Journal with a BT - Week 3

Key takeaways

• Work smart not hard

• Take the time to develop my students

• Finding the marigolds in school

My learnings...

1) It is okay to experiment

Had my professional development on how to use new AI-based SLS features. It dawned on me how much the other teachers in the department have tried out some of the new features. It reignited my passion to really try out planning lessons in a new way. Sometimes, I am guilty of only following tried and tested ways or just staying to my comfort zone thinking that some form of consistency would be better for my students. Actually, routines and systems are meant to be improved on real-time. What matters is always remembering what is the learning outcome at the end of the day and what you are preparing your students for. Indeed, I have learnt to just try, and I find that sometimes students can actually enjoy the lesson when they see me enjoy the lesson too.

2) Students are worth your time and effort

Brought my CCA students out for competition. It was really a David and Goliath kind of scenario as my school was one of the tiny handful of non-elite schools present in the competition. The students had to present their learning on stage at a two story auditorium filled with industry leaders and peers from top schools. Needless to say, my students really felt outclassed. But what really surprised me and they probably surprised themselves - is how they have managed to rise above their fears. Students who were once afraid of public speaking, actually managed to do the presentation and even answer questions from an interview panel of judges. I can tell that my Saturday was well spent and it reminded me of why students are worth your time to develop. Sometimes, while in pursuit of work-life balance and grades, we tend to forget that it is the outside activities that ignite the passion in students and teach them new things about themselves that they never knew. They just needed a platform, and a teacher willing to spend the time with them.

3) Find the marigolds around you and keep them close

Great chat for my first mentoring session. I am super thankful for my mentor. Being guided by my senior colleague in my previous CCA, I appreciated the rapport we had already built and her willingness to develop others. Over time, I noticed that there are some experienced teachers who are always willing to share what works for them and what are some ways to improve on pedagogy without sounding too pushy. I want to be like them one day. What really makes them non-intrusive is the tone they used and how they phrased it as an experiment. Learning from others is really one of the faster ways to learn and I am all for it!

That's it for this week! Super tired over the weekend till it is delayed for over a week. Let's try to not let that happen again....

Be consistent, but also forgiving to yourself

I am just glad that I made this payback post for Week 3 even though its Week 5 now. Reminds me that in teaching, some lessons may not go as planned, but fret not. Be forgiving and catch up when you are ready :)

This post was written by myself :), image created using Gemini