Differentiated Instruction

I have been doing some preparation for the conference I am attending tomorow by doing some researches on the web. I came across an article and the related discussion


We have always been put in the dilemma of whether we should differentiate the instruction in class. Some say that we should have different strategies for students of different abilities and some say that too much labelling causes harm! I have parents calling in and saying that we shouldnt be streaming the students into classes of different abilities as that is demotivating for the less able students. But I also have parents complaining sometimes about the pace of some lessons which have been slowed down because the teacher has to deal with the less able ones in class.



Some teachers tend to be bothered by the marginal group and spend whole lot of time doing remedial classes for them and offering personalised help. This is really good of them. But what about the more able ones, are we trading off the benefits that they can enjoy?



Schools in Hong kong in general tend to be giving little attention to the 'cream' group. We always see advertisements on papers for teachers in doing after school remedial classes, not so much in enrichment classes. What abou the curriculum and the lesson design? Perhaps we should design the lesson well enough to arouse their 'curiosity' to explore further in learning? Or should we give more opportunites to them outside classrooms?


Three of our students won the overall champion in the Cathay Pacific Aviation knowledge contest. They really surpised me! And I couldnt hold my breath as we nearly snatched off their opportunity to win! I remember when the notice of the competition came, it was around the exam period and every one was so busy. Even the teacher given the notice was frowning. He wondered whether anyone would go. I said , ' ask the students! ' Surprisingly, three students came up. They went to the competition, went through the rounds and won the champion! Gosh! This is the opportunity I meant! Given the opportunity, their interest got further enhance and their talent got tapped!



I hope I could get some more insights over the weekend in the conference.

New Term starts

Still excited about the start of the new term though it's 6th Sept already! I love going up the classrooms and meet the students as they are so cute! The S1 kids still look like primary school kids! Lovely! The others are sweet too! Thank you so much, kids, for your smiles! You light up my days!

The job of a Principal is multifacious but to me, building up a good ethos is of paramount importance. It is only when we have a good atmosphere in the school then we could have happy teachers and students doing effective learning!

I read an article on the web about ethos. Here are few lines to share with you,

Ethos includes the atmosphere in the school, relationships between pupils, staff, families and the wider community, the school building and grounds, the sense of welcome and positive learning in the classroom. ....

Pulils learn more and behave better when they receive high levels of understanding, caring and genuiness than when they receive low levels of support.

Good relationships in classrrooms must be based on the teacher having established a framework for order and having earned the respect of the pupils.

A positive and supportive environment is characterized by high teacher and learner expectations, where the learner is relaxed, alert and free from stress, yet challenged.

This year, my teachers are all very keen on building up a lively and positive school ethos. We are all very excited! Let's work hard and go for it! 

Cheers! 

Attitude that matters

Ms Maria Lam, the Principal of Ying Wa Primary school shared with me these lines. Beautiful!

Heavy rain reminds us of challenges in life. Never ask for a lighter

rain. Just pray for a better umbrella. - That is attitude.

When a flood comes, fish eat ants and when the flood recedes, ants eat

fish. - Only time matters. Just hold on, God gives opportunities to

everyone!

Life is not about finding the right person, but creating the right

relationship, it's not how we care in the beginning, but how much we

care till the very end.

Some people always throw stones in your path. It depends on what you

make with them. A Wall or a Bridge? - Remember you are the architect

of your life.



Conference in Singapore- Challenge based learning

I had a very fruitful weekend on 4-7/3 in Singapore. The program was packed but very practical.

The theme was challenge-based learning, using lots of mobile devices to learn.

I met  a group of Hong kong International School teachers and IT coordinators during the trip and they made a summary of some of the keynote speeches and the two school visits we have been to. Do click and enjoy that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91rzjyABwvI


Next, I would like to share with you the blog site made by the school of science and technology in Singapore just for our visit. I want you to look at the meaning behind the whole site. Now, we all love to have recollection and feedback, same like all our students. AFter we have done one thing, we hope to keep some memories by pics or videos or texts. Then we love to share with others and get feedback. Think about this logic and apply to your lessons. To cater for people of different interests, the school put up a column on resources on the left. That's exactly what we have to do for students. When we have a task for students, we cater for students of various abilities and interest, so a resource area is important. So when we are designing a learning task for our students, this could be the scaffold to follow. So please enjoy and read the resource page according to your subject interest.
http://www.sst-20110307.blogspot.com/

Cheers!

Let's share the insights from the 21C learning conference

I joined the 21C learning conference last week, three days in a row from Thursday to Saturday! We had lots of sharing on the use of technology in schools. Let's join in the discussion by browsing the website as below:

http://21clearninghk.ning.com/

Please look at the post on the two sides of the page. You can read the slides or watch some clips and browse our discussion contents!
Hope you got inspired too.