புத்தாண்டு வாழ்த்துகள்

அன்பு மாணவர்களே,
இரு திங்களை இன்பமாகக் கழித்திருப்பீர்கள்.
எதிர்வரும் ஆண்டினை வெற்றியோடு தொடங்கத் தயாராகுங்கள்.

Reflections - 6th December 2008

Yesterday was a race against time. I had till 5pm to submit my reflections. Have completed it but do not feel satisfied as I felt I was rushing through it. Wish I had more time.

Happy holidays to all.

Reflections - 4th December 2008

Climax Scene………….
The last face to face session was like a climax to a drama.All of us came in with data from WIHIC and SPSS to tabulate the result. We were asked to produce a mini-research paper by lunch time. My…I thought it was a challenge. We divided our work and went into action. Google docs came to our rescue. Individual’s work was shared with the rest of the group. It was like the four of us trying to complete a jigsaw puzzle. Working collaboratively engages not only our affective domain but the psychosocial as well. All of us were task-oriented and our involvement was at it’s peak. What is important in this learning process was that all of us were motivated and committed; was it because we were adult learners? Will the level of enthusiasm be the same for the students we teach? I believe it’s all in our hands. The kind of learning environment we create. There was something interesting about the way we used the rubrics during the session to assess our friends' blogs. Creating the rubric is one thing. The end-user has to understand the criteria in the rubrics well before attempting to assess or evaluate work done by their peers. I witnessed this yesterday. Students need to be guided through before handling these rubrics.

My Accolades….ha ha
Creation of my blog is the beginning of my ICT environment journey. From I really don’t know how to do… to being able to write, reflect, insert music and images….. I gave myself a pat on my back.Did I stop there? No! Went on to start a WIKI account with the help of Kelvin, Sakun & Sharon. Do visit this site, it’s about Wubbels, one of the Learning Environment Gurus’. http://www.twfans.wetpaint.com/
Slowly and steadily I realized that my fear was getting out of me as most of these tools are user-friendly.You just need to put your fear aside.
Next……. I worked on google.docs, which actually saved a lot of time particularly in group work. All of us were glued to the monitor actively engaged.
Finale was the submission of the mini-research write-up, a collaborative work by my group.

Appreciate all the guidance from Dr Quek for walking us through this journey, the bubbly and helpful coursemates who kept the 2 weeks going and Group 2 for the fantastic & fabulous collaboration. Our group dynamics are really good. Thank you so much.

Reflections - 3rd December 2008

Started the day early by tabulating all the data. Feel fantastic. Back to where I stopped last night ...

SPSS - Statistical Package for the Social Sciences.
Founded in 1968 by Norman H.Nie, C.Hadlai(Tex)Hull & Dale Bent
For more details visit http://www.spss.com/


After 5 sessions, I have accepted the fact that presence of Internet alone will enable us to create wonders in our classes. This inturn changes our learning environment and keeps our teaching and us alive. I must admit that initially it was a little confusing when Dr Quek explained the data to us. At the end of the session, I saw the importance of getting feedback from my students. To gauge my teaching and their understanding, I can actually use these instruments. These will assist me in identifying the gaps found in my classroom, by addressing these gaps, I can teach effectively. Tools like SPSS churns out data analysis within seconds...... I am really impressed. Thanks to the founders and this module which enabled me to be exposed to this environment :)

Reflections - 2nd December 2008

Dr Quek has been mentioning about SPSS since day 1. I was wondering what it was and went to search for more information. After reading the wordy site, waited anxiously for today's session. We started the day with the introduction of Web 2.0 Framework. My takeaway for that session was that I will try blogging in Tamil seriously. This will interest my students and help me connect with them. It's important to realise what is Cool !!! with the students and to work with that inorder to maximize teaching and learning. This reiterates the point mentioned by Theo Wubbels on building teacher-student relationship and to select appropriate form of classroom organisation.
Problems with Tamil fonts has been there since the introduction of Tamil in the computer. Fortunately, we face little or no problem now that Unicode fonts are made available.
Resolution for 2009 - The creation of My class blog in Tamil .
We went on to discuss in groups on an article entitled "Constructive solutions: Improving teaching & Learning in e-learning" by Dr Sue Trinidad. We explored http://docs.google.com/# to do our presentation. It's amazing.... internet is truly an ocean....waiting to be explored. Just be a little daring to try what's in store. You'll be amazed how applicable most of these platforms are in helping us to reach the students. Through this discussion I learnt that it wasn't easy understanding journals. Working in a group is definitely a blessing as friends highlight facts from a different perspective. We also discussed a study done with CPS ( Classroom Performance System) done by a local teacher for physics. The respond pad system reminded me of fastest fingers first from the Game show "Singapore's brainiest kid." I'm sure the students would have enjoyed themselves as they were effectively engaged. One area of concern though was to pay attention to classroom setting. (seating arrangement, position of screen etc.,) The researcher also added an extra scale in his instrument. Modifying instruments also allows a combination of instruments as long as it's relevant and the researcher can justify it. We need to move away from pre/post test to preferred/actual form.

The much awaited SPSS.
Being Singaporeans... we come across abbreviations in almost all areas. Do you know what SPSS stands for? Look out for my next posting . . . . .

APERA Conference @ NIE on 28/12/08

My coursemates & I from Med858 with the presenters of KF from Marsiling Secondary School.

Reflections - 30th November 2008

1.Researchers in Education & Psychology we ought to know:

Sigmund Freud, John Elliot ( Father of AR ), Pavlov, Vygotsky, Skinner, Piaget, Barry Fraser, Darrell Fisher etc...

2. Assessing LE

Modify, customize & critic. Need to pay attention to no. of questions, length of qn., relevance to area of study, importance of scale - if it helps to answer research qns, when modifying - not to make too drastic a change... I was thinking of some of the questions. These were really challenging. Teacher's have to have a different mindset & explain what is expected when such questions are asked. Being the typical teenagers in neighbourhood schools......they are blunt & crude in their answers. It will definitely be good to modify such questions.

3. Case Study

Group presentation - Creating Effective Learning Environment

After all the presentations, I realised that it is the P who sets the tone in the school. If the P has a clear direction, then the school climate & culture will be conducive to teaching & learning.Group 4 presented the idea in a different perspective. It was really interesting. It was a re-enactment of what goes on between parents in everyday life. I truly felt that despite the tremendous changes our education system has gone through to provide a holistic education.....parents are still harping on the 5Cs. Are we really EDUCATING them?

4. APERA Conference

Witnessed a presentation on Knowledge Forum (KF) in the teaching of D&T. With a very small audience, I think the presenters did a gd job. I thought that E-Learning platforms are workable with Language, Math & Science. With our present generation, learning platforms such as ( WIKI, BLOGS, FORUM, GAMES, PODCAST etc) these will surely lend us a helping hand in engaging them in class. The LE will definitely be addressed.

Though MED858 is heavy going, Dr Quek's classes are really interesting. Her activities are well-paced. She is a role model for LE.She also has our well-being in mind. To most of us who are not familiar with this NIE campus... she is bringing us around to show that there is more to it than the concrete jungle in this remote area.

Thank you very much, Dr Quek.

Reflections - 27th November 2008

26/11/08 - Started the day by adding my coursemates in my Blog List. All this was gone after I made an attempt to make my Blog look pleasing.
Ended the day on a terrible note. My computer went blank. Gosh....... there goes my homework on wetpaint and research on Wubbles.

27/11/08 - Came in earlier to Computer Lab to key in my reflections. Rushed through in my search for information pertaining to Wubbles. Felt terribly disappointed. Sakun reassured me that we can get this done.

Session 4 - started with Dr Quek's sharing.
She highlighted on how to identify good Journals ( Australian websites ) She also emphasised on ethical issues in relation to Questionnaires. She went through the Journal entitled "Learning Environment, Attitudes & Achievement ........." by Stephen J.Wolf and Barry J. Fraser.
I am better equipped now as far as Journals are concerned. She elaborated on Qualitative & Quantitative research. Importance of 3 areas conforming to Moos scheme was also discussed.
WIHIC instrument is the latest instrument in the field of research and Research questions must be measurable.
Next...
Groups shared on GURUs of LE. ( Walberg, Kurt & Lewin, Moos, Wubbels) using wetpaint.com
This sharing was useful as it was self directed learning.
In short...
Gained knowledge about the definitions, scope and instruments in the psychosocial field of Learning Environment. The learning environment is divided into 3 broad categories. They are the physical, student and social environment.
After preparing dinner....
With my neighbours help ( used her computer for a while) did my reflections and searched for info on Wubbels. Managed to locate a website. Decided to share this with my group. Looking forward to tomorrow.

. . . . . . . . . . z z z z z z z z . . . . . . . . . . .

Reflections - 24th November 2008

Points to note:

1. Keywords...

School climate, School Culture, Perception, Human Behaviour,

LE, SLE(Sch. Climate) & CLE

2. Design of LE centred around...

Learner, Knowledge, Assessment & Community

3. Gurus' of LE

Reflections:

Teachers need to move away from traditional setting as student profile has changed tremendously. Design of LE is very important for effective teaching & learning. This would in turn produce all rounded students. Understanding LE is crucial as it is the foundation of teaching & learning. LE should be constantly reviewed to meet current trends. Teachers need to adopt appropriate teaching strategies to cater to the needs of their students. The IT savvy generation has to be challenged with interactive & interesting lessons. Teachers have to consciously & continuously upgrade themselves for the betterment of our future generation.

Learning Points from Articles

Classroom Learning Environments (CLE)
1. Classes have to be more conducive for teaching & learning
2. Student outcomes might be improved by CLE
based on CLE preferred by students & created by teachers.

QTSS Immersion Trip to Chennai

From 18th Oct to 25th Oct 2008.

Students really enjoyed themselves.

It was a powerful learning experience.

My experience in creating a new WebPortal

Initially wondered why I'm leading the Team.

Really learnt quite a bit working on this project.

Felt good about feedback from staff, students and parents.

Welcome to Med 858

Dear Friends

Went through alot of trouble creating this.
Feel free to pen your thoughts about this module.

Thiilcreate

17th November 2008

Hi Friends.... welcome to my blog that I've just created.

I'm teaching at Queenstown Secondary School.
I've been teaching for the past 20 years.
Feel free to pen your thoughts.
I've learnt quite a bit. Class is interesting.