Email received (Cont)

Well, I have some concerns about the content of the email. Firstly, how are we supposed to squeeze 4 lessons of 1 hour each into 3 lessons? From our talk with Miss Chong, we know that our module is lacking in many areas. She added lots of information and tasks to do to the module too. However, we had already estimated that the content we were covering would last an hour.

So.
We have to squeeze 4 hours worth of lessons + Miss Chong's addition into 3 hours? Is this even POSSIBLE?!?!?!

To my second concern...

Okay, I have never felt comfortable presenting in front of a teacher. A teacher watching every movement you make is pretty unnerving :(

Originally I had thought that we would be alone with the P4s. I know the facilities in ACSP pretty well and was pretty confident bringing them about the school.

But to find out this information now...
I suppose im pretty nervous about teaching "rather active" P4 students with a teacher watching me. :s

Email received

When i saw the email today.......

Dear Yoke Tong,
Thank you for making arrangement in getting your pupils to conduct the unit on Observational Field Study for our P4 boys.
I have already made arrangements to shift the teaching of the unit on Observational Field Study to 5th May. However, Mdm Josephine See(teacher in charge of this unit) will start off the unit on 5th of May by giving the pupils some background knowledge on Observational Field Study before getting your pupils to conduct their sessions. Is it possible for you to start on the 12th of May instead? That will leave you with only 3 sessions to conduct your activities. Will your pupils be able to finish the teaching of the unit in 3 sessions(12th, 19th & 26th of May)?

As this group of P4 pupils are rather active, I will arrange for 1 teacher to stay with each group of pupils. I will email you the namelist and the venue later. As I have CCA on Wed, Mdm Josephine See will meet up with the boys this Wednesday at 1.30 p.m instead. The boys can meet her outside the General Office at 1.30 p.m. Her HP no is 96911510. She will also discuss with the boys regarding the nature of the activities and our concerns.

Looking forward to work with you. Thank you.

Rdgs
Ivy Tay (Mrs)
HP:947490999

Concerns over the spearheading project

Well, we have discussed in-depth about the issues which may arise from this module. So here they are:

1. Separating the massive student size (49) into groups and appointing leaders

• This problem will materialise when the pupils argue to be leaders. Possible solutions mentioned include getting teachers to choose them.

     2. The variation of coverage in topics

• We noted that our scope of study was rather confined to the more scientific aspects. Also, it would be preferable if we are able to cater to the syllabus.

     3. Potential issues with logistics

• We have things like going to ACS, liaising and correspondence with teachers to take care of.

     4. Student's responses

• We would need to pre-empt some of the student's responses, behavious and questions.

     5. Productivity

• Consistency in meetings will be important. Also, the creation of worksheets should be dealt with asap.

Something else to note, peer feedback will important, so will be our style of communication to the primary 4s. Till next time.

Concrete Lesson Plans

Alright, we have got the itinerary up with more details and specifics. Here it is.

Time Frame	Lesson Objectives	Description	Questions to ask	Materials needed
Introductory lesson	Students will learn the definition of observation and its place in the research process	Hook activity – activities using mainly visual and auditory senses e.g. video, audio ·         Clip – Short video where novel facts are presented briefly and to be recalled (e.g. What was the color of the shirt that guy wore? Etc.)   Lesson – Introduce what, why, how, where, when of observation skills   Pre-test to assess preliminary knowledge	1.       “What do you think observational skills are?” 2.       “What aspects of the video did you focus on?” 3.       “How do you think you can apply observational skills in real life?”	·         AV resources ·         Pre-test   Venue: Classroom
First hands-on experience	Students will get to familiarize themselves with actual observation and note characteristics/traits	All 5 senses will be fused into a single activity   Firstly, a microcosm of the activity mentioned below could be conducted in the classroom   After which, a tour around the school where mundane things are noted down which would otherwise go unnoticed and be ignored	1.       “Why do you think the things that you noted down escape your perception normally?” 2.       “Did regular contact with the things you noted down desensitize you to their presence?”	·         Guiding materials like worksheets crafted to help them identify obscure objects   Venue: Classroom/ School
Field observation	Students will get to conduct a study which is aligned to the scientific method and record findings which will be classified into various categories	A short briefing would be carried out to ensure safety amongst the students   Fieldwork would preferably be held at eco-gardens/ points of interest which will be sorted into different stations, with students rotating between them   Findings would then be submitted, reviewed and analyzed	1.       “What form of classification do you think would be ideal for sorting out your list of findings?” 2.       “Why do you think this method is preferred over the others?”	·         Worksheets with various methods of classification and writing space for students to organize thinking and observations   Venue: Outside classrooms (i.e. designated stations)
Conclusion and assessment	Students will acquire and understand the rationale of observational skills in both academia and real life	Post-activity quiz: Topics assessed would include classification methods and ability to discern relevant observations from irrelevant ones   Verbal discussion pertaining to the transferability of observational skills to real-life situations   Wrap-up and conclude the module	1.       “How do you think you can apply observational skills in real life?” (asked again to determine improvement in understanding)	·         Quiz   Venue: Classroom

 Note:

• ·         Classification methods to be taught are mind maps, dichotomous keys and flow charts
  
• ·         Clip could also touch on aspects such as human observation, including emotions during a game of poker etc.
  

Lesson plan draft

Lesson plan

Lesson 1 – Introduction (still very general- what do you mean by introductory activities and observational skills....specifics?? How much time for each component?)

Provide them with engaging introductory activities and let them watch a short clip, where they will write the traits/characteristics they observe. After which, (we will) a teacher will brief the students on observational skills and they will review the clip again, noting down what they missed out. Then teach them some basic observational skills and tactics, and get them ready for the next lesson, maybe giving them some handouts. We might break them up into groups and start a competition with point systems.

Lesson 2 – First hands-on experience

This lesson, we will ask them to observe around their own classroom and note down what they observe, preferably an aspect of the class they have never noted. After that, we will see their progress on how well they picked up the skills on observation, and recap some of what we taught them the previous lesson. We will also teach them more techniques regarding observation.

Lesson 3 – Field observation

Firstly, we will organize the students into their respective groups and bring them out of the classroom where the actual observation will take place. The points of interests will be classified into stations and each will possess a unique trait, of which should be recorded. The findings would then be submitted and they would be debriefed.

Lesson 4 – Conclusion and assessment

Today we will announce the results of the group competition and also do a conclusion and analysis of their results. If time permits, we would tell them their strengths and AFI. The test would then take place and we would share the results. From this, we would have a reliable gauge of how much the module benefited them.

RESL Proposal

RESL Project Proposal

1. Interest areas
Field studies, children

2. Research topics
Obsevational skills and classification skills

3. Rationale for topic
We have had good teachers and bad teachers(and ugly ones), teachers who let you infer and teachers who simply tell you the inferences. After learning about observational skills in secondary 1, we wanted to impart our knowledge to children younger than us and hopefully, do it better than most teachers we have had. In other words, we would like to learn about the difficulties and constraints of a teacher.

4. Aims and objectives
We aim to teach the primary 4s observational skills. These observational skills consist of learning WHAT to observe, WHY these things are observed and HOW to classify and apply them across other fields of study.
We aim to contribute to the younger generation of Singapore by teaching them observational skills that they can apply across different fields of study and across their whole life. We hope that the skills we teach them will help them to contribute to society in turn.
For ourselves, we hope to achieve methods of teaching that can help us interact with children without them getting bored. We also hope to achieve passion for learning and patience.

5. Research questions
What observational skills are required to observe one's surroundings?
How can these skills be applicable and transferrable to different fields of study e.g. humans?

6. Hypothesis
Our hypothesis is that the students will learn how to apply observational skills after the module we will give them.

7. Significance
The primary fours need to learn and understand how the observational skills that we have used in the module can be applied to different fields of study e.g. human behaviour

8. Research methodology
We will conduct a module that comprises:

1. An introduction to the topic (obs skills)
2. A field study
3. A small test that will test their understanding of observational skills

9. Resources
Curriculum text books or work books of P4 science, teachers of the school, books on managing children.

10. End product
4 lessons that will teach children observational skills through field study and classification of results.