All Entries Tagged With: "Education"

Weekend Reflection- Planning Ahead

Welcome to Weekend Reflections, a weekly blog meme which is for reflecting on the events which happened over the week that made an impression on your life. If you would like to participate, grab the button from our sidebar and enter your Weekend Reflections link on Dominique’s Desk Blog Link below. Come on and join us this week.

As the year is coming to an end I can’t help thinking about Ryan and that he will be in K2 (Kindergarten 2) next year. 2010 will be the year that we will be registering him for Primary One .  I have already decided on which school to place him in and that is less one hassle for me.
My students just finished their end of year examinations and I had the opportunity to look at the Primary 1 papers. It seems that Ryan is up to par in the preparation for transition from Kindergarten to Elementary school. I just need to give him more practice in Mathematics.

I also took a look at the Secondary school selection which was given out to the Primary Six students.  Scanning through the various pages which listed the achievements of the different secondary school it got met thinking about what I will have to do after the kids enter primary school.

The emphasis nowadays is on a holistic environment and overall development of the child.  I intend to let Ryan and Roy try out all the different sports they are interested in and then choose a sport or two to master.

Do you also plan ahead?

Firefighting- Classroom Style

Earlier this month I wrote about how I motivate the students in my classroom. In this post I’ll be opening up to you what I face in the classroom on a daily basis.

Teaching is simply exhausting. There are 101 items which one must handle daily on top of teaching the given syllabus and performing conflict management simultaneously.

Everyday fresh new challenges are thrown as me when I enter the class  and address the 42 individuals with the unique personalities. It had been a bit overwhelming for me when I first took charge of this class but I have been slowly getting to know then and their peculiarities.

On a single day I have to deal with :

• students being verbally abusive to both peers and teacher
• defiant students.
• petty complains about other pupils.
• chasing after pupils to complete and hand in their homework on time.
• being constantly interrupt by students requesting to visit the toilet.

For 8 hours a day I have to deal with more then 100 different pupils as we take multiple students depending on our subject combination.

For me I take my main class English, Science, Art, Social Studies and Health Education. On top of that I have 4 additional classes of Art and 2 additional classes of Health Education.

I realized after handling this extremely large group of kids that the best way would be to treat them like toddlers. Most of my students are still extremely attention seeking  and some of them are actively seeking my attention  by being disruptive in class.

Here are some tips for beginning teachers/parents on dealing with kids of different personalities.

1. Make your expectations  and   rules  clear from the start of the year. Ink them down and paste them in a prominent spot in the room. This will serve as a constant reminder to students what you are expecting from the students.

2. List down your to-do-list on a daily basis.

   I do this so that the pupils know what they are suppose to do and the time frame allocated for each activity. This also ensures that they are kept on track to complete the given class work.

3. Give verbal warnings and follow through on any punishments if they have to be carried out. I will write down the name of the errant pupil on  a corner of the board if they do not cease misbehaving after two warnings. These pupils would have to have a one to one conferencing session with me after class.
   

4. Have a tick -off  list u to monitor your pupils performance. I have a multi-tabbed Excel spreadsheet for every class that I teach where I record down the grades each student received for all tests and exams administered, whether they handed in their homework punctually [ Each type of homework is dated and color coded for easy reference on the spreadsheet]  I also record any offences or praiseworthy mentions of the student which could be feedback to the parent during the parent teacher meeting session.

How do your children’s teachers deal with them
in the classroom?

Ultimate Blog Party 2009- Are you In?

This is my official invitation to all of you about this fab party hosted by  Five Minutes for Mom. Every year they hold what is called “The Ultimate Blog Party.” And you are all invited. So what is The Ultimate Blog Party?” Here’s what the girls at Five Minutes For Mom have to say about the event this year.

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For all who stopped by via UBP just here a brief introduction of myself.

From Dominique’s Desk(c)2009

I’m a elementary school teacher from Singapore. I’m currently teaching Grade 3 students in a neighbourhood school.  Here on this blog I write about my two boys and their various antics, strategies and techniques I have tried  in educating them.  This site is a mixture of short series injected with photos of my kids or objects of my fancy.  Each month I aim to focus on a different issue/ angle of educating kids and making parents more knowledgable about the tools avaliable to help them.

This month  focus was on IQ Vs EQ and how easy it is for parents to give their child a headstart in life.

Besides blogging I do freelance writing, web deisgning and have written a few e-books.  This month I relaunched – “Choosing the Right Primary School”- Singapore Edition (2nd Ed) which is a handy guide for parents who have kids entering Primary 1 in 2010.

There are many great prizes in the ultimate blog party. I have narrowed my choice   of what I would like to win to

1. INTL 27 — Lifetime Membership to Mom Masterminds
   Provided by: Mom Masterminds
   Prize Details: Mom Masterminds is a membership based learning center and forum for the internet marketing mom who wants to learn more and network with other successful mompreneurs. Value $500
2. INTL 66 – one month free advertising
   Provided by: Littlebytesnews.com
   Prize details: Get free advertising on your choice of one of the parenting sites on choice of: Little Bytes News, Mamas Timeout (network), Little Bytes News Blog or on our party supply site Gifts Party Supplies & More. Three winners will be chosen to submit their button or banner on the site for one month. (family friendly sites only)
3. INTL 60 — Secret Confessions of a Clean Freak
   Provided by:Carole at CommonSenseLiving.com
   Prize details: Get your house clean and keep it that way – fast & easy!
   Carole at CommonSenseLiving.com is donating a copy of her best selling system to one lucky winner.
4. INTL 39 — Two copies of Here You Are by author Mayke Beckmann Briggs – one copy for the lucky winner and one to pass along. ($16.95 value each)
   Provided by: BoathouseBooks
   Prize details: Here You Are just won the 2009 Mom’s Choice Award Silver Recipient in the Motivational/Inspirational Category with its simple, profound, and timely message. In Here You Are, a small child, enjoying nature and asking the fundamental questions of life, suddenly remembers something very deep in his very own heart, which dissolves all questions into a peaceful and joyful gladness. Since Here You Are has an uplifting and healing effect on children and adults, BoathouseBooks is donating two copies. This way, Moms can have their cake and eat it, too - “passing it forward” without having to give away their own copy.
   

Do hope over to the party and join in and have fun!!:)

Please feel free to sign our linky (and leave a comment of course) so I know you stopped by and others can continue their UBP hopping.

Sunny Memories of Melbourne

A few weeks ago my grandmother and my aunt flew off to Melbourne for a week long holiday. Also flying out with them was my cousin who would be doing his matriculation studies there at one of the university.

Turning back the clock to more then a decade ago I can still remember the fond memories I had when I was studying at Melbourne University. Going to school by tram and train. It was certainly an experience which I couldn’t have if I was doing my degree here in Singapore.

Picture by Flickr

I really enjoyed myself studying in the Old Arts halls of Melbourne Uni and seeing pictures of it brings back fond memories of sitting outside on the lawns and having lunches with friends.

Living and studying abroad widen my exposure and knowledge about different cultures and lifestyles. I also got the opportunity to bond with people of different backgrounds and nationalities.

It was the place where I met and fell in love with my hubby.We hope to bring the boys there when they are much older so they can enjoy the rich and diverse culture of Melbourne.

Where will  you be going this holidays?