Hi, I would like to collect ideas from everyone, especially students who are still in secondary school, so as to write an award winning blog entry on how secondary school system should improve.
There are a few things that you could share:
If you have any other things that you wish to voice out regarding how secondary schools should improve, or your experiences in school etc., please do share your views too. This is a time where we use Freedom of Speech to express ourselves.
You may like to list down your name/nickname, email address, and blog/website if you would like to be known. Once I received enough replies and opinions on this topic, I will publish it to the newspapers and all media references.
If you have any enquiries, feel free to contact me. Thanks!
got prize?
wat the prize?
most importantly, they need to improve the lives of sec sch teachers before the students
Teachers are usually overworked, stressed up, and given many more things to do other than teaching. There are teachers who have to mark papers or prepare lessons throughout the night.
Once told to me by a sec sch teacher. When this teacher was busy with lots of sch activities, till late at night (~7 pm), and was finding it hard to keep up with the assignments, the HOD simply told this teacher that: "You still have the night to catch up with it"
Think about this. Sch teachers face stress not only from students, but also from HODs and Principals. If sch teachers are not even well treated, how can we expect the optimum from them every single sch day to give our students the best?
I agree. But if teachers don't treat students well, students won't treat them well either, and parents will start talking.
put yourself in their shoes: 4 to 6 hrs of sleep a day, start work before dawn at 7, finish work when night is nearly dark at 6 to 7 pm, go home still need to mark papers, etc, means OT with no extra pay and no one to see, till midnight...
Sat need to go back to work cuz of sch CCAs
cannot suka suka take leave, can only take during sch holidays when they are not needed in school at all, childcare leave included.
And supposedly sch holidays hv to go back for meetings, sch CCAs, so in the end also hard to clear leave
And extremely bad office politics... I have even heard of a special unit set up in IMH for teaching professionals... not sure how much truth is there in it though....
And... their counterparts who are not in teaching, working 8 to 5 jobs (lesser hours), can take leave anytime of the year
Fact is... there's a high turnover rate for teachers... Teaching is really not for any Tom Dick Harry... Quite a number of students who took out teaching scholarships for overseas uni are stuck with it for years... and when they finally finish their bonds, it's almost impossible for them to find any other job..... So they are stuck with teaching even longer...
Teaching is really only for those who have the passion to change all students lives, so much so that they can endure all those stated above... Not many teachers are like that...
And a lot of the hours spent by a MOE teacher is not on teaching.... There's damn a lot of admin stuff, so much so that the teacher might as well be an admin staff
Agreed.
Hi,
Only when I left the teaching service that I was able to teach mindfully and whole-heartedly, without distractions. Nevetheless, I admire teachers who are still contributing in the teaching service while coping with many demands.
Cheers,
Wen Shih
Hi,
I'd like to contribute some brief views on the questions:
1. Curriculum hours were shorter in the past, so I was able to pursue personal interests and develop deeper friendships with classmates.
2. JC, poly and ITE are system-imposed options. Our mind can conceive infinite possibilities, provided that it is open.
3. School rules ought to serve meaningful purposes, but the word 'meaningful' may vary significantly from person to person.
4. Schools ought to consider the welfare of students (e.g. the need for them to rest, to catch up with work, etc.) when planning for activities that may fall on Saturdays. If a lesson is planned with the intention to finish the syllabus early, then I feel that it is not well-justified.
5. Personal discipline is necessary for one to succeed.
6. There is always room for schools to improve in areas like school direction and leadership, teachers' and students' welfare, conducive teaching/learning environment, etc.
Thanks!
Cheers,
Wen Shih
Sec school life is quite alright for me. Studying, doing homework, making friends.
Humanties doesn't really play an important in what I'm studying. (I'm in science course).
Other than the 3 paths, there are also other paths like Private institution which offers diplomas and degree programs for O level students. yea. deagree program for O level students, there are!
If didn't do well O levels, students can retake O level as private students or in the same sec sch or go to ITE. But it's not the end. Morale is important when comes to this situation, and I advice students to seek all available possible (be it from friends, family, relatives, Homework forums) channels to get opinions. Afterall, we went through this stage and might have our 2cents-worth to offer.
Depends on the student's interest. MDIS or Kaplan are good choices for alternatives to retaking O levels. There diplomas still hold value in market. Most important, it's whether are you able to apply the knowledge you've learnt and self motivation play a huge part too. There are many jobs around; One man's meat is another man's poision. Job A might be good for A but not for B.
If I were given a chance again, I would chose to go MDIS if I failed my O levels. It's a time-saving route, but burns hole in the pocket.
Discipline-wise. The DP is quite fair and inpartial. What made the system ugly are the students councillors who 'cover up' each other's mistake who they themselves broke the rules.
I feel that Cleaning the classroom should be part of the official time. Keeping students after doesn't seems to help especially on detention. Most student waste their time waiting for release.
Depends on specific rules. But most the rules are to enforce uniformity and reflects on the school's culture, motto, vision, characteristic.
TBC
IMPROVE ON TOILETS !!!!!!
Originally posted by xstryker:IMPROVE ON TOILETS !!!!!!
how does ur toilet sux... i really wanna hear... ...
cuz seriously... ... our toilet den is call sux... ...
Wad Else have u to complain??
Originally posted by wee_ws:4. Schools ought to consider the welfare of students (e.g. the need for them to rest, to catch up with work, etc.) when planning for activities that may fall on Saturdays. If a lesson is planned with the intention to finish the syllabus early, then I feel that it is not well-justified.
I disagree. As it stand now, being on time would be finishing the syllabus a few week before the prelims in Aug/Sept and the O levels are in October. There is merely 1 month for students to cram 2(4yrs) of 7/8 subjects. Cramming is not an effective study technique. Spacing out your revision is far better. In addition, after initial learning, there need to be a time period of "digestion". And the O level exams schedule is much tighter than before. It used to be you have 2 to 3 days between subjects. Now you probably get papers every day or every other day.
In my opinion, there need to be a 3 months period for students to discover their shortcomings before an examination which grade them on 4 years of work. A school which finish the syllabus just on time will deprive them of such an opportunity.
The prelim exams will only be useful if the student have sufficient time to prepare well for it. The prelims is a useful tool to identify your shortcomings after throught revision so that you can plug the problems before the actual O levels. Finishing just on time would mean that most students can only have a cursory revision before their prelims. This deprive them of using the only geniune review of their performance before the real thing.
I would argue that finishing the syllabus before June is ideal.
Revision at home in June holidays. Clarification with school teachers in July. Gauge of performance in August (prelims). Troubleshooting in Sept. Ready for the O levels in October.
Originally posted by Mikethm:I disagree. As it stand now, being on time would be finishing the syllabus a few week before the prelims in Aug/Sept and the O levels are in October. There is merely 1 month for students to cram 2(4yrs) of 7/8 subjects. Cramming is not an effective study technique. Spacing out your revision is far better. In addition, after initial learning, there need to be a time period of "digestion". And the O level exams schedule is much tighter than before. It used to be you have 2 to 3 days between subjects. Now you probably get papers every day or every other day.
In my opinion, there need to be a 3 months period for students to discover their shortcomings before an examination which grade them on 4 years of work. A school which finish the syllabus just on time will deprive them of such an opportunity.
The prelim exams will only be useful if the student have sufficient time to prepare well for it. The prelims is a useful tool to identify your shortcomings after throught revision so that you can plug the problems before the actual O levels. Finishing just on time would mean that most students can only have a cursory revision before their prelims. This deprive them of using the only geniune review of their performance before the real thing.
I would argue that finishing the syllabus before June is ideal.
Revision at home in June holidays. Clarification with school teachers in July. Gauge of performance in August (prelims). Troubleshooting in Sept. Ready for the O levels in October.
finishing before june?
that's very intense leh
and finishing roughly 2 yrs worth of material in 1 1/2 years,
isnt tt cramming as well?
Originally posted by Mikethm:I disagree. As it stand now, being on time would be finishing the syllabus a few week before the prelims in Aug/Sept and the O levels are in October. There is merely 1 month for students to cram 2(4yrs) of 7/8 subjects. Cramming is not an effective study technique. Spacing out your revision is far better. In addition, after initial learning, there need to be a time period of "digestion". And the O level exams schedule is much tighter than before. It used to be you have 2 to 3 days between subjects. Now you probably get papers every day or every other day.
In my opinion, there need to be a 3 months period for students to discover their shortcomings before an examination which grade them on 4 years of work. A school which finish the syllabus just on time will deprive them of such an opportunity.
The prelim exams will only be useful if the student have sufficient time to prepare well for it. The prelims is a useful tool to identify your shortcomings after throught revision so that you can plug the problems before the actual O levels. Finishing just on time would mean that most students can only have a cursory revision before their prelims. This deprive them of using the only geniune review of their performance before the real thing.
I would argue that finishing the syllabus before June is ideal.
Revision at home in June holidays. Clarification with school teachers in July. Gauge of performance in August (prelims). Troubleshooting in Sept. Ready for the O levels in October.
Problem is... there are too many students in a class in school
What can be taught to a student (or a small grp of students, e.g. 4 to 6) in one hour needs twice the amount of time, or even more, in school.
Classes should be like Finland, average of 20 per class (max), most are even smaller.
And Finland teachers are all with master degrees.
Originally posted by ChoCoChips:finishing before june?
that's very intense leh
and finishing roughly 2 yrs worth of material in 1 1/2 years,
isnt tt cramming as well?
seriously... it's highly possible to finish one topic per tuition session of 2 hours, complete with practice, with the student understanding well... Or for big topics in physics, at least 75% of the topic...
That would mean... half a year is all it requires... 1.5 years is a lot already...
Problem is... too many students per class coupled with stressed out teachers equate to lower quality of teaching... Only a small handful of teachers are able to handle both equally well...
Diplomas in MDIS do not hold much value, not recognised.
Retaking O's in MDIS.... need alot of determination.
follow US' style of high schools
Originally posted by eagle:Problem is... there are too many students in a class in school
What can be taught to a student (or a small grp of students, e.g. 4 to 6) in one hour needs twice the amount of time, or even more, in school.
Classes should be like Finland, average of 20 per class (max), most are even smaller.
And Finland teachers are all with master degrees.
That is exactly why extra lessons on sat to complete the syllabus early should be eagerly and happily welcomed by the students.
The problem is not with the syllabus and topics or books.
Its with the students and teachers.
Some teachers cannot teach, in class muttering to themselves, students dont understand what teacher is saying. Some teachers cannot handle problematic kids, waste time scolding the students, lessons wasted.
Teachers have also mentioned that they have lost the passion to teach and alot move on to private centres to do so. Who wants to be in work for 7am - 6pm. Then go home still need to mark and prepare the lessons for the next day?
Originally posted by Mikethm:That is exactly why extra lessons on sat to complete the syllabus early should be eagerly and happily welcomed by the students.
then that puts even more workload on the already overloaded teachers
There is at least one sec sch I heard that hv lessons till 4pm. Teacher's workload is increased by making them take shifts to cater help for students who do night study in that school.
Saturday is used for CCA, teachers go back again.
Think of the teacher's counterparts in other jobs, where most of them do not even need to do anything after work, or work on saturdays.
Originally posted by gLc:The problem is not with the syllabus and topics or books.
Its with the students and teachers.
Some teachers cannot teach, in class muttering to themselves, students dont understand what teacher is saying. Some teachers cannot handle problematic kids, waste time scolding the students, lessons wasted.
Teachers have also mentioned that they have lost the passion to teach and alot move on to private centres to do so. Who wants to be in work for 7am - 6pm. Then go home still need to mark and prepare the lessons for the next day?
Teachers have also mentioned that they have lost the passion to teach and alot move on to private centres to do so. Who wants to be in work for 7am - 6pm. Then go home still need to mark and prepare the lessons for the next day?
Agreed
Teachers work damn a lot behind the scenes.... things that students will never see...
This is especially true for newer teachers, where they get arrowed for more things as well....
7am - 6pm is like 'official' timings... It's more like 7am - 12 midnight (or later)... all work... And the way timetables are structured for teachers.... they can't even have a decent lunch, unlike their students....
And yet............. many students still do not know how hard their teachers worked for them, and still play pranks in class...
outlaw private tuition, the bane of all students
Hi,
I often feel that teachers in school make the content (especially maths) overly complex, convoluted and disconnected. Therefore, students cannot understand the subject. If a deliberate attempt is made to teach with scaffolding, students will be better able to pick up new content. When I was teaching JC 1 students with scaffolding, I was able to have them understand H2 maths topics rather quickly by activating their prior E/A maths knowledge.
Thanks!
Cheers,
Wen Shih
Hi,
If there is skilful teaching in schools, then there will not be need for tuition.
I feel that tuition complements school teaching.
Happy yuan xiao jie!
Cheers,
Wen Shih