Update on micro-teachings

Aiyoh. Haven't written for so long... I think I should restart the engine again.
Since my last entry, WH, Sir Elzap, K, Mas and Miss Teo have had their hands dirty at teaching us. Wow! That's how backdated I am!

Anyway, what struck me was superlambanana's courteous handling of congenial Sec 5 loanshark: D. "Thank you", "gentleman", "I dun want to say 'thank you' a fourth time" (even though it WAS the 4th time) were all used, to good effect. Thank you Elzap for demonstrating so well. And his choice in allowing students have some freedom in his class, as long as they are not too distracted is a move which I buy to myself.

vintagemz's virtual fieldtrip was incredible... filled with sounds and pics, a fieldtrip journal worksheet and making us act as environmentalists designing an anti-pollution poster. Great activity to sum up everythng the students have learnt. And she was just so nice, firm yet gentle... making you wanna learn and do the best for the teacher. Her firmness was demonstrated in her making all of us remain standing after greeting her, so that she could ask us revision questions. (Good move.) Reminded me of my Physics teacher and Chinese teachers who stressed us out so much we could break out in cold sweat! I liked the way she defined nature reserve and the description of it being "1/2 of Sentosa". Acknowledging the students' possible poor sense of spatial dimensions and addressing it with something familiar... hmmm. Yeah, all in all, I desired to be a teacher's pet. Hahaha! Great lesson Mas!

Miss Teo ah... SUPER FIERCE! Her stares threaten to throw a dozen daggers and pierce right through you. *shiver* I was basically traumatized. Was wondering if crying cos the teacher is so scary was practical. I decided not to. So yeah, class management was basically settled. Hee. Miss Teo's lesson was very well thought through, I felt. She emphasized on the basics of map reading - grid references. She introduced us to the eastings and northings and drilled us pretty well. I liked the pre-prepared mahjong paper which illustrated the grid points. The L-shaped labelled 1 and 2 was clear on the worksheet as well. (Thanks to OBsunsetLY for the analogy of 'you learn to crawl before you walk'. Took me a while to get it. But once I did, it'll stay with me, I think.)

The best was the labelling off of us students and getting us to identify each other through grid references. (Though more rows would have done the job better... but since the class is structured in that inflexible way.... it's understandable.) Getting Wes to be the West demonstrates great flexibility and the ability of Miss Teo to think from the students' point of view. She is also adept at turning situations into learnable points, such as Chris's use of maps to 'find treasure' and grabbing the opportunity of Rak's loss of wallet to preach about being careful and responsible about one's belongings. I leatnt alot. Thanks Miss Teo. (Please dun stare at me anymore...)

Hmm, searching of bags... I think the student should never be allowed to touch another student's bag, and never given the liberty to search their bags, esp since she is the one who is the victim and the accuser. Mebbe the teacher should check it herself. But the teacher standing closely and watching the student check is also feasible, I guess. As long as the teacher is alert and neutral. Another issue is allowing Wes's bag to be checked. Does this mean that a student can just accuse anyone and demand that their bags be checked? Is there a fairer option than that? Like checking everyone's bags? (Though it'll be time-consuming...)

Yep, that's all for now.