AEIS English
Date: 30/05/2009
Day: Thursday
Students present: Michael, William, Susan
Students absent: Henry, Noe Noe
Teacher (main and assistants): Thachayini
Subject: English
Topic: Narrative Writing
Concepts taught: Students were introduced to the various openings and conclusions in a composition. They were also introduced to components that make up a narrative composition.
Example questions gone through: Nil
Practice questions given: ExamNiD Book Publisher Sec 1 Eng Language
Post-teaching
General comments of students: Students were attentive during class. They showed interest and asked questions.
Improvement points of students: Students were given narrative composition to write. I wanted to have a feel on where they stand. They experienced trouble in narrating. Their compositions were flat and straightforward and it lacked description. In terms of content, Susan and Michael had good ideas but they experienced trouble in expressing.
Homework given (including due date): ExamNiD Book Publisher Sec 1 Eng Language Pg 11 (02/06/09)
AEIS English
Date: 02/06/2009
Day: Tuesday
Students present: Michael, William, Susan, Henry and Isabel
Students absent: Noe Noe
Teacher (main and assistants): Thachayini
Subject: English
Topic: Emotions
Concepts taught: Students were exposed to different words and phrases that they could use in writing to express emotions in writing. They were made to understand the different degree of emotions and the situations in which they could use them.
Example questions gone through: They were provided with a model essay on the title given to them on the previous lesson. It is to increase their understanding on what is expected of them in composition writing. The focus was mainly on content.
Practice questions given: Students were given phrases on emotions and asked to form sentences. The objective is to familiarize them to the use of phrases so that they could incorporate them into their writing.
Post-teaching
General comments of students: Henry and Isabel have been spontaneous with response in class. Michael and William have also tried to give their input. Susan took some time to comprehend.
Improvement points of students: Students have been spontaneous and participative. They are comfortable and they ask questions when in doubt. Their progress and understanding will be noted when they hand in their homework.
Homework given (including due date): Forming sentences with phrases expressing emotions. Due date: Thursday (04/06/09)
AEIS English
Date: 16/06/2009
Day: Tuesday
Students present: Michael, William, Susan, Henry, Isabel and Noe Noe
Teacher (main and assistants): Thachayini
Subject: English
Topic: Reading and Composition
Concepts taught: We were not able to do Comprehension since the photocopier ran out of toner. The students went through the passage and they explained their understanding of the passage and vocabulary.
Example questions gone through: A passage from one of the assessment books. Composition title.
Practice questions given: Students were given two composition titles to choose from and write using the previous samples as reference.
Post-teaching
General comments of students: Henry has a flair for writing. William and Henry were playful initially. Susan experiences trouble in expanding her ideas. Isabel, Michael and Noe Noe caught on pretty well. William needs to work on his content.
Improvement points of students: Students have been participative and they have expressed their understanding of the passage.
Homework given (including due date): Nil (Photocopier was down)
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
AEIS Maths
Date: 3/06/2009
Day: Wednesday
Students present: Michael, William, Henry, Susan
Students absent: Noe Noe (sick)
Teacher (main and assistants): Lim Young
Subject: Maths
Topic: Introduction to Algebra
Concepts taught: I introduced them the fundamental concepts of algebra to them which is not a problem at all as they have already been exposed to them previously. Subsequently, I taught them how to translate words in algebra word problems into algebra expressions.
Example questions gone through: Worked examples in CASCO Maths 1A Chapter 4
Practice questions given: CASCO Maths 1A pg 88-93
Post-teaching
General comments of students: Students are generally much more well behaved. They are able to understand the concepts and have no major problems doing the questions.
Improvement points of students: Michael still has to improve on the quality of his work. As with the previous posting, he needs to strike the balance between speed and accuracy. Henry is doing fine and he just have to cut down on the minor mistakes. Susan has a lot of careless mistakes. On top of that, she had a some problems constructing sensible statements. I've already sat her down for a one to one guiding session and some improvement is observed. William is worrying as he seems to be unable to grasp what the word problems are trying to say. He has difficulty deciphering the language of the questions. He still has the 'dreaming' problem but has improved from previous lessons.
Homework given (including due date): Nil
Day: Wednesday
Students present: Michael, William, Henry, Susan
Students absent: Noe Noe (sick)
Teacher (main and assistants): Lim Young
Subject: Maths
Topic: Introduction to Algebra
Concepts taught: I introduced them the fundamental concepts of algebra to them which is not a problem at all as they have already been exposed to them previously. Subsequently, I taught them how to translate words in algebra word problems into algebra expressions.
Example questions gone through: Worked examples in CASCO Maths 1A Chapter 4
Practice questions given: CASCO Maths 1A pg 88-93
Post-teaching
General comments of students: Students are generally much more well behaved. They are able to understand the concepts and have no major problems doing the questions.
Improvement points of students: Michael still has to improve on the quality of his work. As with the previous posting, he needs to strike the balance between speed and accuracy. Henry is doing fine and he just have to cut down on the minor mistakes. Susan has a lot of careless mistakes. On top of that, she had a some problems constructing sensible statements. I've already sat her down for a one to one guiding session and some improvement is observed. William is worrying as he seems to be unable to grasp what the word problems are trying to say. He has difficulty deciphering the language of the questions. He still has the 'dreaming' problem but has improved from previous lessons.
Homework given (including due date): Nil
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
AEIS Maths
Date: 1/06/2009
Day: Monday
Students present: Michael, William, Henry, Susan, Noe Noe
Students absent: Nil
Teacher (main and assistants): Lim Young
Subject: Maths
Topic: Approximation and Estimation
Concepts taught: Basically made them practice Approx and Estimation questions. Stressed to them that this chapter is very easy. The students just have to follow a fixed sequence of steps and adhere to them diligently, then they will be able to do well in it.
Example questions gone through: Nil
Practice questions given: CASCO Maths 1A Chapter 3
Post-teaching
General comments of students: Michael is very fast in finishing his work. He always finishes way ahead of others. However, he commits a lot of careless mistakes. I made him redo many times, so as to remind him the importance of balancing speed and accuracy when tackling maths questions. Henry is doing fine. Susan is fine too. But she has a very bad habit of arguing and not admitting her mistakes. She is also too focused on the end result instead of the lessons learnt, meaning she bogs herself down with how many corrections she has to do instead of learning what was the mistake she committed. William has improved slightly but he still lack to focus to do his work. He is very slow in doing his work and commits very weird mistakes, mistakes that show he wasn't focusing at all. Noe Noe is doing good. She is able to catch very fast despite missing so many lessons.
Improvement points of students: Michael has to be more accurate in his work and learn not to rush through his work. Susan needs to learn to admit her mistakes and understand them. William really need to focus or he won't be able to catch up at all. Noe Noe and Henry are both doing fine.
Homework given (including due date): CASCO Maths 1A Tutorial 3
Day: Monday
Students present: Michael, William, Henry, Susan, Noe Noe
Students absent: Nil
Teacher (main and assistants): Lim Young
Subject: Maths
Topic: Approximation and Estimation
Concepts taught: Basically made them practice Approx and Estimation questions. Stressed to them that this chapter is very easy. The students just have to follow a fixed sequence of steps and adhere to them diligently, then they will be able to do well in it.
Example questions gone through: Nil
Practice questions given: CASCO Maths 1A Chapter 3
Post-teaching
General comments of students: Michael is very fast in finishing his work. He always finishes way ahead of others. However, he commits a lot of careless mistakes. I made him redo many times, so as to remind him the importance of balancing speed and accuracy when tackling maths questions. Henry is doing fine. Susan is fine too. But she has a very bad habit of arguing and not admitting her mistakes. She is also too focused on the end result instead of the lessons learnt, meaning she bogs herself down with how many corrections she has to do instead of learning what was the mistake she committed. William has improved slightly but he still lack to focus to do his work. He is very slow in doing his work and commits very weird mistakes, mistakes that show he wasn't focusing at all. Noe Noe is doing good. She is able to catch very fast despite missing so many lessons.
Improvement points of students: Michael has to be more accurate in his work and learn not to rush through his work. Susan needs to learn to admit her mistakes and understand them. William really need to focus or he won't be able to catch up at all. Noe Noe and Henry are both doing fine.
Homework given (including due date): CASCO Maths 1A Tutorial 3
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
AEIS Maths
Date: 27/05/2009
Day: Wednesday
Students present: Michael, William, Susan
Students absent: Henry, Noe Noe
Teacher (main and assistants): Lim Young
Subject: Maths and English
Topic: Approximation and Estimation
Concepts taught: Got the students to do their corrections for their previous assignment. Subsequently, they were asked to do journal writing.
Example questions gone through: Nil
Practice questions given: CASCO Maths 1A
Post-teaching
General comments of students: Michael and Susan were doing fine. Will
Improvement points of students: Students are doing fine but they need to be aware of their careless mistakes. For the William, he has to put in a lot more effort in this chapter as he show weakness in it. I will be administering a lot more 1-1 sessions with him. He has shown some progress though. But he needs to do more to catch up with the rest.
Homework given (including due date): Nil
Day: Wednesday
Students present: Michael, William, Susan
Students absent: Henry, Noe Noe
Teacher (main and assistants): Lim Young
Subject: Maths and English
Topic: Approximation and Estimation
Concepts taught: Got the students to do their corrections for their previous assignment. Subsequently, they were asked to do journal writing.
Example questions gone through: Nil
Practice questions given: CASCO Maths 1A
Post-teaching
General comments of students: Michael and Susan were doing fine. Will
Improvement points of students: Students are doing fine but they need to be aware of their careless mistakes. For the William, he has to put in a lot more effort in this chapter as he show weakness in it. I will be administering a lot more 1-1 sessions with him. He has shown some progress though. But he needs to do more to catch up with the rest.
Homework given (including due date): Nil
Thursday, May 21, 2009
AEIS Maths
Date: 21/05/2009
Day: Thursday
Students present: Michael, Henry, William, Susan
Students absent: Noe Noe
Teacher (main and assistants): Lim Young
Subject: Maths
Topic: Real Numbers
Concepts taught: I let them continue with the questions that they left off yesterday, which was from Exercise 3e. Basically, I gave them until the break time to finish it, giving a time frame to work on their assignment so as apply a little pressure on them to focus and do their work.
Example questions gone through: Exercise 3e Q4
Practice questions given: Exercise 3e
Post-teaching
General comments of students: I tried something new today. I made the students sit individually, away from each other. Each student will have their own working space and they have no eye contact with each other. This made wonders for me as I was able to control the usually rowdy students much better. They've also became much more focused when doing their work. Susan finished her work first, something that was not possible before that. It really helped a lot.
Improvement points of students: William is still not very focused in his work. He gives up easily when faced with a problem. I am training him to be independent by forcing him to complete the questions by himself. Henry is starting to become disrespectful again but I made it very firm to him today. He knows I am not very happy about it. Susan and Michael are both doing fine.
Homework given (including due date): Nil
Day: Thursday
Students present: Michael, Henry, William, Susan
Students absent: Noe Noe
Teacher (main and assistants): Lim Young
Subject: Maths
Topic: Real Numbers
Concepts taught: I let them continue with the questions that they left off yesterday, which was from Exercise 3e. Basically, I gave them until the break time to finish it, giving a time frame to work on their assignment so as apply a little pressure on them to focus and do their work.
Example questions gone through: Exercise 3e Q4
Practice questions given: Exercise 3e
Post-teaching
General comments of students: I tried something new today. I made the students sit individually, away from each other. Each student will have their own working space and they have no eye contact with each other. This made wonders for me as I was able to control the usually rowdy students much better. They've also became much more focused when doing their work. Susan finished her work first, something that was not possible before that. It really helped a lot.
Improvement points of students: William is still not very focused in his work. He gives up easily when faced with a problem. I am training him to be independent by forcing him to complete the questions by himself. Henry is starting to become disrespectful again but I made it very firm to him today. He knows I am not very happy about it. Susan and Michael are both doing fine.
Homework given (including due date): Nil
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
AEIS, English and Maths
Date: 20/05/2009
Day: Wednesday
Students present: Michael, Henry, William, Susan
Students absent: Noe Noe
Teacher (main and assistants): Lim Young
Subject: English and Maths
Topic: Nouns Test and Real Numbers
Teaching process
Concepts taught: Conducted an English test on nouns, based largely on what I thought them yesterday. I injected the atmosphere of a test format that requires them to sit away from each other and talking was strictly prohibited. This prepares them for the exam mentality.
After the break, they were asked to do a Maths assignment. It consists of 6 word problems that they have to do, based largely on the requirements I set for them during the previous Maths lesson. They were introduced to the method of modelling for word problems and the students liked it a lot. They find it particularly useful
Example questions gone through: Exercise 3e Q1
Practice questions given: Exercise 3e
Post-teaching
General comments of students: Results of the english test are as follow.
Henry: 40/47
Michael: 32/47
Susan: 30/47
William: 4/47
Improvement points of students: I am very worried about William as through the test, he has not shown me that he has understood what I thought in class, despite repetitive reminders given to them to clear their doubts with me when in lessons. From the results, we can see that William is very far behind his siblings, all of whom sat through the same lesson.
William has also told me that he has a lack of interest to study English. He finds it very draining. He needs to improve on his attention span in class as he tends to drift off very easily. I will monitor him closely in terms of his English.
The rest are generally fine.
Homework given (including due date): Nil
Day: Wednesday
Students present: Michael, Henry, William, Susan
Students absent: Noe Noe
Teacher (main and assistants): Lim Young
Subject: English and Maths
Topic: Nouns Test and Real Numbers
Teaching process
Concepts taught: Conducted an English test on nouns, based largely on what I thought them yesterday. I injected the atmosphere of a test format that requires them to sit away from each other and talking was strictly prohibited. This prepares them for the exam mentality.
After the break, they were asked to do a Maths assignment. It consists of 6 word problems that they have to do, based largely on the requirements I set for them during the previous Maths lesson. They were introduced to the method of modelling for word problems and the students liked it a lot. They find it particularly useful
Example questions gone through: Exercise 3e Q1
Practice questions given: Exercise 3e
Post-teaching
General comments of students: Results of the english test are as follow.
Henry: 40/47
Michael: 32/47
Susan: 30/47
William: 4/47
Improvement points of students: I am very worried about William as through the test, he has not shown me that he has understood what I thought in class, despite repetitive reminders given to them to clear their doubts with me when in lessons. From the results, we can see that William is very far behind his siblings, all of whom sat through the same lesson.
William has also told me that he has a lack of interest to study English. He finds it very draining. He needs to improve on his attention span in class as he tends to drift off very easily. I will monitor him closely in terms of his English.
The rest are generally fine.
Homework given (including due date): Nil
AEIS, English
Date: 19/05/2009
Day: Tuesday
Students present: Michael, Henry, William, Susan and Noe Noe
Students absent: Nil
Teacher (main and assistants): Lim Young
Subject: English
Topic: Nouns
Teaching process
Concepts taught: Went through the very fundamentals of english which is grammar. This stem from the reason that their recent essay was too poor, rendering it useless to teach them anything more advance without clearing their basics first. I used one of my father's book, which he used during his university days to study english. It was a really detailed book and it really drilled them to the basic. They were taught nouns in general, collective nouns, pronouns, compund nouns etc.
I made them start a new exercise book which I aim to dedicate it to grammar. I made them write rules and regulations on the first page, forcing them to declare that they will not draw on the book, a problem which I had with Susan and Henry previously.
Example questions gone through: Nil
Practice questions given: Nil
Post-teaching
General comments of students: Students were attentive and they were generally receptive. The book was well maintained and the students were able to pick up fast. I feel lucky that I started this lesson as through this lesson, I realised that there were many basics that the students forgot.
Improvement points of students: They start to become distracted when things get a little dry. As much as I try to make the lesson more interesting by bringing in funny examples, grammar is still a relatively dry topic. Thus, I drill a lot on them to stay focus during my lesson.
Homework given (including due date): Nil
Day: Tuesday
Students present: Michael, Henry, William, Susan and Noe Noe
Students absent: Nil
Teacher (main and assistants): Lim Young
Subject: English
Topic: Nouns
Teaching process
Concepts taught: Went through the very fundamentals of english which is grammar. This stem from the reason that their recent essay was too poor, rendering it useless to teach them anything more advance without clearing their basics first. I used one of my father's book, which he used during his university days to study english. It was a really detailed book and it really drilled them to the basic. They were taught nouns in general, collective nouns, pronouns, compund nouns etc.
I made them start a new exercise book which I aim to dedicate it to grammar. I made them write rules and regulations on the first page, forcing them to declare that they will not draw on the book, a problem which I had with Susan and Henry previously.
Example questions gone through: Nil
Practice questions given: Nil
Post-teaching
General comments of students: Students were attentive and they were generally receptive. The book was well maintained and the students were able to pick up fast. I feel lucky that I started this lesson as through this lesson, I realised that there were many basics that the students forgot.
Improvement points of students: They start to become distracted when things get a little dry. As much as I try to make the lesson more interesting by bringing in funny examples, grammar is still a relatively dry topic. Thus, I drill a lot on them to stay focus during my lesson.
Homework given (including due date): Nil
Thursday, May 14, 2009
AEIS Maths
Date: 14/05/2009
Day: Thursday
Students present: Michael, Henry, William, Susan and Noe Noe
Students absent: Nil
Teacher (main and assistants): Lim Young
Subject: Maths
Topic: Real Numbers
Teaching process
Concepts taught: Let students go through the questions in the CASCO book. They had to do word problems related to real numbers. It was not the first time they are introduced to the word problems. However, they are still not very confident when dealing with word problems. I reasserted the importance of breaking down the questions into key points, which is very important when doing word problems. I also asserted to them the need to present their workings in an orderly manner. They were told to meet the following requirements when presenting their working. They are as follow:
1. Statement (stating what the equation is trying to find)
2. Arrow head (the thing that follow after the statement to denote the beginning of mathematical presentation.)
3. One line one step ( they had to write one step in one line and not in a continuous line. This is to ensure that their presentation will be neat and tidy.)
4. # sign (to denote the FINAL answer of the question)
These requirements ensure that their presentation will be neat and tidy and the will definitely not go wrong by following the steps as mentioned above.
Example questions gone through: Nil
Practice questions given: Nil
Post-teaching
General comments of students: The students were very receptive of the method of presentation I taught them and the picked it up very fast. I must say that they performed tremendously well today with all of them giving me satisfactory work for their assignment. Michael in particular has improved leaps and bounds. With his working much neater, he was less prone to careless mistakes and the quality of work is good. William has improved tremendously too. His now much more dependent on himself and is able to double check his own work with much more confidence. Henry as always is doing fine and has no major problem and so is Noe Noe. Susan has improved much with her neatness but she still need to work on her understanding ability. She is now much more focused in her work which in turn generate better quality work for submission.
Improvement points of students: All them need to make a habit of underlining the key words in the questions to ensure that they are able to understand the questions fully.
Homework given (including due date): Nil
Day: Thursday
Students present: Michael, Henry, William, Susan and Noe Noe
Students absent: Nil
Teacher (main and assistants): Lim Young
Subject: Maths
Topic: Real Numbers
Teaching process
Concepts taught: Let students go through the questions in the CASCO book. They had to do word problems related to real numbers. It was not the first time they are introduced to the word problems. However, they are still not very confident when dealing with word problems. I reasserted the importance of breaking down the questions into key points, which is very important when doing word problems. I also asserted to them the need to present their workings in an orderly manner. They were told to meet the following requirements when presenting their working. They are as follow:
1. Statement (stating what the equation is trying to find)
2. Arrow head (the thing that follow after the statement to denote the beginning of mathematical presentation.)
3. One line one step ( they had to write one step in one line and not in a continuous line. This is to ensure that their presentation will be neat and tidy.)
4. # sign (to denote the FINAL answer of the question)
These requirements ensure that their presentation will be neat and tidy and the will definitely not go wrong by following the steps as mentioned above.
Example questions gone through: Nil
Practice questions given: Nil
Post-teaching
General comments of students: The students were very receptive of the method of presentation I taught them and the picked it up very fast. I must say that they performed tremendously well today with all of them giving me satisfactory work for their assignment. Michael in particular has improved leaps and bounds. With his working much neater, he was less prone to careless mistakes and the quality of work is good. William has improved tremendously too. His now much more dependent on himself and is able to double check his own work with much more confidence. Henry as always is doing fine and has no major problem and so is Noe Noe. Susan has improved much with her neatness but she still need to work on her understanding ability. She is now much more focused in her work which in turn generate better quality work for submission.
Improvement points of students: All them need to make a habit of underlining the key words in the questions to ensure that they are able to understand the questions fully.
Homework given (including due date): Nil
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
AEIS English and Maths
Date: 13/05/2009
Day: Wednesday
Students present: Michael, Henry, William and Susan
Students absent: Noe Noe (language school QT prep)
Teacher (main and assistants): Lim Young
Subject: English and Maths
Topic: Crossword Puzzle and Real Numbers
Teaching process
Concepts taught: Conducted a crossword puzzle test that Jasper came up with. They were given a list of vocabulary 2 days ago which they were instructed to study for the test. The first half of the lesson was purely the test and many of them had difficulties doing it. One reason was that the standard might be a little high for them. However, they all did fine after I drop a reasonable hint of two for them. Henry scored a full mark of 19 points. William attained 16 points. Michael and Susan each attain 13 points. A debrief for their test was given to them and I wrote all the words and the board and explained each one again, teaching them the context in which these words can be used.
The second half of the lesson was doing corrections for their real numbers assignment. The penalty for careless mistakes was copying the questions and the solution 10 times. This is to to inculcate a sense of seriousness and discipline into them doing their work properly.
Example questions gone through: Nil
Practice questions given: Nil
Post-teaching
General comments of students: Michael did tremendously well by not committing a single mistake in working, answer and presentation. I gave him his due credit by praising him in class. It was a tremendous improvement from his previous untidy and careless nature of work. However, I reminded him not to be complacent and much is expected of him now that he has shown that he is capable of something more.
Henry and William did fine, each having only one careless mistake. Henry looks a little disappointed now that he realised he is not always the best but that was definitely a humbling experience. As for William, it was also a tremendous improvement in his work and he was very much encouraged. Susan has also improved a lot but she still had many careless mistakes. When faced with the reality of doing more corrections than others, she cried. But I told her not to and explained the necessity of the penalty and she understood it. It was encouraging to see her brothers stood by her to motivate her to finish her corrections before they leave for home. She has definitely learnt much from this experience, understanding the need to stay focused and discipline while doing her work.
Improvement points of students: Susan must improve on her focus and discipline in work. Michael must learn to keep up with the good standard shown. Henry and William still has room for improvement even though their progress is heartening.
Homework given (including due date): Nil
Day: Wednesday
Students present: Michael, Henry, William and Susan
Students absent: Noe Noe (language school QT prep)
Teacher (main and assistants): Lim Young
Subject: English and Maths
Topic: Crossword Puzzle and Real Numbers
Teaching process
Concepts taught: Conducted a crossword puzzle test that Jasper came up with. They were given a list of vocabulary 2 days ago which they were instructed to study for the test. The first half of the lesson was purely the test and many of them had difficulties doing it. One reason was that the standard might be a little high for them. However, they all did fine after I drop a reasonable hint of two for them. Henry scored a full mark of 19 points. William attained 16 points. Michael and Susan each attain 13 points. A debrief for their test was given to them and I wrote all the words and the board and explained each one again, teaching them the context in which these words can be used.
The second half of the lesson was doing corrections for their real numbers assignment. The penalty for careless mistakes was copying the questions and the solution 10 times. This is to to inculcate a sense of seriousness and discipline into them doing their work properly.
Example questions gone through: Nil
Practice questions given: Nil
Post-teaching
General comments of students: Michael did tremendously well by not committing a single mistake in working, answer and presentation. I gave him his due credit by praising him in class. It was a tremendous improvement from his previous untidy and careless nature of work. However, I reminded him not to be complacent and much is expected of him now that he has shown that he is capable of something more.
Henry and William did fine, each having only one careless mistake. Henry looks a little disappointed now that he realised he is not always the best but that was definitely a humbling experience. As for William, it was also a tremendous improvement in his work and he was very much encouraged. Susan has also improved a lot but she still had many careless mistakes. When faced with the reality of doing more corrections than others, she cried. But I told her not to and explained the necessity of the penalty and she understood it. It was encouraging to see her brothers stood by her to motivate her to finish her corrections before they leave for home. She has definitely learnt much from this experience, understanding the need to stay focused and discipline while doing her work.
Improvement points of students: Susan must improve on her focus and discipline in work. Michael must learn to keep up with the good standard shown. Henry and William still has room for improvement even though their progress is heartening.
Homework given (including due date): Nil
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
AEIS Maths
Date: 12/05/2009
Day: Tuesday
Students present: Michael, Henry, William, Susan and Noe Noe
Students absent: Nil
Teacher (main and assistants): Lim Young
Subject: Mathematics
Topic: Real Numbers
Teaching process
Concepts taught: Students were stressed to do their work carefully and not to commit mistakes due to carelessness. Today wasn't very much a conceptual lesson but more of an approach lessons. Students were given a lot of Real Number revision questions which are very simple. What was required of them was simply to do it with diligence and no careless mistakes. The penalty for careless mistakes was copying the questions with solutions 10 times.
Example questions gone through: Nil
Practice questions given: Review Question 2 and 3 from Shinglee maths textbook.
Post-teaching
General comments of students: The quality of work from the students improved tremendously with Michael being the best performer with no mistakes. The rest has no problems with their answers but had careless mistakes with regards to working presentation. The penalty will be enforced for learning purposes.
Improvement points of students: Susan has improved a lot this time round but she still lack the focus to prevent very careless mistakes that are serious presentation errors. The rest are doing fine but definitely can be improved in presentation aspect.
Homework given (including due date): Nil
Day: Tuesday
Students present: Michael, Henry, William, Susan and Noe Noe
Students absent: Nil
Teacher (main and assistants): Lim Young
Subject: Mathematics
Topic: Real Numbers
Teaching process
Concepts taught: Students were stressed to do their work carefully and not to commit mistakes due to carelessness. Today wasn't very much a conceptual lesson but more of an approach lessons. Students were given a lot of Real Number revision questions which are very simple. What was required of them was simply to do it with diligence and no careless mistakes. The penalty for careless mistakes was copying the questions with solutions 10 times.
Example questions gone through: Nil
Practice questions given: Review Question 2 and 3 from Shinglee maths textbook.
Post-teaching
General comments of students: The quality of work from the students improved tremendously with Michael being the best performer with no mistakes. The rest has no problems with their answers but had careless mistakes with regards to working presentation. The penalty will be enforced for learning purposes.
Improvement points of students: Susan has improved a lot this time round but she still lack the focus to prevent very careless mistakes that are serious presentation errors. The rest are doing fine but definitely can be improved in presentation aspect.
Homework given (including due date): Nil
Monday, May 11, 2009
AEIS English and Math 11 May 2009
Date: 11/05/09
Day: Monday
Students present: Michael, William, Henry, Susan
Students absent: Noe Noe (School released her late at 5.30pm)
Teacher (main and assistants): Jasper
Subject: English and some Math
Topic: Vocabulary, Descriptions, and Prime factorization tricks
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
Started with a crossword puzzle regarding the theme: technology. The purpose was to enhance their vocabulary understanding of that theme. Students were quite well versed in technology except two particular questions of the words: Rudimentary and Illiterate.
I made then copy 10 times each, the sentence of the 2 terms. To make them understand the terms and it's usage properly.
After that I've went through the 5 senses technique with them. Made them visualize their recent trip to east coast park and got them to write out and describe that experience based on sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste. I challenged them to write one or more adjectives for every noun they write.
They saw the importance of this exercise, and I've encouraged them to apply it in their essay writing skills.
Lastly, I went through some tricks and techniques to excite them about mathematics and the previous topic that they went through: prime factorization.
A copy of the worksheet can be found on the teacher's table.
Example questions gone through:
Description of east coast park outing with 5 senses. Challenged to add one or more adjective to every noun.
Number has factor 2 when last digit is even
Number has factor 3 when all the digits are added up and is divisible by 3.
Number has factor 4 when last 2 digits are divisible by 4
Number has factor 5 when last digit is 0 or 5
Number has factor 6 when all digits are added up and is divisible by 3, and the number is even.
Number has factor 8 when last 3 digits are divisible by 8.
Number has factor 9 when all digits add up and is divisible by 9.
Practice questions given:
none
Post-teaching
General comments of students:
Started off quite ill-disciplined. Perhaps due to the weekend off. Had them settled down and praised them for what they did right (Susan helping others arrange chair, micheal arranged tables) and what they did wrong (Henry anyhow placing his bag on teachers table). Drew a very clear line between teacher and student.
Along the lesson, students were very receptive and very vocal in expressing their ideas and thoughts. Very lively lesson and good bouncing off ideas back and forth. To the extent that everyone started speaking at the same time. Told students that I would love to hear from each of their unique experience but only had 2 ears, so I encouraged them to speak one at a time and listen to others. They were receptive and they started taking turns to speak.
I also noticed that William is consistently helping Susan with her work and looking out for her. I told William to do his own work and got Susan to check her own work.
IMPT NOTE:
I've made a very clear stand today to the students; to check their work very carefully before submission. I told them that for very error they make (careless mistakes, and not ignorant don't know how to do questions), they will need to do 10 corrections for that questions. This is regardless of math or science. 10 corrections means copying the question and answer 10 times.
For ignorant answers (don't know how to do). Correction once will do.
For worksheets that are badly done. (Less than 50% correct). To do corrections 10 times for the entire worksheet. (up to marker's discretion.
They took this very seriously and took the effort to check their work carefully and passed to each other to inter-check their work.
I hope to bring across the importance of not rushing their work and be careful and sensitive to errors. Let this be a start of the training to reduce careless mistakes.
Make it a common practice from today onwards.
The trick is to be reasonable with the students and giving them benefit of the doubt and privileges in exchange for strictness.
Improvement points of students:
Very receptive to scolding and comments today. Quite well. Especially Henry and Susan.
Homework given (including due date):
Gave them a list of 20 vocabulary to memorize the spelling and meaning. I will be administering the vocabulary test to them on Wednesday through a crossword puzzle.
Day: Monday
Students present: Michael, William, Henry, Susan
Students absent: Noe Noe (School released her late at 5.30pm)
Teacher (main and assistants): Jasper
Subject: English and some Math
Topic: Vocabulary, Descriptions, and Prime factorization tricks
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
Started with a crossword puzzle regarding the theme: technology. The purpose was to enhance their vocabulary understanding of that theme. Students were quite well versed in technology except two particular questions of the words: Rudimentary and Illiterate.
I made then copy 10 times each, the sentence of the 2 terms. To make them understand the terms and it's usage properly.
After that I've went through the 5 senses technique with them. Made them visualize their recent trip to east coast park and got them to write out and describe that experience based on sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste. I challenged them to write one or more adjectives for every noun they write.
They saw the importance of this exercise, and I've encouraged them to apply it in their essay writing skills.
Lastly, I went through some tricks and techniques to excite them about mathematics and the previous topic that they went through: prime factorization.
A copy of the worksheet can be found on the teacher's table.
Example questions gone through:
Description of east coast park outing with 5 senses. Challenged to add one or more adjective to every noun.
Number has factor 2 when last digit is even
Number has factor 3 when all the digits are added up and is divisible by 3.
Number has factor 4 when last 2 digits are divisible by 4
Number has factor 5 when last digit is 0 or 5
Number has factor 6 when all digits are added up and is divisible by 3, and the number is even.
Number has factor 8 when last 3 digits are divisible by 8.
Number has factor 9 when all digits add up and is divisible by 9.
Practice questions given:
none
Post-teaching
General comments of students:
Started off quite ill-disciplined. Perhaps due to the weekend off. Had them settled down and praised them for what they did right (Susan helping others arrange chair, micheal arranged tables) and what they did wrong (Henry anyhow placing his bag on teachers table). Drew a very clear line between teacher and student.
Along the lesson, students were very receptive and very vocal in expressing their ideas and thoughts. Very lively lesson and good bouncing off ideas back and forth. To the extent that everyone started speaking at the same time. Told students that I would love to hear from each of their unique experience but only had 2 ears, so I encouraged them to speak one at a time and listen to others. They were receptive and they started taking turns to speak.
I also noticed that William is consistently helping Susan with her work and looking out for her. I told William to do his own work and got Susan to check her own work.
IMPT NOTE:
I've made a very clear stand today to the students; to check their work very carefully before submission. I told them that for very error they make (careless mistakes, and not ignorant don't know how to do questions), they will need to do 10 corrections for that questions. This is regardless of math or science. 10 corrections means copying the question and answer 10 times.
For ignorant answers (don't know how to do). Correction once will do.
For worksheets that are badly done. (Less than 50% correct). To do corrections 10 times for the entire worksheet. (up to marker's discretion.
They took this very seriously and took the effort to check their work carefully and passed to each other to inter-check their work.
I hope to bring across the importance of not rushing their work and be careful and sensitive to errors. Let this be a start of the training to reduce careless mistakes.
Make it a common practice from today onwards.
The trick is to be reasonable with the students and giving them benefit of the doubt and privileges in exchange for strictness.
Improvement points of students:
Very receptive to scolding and comments today. Quite well. Especially Henry and Susan.
Homework given (including due date):
Gave them a list of 20 vocabulary to memorize the spelling and meaning. I will be administering the vocabulary test to them on Wednesday through a crossword puzzle.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
AEIS, English
Date: 7/5/2009
Day: Thursday
Students present: Michael, Henry, William, Susan and Noe Noe
Students absent: Nil
Teacher (main and assistants): Lim Young
Subject: English
Topic: Journal and Tenses
Teaching process
Concepts taught: I went through with the students the routine journal presentation. What was different for today was that I demanded them to choose a longer and more challenging article for presentation. Students were requested to improve on their level of critical thinking, bringing themselves one level higher than what they used to do. What they used to do was to give very low level reflections like " I think this is very good.". What I challenged them was to tell me why it was good or why did they feel a particular way. Many of them were still unable to answer effectively.
I also introduced the system of peer sharing and commenting. I made them listen attentively to what their counter parts were presenting and I require them to comment on their peer's performance. It was particularly useful as they would be paying more attention to other's presentation, giving more constructive comments (instead of rubbish which they usually do) and thereby learning not to commit the same mistakes when they present. To control the flow of peer commenting, I used the following framework to guide the discussion.
1. What went well
2. What went wrong
3. What can be improved
Example questions gone through: Nil
Practice questions given: Practice 11 of tenses book
Post-teaching
General comments of students: While I was marking their tenses practices from last week, I found out that Susan was copying from her brother and the answer key behind. What I did was that I stopped the class immediately, asking them to look up and listen to me while I talked. In a very serious tone, I addressed to them the importance and value of integrity. I gave them a very stern warning that I do not want to see this happening and they understood very clearly. As a penalty, I made Susan recopy everything that she copied again.
I think as a form of character building, we have to be very firm when it comes to the issue of integrity. It goes beyond academics and in my opinion, is more important than any academic gains.
After the 'prep-talk', the class became amazingly obedient and focused. I had no problems getting finish up their work on time and the students became much more serious in their work.
Improvement points of students: Students are still very poor in their grammar, except for Henry. They are all rather weak in their English articulation. Thus, I proposed to them that they take a short article every night and practice reading it, focusing on the pronunciation and the stress of tones in their sentences. I also suggested that they read to an audience, either their uncle or their sister, so as to allow for objective commenting and improvement points for their articulation.
Homework given (including due date): Recopy of corrections for 'Tenses' Practices with 3 or more errors. The requirements are written on the whiteboard. To be handed in on Tuesday, 12/05/2009.
Day: Thursday
Students present: Michael, Henry, William, Susan and Noe Noe
Students absent: Nil
Teacher (main and assistants): Lim Young
Subject: English
Topic: Journal and Tenses
Teaching process
Concepts taught: I went through with the students the routine journal presentation. What was different for today was that I demanded them to choose a longer and more challenging article for presentation. Students were requested to improve on their level of critical thinking, bringing themselves one level higher than what they used to do. What they used to do was to give very low level reflections like " I think this is very good.". What I challenged them was to tell me why it was good or why did they feel a particular way. Many of them were still unable to answer effectively.
I also introduced the system of peer sharing and commenting. I made them listen attentively to what their counter parts were presenting and I require them to comment on their peer's performance. It was particularly useful as they would be paying more attention to other's presentation, giving more constructive comments (instead of rubbish which they usually do) and thereby learning not to commit the same mistakes when they present. To control the flow of peer commenting, I used the following framework to guide the discussion.
1. What went well
2. What went wrong
3. What can be improved
Example questions gone through: Nil
Practice questions given: Practice 11 of tenses book
Post-teaching
General comments of students: While I was marking their tenses practices from last week, I found out that Susan was copying from her brother and the answer key behind. What I did was that I stopped the class immediately, asking them to look up and listen to me while I talked. In a very serious tone, I addressed to them the importance and value of integrity. I gave them a very stern warning that I do not want to see this happening and they understood very clearly. As a penalty, I made Susan recopy everything that she copied again.
I think as a form of character building, we have to be very firm when it comes to the issue of integrity. It goes beyond academics and in my opinion, is more important than any academic gains.
After the 'prep-talk', the class became amazingly obedient and focused. I had no problems getting finish up their work on time and the students became much more serious in their work.
Improvement points of students: Students are still very poor in their grammar, except for Henry. They are all rather weak in their English articulation. Thus, I proposed to them that they take a short article every night and practice reading it, focusing on the pronunciation and the stress of tones in their sentences. I also suggested that they read to an audience, either their uncle or their sister, so as to allow for objective commenting and improvement points for their articulation.
Homework given (including due date): Recopy of corrections for 'Tenses' Practices with 3 or more errors. The requirements are written on the whiteboard. To be handed in on Tuesday, 12/05/2009.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
AEIS, Maths
Date: 6/5/2009
Day: Wednesday
Students present: Michael, Henry, William and Susan
Students absent: Noe Noe
Teacher (main and assistants): Lim Young
Subject: Mathematics
Topic: Real Numbers
Teaching process
Concepts taught: How to break down complicated questions into different parts to avoid careless mistakes in computation.
Example questions gone through: Previous questions that were given by James and were required to do corrections.
Practice questions given: Page 51-53 of Maths Book 1A
Post-teaching
General comments of students: There is really a difference in standard between the students and thus it is very difficult for me to teach. The weaker students find it hard to catch up while the better students find the lesson a little draggy. Generally, the students do not have any problems with understanding the concepts but it is really their fundamentals of calculations that is impeding them to improve in their maths. Mistakes made were too fundamental and careless.
Improvement points of students: William has a lot to catch up. Up to this point in time, he even has doubts about how to do long division (that's like pri 2 work!). Michael is very fast but he makes really careless mistakes . Thus, it was strongly advocated to him that he must check through his answers before handing up. Susan is a little more focused this time round but still, she is easily distracted. Henry is slowing respecting authority as I had become firm to them. Henry is also beginning to lose his cool at times as he realised that he is making mistakes. It is not a bad thing as it teaches him not to be complacent. In general, I really think it is time to split them up according to their progress in order for the lessons to be effective.
Homework given (including due date): Nil
Day: Wednesday
Students present: Michael, Henry, William and Susan
Students absent: Noe Noe
Teacher (main and assistants): Lim Young
Subject: Mathematics
Topic: Real Numbers
Teaching process
Concepts taught: How to break down complicated questions into different parts to avoid careless mistakes in computation.
Example questions gone through: Previous questions that were given by James and were required to do corrections.
Practice questions given: Page 51-53 of Maths Book 1A
Post-teaching
General comments of students: There is really a difference in standard between the students and thus it is very difficult for me to teach. The weaker students find it hard to catch up while the better students find the lesson a little draggy. Generally, the students do not have any problems with understanding the concepts but it is really their fundamentals of calculations that is impeding them to improve in their maths. Mistakes made were too fundamental and careless.
Improvement points of students: William has a lot to catch up. Up to this point in time, he even has doubts about how to do long division (that's like pri 2 work!). Michael is very fast but he makes really careless mistakes . Thus, it was strongly advocated to him that he must check through his answers before handing up. Susan is a little more focused this time round but still, she is easily distracted. Henry is slowing respecting authority as I had become firm to them. Henry is also beginning to lose his cool at times as he realised that he is making mistakes. It is not a bad thing as it teaches him not to be complacent. In general, I really think it is time to split them up according to their progress in order for the lessons to be effective.
Homework given (including due date): Nil
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
AEIS, English
Date: 5/5/2009
Day: Tuesday
Students present: Michael, Henry, William, Susan and Noe Noe
Students absent: Nil
Teacher (main and assistants): Lim Young
Subject: English
Topic: English
Teaching process
Concepts taught: I started off with letting them present their previous journal entry which they have yet to present followed by a sharing session of the new vocabulary that they have acquired. After the break, I asked them to complete practice 4 to 10 of the 'Tenses' practice book.
Example questions gone through: Nil
Practice questions given: Practice 4 to 10 of 'Tenses' practice book.
Post-teaching
General comments of students: Students are better behaved as compared to the time I taught them before I left for Hong Kong. Henry has a good grasp in English language. However, Susan and Henry are becoming less attentive in class and they are starting to distract others too. Susan is also becoming less diligent in her work. It is observed that Michael is becoming frustrated in class due to the distraction caused by the other students. As for William, he has become more focused but it is still not good enough. Noe Noe is doing fine.
Improvement points of students: Students in general should improve on their attentiveness in class. They should also be demanding a higher standard in their work now that the standard has been made known to them.
Homework given (including due date): Nil
Day: Tuesday
Students present: Michael, Henry, William, Susan and Noe Noe
Students absent: Nil
Teacher (main and assistants): Lim Young
Subject: English
Topic: English
Teaching process
Concepts taught: I started off with letting them present their previous journal entry which they have yet to present followed by a sharing session of the new vocabulary that they have acquired. After the break, I asked them to complete practice 4 to 10 of the 'Tenses' practice book.
Example questions gone through: Nil
Practice questions given: Practice 4 to 10 of 'Tenses' practice book.
Post-teaching
General comments of students: Students are better behaved as compared to the time I taught them before I left for Hong Kong. Henry has a good grasp in English language. However, Susan and Henry are becoming less attentive in class and they are starting to distract others too. Susan is also becoming less diligent in her work. It is observed that Michael is becoming frustrated in class due to the distraction caused by the other students. As for William, he has become more focused but it is still not good enough. Noe Noe is doing fine.
Improvement points of students: Students in general should improve on their attentiveness in class. They should also be demanding a higher standard in their work now that the standard has been made known to them.
Homework given (including due date): Nil
AEIS, Maths
Date: 040509
Day: Monday
Students present: Michael, Noe Noe, William, Henry, Susan
Students absent: NA
Teacher (main and assistants): James
Subject: Maths
Topic: Factors and Multiples, Real Numbers
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
1) Revision of presentation methods during lesson as students still made similar errors during their corrections.
2) Revision of concepts in solving simple mathematical expressions such as the conversion of an improper fraction to a mixed number. Students did not have a good understanding of the difference between improper fractions and mixed numbers. After the revision, majority of students were able to convert improper fractions to mixed numbers quite proficiently except for William who needs more practices.
Example questions gone through: NA
Practice questions given: Whole of Tutorial 2 corrections. Maths test re-corrections
Post-teaching
General comments of students: Additional practices will be required on Factors and Multiples, esp word problems, to embed the different concepts and presentation methods taught. They are also rather weak in their maths foundation though the weaknesses have to be discovered along the way. An example would be the conversion of improper fractions to mixed number. To a singaporean student, expressing the final answer to a question in mixed number would seem instinctive. However, these students did not even know how to express a fraction as a mixed number initially. Therefore, tutors will have to pay careful attention to their answers and workings to spot these fundamental weaknesses.
Improvement points of students:
Students understood how to express an improper fraction as a mixed number. They were generally more well behaved during lessons and receptive to errors. Most were able to complete their corrections apart from William and Susan.
Homework given (including due date): William and Susan have to submit their corrections by the next maths lesson on 060509.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Sec 2 Science
Date: 2/05/09
Day: Saturday, 9am to 12noon
Students present: Thin Nwe, Koye, Myint Myat
Students absent:NA
Teacher (main and assistants): Benjamin
Subject:Science
Topic: Digestion
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
Importance of enzymes and the factors affecting its performance.
Why there is a need for digestion?
The 3 main classes of food - carbo, proteins, fats - highlighted the different classes and their molecular structures in relationship to their functions with special focus on proteins and enzymes
Digestive track - mouth, gullet, stomach, small intestine, large intestine - highlighted the functions of specific enzymes and working conditions in each stage of digestion. Common knowledge in real-life situations in relationships to the digestion stages.
Example questions gone through: Real-life thinking questions in relationship to concepts taught in their syllabus to enhance their understanding of the chapter instead of remember the facts.
Practice questions given: whole chapter in their assessment book
Post-teaching
the students are fine. koye demonstrated good knowledge of the concepts. Thin nwe and myint myat needs to improve further and study more.
Improvement points of students: myint myat to work on this chapter more.
Homework given (including due date): assessment book revision ex 24. due in the afternoon.
IMPORTANT NOTES: SEC 2 SCIENCE EXAM IS ON TUESDAY, 5 MAY 2009. I WILL BE REVISING THE OTHER BIO CHAPS NAMING: ECOSYSTEM, REPRODUCTION, DIFFUSION,TRANSPORTATION, CELLS - TOGETHER WITH THEIR ASSESSMENT BOOK. TUITION WILL BE ON LATER PART OF SAT, SUN AND MONDAY.
LASTLY WILL REVISE ATOMS, MOLECULES IN PREPARATIONS FOR THEIR MID YEAR PAPER
Day: Saturday, 9am to 12noon
Students present: Thin Nwe, Koye, Myint Myat
Students absent:NA
Teacher (main and assistants): Benjamin
Subject:Science
Topic: Digestion
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
Importance of enzymes and the factors affecting its performance.
Why there is a need for digestion?
The 3 main classes of food - carbo, proteins, fats - highlighted the different classes and their molecular structures in relationship to their functions with special focus on proteins and enzymes
Digestive track - mouth, gullet, stomach, small intestine, large intestine - highlighted the functions of specific enzymes and working conditions in each stage of digestion. Common knowledge in real-life situations in relationships to the digestion stages.
Example questions gone through: Real-life thinking questions in relationship to concepts taught in their syllabus to enhance their understanding of the chapter instead of remember the facts.
Practice questions given: whole chapter in their assessment book
Post-teaching
the students are fine. koye demonstrated good knowledge of the concepts. Thin nwe and myint myat needs to improve further and study more.
Improvement points of students: myint myat to work on this chapter more.
Homework given (including due date): assessment book revision ex 24. due in the afternoon.
IMPORTANT NOTES: SEC 2 SCIENCE EXAM IS ON TUESDAY, 5 MAY 2009. I WILL BE REVISING THE OTHER BIO CHAPS NAMING: ECOSYSTEM, REPRODUCTION, DIFFUSION,TRANSPORTATION, CELLS - TOGETHER WITH THEIR ASSESSMENT BOOK. TUITION WILL BE ON LATER PART OF SAT, SUN AND MONDAY.
LASTLY WILL REVISE ATOMS, MOLECULES IN PREPARATIONS FOR THEIR MID YEAR PAPER
Sec2 - Science
Date: 3/05/09
Day: Sunday, 9.30am to 11.30am
Students present: Thin Nwe, Koye, Myint Myat
Students absent:NA
Teacher (main and assistants): Benjamin
Subject:Science
Topic: Reproduction in Human
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
The reproductive systems in male and female
Sex cells of male of female
Fertilization process and menstrual cycle with reference to hormones activities, thickness of the uterus lining as well as the reasoning for the entire cycle in relationship to fertilization
Genetics - DNA, features which are inherited from parents. The importance, advantages and disadvantages of genetic information being passed down this way which human are designed for.
Example questions gone through: Real-life thinking questions in relationship to concepts taught in their syllabus to enhance their understanding of the chapter instead of remember the facts. With special focus on genetics and specific functions of the female reproduction system in relationship to the fertilization process and menstrual cycle.
Practice questions given: whole chapter in their assessment book
Post-teaching
Need to finish up all the bio chapters in their science assessment book - most are undone and those which are done have not gone through yet by the previous tutor.
Homework given (including due date): all the bio chapters - exercise 19 to 26. due on Sunday 3/5/2009 7pm. I will be down at hostel to check and mark. As well as to ensure that they prepare for their English paper for the next day by reviewing their comprehensions and compositions done.
To go through all the assessment book on Monday afternoon/evening - Lim young i will need your help for this.
Lastly to teach ecosystem and to do and review the assessment from the Volume 2 of their science assessment book - to be done on Monday 4/5/2009 as well.
Day: Sunday, 9.30am to 11.30am
Students present: Thin Nwe, Koye, Myint Myat
Students absent:NA
Teacher (main and assistants): Benjamin
Subject:Science
Topic: Reproduction in Human
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
The reproductive systems in male and female
Sex cells of male of female
Fertilization process and menstrual cycle with reference to hormones activities, thickness of the uterus lining as well as the reasoning for the entire cycle in relationship to fertilization
Genetics - DNA, features which are inherited from parents. The importance, advantages and disadvantages of genetic information being passed down this way which human are designed for.
Example questions gone through: Real-life thinking questions in relationship to concepts taught in their syllabus to enhance their understanding of the chapter instead of remember the facts. With special focus on genetics and specific functions of the female reproduction system in relationship to the fertilization process and menstrual cycle.
Practice questions given: whole chapter in their assessment book
Post-teaching
Need to finish up all the bio chapters in their science assessment book - most are undone and those which are done have not gone through yet by the previous tutor.
Homework given (including due date): all the bio chapters - exercise 19 to 26. due on Sunday 3/5/2009 7pm. I will be down at hostel to check and mark. As well as to ensure that they prepare for their English paper for the next day by reviewing their comprehensions and compositions done.
To go through all the assessment book on Monday afternoon/evening - Lim young i will need your help for this.
Lastly to teach ecosystem and to do and review the assessment from the Volume 2 of their science assessment book - to be done on Monday 4/5/2009 as well.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
AEIS, English
Date: 300409
Day: Thursday
Students present: Michael, Susan, William, Henry, Noe Noe
Students absent: NA
Teacher (main and assistants): James
Subject: English
Topic: Review of English Test 1, Journal
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
1) Students were taught how to solve summary questions step by step:
Step 1: Keyword underline of question
Step 2: Underline of relevant points in the passage
Step 3: Compiling of points into a draft 1 of summary
Step 4: Completion of final summary
The key processes between step 3 and 4 were also highlighted to students, namely, checking for grammatical errors, linking of points, summarising of points with the word limit in mind.
2) Students were also taught the method of answering vocabulary questions in comprehensions. They were taught how to guess the meaning from the usage in the passage if they do not know the meaning of the word. It was also highlighted to them that the tenses of their answers should be the same as that of the vocabulary word.
A common mistake that students made in the vocabulary questions was the tendency to answer a vocabulary question that is a verb/action with a phrase that suggests a subject performing the action. The students were taught not to include a subject when the question is a verb.
Example questions gone through: NA
Practice questions given: NA
Post-teaching
General comments of students: Students are generally receptive to the new concepts taught during lesson and were able to understand them quite well. During the highlighting of key points from the comprehension passages, most students were able to differentiate points that were relevant to the question after some prompting.
Improvement points of students:
Students generally showed a better understanding of the question after making the effort to highlight key words. They were also much more receptive to concepts taught after explaining their importance.
Students have a tendency to compare the standard demands over in Singapore to their previous school in Myanmar. It is important to continuously remind them that they will be studying in Singapore in the future and that they should get used to the local standards.
Homework given (including due date): Completed Summary by Monday 040509
Day: Thursday
Students present: Michael, Susan, William, Henry, Noe Noe
Students absent: NA
Teacher (main and assistants): James
Subject: English
Topic: Review of English Test 1, Journal
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
1) Students were taught how to solve summary questions step by step:
Step 1: Keyword underline of question
Step 2: Underline of relevant points in the passage
Step 3: Compiling of points into a draft 1 of summary
Step 4: Completion of final summary
The key processes between step 3 and 4 were also highlighted to students, namely, checking for grammatical errors, linking of points, summarising of points with the word limit in mind.
2) Students were also taught the method of answering vocabulary questions in comprehensions. They were taught how to guess the meaning from the usage in the passage if they do not know the meaning of the word. It was also highlighted to them that the tenses of their answers should be the same as that of the vocabulary word.
A common mistake that students made in the vocabulary questions was the tendency to answer a vocabulary question that is a verb/action with a phrase that suggests a subject performing the action. The students were taught not to include a subject when the question is a verb.
Example questions gone through: NA
Practice questions given: NA
Post-teaching
General comments of students: Students are generally receptive to the new concepts taught during lesson and were able to understand them quite well. During the highlighting of key points from the comprehension passages, most students were able to differentiate points that were relevant to the question after some prompting.
Improvement points of students:
Students generally showed a better understanding of the question after making the effort to highlight key words. They were also much more receptive to concepts taught after explaining their importance.
Students have a tendency to compare the standard demands over in Singapore to their previous school in Myanmar. It is important to continuously remind them that they will be studying in Singapore in the future and that they should get used to the local standards.
Homework given (including due date): Completed Summary by Monday 040509
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
AEIS, Math
Date: 290409
Day: Wednesday
Students present: Michael, William, Susan, Henry
Students absent: Noe Noe
Teacher (main and assistants): James
Subject: Mathematics
Topic: Real Numbers
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
1) Revision of rules in solving mathematical expressions.
2) Highlighted the importance of simplifying the expressions step by step and showing each step clearly in their working so as to prevent careless mistakes.
3) Enforced checking of their work to train them to be meticulous in their work.
4) Students were given more practice questions that involve simplifying and evaluating mathematical expressions at one time to train up their endurance.
5) Students were taught not to express their answers in improper fractions unless otherwise stated in the question.
Example questions gone through: NA
Practice questions given: Tutorial 2 Qn 8, 9, 10, 11
Post-teaching
General comments of students:
Students were able to finish the tutorial questions given albeit longer than the time given initially apart from Michael who was able to concentrate better and finish his work beforehand. The rest of the students showed restlessness after an hour or so and as a result took longer.
Improvement points of students:
William and Susan were able to concentrate much better than they usually do and produced better quality work. Both of them were also more careful in their work after enforcing the checks to be done.
Michael has also learnt from his careless mistakes during his test and have shown improvement in the practices given.
Henry has to work on his endurance as he showed the greatest degree of restlessness during the process.
Homework given (including due date): Students were asked to compile the corrections done for tutorial 2 so that all corrections can be completed during the next lesson.
Day: Wednesday
Students present: Michael, William, Susan, Henry
Students absent: Noe Noe
Teacher (main and assistants): James
Subject: Mathematics
Topic: Real Numbers
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
1) Revision of rules in solving mathematical expressions.
2) Highlighted the importance of simplifying the expressions step by step and showing each step clearly in their working so as to prevent careless mistakes.
3) Enforced checking of their work to train them to be meticulous in their work.
4) Students were given more practice questions that involve simplifying and evaluating mathematical expressions at one time to train up their endurance.
5) Students were taught not to express their answers in improper fractions unless otherwise stated in the question.
Example questions gone through: NA
Practice questions given: Tutorial 2 Qn 8, 9, 10, 11
Post-teaching
General comments of students:
Students were able to finish the tutorial questions given albeit longer than the time given initially apart from Michael who was able to concentrate better and finish his work beforehand. The rest of the students showed restlessness after an hour or so and as a result took longer.
Improvement points of students:
William and Susan were able to concentrate much better than they usually do and produced better quality work. Both of them were also more careful in their work after enforcing the checks to be done.
Michael has also learnt from his careless mistakes during his test and have shown improvement in the practices given.
Henry has to work on his endurance as he showed the greatest degree of restlessness during the process.
Homework given (including due date): Students were asked to compile the corrections done for tutorial 2 so that all corrections can be completed during the next lesson.
AEIS, English
Date: 280409
Day: Tuesday
Students present: Michael, William, Susan, Henry, Noe Noe
Students absent: NA
Teacher (main and assistants): James
Subject: English
Topic: Journal, Review of English Test Paper 1
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
1) As I noticed that students could not do the summary in the test, I asked students to underline or highlight the main details in the newspaper articles while they were doing journals. This is to train them to pick out necessary details in the article so as not to just give a general idea of the article like what they did in the summary in the test.
2) Apart from going through the grammer clozes and the editing portion of the english paper, students were asked to underline all the key words and phrases in the comprehension questions as they had not done so. During the discussion of these questions, they were also taught how to write their answers in full sentences as most of them just gave one word answers or short phrases.
Example questions gone through: NA
Practice questions given: NA
Post-teaching
General comments of students:
Students do not recognize the need to answer in full sentences or to take note of their grammatical errors in their answers as they were not asked to do so in their previous school. As a result, they have a tendency to bargain for marks when their answers were marked down for spelling errors.
Improvement points of students:
Students showed greater interest in the lesson when the discussion was about their test paper. There has been a slight improvement in grammer from the first few grammer practices. However, there's still a need to work on their grammer as most of their comprehension answers contained grammatical errors though they were not marked down this time round.
Homework given (including due date): NA
Day: Tuesday
Students present: Michael, William, Susan, Henry, Noe Noe
Students absent: NA
Teacher (main and assistants): James
Subject: English
Topic: Journal, Review of English Test Paper 1
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
1) As I noticed that students could not do the summary in the test, I asked students to underline or highlight the main details in the newspaper articles while they were doing journals. This is to train them to pick out necessary details in the article so as not to just give a general idea of the article like what they did in the summary in the test.
2) Apart from going through the grammer clozes and the editing portion of the english paper, students were asked to underline all the key words and phrases in the comprehension questions as they had not done so. During the discussion of these questions, they were also taught how to write their answers in full sentences as most of them just gave one word answers or short phrases.
Example questions gone through: NA
Practice questions given: NA
Post-teaching
General comments of students:
Students do not recognize the need to answer in full sentences or to take note of their grammatical errors in their answers as they were not asked to do so in their previous school. As a result, they have a tendency to bargain for marks when their answers were marked down for spelling errors.
Improvement points of students:
Students showed greater interest in the lesson when the discussion was about their test paper. There has been a slight improvement in grammer from the first few grammer practices. However, there's still a need to work on their grammer as most of their comprehension answers contained grammatical errors though they were not marked down this time round.
Homework given (including due date): NA
Secondary 2 Mathematics
Date: 28/04/09
Day: Tuesday, 8pm to 9pm
Students present: Thin Nwe, Koye, Myint Myat
Students absent:NA
Teacher (main and assistants): Benjamin
Subject: Mathematics
Topic: Quadratic equations
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
1) relationship between the quadratic expansions and its geometrical representations. linked up with the practical origins which was used by Egyptians to find land area before they built the pyramids. linked to the proof of quadratic expansions and other identities such as the difference of two squares.
2) analyze a degree two polynomial equation with reference to the quadratic formula.
3) how to use the quadratic formula (highlighted that it is something extra, mainly applicable to those preparing for admission exams to other schools in Nov 2009)
Example questions gone through: 4 questions which I came out on the spot.
Practice questions given: changed the coefficients of two of the four examples covered for them to DIY.
Post-teaching
General comments of students: Students were receptive to new concepts and showed understanding for the topic. Students were also quite responsive to questions and were able to provide quite accurate answers to questions regarding concepts in the topic.
Improvement points of students: NA
Homework given (including due date): NA
Day: Tuesday, 8pm to 9pm
Students present: Thin Nwe, Koye, Myint Myat
Students absent:NA
Teacher (main and assistants): Benjamin
Subject: Mathematics
Topic: Quadratic equations
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
1) relationship between the quadratic expansions and its geometrical representations. linked up with the practical origins which was used by Egyptians to find land area before they built the pyramids. linked to the proof of quadratic expansions and other identities such as the difference of two squares.
2) analyze a degree two polynomial equation with reference to the quadratic formula.
3) how to use the quadratic formula (highlighted that it is something extra, mainly applicable to those preparing for admission exams to other schools in Nov 2009)
Example questions gone through: 4 questions which I came out on the spot.
Practice questions given: changed the coefficients of two of the four examples covered for them to DIY.
Post-teaching
General comments of students: Students were receptive to new concepts and showed understanding for the topic. Students were also quite responsive to questions and were able to provide quite accurate answers to questions regarding concepts in the topic.
Improvement points of students: NA
Homework given (including due date): NA
Monday, April 27, 2009
AEIS, Math, Test 1 feedback
Topic: Factors and Multiples
General Comments
Students have a tendency to make very careless mistakes such as calculation errors. Students have generally understood the presentation methods taught during lesson with the exception of William though there are still minor mistakes in their presentation. More practice might be needed in these questions.
Specific Comments
Student: Michael
Test Score: 25/40
Areas for improvement:
Majority of michael's mistakes are to do with presentation errors. Though he was able to present his workings generally in the right way, he has made quite a number of minor presentation errors here and there.
Method for improvement:
Do more practices on similar questions so that the presentation errors can be reduced.
Student: Henry
Test Score: 33/40
Areas for improvement:
Henry is more careful during his presentation and as a result his mistakes are generally not due to carelessness. However, Henry is slightly weaker in his application of concepts as seen from him not being able to answer a new question that required a concept that he has learnt.
Method for improvement:
Working on different questions that require concepts learnt.
Student: William
Test Score: 10/40
Areas for improvement:
William does not fully understand the concepts of HCF and LCM taught during lesson. He is also weak and careless in his calculations.
Method for improvement:
More word problems should be given to build his understanding of the concepts and to train him to be more careful in his work.
Student: Susan
Test Score: 26/40
Areas for improvement:
Susan has showed that she understood the concepts taught during lesson though she tends to make very careless mistakes. She is also slightly weaker in simplifying maths expressions.
Method for improvement:
It will be helpful to provide practices that requires her to simplify mathamatical expressons such as cube root of a fraction.
Student: Noe Noe
Test Score: 29/40
Areas for improvement:
Noe Noe has shown understanding for the concepts taught. The majority of her mistakes are due to carelessness.
Method for improvement:
Enforce checking multiple times after practices or tests. Spot-the-mistakes practices can be given to train her to be more meticulous in her work.
General Comments
Students have a tendency to make very careless mistakes such as calculation errors. Students have generally understood the presentation methods taught during lesson with the exception of William though there are still minor mistakes in their presentation. More practice might be needed in these questions.
Specific Comments
Student: Michael
Test Score: 25/40
Areas for improvement:
Majority of michael's mistakes are to do with presentation errors. Though he was able to present his workings generally in the right way, he has made quite a number of minor presentation errors here and there.
Method for improvement:
Do more practices on similar questions so that the presentation errors can be reduced.
Student: Henry
Test Score: 33/40
Areas for improvement:
Henry is more careful during his presentation and as a result his mistakes are generally not due to carelessness. However, Henry is slightly weaker in his application of concepts as seen from him not being able to answer a new question that required a concept that he has learnt.
Method for improvement:
Working on different questions that require concepts learnt.
Student: William
Test Score: 10/40
Areas for improvement:
William does not fully understand the concepts of HCF and LCM taught during lesson. He is also weak and careless in his calculations.
Method for improvement:
More word problems should be given to build his understanding of the concepts and to train him to be more careful in his work.
Student: Susan
Test Score: 26/40
Areas for improvement:
Susan has showed that she understood the concepts taught during lesson though she tends to make very careless mistakes. She is also slightly weaker in simplifying maths expressions.
Method for improvement:
It will be helpful to provide practices that requires her to simplify mathamatical expressons such as cube root of a fraction.
Student: Noe Noe
Test Score: 29/40
Areas for improvement:
Noe Noe has shown understanding for the concepts taught. The majority of her mistakes are due to carelessness.
Method for improvement:
Enforce checking multiple times after practices or tests. Spot-the-mistakes practices can be given to train her to be more meticulous in her work.
AEIS, Math
Date: 270409
Day: Monday
Students present: Michael, William, Henry, Susan
Students absent: Noe Noe (sick according to her sister)
Teacher (main and assistants): James
Subject: Math
Topic: Factors and Multiples (test paper), Real Numbers
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
1) Went through the Math test paper on Factors and Multiples
2) Students were taught how to present their answers using a number line as the method taught in their country seemed to be slightly different from that of Singapore. Students were taught to use a dot to mark out numbers that were required by the question and to use arrows when large ranges are needed.
Example questions gone through: NA
Practice questions given: Tutorial 2 Qn 1, 2, 6, 7
Post-teaching
General comments of students:
William did not show any interest when the questions in the test paper were being explained. Students were more rowdy especially William and Susan who quarrelled blatantly during lesson. They have been given a warning regarding this.
There is quite a large standard difference between William and the rest in Math. He is slower in grasping concepts and tends to lag behind in class. There were also signs that he did not fully understand the concepts used in different questions when the test paper was being explained on the board and merely copied down the corrections. As a result, there was a need go through the questions again with him when the others were working on practice questions.
Improvement points of students: NA
Homework given (including due date): Susan has to finish his math test corrections on new sheets of papers by 290409 (wed)
Day: Monday
Students present: Michael, William, Henry, Susan
Students absent: Noe Noe (sick according to her sister)
Teacher (main and assistants): James
Subject: Math
Topic: Factors and Multiples (test paper), Real Numbers
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
1) Went through the Math test paper on Factors and Multiples
2) Students were taught how to present their answers using a number line as the method taught in their country seemed to be slightly different from that of Singapore. Students were taught to use a dot to mark out numbers that were required by the question and to use arrows when large ranges are needed.
Example questions gone through: NA
Practice questions given: Tutorial 2 Qn 1, 2, 6, 7
Post-teaching
General comments of students:
William did not show any interest when the questions in the test paper were being explained. Students were more rowdy especially William and Susan who quarrelled blatantly during lesson. They have been given a warning regarding this.
There is quite a large standard difference between William and the rest in Math. He is slower in grasping concepts and tends to lag behind in class. There were also signs that he did not fully understand the concepts used in different questions when the test paper was being explained on the board and merely copied down the corrections. As a result, there was a need go through the questions again with him when the others were working on practice questions.
Improvement points of students: NA
Homework given (including due date): Susan has to finish his math test corrections on new sheets of papers by 290409 (wed)
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Sec 2, Science
Date: 230409
Day: Thursday
Students present: Thin Nwe, Koye, Myint Myat
Students absent:NA
Teacher (main and assistants): James
Subject: Science
Topic: Transport in Plants and Mammals
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
1) Reason for the need of transport system in plants and mammals
2) Transport system in plants: xylem, phloem
3) Transport system in mammals: circulatory system comprising of heart and blood vessels
4) Basic functions of the transport system
5) Transport processes that contribute to the exchange of materials namely diffusion and osmosis and active transport.
Example questions gone through: NA
Practice questions given: not given due to the need to complete their geography mid year revision questions
Post-teaching
General comments of students: Students were generally receptive to new concepts and showed understanding for the topic. Students were also quite responsive to questions and were able to provide quite accurate answers to questions regarding concepts in the topic. However, Myint Myat and Koye were quite restless due to the late timing of the science tuition.
Improvement points of students: NA
Homework given (including due date): Practice for topic 'From cells to tissues, and tissues to organs' due on Monday, 270409
Day: Thursday
Students present: Thin Nwe, Koye, Myint Myat
Students absent:NA
Teacher (main and assistants): James
Subject: Science
Topic: Transport in Plants and Mammals
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
1) Reason for the need of transport system in plants and mammals
2) Transport system in plants: xylem, phloem
3) Transport system in mammals: circulatory system comprising of heart and blood vessels
4) Basic functions of the transport system
5) Transport processes that contribute to the exchange of materials namely diffusion and osmosis and active transport.
Example questions gone through: NA
Practice questions given: not given due to the need to complete their geography mid year revision questions
Post-teaching
General comments of students: Students were generally receptive to new concepts and showed understanding for the topic. Students were also quite responsive to questions and were able to provide quite accurate answers to questions regarding concepts in the topic. However, Myint Myat and Koye were quite restless due to the late timing of the science tuition.
Improvement points of students: NA
Homework given (including due date): Practice for topic 'From cells to tissues, and tissues to organs' due on Monday, 270409
AEIS Maths
Date: 230409
Day: Thursday
Students present: Michael, Susan, William, Henry, Noe Noe
Students absent: NA
Teacher (main and assistants): James, Elizabeth
Subject: Maths
Topic: Factors and Multiples (test), Real Numbers
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
1) Differentiating the different types of numbers eg integers, natural numbers etc.
2) Methods of solving questions with negative integers
3) Students are taught to simplify expressions in brackets first before continuing on with simplifying multiplications and divisions followed by additions and subtractions. They are also taught that maths expressions should be solved in the general direction of left to right.
Example questions gone through: NA
Practice questions given: Tutorial Qn 1,2,6,7
Post-teaching
General comments of students: Generally well behaved during maths test. Henry and Michael were able to finish the test before the stipulated timing of 2 hours. William and Susan had a difficulty concentrating for the whole length of the paper.
Students showed understanding for the new topic of real numbers and are able to solve the tutorial exercises rather independently.
Improvement points of students:
Henry was slightly better disciplined after explaining the rationale of certain rules.
There is a need to train up the concentration of Susan and William as their short attention spans are the major impedence to them performing.
Homework given (including due date): NA
Day: Thursday
Students present: Michael, Susan, William, Henry, Noe Noe
Students absent: NA
Teacher (main and assistants): James, Elizabeth
Subject: Maths
Topic: Factors and Multiples (test), Real Numbers
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
1) Differentiating the different types of numbers eg integers, natural numbers etc.
2) Methods of solving questions with negative integers
3) Students are taught to simplify expressions in brackets first before continuing on with simplifying multiplications and divisions followed by additions and subtractions. They are also taught that maths expressions should be solved in the general direction of left to right.
Example questions gone through: NA
Practice questions given: Tutorial Qn 1,2,6,7
Post-teaching
General comments of students: Generally well behaved during maths test. Henry and Michael were able to finish the test before the stipulated timing of 2 hours. William and Susan had a difficulty concentrating for the whole length of the paper.
Students showed understanding for the new topic of real numbers and are able to solve the tutorial exercises rather independently.
Improvement points of students:
Henry was slightly better disciplined after explaining the rationale of certain rules.
There is a need to train up the concentration of Susan and William as their short attention spans are the major impedence to them performing.
Homework given (including due date): NA
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
AEIS Maths
Date: 210409
Day: Tuesday
Students present: Michael, Henry, William, Noe Noe, Susan
Students absent: NA
Teacher (main and assistants): James
Subject: Maths
Topic: Factors and Multiples
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
1) Reinforced concept on perfect square
2) Standardized way of presentation for Qns similar to Tutorial 1 Qn 11(a)
3) Taught students how to find a number, M, when it gives a remainder after being divided by a certain number. Students were also given an exercise on this concept.
4) The relationship between the square and cube of a number and the square root and cube root of a number respectively.
5) Application of HCF and LCM in word problems
Example questions gone through: NA
Practice questions given: Qn 15, 17, 18
Post-teaching
General comments of students:
Students are generally weak in solving word problems due to the lack of understanding of concepts and the question. Though students might be quite proficient with the method to obtain HCF and LCM, they do not understand how to use them in different word problems. There is a constant need to guide the students throughout word problems as a result.
Improvement points of students:
William is weaker in Maths than the rest of the class. As a result he has been constantly slower than the rest of the class and more time has to be given for him to grasp concepts.
Homework given (including due date): Students have been tasked to revise for their Maths test during their free time.
Day: Tuesday
Students present: Michael, Henry, William, Noe Noe, Susan
Students absent: NA
Teacher (main and assistants): James
Subject: Maths
Topic: Factors and Multiples
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
1) Reinforced concept on perfect square
2) Standardized way of presentation for Qns similar to Tutorial 1 Qn 11(a)
3) Taught students how to find a number, M, when it gives a remainder after being divided by a certain number. Students were also given an exercise on this concept.
4) The relationship between the square and cube of a number and the square root and cube root of a number respectively.
5) Application of HCF and LCM in word problems
Example questions gone through: NA
Practice questions given: Qn 15, 17, 18
Post-teaching
General comments of students:
Students are generally weak in solving word problems due to the lack of understanding of concepts and the question. Though students might be quite proficient with the method to obtain HCF and LCM, they do not understand how to use them in different word problems. There is a constant need to guide the students throughout word problems as a result.
Improvement points of students:
William is weaker in Maths than the rest of the class. As a result he has been constantly slower than the rest of the class and more time has to be given for him to grasp concepts.
Homework given (including due date): Students have been tasked to revise for their Maths test during their free time.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Sec 2 Math 20/04/09
Date: 20/04/09
Day: Monday
Students present: Myint Myat, Ye Naing, Thin Nwe
Students absent: Nil
Teacher (main and assistants): Jasper
Subject: Math
Topic: Direct and Inverse Relationship
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
- Thinking process of attempting such questions.
- Linking the word relationship to two parties, linking the relationship between the two parties as the equation.
- Thought process imparted:
a. Locating the two parties involved in the question (alphabets, or things)
b. Finding out the relationship between the two (direct or inverse)
c. Creating an equation to link the 2
- Highlighted importance of stating that K is a constant.
- Fortified the knowledge and difference between constant and variable.
- Understanding that the constant (K) will never change in the same question
- Understanding basic graph theory (as X increase, Y increase)
- Learning to draw inverse and direct graphs
- Understanding the specialties in the various graphs (eg. straight line, pass through origin for direct graph, note the axes)
- Understanding how to prove that two variables are inverse, (vt = k, where k is a constant)
-
Example questions gone through: 2A Math Tutor Assessment Pg 44, 48, 51
Practice questions given: As above
Post-teaching
General comments of students:
- Ye Naing and Thin Nwe are able to attempt the questions at a smooth speed.
- Ye Naing and Myint Myat occasionally forget to include (where k is a constant)
- Myint Myat is still quite slow in attempting the questions
- All are able to grasp and concept and mechanism behind the topic better. Will avoid mistakes in drawing incorrect graphs (curves)
Improvement points of students:
- Myint Myat to practice more
- All to read the question more carefully and underline and annotate more often
Homework given (including due date):
Math Sec 1 Textbook pg 27, 28 - Review Questions 1 (due Saturday 25 April 3pm)
Day: Monday
Students present: Myint Myat, Ye Naing, Thin Nwe
Students absent: Nil
Teacher (main and assistants): Jasper
Subject: Math
Topic: Direct and Inverse Relationship
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
- Thinking process of attempting such questions.
- Linking the word relationship to two parties, linking the relationship between the two parties as the equation.
- Thought process imparted:
a. Locating the two parties involved in the question (alphabets, or things)
b. Finding out the relationship between the two (direct or inverse)
c. Creating an equation to link the 2
- Highlighted importance of stating that K is a constant.
- Fortified the knowledge and difference between constant and variable.
- Understanding that the constant (K) will never change in the same question
- Understanding basic graph theory (as X increase, Y increase)
- Learning to draw inverse and direct graphs
- Understanding the specialties in the various graphs (eg. straight line, pass through origin for direct graph, note the axes)
- Understanding how to prove that two variables are inverse, (vt = k, where k is a constant)
-
Example questions gone through: 2A Math Tutor Assessment Pg 44, 48, 51
Practice questions given: As above
Post-teaching
General comments of students:
- Ye Naing and Thin Nwe are able to attempt the questions at a smooth speed.
- Ye Naing and Myint Myat occasionally forget to include (where k is a constant)
- Myint Myat is still quite slow in attempting the questions
- All are able to grasp and concept and mechanism behind the topic better. Will avoid mistakes in drawing incorrect graphs (curves)
Improvement points of students:
- Myint Myat to practice more
- All to read the question more carefully and underline and annotate more often
Homework given (including due date):
Math Sec 1 Textbook pg 27, 28 - Review Questions 1 (due Saturday 25 April 3pm)
AEIS, ENGLISH
Date: 200409
Day: Monday
Students present: Michael, William, Henry, Susan
Students absent: Noe Noe (sick)
Teacher (main and assistants): James
Subject: English
Topic: Newspaper Journal, Grammer Practice
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
1) Newspaper Journal
Students were given chances to present their articles to the class. They are encouraged to use the technique of 5W1H to organise their ideas before presenting. The presentations are opportunities for the students to hone their command of the language and to build up their confidence in front of an audience. It will be good to ask the class if they had understood the presentation by the presenter so as to let the presenter gauge his own performance. Feedback can be given after the presentation.
2) Grammer Practices
No concepts taught yet. Students are asked to work on the practices.
Example questions gone through: NA
Practice questions given: Grammer Practices 1-5 (compulsory)
Post-teaching
General comments of students: Students are still not proficient with using the 5W1H. However, when using this technique, students have a tendency to only list the main incident under WHAT and miss out other necessary subevents/details that contribute to it. It is thus necessary to prompt students during the presentation. Students are generally positive towards the idea of doing newspaper journals and are enthusiastic towards presenting before the class.
With regards to presenting, Henry is slightly more proficient in picking necessary details and explaining in a coherent manner while Michael is able to carry himself most confidently.
Students are generally weak in grammer. More details will be given after marking their work.
Improvement points of students:
William has been able to concentrate better on his work.
Homework given (including due date): NA
Day: Monday
Students present: Michael, William, Henry, Susan
Students absent: Noe Noe (sick)
Teacher (main and assistants): James
Subject: English
Topic: Newspaper Journal, Grammer Practice
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
1) Newspaper Journal
Students were given chances to present their articles to the class. They are encouraged to use the technique of 5W1H to organise their ideas before presenting. The presentations are opportunities for the students to hone their command of the language and to build up their confidence in front of an audience. It will be good to ask the class if they had understood the presentation by the presenter so as to let the presenter gauge his own performance. Feedback can be given after the presentation.
2) Grammer Practices
No concepts taught yet. Students are asked to work on the practices.
Example questions gone through: NA
Practice questions given: Grammer Practices 1-5 (compulsory)
Post-teaching
General comments of students: Students are still not proficient with using the 5W1H. However, when using this technique, students have a tendency to only list the main incident under WHAT and miss out other necessary subevents/details that contribute to it. It is thus necessary to prompt students during the presentation. Students are generally positive towards the idea of doing newspaper journals and are enthusiastic towards presenting before the class.
With regards to presenting, Henry is slightly more proficient in picking necessary details and explaining in a coherent manner while Michael is able to carry himself most confidently.
Students are generally weak in grammer. More details will be given after marking their work.
Improvement points of students:
William has been able to concentrate better on his work.
Homework given (including due date): NA
Friday, April 17, 2009
AEIS, Maths
Date: 170408
Day: Friday
Students present: Michael, Henry, William, Susan, Noe Noe
Students absent: Nil
Teacher (main and assistants): James
Subject: Maths
Topic: Factors and Multiples
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
1) Method to make a given number a perfect square from its index notation.
Main takeaway statement: "The powers of the prime factors must be even"
This is concept is especially important in questions that ask for the value of a variable that when multiplied to a given number, makes it a perfect square. Students are thought step by step how to solve this kind of questions. Starting with expressing the given number in an index notation before looking at the powers of the prime factors and making them even. Through this, students also learnt about basic indices concepts such as how to increase a power of a factor.
2) Composite Numbers
3) Using words to complement mathematical expressions
In certain questions that can be solved logically, it makes it hard to express all arguments in mathematical expressions or equations. Students were shown certain basic ways to express arguments in both words and mathematical expressions pertaining to Qn 11(a)
Example questions gone through:Nil
Practice questions given: Tutorial 1 Qn 10 - 14 (Qn 11-14 are word problems)
Post-teaching
General comments of students:
Students are familiar with the methods for finding HCF and LCM. However, there is a need to reinforce the fundamental concepts of factors and multiples for them to be able to fully understand and utilize the concepts and methods flexibly. As such, it makes it harder for them to understand and solve word problems that focus more on applications of concepts. I will probably use the Maths lessons the coming week to focus on the understanding of the word problems and application of concepts.
One observation is that students have difficulty concentrating for the whole length of maths lesson from 130 to 6, making it harder for them to grasp concepts taught. I am suggesting readjusting the tuition format for the AEIS students so that the length of time between 130 to 6 can be split between Maths and English tuition.
Improvement points of students:
William has shown a marked improvement from the previous lesson by showing a greater degree of concentration in solving his Maths problems. However, he is weaker and slightly slower in his understanding of his concepts.
Henry is fast at grasping concepts and applying it. He shows interest in learning new concepts. However, he is slightly complacent in this work and has a tendency not to admit his own mistakes when it comes to concepts that he believe he has grasp well enough.
Susan showed an effort to improve on her neatness and quality of her work. She made a greater amount of effort to check through her work as of the previous lesson.
Michael and Noe Noe have maintained a positive attitude towards learning. However, they should be able to produce work of much higher quality if they cut down on their carelessness.
Homework given (including due date): NA
Thursday, April 16, 2009
AEIS English - 16/04/2009
Date: 16/04/2008
Day: Thursday
Students present: Michael, Henry, William, Noe Noe, Susan
Students absent: NIL
Teacher (main and assistants): Lim Young
Subject: English
Topic: NA
Teaching process
Concepts taught: Summary Techniques. Introduced to the students the 5W1H technique. Students are taught to breakdown an article by using the following prompt questions in the following order.
1. When
2. Where
3. Who
4. What
5. How
6. Why
It is important to note that the sequence of these prompt questions are vital in the logical thinking process during the analysis of the content. Pt 1 to 4 are what I termed as the FACTS prompts. These are things that are definite, such as the location of an incident, the time it happened and the people involved so on and so forth. The HOW question is what I term as the ANALYSIS question. This is where the reader uses the facts obtained earlier on to analyse and deduce how something happen. The WHY question is what I term as the REFLECTION question. This should come as the last as the student is challenged to give his or her own opinion to the article that he or she have just read, based on the analysis and the facts they produced earlier on.
Example questions gone through: NA
Practice questions given: Newspaper cuttings from The Straits Times
Post-teaching
General comments of students: All the students understand the usefulness of this method and they are quite receptive of it. However, they are still not very used to the concept of such systematic breakdown when reading an article.
Improvement points of students: After each student completed their journal entry for the newspaper cuttings, I've always asked them to present to the class what they have done. The last 2 lessons I allowed them to open their book to refer to what they have written but discouraged them from doing so. During this lesson, I forced them to close all their books and many of them find it difficult to present. Many of have yet to instill this analytical system into their brain and thus their presentations were messy and disorganised. By forcing them not to read from the book straight, I am challenging their understanding of their article and opinions. It also allows them to express their thoughts through verbally, giving them the chance to practice speaking English.
After doing this for the past 3 lessons, I find this method very effective for teaching english in class and I see the improvement in them. However, their writing skill and articulation still have much room for improvement.
Homework given (including due date): NA
Day: Thursday
Students present: Michael, Henry, William, Noe Noe, Susan
Students absent: NIL
Teacher (main and assistants): Lim Young
Subject: English
Topic: NA
Teaching process
Concepts taught: Summary Techniques. Introduced to the students the 5W1H technique. Students are taught to breakdown an article by using the following prompt questions in the following order.
1. When
2. Where
3. Who
4. What
5. How
6. Why
It is important to note that the sequence of these prompt questions are vital in the logical thinking process during the analysis of the content. Pt 1 to 4 are what I termed as the FACTS prompts. These are things that are definite, such as the location of an incident, the time it happened and the people involved so on and so forth. The HOW question is what I term as the ANALYSIS question. This is where the reader uses the facts obtained earlier on to analyse and deduce how something happen. The WHY question is what I term as the REFLECTION question. This should come as the last as the student is challenged to give his or her own opinion to the article that he or she have just read, based on the analysis and the facts they produced earlier on.
Example questions gone through: NA
Practice questions given: Newspaper cuttings from The Straits Times
Post-teaching
General comments of students: All the students understand the usefulness of this method and they are quite receptive of it. However, they are still not very used to the concept of such systematic breakdown when reading an article.
Improvement points of students: After each student completed their journal entry for the newspaper cuttings, I've always asked them to present to the class what they have done. The last 2 lessons I allowed them to open their book to refer to what they have written but discouraged them from doing so. During this lesson, I forced them to close all their books and many of them find it difficult to present. Many of have yet to instill this analytical system into their brain and thus their presentations were messy and disorganised. By forcing them not to read from the book straight, I am challenging their understanding of their article and opinions. It also allows them to express their thoughts through verbally, giving them the chance to practice speaking English.
After doing this for the past 3 lessons, I find this method very effective for teaching english in class and I see the improvement in them. However, their writing skill and articulation still have much room for improvement.
Homework given (including due date): NA
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Template for Evaluation
Please use this template for future new posts:
Date:
Day:
Students present:
Students absent:
Teacher (main and assistants):
Subject:
Topic:
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
Example questions gone through:
Practice questions given:
Post-teaching
General comments of students:
Improvement points of students:
Homework given (including due date):
*IMPORTANT*
Please use these Labels: by level and subject and be exactly word by word.
This is to help facilitate better classification and indexing.
For eg. If i'm teaching math for sec 2 class, i will label below as:
Sec 2, Math
Label Types:
Sec 1
Sec 2
AEIS Prep
Math
Science
English
Date:
Day:
Students present:
Students absent:
Teacher (main and assistants):
Subject:
Topic:
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
Example questions gone through:
Practice questions given:
Post-teaching
General comments of students:
Improvement points of students:
Homework given (including due date):
*IMPORTANT*
Please use these Labels: by level and subject and be exactly word by word.
This is to help facilitate better classification and indexing.
For eg. If i'm teaching math for sec 2 class, i will label below as:
Sec 2, Math
Label Types:
Sec 1
Sec 2
AEIS Prep
Math
Science
English
Secondary 2 Math 14/04/09
Date: 14/04/09
Day: Tuesday
Students present: Myint Myat, Ye Naing, Thin Nwe
Students absent: Nil
Teacher: Jasper Ong
Subject: Mathematics
Topic: Algebra (entire topic)
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
- Went through gradesavers algebra test Questions 1 - 5
- Basically went through techniques for answering questions
- Techniques for underlining, rephrasing questions into mathematical terms
- Techniques for simplifying complicated equations; to facilitate cross multiplication, cross factorization and simultaneous substitution
- Introduced technique to identify how many answers a variable can have (power of variable)
- Taught answering technique not to omit any answers for variables
Example questions gone through: Questions 1 - 5
Practice questions given: Nil
Post-teaching
General comments of students:
- Thin Nwe can understand her mistakes and re-did the paper without assistance.
- Ye Naing have certain problems with word problem sums; losing focus halfway and not analysis the question hard enough to determine what it means in quantitative terms
- Myint Myat generally has problems with all the questions. After explaination and doing the question with him and explaining every single step, he was able to redo the questions without guidance at slow speed.
Improvement points of students:
- Myint Myat - Learn to do long cuts, stop skipping steps, understand the flow process of the entire question and understand why every single step is required and what they are leading to.
- Ye Naing - Spend more time reading and analysing through the questions. Underline important key terms and replace them with quantitative terms for easier understanding. Need to practice more, not versatile enough when handling different types of math questions.
- Thin Nwe - need to be less careless, read the question carefully even though long word problems can be daunting. Learn to actively underline questions and replace words with quantitative terms.
Homework given (including due date):
Redo question 1 - 5 of test paper. Due by Friday (17/04/09)
Day: Tuesday
Students present: Myint Myat, Ye Naing, Thin Nwe
Students absent: Nil
Teacher: Jasper Ong
Subject: Mathematics
Topic: Algebra (entire topic)
Teaching process
Concepts taught:
- Went through gradesavers algebra test Questions 1 - 5
- Basically went through techniques for answering questions
- Techniques for underlining, rephrasing questions into mathematical terms
- Techniques for simplifying complicated equations; to facilitate cross multiplication, cross factorization and simultaneous substitution
- Introduced technique to identify how many answers a variable can have (power of variable)
- Taught answering technique not to omit any answers for variables
Example questions gone through: Questions 1 - 5
Practice questions given: Nil
Post-teaching
General comments of students:
- Thin Nwe can understand her mistakes and re-did the paper without assistance.
- Ye Naing have certain problems with word problem sums; losing focus halfway and not analysis the question hard enough to determine what it means in quantitative terms
- Myint Myat generally has problems with all the questions. After explaination and doing the question with him and explaining every single step, he was able to redo the questions without guidance at slow speed.
Improvement points of students:
- Myint Myat - Learn to do long cuts, stop skipping steps, understand the flow process of the entire question and understand why every single step is required and what they are leading to.
- Ye Naing - Spend more time reading and analysing through the questions. Underline important key terms and replace them with quantitative terms for easier understanding. Need to practice more, not versatile enough when handling different types of math questions.
- Thin Nwe - need to be less careless, read the question carefully even though long word problems can be daunting. Learn to actively underline questions and replace words with quantitative terms.
Homework given (including due date):
Redo question 1 - 5 of test paper. Due by Friday (17/04/09)
Thursday, April 9, 2009
9/4/2009
I've spent almost a day with the AEIS students and I feel that it is important for me to keep you guys in the loop so that you all can monitor and advise me accordingly. Below are my preliminary assessment for this batch of AEIS students. In general Like what Jasper said, this class is rather bright. They are able to grasp concepts very fast. Within 2hrs, they are able to grasp the main concept of factors and multiplication, which I am impressed by. However, I feel that their basics are not very strong. In this case I am talking about their multiplication tables. Many of them are unable to conduct simple multiplication and require rough workings, eg. 7 x 7 = 49. They are still not very strong with the basics. From what I gathered from them, they've learnt the Multiplication Table 5 years ago and I can see that they were rather dependent on their calculator. I will be focusing on altering their mindset of depending heavily on the calculator to one that is founded upon mental calculation, which I believe is important for them in the context of AEIS and Singapore education. Thus, I actually cut short their homework from pg 12-19 to pg 12-14 as I dedicated the rest of the time to drill them with their Multiplication Table. In summary, my focus for this week and the next will be to increase their ability to conduct mental calculation.
Michael
He is the oldest. In my opinion, he may not be the most intelligent but he is the most matured. He pays attention in class and he respects the teacher. He is also obedient and when given the opportunity, he will be able to sit down and focus on his work. However, he loses focus easily. Also, he needs to improve on his neatness of his work.
William
He is a good natured boy. Rather obedient. However, he is very weak in the sense that he depends a lot on others. He doesn't like to think by himself and he gives up easily. I have trouble stopping him from comparing answers with his brothers. He always like to approach me and ask me if his answer was correct. I'll always guide him instead of giving him the answer. He loses his focus very easily and needs to learn to concentrate.
Henry
He is the smartest of them all. But he gets very full of himself. He likes to compare to the other students, to make himself feel good. He likes to compare to his sister Susan especially. Also, he is not very respectful to the teacher, even when I try to be firm to him. He is intelligent but that also make him arrogant easily. Work wise, he is very neat and tidy and I don't see much problem of him not being able to cope. He is very focused when he does his work but when he is done, he likes to distract others who may not be as fast as him.
Susan
She is very weak in her maths. She finds it difficult to do simple mental calculations and when I drill them for the multiplication table, she had a few errors for the higher order multiplication tables (ie. 11 and 12 time table). She is very good natured, respectful and obedient. But she gets distracted very easily, especially by Henry. She really needs to learn to be focus in her work and she is by far the slowest among the students. I personally think much more deliberate attention needs to be given to her in order for her to catch up.
Noe Noe
She is generally fine. Work wise, she is still able to catch up. However, she needs to be more careful in her work as she commits careless mistakes quite often. Also, she is quite hasty when doing her work, making her more prone to careless mistakes. But she is generally okay, respectful and obedient. She do get a little distracted though when other students start talking to her. She needs to learn to be more focus.
A point to note, I've requested that they stop speaking Burmese in class in my presence as they know that I do not understand Burmese. They like to discuss the questions in Burmese, making it quite difficult to stop them from comparing answers and such. They were even open to me about it, saying that they did this to their teachers in Myanmmar too because they don't really understand Burmese. Therefore, I am discouraging them to speak Burmese when I am in class. Beyond the class, it is okay. What is your take on this issue? Any suggestion?
Yup, that will be my 2 cents worth for today. Hopefully this is of use to you guys. Do revert back to me if you have any issues or suggestions. Your guidance will be of much help to me as I am still considered inexperienced in teaching. Thank you for your kind attention and have a nice day! God Bless.
-- Regards,Lim Young
Michael
He is the oldest. In my opinion, he may not be the most intelligent but he is the most matured. He pays attention in class and he respects the teacher. He is also obedient and when given the opportunity, he will be able to sit down and focus on his work. However, he loses focus easily. Also, he needs to improve on his neatness of his work.
William
He is a good natured boy. Rather obedient. However, he is very weak in the sense that he depends a lot on others. He doesn't like to think by himself and he gives up easily. I have trouble stopping him from comparing answers with his brothers. He always like to approach me and ask me if his answer was correct. I'll always guide him instead of giving him the answer. He loses his focus very easily and needs to learn to concentrate.
Henry
He is the smartest of them all. But he gets very full of himself. He likes to compare to the other students, to make himself feel good. He likes to compare to his sister Susan especially. Also, he is not very respectful to the teacher, even when I try to be firm to him. He is intelligent but that also make him arrogant easily. Work wise, he is very neat and tidy and I don't see much problem of him not being able to cope. He is very focused when he does his work but when he is done, he likes to distract others who may not be as fast as him.
Susan
She is very weak in her maths. She finds it difficult to do simple mental calculations and when I drill them for the multiplication table, she had a few errors for the higher order multiplication tables (ie. 11 and 12 time table). She is very good natured, respectful and obedient. But she gets distracted very easily, especially by Henry. She really needs to learn to be focus in her work and she is by far the slowest among the students. I personally think much more deliberate attention needs to be given to her in order for her to catch up.
Noe Noe
She is generally fine. Work wise, she is still able to catch up. However, she needs to be more careful in her work as she commits careless mistakes quite often. Also, she is quite hasty when doing her work, making her more prone to careless mistakes. But she is generally okay, respectful and obedient. She do get a little distracted though when other students start talking to her. She needs to learn to be more focus.
A point to note, I've requested that they stop speaking Burmese in class in my presence as they know that I do not understand Burmese. They like to discuss the questions in Burmese, making it quite difficult to stop them from comparing answers and such. They were even open to me about it, saying that they did this to their teachers in Myanmmar too because they don't really understand Burmese. Therefore, I am discouraging them to speak Burmese when I am in class. Beyond the class, it is okay. What is your take on this issue? Any suggestion?
Yup, that will be my 2 cents worth for today. Hopefully this is of use to you guys. Do revert back to me if you have any issues or suggestions. Your guidance will be of much help to me as I am still considered inexperienced in teaching. Thank you for your kind attention and have a nice day! God Bless.
-- Regards,Lim Young
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