Day 15 (Oct 26 Thu)
Students made an extra effort to come in early to "spook" other classes. Each class was assigned one other to play a prank (trick) or give treats (trick) to, according to the halloween custom at The Murphy. Matt came in pretty early - before me! while the girls, Hannah and Michelle came at a time when Karen and Matt had already finished packing the candies into little bags.
This time, Laura came to visit The Murphy. I guess most teachers are used to having visitors all year round and it didn't bother them at any level when there was a new face in the class. I didn't manage to give the teachers heads-up on Tuesday (I think I was too busy in class. Opps, such lousy excuse!) but I did manage to locate them at the start of the day and ask permission for Laura to be in their class for observations (social studies and ELA).
However, it was picture day at school! Which made the students' and teachers' timetable messed up. The administrator had assigned students to have their photos taken outdoors.. but I'm confused as to why the soft, muddy backyard (which was small and cold) instead of the huge front yard with concrete ground was chosen for photo-taking. It made more sense for them to take indoors though, because the wind was blowing quite strongly (hence, chilly) and the students were like jumping in their thin layers of clothes. I too, was trying to w/stand the chilly winds. Ms MaClanen had a 8th grade class to teach and her homeroom (312) had yet to be at the front of the line for class-photos.. so she asked if I could keep an eye on her kids. I watched them as many of the mischievous and cheeky ones were out to 'get the rest'. Some of the boys were also playing with this poor earthworm (they kicked it to 'move' it, or so they said) while the girls were terrified. It was really tough getting them to stand according to their heights and not make too much of a fool of themselves that would invoke attention from other students, teachers and well, whoever was around. =( Some students even told me of one boy who was playing with a 'blowpipe' (made of an empty pen cylinder) and had a whole pocket full of paper from which he was tearing and rolling into little 'paper balls'. I didn't see any of that but went up to him to say that I didn't want to catch him doing anything 'funny'.
Anyhows, I thought visiting Monica's class for the first time and watching Alish teach was cool! English lessons were different in Singapore - the focus was mainly on grammar and comprehension. Here, the students are given the freedom of expression and I was so impressed at the creative works they produced! I guess that would be in an English Lit(erature) class back home but I certainly would be excited if I was a student here. =p Time to move that to Singapore's English education? Maybe.
This time, Laura came to visit The Murphy. I guess most teachers are used to having visitors all year round and it didn't bother them at any level when there was a new face in the class. I didn't manage to give the teachers heads-up on Tuesday (I think I was too busy in class. Opps, such lousy excuse!) but I did manage to locate them at the start of the day and ask permission for Laura to be in their class for observations (social studies and ELA).
However, it was picture day at school! Which made the students' and teachers' timetable messed up. The administrator had assigned students to have their photos taken outdoors.. but I'm confused as to why the soft, muddy backyard (which was small and cold) instead of the huge front yard with concrete ground was chosen for photo-taking. It made more sense for them to take indoors though, because the wind was blowing quite strongly (hence, chilly) and the students were like jumping in their thin layers of clothes. I too, was trying to w/stand the chilly winds. Ms MaClanen had a 8th grade class to teach and her homeroom (312) had yet to be at the front of the line for class-photos.. so she asked if I could keep an eye on her kids. I watched them as many of the mischievous and cheeky ones were out to 'get the rest'. Some of the boys were also playing with this poor earthworm (they kicked it to 'move' it, or so they said) while the girls were terrified. It was really tough getting them to stand according to their heights and not make too much of a fool of themselves that would invoke attention from other students, teachers and well, whoever was around. =( Some students even told me of one boy who was playing with a 'blowpipe' (made of an empty pen cylinder) and had a whole pocket full of paper from which he was tearing and rolling into little 'paper balls'. I didn't see any of that but went up to him to say that I didn't want to catch him doing anything 'funny'.
Anyhows, I thought visiting Monica's class for the first time and watching Alish teach was cool! English lessons were different in Singapore - the focus was mainly on grammar and comprehension. Here, the students are given the freedom of expression and I was so impressed at the creative works they produced! I guess that would be in an English Lit(erature) class back home but I certainly would be excited if I was a student here. =p Time to move that to Singapore's English education? Maybe.
posted by sarabel @ 8:27 PM
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