No such things as armchair Geographers
Hi hi,
It seems that all of us (except maybe those of us who were slightly sick) enjoyed the little trip to P. Semakau on 14 Sep 2005 thoroughly. :D And it would be nice if we can revisit in another few years or so to see how things have progressed. And I am sure all of us would want more of such field trips (er.. maybe minus the boat rides), to places we have never or seldom been to.
This place has always been on my mind since I had to teach Sec 2 students on waste disposal in Singapore. At that time, I felt really inadequate teaching it since I have not seen for myself how things are like over there. Incinerator, yes. Landfill, never had the chance until now. So, could not offer anything more than what is in the textbook and the internet. So, that's the first reason why I was so happy to be able to visit.
Second reason I was happy - I survived the boat rides. As long as the boats are open-air, I am more likely to survive it. :)
Third reason I was happy - learnt so many things there. At first, I was extremely skeptical how a landfill can function without compromising environmental well-being. Now that this engineering feat has been presented to me, I am less skeptical. But then, we cannot deny the fact that nature still far surpasses humans in its prowess.
Fourth, wow - wildlife! I absolutely love wildlife and places teeming with them. :) I think I spotted a resident otter there, apart from the usual egret and juvenile heron. Perhaps I should come again with the nature soc people to see more wildlife under the surface. :)
http://www.wildsingapore.org/beachfleas/semakau/index.html
Okie, and here are a couple of pics. Not very good though.
Cartography Workshop
Didn't know that it's so difficult to classify what constitutes a map and what not. Try these:
1. Aboriginal songline
2. Site map of website
3. SBS Transit bus guide
4. Vertical aerial photograph
5. False-coloured satellite image
6. Annotated postcard view of Mt Kinabalu National Park
7. NUS Campus guide display board
8. Tolkien's middle earth
9. Radar screen of shipping in the Singapore straits
10. Image in your head of your neighbourhood
Hmmm...
And check out WH's blog for some great picts of maps.
A few other matters
Teacher's turn out and bearing
Once, I met a student and her mom. Nothing great about that. But it happened to be one of those mornings right after I had my morning jog. And when jogging, I prefer to wear those tees that have been washed umpteenth time because they are most comfy, and of course shorts. And I was doing the housewife thingy (grocery shopping) in my jogging attire... It was so embarrassing. :( But then, it could be worse. Imagine if I had met the dad instead ...
Teaching vs other duties
Got a taste of what teachers mean when they told me actual teaching takes up only 10% of a teacher's time, during my 4 weeks' school experience. Host of other duties constantly kept me from planning and preparing for my lessons. Things like giving feedback on students' behaviour for counsellors' use. (And that reminds me of the holistic report card thing that schools are embarking on, ie all subject teachers must comment on student's behaviour in class). Things like keying in exam marks into the system. CCAs and adhoc chaperoning of students on various events. Meetings (my school made every Wed a meeting day and no teachers are to leave school until 5.30pm every Wed). Setting test papers and exam papers. Marking. Seeing students for all sorts of reasons. Speaking to form teachers and parents on students' behaviour. Typing meeting minutes. Feedback sessions with P, HODs and teacher coordinators. Typing reflections. Ticking students homework against the class list. Keying in CCA attendance. Book review sessions with vendors. WITS meeting. Collecting edusave forms/consent forms/acknowledgement slips. Coordinating the ordering of stuff (eg Mother's day cake etc). Invigilating. Giving remedial lessons... We need to know how to be an octopus, multi-tasking and all that, even while still undergoing training. This is why full-fledged teachers always comment that our training days are our honeymoon days. I suppose most of us who have not the chance to take on the full load of teaching, or work anywhere else before, cannot agree with that. But I have to say that they are definitely right. We have to start seeing ourselves as employees, undergoing training, not students attending lessons. We need to wake up and face reality. And we have to practise due dilligence in all that we do right now. The onus is on us, to learn stuff our tutors generously try to impart to us.
Classroom management and other issues
It is simply wonderful to have classroom management issues addressed in our Geog tutorials. Thus far, these issues have not been addressed. And if the Classroom Management portion of our Ed Psy module (that is starting next Monday) is going to be as terribly done as it has been for the past 6 weeks, we will be very very grateful for our Geog's tutorials to have something concrete for us to fall back upon. :) Of course if it is going to be very well-delivered, we get the cake and we get to eat it too. So, I do not think there's any need to change how things are done in our Geog tutorials.
Sharing knowledge from experience
Had this problem when I resigned from my previous job. Had to hand over all that i have learnt in 5 years, in just two weeks. Not possible. Didn't know where to start. So, had to prioritise, just like tutor K. Passed down the most basic stuff to enable the one who took over me could at least ensure that the basic minimum are carried out smoothly, without affecting other people next in the chain. A pity all other wisdom gained from experience were lost. Could have written a book recording all the insights gained from those 5 years. Tutor K has 13 years of his experience. He could have written a whole encyclopaedia on his insights. So, it is a wonder he knew where he wanted to start with us.
Okie, dun wanna go on and on... Not too sure if I still make sense, having gone without sleep last night to work on our dear Ed Psy essay. And then travelling 4 hours to and fro just to get it handed in. Sigh...
Now got to go work on ICT x 2.
SW
It seems that all of us (except maybe those of us who were slightly sick) enjoyed the little trip to P. Semakau on 14 Sep 2005 thoroughly. :D And it would be nice if we can revisit in another few years or so to see how things have progressed. And I am sure all of us would want more of such field trips (er.. maybe minus the boat rides), to places we have never or seldom been to.
This place has always been on my mind since I had to teach Sec 2 students on waste disposal in Singapore. At that time, I felt really inadequate teaching it since I have not seen for myself how things are like over there. Incinerator, yes. Landfill, never had the chance until now. So, could not offer anything more than what is in the textbook and the internet. So, that's the first reason why I was so happy to be able to visit.
Second reason I was happy - I survived the boat rides. As long as the boats are open-air, I am more likely to survive it. :)
Third reason I was happy - learnt so many things there. At first, I was extremely skeptical how a landfill can function without compromising environmental well-being. Now that this engineering feat has been presented to me, I am less skeptical. But then, we cannot deny the fact that nature still far surpasses humans in its prowess.
Fourth, wow - wildlife! I absolutely love wildlife and places teeming with them. :) I think I spotted a resident otter there, apart from the usual egret and juvenile heron. Perhaps I should come again with the nature soc people to see more wildlife under the surface. :)
http://www.wildsingapore.org/beachfleas/semakau/index.html
Okie, and here are a couple of pics. Not very good though.
Cartography Workshop
Didn't know that it's so difficult to classify what constitutes a map and what not. Try these:
1. Aboriginal songline
2. Site map of website
3. SBS Transit bus guide
4. Vertical aerial photograph
5. False-coloured satellite image
6. Annotated postcard view of Mt Kinabalu National Park
7. NUS Campus guide display board
8. Tolkien's middle earth
9. Radar screen of shipping in the Singapore straits
10. Image in your head of your neighbourhood
Hmmm...
And check out WH's blog for some great picts of maps.
A few other matters
Teacher's turn out and bearing
Once, I met a student and her mom. Nothing great about that. But it happened to be one of those mornings right after I had my morning jog. And when jogging, I prefer to wear those tees that have been washed umpteenth time because they are most comfy, and of course shorts. And I was doing the housewife thingy (grocery shopping) in my jogging attire... It was so embarrassing. :( But then, it could be worse. Imagine if I had met the dad instead ...
Teaching vs other duties
Got a taste of what teachers mean when they told me actual teaching takes up only 10% of a teacher's time, during my 4 weeks' school experience. Host of other duties constantly kept me from planning and preparing for my lessons. Things like giving feedback on students' behaviour for counsellors' use. (And that reminds me of the holistic report card thing that schools are embarking on, ie all subject teachers must comment on student's behaviour in class). Things like keying in exam marks into the system. CCAs and adhoc chaperoning of students on various events. Meetings (my school made every Wed a meeting day and no teachers are to leave school until 5.30pm every Wed). Setting test papers and exam papers. Marking. Seeing students for all sorts of reasons. Speaking to form teachers and parents on students' behaviour. Typing meeting minutes. Feedback sessions with P, HODs and teacher coordinators. Typing reflections. Ticking students homework against the class list. Keying in CCA attendance. Book review sessions with vendors. WITS meeting. Collecting edusave forms/consent forms/acknowledgement slips. Coordinating the ordering of stuff (eg Mother's day cake etc). Invigilating. Giving remedial lessons... We need to know how to be an octopus, multi-tasking and all that, even while still undergoing training. This is why full-fledged teachers always comment that our training days are our honeymoon days. I suppose most of us who have not the chance to take on the full load of teaching, or work anywhere else before, cannot agree with that. But I have to say that they are definitely right. We have to start seeing ourselves as employees, undergoing training, not students attending lessons. We need to wake up and face reality. And we have to practise due dilligence in all that we do right now. The onus is on us, to learn stuff our tutors generously try to impart to us.
Classroom management and other issues
It is simply wonderful to have classroom management issues addressed in our Geog tutorials. Thus far, these issues have not been addressed. And if the Classroom Management portion of our Ed Psy module (that is starting next Monday) is going to be as terribly done as it has been for the past 6 weeks, we will be very very grateful for our Geog's tutorials to have something concrete for us to fall back upon. :) Of course if it is going to be very well-delivered, we get the cake and we get to eat it too. So, I do not think there's any need to change how things are done in our Geog tutorials.
Sharing knowledge from experience
Had this problem when I resigned from my previous job. Had to hand over all that i have learnt in 5 years, in just two weeks. Not possible. Didn't know where to start. So, had to prioritise, just like tutor K. Passed down the most basic stuff to enable the one who took over me could at least ensure that the basic minimum are carried out smoothly, without affecting other people next in the chain. A pity all other wisdom gained from experience were lost. Could have written a book recording all the insights gained from those 5 years. Tutor K has 13 years of his experience. He could have written a whole encyclopaedia on his insights. So, it is a wonder he knew where he wanted to start with us.
Okie, dun wanna go on and on... Not too sure if I still make sense, having gone without sleep last night to work on our dear Ed Psy essay. And then travelling 4 hours to and fro just to get it handed in. Sigh...
Now got to go work on ICT x 2.
SW
posted by S W at
6:05 pm
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