So disapointed...

with the Sec 4s and their Common Test results. MSG of 5.5? Serious? Is that with or without any effort?

Gaming - what's it good for?

Nothing much in real value, as according to this video. Do watch:




However, as most of you may be aware mrguay also does some occasional gaming... Okay, actually only DotA. Isn't it self contradictory?

Nope, because I do understand that playing games are just...games! They create as much value and purpose as say a cup of coffee does. But we do meet our friends for coffee, don't we? And perhaps it's not the game nor the victories but the experience and friendships that is forged along the way.

Hope you guys have a nice holiday. Now stop playing games and go out in the sun!

Totally unrelated to school - DotA 2 by Valve

Yes, it seems the popularity of DotA and the software limitations of the Warcraft engine has finally spawned a dedicated platform for our beloved game.

DotA 2 is a partnership between Valve (Counterstrike, Half Life etc) and Icefrog (current developer of DotA). Will it be free? Will it be better? When will it be released? Read more at http://gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2010/10/13/dota-2-announced-details.aspx

A potential CE lesson material on responsibility, integrity, RESPECT...and self-control

I didn't find this video funny but am rather apalled by the behaviour of both the girl and the raging teen..... I really do hope my students are way better than them, right?

Just for humor...

Created using www.batmancomic.info

National Day 2009

It was nice to see most of us coming to school in red. But what struck me the most today is how enthusiastically everyone sing together when the teachers played the NDP songs.

So here are some of my favorite NDP songs in order, ending with my most favorite at the end of the post.

But I must thank http://www.sha.tc/singapore/ndp-songs for the inspiration and some of the links.

10. One People, One Nation, One Singapore (1990)
An oldie but you can't deny it's catchy and easy to sing. Lack a bit of emotion though.

9. Where I belong by Tanya Chua (2001)
Not too bad but just lack that little magic. And the tune is not that catchy.





8. Stand up for Singapore! (1985)
The first song written especially to commemorate National Day! (before that, we only have 'Chan Mali Chan' and '相信我吧! 新加坡!') Upbeat and catchy but too many politaically correct words inside. And right now, Singapore have come far enough that 'standing up' is no longer enough... the people have to do more than that!

7. Count on me Singapore (1986)
One of the songs that sometime I mistaken it for 'We are Singapore'. Soothing tune, easy lyrics, catchy chorus. But slightly corny and 'fake', yeah?







6. Home by Kit Chan (1998)
A bit melancholic (sad) and a bit slow but otherwise beautifully written. Can't say it's a song for high spirits but if you're one of those listening to this while stationed overseas, I bet tears will roll.




5. Things so Singapore by Ann Hussein (2009)
The unofficial song that had gained internet popularity in this year 2009 NDP. It's nice, but not really a 'group singing' song. I mean, you can't imagine the whole National Stadium echoing with this song, isn't it?

4. What do you see by Electrico (2009)
The first song by a Singaporean band that made it big (relatively in the local scene). The lyrics is meaningful and the tune is nice, just not perfect. It just lack that little something, a climax to the song maybe? The song begins with a question, and at the end, I'm still asking myself what do I see...




3. My Island Home by Kaira Gong (2006)
Erm...disregarding the fact that I actually know the singer in person (briefly, in NUS), I feel that this song has one of the most changes in terms of mood and tempo. Started slow and gentle, and finally crashing with a strong "I believe!" at the chorus, before settling down again.

And hearing Kaira (or Shi Jia) sing live, right in front of you without any mics or instrument, is way much better than what you hear from the CDs.




2. We are Singapore (1987-1988)

This is my most favorite NDP song before the invasion of pop singers and even poppier songs. Still, even after 23 years, you can't deny you actually prefer to sing the National Pledge rather than recite it, just like how they did it in this song.

Extremely easy to sing, lyrics are very easy to remember. Grand and yet not too sombre. Not too slow and yet not too fast like a dance music, I truly believe this is a real gem of a song. And they like it so much that this song was used for 2 years! If you haven't hear this song before, you must give it a try.




1. We will get there by Stefanie Sun (2002)
Besides that fact that I am quite a supporter of Stefanie Sun, I really like the tune of this song. The strong rhythm by the bass sets a good intro, with a gradual increase in instrument and finally peaking at the chorus. Part rock, part pop, which is what I like!

Lyrics wise I prefer the chinese version but I think the arrangement is wonderful and with Stefanie's unique voice, it's actually one of the few NDP songs that can be 'sold' as a top pick pop song.

Thank you 2F!

Thank you for this wonderful wedding gift!

Meridien JC obtain gold in SYF...and puts up video with mr guay?!?!

MJC got gold for their guitar ensemble...and at the end of their blog post, they posted a video featuring none other than yours truly!

The link: http://gemeridian.blogspot.com/2009/04/gold.html

Maybe Kranji should have a guitar ensemble too? Since almost half the school learned some form of guitar in lower sec...

Photos of a fond farewell

Goodbye Fazlin, all the best in your new school!

Release of N-level results

Today is the day my former class 4/3 recieve their N-levels results. I was there to see the happy (and some not so happy) faces. I'm quite pleased (and pleasantly surprised) by the large number of students that are eligible for Sec 5, though I'm mildly disappointed nobody got has all As....

To be frank, I'm quite new to the whole N-level structure and this year they have introduced another path for N-level graduates. Briefly, a N(A) student can either

1. Promote to Sec 5 and take O-levels next year (aggregate 10 pts and below for best 3 subjects)
2. Enter a Higher NITEC course (this is new) if they obtain an aggregate of 19 pts and below for EL, Maths and other 3 subjects).
3. Enter a NITEC course in ITE.
4. Repeat Sec 4N.

Obviously, choice 1 and 2 are reserved for students whom had done relatively well in their N-levels. The new path of direct entry to Higher NITEC comes about because quite a large proportion of Sec 5 students did not perform as well and was unable to qualify for JCs or polys. These Sec 5 students will then have to choose to go to NITEC or Higher NITEC courses, which they were given a chance a year ago. I.e. they have "waste" one year as compared to students that chose to go to Higher NITEC after Sec 4N.

And herein lies a problem. And frankly, is quite a big problem in my former school. Most of the Sce 5N students have an aggregate of 8-10 pts. Sure, they make the cut-off point for Sec 5 but can they make it in O-levels? If they fail to score 15 pts or less in their L1R4 for O-levels, their chance of entering a polytechnic is highly unlikely, which would mean they would see their classmates in ITE but a year behind.

There's also the stigma in entering ITE ('ITE for those cannot make it one lah!') and, perhaps even worse, the mindset that exam results are somewhat unpredictable like a lottery: try and perhaps I can make it. I do hope they do not apply for Sec 5 simply because they feel they can buck up and catch up with O-levels standards in a year's time. It's not a matter of feeling but you must have confidence and determination to walk this very challenging last part of the journey.

Also, I feel that choosing to enter ITE to NITEC/Higher NITEC courses may not be such a bad idea at all. I try and draw analogy using DotA, a game I started picking up recently....

Imagine you're a STRENGTH character, like Sven, the Rogue Knight . Since you're a STRENGTH character, you need items that will boost your strength attributes so you can grow more powerful. In other words, you need the right stuff to develop properly.

Unfortunately, the current syllabus/curriculum in secondary schools are more suitable to develop INTEL characters, like Lina Inverse, the Slayer . Perhaps the N and O levels are testing the INTEL abilities and the school gives you items that will boost your intelligence attributes. So if you're an INTEL character, you will do well and excel in the tests and exams. If you're a STRENGTH character, then you may feel very miserable in some of the subjects or the learning style. Worst still, you get poor results in exams, because you were not developing your correct attributes!

Er...so coming back to reality, getting not so good results in your N-levels may mean that you could be a Rogue Knight in a school for sorceress and wizards. If you choose to remain in this school for 1 more year in Sec 5, you may not benefit at all. However, if you choose to go ITE, you will be able to choose courses that fit your needs, interests and attributes. The courses in ITE is such that all modules/subjects you take are relevant for you to obtain your certificate. E.g. you will not need to take history in an Engineering course, or take Maths in a hairdressing course. Hence you become a Rogue Knight in a martial art school, where you could shine and develop your full potential. Hope I'm making sense...

Well, irregardless of your choice, I wish the best for my students and has only this last advice: Be the best that you can be, not what you think you should be.

Please try to get onto the news for good reasons...

A word you guys might find useful:

Discretion:
- The quality of being discreet; circumspection.
- Ability or power to decide responsibly.
- Freedom to act or judge on one's own:

Obviously he doesn't know the meaning of this word.
http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/viewPost5858.aspx

On the other hand, I realise a lot of these 'juicy' news came from kaypoh, nosey concerned public who deem it fitting to post it on Stomp and cause a stir. Should we be thankful to them, to Stomp, or should there be some control in this?

A teacher joke

"He who can, does;

he who cannot, teaches."

- George Bernard Shaw, 16th century

Apparently it's a pretty famous quote, and has been used in many context. The maths lecturer today used it, and extended it: those who can't teach, work in NIE!

Back to school for Mr Guay!

QCP - Physics
QCM - Maths
QED - Educational Psychology
QLK - Communication
QGS - Group Endeavour in Service Learning

My time table in NIE. Already swamped with 3 presentations, 1 project and 1 essay. Not forgetting that Physics and Comms hasn't even started.

Learning how to learn

Some of you may realise you aren't studying/revising effectively. For example you put in hours of studying and mugging time and can't remember a single thing, or you are so easily distracted and keep having suddent thoughts of every other matter except the subject you're staring with your eyes

1 possible reason for this is perhaps you did not study in a way to suit your learning style.

For example, I remember things by reading and then writing them down in my own words. I create summaries of keypoints and also include the difficult questions that I was unable to solve. Even though the textbooks or notes already have summaries but I still write my OWN NOTES (not copy the teacher's summary). Because only somebody who had fully understood the topic is able to write their own summary.

I also try to imagine or visualise things in thin air. Not sure how many of you can do this but can you try to do multiplication 123 x 54 by imagining you're writing the long multiplication method on an imaginary whiteboard in front of you, without moving your fingers? If you can do this, you would be able to imagine or visulise how electricity flows, how the molecules vibrate when you change the temperature etc.

Take this short survey to find your learning style, and perhaps you can change the way you do your work to make it more effective!

http://www.metamath.com/multiple/multiple_choice_questions.html

This is Mr Guay's learning style:

The results of Hansen Guay's learning inventory are:

Visual/Nonverbal 22 Visual/Verbal 26 Auditory 18 Kinesthetic 30

Your primary learning style is: The Tactile/ Kinesthetic Learning Style

You learn best when physically engaged in a "hands on" activity. In the classroom, you benefit from a lab setting where you can manipulate materials to learn new information. You learn best when you can be physically active in the learning environment.

You benefit from instructors who encourage in-class demonstrations, "hands on" student learning experiences, and field work outside the classroom. Strategies for the Tactile/ Kinesthetic Learner: To help you stay focused on class lecture, sit near the front of the room and take notes throughout the class period. Don't worry about correct spelling or writing in complete sentences. Jot down key words and draw pictures or make charts to help you remember the information you are hearing.

When studying, walk back and forth with textbook, notes, or flashcards in hand and read the information out loud.

Think of ways to make your learning tangible, i.e. something you can put your hands on. For example, make a model that illustrates a key concept. Spend extra time in a lab setting to learn an important procedure. Spend time in the field (e.g. a museum, historical site, or job site) to gain first-hand experience of your subject matter.

To learn a sequence of steps, make 3'x 5' flashcards for each step. Arrange the cards on a table top to represent the correct sequence. Put words, symbols, or pictures on your flashcards -- anything that helps you remember the information. Use highlighter pens in contrasting colors to emphasize important points. Limit the amount of information per card to aid recall. Practice putting the cards in order until the sequence becomes automatic. When reviewing new information, copy key points onto a chalkboard, easel board, or other large writing surface.

Make use of the computer to reinforce learning through the sense of touch. Using word processing software, copy essential information from your notes and textbook. Use graphics, tables, and spreadsheets to further organize material that must be learned.

Listen to audio tapes on a Walkman tape player while exercising. Make your own tapes containing important course information.

End of the World?

Human life is short compared to the universe, and yet it is all we have.

So what have you done today, and why are you waiting for tomorrow?

Original source: http://content.ytmnd.com/content/a/0/8/a0812774c98903448246c7e213bc1fea.gif

Qualities of a teacher?

Recently there was a small uproar about the termination of one Mr Alfian Sa'at as a relief teacher from MOE. The commotion is caused by MOE's unwillingness to express directly why did they terminate Mr Alfian's job, even though he seems to be doing quite well. To know more you can read his blog at http://www.blurty.com/users/sleepless77/, particularly

1. http://www.blurty.com/talkread.bml?journal=sleepless77&itemid=161258
2. http://www.blurty.com/talkread.bml?journal=sleepless77&itemid=159590
3. http://yawningbread.org/arch_2007/yax-754.htm
4. http://sturmdesjahrhunderts.wordpress.com/2007/06/11/i-am-singaporean-xxx-prophylaxia/
5. http://akikonomu.blogspot.com/2007/06/campaign-to-award-martyrdom-award-to.html
6. http://tinkertailor.blogsome.com/2007/06/11/im-gonna-email-tharman/
   

Not gonna argue who's right or wrong but, if I were to comment on this issue, it would be that the students in East View has just lost a valuable teacher. And also, it's always not easy to carry your beliefs and ideals in big placards and hold them up proudly above your heads. Your limbs will tire and sometimes resting and taking the easy way out seems much more 'common sense'.

But is that what you want people to remember you as? A being of common sense? Solely?

Anyway, just wanna share this story with my students (the blogs links are all very well written and will certainly improve your EL, as opposed to your daily MSN gibberish...) as well as for me to record this event in my blog. In particular, this few paragraphs:

1:13 am - what i learnt in school

I've been doing relief teaching (for History) for a bit more than a week now at East View Secondary School, a school 15 minutes away from my house, and one which has often been described as a 'neighbourhood school'. The term is of course reductive, and quite often one around which stereotypes agglutinate: the students are ill-disciplined, they are not interested in studying, there are gang members among the school population, etc.

My first week was a difficult period of adjustment. It takes a lot to enter a classroom and to establish a personality from zero. I was very aware that I was a new face and would thus be subjected to certain trials: the kids would test my threshold of patience, see what they can get away with. My position as an unknown quantity meant anxiety on my part, but for them not being recognised with a name meant liberation from surveillance. And thus when I handed out papers they giggled when I mispronounced names, multiple hands shot up when I called out somebody, I was vaguely aware that seating positions were shuffled under my ignorant watch: couples were reunited, cliques re-established, no more the strategic estrangements that kept mischievous combustions at bay.

I have to admit the frustration I felt when half the time spent in a classroom was spent at raising my voice, issuing stern warnings (a whole spectrum of threats was taught to me by the outgoing relief teacher: confiscating EZ-link cards, making them stay back after school, invoking the names of the Discipline Mistress and the Vice-Principal), pleading for the students to return to their seats. The din from the classroom was overwhelming; a tidal wave of restless yelps, red-faced bully laughter, the wailing of the freshly-smacked...a boy at the back gripped the sides of his table and screamed, 'I hate History!' A girl at the side of the class stared at me as if she was putting a hex on me; how in the world did she leave her house in the morning with eyeliner on? A boy ran out of one of the classroom doors and re-entered through the other, as if he was an actor rushing to make an entrance from the opposite wing. A girl was putting some green dye in her mouth, probably Art Class leftovers, and spitting foul green liquid at her classmates. A rosette of lurid green sputum bubbled on her desk. She was like Linda Blair in the Exorcist, but ten times worse, because I couldn't wave a crucifix at her and make her hair evaporate.

But: as I was novelty, the one they could gleefully blindfold and turn around like the guy in blind man's buff, there was something else, almost melancholic, in the background. Some of these classes have had up to four relief teachers in the space of half a year. Every new relief teacher was an opportunity to start again, to revise the rules; but it also meant abandonment. This was what was unspoken in class--why were they fostered out to so many of us, was it a) frustration b) hopelessness c) surrender or d) all of the above that ushered the hasty exits of all their former teachers?

Over the next few days, I realised how humbling teaching can be. For someone used to attention, indifference can be bewildering. I learnt to pace up and down the aisles, standing in the crossfire of rubber bands, eavesdropping on conspiracies of after-school plans, trespassing through barbed wire enmities, lingering over baroque mind-maps, scraps of notes, learning that a boy had cried because a classmate had written the words 'I LOVE' over the name of Mr Jeremy Wee, his English teacher on his journal cover. It is an illusion to think that the classroom is a homogenous neighbourhood. There are overlapping ghettoes.

This morning, a girl in one of the classes got sick and vomited on the floor. She went to the toilet, and I was frankly at a loss as to what to do with the mess under her table. If this was back in RI, I could imagine the class too being paralysed, by both helplessness and embarrassment. Someone might then suggest that we call the school janitor. But in that class, a boy walked up to me, a tall, gangly boy who I once scolded for not bringing his spectacles to school. He said, 'Cher, I go toilet ah.'I asked him what for.

'I go and take the mop.'

'Do you know where it is?' I asked. He nodded. The boy promptly came back, with a mop and bucket, and cleaned up the mess while I resumed teaching. He did everything with stoic professionalism, although I caught him taking a deep breath, hands on his hips, surveying the mess as he brought himself up to the task. He was probably used to doing housework.

This all happened in a sec one class. And at that point I believed that the boy's initiative, that hands-on spontaneity, was a mark of intelligence. I wished I could have rewarded him in some way for that act. Actually I believe that all the students I teach are intelligent, although perhaps they respond better to visual than auditory input. I have to constantly strain my throat to get them to quieten down, but I realised that when I draw on the whiteboard they are rapt, respectful. And thus I would sketch the faces of Brahmins and Shudras, the four Ministers of the Melakan Sultanate, the Shang dynasty Emperor. I would draw four-clawed dragons, cavemen, even the faces of some of the students, who would blush at the attention. I have had so many requests for drawings: Stamford Raffles, a character called Lady Xin, exhumed from her tomb, from their textbook, and even a hamster. I have complied with all. After lessons, I allow the class to take pictures of the whiteboard, even though I know some teachers impose detention on anybody caught with a handphone in class.

While conducting a mock-election in class, to familiarise them with the meaning of democracy, I picked two students out and asked them to make a campaign promise to the class. In one class, one student offered to have a computer in class, another offered air-conditioning. It did strike me how these were freely available in other schools. In another class, one of the students offered the class money, the other offered 'food every day'. The majority of that class chose 'food every day'.

There's something to learn from that response. The students are hungry. In more ways than one.

My last day will be this coming Thursday. And then the school will start to have exams; they have more than enough teachers to invigilate. I might be called back after the exams, but everything's still up in the air. It's going to be less than two weeks that I would have spent at East View Secondary, but I have a strong feeling that I will miss the students, the cries of 'hello, cher!' when I walk past the canteen, the cheering when I give them toilet breaks, and that one time, when passing by a whole row of students, the voice that reached me: 'Mr Alfian, we kena detention, come and save us!'

Certainly gave me something to think about. So are you guys hungry?

Very Interesting Answers Pt 3 - Graphical Humor

I think I deserve some comic relief after marking the mid-yr papers. And these sure put a smile onto my weary face! I'll show the correct graph, followed by the hilarious mistakes.

Type 1 -Quadratic curve.

This is the correct answer:

This student manage to draw a straight line....don't ask me how!

Type 2 - Histograms

Correct answer:

Variant 1: artistic impression of a histogram

Variant 2: I don't even know how the student plot this graph!

Type 3 - Cumulative Frequency Curve

Correct graph looks like this:
Variant 1: wrong axis produces interesting curves

Variant 2: "I love curves, let's do more!"

Variant 3: I don't like curves:

Last but not least, though not related to graphs, it's my personal favorite:

Very interesting answers Pt 2

First, let's start with some 'reruns' of mistakes....

Formulae get mixed up because they memorise the letters but not the definition!
Potential difference and Power both begin with 'p', hence...

Some have the audacity to repeat the exact same mistake as last time!

I'm not sure why but my students REFUSE to read the question. Even after I bold the words 'label all components'. Less than 10 out of 46 students actually labelled the diagram.

Another example of not reading the question. But I guess that's less condescending than assuming they do not know the meaning of 'vertical' and 'horizontal'?

Some are clearly confused... almost to the point of nonsensical.

I'm not sure to burst out in laughter or curl up and cry when I saw this...

"This way,I can at least get 1 of it correct!"
Yah, but it also means you will definitely get the rest of it wrong!


Not that I condone copying, but could they at least put some effort in disguising the fact they've copied?

my ears feel wet...is it blood oozing out?

What in the name of....

...all that is sane and possess intelligence is she talking about?!?!?

todayy dunchhx noe whyyiie sho badd mood siiahh .
heart lyk berriie pain liddat .
haiishh .
ie reallyy dunchh noe .
haiix .
ie feel lykk cryinqq derhh feelinqqs .
haiix .
ie damn damn moodyy .
ie now owayys listen tuhhs manyy touchhiinq sonqs .
wan tuhhs cry osohh lyk tears carnort come out liddat !arqhhs .
wadd happen ?ohhs yarhhs .
wednesdayy ie jio manyy ppl qo TM .
bryan ; yiin quan ; manqq tiinqq ; su tiinqqclive ; miie ; yilinqq . .
iib ue wanna qo jushh tell miie iin msn .
[[ONLY FERBB THOSE WHOM IE NOE]]myy msn iishh lurbe_crystal@hotmail.com
okkayys ? ?
jushh tell miie . .
lols .
LOVE`forebamwackkx mwackkx . =DD

And by following her blog links, I can tell she's not the ingenious creator of this....new lingo. And it's not just RanDom capitalisation but there seems to be a particular order among the sentence structure and spelling anomalies.

Can anyone enlighten me? What is the name of this new language? Is there a convertor that can convert paragraphs of normal English into this blabble? I refuse to believe they can learn this 'new language' and yet fail in the simplier ones like English or Monther Tongue....

In case you're wondering, no I am not trolling among blogs of preteens, satisfying my perverted needs. But just a 3rd-4th degree link passer-by whom can't help but be extremely intrigued by this....

Even teachers have exams and grades

This has nothing to do with students or curriculum at all but it has everything todo with teaching.

Read on, if you're interested. Especially if you're interested to enter into civil service.


http://jollypuddle.com/?p=454#comments

http://www.todayonline.com/articles/178112.asp

http://siewkumhong.blogspot.com/2007/03/lets-not-forget-basics-in-teaching.html