These 2 weeks have been busy for me... attending workshop, trainings.. so much new things, information, theories etc. But, humanly speaking, just not possible to absorb everything.
So, I thought of a method for my own self to take away key point. (trainers always ask: what are some of the key take away?) I have decided I shall record things that hits me into a Key page, those that doesn't hit me, I shan't overload myself by writing inside.
So in the Facilitation workshop booklet, I put a flag on 1 page and I tag it as 'Key'. I have recorded all my key learning points. It has been a helpful quick guide for me to recall key learning points for that workshop.
Also, I thought also that I'm also not so a paper and pen person, I had better record these things and toss it 'into the sky' before I lose them... I shall make it a point to reflect them in the blog.
I shall input toss things in here soon.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Card Board Engineering Projects...Craft or DnT?
The Sec 3 DnT pupils did this project.
1st look... some may think "this is kids stuff" or "is it DnT or is it art and craft?!"It was not as easy as I thought it would be.. I tried it out by myself and realised there can be alot of engineering points that DnT teachers should bring across even in this Card Board 'Craft' stuff.
Engineering Learning points from card board:
- the holes must be cut first first (as it is easier to hold rather than when it has been cut smaller)
- for straight cutting: when do we use a scissors and when do we use pen knife
- how to cut of circles/ curve, cutting out a recess
- the sequence of cutting every line and curve: a wrong sequence and there will be many inconvenience to other cuts.
- folding:sequence of folding, difficulty in folding
- this 'engineering' is very similar to sheet metalwork but without without the hazard getting cut by thin zinc plate and development network of sheetmetal is similar to card board engineering.
- thinkness affects the way of cutting.
In the case of school closure, this 'engineering' is definitely easy to execute at home with simple scissors and pen knife.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Guilt Post...AI
Had wanted to share this...but somehow other things had pushed reflection down the priority list.
Nevertheless, here it is.
It's AI!
Auxiliary Instructor.
We have now 5 AEDs, Allied Educators who had recently joined the school to assist classroom teachers to coach as well as to help in classroom management.
On the D&T side, we do have workshop instructors to help out. But there are only 2 workshop instructors (before last June, there was only one), meaning that there will be many times some teachers will have to do without the help of Workshop instructors. So how do teachers cope with many pupils who would different skills level, pace, level of confidence, with pupils calling out "cher... how to put the drill bits", "cher.. I a bit scared to use the 'jumping' scroll saw...", "Mr Ong, Mr Ong...I forgot how to nail this part.." For those who are faster: "Cher.. now what? I finished already".
In my lesson, I will have to pace the pupils in such a way that the faster ones do not go too far ahead, at the most 2 steps ahead. Generally, when I see 70% to 80% of the class have completed step 5, I will call all to gather to demonstrate step 6 and sometimes step 7. I will then personally coach the 20% who are still on step 5 so as to accelerate their catching up so as to narrow their gaps from the leading groups.
However, there will be 1 or 2 super fast pupils, what do I do with them when they always 3 steps ahead?
I make them AI: Auxiliary Instructors.
These would those who are clear and confident in handling tools and machines, and I will ask them to help their friends to bridge their gaps. What they do is to show a simple demonstration and then stand by to watch their friends do that step. Or they would be at that particular machine to wait for the friends to come by and watch if they are doing that step correctly.
With one teacher handling 20 students doing work with tools and machines at different paces, with some storming to you asking for help for different processes, the AIs do comes in for a purpose of bridging gaps.
And I do call them by the title 'Auxiliary Instructors'. This has given them a sense of pride and they also sharpen their skills by teaching others too. : )
That's what I have been AfLing about for my past few weeks of lesson with 1T1 D&T.
Nevertheless, here it is.
It's AI!
Auxiliary Instructor.
We have now 5 AEDs, Allied Educators who had recently joined the school to assist classroom teachers to coach as well as to help in classroom management.
On the D&T side, we do have workshop instructors to help out. But there are only 2 workshop instructors (before last June, there was only one), meaning that there will be many times some teachers will have to do without the help of Workshop instructors. So how do teachers cope with many pupils who would different skills level, pace, level of confidence, with pupils calling out "cher... how to put the drill bits", "cher.. I a bit scared to use the 'jumping' scroll saw...", "Mr Ong, Mr Ong...I forgot how to nail this part.." For those who are faster: "Cher.. now what? I finished already".
In my lesson, I will have to pace the pupils in such a way that the faster ones do not go too far ahead, at the most 2 steps ahead. Generally, when I see 70% to 80% of the class have completed step 5, I will call all to gather to demonstrate step 6 and sometimes step 7. I will then personally coach the 20% who are still on step 5 so as to accelerate their catching up so as to narrow their gaps from the leading groups.
However, there will be 1 or 2 super fast pupils, what do I do with them when they always 3 steps ahead?
I make them AI: Auxiliary Instructors.
These would those who are clear and confident in handling tools and machines, and I will ask them to help their friends to bridge their gaps. What they do is to show a simple demonstration and then stand by to watch their friends do that step. Or they would be at that particular machine to wait for the friends to come by and watch if they are doing that step correctly.
With one teacher handling 20 students doing work with tools and machines at different paces, with some storming to you asking for help for different processes, the AIs do comes in for a purpose of bridging gaps.
And I do call them by the title 'Auxiliary Instructors'. This has given them a sense of pride and they also sharpen their skills by teaching others too. : )
That's what I have been AfLing about for my past few weeks of lesson with 1T1 D&T.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)