SkyDrive - EL Phrasebooks

As the Sec 1 girls go through Lower Secondary Computer Education Programme (LSCEP for short), I thought it would be good for the girls to create their EL phrasebooks via SkyDrive since they will be learning about it.

The ICT trainers created the respective class folders and worked with the students to create their phrasebooks. This will allow them to archive their works over their four years in CGS and all their language teachers would be able to see how the girls have progressed. We shall check back and review on the usefulness again later.

Linoit - Reflections for Mathematics

During one of the Mathematics lessons, I realized that the girls might not understand why they are doing corrections for problems they have done wrongly so I wanted to think about the rationale and I used Linoit for this purpose.

I can always revisit this again to remind the girls what they have put down as Mathematics is a language about accuracy and clarity and as Mathematicians, they must make sure what they present is clear and precise.

HeuMi - Another major lesson observation

Boon Keng told me the International Advisory Panel is coming in March and would like me to design a lesson involving HeuMi. Let me explain, HeuMi is a multi-touch table that allows four students to sit at each side of the table and collaborate on a thinking template simultaneously. It allows them to put in notes, ink and annotate, surf the Internet for information, perform screen captures of what they have done and also save these into a USB drive. We have also designed collaborative tools like timers, a spinning wheel and even talking chips so that we can use these tools during a typical lesson.

It took me a while but eventually I managed to design a lesson that bridged the unit we were at, which was storytelling, to storywriting. Here's the lesson plan.

To get the girls ready to use the device, I designed a prior lesson which requires them to analyze a character from Harry Potter using the MEAL structure. The picture shows the analysis done by one of the groups. The girls were to analyse how indirect and direct characterisation is done by Rowling in creating an impression on Luna Lovegood (actually I wonder if the girls noticed the name meant something too!)

eTips - an initiative

To give more air time for my eCoaches, I suggested for the eCoaches to create and send out eTips on a monthly basis. This is the first eTip created by me. Very rudimentary but I hope it starts the ball rolling:

Google Sites - Archiving past seminars

One of the things I wanted to find out about when I came to CGS was the professional development work done in CGS. I realized that the information was not consolidated at one easy-to-find location and hence the idea of using Google Site to archive all past seminars came about and this is the product that is still going through work in progress.

We shared this site with the staff  in 21 February.

Google Docs - Dictogloss

This activity came about as part of the EL assessment literacies workshop conducted in CGS.

Find the lesson plan here.

Interesting situation

I am teaching only 3 classes this year, a Sec 1 Comm Arts class (meeting the girls 5 hours per week) and two Sec 2 Math classes (meeting the girls 3 hours per week). The interesting thing is I am also teaching the Sec 1 class PBL and I am also their co-PC teacher (PC stands for Pastoral Care).

Holding many identities with the same Sec 1 class means I have to wear many hats and sometimes I think the voice I use with the class is confusing both to me and to them. When am I speaking as their co-PC teacher, when am I speaking as their Comm Arts teacher? This is something I must understand first so that I can be more effective in my communication with them.