School has been benign, so are the students. I say this with my fingers crossed.
It has been a long time since I am away from the regurgitating-style GCE exams. Or I should say, just exams. Time to rev up the cerebrum. Oh wait, did I hear the rusty gears starting to rotate?
My interaction with students is, by far, pretty limited. I do get two Normal (A) classes for academic coaching. But I should say that the things I get to do in an hour is pretty limited. But so far, these kids are pretty pleasant, some of them have genuine motivation to learn. And it's only up to us to devise the best plans and activities for them, to help them get through the O' level hurdle.
Here in Singapore, one studies for choice. The higher level (A level, dip, deg etc.) you move, the more choices you have to do what you want with your life. I'd say academic contents are secondary. I definitely don't remember a thing about A math and Chemistry right now. What a student is gonna take away from school is skill. In fact, lots of skills.
Last week, we had a wonderful workshop for the teachers on social and emotional learning. We were told to identify a teacher (our own teacher when we were students) and list down the reasons why we remember them. A teacher's effectiveness based on the grades of his/her student is ostensible. None of the participants at the workshop remembers his teachers because they help him score As in his subject.
Similarly, I remembered my own teacher Mrs Chang not because she helped me pass Math, but because she encouraged me to stay on in JC, which eventually led me to the university.
Now that I think of this, I am encouraged. And I think that is the kind of teacher I want to be.
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