Was recording a Channel U show recently where I was giving my opinions on education. The host asked what I would have done if a parent came for a couple of weeks, learnt my pedagogy and quit the class. Ideally, I should have answered that our way of teaching isn’t that easily replicated. (If it[…]
“Life is so easy now, you don’t have classes everyday,” said some friends. On the surface, it appears so. However, there’s a lot of responsibility involved. Guiding the kids academically and also aiming to provide an education for them, devising ways to get them interested, and helping them improve in the most efficient manner possible.[…]
Several parents wrote to the Straits Times recently to express their concern about how the Science open-ended questions are structured. Despite the MOE’s good intentions to move towards a more inquiry-based learning, and to cultivate inquisitiveness, it does sometimes seem like the exam format is penalising those who do not memorise and regurgitate model answers.[…]
Our column is published on 早报 today. We talk about how we disagree with labelling our students and believe in educating them without any judgement. You can read the article here: http://www.zaobao.com.sg/forum/opinion/story20150208-444678
A parent told me yesterday that her son has been asking her if he could attend my class daily, instead of his regular school. Thank you for making my day. We are always happy to hear that students love our classes. When I was a kid 20 years ago, I would always waste my parents’[…]
A former colleague sent me a picture of my empty desk at my previous work place and said they miss me. I miss them and my career of the past ten years too. We used to help investors earn more money in our jobs as a trader and financial reporter. Now we want to make[…]
Missed my former P6 kids a few days ago and started texting them, asking how they were coping with secondary school life. Knowing these children was the best gift I had received in 2014. We started classes last year because we really enjoy interacting with children and mentoring them, even if it means spending our[…]
Good luck to everyone who’s getting the PSLE results today. I am pretty nervous myself as I hope for the best for my students. Though I am in Europe now, I have asked all of them to message me once they know their results. Have even set an alarm for 5am Europe time to check[…]
It’s the last Study Room class for the year this coming Saturday as we take a break and prepare for full-time operations in 2015.Maybe it’s the haze altering my mood; I am feeling very melodramatic now as I prepare for the final lesson of 2014. I remember the excitement when we had our inaugural class- I[…]
Teaching isn’t easy, even if it is for enrichment classes. We do not just teach the subjects; it is also about providing an education for the students. One of my lower-primary students has a short-temper issue. He gets irritable easily and would vent his anger in class. Typically I do not give him the attention[…]