Observing myself

This has been a really interesting week for me as I started observing myself teach in class. I managed to get hold of one of those tiny 'Flip' video cameras on Amazon and thought what a fantastic opportunity it would be to be used in class. No more hassles about managing the cables and adapters necessary for video work. No more time consuming analog to digital conversion before using the video, simply just plug it into my laptop and everything is so effortlessly transferred. I propped the Flip up on a tiny tripod at the back of my class and had been recording myself teaching in class for 3 consecutive days.

Wow! Never have I learnt so much about myself teaching in such a short amount of time. I definitely have a lot to learn to be a more effective communicator. All the nuances of my speech patterns such as the pauses and stresses, the manner I speak when addressinga class of 40 compared to talking to a small group, all the embassingly incessant amount of 'Ok?' and 'ahh?', became so crystal clear during playback. Now, I have a much better sense of how it feels like on the receiving end of the instruction.

Below are 2 very short clips of me teaching in class.

Clip 1 shows me teaching a group of 40 pupils, refreshing them on the materials to bring for their painting lessons.

Clip 2 shows me explaining to a couple of upper secondary pupils on the key words used in the Study of Visual Arts compenent.

I picked up what I thought are the more critical gaps and was a lot more conscious of correcting them the next time I was in class. I followed up by recording the subsequent lessons too, important as that I can make a comparison.

There is so much to learn in observing yourself in action that cannot be replaced by the feedback given by the impression of others. I am excited about the prospect of using this for self improvement and I am definitely going to introduce it to the team.

My Last ICT

I had spent my whole March holidays attending my In-Camp Training. The special part about this particular ICT is that this our unit's last. After more than 13 years together, it is time to say our goodbyes.

Mixed feelings arose at the parting, relieved at one end that after so many years, our national service training cycle had finally been completed, but sad that we will be missing all the people who we had gone through all the thick and thin with. We have been a very cohesive unit all these years, won the Best Combat Unit in our active days and subsequently winning 6 Best Reservist Unit in the years after, a record unparalled in the SAF. On Saturday night, grown up men in their thirties started hugging each other as we bade farewell after our stand-down ceremony, it was a touching moment.

I am privileged to have witnessed the very best in action, exemplary men from all walks of life who had gone the extra mile to get things done under outstanding leadership. What I have left from this experience is the friendship which I had developed over the years and the good memories of the people who had shared this path together.

This has been a memorable chapter.

Energy Management

After some instructions to my Sec 4 class, I will usually ask my pupils to begin their weekly reflection, pretty much like what I am doing now, but more targetted towards Art making for their coursework. It is actually an integral part of the GTD workflow to have a weekly review. Each of my pupils will take around 10 min to do this, primarily focusing on what they have done (for Art), not done, and the whys.

I noticed that my very best pupils are still sticking to the GTD workflow, say about a third of the class, while the others have drifted off a little and a few have little evidence of any conviction that it will help them out. I am very glad that at least the method had helped some of them to be better equipped in handling their school life. I need to be persistent in this and keep pressing them to do this so that more will make it into a habit.

During the round of individual consultation my pupils have with me, I was a little concerned about this pupil of mine, one of my best performing pupils, but definitely one of the most fatigued. Holding on to a couple of key appointments in CCAs and having a busy school schedule, she is clearly quite exhausted and not having focus as a result. As I was analysing about her time spent on activities and was thinking about what I should say to her to provide some guidance, it dawned on me that it is not so much about time management that she is missing, but energy management.

As we delved into this topic, she agreed that it is the case for her. Sleep deprivation comes right on top of her list. I found that there is little I can advise her on this other than the usual comment about the importance of healthy food, ample rest and exercise. I shared with her that I have a can of almonds on my desk which I would take in small portions throughout my day in office to keep my own energy up. That certainly worked for me, as it's effect is easily felt when I ran out of it.

The key thing which I told her in the end is to be mindful of what she is trading off. If she trades off sleep more than she should, she will have to pay it off in some way. If she trades off regular exercise for more time to do other activities, it too, will come back to her.

Easy for me to say. When was the last time I don my running shoes for a good jog?

Displaying Everyone's Work

It is coming to the end of Term 1 and my Sec 3NA class had almost a full term of drawing lessons. This week, it is time to have a closure on the skills they had picked up so far and have an exhibition of their latest still life exercise. When my pupils heard that everyone's drawings are going up at the gallery, regardless of how good or lacking in quality they are, they were all quite appalled.

As we have peer critique as well as open feedback from me every drawing lesson, all my pupils are aware of who are more proficient in their drawing skills. They were hoping and requested that I would only display works of the best pupils, which of course I refused. Initially, they were afraid that some of their lesser quality works will bring them embarassment by their peers. But very soon, acknowledging the fact that their work will be put on show, everyone in the class stepped up their efforts to put their best possible forward.

It is likely the first time that their works took the limelight in the school's gallery, and when we finished setting up and had the spot lights on, I saw the shine in their eyes. Although some still said they are embarassed, it was clear to me that they were all very proud to see their works on display to the whole school. This would not have happened if only half of my pupils' works got selected.

The ownership of success and accomplishment must be felt for greater confidence building, and our pupils need that. It was a gratifying day.