Department Sharing (Sci) by QSS

213 Teachable Moments using Russia-Ukraine War

tan_yen_nee_a — 2022-03-08 23:25:08 UTC

For Topic 3: Energy, was teaching about non-renewable energy when the Russia-Ukraine war broke out.

During the lesson, students were taught that Singapore has no natural resources and is reliant on natural gas (a type of fossil fuels) for energy, where we get our resources mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia. The Russia-Ukraine war could lead to a rise in energy prices for petrol/diesel, and electricity. Students were curious about the war, and they were informed about why the war started and given a brief history about US-Russia relationship. Students were generally concerned about the war, and wondered whether it could spread to Singapore, if WW3 were to erupt.

At the following day's lesson, time was set aside to discuss about the war. Using Pear Deck, students were asked to write their feelings and thoughts about the war, using the sentence structure "I feel .... , because ...". Some of the responses were shared with the class, where students were reminded to respect all personal views.
1. "i feel sad for them as some might be badly injured and worried because we might not know if suddenly our country got attacked."
2. "i feel angry because they start unnecessary war which may impact a lot of people."
3. "i feel sad because i just want peace"
4. "i feel ok because it dose not affect me"

Next, students were shown a video clip about the speech delivered by Singapore's UN Representative, Mr Gafoor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjyU5MtNECM) and were asked to reflect on the question "Why do you think it is important for Singapore to make such a stand?" Some responses were shared in class, which included the following:
1. "even though we are a small country we want every one to wake up and do the right thing I guess"
2. "Because we must show that we have a good helping hands to show that 1 country is not supposed to fight alone because of unesscary attack"
Concluded this segment by stating that as a small country, Singapore must raise our concerns and object to any unprovoked war. This is because if might is right, then any larger country could attack a small country like Singapore anytime as well.

Addressed class that there are important lessons that we could learn and remind ourselves.
1. Singapore is a VERY SMALL country. We enjoyed our independence for 56 years. (Ukraine, only 30 years)
2. NO ONE will be responsible for our country, except OURSELVES (SG CITIZENS).
3. Emphasise NE messages:
(a) No one owes Singapore a living.
(b) We must ourselves defend Singapore.
4. National Service is very important to us. Our national servicemen and servicewomen work very hard to keep us and our country safe.
5. We cannot take peace for granted. Reminded about our past conflicts with neighbouring countries, such as Konfrontasi (with Indonesia), Maritime & Territorial disputes (with Malaysia), water dispute (with Malaysia).
6. As a small country, Singapore will maintain a friendly relationship with all countries, and will apply international laws to settle any disputes in a peaceful manner.

Reflection: Initially, I was still quite worried whether students could understand the 'cheemness' about the war and why it is important for Singapore to make a stand. Quite surprised that 213 students were interested in the topic and were even asking questions/showing me videos they found on youtube during/after the lessons. Was thinking that for upper sec, could even modify the lesson to include cyberwellness (falsehoods & fake news) and leadership (qualities of Ukraine president).

Perspective taking , respect for other and sense of responsibility

qssteacher — 2022-03-09 01:48:16 UTC

Under the topic of heat transfer (expansion and contraction), the news of floor tiles popping was brought up.

Beside the discussion on the expansion and contraction of the tiles due to various factors.
Students were also asked to take on the hat of the flat owner, neighbor and contractors. Who should be responsible for repairing the tile? How do you communicate in a respectable manner to others, despite the unhappy situation. (Sharelyn)

Peardeck - Explanation

qssteacher — 2022-03-09 01:54:00 UTC

when using the Peardeck writing function for students to provide explanation, I found that it is useful to lock their screen (without showing students' responses) and address the common misconception / missing part in their answer.

I will then unlock the students' screen and get them to improve their explanation. (Sharelyn)

"I Do, We Do, You Do"

qssteacher — 2022-03-09 02:48:18 UTC

When teaching mole calculations in 411 Sc(Chem),
- I will first do a demonstration with explanation of my thought process,
- then work through another problem with students while questioning them on the "how" and "why" of the steps carried out,
- before getting them to do some practice on their own.

In class, students were generally able to follow and pick up skills needed to do mole calculations. However, this was not reflected in their WA1, probably due to poor retention. More revision to be done next time.

(Hui Min)

Kahoot! - Revision

qssteacher — 2022-03-09 02:50:22 UTC

As a consolidation at the end of each topic, and for revision before WA1, Kahoot! quizzes were prepared for my classes for them to carry out revision in a more fun manner.

Students were competitive and strived to get the correct answers, as a small prize (a sweet) was given out to the winners.

It was a good way to survey if the class have understood and revised what they were taught, and any misconceptions could also be addressed after each question.

(Hui Min)

Use of scaffolding questions to help 213 students in drawing graphs

tan_yen_nee_a — 2022-03-09 02:58:14 UTC

Students generally have difficulty in drawing graphs, which include:
1. relating graph to table
2. plotting the correct point

To help students understand the steps better, scaffolding questions were provided before they attempt the data analysis question on Topic 3: Energy. The same scaffolding questions were then applied again on a previous data analysis question in Topic 2: Force as an additional practice.

How to plot a graph?
1. Look carefully at the table.
- What information does it show?

2. Look at the horizontal axis.

- What does it represent?
- Can you locate similar data in the table?

- How much does one big square on the axis represent?
- How much does 1 small square on the axis represent?

3. Look at the vertical axis.

- What does it represent?

- Can you locate similar data in the table?

- How much does one big square on the axis represent?

- How much does 1 small square on the axis represent?

4. Plot the points on the graph using data in the table. Mark small crosses using a pencil.

5. Draw a line/curve using a pencil. If it is a straight line, use a ruler to help you draw. If it is a curve, try your best to draw a nice smooth curve.

Reflection: The 50 min lesson was well spent, even though it was just going through two data analysis questions. I thought that Q1 will help the students understand the context of the question, as they read the main stem and try to relate to the table. Forcing students to look at the axis and the corresponding table heading is good, because some of the weaker students are able to gain confidence in the process. I think generally students still have difficulty identifying the value for 1 small square, so this has to be worked on for subsequent practices. Perhaps could use different scales on different axes and get students to just practice identifying the value for one big square and for 1 small square, without the need for actual graph paper.

Peardeck

2022-03-09 05:23:49 UTC

When using peardeck in lesson, I feel that it is useful to give a variety of questions that require different functions and skillsets (e.g. draw for sketching graph for rate of reaction, options for quick check - MCQ, open-ended questions to sieve out misconceptions in students' explanation of scientific phenomenon and concepts). I will also get students to transfer the consolidated answers and explanations to their notes so that the learning is not lost after the online lesson is over (though I upload the lesson with students' answers to their google classroom - I'm not convinced that many will review the work unless forced to do so).

- Ai Li

Other Quizzes platforms

qssteacher — 2022-03-09 23:49:46 UTC

Make a point to check the students' understanding every lesson by using different platforms (nearpod, kahoot, gimkit, Quizziz, classtime, blooket) so that students can experience different platforms during lessons. Generally students are more engaged when there is a fun element in the check of understanding. Some platforms can be paused to explain students’ misconcepts such as kahoot and Quizziz while others may not
-Jimmy

See Think Wonder

qssteacher — 2022-03-10 00:08:52 UTC

Used different photos to teach 312 students on the law of inertia. Get them to describe the photos.
See- What did they see in the picture
Think- Why do think this phenomena happen
Wonder- Have you wonder is there another situation where this phenomena can happen

Learning by doing

qssteacher — 2022-03-10 05:26:21 UTC

For 313, with the resource of having more teacher co-teaching the class, we decided to let the students learning-by-doing by having them carry out practical tasks in the lab. To manage the potential behavioural issues, the class was split into 2 different labs. Teachers briefed the class on the routines, expectation and procedure before letting the students had their hands on the activities. Although the students were briefed on what to do, they still faced issues with connecting circuits as there could a number of potential errors such as connecting to wrong terminals, bulbs not working and instruments that are faulty. However, with teacher intervention and letting them have the experience of connecting different circuits and instruments, we generally see them improving on their skills and data collection. (Finna, LSK, Ariel)

Peardeck

2022-03-10 06:01:12 UTC

It was challenging at first to try Peardeck especially I usually do not use powerpoint. I usually just teach with reference to the printed notes. With Peardeck, I could merge the notes and quizzes to engage the students. I could pause and point out misconceptions immediately and not having to wait till their work is marked. (Mrs Pang)

Analysis of results of surprise quiz

2022-03-10 06:20:54 UTC

WA1 is 2 weeks later from that topics to be tested. I can feel the students were getting complacent, thinking that they are ready for WA1. So I decided to give a surprise quiz. The students were shocked to realise that they have much to do to prepare for WA1. They start to panic when the analysis of the quiz results shows that there were large knowledge gaps and it was good to see that the quiz "stress" them out. In the 2 weeks, 12 short exercises were given, concepts were checked and rechecked and they were ready. Not surprisingly there was 30 distinctions in WA1. Told the students that they need regular evaluation to check themselves, with the analysis to point out to them where their misconceptions were. (Mrs Pang)

Student Attention Span :(

qssteacher — 2022-03-10 06:33:40 UTC

3NA student attention span is really short, they get restless in the second half of the lesson. Looking for ways to better deliver the lesson content in bite-size pieces so as to hold attention, while still covering the entire lesson content based on SOW. Am exploring the increased use of demonstrations in class as a break to help break up the monotony for them (seems to work with the Sec 1NA kids). Not sure if anyone else here have suggestions too! :)

(Stella)

Peardeck

qssteacher — 2022-03-10 06:36:07 UTC

Learnt to display student's names after they have written their answers to better facilitate discussion in class and get better quality answers, using the teacher dashboard function. Drawing tool is also great for getting students to predict the shape of graphs (on a given pair of axes), although some students have lost their stylus and have to use their finger to draw D:<
(Stella)

Zoom Recording

2022-03-10 07:27:13 UTC

Students could miss out more than one week worth of lesson due to COVID. Hence zoom recording was done to ensure students are at similar pacing. Video recording of worksheet worked examples can also be considered to ensure class time can be better utilised.

formative, Kahoot

2022-03-10 23:33:18 UTC

Used them for checking-in / AfL e.g. exit pass after lessons to allow me to adjust my following lesson on what to chunk for the students.

(Veron)

Scenario-based Learning

2022-03-10 23:37:19 UTC

The content is usually heavy and tough for 4NT students. To allow the students to interact and see greater relevance of the content, when learning about the blood vessels and components of blood, students were tasked to find out how to handle situations like the sudden stopping of the heart, how to treat a person with low platelet count for example. Planned to introduce simple first aid on fractures when students move on to learning about bones and joints.

(Veron)

Respecting Others

2022-03-10 23:42:30 UTC

When teaching the Sec 2s about acids and alkalis, students were tasked to read articles shared on Google Classroom for class discussion - Singapore's 'miracle acid attack baby' doesn't let his condition define him and Transparent liquid on MRT seat a 'cleaning chemical'.

(Veron)

Revision Schedule

2022-03-10 23:44:57 UTC

Some levels will be seating for their MYE in Term 2 and there will be many topics/chapters to revise. A list of topics and possible approaches are prepared for the students to pace their revision to reduce exam anxiety.

(Veron)

Using Peardeck to engage a low/ non-responsive class

2022-05-19 09:09:12 UTC

When teaching mole concept, apart from using video to explain what a mole is, I will typically use board work/ demonstrate interpreting questions and steps to problem-solving (similar to I Do, We Do, You Do strategy). However, for non/low response class, the students may end up copying teacher's work and only those who are called to show answers and explain their thinking processes will be "checked". Using the draw/ MCQ options/ number functions, I am able to get all the students to key in their responses and monitor if they are able to do the calculations on their own or simply leeching off the teacher.

I will, however, balance between use of PLD and practicing on hardcopy in each lesson as students do get distracted with prolonged use of device (and multiple tabs opened). They will keep away device from their table top when it is not needed.

(Ai Li)

Using demonstration to engage a less motivated class

qssteacher — 2022-05-19 10:32:42 UTC

I started off with peardeck at the start of term 2 with 312. However, along the way, they seemed to be exposed to too much peardeck in other subjects until they start to lose interest.

When teaching pressure and turning effect of forces to 312, I tried to perform a demonstration every lesson. The students tend to be restless and falls asleep very easily if I do too much theory and solving questions with them. A demonstration can help to engage the students and good questioning techniques help to keep the momentum going. At the end of the lesson, I find that the students are more willing to do theory and questions at intervals during the lesson.

Jimmy

Responsibility

2022-05-19 23:28:03 UTC

On the chapter of Air Pollution, I used different case studies, such as Indonesia slash-and-burn and Singapore Haze, to introduce the harmful effects of air pollution. Through the case study, students recognised the importance of responsible acts.

Through the discussion on petrol cars, hybrid cars and electric cars, we also discussed how we could be a more environmentally friendly car owner in the future.

-Brenda

Using Peardeck to tie Padlet (discussion) and Kahoot (Questioning)

2022-05-20 00:59:55 UTC

Using Peardeck has been a steep learning curve but it is a good platform to tie the use of Padlet for discussion and to quiz students where Kahoot is used. Also can use this to check on the thinking of ALL the students. In class, may not be able to discuss the answers of all students but their answers can be kept and discuss further after lesson of any of the students.
(Mrs Pang)

Responsibility

qssteacher — 2022-05-20 03:36:30 UTC

Introduced the lesson on concentration for 302 using news articles on drink-driving. Students like about blood alcohol concentration measured using the breathalyser, and also discussed the consequences of drink-driving on self and others.

-Hui Min -

PhET Simulations

qssteacher — 2022-05-20 03:41:11 UTC

Made use of different PhET simulations to illustrate different concepts, e.g.

[https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/concentration] For 302 and 304, they were able to see the relationship between concentration and mass of solute / volume of solvent to derive the formula for concentration. Although not intended, the PhET simulation was also able to leave a visual impression on students on what it means for a solution to be "saturated", a term they have been hearing since learning about crystallisation but never really understood (based on their responses when trying out the PhET simulation)

[https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/geometric-optics/latest/geometric-optics_en.html] For 104/112 SBB, another PhET simulation was used for students to explore the properties of mirror images, with some guided questions.

- Hui Min -

Bite-Sized Teaching

qssteacher — 2022-05-20 03:46:09 UTC

When teaching 411, I will break down every topic to smaller sub-topics / concepts. In class, I will introduce each new idea for about 15 minutes, and immediately follow up with a simple worksheet for the students to apply what was learnt. This style is adopted to suit their short attention span and their need to be doing something (other than just sitting and listening). It also helps to boost their confidence as they are less overwhelmed by the content and able to complete the given tasks to higher quality. To help them retain their knowledge, I will also give pop quizzes (hardcopy and Kahoot!) in following lessons.

- Hui Min -

Activate Prior Knowledge

qssteacher — 2022-05-20 05:23:26 UTC

It is very difficult to capture and hold the attention of 311 bio students. One thing I tried to emphasize was to link back the bio concepts to their daily lives / daily observations e.g. uses of nutrients and how it impacts their health. This resulted in them asking lots of questions (at the same time I could gauge their prior understanding of the concept) which I could then use to segue into the lesson, while still holding their attention (for a while).

-Stella

Importance of Protecting Our Natural Resources

qssteacher — 2022-05-20 05:29:10 UTC

While going through the different National Taps with 111 (Physical Separation of Materials), we discussed the importance of having numerous water sources and conserving water. Students were very engaged and many volunteered different ways they can help their families save water.

-Stella

Infusing NE in Energy

tan_yen_nee_a — 2022-05-20 05:41:32 UTC

When teaching Topic 19 on Practical Electricity, there was one segment where students were required to understand the various forms of renewable and non-renewable energy - one of which was nuclear energy.

1. Class was asked to read the ST article published on 22 March 2022, titled "Singapore explores tapping nuclear energy by 2050".
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/environment/singapore-exploring-tapping-nuclear-energy-by-2050
2. Class was asked to discuss two questions:
a. Why do you think Singapore needs to venture into use of nuclear energy?
b. What are the concerns/considerations if Singapore were to build a nuclear plant?

It was heartening to know that students were able to consider factors such as safety (as students perceived nuclear energy to be dangerous), how other countries will react, location and cost of building a nuclear plant, reactions from Singaporeans, availability of workers who want to work in a nuclear plant, etc.

Students' perception of nuclear energy is largely negative, as they associate it with nuclear bombs and weapons of mass destruction. The 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, which they have learnt in History, also contribute to their negative impression on the use of nuclear energy.

Had to explain to student that nuclear energy is actually relatively safe and clean. In fact, before 2010, Singapore had already started to consider using nuclear energy as an option. It was just unfortunate that the Fukushima nuclear disaster happened in 2011 and the government decided to drop this option.
Shared with students that it would exciting to see this possibility come to fruition, and the students themselves could be the one who will be contributing and working on this nuclear option. From now till 2050, it would be important to educate and create awareness in schools and the public, so that people would be more receptive towards the use of nuclear energy in the future.

- Yen Nee

Pop Quiz Anytime

tan_yen_nee_a — 2022-05-20 05:58:05 UTC

302 did very badly for their Physics WA2, worse off than WA1, which was already not good.

Went through the corrections for WA2 during lesson, and highlighted similar questions that they have completed before in the Notes and Assignment. In the afternoon on the same day, a remedial session was arranged for identified mid-tier students who have failed the test. They were given the same test paper (reduced in questions, with some changes in phrasing) to complete under timed conditions. Out of the 20 who did the test, there were 15 failures. The conclusion that I gathered was that they were not even listening during lesson, and their retention of content was very poor.

Addressed my concerns to class the next day and told them that there will be surprise quiz to test what they have learnt as and when I wanted. The quiz questions would just be a repeat of either the examples in the Notes or questions in Assignment. As it was the long Vesak day weekend, told the class that I would give them a pop quiz on Topic 5 the following lesson.

Administered the Quiz and wrote super poor/negative comments to 17 students who failed. Results were flashed on the screen so that the class could see the names of those who put in effort to revise, and I thanked them for their effort.

While I became a very scary teacher to them, I found this strategy works because for the subsequent lessons, students were forced to pay attention and retain knowledge, as there could be a pop quiz anytime.

- Yen Nee (very proud to be scary teacher)

Memory Game

2022-05-20 06:06:51 UTC

To help students to remember Science terms better, students were invited to come up to the front in class (individually or in pairs) to describe in their own words/act out a Science word e.g. platelets for the rest of the class. There is a class goal for the class e.g. to get x number of terms correct :)

Veron

Padlet for self-assessment and peer collaboration

2022-05-20 06:12:02 UTC

Instead of providing the model answer, students are given time to reflect upon their work based on the rubric provided and craft their correction in order to reach a higher level.

Next, students are to share their best components of the WA task on Padlet, so the class can learn from one another.

(Felicia)

313 - Lab sessions + smaller class size

2022-05-20 06:12:18 UTC

313 was often disruptive and easily disrupted and difficult to handle even with 2-3 teachers in the class. So we decided to split class and also do more intensive lab sessions for the chapter of Food Chemistry. This proved to be beneficial because they

1) were less distracted when split up
2) were motivated by lab sessions
3) when we went through the theory AFTER the lab session, they were able to understand better as they were able to recollect what they did and apply the info

(Kala)

Sustainability

2022-05-20 06:16:02 UTC

When teaching 202 and 402 on electroplating, articles on the recycling of metals were shared with both classes e.g. https://olympics.com/en/news/designs-of-tokyo-2020-s-recycled-medals-unveiled. Students were asked to reflect on their own recycling efforts.

(Veron)

Use of Peardeck

qssteacher — 2022-05-20 06:18:47 UTC

Use of Peardeck has allowed me to check on 412's understanding and rectify any misconception at that point. To prevent them for doing other stuff online, I will instruct them to close their laptop and focus on filling in the blanks on the notes.

-Philynn

Everyone is responsible

2022-05-20 06:22:23 UTC

For the topic on Water Pollution, photos and videos were used to show the effects of water pollution. After which, there was a discussion to drive across the point that everyone has a part to play to reduce water pollution.

Joyce

Use of SLS

2022-05-20 06:29:44 UTC

I make use of SLS to provide scaffolds for my 113 students. They can choose to refer to the "hint" if they need to. Some students prefer to challenge themselves hence I will let them know that they can resubmit their answers 3 times and they could refer to the hint in their second try.

The students enjoy the different types of questions in SLS, such as drop-and-drop option/ fill in the blanks/ MCQ. For fill-in-the-blanks questions, I will usually provide them with the words to help them with their spelling.

-brenda

Use of kahoot

qssteacher — 2022-05-20 06:30:43 UTC

a kahoot quiz was designed to help 113 recall facts, and terminology in the chapter of Air pollution. It also acts as a summary for this factual topic. A variety of question types were chosen to cater to the need of the students. Students enjoyed the quiz and it also prepare them to complete the questions in the activity book. (Sharelyn and Lim SK)

Respect

qssteacher — 2022-05-20 06:32:59 UTC

Showed 312 this photo when teaching pressure. The jacklift is using a small force to lift up a heavy object. This photo was taken when the borders are lifted. Singaporean drivers were seen using jacklift at JB petrol kiosk to pump petrol. If we want our neighbors to show us respect, we should not be doing these kind of things in their country.

Jimmy

Using Demonstration to introduce concepts

2022-05-20 06:34:29 UTC

Where possible, demonstrations using real objects / models are used to introduce concepts. For example, (1) one pin used to poke at a balloon as compared to many pins used. (2) moments model - distance and force has impact on the unbalanced rule - like a seesaw.

For some you-tube videos when introduce concepts, they can be demonstrated live to excite the students.
(Mrs Pang)

Use of Peardeck

2022-05-20 06:34:56 UTC

It can be challenging to get 113 to focus during lesson. Use of Peardeck to gather responses from them seemed to help them be more involved and engaged in the lesson. After Peardeck, we went back to the textbook to cover the important points so that they still have something to refer to after the lesson.

Joyce

Use of Phet/Zoom for circuit constructions

tan_yen_nee_a — 2022-08-02 23:59:11 UTC

Context:
213 requires a lot of hands-on activities and encouragement when learning content. With praises, they are more encouraged to try activities and do better.

Implementation:
For Topic 4 on Electricity, students were first taught the electrical components (electric cell, switch and ammeter) and how connections should be like, e.g. positive terminal of cell to positive terminal of ammeter.

Given a simple circuit diagram, students were asked to use the phet simulation (lab) (https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/circuit-construction-kit-dc/latest/circuit-construction-kit-dc_en.html) to construct the same circuit. Teachers walked around to provide support, especially in the connection for lamp. Students who completed their tasks earlier were encouraged to use the phet simulation to explore other electrical components and circuit connections on their own.

Once students were familiar with constructing circuits using the phet simulation, actual apparatus were provided for students in groups on 4 in the classroom. Using a handphone which was connected to zoom, each electrical component was introduced (cells, battery holders, switch, lamp, ammeter, connecting wires), which was projected on the screen via zoom.

Students then worked through Worksheet 4.2A together, constructing each circuit and collecting data. Some groups' circuits were projected on the screen via zoom, where correct circuit connections were highlighted (with praise), and incorrect connections were also highlighted (try harder, almost correct).

In general, students were curious to see what other groups had constructed. The walkaround in the class with a handphone (maciam live telecast) enabled students' work to be showcased, and compared.

I am not sure whether there are better platforms to do the live telecast. Anyone got lobang, share share k?

- Yen Nee

Link to Global warming while teaching Plant Nutrition

2022-08-03 00:51:50 UTC

Teaching about plants is usually quite dry. So with 312, we talked about how plants actually contribute to decreasing global warming (by absorbing CO2) and what we can do to help. So we talked about importance of planting trees and also reducing carbon footprint to decrease effect of global warming.

- Kala

Use of analogies

2022-08-03 00:57:03 UTC

While teaching the concept of limiting factors in photosynthesis, students were unable to picture how the factor can change within the same experiment. So I used the following analogy :

Imagine you want to do some online shopping. You need three things

1) Money
2) Items to be in stock
3) A device to access online store

So if you have lots of money and full battery on the phone but the item you want is not in stock, will it be possible (no). So in this case, the stock of the items is limiting your purchase, even though you have the other factors. Even if I were to give you extra money, would it help? (no)

Then I go through another scenario -
So now the stock has been replenished. Will you be able to shop? (yes) Ok so the rate of your shopping (Rate of reaction) goes up. Now after a while, you're out of money. Will you be able to shop? (No). So the limiting factor now is.. money.

With this they were able to visualise clearly and understood the concept, especially with an analogy close to their hearts.

- Kala

Using interactive app to optimize Haber-Borsch Process (Chemistry)

2022-08-03 04:19:54 UTC

301 -
Teaching of Haber Process to manufacture ammonia can be a relatively dry topic which involves getting students to memorize and recall the conditions.

When teaching this topic, I made use of the interactive app to get students to adjust the pressure and then, temperature (following an adapted handout) and get students to record the yield and rate. Also, discussed about compromise and optimization which may not always lead to highest yield.

To stretch the HP students, I also shared video on (simplified) Le Chatelier's Principle which helps students to understand effect of changing temp and pressure on the yield of reversible reaction in a closed system.

In addition, I also shared a video on the biography of Fritz Haber which generated a huge debate about ethics in Science, and the controversy with his Nobel Prize.

Ai Li

Benefits and Harms of Science & Technology

qssteacher — 2022-08-03 23:42:09 UTC

302 - Haber Process
The class discussed applications of ammonia - fertilisers VS explosives, to better understand that depending on how science and technology is used, different outcomes can be brought about. As scientists / students of science, we should aim to bring about greater good than harm.

104 - Atoms and Molecules
The class discussed nuclear power briefly - clean nuclear energy VS atomic bombs. Conveyed a similar message as stated above for 302.

- Hui Min

Interactive from MOE Library in SLS

qssteacher — 2022-08-03 23:47:54 UTC

104 - Atoms and Molecules

An interactive embedded in an SLS lesson package to investigate properties of protons, neutrons and electrons.

Rather than simply telling the students about the positions, relative charges and relative masses of the sub-atomic particles, the interactive, paired with activity worksheets from the Workbook, allowed the students to explore these properties and draw conclusions on their own.

Simplified Demonstration of Rutherford Gold Foil Experiment

qssteacher — 2022-08-03 23:55:44 UTC

104 - Atoms and Molecules

The Rutherford Gold Foil Experiment is a famous experiment that led to the advancement of the atomic model. Positive alpha particles fired at gold foil went right through, showing that atoms are mostly empty space, which went against Thompson's Plum Pudding model. This led Rutherford to develop the Planetary model of the atom, which is what students learn in Secondary School.

This experiment was replicated in class using boxes with straws stuck on them (gold atoms) and some ping pong balls (alpha particles). Students got a chance to fire the ping pong balls and collect data from the experiment, to better understand this part of the history of the atomic model.

Quizizz

qssteacher — 2022-08-04 01:49:04 UTC

School recently purchased a premium account to create quizzes for students.

Different platforms can be selected to engage students. Used it in 203 and 102 Science to check understanding. Either 4 or 5 MCQ questions.

Analogies on kinetic model of matter

qssteacher — 2022-08-04 01:54:22 UTC

312 Physics

Solid
Students seated in a classroom

Liquid
Students rubbing against each other in a confined canteen

Gas
Students going home after school

I used simple analogies to help the 312 students to remember how the particles behave in different states. It helped them in the drawing

Mentimeter Q&A function

stella_goh1 — 2022-08-04 11:10:38 UTC

When 401 were on HBL and lessons had to be conducted over zoom, students were less forthcoming with their questions as they were not used to unmuting themselves and I was not able to gauge whether they were understanding or had questions from their faces in the camera. Tried out using the Q&A function in mentimeter for students to “park” their questions as and when they had one, for me to address the question at suitable junctures of the lesson. The type of questions asked also gave me feedback on their depth of understanding. Decided to use mentimeter as opposed to other platforms as the school already had a premium account and this platform was more accessible via their mobiles , since most were using their PLD for the zoom session.

- Stella

Perspective taking in ethical considerations of cloning

stella_goh1 — 2022-08-04 11:26:08 UTC

While going through the function of the nucleus with 111 (chapter 6, cells) containing genetic material, I brought up the process of cloning which involves extracting and artificially inserting a nucleus from one cell to another to create a clone. Students were able to draw the link on their own why the nucleus, as opposed to other organelles would be important in this process. Students were very interested in the process and we took some time to examine why cloning of humans is ethically problematic by getting them to suggest how they would feel, from the perspective of the cloned individual and that of the donor individual, as well as potential problems this process might pose to society.

- Stella

Safe use of Electricity

lam_fook_hoe — 2022-08-05 01:01:32 UTC

Students are taught the safety and hazards in the use of electricity for the sake of their future. They are going to be responsible for their own household and should be able to relate how they will ensure the safety use of electricity. The case of a family of 3 who died of electrocution is brought up for discussion of what could have happened and what can be done to prevent the hazard.

Quizlet for Chem Flash Cards

2022-08-05 02:26:00 UTC

To help 411 be more familiar with chemistry term, flash cards were created. They can browse through the words and definitions, and there are different quiz types to help them drill and practise to learn the terms.

- Hui Min

LSS: Transport System in Living Things

2022-08-05 02:29:41 UTC

There is a small section in the TB - Science@work on nurses. Hence, I was sharing with the students about some of the stresses healthcare workers might face, and how we should interact with them with respect as members of the public.

-Veron

NE: Singapore green plan 30 by 30

2022-08-05 02:41:20 UTC

While teaching 413 Sources of Food, this idea of 30 by 30 was introduced to emphasis on food security. At that point of time, Singapore was facing chicken import issues. To emphasis the importance of supporting local, I bought locally grown Kai Lan to award the highest scorer and best improvement for WA3. Here’s are the winners!

Inquiry Based Learning using microscale experiments

2023-05-09 10:50:22 UTC

401 (Chem) - metal displacement and electrolysis

Using the well-plates provided by CPDD, the practicals for metal displacement and electrolysis could be carried out in classroom using smaller volumes of chemicals and without the need for bulky glass apparatus/ constraints in lab. Simple instructions were projected on screen to guide students on the steps to carry out the chemical reactions and make observations instead of simply teaching the theoretical concepts with use of videos. Thinking routines (POE and See- Think- Wonder) are also employed to guide students through the activities.

Reading on microscale chemistry: https://edu.rsc.org/resources/collections/microscale-chemistry

Pro: less prep and hassle, able to conduct in class during lab closure, applications (eg 1NT science used a similar well plates for their WA2 practical on acid and base)

Con: no heating allowed, limited expts, students will still need to get used to carrying out experiments with the proper glasswares for exam purposes

Ai Li

Answering techniques for Sc(Bio) Assignments

qssteacher — 2023-05-10 04:35:55 UTC

Issue
1. Poor answering skills
303 students are able to understand concepts quickly, but fail in applying their knowledge in answering questions.
In their prior assignments, I find their answers do not answer in context to the question. Some of them often give up and leave the question blank. On further investigation, I realised that structured questions with long question stems can often be daunting for the students.

2. Lack of time
There is often not enough time during lessons to cover the syllabus and answering techniques.

Solution - question analysis and answering guide to helps students complete their assignment

Aim
For students to be able to analyse questions and understand the demands of their answers, so that they are able to answer in the context of the question.

Method
Before allowing students to take home the assignment as homework, I will analyse the questions with the students, identifying the command words, keywords, and mark allocation to help them analyse what is expected of their answer.

I also uploaded a more detailed video on question analysis for each assignment, for students to view at home (if they require more help).

Results
Students have given the feedback that the video is helpful in guiding them to answer the questions and assignment.
There are more annotations on their assignments now, showing the effort to improve their answering techniques.
However, some of their answers still leave much to desire.

Possible extensions
Differentiated videos
- HA: will not require video
- MA: dissection of questions
- LA: dissection of questions + listing down what needs to be included in answers

Scaffolded worksheets for topics with specific answering methods (e.g. scaffolding answering techniques for osmosis and diffusion)

Qing

Using games to consolidate learning for Science(Chemistry) (AfL)

qssteacher — 2023-05-11 11:22:38 UTC

1. Separation Techniques
- Students were given a scenario: Ms Tay opened a bubble tea shop but the supplier made a mistake. Instead of shipping all the food items separately, the supplier mixed them together in a container filled with water. Ms Tay needs the iron pearls, blue pearls (same size as the iron pearls), small green pearls and sugar to be separated so that she can open her bubble tea shop successfully.

- Students were given 10 minutes to work in their pairs to figure out the best method to separate the substances and fill in the document (attached to this post).

2. Atomic Structure (In my element game)
- Each student will be given a different card, some with chemical symbols, some with proton number and neutron number and some with electronic configuration. Students are supposed to group themselves up in the same element and the fastest group wins.

- Some students will be given proton number and neutron number cards that corresponds to isotopes and hence, they might not be able to find a group. The teacher can use this to introduce isotopes to the class.

Dora

qssteacher — 2023-05-11 11:23:23 UTC

Dora (Separation Techniques Consolidation Game Answers)

qssteacher — 2023-05-11 11:24:17 UTC

Dora (In my element game cards)

Differentiated Instruction

pangfookhoe1 — 2023-05-12 01:41:40 UTC

Seemingly the students do have good prior knowledge from lower sec for the topic of Kinetic Energy and GPE and Law of conservation of energy. To bring them all on par, students of different readiness are put in 3 groups
1) Group 1 - to use the Java Applet to answer questions in the worksheet, learning how law of conservation of energy is applied to various situations
2) Group 2 - to work on problems using the KE and GPE formulae in various examples
3) Group 3 - to read the notes first and with the teacher's guidance, students learn the basic and fundamental of KE and GPE and the law

The groups members are redistributed using the Jigsaw cooperative learning strategy and help each other to complete the worksheet.

Differentiated Instruction

pangfookhoe1 — 2023-05-12 01:51:30 UTC

Seemingly the Sec 3 students do have good prior knowledge from their lower sec in the topic of KE and GPE and the Law of conservation of energy. To bring them all on par, base on readiness of the students, differentiated groups are formed.

Group 1 – is to use the Java Applet to answer questions in the worksheet applying the Law of Conservation of Energy in various situations

Group 2 – is to explore problems using the KE, GPE formulae, applying the Law of conservation of energy in various situations

Group 3 – is to read the notes and the teacher guides to show the basic and fundamental parts of the topic

At the end of 20 minutes, members of each group are redistributed using the Jigsaw cooperative learning strategy where they help each other to complete the worksheet.

Mrs Pang

211 Digestion - Nature of Science and Ethics in Conducting Scientific Studies

qssteacher — 2023-05-12 03:21:18 UTC

While teaching on the functions of the stomach, got students to suggest how the functions of the stomach was discovered (many suggested the use of cadavers, which would not show the processes taking place). Then discussed a case study (from the TB) where there was a breakthrough in the understanding of how the stomach worked to digest food when a doctor did experiments on a patient with a gunshot wound to his stomach. Facilitated the discussion to draw out the understanding of the students on the ethics of such an experiment - they gave good points like how such experiments benefited mankind and how such experiments would be unethical to the patient. Ultimately students came to a conclusion that it would only be ethical if the patient had given consent to being experimented about and students were able to further give examples of modern day medical studies / donating one's body for use of science as examples of people giving consent to further scientific knowledge.

Stella

401 - HBL Practical Task

qssteacher — 2023-05-12 03:24:23 UTC

For their HBL task, as part of a practical on continuous and discontinuous variation, 401 students were asked to take home seeds / nuts to measure the variation in length and plot these differences in a suitable format. Students were able to complete the task on their own + teacher can check for understanding when marking. This helped to free up curriculum time compared to bringing students to the lab to carry out this practical.

Stella

Deliberate Mistakes in Chemistry

2023-05-12 04:15:12 UTC

In order to catch whether students are alert, I will make deliberate mistakes on the whiteboard for my Sec 3s to correct my mistakes. These mistakes are common mistakes that students will make e.g. not using another symbol for electron gained when drawing negative ions, writing O instead of O2 for chemical formula.

This reverses the teaching process where they are now 'teaching the teacher'. I also realise that kids like it when they point the mistakes out (I will deliberately ask them to challenge my brain). Since I punctuate my lessons with these (often enough), they know that deliberate mistakes can occur anytime and that they need to be alert to catch them.

It can also be used as an AfL tool as it not only shows students the common mistakes that is made, it also checks that students have the correct conceptions.

Xin Ying

(Bio) Case studies about blood diseases

qssteacher — 2023-05-12 04:20:30 UTC

While learning the topic about Human Transport and components of blood, students were provided with (fictional) blood reports and case studies about various patients with blood-releated diseased and asked to work in groups discuss on Padlet on what they could be suffering from as well as offer solutions to their ailments.

Students enjoyed this authentic learning as they were able to work backwards and deduce what could be causing certain ailments. I have also done similar concepts with the digestive system and students enjoy playing 'doctors' as they can see the practical application of their knowledge.

- Kala

Classroom Screen

qssteacher — 2023-05-12 05:49:40 UTC

Classroom screen is a one-stop service ICT tool that allows the teacher to embed useful tools such as:
- poll
- random name generator
- QR code
- sound level meter (not useful as students would make more noise to test the meter)
- image, text, drawing canvas, video
- work symbols (quiet, whisper, pair work, group work)
- traffic light
- timer, clock, stopwatch, calendar
- dice
- embedding tool
- group generator (key in class list to randomly generate groups)
- webcam

The tool is especially useful when students are engaged in activity.
- text (provide instructions for the activity)
- random name / group generator (manage groups and call out students to respond)
- clock, stopwatch, timer (keep track of time)
- work symbols (let students know the level for the activity)
- poll (ask MCQ questions on the spot and students select A/B/C/D)

-Gilbert

caveat: unless we pay for it, we cannot save our pages :(

313 - Sharing of TYN's story

tan_yen_nee_a — 2023-05-12 06:08:46 UTC

Observed that 313 learning behavior was poor and they will pass negative remarks about themselves, including racist remarks about their own race. They also tend to speak in Malay Language and needed to be reminded to use English Language. There was a negative vibe in the class and they had a defeatist attitude.
Decided to address the issue by sharing with class my life story - my family background, life challenges that I faced and my struggle with the English Language. Spoke to class about my hopes for them - being proficient in the EL, be kind in their words & actions and be the best of themselves everyday.
Not sure how much I have impacted them, but I do see good attempt to try when they do their work, and they are more receptive to speak in EL when reminded to do so.

Development of conceptual understanding

2023-05-12 06:36:00 UTC

311 Sci Phy
After the introduction of a new concept, I will assess the students' understanding with successive MCQs that checks how much they understood. The initial question would be a very simple and straightforward application of the concept. This would be followed by another question with a slight twist, and so on. The later questions would be specially set to tease out common misconceptions and mistakes which students would make, just when they thought they have understood the concept.
I find the use of MCQs helpful for the students because it gives a quick assessment of how well they grasp a concept in class and I can clarify early, before they move on to do more problem-solving on their own in the form of structured questions.

Shirley

Clipchamp ideas

qssteacher — 2023-06-22 02:11:15 UTC

1. Practicals

2. Teacher going through corrections (screen recording)

3. Performance task to explain concepts (students to do short clip)

4. HBL tasks (mini experiments)

5. Open House Publicity Content

Clipchamp

qssteacher — 2023-06-22 02:14:10 UTC

1. Practicals

2. Teacher going through corrections

3. Performance Tasks (get students to record short clips)

4. HBL tasks (mini experiments)

Use of Examiner's Report for Upper Sec Science revision (Ai Li)

tong_ai_li — 2023-10-16 03:40:55 UTC

The use of Cambridge Examiner's Report (in Science Shared Folder) is a useful tool to guide teachers, especially those who have yet to gain much experience teaching graduating classes, in the following aspects:
1) Identifying common mistakes - reports highlight typical shortcomings or misconceptions made by students which could be emphasized or addressed during revision
2) Identifying challenging questions - by zooming in on questions with lower success rates, teachers can spend more time to go through topics or concepts that students generally struggle with and revisit them as part of revision
3) Offer insights to performance trends - reports provide information about the different sections/ questions in the exam and help to identify areas that need more attention by teacher and students
4) Feed forward for future instructions - by understanding how students perform for different types of questions, teachers can tailor teaching to address specific weaknesses and reinforce areas of needs

It is also good for teachers to spend time to work out the solutions for the exams each year, and compare their answers to that of markers' report (released in the following year) to identify gaps in their own understanding/ conceptual knowledge.

Using Quiz to check understanding

pangfookhoe1 — 2023-10-16 14:54:16 UTC

For revision, the students need to have an overview of all topics. Very often when the main concepts are gone through in class, the students seem to be only memorising the concepts and still do not know how to apply the concepts. It is only with a context to that concept that the students will have a better understanding and check if they truly understand.
A short quiz (15 to 20 min) is given at the end of each topic review. And students are challenged if they have understood the concept and not just memorised. The quiz is marked by students and answers are given at the end of the quiz. The results of the quiz is immediate feedback to the students if that topic is alright to them. If not the teacher picks them out for consultation.

Quiz after every lesson using peardeck

qssteacher — 2023-10-17 00:28:47 UTC

Usually a small quiz (1 min) is inserted at the end of the lesson every time I am using peardeck to teach.

This is just to make sure they can apply the concept that I have taught during the lesson. I usually use questions from other school papers. Not too many just one question and I will go thro it after they have submitted. I make sure every one has submitted so that there is proper closure for the lesson

- Jimmy

TYN: Use Excel to determine best fit and constants

qssteacher — 2023-10-17 23:48:43 UTC

402 students were weak in determining the best fit line, even after repeated teaching of the 3 guidelines. They were taught in one lesson on how to use excel to key in data and use the chart functions to plot their graph. They can then compare their best fit line and calculated values against with that reflected on excel.

Preparation for Examinations

2023-10-17 23:49:11 UTC

As students often have issue with time management during the paper, I shared with each class a suggested guideline of how much time they should spend for each section of their paper. For each class, I also went through the structure of the paper (especially combined science, where they had to select questions to answer). A briefing on the required stationery to be brought was also needed (especially for Sec 1s), as well as the materials that they had to go through (include assignments and activity book, not just textbook) in preparation for their exams).

Stella

Framing of Mindset

2023-10-18 00:00:38 UTC

Many students were overwhelmed with all the topics that they had to study for their end of year examinations (multiplied by all the subjects that they were taking). Attempted to re-frame their mindset by telling them that while they did not have control over how much time they had, they had control over what they did during that time (which was to use it to study).

-Stella

Using Peardeck's suite of interactive functions to engage 1E LSS (Ai Li)

tong_ai_li — 2023-10-18 00:04:43 UTC

Peardeck continues to be the main tool to elicit students' conceptual understanding as seen in the example (shown in picture) on refraction. The drawing function helps me to understand how students think (a student is able to bring in reflection on surface of glass) and also elicit errors (no arrow or incorrect direction of arrow) and misconceptions (whether bend towards or away from normal).

Bio Definitions Revision

2023-10-18 00:16:21 UTC

From the Sec 4 Biology Prelim, many Sec 4s answers were lacking in keywords required to obtain the mark in their answers (although it had the general idea). As part of revision for Sec 4 Biology, a google document shared for every student to collaborate to put in the correct definition for bio terms. This allows the teacher to look out for any misunderstandings, as well as serve a a consolidation of the biology definitions that they can use to revise.

-Stella

Mini ICT Whiteboards

qssteacher — 2023-10-18 00:32:00 UTC

I have a blank deck of Peardeck slides (programmed with Draw Function) on hand which can function as students' mini ICT whiteboards for quick AfL purposes.

When I want to do quick AfL on the spot during lessons, I will verbally ask questions and / or write the short questions on the front whiteboard. Students will then give their responses on Peardeck so that I can check for understanding / use it as a springboard to lead into the next concept.

- Xin Ying

Using Padlet to create a virtual lab experience

2023-10-18 00:38:36 UTC

I used padlet as a platform to put in the observations (self-recorded pictures and videos) of the effects of red cabbage indicator with various chemicals and household products. This allows students to experience the lab without going to the lab due to the lack of curriculum time.

Dora

Inquiry Based Learning (Biology)

2023-10-18 00:42:14 UTC

303 Science(Biology)
For the topic of transpiration in plants, my class explored how different factors could affect the rate of transpiration through a group experimental design.
Each group was to come up with a design to collect the most amount of water from the leaves. Through the design process, students considered different variables (type of leaf, type of bag, sunlight exposure, wind exposure, temperature etc) and explored how these variables could affect the rate of transpiration.
Students also explore the importance of setting experimental parameters and controlled variables in comparing results (e.g. comparing the volume of water collected per unit area of leaf, duration of collection etc.)

Qing

Google Site - Course site for 5088 ScBio

2023-10-18 01:56:42 UTC

Link: https://sites.google.com/moe.edu.sg/5088-sciencebiology/home

The upper secondary science syllabus stretches across both Sec 3 and 4.

The purpose of the Google Site is to provide a one-stop service for the students to retrieve information (assignment, lessons, activities, concepts, etc.) easily so that their learning can be self-directed.

It also serves as a sharing site for the collation of resources for the particular subject. Hopefully, this can be useful for the handing down of resources and safekeeping of creative activities.

-Gilbert

Handling Planning questions

2023-10-18 01:58:02 UTC

The students were taught the requirements of Planning questions, including a standard frame for answering the questions and things which should be included. However, students kept missing out the key items. Hence I created a checklist for them based on the standard frame to self-assess their work, before submission.
Shirley

Filming of Practical Video

2023-10-18 02:03:20 UTC

For the Sec 4 Express (Combined Bio) students, time was of essence as the labs were closed pretty early. Usually, the last bout of revision for practical exams include theory sessions. However, as the students are pretty weak, Gilbert and I filmed ourselves conducting the experiments and edited the videos to include captions for students to look out for (common errors etc) and uploaded the video for the students, including the results. The students then viewed the video to complete the practical paper.

This was helpful for the students as they could visualise what was happening and also see the proper way to do certain procedures (using of syringe, removing air bubbles etc).

This proved to be more helpful than a normal theory lesson.

- Kala and Gilbert

Use of media for practical lessons

tan_yen_nee_a — 2023-10-18 02:06:26 UTC

For some practical lessons, especially for electricity practical, students work in pairs to take a video/picture of their set up and connections, which will be posted on Padlet. Some of the positive/negative work would be shared and discussed so that students are aware of the standards and pitfalls to avoid.

- Yen Nee

ePaper Practice for 3NT and 4NT

qssteacher — 2023-10-18 02:06:57 UTC

This year some 313 Students missed out some questions in ePaper 1 because they did not read the instructions carefully on the first page.

My suggestion is next year 3NT and 4NT students can practice the ePaper sample paper given by CPDD so that they are familiar with the format.

-Jimmy

Tracking of progress and reading of trend using Assignment Scores to teach graphical analysis

2023-10-18 02:07:31 UTC

The score for every assignment of each student were plotted onto a scatter chart and printed for all students after WA3. Students can then look at their results and understand the trend in their performance and attribute it to different reasons such as:
1. motivation and effort
2. attention and participation in class
3. misconception / strengths and weaknesses in specific subjects
Hopefully, it allows students to reflect on their performance and provide them with a direction on which areas they can work on to see an improvement in their results.

This serves as an indicator for teachers to focus on particular topics or to understand the focus for EOY revision. It also allows the teachers to affirm the efforts of students who show an improvement and reach out the students that have dipped in their performance.

Additionally, I used the data for students to describe the trend in their results. This is an important skill in biology and many students seem to have difficulties in doing so.

E.g. I have shown an improvement from Assignment 1 to 4, from 56% to 78%.

-Gilbert

Drawing of circuit diagram

qssteacher — 2023-10-18 02:09:17 UTC

Using Peardeck, students to draw circuit diagrams based on questions given. Students to identify mistakes and comment on their classmates' drawing. Short quiz on circuit symbols, units of measurements given to reinforce learning.
LimSK

A little goes a long way in teaching students to be responsible for their learning

tay_ya_mei_jasm — 2023-10-18 02:13:22 UTC

I realise that my students can be quite disorganised - materials (hard and soft copy) are all over the place, which makes doing of homework daily difficult and preparation for WA and eventually EOY challenging as they are not able to retrieve the information they need for revision. Hence, I take a few minutes at the start and end of every lesson to help them get organised and even insisting that they organise materials a certain way so that there is some structure for them to follow.

Responsibility

qssteacher — 2023-10-18 02:17:26 UTC

3NT students tend to be quite forgetful with their materials. (PLD, workbook and notes). Yen Nee and I insist they stand for the rest of the lesson if they forget to bring either one of the items.

The students are willing to take up the consequence because we inform the consequence beforehand.

-Jimmy

Dora

2024-01-15 01:58:33 UTC

Positive Classroom Culture

Setting Expectations and Routines

Reflections: It is important to invest time at the start of the year in creating routines and enforcing them. This will save time in the long run. Before the lesson starts, I get the students to stand and the relevant materials should be on their table. Lesson will only start after the last person has their necessary materials on their table. Getting students to stand also gives them a chance to get their blood flowing after an extended period of sitting down.

Classes with short attention span

2024-01-15 01:59:24 UTC

For NT/G1 classes, they have a very short attention span so I use the 10+2 method : Give me 10 minutes of undivided (no interruptions) attention and you get a 2 min break. I use that time to move from one platform to another (slided to padlet etc). Then we go back for another 10 min. This is revoked if the 10 minutes get interrupted. They enjoy the breaks so they'll 'nag' the more active students in classto calm down

Gilbert

2024-01-15 02:01:50 UTC

Setting Expectations and Routines

It is important that the class agree on the expectations that the teacher has of the class. During the first week of lessons, I would make a deliberate attempt to rationalize my expectations of each student in the classroom. Routines have to be practiced consistently with the students. Over time, students will be conditioned to perform as per expectations. It is also important to correct misbehaviour and meet discussed consequences so as to uphold the integrity of the routine in the classroom.

Setting Expectations and Routines

qssteacher — 2024-01-15 02:35:42 UTC

Routine: Before students greet me :

I set my laptop and put my mike on and returned any marked work; students hand in their work due for that day.

I stand in front of the class and say "I am ready"

Students stand by their tables and greet.

Lesson starts.

This routine works well after practises and expectations set at the beginning of the year. (Mrs Pang)

Setting Expectations and Routines

2024-01-15 06:19:29 UTC

I'll set the expectations for class, don't really allow them to set expectations (no time for them to do so and don't think they can do so). For routines, I usually set count-down timer for work/discussion. When getting them back on task, I'll still raise my voice to give instructions. However, if there is any misbehaviour (e.g. talking while I am talking), I'll just keep quiet, stare at the ceiling, display nonchalant attitude until the class is silent. Then, I'll pass the marker to whoever is making a nuisance, for that particular student to conduct/continue with the lesson. This works every time for me - kids know my line has been crossed.

- Yen Nee

One key takeaway from Ai Li's MLS: What kind of feedback are we giving our students to help them learn?

qssteacher — 2024-05-08 03:17:13 UTC

I would like to share this post with the department for each of us to reflect and think about our current feedback practices and how we can improve on them (and make ourselves more effective).

Problems: Are we always making students copy 'corrections' and realizing that there is little/no retention from our students? While many of us may expend energy to write down chunks of words for the students, the feedback also seems to be lost in a blackhole.

Conditions for Learning: Sadler (2005) explained that learning has taken place only when students can complete a task

1) on demand

2) Independently (we need to remove scaffolds)

3) of good/ correct standards

4 levels of feedback: Referring to the diagram, there are 4 levels of feedback. I suspect that we are often providing task and personal levels feedback which are not transferrable to other tasks/ topics. We need to provide formative feedback (verbal, class, individual) that targets at process (strategies students can adopt across topics) and self-regulation (metacognition and self-monitoring) to help them level up in the long run.

How can we do it as a dept: Try it out in a sustainable manner. Bounce of ideas with your level teachers and share practices of what works with your class.

3 questions of reflection

qssteacher — 2024-05-08 03:49:19 UTC

1. What is DI to you?

(Consider specific examples from your own teaching experience or observations to illustrate your understanding of differentiated instruction.)

2. How is your DI journey so far?

(Share the frequency of adopting DI in your classroom and its

impact on student engagement and learning outcomes.)

3. What are challenges you face in adopting DI in your classroom?

(Share the constraints and difficulties you face, or areas for growth in carrying out differentiated instruction in the classroom.)

Question for reflection

qssteacher — 2024-05-08 23:48:32 UTC

How are tech tools such as SLS / AI being used effectively in the classroom?
Are there any other tools which you have used that are effective?

Questions for reflection

qssteacher — 2024-05-08 23:50:01 UTC

How effective have our teaching strategies / resources been thus far?
What interventions can be made to support student learning better? (e.g. effective peer learning, more differentiated teaching approaches to suit different classes / students)
Any trends / patterns observed in students’ performance that need to be addressed?
How can we adapt / improve our strategies for the rest of the year?

Kim

qssteacher — 2024-05-09 00:10:08 UTC

T&L:

Still trying to figure out how my personal resources (e.g., for LSS) are positively impacting the students. The department resources e.g., common assignments have been a good indicator of their standards to feed forward into their assessment.
G2 and G3 are vastly different in their abilities and self-confidence, so perhaps the activities in the activity book can be adjusted to suit G2 students e.g., in terms of retention and their language.
Nil
Peer feedback and shadowing of peers

Ai Li

2024-05-09 00:10:35 UTC

1) Differentiated instruction (DI) to me is the practice of adapting teaching methods, content, and learning activities to meet the diverse needs of students in a classroom. It's about recognizing that students learn in different ways and at different paces, so DI aims to provide multiple avenues for students to access and engage with the material. I have utilized flexible grouping strategies, such as peer tutoring or small group activities, to allow students to work at their own pace and receive targeted support as needed. It is also about teaching up and aiming for a higher quality teaching available to the whole class so that fewer pupils will require finer differentiation for sustainability.

2) My DI journey so far is less of the structured and elaborate differentiation requiring pre and post differentiation tasks and more of dynamic adaptive teaching which makes use of real-time instructional decisions to meet the needs of students. I try to listen, observe and think about students’ learning in their lessons and provide feedback and scaffolds to remove barriers to learning. For example, coming up with a metaphor to connect to the lived experience or cognitive ability of a student and probing and digging deeper with a more advanced student during whole class discussion. It also includes identifying likely misconceptions, planning quality questions to elicit them, and remediating through guided instructions.

3) The biggest challenge I face is not having time and bandwidth to think about and design data-informed instructions. Lacks time and creativity to come up with or modify existing learning experiences to be challenging and engaging to all students with multi-modal instruction such as explicit instruction, hands-on, materials on different media. It is also not easy to invent several learning task choices to meet the needs of all students. Another challenge I face is the internal struggle to constantly remind myself that success in my class is about making self-referenced progress and less about the grade or mastery of content.

Gilbert

qssteacher — 2024-05-09 00:11:32 UTC

Students have poor reading ability which results in the inability to comprehend intent of the question.

Analysis of question using command terms, identification of key concepts required for the question, structuring of answer.
Students need more avenue to read and internalize meaning. Students need to sieve relevant information that is required. Intentional use of TYS and marker's report can help students overcome this difficulty.
Assignments should reflect the assessment, in terms of the type of questions and demand, content.

Xin Ying

qssteacher — 2024-05-09 00:13:20 UTC

DI to me is helping each student achieve the same learning outcomes through different processes.
I don't usually do DI within a lesson itself, but across classes / streams I do vary my teaching pedagogy and style even if I am teaching the same content.
To DI within a lesson can be time consuming, especially if I want to differentiate by process. As I am already stretched in terms of my teaching load and other school responsibilities, it is hard for me to have the bandwidth to create resources to support DI within a class.

Dora

qssteacher — 2024-05-09 00:14:10 UTC

DI is coming up with different ways to help different groups of students achieve the same learning outcome.
I include more challenging questions at the end of each worksheet for students of higher ability and readiness to attempt.
For combined and NA chemistry it is difficult to adopt DI in the classroom due to the lack of time (missed many periods as a result of school holidays and HBLs). There is also a need to complete syllabus within the limited amount of time.

Kim

qssteacher — 2024-05-09 00:15:05 UTC

SLS has been great in creating quizzes to check student understanding, or to deliver bite-sized information for HBL, or flipped learning before the topic starts.
I have been trying out peardeck/Classpoint/blooket which are new to me before this year and I understand the school has been using these platforms to deliver lessons. So far, students seem to respond well to Classpoint, though I cannot be sure if they are surfing other tabs during my lesson. For Blooket, students love it but the effectiveness of learning cannot be verified.

Gilbert

qssteacher — 2024-05-09 00:16:15 UTC

Google Classroom as a one-stop service site for key information such as homework due date, assessment scope, file content page.
An excel sheet can be used to record these information for the different classes and a link can be consolidated on Google Classroom for students to have one-stop access to all the information needed to facilitate TnL.

ClassPoint Class List
Gamification to allow students to collect stars and level up. Instil competitiveness and consistency in participating in class.

Kim

qssteacher — 2024-05-09 00:16:54 UTC

I have been having great struggles with my G2 Sec 1 class, in terms of their attention span and their engagement.

Just last week I tried using group points to 'peer pressure' them into keeping into their seats as well as responding to the Classpoint during the lesson. It seemed to work and I will continue trying that to manage the class.

Stella

qssteacher — 2024-05-09 00:18:46 UTC

The updated syllabus is generally engaging to the students, with interesting videos / simulations that allow for clear explanations and understanding. Assignments are being updated to better reflect the updated syllabus / for greater relevance.
Increase teacher facilitation of student voice by more intentional use of thinking routines to make thinking visible, as a form of AFL. For sec 1 science students, getting students to do think-pair-share (on online platform) is very useful as it helps students who are weak in language to express their thoughts.

Students skill at understanding demands of various question types (e.g. state application of vs explain). Some students may also struggle with language and find it difficult to phrase their answers to express the science concepts accurately.

More emphasis on AfL (thinking routines, peer sharing) in the classroom before giving out assignment for students to complete and teacher to mark, for a higher quality of answers.

Kim

qssteacher — 2024-05-09 00:18:51 UTC

DI to me is varying instruction to fit different students' needs and abilities.
So far, I have not tried much formal DI, except to offer more difficult examples to students who feel they are ready (esp for the Sec 3 students who are more able to assess themselves) during the lesson itself.
Challenges would be getting the students back to the main lesson and on the same page again after trying the varied examples.

Mrs Pang (Teaching 412)

qssteacher — 2024-05-09 00:18:54 UTC

There are only 14 students in the ScPhy class and more than half are still in their world of their own, no stress, carefree and definitely not thinking of studies at all. Most plan to start studying only when Prelims come along. Disregarding their lack of motivation, a schedule of revision topics is given, TYS to be handed in and a quiz will be given. I realised quizzes / mini tests like WAs do evoke some anxiety and comparison among them. I touch base individually and started consultation for some of them. With their little "competitiveness spirit", I hope they will push each other on to start somewhere.

Qing

qssteacher — 2024-05-09 00:19:04 UTC

DI allows students to take greater ownership of their learning and also allows me to accommodate for different learning styles and pace. It pushes me to be more intentional about taking into account student pace and interest, rather than chasing the LOs.
EG: Differentiation by student interest. Giving students the option to research on a case study that they find interesting or would like to find out more about, allowing them to take ownership of their learning. The end point for all learners is the same -- to analyse and apply knowledge.
EG: Differentiation by process. Offering different modes of learning on SLS (videos, texts, activities)
I apply DI only some of the time, especially when there is room for extending and applying knowledge.
DI requires a lot of time, both inside and outside the classroom. Time is required to create resources, and also to consolidate at a class level.

Dora

qssteacher — 2024-05-09 00:19:07 UTC

Teaching strategies have been working well for most classes except for 312. 312's command of English is weak which snowballs to a myriad of problems - not being able to understand what is being said in class, not understanding the question and hence not being able to answer the question appropriately.
Short written quizzes at the start or the end of every class helped with the various classes' retention of knowledge and for the teacher to do a quick check for understanding.
Need to use simple words and break down any new jargons into simple terms for them to understand --> difficulty in getting them to use appropriate definitions and terms in exams as a result
NIL
Come up with a glossary of terms with visual diagrams to help them internalise and comprehend the various jargons better.

Gilbert

qssteacher — 2024-05-09 00:20:55 UTC

Ending class 3-5 minutes earlier to check-in with specific students.

As subject teachers, it may be difficult for us to connect with students that are especially reserved or need more attention. By allocating some class after time for student-teacher conferencing, I can gather feedback on my lesson, check in with the students on the difficulties that they are facing, address key issues in class and also allow the students to take their bio break so that they are back in class on time for their next lesson.

Flipped Classroom

Students read about a particular concept on their own. During lesson time, the teacher will take the position of a "student" and ask the students question to clarify understanding. Students may not provide the intended responses so the teacher will step in to correct what they have said. Gives students the ownership of learning and allow them to have a voice in class.

Veronica

qssteacher — 2024-05-09 00:21:07 UTC

DI is meant to cater to the individual student's needs, learning style and interest; to support their learning. Students can learn differently, have different products but eventually, the learning outcomes should be met.
In the process of conducting a DI lesson with 301 next week. Pre-assessment has been carried out.
My class sizes of 36, 39, 40 and 41 makes DI hard if I intend to do station rotation. Time resource.

Grace

grace_see — 2024-05-09 00:22:23 UTC

For G1 students, they seem to appreciate the "light at the end of the tunnel" idea.

Hence, at the start of every lesson, I provide them with 3 tiers (level)of achievement.

For example :

Level 1 - Finish by notes Page 1 and 2

Level 2 - Do classwork Page 3

Level 3 - Trigger the start of Homework Page 4

Mid way through the lesson, I may have students who are still stuck at Level 2 while others have moved onto Level 3. Then the next step would be to guide those still at Level 2 to meet the pace of Level 3ers so that at the end of the lesson, all are at par.

To do that, a lot of structured and time planning is needed before taking on a G1 class to ensure that DI Learning takes place

Kala

2024-05-09 00:22:35 UTC

401 : Will be good to build up a repository of dry practical resources as we may not have the time to visit the lab as much in Sec 4. This can help them improve the planning/ drawing portion of their P3. Organisms and Environment chapter was designed as a self-study chapter with a comprehensive package provided. This was useful for students as the chapter involved more reading rather than understanding of complex concepts.
1G1 : Resources are varied and teachers also share kahoot/blooket quizzes with each other. Students are generally engaged and eager to learn.
313: resources need to be relooked to be more engaging and relevant. Students of 313 often forget to bring / do not charge their PLDs or are often distracted when PLDs are in use. So excessive PLD time is not beneficial for them. Need to find a balance between online and offline work.
Pure bio/express classes: More focus on practical skills and increasing rigour - can add in more data based questions as students tend to struggle with that.
NT/G1: use more short quizzes and game-based learning and reinforce that with classroom teaching
Students in 401 tend to do quite well for WAs as they test for a few specific subjects but may not be able to cope when prelims test for all the topics at one go. Would be good to allocate time for mock papers to help them cope with the rigour.
NT/G1: attendance seems to be the biggest issue as students are always absent and it is difficult to move on without re-teaching. This takes up a lot of time.
401 : increase intensity and difficulty level of WAs to help students prepare for the rigour of O levels. E.G. Include one sec 3 topic for every WA? Include planning component of practical as part of WA (dry practical)
1NT : Not necessary to have practical component as part of WA, can explore alternative assessments instead. (Avoid group work as there are quite a few LTAs which may disrupt group dynamics)
313 : Lots of behavioural and attendance issues that disrupt learning. May need to explore banding process to see how learning can be maximised for those who attend school regularly

Stella

qssteacher — 2024-05-09 00:22:37 UTC

Classpoint is a great tool (better than PearDeck) as it allows for gamification, generation of word cloud and quick quizzes all in one platform. It also has an AI function to generate quick questions for quick AfI in the classroom.

Blooklet is an interesting platform - tried it as introduction / lesson hook for more "dry" concepts like safe use of electricity (LSS) - get students to play before teaching the concepts. students have refer to the textbook on their own to find the concepts instead of passively letting the teacher teach them - teacher can just summarize the content after the game.

Ai Li

qssteacher — 2024-05-09 00:22:49 UTC

CPDD's resources on SLS and TSLG have been helpful to provide concrete examples and learning experiences that I modify and carry out in the classes, especially for LSS. For Upper Sec, will need time to be familiar with teaching for Disciplinary Ideas and to continue to use questioning techniques to probe and stretch students and make use of thinking routines to help them think and draw connections to their learning.
Working on feedback literacy - how students receive and make sense/ use of the feedback we give.
Students are often looking for quick fixes and unequivocal answers from teachers. Teacher as the only source of information. We will need to continue working on their competency in self-directed learning and strategies for meta-cognition and self-regulation.
Focus on the interaction and quality of questions we ask in class. These questions ought to develop student voice and encourage them to think critically, adaptively and inventively. Make better use of the HBL lessons for flip lessons and DIRT (dedicated improvement and reflection time).

Shirley

qssteacher — 2024-05-09 00:23:55 UTC

For certain topics, different types of questions with different levels of difficulty are given for students of different profiles, they choose what and how much they want to do.

The challenge is that for a class of 40, it is difficult for the teacher to go through the questions as a class since different students would have attempted different questions, and there isn't sufficient time for the teacher to attend to students individually.

Another issue is that ultimately the assessment which students take is not differentiated - they would all have to take the same paper.

Immortalising and showcasing benchmark scripts [for student motivation]

qssteacher — 2024-05-09 00:24:17 UTC

When students (especially weaker students) have a page of good responses / a well-written response to a difficult question in their WAs, I will write their name on the page and scan that page of their answer scripts. Different students will be featured for different pages of the WA. This will be compiled into a single document which will be uploaded alongside the WA answer key onto Google Classroom.

When I am going through the WA corrections, I will flash the relevant pages of the compiled document and praise students. I will let the class know that I am impressed by the way they write and it makes me proud as their teacher to see my students growing.

This applies to daily assignments / short quizzes as well. I may sometimes scan and use students' work as the answer key to be uploaded onto Google Classroom.

The intent is to affirm the students' hard work, especially for students who have been weaker but are working hard in chemistry.

-Xin Ying

Qing

qssteacher — 2024-05-09 00:24:34 UTC

OneNote classnotebook as a one-stop location for parking materials allows a more seamless access of materials compared to GC
Blooklet has been useful especially for NT classes. NT students are the most engaged during blooklet as they enjoy the gamified aspect of it. I often use it as a means to check prior knowledge (a lot of the content are already knowledge that they have) and extend their thinking. Blooklet also serves as a checkpoint for learning. I usually use the same blooklet across multiple lessons, adding questions as I go along, in order to reinforce knowledge with constant exposure. One downside to blooklet is that it requires a bit of classroom management as the students can get emotionally involved in the process.

Jimmy Ong

qssteacher — 2024-05-09 00:25:51 UTC

Conducted DI lesson for Physics (511) on lens. Differentiated worksheet was given to students after concepts on lens drawing are taught. Grouping is done during lesson so that it is a fair assessment. Weaker students are provided with more scaffolds. I feel that low readiness students can benefit from the differentiated worksheet. They can still achieve the same outcome as the rest of the students if some help is provided.
Created a SLS differentiated lesson for my Sec1 G2 students on particulate nature with the help from Ms Low Xinyi. Lesson is going to be carried out in T3. Different approaches are used for students of different readiness. Assessment is going to be carried out during lesson.
Attended Physics differentiated course in T1 and T2. This course has given me the opportunity to take a look at what other Physics teachers in other schools are doing for differentiated lessons.
The challenges is to conduct a big ticket differentiated lesson where teachers need to set up different stations to cater to different interests. A lot of time is required on teacher's part. For long term sustainability. we can differentiated the questions given to students in the class during lesson to help different tiers. Or we can provide hints for students who need more help (Eg. A hint is placed on teacher's table. Students can choose whether they want to use the hint to work on AOL)

Grace

grace_see — 2024-05-09 00:28:43 UTC

Due to full SSB this year, I seem to have "fishes trapped in the net" - their standard is not to a G3 standard(parents probably opted for G3 when given a choice) but they are straddled to complete G3 worksheets. They are unable to complete them in accordance to what other G3 students can do and hence they spiral downwards through the span of the year.

So, at the end of the year, they are stuck in a limbo having scored badly for this subject this year.

qssteacher — 2024-05-09 00:29:26 UTC

Past weighted assessments are useful which help students to practice skills of answering exam questions before WA. However, language is a problem to the NA/NT students. They have difficulty in comprehending questions and also in their presentation of answers. For 3N/5N assignments, they tend not to avoid answering questions that require explanation. As my students all the NA/NT ,constant repetitions and emphasis on skills in tackling questions.

Shirley

qssteacher — 2024-05-09 00:31:06 UTC

In general the students are still very much reliant on having the teacher "teach" and impart knowledge in the classroom. Perhaps it is due to the way I carry out my teaching. I need to let go more to get them to be more self-directed.

We could start to relook at the curriculum coverage and see how certain smaller/more manageable topics (or sub-topics) can be designed for self-directed learning entirely.

Ai Li

qssteacher — 2024-05-09 00:33:45 UTC

AI tool sidekick can be explored as a self-directed learning tool where teachers can set the prompts for a particular topic and allow students to ask questions and interact with the AI assistant in the tool to deepen learning.

Stella

qssteacher — 2024-05-09 00:34:08 UTC

DI can be conducted in different ways in the classroom. For example, getting students to learn a specific concept through different ways depending on either their preference, or their readiness. One way could be offering students a choice board to choose what task they would like to complete or how they would like to complete a task. Another means would be to have different degrees of scaffolding depending on the student readiness.
I have designed and tried out DI lessons when I was being coached and have gotten feedback on how to improve. However, only a few lessons I carry out are DI. There are DI ideas already built into the bio SOW where there are ideas to stretch students for higher readinesss. One way I would like to explore DI further would be to infuse it in an asynchronuous learning format that can be employed during HBL.
The main constraints would be time, both on the teacher's part and on the curriculum hours. Depending on the lesson design, designing DI lessons may take many hours and it is not possible to have every lesson be a DI lesson due to this. Additionally there may not be sufficient curriculum space for DI especially when we are trying to catch up with the SOW due to lessons being cut as a consequence of national holidays.

Xin Ying

qssteacher — 2024-05-09 00:34:17 UTC

For upper sec chemistry, generally the new resources the chemistry team has co-created and the revamping of existing resources have been effective in supporting teaching and learning of the new syllabus. As the chemistry team often comes together to share ideas and discuss teaching strategies, it has helped us to support one another and be aligned on the way we teach our students. For lower sec, perhaps there is a need to relook into whether following the CPDD textbook and activity book is the most effective way of teaching. Perhaps some lab / data literacy skills can be infused in lower sec (e.g. data reading skills). There also needs to be more alignment with the upper sec syllabus so that there can be a more seamless transition from lower sec science to upper sec science.
Need to work on how students receive and act on the feedback, as well as encouraging how students can be more self-directed in learning. I notice that some students tend to keep making the same mistakes for a while, until I intentionally point it out for a few times. This means that there is still heavy reliance on the teacher.
Student motivation for tail end classes is still a struggle
Relook into chemistry team's resource creation and marking. With the creation of new chemistry resources (for a few levels), our creation and marking load has increased compared to the past.

Jimmy Ong

qssteacher — 2024-05-09 00:34:25 UTC

The use of LSS assignment has provided a reference point for for me to check students' understanding thus far. Alternative assessment has thus far provided a different avenue to assess students' learning. Students enjoy the collaboration for Sec1 project
For G2 students, the language ability is generally weak. We can provide science readings for students

Kala Devi

2024-05-09 00:34:48 UTC

DI to me is a mechanism to help teach a class of varied individuals so everyone can learn at their own pace, without being limited by those around them.
Honestly I can do better. I don't do DI as much for 401 as they are pretty much on the same level and my preception is that DI takes time (I may be wrong) and I do not have the luxury of time with 401 to carry it out. I do put in links with extra information for those keen on further reading. For NT classes, I do a modified DI where I pull aside weaker students for more intentional teaching while the stronger ones can go ahead to do more of the written work, which I will then give feedback for. This helps as the stronger ones can have more practice time while weaker ones are kept on task.
Time is of the major challenge and also that in the end, all students take the same assessment. So I do not want them to be prepared for it in 'different' ways which may not be fair for some students.

Limsk

qssteacher — 2024-05-09 00:48:55 UTC

I give the common assignments to 3N/5N students even before I complete teaching the topic. I get students to answer certain sections of the assignment related to the topic taught (as homework). The papers will be collected for marking. In general, assignments are usually marked twice, helpful in checking corrections and monitorin

Kala

2024-05-09 03:56:00 UTC

Collaborative learning

I use padlet in class to round up content by putting up articles/case studied related to the chapter and get students to answer questions/find solutions in a group

Setting meaningful assignment

qssteacher — 2024-07-03 14:43:56 UTC

Question:

What is one actionable step you can take to implement the CAR framework and ensure your next lesson plan's assignments are both purposeful and meaningful for your diverse learners?

Reflection

qssteacher — 2024-11-13 06:33:51 UTC

What are some of your key learning points and how can they be applied either at a personal or department level?

Use of ChatGPT

2024-11-14 05:39:40 UTC

Kim - I thought the sharing was very clear and effective. I wonder how Chat GPT may be used in Science as well, as his sharing was more geared towards the use of AI in essay-writing.

Dora

qssteacher — 2024-11-14 05:42:40 UTC

Usage of AI tools (ChatGPT)

Using AI to give feedback to students
Using AI to generate bite-sized AfL for students

Flipped learning for intensive reading

exploration of tools in SLS
reframe students' perspective regarding self-directed learning -> for weaker students learn by themselves first at home so as to improve their baseline understanding regarding a topic.

Gilbert

qssteacher — 2024-11-14 05:43:26 UTC

Morning sharing allowed me to reflect and to be more sensitive to students' needs. Perhaps I can be more understanding of students' misbehaviour by looking into the underlying factors that result in the misbehaviour.

PLT Sharing (Humanities - Use of AI in providing feedback for Geography essays)

Alvin's sharing gave me some space to think about how we can use AI to provide feedback to students on their work. Perhaps it can be applied to long question (6m questions) in Bio. However, I will have to acknowledge that sciences mark by points and we would then need to create a new prompt for each question that the student attempts. Thus, there is much work to be done to implement this in science.

Xin Ying

qssteacher — 2024-11-14 05:43:30 UTC

Importance of student ownership for AfL. The first session I went for used peer assessment as a powerful tool to help students improve on their skills in floorball. The second session highlighted the affordances of ChatGPT in helping to grade students' essays, given appropriate and detailed prompts. The second session also shared how students reflected on whether ChatGPT's feedback was useful.

As we want to encourage students to be more self-directed in their learning, these are ways we can move forward as they need to learn how to critically assess their own work (in order to lessen their dependence on us).

I would like to utilise assessment checklists to get students to peer evaluate, so that they can develop the skills to self-evaluate.

Role of a class mentor

2024-11-14 05:44:21 UTC

The role of a class mentor (as compared to form teacher) and the use of a set of rubrics to guide the CM and set positive examples/ expectations for improvement.

Flipped learning (Qing)

qssteacher — 2024-11-14 05:44:48 UTC

Flipped learning can allow our students to become more self-directed and also allows for students to learn at their own pace.

It is difficult to reap the benefits of flipped learning if students do not complete the task. One way to address this issue is to ensure that the tasks given are easily completed by the students (e.g. instead of a 1 hour SLS lesson, provide a short video or text for students to view). Another way to address this issue is to group students to discuss what they have learnt, so that they can share with each other what they have picked up from the flipped learning task.

Stella

qssteacher — 2024-11-14 05:44:59 UTC

SEN students

I learnt about the experiences of students with special needs in my class. One tip that could be applied in my science class is to write down the agenda for the lesson on the board, together with a little drawing to indicate the skill that they will be using (e.g mouth for discussion, pen for writing etc) to reduce their sense of uncertainty for the lesson.

SLS Gamification

I learnt about how the gamification feature in SLS was used to teach students how to use new vocabulary in English lessons in the correct context. A possible application would be to use the said feature to introduce new bio keywords to students at the start of the lesson, to increase class engagement.

Jimmy (MTL and PE)

qssteacher — 2024-11-14 05:45:09 UTC

Use of Chatgpt to complete a mother tongue common assignment (CL, TL, ML)
The sharing was very fruitful because the dept crafted an assignment for the students and students cannot copy wholesale from Chatgpt
This assignment allow the students to select the appropriate information to put in. It helps to train the students in the use of AI for future purpose
Students use peer feedback to learn a new sport (floorball) during PE lesson over a period of 3 months.
I like this sharing because the lessons are carried out in such a way that half the students are observers and half are players. Each pair will share the weakness and strength of their partner when he/she plays the game
We can use this feedback review for our students assignments. Students can give feedback to each other's assignment before they submit to teacher for marking

Shirley

2024-11-14 05:48:23 UTC

The use of AI in education seems to have a lot of potential but so far, we have not quite explored it in our Sci education. This morning's sharing on chatgpt was very interesting. For a start, maybe we can use chatgpt to help provide student feedback for topics that are more qualitative in nature, e.g. thermal physics and renewable energy. Could perhaps also explore the use of AI to suggest some stem activities or creation of questions.

Kala

qssteacher — 2024-11-14 05:48:37 UTC

SEN session 1

It can be difficult for us to emphatise how difficult sensory overload and being forced to work outside our comfort zone might be. Being asked to solve a challenging puzzle with a very annoying background noise and playing table-tennis with our non-dominant hand helped us understand the frustration.
Some tips were shared such as giving them an indication of when they are expected to stop (constant reminders) so they are not caught off-guard at the end of the timeline as well as providing affordances for students who may have difficulties catching up with the normal pace of learning (indicating lesson objectives on board clearly and using symbols instead of words)

EL Dept Sharing (SLS gamification to revise comprehension strategies)

Use of gamification provides motivation for students to complete tasks independently and this helps them move forward for their revision
This may be useful for end of topic or exam revison for students who lack motivation
I would like to explore using gamification to help 3NT revise their topics

PangFH (DT sharing)

2024-11-14 05:49:34 UTC

The DT project is about how to create a system to organise their DT materials and tools using a display unit so that students and teachers know the availability of materials when doing their coursework.

We can adopt and apply the DT concept in reorganising our resources in the Science lab. All of us may not know the availability of lab resources without always checking with the lab staff. So we can start a stock folder / file with pictures showing the lab resources and where there are stored. It will help to orientate any new staff to the school and also monitor what to buy to update our resources.

Flipped Learning in Chinese using SLS

2024-11-14 05:51:15 UTC

The use of SLS to enhance intensive reading in Chinese is effective to help Sec 1 students to understand individual Chinese verbs and phrases, while supplementing them with hanyupinyin to help students to read the Chinese characters. It is able to break down a long passage of text effectively so students can better understand the full text. The department also use AI technology to grade a students' oratorical skills by assessing whether the students are accurate in their pronunciations and tones when reading a passage.

After completing the flipped learning, they will be split into groups when the subsequent lesson is conducted in the classroom. The students can share how they are able to search for answers within the passage to answer comprehension questions and they are being awarded stars based on their group performance, which can be accumulated over the whole year. The students are grouped based on their individual language competencies based on their PSLE scores.

The use of AI in Science can also be applied in flipped learning, where students can have a rough idea of what to expect regarding the Science topic they will be learning. We can also conduct group work afterwards to assess their learning and understanding and also use ClassPoint to make the lessons more interactive and interesting.

Veron

qssteacher — 2024-11-14 05:51:58 UTC

PLT sharing attended was on CMship. The team shared on the teachers' traits to include caring, responsible, relational, nurturing, effective communication and cultivating a growth mindset. It helps with awareness and how CMs can work together intentionally and perhaps formulate certain class plans with students to foster a caring and enabling environment.

Veron

qssteacher — 2024-11-14 05:54:41 UTC

The PLT team shared on CMship - Teacher's traits to include caring, responsible, relational, nurturing, effective communication and cultivating a growth mindset. It can serve as a baseline for CMs to work together and can formulate class plans (can include the students as well).

Mrs Pang (MTL AI sharing)

2024-11-14 05:55:12 UTC

We can help our students to learn to use Chatgpt to find out more on scientific terms and applications in our science topics eg energy internal stores

Flipped lesson

2024-11-14 05:55:55 UTC

Use of flipped lesson in teaching science

on topics like pollution and plastics disposal. Upload text and videos in SLS with questions related to topics for lesson. Class time used for active discussion in groups on environmental issues.

2024-11-14 06:03:21 UTC

Sharing on SEN:

Experiencing the sensory and coordination challenges faced by students with special educational needs (SEN) - trying to solve a 300-piece puzzle while the 'most annoying' music blasted in the background, and playing table tennis using our non-dominant hand - helped us develop greater empathy and reminded me to incorporate hands-on activities and differentiated approaches to accommodate students with sensory or coordination challenges. For instance, use tactile materials, visual aids, or technology to help them engage with scientific concepts, and provide alternative methods for conducting experiments, such as group work or modified tools, to ensure all students can participate meaningfully in the learning process.

EL Department-based PLT:

Well-designed multiple-choice questions (MCQs) can scaffold students' critical reading skills by progressively building their understanding of vocabulary and language use, encouraging students to engage with a text more deeply, and enhancing their sensitivity to contextual details and language nuances. On that note, we could pose scaffolded questions about a Science topic / data based question:

Tier 1: Ask fact-based questions to assess understanding of key terms and definitions.
Tier 2: Move to analytical questions, such as interpreting data.