a. INTRODUCTION
Describe the approach/strategy used.
b. DEVELOPMENT
What were the challenges encountered during implementation?
What were the tactics employed to resolve the difficulties met?
What further improvements can be suggested?
c. PERSONAL REFLECTIONS
What new insights/discoveries have I made in relation to my role as a teacher?
How will I make use of this new knowledge in future?
What further information or knowledge should I seek to expand my knowledge in relation to this context?
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5 comments:
What are the common challenges that you face when teaching your classes this year?
- Not enough time to cover all the topics because of TOO MANY disruptions
What are your plans/actions that you are going to take to address these challenges?
- Do bridging during the coming school holidays
- We have to be more focused and make full use of curriculum time, provided that the time allocated is protected w/o disruption.
Mathematics Teachers Conference 2009 (5 June 2009)
Theme: Mathematical Applications and Modelling
In Singapore, the mathematics curriculum framework has been updated recently to include mathematical modelling and applications. So what is mathematical modelling? To me, it is actually a process to represent or describe real world problems in mathematical terms and from them, we try to find the solutions to the problems or gain a better perspective of the problems. In Singapore Mathematics, many of us are still not familiar with this aspect of the framework. And this conference is indeed useful as it exposes me with more information and examples in engaging students in tackling and understanding problems in the real world through mathematical modelling. I will then be able to apply what I have learnt to the relevant topics of my teaching.
It’s June holidays now!!! Finally have the time and space to breathe and reflect. Recently, I am being swarmed by some "burning" questions and hopefully, I can find light at the end of the tunnel soon.
1) In the recent years, Singapore’s education system is revolving and we are moving towards nurturing our future generation to be critical and creative thinkers. Is drill and practice still relevant in teaching mathematics in today’s context or will it kill our students’ critical and creative thinking skills? If so, why do we still need to rely on mathematics TYS in the preparation of our students for the national examination?
2) Take a look at the type and kind of questions that various schools set for tests and major examinations. Do you notice a common trend or pattern in the type of questions asked? If yes, is that healthy? Are we limiting ourselves to the diversity of many other questions that we can use to test our kids?
3) An Experiment Result’s Analysis. What went wrong?
For instance, a pair of twins is studying in the same school. Twin A studies in class A and being taught mathematics by teacher A. Twin B studies in class B and being taught by mathematics teacher B. Both teacher A and B use frontal teaching and exactly the same resources for teaching the two classes. Before a test, the twins did the same revision papers with parallel questions to the test. After the test, there is a comparison between student A and B results. Student A scored A2 whereas student B scored C6. What reasons constitute to the vast difference in their results? Is it the student’s factors, teacher’s factors, or both?
4) Will intensive revision before tests/exams benefit the class’s performance results? Is it necessary to have revision before tests/exams?
5) Will a labeled “good and conscientious” student be able to sustain his/her “A1” results throughout for all kind and type of tests/exams? Is it dependent on the level of difficulties of the papers or many other contributing factors?
I saw this inspiring quotation in one of the emails that I received recently.
"Don't dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer." - Denis Waitley
In our life, there are times when everything is smooth sailing and times when some hiccups do occur. When that happens, I think the importance is to face them positively and to be able to move on from there to the next point. I feel that occasional hiccup is good as it will test whether one can react accordingly to the situation. In the course, the person can gain some invaluable learning points.
Came across this when I was reading Daily Brief Aug 29-31...
Examinations & Assessments
22. Exams at local schools contain questions not taught in lessons (WB Forum, 28/8, p36)
WB Forum carried a reader’s complaint via SMS that knowledge not taught in classroom lessons were appearing in schools’ examination papers. He cited the example of a question in an EL exam paper at a primary school where pupils were required to use “better than he” instead of “better than him” as a correct answer. He opined that this was why parents here needed to hire private tutors for their children, or buy exam papers from a variety of schools as well as many assessment books for their children.
What are some of your thoughts generated from reading this extract?
Do you think it is fair to test concepts that was not covered in lessons?
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