Questions on Experiments for PSLE

“What is the aim of the experiment” is a common question in the PSLE. Questions involving experiments take up roughly 9% of the marks. It requires analysis and interpretation of results, which are process skills that will be tested, yet many textbooks and guidebooks fail to address these type of questions. Here I’ll give a[…]

Making your own vernier calipers

Students first learn about using vernier calipers in Sec 1. It’s not easy to understand how it’s read immediately, although learning how to read it is mechanical and quite obvious. So I made a template which can be printed and cut out of cardboard, so you can make you own. Step 1. Print out the[…]

More than a decade ago…

The Study Room story is that we (Wallace and Wei) are two buddies who want to work together to better the lives of children. Today, a student questioned the authencity of our story and said it’s impossible that we have been good friends for almost half our lives. Here’s a photo when we were 19.[…]

Happy Birthday!

It’s Wallace’s birthday today! A very happy birthday to my partner-in-crime, thanks for putting up with me and sharing a passion for educating children. It’s never easy to work with a friend; I’m glad all have worked out well *so far*.  May we touch the lives of more students next year! Wei

Muse

Work never ends. I’m marking papers at 11:39pm after a long day at work today. Still, there are some light moments too. For instance, I had a good laugh when I read this. Q: Whenever young Beethoven made a _____, his ears would be boxed and his head struck by his father’s heavy hands. My[…]

Stupid Wei

I happily announced to the class that we will start a new tradition today and asked them to guess what it was. As a “family,” I want to start celebrating everyone’s birthday because each student is special to us. I increased the suspense, bringing out more items from the bag as clues. First the lighter,[…]

Books for P1 Students

A parent asked me to recommend some books for her seven-year old son to read. My advice: Reading is a great hobby. It really depends on your son’s standard of English now. There’s no need to start with tough books because that may kill the interest he has- there’s no problem with starting with simple[…]