CT COP Reflections

Hi Folks,

I hope you have had a good weekend. I know some of you are desperately marking and are looking forward to a good holiday. Hang in there, the holidays beckon! I thought I'll send you guys off into the holidays with some reflective thoughts on the session. Firstly, I thank you all again for coming and it also occurred to me that most of you rated the session as very enjoyable but when it came to networking amongst your colleagues, mist of you felt that you did not have enough of an opportunity to do so. How can we improve the session the next time? In other words, how can we allow for more networking? Maybe play a few games? I would appreciate it if you could leave a comment on how this can be done.

Secondly, I would like to thank the presenters again for their sharing. I think the one thing that caught my attention was how each of you have this desire to make your classes fun and interesting for your students. I salute you. Please feel free to use this blog to share teaching ideas with your colleagues. This is your platform. I think now as you guys and gals start to hone your teaching skills and start to raise the teaching bar, I would like to challenge you guys and gals to go one step further to aim higher, what else can you do to be truly effective lesson designers? What can you do to create the "WOW" experience for your students? It is at this point I will shamelessly point you guys and gals to the Core Principles of Learning again. Have a closer look at the Core Principles and see what you think. Revists often bring new perspectives.

Thirdly, I think there are a lot more of you who have interesting stuff to share and I would like to urge you to share them with the rest. I have a former colleague from MOE who is now ith Temasek Poly and I have been trying to get him to get his lecturers to begin a COP as well so that we can move across institutions. I think that might take some time though as he is a nw staff there and he is just settling down.

Lastly, the Lap Top Design programme is on and see you on the 22nd of September. I am sorting out the groups and will be sending you the link to sign up soon. Cheers and have a good and restful holiday!

The Aftermath

Hi Folks,

Thank you for coming to the first CT COP yesterday at the Vanda Room. I am pretty chuffed that quite a number of you managed to take time out from your busy schedules to come down. I hope you managed to make new friends and connect with your colleagues across disciplines and departments. Also, I would like to place on record, my thanks to Roy, Carlos and Wan Fen for sharing with us their good work they are doing with their class.

Okay just beofre you guys head for a well deserved break and a holiday, could you please do this quick survey for me with regard to the COP yesterday so I can make improvements. Your suggestions on themes, possible speakers are also welcome. Once again thank you for coming!
Click Here to take survey

First CT Get Together!

Hi Folks

The first CT get together will be on the 27th of August at 3p.m. at the Vanda Room. The objectives of the get together and the programme are as follows:

- Build a community of lecturers keen on improving teaching and learning practice
- Share new and innovative ideas that can be adopted in the classroom
- Connect with fellow lecturers from different disciplines and build networks

The Programme is as follows:
2:45p.m. - Gather at Vanda Room
3:00p.m. - Refreshments begin
3:30p.m. - Opening Remarks
3:35p.m. - Sharing by Roy Ang (MM)
4:00p.m. - Sharing on Giving Feedback to a Large Group by Yip Wan Fen (CLS)
4:30 p.m. - Sharing on Using Technology in the Classroom by Carlos Acosta (EEE)
5:p.m. - Closing statements and end of programme!

You can register by clicking the link below. You should be on the Intranet though!

Registration => CT Community of Practice Meeting on 27 Aug 08

Using Wikis to Write Lecture Notes Collaboratively

Hi Folks,

Here is an interesting article on how Wikis are used in the classroom. An interesting read that you mught find useful if you are thinking of using Wikis in your own classroom. Get a discussion going if interested! Click the link below to download the PDF file. Enjoy and Happy National Day!

http://www.mediafire.com/?ptkojwps3yz

Mid Week Oh So Cheem Article

Hi Folks,
I hope the week has been treating you well so far. Thought I'll share with you an article that Senior Education Advisor Dennis Sale was sharing with me. Read this and let me know what you think.

An Obituary printed in the London Times........ Interesting and sadly
rather true.

'Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who
has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was,
since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.
He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the
worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend
more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children,
are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but
overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy
charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens
suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher
fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the
job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly
children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental
consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could
not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have
an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses;
and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common
Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar
in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to
realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in
her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death,
by his parents, Truth and Trust
his wife, Discretion
his daughter, Responsibility
his son, Reason
He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I'm A Victim
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.
If you still remember him, pass this on.
If not, join the majority and do nothing.

How Much Do You Make?

The title caught your attention didn't it? I know as educators we don't earn very much and I also know this as a fact - that many of you have taken pay cuts from the industry to come into teaching to make a difference. So this post is not about the tangible rewards of how much we are worth, (in my opinion we are worth SOOOOO much more than we are currently paid) but about the intangible rewards. This is one of my all time favourite teacher stories and I must thank Elaine because I got this from her comments on the online course. It is not really "emo" but rather it gets you think on two fronts - how much are we really worth / can you really put a dollar value on what we do and more importantly, the incredible amount of power we yield as educators in the classroom. At the risk of a cliche - "With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility. Enjoy the story and thanks Elaine for sharing it!

WHAT TEACHERS MAKE

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?" He reminded the other dinner guests what they say about teachers:"Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach."

To stress his point he said to another guest;"You're a teacher, Susan. Be honest. What do you make?"Susan, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, "You want to know what I make?" "I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.I make a C+ feel like the winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor. I make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall in absolute silence.""You want to know what I make?""I make kids wonder.I make them question.I make them criticize.I make them apologize and mean it.I make them write.I make them read, read, read.I make them show all their work in math and perfect their final drafts in English.I make them understand that if you have the brains, and follow your heart, and if someone ever tries to judge you by what you make, you must pay no attention because they just didn't learn."Susan paused and then continued.

"You want to know what I make?" 'I MAKE A DIFFERENCE.' What do you make?"

Lesson Study

Hi Folks, have not written for a long time. I apologise for that. As I sit here in the darkness thiking of what to share with you, I thought I'll let you read what our counterparts in Japan are doing in terms of "Lesson Study". Have a look when you need something to relax you and se what you think....Will write soon with new stuff.

http://www.tc.edu/lessonstudy/lessonstudy.html

Lesson study* is a professional development process that Japanese teachers engage in to systematically examine their practice, with the goal of becoming more effective. This examination centers on teachers working collaboratively on a small number of "study lessons". Working on these study lessons involves planning, teaching, observing, and critiquing the lessons.

To provide focus and direction to this work, the teachers select an overarching goal and related research question that they want to explore. This research question then serves to guide their work on all the study lessons. While working on a study lesson, teachers jointly draw up a detailed plan for the lesson, which one of the teachers uses to teach the lesson in a real classroom (as other group members observe the lesson). The group then comes together to discuss their observations of the lesson. Often, the group revises the lesson, and another teacher implements it in a second classroom, while group members again look on.

The group will come together again to discuss the observed instruction. Finally, the teachers produce a report of what their study lessons have taught them, particularly with respect to their research question.

*"Derived from the Japanese word jugyokenkyuu, the term 'lesson study' was coined by Makoto Yoshida...

http://www.rbs.org/lesson_study/faq.php#study

Mark Your Calendars

Hi Folks,

Okay the Poll results are in! We are going to have the CT Makan, Network, Call it what you want session on the 27th of August at the Vanda Room. Refreshments will be served for those of you coming after classes. I am intending to start at 3:30p.m. as some of us may have GEMs classes to teach (Moi included). We will have 2 speakers share with us some of their thoughts and then its free for all!!! I intend to end by 5:30p.m. I will be sending you a formal invitation soon! Take care and see you all soon!

Something to Think About - Video

Hello folks, have a look at this video. Tell me what you think!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5629273206953884671

PMP Briefing

Hi Folks,
Su Won from HR will be sending you an email soon requesting that you attend the PMP (Performance Management Programme) briefing for new staff. This programme is EXTREMELY important as this concerns performance management in SP and hence your performance bonus etc.

The briefings are planned for 24th July 2008 and 28th August 2008. These are Thursdays and they WILL NOT clash with the CT workshops. The 24th of July CT workshop is an online one which means you do not have to be physically present to do the course. Hence you can attend the HR PMP briefing. As for the 28th of August, no training has been planned for that day.
So dont be alarmed when you receive the email from Su Won. If you need to clarify the details of the PMP, please check directly with Su Won. I will be as usual available for any queries on the CT.