentable to others, especially the parents of the children so that they would not be disappointed with and question what the children are doing in Little Wings.
Though we spent so much time preparing and worrying about all the problems and flaws in our management and preparations, it is reassuring that I personally found the lesson quite fun and that the children themselves actually seemed to enjoy spending time with us and were enthusiastic enough to return a response towards our approach. I am glad that we actually completed a lesson and are getting back on track towards the end of our project. I hope the group will use this opportunity to step up, improve on ourselves and end this service-learning with a bang.
Though we spent so much time preparing and worrying about all the problems and flaws in our management and preparations, it is reassuring that I personally found the lesson quite fun and that the children themselves actually seemed to enjoy spending time with us and were enthusiastic enough to return a response towards our approach. I am glad that we actually completed a lesson and are getting back on track towards the end of our project. I hope the group will use this opportunity to step up, improve on ourselves and end this service-learning with a bang.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
RESL Journey thus far
Our RESL journey thus far cannot be considered to be successful. Firstly, we have kept procrastinating in terms of work and often submit our work late. Furthermore, the work is not even up to standard. One such example is the report which was poorly collated due to a lack of team effort and even occasional pushing of work to single members.
Up till now, we have already gone for quite a number of lessons at Little Wings, fulfilling the service part of our project. However, we have not really learnt anything and are not exactly truly grateful towards the fact that we have this opportunity to help others and will do it out of our own good will. To put it bluntly, we simply do not care too much about this project and only do it for the sake of doing it. If we were asked to do this again and given an option to reject the offer, chances are that we would probably not want to.
Due to this, it can be said that we still have to catch up in terms of our commitment to this project. Furthermore, we did not put in alot of effort in learning how to communicate with the children and this led to huge problems in terms of us communicating with the children in the first 2 or so lessons. We only learnt from experience and that alone was still not enough. However, the problem also lies in the fact that we should not have split up into groups of 2 and 3 to teach two separate classes, but instead just take one level (K1 or K2) as a whole group. Since we are split up, we simply do not share the same opinion or thoughts about our experience in general throughout the journey. The members who were in charge of the rowdier class might recount the experience negatively as it was very difficult to control the class. However, the members in charge of the quieter K1 class might remember the lessons as being relatively boring and quiet, with the exception of one or two children actively commenting. This results in different opinions of our definition of our service.
The lack of manpower was also extremely evident as there were only 3/2 of us in each class who could walk around and help the children if they had any problems. However, if there are other children who require help, we are unable to assist them as we are already busy explaining to another child. This might cause us to come across to the children as being insincere and thereafter they might dislike you and not listen to you. However, as a group of 5 we would be able to handle this problem with relative ease as well as opening up options for introductions such as games which would need more people.
As a whole this RE journey has been relatively interesting as we have never done this type of project before. However, we have definitely not put in enough effort not only in doing the paperwork, but also understanding and reaching out to the kids and in so doing learning from them while in the process teaching them.
-Edison
Up till now, we have already gone for quite a number of lessons at Little Wings, fulfilling the service part of our project. However, we have not really learnt anything and are not exactly truly grateful towards the fact that we have this opportunity to help others and will do it out of our own good will. To put it bluntly, we simply do not care too much about this project and only do it for the sake of doing it. If we were asked to do this again and given an option to reject the offer, chances are that we would probably not want to.
Due to this, it can be said that we still have to catch up in terms of our commitment to this project. Furthermore, we did not put in alot of effort in learning how to communicate with the children and this led to huge problems in terms of us communicating with the children in the first 2 or so lessons. We only learnt from experience and that alone was still not enough. However, the problem also lies in the fact that we should not have split up into groups of 2 and 3 to teach two separate classes, but instead just take one level (K1 or K2) as a whole group. Since we are split up, we simply do not share the same opinion or thoughts about our experience in general throughout the journey. The members who were in charge of the rowdier class might recount the experience negatively as it was very difficult to control the class. However, the members in charge of the quieter K1 class might remember the lessons as being relatively boring and quiet, with the exception of one or two children actively commenting. This results in different opinions of our definition of our service.
The lack of manpower was also extremely evident as there were only 3/2 of us in each class who could walk around and help the children if they had any problems. However, if there are other children who require help, we are unable to assist them as we are already busy explaining to another child. This might cause us to come across to the children as being insincere and thereafter they might dislike you and not listen to you. However, as a group of 5 we would be able to handle this problem with relative ease as well as opening up options for introductions such as games which would need more people.
As a whole this RE journey has been relatively interesting as we have never done this type of project before. However, we have definitely not put in enough effort not only in doing the paperwork, but also understanding and reaching out to the kids and in so doing learning from them while in the process teaching them.
-Edison
Reflection
I feel that for this project so far, we have procrastinated quite a lot while doing things, thus leaving us with quite a lot of work to finish in the coming 2 weeks. However, I feel that we managed to accomplish quite a lot during our RE session this afternoon, showing that we can achieve our goals If we put our minds to it.
For the past lessons, I feel that that ran quite smoothly, although there were quite a few things that could have been improved. For example, during our 2nd lesson, not all the children were able to have a finished product of their own. We should definitely take all of these into consideration when preparing for our final 3 lessons, and we should strive to make these final lessons as fun and meaningful as possible, to leave a lasting impression on the children.
-Benjamin
For the past lessons, I feel that that ran quite smoothly, although there were quite a few things that could have been improved. For example, during our 2nd lesson, not all the children were able to have a finished product of their own. We should definitely take all of these into consideration when preparing for our final 3 lessons, and we should strive to make these final lessons as fun and meaningful as possible, to leave a lasting impression on the children.
-Benjamin
Current Status of our Project
After viewing the presentations done by the other groups, I realised our group is quite far behind in terms of progress. Although we have already completed 4 lessons of service, there were quite a few groups that were finished entirely with the service part of the project. Thus I feel that we should step up the rate of our project
Another thing I noticed was that the groups that were also under Little Wings only took one class compared to the two classes that we took for their project. In hindsight, I think that taking two classes for our project was a rather big error on our part. Not only does taking 2 classes result in us having to acquire 2 times the materials, it also makes us rather divided and less united as a group as we deal with different situations in our classroom. However most importantly, having 5 members to one class gives us the much needed flexibility in scheduling our lessons as missing one member during a lesson would not be as crucial due to the greater manpower. Currently, there is no way I would be able to miss a lesson as it is only 2 people to the class I am assigned. Thus if any pressing issue came up, my partner would be unable to cope on his own.
Finally, I also think that we have to be more organized and prepared for our lessons. One important thing is that we should all make sure that we have every single one of our lesson materials before the lesson day. We should also communicate more with the kindergarten teachers to ensure that they know what to tell the students to bring. Furthermore, we should also make sure each and every one of our group members are clear on how to craft the product for the specific lesson. This will allow us to run our lessons more smoothly and reduce the chance of us stumbling during the lesson.
All in all, as we come to the end of our RESL journey, I think that there were many things that we could have done better, however I also feel that making mistakes is part of the learning process and that this project has definitely taught me many things.
-Brent
Another thing I noticed was that the groups that were also under Little Wings only took one class compared to the two classes that we took for their project. In hindsight, I think that taking two classes for our project was a rather big error on our part. Not only does taking 2 classes result in us having to acquire 2 times the materials, it also makes us rather divided and less united as a group as we deal with different situations in our classroom. However most importantly, having 5 members to one class gives us the much needed flexibility in scheduling our lessons as missing one member during a lesson would not be as crucial due to the greater manpower. Currently, there is no way I would be able to miss a lesson as it is only 2 people to the class I am assigned. Thus if any pressing issue came up, my partner would be unable to cope on his own.
Finally, I also think that we have to be more organized and prepared for our lessons. One important thing is that we should all make sure that we have every single one of our lesson materials before the lesson day. We should also communicate more with the kindergarten teachers to ensure that they know what to tell the students to bring. Furthermore, we should also make sure each and every one of our group members are clear on how to craft the product for the specific lesson. This will allow us to run our lessons more smoothly and reduce the chance of us stumbling during the lesson.
All in all, as we come to the end of our RESL journey, I think that there were many things that we could have done better, however I also feel that making mistakes is part of the learning process and that this project has definitely taught me many things.
-Brent
Back to School Reflections -- Timothy
After the June holidays, we will have to pick up our pace again and get back on track. Though it seems like we still have a lot to handle, we have come this far and I believe we just need to go on slightly longer before we complete this journey. I feel relieved that we managed to complete most of our report as this is means one less weight on our shoulders. I hope we all enjoy our time together on the final steps of this project and I look forward to going back to Little Wings and teaching the children a few more times.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
BACK TO SCHOOL REFLECTIONZ
Hi this is Yishu, transcribing my reflection for the project thus far.
Lately we've got our knickers in a twist, trying to boggle our minds to figure an appropiate way to end off the project. After all the lesson plans and everything, we need to find an appropiate way to finish off the project. We are still thinking about this and we hopefully(?) will come up with something suitable.
Our journey thus far... has been quite eventful. We have surely learned many valuable lessons throughout our journey, and we will learn from these mistakes, and use this to our advantage in crafting our future lesson plans. There were pros and cons to our lessons. Most of the time, we were caught up in preparing the right amount of logistics for the children. There hasn't been a week where we prepared just enough materials for EVERYONE and conducted a perfectly smooth lesson. Of course we're only human (hurhur), and we make mistakes. However, I think that for the next few lessons we should pay more attention to the materials that are needed and ensure there are sufficient materials to run the lesson. During the first lesson, I still remember that we had to make everyone do pair work, leading to huge disappointment on the children's part, as they could not each bring home their artwork to show off to everybody at home. In our lessons, we aim to combine fun, safety, and awareness in our lessons. We need to make it fun for everybody by AT LEAST helping them each make a product for themselves individually.
Of course there were some things that we got right... like our interpersonal relationship with the children, and making the lesson interesting enough to pay attention... and more which I'm sure my teammates can elaborate more on.
I think that we have come quite a long way since our project first started, and have become accustomed to the behavior of the children and teaching them... We have 3 lessons left, and I hope that we can come up with something great for the children, and transcend the lessons into something more than just a compulsory phase of this RE journey, but into something that benefits both parties greatly.
Kthxbye
Yishu
Lately we've got our knickers in a twist, trying to boggle our minds to figure an appropiate way to end off the project. After all the lesson plans and everything, we need to find an appropiate way to finish off the project. We are still thinking about this and we hopefully(?) will come up with something suitable.
Our journey thus far... has been quite eventful. We have surely learned many valuable lessons throughout our journey, and we will learn from these mistakes, and use this to our advantage in crafting our future lesson plans. There were pros and cons to our lessons. Most of the time, we were caught up in preparing the right amount of logistics for the children. There hasn't been a week where we prepared just enough materials for EVERYONE and conducted a perfectly smooth lesson. Of course we're only human (hurhur), and we make mistakes. However, I think that for the next few lessons we should pay more attention to the materials that are needed and ensure there are sufficient materials to run the lesson. During the first lesson, I still remember that we had to make everyone do pair work, leading to huge disappointment on the children's part, as they could not each bring home their artwork to show off to everybody at home. In our lessons, we aim to combine fun, safety, and awareness in our lessons. We need to make it fun for everybody by AT LEAST helping them each make a product for themselves individually.
Of course there were some things that we got right... like our interpersonal relationship with the children, and making the lesson interesting enough to pay attention... and more which I'm sure my teammates can elaborate more on.
I think that we have come quite a long way since our project first started, and have become accustomed to the behavior of the children and teaching them... We have 3 lessons left, and I hope that we can come up with something great for the children, and transcend the lessons into something more than just a compulsory phase of this RE journey, but into something that benefits both parties greatly.
Kthxbye
Yishu
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
4th Lesson - Little Wings
Not much time to do the reflection, i'll make it quick for real.
I think we did reasonably well today. But I doubt, with varied goals in mind for the future (for our project), reasonably well can't quite cut it.
I think we need to polish some areas in our lessons, because we usually don't foresee these problems until they actually happen. Like today, when some students finished faster than others, and didn't have anything to do while waiting for the people who were not done yet. The only way we could entertain them was to tell them to do another collage.
The plus point of today was that (even though it took a while), the kids understood the concept of a collage in the end and everyone was able to complete a collage... even me and brent.
Last lesson of the term... Next lesson we have ALOT of time to prepare for so hope we make the best of the time.
"www.shapecollage.com"
I think we did reasonably well today. But I doubt, with varied goals in mind for the future (for our project), reasonably well can't quite cut it.
I think we need to polish some areas in our lessons, because we usually don't foresee these problems until they actually happen. Like today, when some students finished faster than others, and didn't have anything to do while waiting for the people who were not done yet. The only way we could entertain them was to tell them to do another collage.
The plus point of today was that (even though it took a while), the kids understood the concept of a collage in the end and everyone was able to complete a collage... even me and brent.
Last lesson of the term... Next lesson we have ALOT of time to prepare for so hope we make the best of the time.
"www.shapecollage.com"
Reflection for vase-making
Finally found the password which hoel still has not changed after searching through like 5 chat logs.
I felt that today’s lesson went quite well, as the lesson was conducted smoothly with no major hiccups and the children all seemed to enjoy themselves thoroughly. The children were enthusiastic about making their vases, and seemed to like the flowers that we gave them very much. During the story-telling, we received a very positive response from the children and they actively participated in reading the story and answering our questions. We also managed to take some photos to document our experience in the classroom.
However, I feel that we should prepare more for our lessons next time, as today I spent quite a lot of time during the lesson taping the flowers to the stalks, and cutting the bottles up, which we managed to complete on time because we arrived early. Next time, we should prepare all our materials earlier, and perhaps ask the children to bring their materials 1 week early so we can bring them home and make the necessary preparations.
-Benjamin
I felt that today’s lesson went quite well, as the lesson was conducted smoothly with no major hiccups and the children all seemed to enjoy themselves thoroughly. The children were enthusiastic about making their vases, and seemed to like the flowers that we gave them very much. During the story-telling, we received a very positive response from the children and they actively participated in reading the story and answering our questions. We also managed to take some photos to document our experience in the classroom.
However, I feel that we should prepare more for our lessons next time, as today I spent quite a lot of time during the lesson taping the flowers to the stalks, and cutting the bottles up, which we managed to complete on time because we arrived early. Next time, we should prepare all our materials earlier, and perhaps ask the children to bring their materials 1 week early so we can bring them home and make the necessary preparations.
-Benjamin
Reflection on Lesson 4 - Timothy
Today's lesson was reasonably successful. The children managed to grasp the meaning and essence of Mother's Day/filial piety and recycling. The children also enjoyed the story even though we should use a larger book the next time we attempt using storybooks as the ones at the back are unable to see the book's contents. They enjoyed the process of making the vase and liked receiving the paper flowers as gifts.
On the other hand, we should reflect our approach towards this project. We have to be more prepared beforehand and not conduct the lesson without any/little planning. Moreover, if we know that anyone of us are unable to do what is assigned to him by the deadline, he must have the responsibility to inform the others beforehand and not a couple of hours before the day itself, setting everyone else back and causing a lot of inconveniences. Besides, the rest of us should be more active and be ready to help each other when they are unable to accomplish the tasks assigned by themselves.
On the other hand, we should reflect our approach towards this project. We have to be more prepared beforehand and not conduct the lesson without any/little planning. Moreover, if we know that anyone of us are unable to do what is assigned to him by the deadline, he must have the responsibility to inform the others beforehand and not a couple of hours before the day itself, setting everyone else back and causing a lot of inconveniences. Besides, the rest of us should be more active and be ready to help each other when they are unable to accomplish the tasks assigned by themselves.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Reflection on Lesson 3 - Timothy
This Tuesday's lesson has been quite an interesting experience. Before this lesson, we only needed to conduct some icebreakers and get to know each other. This lesson was slightly different as we were required to teach them how to do art and conduct the actual hands-on activities. Firstly,it was comforting to find that the children finally got our names right and even recognised us. All we need to do now is to attach the names to their faces instead of simply having a name list.
There was some slight misunderstanding in the lesson. The teacher did not know that we would be conducting the lesson that early and threw some of the tissue boxes away. Fortunately, there were enough boxes for the children. To prevent such incidents from reoccurring,we got the teacher's phone number so we can contact her directly. Furthermore, we can also share our lesson ideas with her as she is experienced and likes to help us with our lessons.
During the hands-on itself, we should have no problem managing the children. However, in case there is a problem, the teacher is always there to help us resolve it. When we conduct hands-on activities, it is important to have everybody engaged. Some of the children were bored waiting for their turn to draw and decorate the boxes. We must also be aware of them and understand that they can be sensitive or shy or emotional and we should learn how to approach them.
There was some slight misunderstanding in the lesson. The teacher did not know that we would be conducting the lesson that early and threw some of the tissue boxes away. Fortunately, there were enough boxes for the children. To prevent such incidents from reoccurring,we got the teacher's phone number so we can contact her directly. Furthermore, we can also share our lesson ideas with her as she is experienced and likes to help us with our lessons.
During the hands-on itself, we should have no problem managing the children. However, in case there is a problem, the teacher is always there to help us resolve it. When we conduct hands-on activities, it is important to have everybody engaged. Some of the children were bored waiting for their turn to draw and decorate the boxes. We must also be aware of them and understand that they can be sensitive or shy or emotional and we should learn how to approach them.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Hello
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
K i have very little time to do a post, so i'll make it short.
Today we had our third lesson with Little Wings for our RESL project. As usual, there are pros and cons to everything, and this lesson was no exception.
Before that...
I made some kewl observations about our class. (This regards Brent's and my class only) I think the drama that my class provides is more that what mediacorp has tried to churn out for many years. Today we witnessed a !@*!@)(!*@#load of drama that did defer us from our task. I'll save the small talk and not list out the many hilarious things that they did. But then again I myself was once a young kid, I'm very sure that I had done more foolish stuff when I was a kid... Like eating the hairs from a paintbrush lolol
So anyway what went well today was that we managed to remember all their names today, despite the fact that week in week out there are random absentees in the class... like syafiq for example, the cheeky kid from our class. This is attributed by the photos we took of them, that helped us remember their names with ease. Truthfully, Brent did a better job of it than me.
Next, we managed to establish a program for future lessons, but I am quite doubtful if it will work. We split the class into groups of two and let them do group work....
NOT
Of course it wouldn't work. Group work generated like 95% of the drama today. What we needed to do was to ensure that there are 15 items of each required item for each lesson (which I failed to do). If i learnt one thing today, it was that we shouldn't assume that Little Wings would 100% prepare what we requested. From the next lesson plan on, we need to bring 'emergency materials', which would surely be used. (technically I was assigned this job but I forgot but HEY everyone makes mistakes (clefable hurhurhur inside joke) forgive me plox)
We didn't lack preparation, we just wrongly assumed that Little Wings would have gotten everything ready for us. In order to avoid group work and allow every kid to create a wonderful art piece of their own and less importantly, have more stuff to show case during the art exhibition. (ew i just realised little wings is PAP endorsed... that means if we have art exhibition we will have white guys there? weird shit)
What went bad today, was our helplessness to react to the drama. When a kid goes into dao mode and ignores everything anyone says, WTPONG DO YOU DO
ahha, I don't know.
Bottom line: Learn how to deal with pesky arrogant kids, and learn how to appeal to kids who are more reserved, and also bring emergency materials and even bring video cameras to record the drama. Lol jk
I LIED ABOUT A SHORT POST! NOOOOOOOOOOOO
Yishu
K i have very little time to do a post, so i'll make it short.
Today we had our third lesson with Little Wings for our RESL project. As usual, there are pros and cons to everything, and this lesson was no exception.
Before that...
I made some kewl observations about our class. (This regards Brent's and my class only) I think the drama that my class provides is more that what mediacorp has tried to churn out for many years. Today we witnessed a !@*!@)(!*@#load of drama that did defer us from our task. I'll save the small talk and not list out the many hilarious things that they did. But then again I myself was once a young kid, I'm very sure that I had done more foolish stuff when I was a kid... Like eating the hairs from a paintbrush lolol
So anyway what went well today was that we managed to remember all their names today, despite the fact that week in week out there are random absentees in the class... like syafiq for example, the cheeky kid from our class. This is attributed by the photos we took of them, that helped us remember their names with ease. Truthfully, Brent did a better job of it than me.
Next, we managed to establish a program for future lessons, but I am quite doubtful if it will work. We split the class into groups of two and let them do group work....
NOT
Of course it wouldn't work. Group work generated like 95% of the drama today. What we needed to do was to ensure that there are 15 items of each required item for each lesson (which I failed to do). If i learnt one thing today, it was that we shouldn't assume that Little Wings would 100% prepare what we requested. From the next lesson plan on, we need to bring 'emergency materials', which would surely be used. (technically I was assigned this job but I forgot but HEY everyone makes mistakes (clefable hurhurhur inside joke) forgive me plox)
We didn't lack preparation, we just wrongly assumed that Little Wings would have gotten everything ready for us. In order to avoid group work and allow every kid to create a wonderful art piece of their own and less importantly, have more stuff to show case during the art exhibition. (ew i just realised little wings is PAP endorsed... that means if we have art exhibition we will have white guys there? weird shit)
What went bad today, was our helplessness to react to the drama. When a kid goes into dao mode and ignores everything anyone says, WTPONG DO YOU DO
ahha, I don't know.
Bottom line: Learn how to deal with pesky arrogant kids, and learn how to appeal to kids who are more reserved, and also bring emergency materials and even bring video cameras to record the drama. Lol jk
I LIED ABOUT A SHORT POST! NOOOOOOOOOOOO
Yishu
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Edison Reflection on Lesson 1
The lesson did not begin very well, as we were not used to dealing with kids of such a young age and hence we could not reach out to them. Most of them were afraid of responding verbally except two or three students. We also tried to tell them our names but as our names all contained three syllables, they were unable to remember and pronounce our names. However, after I managed to stress Benjamin's name, they could remember it well. I then tried the same on me and Timothy. However, when we played the icebreaker, the only name they knew was Benjamin and hence the game was not really a success.
Another problem was that we did not know their names and this greatly weakened our ability to reach out to them and get them to respond. Furthermore, we were unsure of the characteristics of each child. This was very evident when Timothy attempted to ask one of the girls a question and she simply stared at him, and the teacher at the side mentioned that she would cry if we had insisted.
The story was going quite smoothly as I started, with Timothy drawing out the images on the whiteboard provided. I believe this part did not go too badly as although I was not able to get most of them to respond verbally, they did respond with a raise of hands when I tried to interact by asking simple questions. However, it did not go very well as Benjamin overly quickly transitioned into the ending, making the children confused.
Also, when we attempted to explain what was recycling, we did not succeed as we were unable to simplifiy our language enough for them to understand. Afterwards, the teacher attempted to help us and kind of succeeded, but I believe it did not really leave an impression on them as we had to repeat several times previously before they could undestand.
Overall, I believe that this lesson was not very successful. Thinking about what we could have done better, maybe we should have also re-translated the story into a simpler form so that we did not have to do on-the-spot translation which was a little tough. We should also have attempted to learn their names before hand as this would enable us to reach out to them more.
Another problem was that we did not know their names and this greatly weakened our ability to reach out to them and get them to respond. Furthermore, we were unsure of the characteristics of each child. This was very evident when Timothy attempted to ask one of the girls a question and she simply stared at him, and the teacher at the side mentioned that she would cry if we had insisted.
The story was going quite smoothly as I started, with Timothy drawing out the images on the whiteboard provided. I believe this part did not go too badly as although I was not able to get most of them to respond verbally, they did respond with a raise of hands when I tried to interact by asking simple questions. However, it did not go very well as Benjamin overly quickly transitioned into the ending, making the children confused.
Also, when we attempted to explain what was recycling, we did not succeed as we were unable to simplifiy our language enough for them to understand. Afterwards, the teacher attempted to help us and kind of succeeded, but I believe it did not really leave an impression on them as we had to repeat several times previously before they could undestand.
Overall, I believe that this lesson was not very successful. Thinking about what we could have done better, maybe we should have also re-translated the story into a simpler form so that we did not have to do on-the-spot translation which was a little tough. We should also have attempted to learn their names before hand as this would enable us to reach out to them more.
Reflection on Vase-Making meeting (Timothy)
Regarding Tuesday's meeting, I am feeling fairly disappointed. We were not prepared for anything during the meeting itself. We did not prepare the necessary materials for making the vase and had to have the materials given to us on the spot. We should reflect upon this and improve upon our approach towards this RE-SL project. We need to consider all possible situations and be readily prepared for them so as not to waste everyone's time. In addition, we also have to manage our project properly and plan ahead so that we have to time to face possible problems we might face. Research is also required to understand what is needed for the lessons to run smoothly.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Timothy Reflection on Lesson 2
Even though we had decided to conduct the actual lesson on Lesson 2, the lesson had to be delayed to the next lesson due to the lack of communication. While we informed the principal of the date of our lesson, the teachers of the K1 class did not know we would be going over that day. We were then unable to teach the children as they did not bring any of the materials needed. This has caused a setback to our actual plans and we need to change our lesson plans to fit in this lesson. From this incident, we can understand the importance of communication and that we need to be clearer in articulating our thoughts. We should learn from this and make sure that this never happens again.
On the bright side, we had an hour to bridge the gap between the children and us and let them familiarize themselves with us. We finally obtained a response through the games that we played during that one hour. We even managed to learn their names so that we can reach to them more easily in the next lessons.
We can say that this lesson was successful to some extent even though the mistakes made has lead to a lot of problems for the next few lessons.
On the bright side, we had an hour to bridge the gap between the children and us and let them familiarize themselves with us. We finally obtained a response through the games that we played during that one hour. We even managed to learn their names so that we can reach to them more easily in the next lessons.
We can say that this lesson was successful to some extent even though the mistakes made has lead to a lot of problems for the next few lessons.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Yishu - Reflection for Lesson 1 and Lesson 2
Lol i postponed my reflections mainly because i completely forgot to do it... but since it's too late to turn back time I might as well use that as an advantage to do my reflections.
Today concluded Lesson 2 of our RESL project to educate a group of kindergarteners from Little Wings about the beauty of art. We made significant progress from Lesson 1, in the way that we were able to control the children better. From Lesson 1, I personally felt that the children were not under our control at all during the lesson. It felt as if the class were divided into several groups, each of them in their own world. There was a small minority who were super super shy, and would not utter a word if not prompted. There were the rowdy children who were fighting, running around, whatnot. It was quite a mess. Only when our teacher-mentor came in and talked to them with diction did we realise what we were doing wrong.
From the second lesson, we decided to appeal to the natural instincts of the children, and to enforce way more discipline with the children. As our teacher mentor was not here today, we were up against a formidable challenge to engage the children with our 75 minute lesson plan... We got mixed results. First, we had an improvement in controlling the kids. Letting them know who's the one in charge by speaking with force and diction enabled us to command the children's attention and elicit certain responses from them. The Sing-a-long session was quite successful, as the perpetually-linked peer pressure spread like bonfire within the class; as a few people sang along with us, everyone began to sing along and it was our first taste of success with interacting with the kids.
Another plus point was that the kids were interested in dealing with art. They were enthusiastic and responded with positive decorum.
HOWEVER. BIG HOWEVER.
Due to lack of spick-and-span preparation, we did not anticipate certain events. Firstly, was the making of the tissue box guitar itself. We did not expect the hassle in wrapping the tissue boxes, and had to settle with 7 tissue boxes, with just 1 box to be shared among 2 people. It was the best way to deal with our situation as we dismissed the idea of helping them to wrap the boxes as we thought that we would teach them to be independent. However, time constraints forced us to do otherwise.
Other than that, we managed to convey our overall message to the kids, that art can be found easily, only if you look hard enough. A huge improvement from lesson 1, as we managed to finish all 7 guitars.
Now looking forward to lesson 3, which we hope will be a step higher than lesson 2.
Today concluded Lesson 2 of our RESL project to educate a group of kindergarteners from Little Wings about the beauty of art. We made significant progress from Lesson 1, in the way that we were able to control the children better. From Lesson 1, I personally felt that the children were not under our control at all during the lesson. It felt as if the class were divided into several groups, each of them in their own world. There was a small minority who were super super shy, and would not utter a word if not prompted. There were the rowdy children who were fighting, running around, whatnot. It was quite a mess. Only when our teacher-mentor came in and talked to them with diction did we realise what we were doing wrong.
From the second lesson, we decided to appeal to the natural instincts of the children, and to enforce way more discipline with the children. As our teacher mentor was not here today, we were up against a formidable challenge to engage the children with our 75 minute lesson plan... We got mixed results. First, we had an improvement in controlling the kids. Letting them know who's the one in charge by speaking with force and diction enabled us to command the children's attention and elicit certain responses from them. The Sing-a-long session was quite successful, as the perpetually-linked peer pressure spread like bonfire within the class; as a few people sang along with us, everyone began to sing along and it was our first taste of success with interacting with the kids.
Another plus point was that the kids were interested in dealing with art. They were enthusiastic and responded with positive decorum.
HOWEVER. BIG HOWEVER.
Due to lack of spick-and-span preparation, we did not anticipate certain events. Firstly, was the making of the tissue box guitar itself. We did not expect the hassle in wrapping the tissue boxes, and had to settle with 7 tissue boxes, with just 1 box to be shared among 2 people. It was the best way to deal with our situation as we dismissed the idea of helping them to wrap the boxes as we thought that we would teach them to be independent. However, time constraints forced us to do otherwise.
Other than that, we managed to convey our overall message to the kids, that art can be found easily, only if you look hard enough. A huge improvement from lesson 1, as we managed to finish all 7 guitars.
Now looking forward to lesson 3, which we hope will be a step higher than lesson 2.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Reflection for first lesson
I felt that the first lesson for the K1 class did not go very well in terms of the children’s response to the lesson. They did not want to answer our questions, or even tell us their names. It could be because they are shy, or maybe we are not that skilled at communicating with them yet. The K2 class received a much more enthusiastic response. Maybe it is because K1 students are still young, and not as outspoken as K2 students. I hope we will be able to get a better response in the future lessons, as the children start to know us better and feel more comfortable around us.
-Benjamin Wong
-Benjamin Wong
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Reflections for First Lesson
The reaction we received from the K2s was positive in some ways while negative in others. Although they were active and participative in our activities, they got rather too zealous in their actions at times and misbehaved. My partner Yishu and I were at a loss as to how to deal with this well as we had just built a relationship with the students as friends and thus we did not want to spoil this by becoming stern and scolding them. In future lessons, we will have to be able to keep the class in check while minimizing authority.
Another concern was the understanding of the students to our lessons. According to a teacher from the kindergarten, some of the K2s had just transferred into the kindergarten and did not have as good a grasp of English as the others. This resulted in a decrease in quality of communication between the students and ourselves as they were unable to understand us with their limited vocabulary.
In all, I feel that this first lesson was a good realization that we would have to put more research into how to be able to effectively control and teach a kindergarten class.
Brent Tan
Another concern was the understanding of the students to our lessons. According to a teacher from the kindergarten, some of the K2s had just transferred into the kindergarten and did not have as good a grasp of English as the others. This resulted in a decrease in quality of communication between the students and ourselves as they were unable to understand us with their limited vocabulary.
In all, I feel that this first lesson was a good realization that we would have to put more research into how to be able to effectively control and teach a kindergarten class.
Brent Tan
Reflection K1 Class
The first lesson for the K1 class was quite surprising. We did not expect to receive such a passive response from the children. However, I'm sure that the situation will improve once they are more comfortable with us and we learn their names and understand them. We need to change our approach and try to get them more involved in the lesson, not just listening to us talk.
-Timothy Shong
-Timothy Shong
Friday, February 25, 2011
Reflection - Edison Low
For me, service means to help others who are in need regardless of who they are. Learning is not just about gaining knowledge, but also understanding others and their feelings and for example adapting to help one feel better if they are feeling down. I would like to join the RES-L Programme as I think it is very meaningful to be able to help others and also animals, our top choice. The animals from the SPCA are homeless and although I have seen and read much about their plight, I have not made a difference to help them. This project will allow me to help people or animals directly. I hope that I can learn skills such as how to take care of an animal as I have never had a pet. I also hope that I can appreciate what I have even more after seeing how little others have. I think I am a considerably caring person which will be able to help me help others. I think some challenges encountered would include not being able to connect with the children or animals at first. Children might be a little easier but animals would not trust you at first, but if you show genuine care and concern they will begin to trust you.
Reflection - Brent Tan
Service to me is the simple act of providing help to one in need. I believe that this act should be done willingly and with passion. When performing a service for someone, we should whole-heartedly put our best effort into it to provide the best possible help we can offer. Learning on the other hand is acquiring new knowledge and skills. Through this process, it is quite likely that our perspectives would be changed greatly. I would like to join this programme in order to gain higher levels of empathy with the less fortunate people and beings in the country. After being blessed with the higher opportunities I have been given, I wish to give back to the community in the form of helping those less fortunate. From this RES-L programme, I hope to learn to humble myself and to realize that serving people or a cause is not beneath anyone. I believe myself to possess tactfulness that would allow me to avoid spouting out insensitive comments by accident to sensitive parties. Also I have the patience needed to interact with younger children. Finally I believe I have the determination and passion to put my best effort into service that would allow me to reap reasonable results in the projects. One potential challenge I foresee is having to split my time between schoolwork, CCA and this project efficiently. My CCA would cause heavy problems in my schedule due to the competition season arriving and the increase in training sessions. However I intend to try my best to draw up a schedule that would allow me to allocate time efficiently. Lastly, another pertinent problem would be me having trouble communicating with the parties I will be attempting to serve. This can be solved by a heart-to-heart talk with the other party.
Reflection - Timothy Shong
Service is the act of sharing what we have to people who are not as fortunate in our society. Learning is educating an individual to gain new knowledge and values which would subsequently allow him to mature and be more understanding of the world around him. The reason why I would like to join RE-SL Programme is because I would like to use this opportunity to do my part for society. At the same time, I would be able to do a project which I find interesting with friends. From the programme, I hope to acquire qualities such as responsibility and the ability to interact with animals/people of different backgrounds. I believe I have experience in taking care of small children and have pets of my own before, so participating in the animals or young children areas would not be as tough for us. I have some experience and knowledge in the music area and I can share this knowledge with others. Some challenges we might face is the lack of communication between the organization we would be working in or even with the people we are trying to help. I am confident that we would be accustomed to this over time and we would have improved communications and understand each other better.
Reflection - Benjamin Wong
To me, service is the art of helping those in need and bringing a smile to their face. Learning is the act of acquiring skills and knowledge which contribute to making me a better person. I would like to join the RES-L Programme as I want to have an opportunity to do a project that I would really enjoy, as well as do my part for the society at the same time. I hope that I will be able to learn qualities like leadership and responsibility through this project. I have had some experience taking care of animals and small children, so I think I am suitable for projects in this field. I also take up guitar lessons and can share some of my knowledge with these children. We will definitely face challenges during our project, such as miscommunication with the organization we are working with, or not knowing how to complete our task. We have to make sure that we are very clear about what work we have to do and how we do it.
Reflection - Yishu
Well, as a kid, I'm very sure my art was terrible. In fact, so terrible, i wasn't graded in art because my teacher in kindergarten did not know what i was making. My experiences as a child with art was not very colorful as I am constantly reminded about my lack of the knack in art. For example, going back to the simplest form of art known to me at that time: a simple pencil drawing on a piece of drawing block. Most of the singular objects in my diagram was barely recognisable.
From my experience, I do not think the art education system in Singapore for kindergartens is very extensive. In my days, teachers treated art more as a irrelevant subject, and the point of the lesson was to get through it as fast as possible in order to move on to more critical lessons, like teaching grammar and maths. When my horrid drawings were shown to the teacher, (to the best of my memory), nothing was actually done to teach me drawing tactics and how to draw neatly. I believe art, (after doing some reflection on my own and some research), can be a way to express one's feelings, to serve as a form of stress therapy, and can be used to garner's a kid's attention in class and to get him to open up. This is especially so for young children. Many young children, are extremely reserved during the development stages of their lives, in kindergarten. Art can be a way to get them to open up. What they might not wish to verbalize, they might transcribe it into a drawing or a work of art. It is a silent act, making it more comfortable for some children.
Expression in the form of art might be a good way to kickstart our project and use it as a direction to head to. We can use art as a way to encourage the children in Little Wings to be open-minded to situations and let them be more active.
With a little luck, we might just change some lives.
From my experience, I do not think the art education system in Singapore for kindergartens is very extensive. In my days, teachers treated art more as a irrelevant subject, and the point of the lesson was to get through it as fast as possible in order to move on to more critical lessons, like teaching grammar and maths. When my horrid drawings were shown to the teacher, (to the best of my memory), nothing was actually done to teach me drawing tactics and how to draw neatly. I believe art, (after doing some reflection on my own and some research), can be a way to express one's feelings, to serve as a form of stress therapy, and can be used to garner's a kid's attention in class and to get him to open up. This is especially so for young children. Many young children, are extremely reserved during the development stages of their lives, in kindergarten. Art can be a way to get them to open up. What they might not wish to verbalize, they might transcribe it into a drawing or a work of art. It is a silent act, making it more comfortable for some children.
Expression in the form of art might be a good way to kickstart our project and use it as a direction to head to. We can use art as a way to encourage the children in Little Wings to be open-minded to situations and let them be more active.
With a little luck, we might just change some lives.
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