3 days into the workshop. I guess we all discover alot about the students. Not only have we imparted and shared our experiences with them, along the process, we have also learn alot from them.
Although these 3 days have been tiring and exhausting, i'm pretty sure we all had fun. Looking at them makes me reflect about my past too...
I'm glad that as a group, we are able to overcome the obstacles we faced and adapt to situations. For the past 3 days, I've spoke to my few friends, some of my friends are horrified by the way i describe the students, some were touched by our actions.
Personally, I feel that to some extend, we have already impacted some of their lives. Because, for the first time, they are listening to us! We have managed to open up some of their bottled feelings that is kept deep within, build on it and explored issues and possibilities together. I believe all of them have the potential ...its just a matter of time...
I sincerely hope for the best ....
Now we need to think of how we are able to present our success to the class because it is not something that is tangible...
Friday, February 29, 2008
Tis the season to be jolly
Tomorrow is a special day, not only does it mark the end of your LTB project but it marks the end result of the weeks of countless hours in GSRs and tons of emails that have been exchanged. Likewise tomorrow is an equally special day for me, not because I'm in school for lesson(nothing special about that) but rather because I'm glad that the group has emerged unscathed from these few gruelling days as well as the first half of the LTB module. From making the long way down to the school to talking about lee kuan yew in North Vista to celebrating each other's birthday, it just goes to show how much the group has come together since the first day when you were initially pretty apprehensive about each other.
I know this post sounds like a end of module post but it isn't, the progress that the team has made at this moment is certainly worth mentioning and remembering. I just want to highlight to you that behind all these responsibilities and deadlines ever furiously knocking on your doors, there is still something more to LTB which we might miss out on. That is .........................the friendships made. Something which I missed out on previously during my LTB module is to spend more time with my LTB mates. I'm not talking about spending it in the GSR, that's not counted, Im talking about spending time outside the schooling context. I told myself initially that I have a good 3 years ahead to spend time with them if I ever wanted too but truth be told, with the immense workload and super duper unfriendly timetable that clashes with everyone, it is of little surprise that we ended up not even having enough time to talk with each other. The most recent brush with my LTB mate is along the concourse and each of us in our hurried steps could just wave to each other.
So there's no better time to spend time with each other than now, don't save the best for last. All the best for your research presentation and for those who reads this post, all the best for tomorrow when your bring the students to our school. Hopefully our school will stun them into silence.
I know this post sounds like a end of module post but it isn't, the progress that the team has made at this moment is certainly worth mentioning and remembering. I just want to highlight to you that behind all these responsibilities and deadlines ever furiously knocking on your doors, there is still something more to LTB which we might miss out on. That is .........................the friendships made. Something which I missed out on previously during my LTB module is to spend more time with my LTB mates. I'm not talking about spending it in the GSR, that's not counted, Im talking about spending time outside the schooling context. I told myself initially that I have a good 3 years ahead to spend time with them if I ever wanted too but truth be told, with the immense workload and super duper unfriendly timetable that clashes with everyone, it is of little surprise that we ended up not even having enough time to talk with each other. The most recent brush with my LTB mate is along the concourse and each of us in our hurried steps could just wave to each other.
So there's no better time to spend time with each other than now, don't save the best for last. All the best for your research presentation and for those who reads this post, all the best for tomorrow when your bring the students to our school. Hopefully our school will stun them into silence.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
difficulties
difference between being a friend and a counsellor/mentor
being a friend means understanding their actions, connecting with them and getting them to accept us into their comfort zone
being a counsellor required us to go a step higher. to give them proper advice, guide them while maintaing certain rules and boundries.
i guess we all could more or less get them to open up to us but it seems that we were unable to draw and maintain the boundries. we know that many of their actions needed correction.
the challenge now is to find an appropriate way to maintain their trust while keeping things in check. how...? no text book kind of suggestions please, as it would probably be empty talk. maybe someone will be able to achieve it and share the practical steps. i guess certain skills can only be attained with experience... which hopefully, we will gain at the end of this workshop
being a friend means understanding their actions, connecting with them and getting them to accept us into their comfort zone
being a counsellor required us to go a step higher. to give them proper advice, guide them while maintaing certain rules and boundries.
i guess we all could more or less get them to open up to us but it seems that we were unable to draw and maintain the boundries. we know that many of their actions needed correction.
the challenge now is to find an appropriate way to maintain their trust while keeping things in check. how...? no text book kind of suggestions please, as it would probably be empty talk. maybe someone will be able to achieve it and share the practical steps. i guess certain skills can only be attained with experience... which hopefully, we will gain at the end of this workshop
Day 1
End of day 1 of our 4-day workshop.
The students weren't as bad as I feared. However, getting them controlled enough for the smooth flow of the workshop was tough. Their attention spans were relatively short and their interest in the games wasn't there.
On the positive side, they seem to be a bunch of students who are logical thinkers, beyond their youthful emotions. The main reason why they rebel is because they don't see the reason behind why they have to do certain things or act in a certain way. We need to take note to explain to them why they have to do certain things. The bonding was also quite good. :)
On hindsight, our team could have decided the boundaries before hand and agree on certain standards of conduct. As much as we want to come to them as peers, I feel that we have been abit too lax by letting them poke holes in waterbottles and spraying each other. By not doing anything, we are actually condoning their actions. In the coming days, let's be firm to stop their misdemeanours and explain to them why their behaviour is wrong. It will help them better in the long run and understand why certain things shouldn't be done in class.
The students weren't as bad as I feared. However, getting them controlled enough for the smooth flow of the workshop was tough. Their attention spans were relatively short and their interest in the games wasn't there.
On the positive side, they seem to be a bunch of students who are logical thinkers, beyond their youthful emotions. The main reason why they rebel is because they don't see the reason behind why they have to do certain things or act in a certain way. We need to take note to explain to them why they have to do certain things. The bonding was also quite good. :)
On hindsight, our team could have decided the boundaries before hand and agree on certain standards of conduct. As much as we want to come to them as peers, I feel that we have been abit too lax by letting them poke holes in waterbottles and spraying each other. By not doing anything, we are actually condoning their actions. In the coming days, let's be firm to stop their misdemeanours and explain to them why their behaviour is wrong. It will help them better in the long run and understand why certain things shouldn't be done in class.
Counting Down
Its 3.45am...tired...yet happy and excited because in 6 hours time, i will be in North Vista Sec Sch.
Few hours ago, I receive the news that one of the boys are cannot attend the workshop due to suspension. Wow~ not again I thought.
One thing that I really cannot understand is that why the school wants to suspend the boy when he is already scheduled to go for this workshop?
Is suspension really beneficial to them? I cant seem to see its benefits...
Why cant the school give him the chance to come for the workshop? Maybe he can learn something...
Maybe spending his time with us are better than spending it at home or outside with other friends....
I felt sad that we have loss one sheep ... just give him one more chance... surely a chance is not that hard to give...
Well, but I have no control over the school. Since it has been decided that he will not be attending it, I guess we just have to accept the loss.
*I'm still praying that he will turn up tomorrow morning :)
Few hours ago, I receive the news that one of the boys are cannot attend the workshop due to suspension. Wow~ not again I thought.
One thing that I really cannot understand is that why the school wants to suspend the boy when he is already scheduled to go for this workshop?
Is suspension really beneficial to them? I cant seem to see its benefits...
Why cant the school give him the chance to come for the workshop? Maybe he can learn something...
Maybe spending his time with us are better than spending it at home or outside with other friends....
I felt sad that we have loss one sheep ... just give him one more chance... surely a chance is not that hard to give...
Well, but I have no control over the school. Since it has been decided that he will not be attending it, I guess we just have to accept the loss.
*I'm still praying that he will turn up tomorrow morning :)
Monday, February 25, 2008
First Time
It’s my first time blogging here. It’s a weird thing blogging somewhere else, but it’s also a great experience to share my random thoughts in this blog. I’ve read up the past posts, and it made me think how long we have been waiting for this week to come. Just imagine all the meetings that we’ve had for the past eight weeks, all coming down to the next four days.
After the session with Christine a while ago, I’m confident that our project will be a success. There may be glitches here and there but I know we can make this work.
This whole thing made me kept thinking about how things were for me as well when I was fourteen or fifteen. Especially that we have to share our life experiences to them, I tried digging my memories of few years back and began reminiscing high school again (haha), and surprisingly it was somehow hard to remember things back then.
I do remember somebody telling me that high school is like one of the best times of somebody’s life. What was high school like for me? What is high school like in Philippines? Probably a bit different from how things work here in Singapore, but I guess we all have our common ground one way or another.
For me, high school was an emotional roller coaster. I get to experience a lot of firsts in my life, and that everything that was happening back then seemed magnified 100x--- the high school social scene pressure (i know, a bit cliche, but true), school work, and that feeling of wanting to be all over town (in a happy-go-lucky-i- just-want-to-have-fun kind of way). I remember my first cellphone (haha), my first fight with my best friend, my first struggle in school, my first time being grounded, my first prom, my first calculus, haha!, etc. etc. But more than that, the adolescent stage is probably the most awkward and most vulnerable stage of our lives.
So how was your life when you were fourteen? How was high school for you? How is high school like here in Singapore? How's life for these kids that we are meeting? Is the high school now different from just few years back?
As we take on this four-day workshop, I’m sure we’ll all be brought back in time. The time when I felt like I was an adult already where in fact I knew nothing much about life back then. But the best thing about the whole experience is that we grew up, because that’s how high school was--- a series of trial and error that molded us today. However, that doesn’t stop there, until now, we keep on going, keep on making mistakes, and keep on growing, and I guess that’s the best thing. I know this project will teach us things we never would have expected. I hope we can fulfill our goals in impacting the lives of these youths.
So yeah, good luck to all of us, and let’s all enjoy this!!!
After the session with Christine a while ago, I’m confident that our project will be a success. There may be glitches here and there but I know we can make this work.This whole thing made me kept thinking about how things were for me as well when I was fourteen or fifteen. Especially that we have to share our life experiences to them, I tried digging my memories of few years back and began reminiscing high school again (haha), and surprisingly it was somehow hard to remember things back then.
I do remember somebody telling me that high school is like one of the best times of somebody’s life. What was high school like for me? What is high school like in Philippines? Probably a bit different from how things work here in Singapore, but I guess we all have our common ground one way or another.
For me, high school was an emotional roller coaster. I get to experience a lot of firsts in my life, and that everything that was happening back then seemed magnified 100x--- the high school social scene pressure (i know, a bit cliche, but true), school work, and that feeling of wanting to be all over town (in a happy-go-lucky-i- just-want-to-have-fun kind of way). I remember my first cellphone (haha), my first fight with my best friend, my first struggle in school, my first time being grounded, my first prom, my first calculus, haha!, etc. etc. But more than that, the adolescent stage is probably the most awkward and most vulnerable stage of our lives.
So how was your life when you were fourteen? How was high school for you? How is high school like here in Singapore? How's life for these kids that we are meeting? Is the high school now different from just few years back?
As we take on this four-day workshop, I’m sure we’ll all be brought back in time. The time when I felt like I was an adult already where in fact I knew nothing much about life back then. But the best thing about the whole experience is that we grew up, because that’s how high school was--- a series of trial and error that molded us today. However, that doesn’t stop there, until now, we keep on going, keep on making mistakes, and keep on growing, and I guess that’s the best thing. I know this project will teach us things we never would have expected. I hope we can fulfill our goals in impacting the lives of these youths.
So yeah, good luck to all of us, and let’s all enjoy this!!!btw, i'm watching the Oscars right now. Our dear Ratatouille won!
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