Teacher Talk (26) : Where's the fun and play in teaching?

An interesting letter that discusses the emphasis placed on the use of computers and technology in the teaching and learning process of children. Questions that come to my mind:

• At which stage of primary school should we infuse technology?
• Are we denying our children of fun and play in the classroom? 
• Is technology the answer to all teaching and learning woes? 

Your comments?

(credit: the New York Times)

Invitation to a Dialogue: Computers in School?

Re “A Silicon Valley School That Doesn’t Compute” (front page, Oct. 23), about employees of high-technology companies who send their children to a Waldorf school that is pointedly low-tech: 

From 1993 to 1997 I was the chief domestic policy adviser to Vice President Al Gore, and oversaw the Clinton administration’s program to connect classrooms to the Internet. At the same time both of my children attended a Waldorf school. My children had no access to computers, and extremely limited access to TV or movies. 

How did I reconcile this? I asked Waldorf teachers when they felt computer learning was appropriate. Answer: around sixth grade, the same grade that the Clinton program aimed to connect. 

And here’s why. Waldorf education holds that children learn best “in through the heart, out through the mind.” Let children experience the world through their hands, hearts and bodies, not just their minds. 

When overzealous parents brag that their preschoolers can use a computer or iPhone, they are elevat

ing intellectual/technological achievement over child’s play. The irony, of course, is that success in life depends much more on children developing imagination through play than on learning a soon-to-be-obsolete technology, which is why schools are wasting money and failing our children when they spend millions on technology and cancel play time. By sixth grade children are moving out of play and into more intellectual pursuits; hence computers are more appropriate. 

I wish that the parents who surround their children with technology and adult-created graphic images as early as 2 years old would realize that they are robbing their children of their greatest treasure and skill — being a child. 

GREG SIMON
Bethesda, Md., Oct. 23, 2011
The writer is now an executive at Pfizer.





The Thinking Teacher

Teacher Talk (25): Of SPM, PMR and tense...

Here's an email I received recently from a teacher. Your views are much welcome so we can spread the culture of inquiry into our practice and grow as teachers!

 
From:
To: "rahmahs@yahoo.com"
Sent: Saturday, January 21, 2012 8:34 PM
Subject: related to spm, pmr and tense

Salam Pn. Rahimah.  

Last year  I attended the English conference in Pangkor and  I attended your brief  presentation.  Although it was brief  I did learn something. I hope you don't mind answering few questions related to SPM paper and Pmr Paper.

1. For SPM , paper 1 , sec a   directed writing,  is it compulsory for the students  to use the exact given phrase.  For example, the given phrase in the question, learn responsibility.   Few students wrote as , when you're studying overseas, you will  learn to be responsible. Can I award 1 mark for Content?  or  to get 1 mark student must write  .... when you further your studies overseas, you will learn the value of responsibility.

2. For PMR 2012,  there will be new format  but what about essay? does it still carry 30 marks?

3. The usage of present perfect tense.  Television and radio has  intruded into our lives. The reason why the usage of singular is  both nouns refer to the same idea. Is that correct?

TQVM.

My Response

wassallam ***

thank you for coming to my session and thanks for your questions.

My response:

1.  When awarding content points for directed writing, it's not necessary to use the exact phrase. We teach this to poorer learners because we want them to be able to score some points :) the principle is  the content point must keep to the same meaning however you express it. Your student's answer is perfectly acceptable.

2. As far as i know, the weighting remains the same.

3. I think your question is on subject-verb agreement rather than the usage of the present perfect tense. I hope the following explanations will help:  

a. Some words are collocative pairs like 'bread and butter', 'ham and eggs', 'pen and ink', 'song and dance'

The basic rule to use them is the number depends on the idea and use of the collocative pairs.

When two uncountable nouns are joined with 'and', we use a plural verb

e.g. Water and coffee are two nutritious drinks.

But when two items always go together (like Siamese twins) you can use a singular verb:

e.g. Bread and butter is my favourite breakfast.

Here, bread and butter is singular as they are not taken separately. You spread butter on bread and eat it together. But when they are separate, you should use a plural verb:

E.g. Bread and butter are sold here

In this sentence, the meaning is bread and butter are sold separately.

Coming back to your question, the plural is more appropriate because:

i. The common collocation is 'radio and television' not 'television and radio' and this is followed by the plural verb as they refer to two things. We have to be aware of the more common collocations used (the Siamese twins).

ii. 'radio and television' is followed by a plural verb as in:

E.g Radio and television are popular means of entertainment.

I really hope this helps :)

   

 

The Thinking Teacher

2 Qayyim: My Classmates Activity

The ice was broken...in our English class today in 2 Qayyim as you can judge by the smiles on their faces. We had a 'getting to know you' type of activity called 'My classmates', where students had to mingle to find some personal information and report back. The focus was listening and speaking. Since this was the first of such activity, I was all praise for these children. They certainly have a lot of potential! 

You can use this handout for your class. Happy teaching!

The Thinking Teacher

Closing Ceremony of Form1 and 2 Orientation Week

Date: 17th January 2012 (Tues)
Venue: Khalifah Hall

I love the closing ceremony of the orientation week! It was short and sweet and meaningful. Despite the short time given to them, the students managed to come up with some creative activities. Well-done sasemians! Enjoy the photos!

The Thinking Teacher