So, how was my 2011?

There’s something about the end of the year that always prompts me to look back and reflect on how it went.   I don’t think there’s much to regret but often I wonder where the days have gone and looking back through my diary helps me take stock of the year.

The IPhone has made us all a bit trigger happy, I think, where pictures are concerned and looking through my lot, I made this collage of pictures to sum up my year at a glance.

So, I have worked and played hard and made some head way in my yoga and meditation practice and in my swimming. I travelled quite extensively –from Doha to Tuscany to Hong Kong, Seoul, Indonesia and to India. I cooked and cleaned and gardened although my vegetable growing attempts can only garner only a C.  I borrowed and read over 100 books and magazines from NLB alone. I enjoyed many good concerts and trips to the museums and art galleries.  I lost some friends, made new ones, and caught up with old pals.  The bonus was meeting up with my Primary 1 classmate and my ex-colleague from NJC whom I have not seen for more than 25 years. Work was good- I was kept very busy this year but I must admit to enjoying the work, and the people I met, from teachers to parents and students.

Family and friends have made my year a meaningful one.  There was a new addition to the Cheah clan-nephew number 19! I lost a friend to cancer this year but celebrated the 60^th and 75^th birthdays of two others. Each day, I offer thanks for the blessings in my life and after my trip to India, this act takes on a greater significance.

My theme this year has been mindfulness and while I cannot say that I have been totally mindful, I have tried hard to be more focused with each thing I do.  As a result, I find myself enjoying my experiences so much more, from a day wandering around in the Botanic Gardens to a concert with the Singapore Elvis Presley to a nonsensical chat with Junior about our cat.  Occasionally, I still fret over the many things that I have not done yet, but on the whole, I am much better at experiencing and enjoying the now.

So, now that the year has gone, what have I learnt? These ten lessons I’ve learnt but they are not what I have mastered. I‘ve had more success with some than with others but then again, it only means that I will have no end of things to do and think about in the coming year.

My 10 lessons from 2011( not really in order of importance)

1. We can’t change others; we can only change ourselves.
   Changing myself is a challenging task but I know for a fact that this can be a wee bit easier than hoping for the other person to change. And if I can see another point of view, I may be able to avoid another unnecessary confrontation.
   
2. Do everything with love.
   I read a book recently-The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender- about a girl who, while eating, can experience the emotions of the person who was cooking the dish. Imagine if we can do that; a lot of food will taste awful I think. But, if we can do something with love, that chore turns into a pleasure and resentment transforms into simple happiness.
   
3. Choose to be happy.
   When someone annoys me or does something that bothers me, I can choose to be annoyed or upset or I can choose to be happy. I am trying more and more to choose to be happy and by doing so, I remove the source of annoyance too.
   
4. Love myself.
   My yoga teacher repeats this affirmation all the time but it took me a long time to understand this concept. I don’t think I am good at this still but I am beginning to see that everything I do begins with loving myself first. In a good way, I must add, and it’s not about self indulgence.
   
5. Focus on the now; live life in small doses.
   My father chose the Chinese word “now” as the middle name for all the girls to remind us to be in the now. Again not always an easy principle to follow but biting off what I can chew remains a good reminder to me during the times when I was gagging on some extra large chunks that I bit off.
   
6. Help others when I can and when I am able.
   Always, and I can do more.
   
7. Love is a verb; compassion must lead to an action.
   Talk is good but positive action is even better.
   
8. Think good thoughts.
   Don’t give in to worst case scenarios. Things are never the way I think they are>
   
9. Be grateful.
   Another daily affirmation for me. This includes gratitude for fresh air, clean water, a peaceful life and freedom to take a walk anywhere, at any time.
   
10.  Let it go.
    Don’t hang on to things, to people, to past experiences. Let them all go. Slowly.

So what’s ahead in 2012? I think I want it to be a year where I will make a start at doing the things I want to do in two years’ time when I am 60. Waiting till I am 60 to do them will be a bit late I think, so some part of my routine will be devoted to some new activities.  Perhaps that will mean less work but that’s OK. I need to work less anyway. I am often reminded by the saying that no one, on their death bed, ever regrets not doing more work.  

And even as I get ready for the New Year, I am reminded by Abe Lincoln that

“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”

I hope to put more life into my year in 2012. May you also find the good life in the year to come.

Author's Chair

Author’s Chair is another feature of writing process that was very popular at our writing camp. Again, this is one activity that did not find favour in our Singaporean classrooms because of the lack of time and the large class size. Another possible reason is that the culture for such an activity is missing.

But I am again surprised at how the students at the camp adopted this activity and took to it like ducks to water. On the first day, we had to ask a few children to share their writing but on the second day, students were signing up on the board to read their pieces. On the third day, there was a scramble to take up the six slots offered for Author’s Chair. Regretfully, we did not have time for Author’s Chair on the fourth day, although the older children did get to share their writing with their parents on the last day.  The primary children published their pieces instead.

What is Author’s Chair?

Author’s Chair is the final step in the writing process where writers who have completed their writing or are happy with their pieces are invited to share their writing by reading it aloud.  It is an opportunity to receive feedback from peers and for peers to respond to what has been written. A special chair is usually set aside for this occasion. We used a tall chair, placed in the centre of the classroom.

Author’s Chair helps child writers to develop the concept of authorship and to affirm their writing and their ideas.  It also encourages collaborative learning and sharing. Author’s Chair is a motivating activity for students, as I can well testify, and it encourages students to want to write more and to write for a real audience.  Peers who are listening learn to listen attentively and to show their appreciation for their friend’s writing. Although we did not ask our students to give feedback, this step can well be added to the routine once students are used to the activity and feel a sense of belonging to the community.  We encouraged all our students to show their appreciation for the sharing by clapping.

I am convinced that Author’s Chair is one activity that will fit well into our STELLAR classrooms. After all, the best time to begin such an activity is when students are young and not too self conscious. Yet, I must emphasise that a safe classroom culture is significant so that potential writers are not discouraged by the reaction of their peers.  I was very gratified by the positive response students gave to Author’s Chair and once again, it showed me that most students (and not just the bright ones or the good writers) are keen to share their work and interested in their peers’ reactions to their work.

A final thought for those of you thinking of doing this in class. You may not want your students to share the complete story. Reading a short extract, their favourite line or lines, or what they think is most interesting will be adequate. This will also help you to include more students in the activity. Like all activities, don’t let it drag on and on. Always stop early to keep them hungry for more the next time!

About blah, blah writing 2

J was one of many boys who joined our BAWP writing camp.  On Day 1, when he was introduced to the idea of Freewriting, I could see that he was not used to writing independently. He sat for a long time staring into space. After some time, the concept of blah blah writing was introduced to the class. He was instantly transformed. At once, he picked up his pen and started writing blah, blah, blah interspersed with an odd word or phrase. Sometimes he added a sentence the teacher was saying.  He wrote all morning and all through break, as if he was possessed. He refused to stop even when he was told that he has written enough. In the end, he wrote three pages of blah blah writing on Day 1. Here is an extract from his journal.

 After the first session, we talked about how to help him and it became clear that in between his blah blahs, there were some lucid thoughts and sentences. We planned to pull out these sentences and put them together into a verse with him the next day if he still could not do anything else.

Day 2 arrived and what a surprise! Blah blah writing just ceased and J seemed to have emerged from his writer’s block. He wrote happily like everyone else and while it did not seem a lot, it was still a gigantic step for him. For the rest of the camp, he turned out to be a most enthusiastic writer and contributed actively to the class and did many pieces of independent writing.  He showed a lot of interest in the pictures used for prompts and stayed behind during break to help put them up and to study them carefully.

Was he the only child who had such a good experience? No. I must confess that I was surprised by the positive feedback we had to Freewriting. Many children chose that as one of their favourite activities in the camp because they said that it gave them the freedom to write what they wanted to.  Again, I must admit that while I understood the importance of choice in writing, I underestimated its value and the crucial role it plays in children’s motivation to write.

What lessons can we take away from this episode? Let me summarise them.

1. Give children choice in writing. They will feel more motivated if they can sometimes write what they want.
2. Don’t overemphasise accuracy and conventions. Let the thoughts flow unimpeded first and respect what children have to say.
3. Practise Freewriting as part of your writing activities. It only takes 10-15 minutes each day and it gives students the writing practice they need.
4. Give students time to get used to the activity. Don’t rush them and don’t worry too much if they are slow to pick up on the idea.
5. Writing every day is better than a long essay once a fortnight.
6. Teach them blah blah writing as a way to overcome writer’s block.
7. Avoid marking or commenting negatively on their Freewriting pieces.
8. Use intriguing prompts to help students think creatively.

Elbow has further described Freewriting as first order writing which is “intuitive and creative and does not strive for conscious direction or control”. When we write fast without censoring, we often are led to new connections and new insights that we have not foreseen.

In schools, we are often focused on accuracy and grammaticality in writing. Perhaps it’s time we gave these a rest and focus on what students have to say. Freewriting helps students develop a writing voice. I have no doubt that young writers can be more creative and thoughtful writers if they learn that they too can have something meaningful to say and in their own voices. 

About blah, blah writing 1

                                            1. Prompts for Writing

                                            2. Freewriting session

I have written about and advocated a writing strategy called Quick Write in my classes and in my newsletters for quite a number of years already, but I don’t think it has been consistently implemented anywhere.  Again, the perception seems to be that it is too time consuming although it’s a mere ten minutes and could be done as part of journaling. I’d like to revisit this topic and share how we used this approach in our writing camp recently.

What is Quickwrite/Freewrite?

Quick Write simply is an activity where students are asked to write to a prompt or write about any topic they wish to in a fixed time, say five minutes to begin with, without stopping to correct anything. Sometimes, this is described as stream-of consciousness writing. In other words, just write and do not stop moving your pen for five minutes. If students run out of ideas, they simply write, “I have no ideas. I don’t know what to write” or other similar thoughts going on in their head until they find a new thought to put down on paper.

A timer is an excellent way to keep track of time and once the timer rings, every one stops writing, and they count the number of words on their page and write that at the bottom of their piece. This is optional, but I find that counting the number of words give students incentive to want to write more the next time. After this, the teacher can have students read aloud their own piece or to their friend in the course of which they can edit their writing if they wish to.

Goals of Quick Write

The main goal of Quick Write is to help students develop fluency in writing and to be able to put their thoughts down on paper.  Many students have problems putting their thoughts down on paper because they consistently do self censoring as they write. Others are hampered by a need to get everything correct at the first try or they are paralysed by their inability to spell or to find the right word.

With Quick Write, students write without paying attention to such concerns. They merely put down what comes to their mind even if these thoughts are about their difficulties with writing.  Eventually, they will find that find it easier to put their words down on paper and their writing will increase in length.  I did Quick Write for a short while with Junior when he was in primary school and he enjoyed it and was able to write more after a while. He also became more alert to his own mistakes when writing.

Quick Write vs Freewriting

I am bringing back this topic simply because we had a chance in the Bay Area Writing Project’s (BAWP) Writing Camp to practise this with our students for four days in a row. In our camp, the teachers refer to it as Freewriting but the concept is the same.  This is how Peter Elbow, writing guru and professor of English defines Freewriting:

To write and not stop for anything. Go quickly without rushing. Never stop to look back, to cross something out, to wonder how to spell something, to wonder what word or thought to use, or to think about what you are doing (quoted in Wendy Major, 22 Oct 1994).

Freewriting gives students an opportunity to write about what they want without worrying about accuracy, relevance, organisation, style, grammar tec. They just focus on writing.

Freewriting at the BAWP writing camp

So, how did this work out in our BAWP camp with our 10-12 year olds?

Students came in each morning to two or three prompts written on the board. They take out their writing journal and begin writing immediately without talking. On the first day, we had students who were a bit lost. They sat and stared into space or at their brand new journals for a long time not knowing what to write. They were then introduced to the concept of blah blah writing. They were told that if they had nothing to write, they could just write blah blah blah, but in between they may overhear something or think of a word, a phrase or even a sentence. They are to include this into their writing and continue.  But they are not to stop writing.

 After the first day, all students knew what to do and fell into the routine without any hassle. They all wrote for 10 minutes after which they put away their journal to begin the first activity of the day. Sometime later during writers’ workshop, they can go back to work on their Freewrite piece if that’s what they want to do or they can go on to write  a new piece introduced by the teacher.

In the next posting, I will share an example of a child experiencing freewriting. 

More writing and a writing camp

                                                   1. Free Writing Time

                                                     2. In the silent writing room...

                                                         3. The daily prompts

Don’t remind me. I know it’s December and I haven’t been updating this blog since September. It’s true that I’ve been busy but I am always busy and that hasn’t stopped me from writing one more thing. But October was spent in Jakarta (two trips) and November was my personal development time. But in between all these activities, I was busy writing too.

Yes, writing the Teacher’s Guide for the P4 textbook, writing and rewriting various bits of the materials and most of all writing a 16-page, 7000 over word piece on one of our English textbooks.  After that was done, I was truly exhausted from writing. Writing is not difficult for me but writing is always a pain, and I still struggle to put words on paper and to organise thoughts. True, the end product is always satisfying but getting there is another story.

After the many writing exercises, I was planning for the beginning of the Bay Area Writing Project’s (BAWP) Singapore Writing Camp that I was jointly organising with the Adam Khoo Learning Centre for primary and lower secondary children. The camp ended on 2 December but what an experience that was! It left me completely exhausted but also totally invigorated. I am once again charged up for more writing adventures and here I am back at the computer.

In the next few posts, I hope to share some lessons from the camp with you-- lessons that I hope will help you rethink your own writing life as well as your pedagogical practices. In the meanwhile, I am busy setting up my writing group and getting my drafts in order in my writing journal. And in case you are thinking, oh, good for her but I have no time and nothing to write about and I don’t write well. Well, I too have little time and I am just wondering how to fit in my walk, yoga practice, writing and swimming into my working day. But busy woman finds time and every one can write; they just need to find their writing voice.   Read my upcoming posts about our reluctant writers at the camp and perhaps you can find some inspiration.

And in the words of Elmore Leonard, There isn’t any secret. You sit down and you start and that’s it.

Cooking my troubles away

My solution to a problem is always to get busy. I organise, clean, sweep or if that’s all done, I cook. I would say that I am a B+ cook, verging on A sometimes but over the years, I’ve lost some of my skills because I don’t cook as often as I used to. But I can still whip up a meal for 20 people at the drop of a hat. I have not stopped collecting recipes and I maintain an active account with allrecipes.com.

My love for cooking and recipes began from my love for reading. In my youth, there were few bookshops and not much reading material available. There was a mamak store in my neighbourhood where an Indian uncle sold a small selection of paperback books including an odd Enid Blyton. I bought them all and one day, I realised that I had bought and read everything he had. I asked him if he had anything else left for me to read and he offered me some back copies of Women’s Own, a women’s magazine, at a cheap price. I took them and that started my interest in cooking and collecting recipes.  At twelve, I already had a bulging book of recipes and knew a blancmange from a soufflé. It helped that my teachers loved to cook too and they often asked me to help copy recipes for them into their own books in my-then-beautiful handwriting.

I started formal cooking lessons in Sec 1 and the first lesson was to reconstitute milk. Looking back, I must say that this is truly a last century task. I bet most of you don't know what reconstituting milk was all about. It’s simply making milk from milk powder because we did not have pasteurized milk in tetra packs in those days. This was quite a skilful task as milk powder in those days didn’t dissolve easily, and it was very easy to end up with lumps in your milk.  After that, the first thing we made with the reconstituted milk was a banana milk shake. The first real food I made was scones, using the rubbing-in method. Looking back, I am grateful for these cooking lessons which went on for 3 to 4 years of my secondary school life. I learnt a lot about basic cooking methods, cleanliness in the kitchen, balancing diets and even won a prize for dish I created - Tutti Frutti Jelly – in a nation-wide contest when I was in Sec 3 or 4.

Cooking is always therapeutic for me. Many people cook as a hobby nowadays and have huge designer kitchens and fancy equipment to show off their skills. In my time, we didn’t even have an oven. My first home- made one was an aluminium pot with sand inside. There were hot coals under the pot and more hot coals on the lid and the cakes or cookies just got cooked or burnt in between. Still, the excitement of a perfect batch of cookies was hard to beat then.

Nowadays, I have more fancy equipment although I would say my collection of cooking equipment is modest compared to my sisters’.  Last weekend, in a cooking frenzy, I made some apple-oats and some cranberry-chocolate muffins. Needless to say, I made too much and I still have two sad boxes in my freezer. Were they good? I think so. Hey, these are healthy muffins, and my son grew up on the apple-raisin muffins. The recipe came straight out of Sunset magazine. But truth be told, on bad days, I crave for fat-filled, moist cupcakes not low-fat, chewy muffins.  

I learnt to sew too in school but cooking has been the one subject that has seen me through many good and bad days. I’m sorry that many young people don’t care to learn how to cook although there has been a great increase in food and eating in recent years. Unfortunately, there’s not enough interest in basic cooking.  

Here are a few interesting thoughts about the subject:

Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all. Harriet Van Horne.
 

When men reach their sixties and retire, they go to pieces. Women go right on cooking. Gail Sheehy.

And they shouldn't stop.

Have we done enough?

Two weeks ago, I had to go to Tan Tock Seng Hospital for some tests since my recent mammogram showed some irregularities. I did not give this too much thought although it was yet another unwelcome piece of news that I had had that week. I turned up at the clinic armed with a book, a sweater and a water bottle and was prepared for a long wait. The clinic was full, and again, I was reminded that breast cancer can happen to any woman.  Then the request came for me to do a second mammogram.  After that, I had hoped for the best. So I was not eager to respond to the next request for an ultra sound. It was while lying on the bed with cold gel all over my chest that I started to ask myself if there was anything I could have done to avoid this situation. I must confess to getting nervous at that stage especially when the nurse had to call me back for a second ultra sound after I had changed back into my clothes.   After some reflection, I realised that there was nothing more I could have done.  I have faithfully gone for mammograms once every two years, exercised, minded my diet, and done enough I think without becoming paranoid. And there is no history of cancer in my family. Finally, to cut a long story short, I found out that while there was an increase in the calcifications, these were not cancerous.

After that incident, I got busy working on a seminar for my PSLE students. I wanted to make sure that my teachers have prepared the students well. But as I busied myself, I started thinking about the parallels between my experience at the hospital and preparing students for exams. The PSLE is around the corner, and I know that after that, we would often ask ourselves if we had done enough to prepare our students for it.  Did I teach them that? Did I remember to revise that with them? Could I have taught that skill/item more efficiently so that they will get it right? It’s exactly like what I did, asking myself, if I did I enough to ensure  that I won’t get breast cancer.

Well, I think  there’s no point asking those questions because asking them means that we think we can cover all bases for the exams.  Just like life, we can’t take care of every single thing in an exam.   If we can predict everything, then we are either gods or the exams are a sham. In English especially, it is difficult to say how well a child will do. I, like many teachers, often fall into the trap of saying one can get an A* this way or that way but the truth is, a lot depends on the child, other children, the day, the test and a whole host of other factors.  Language tests are also not objective, although this does not mean that they are always scored subjectively.  A child who fails to get the A* he or she deserves can still go on in life and succeed.  A child who scores A* and hates the subject will end his or her learning of the subject after the exam.

My son, Junior, is one example. He struggled with Chinese all through his school career.  But not passing Chinese at PSLE and not offering Chinese as an exam subject in secondary school did not stop him from learning it.  Now at 21, he travels to Taiwan often to meet his business associates and no one speaks English there. Junior has to speak Mandarin and also to learn some technical terms related to his products. I am only thankful that although he was weak in Mandarin at school, he did not leave school with a negative attitude towards it. He can still learn the language now.  These days, he even speaks Mandarin in Singapore when he has to.  Could I have done more to help him with Chinese? I don’t know.  But I know I tried my best.

So if you are worried stiff now about the coming exams, don’t add to your stress by asking, Am I doing enough?, or  after the exams,  Did I do enough? Ask instead if you did all you can and if you did it with the right intention.  You can only do that much; the rest is beyond you. 

As for me, I am returning to my usual life style. I reckon I am doing enough and I should instead learn to enjoy my life more, instead of worrying about things I have no control over. 

Happy Teachers' Day and Some Prizes to be Won

                                                      Win one of these 2 T-shirts!

It's Teachers' Day again and if one is cynical, one can just treat it as a day for catching up on marking, completing administrative chores or setting exam papers. But wait! Why do that? If we have a day to call it our own, we should celebrate it. After all, how many professionals have a day to call their own? And when I say celebrate it, I don't mean go shopping.

We should celebrate it by reflecting on what makes us special. Yes, we are special, and I am sorry that nowadays, many people try to take that away from us. I say, don't let them. Instead, affirm our work. Take time off today and sit quietly for a while and reflect on why you are a teacher and what you want to do as a teacher. Think of the 40 faces you are in charge of every day and project ahead and imagine them ten years down the road. How can you make that road easier for them? Like it or not, they are your family, and your desire to do your best for them makes you special. Some, among the 40, won't have another person who will want to do that for them. You are super special to them.

At Teachers' Day lunch today, I asked some of my young teachers what makes teaching special for them. A young male teacher told me this without even pausing to think.

You get to watch your kids grow up, over and over again through the years. You don't feel you have to let your kids go, as parents do when their children grow up. For teachers, the gap is filled up almost immediately by a new batch of pupils.

Other responses include:

• Teaching helps you keep in touch with things and you rediscover your youth always through teaching your pupils.
• Teaching helps you stay alert to things in the world.
• Teaching is a job that allows one to witness the turning point that can suddenly transform your kids. Granted, this does not happen to all kids, but when it does happen, you, the teacher, are there to witness it.
• Teaching keeps one honest as it's difficult not to be honest with kids around you.

And there could be many more meaningful reasons like these.

Why do you teach and what meaning do you find in the profession? Send me a short paragraph or post it on my Facebook account. The most interesting responses/stories will win prizes! Two T-shirts that you see in the pictures here and I am happy to give away copies of my books, The Learning Teacher 1 &2 to other good submissions. All entries must be in by 11 September. Either post them here as Comments or on my Facebook account. Or email them to learning@pacific.net.sg.

No energy to write? Enjoy this video instead.

 http://www.heartofateachermovie.com/

Happy Teachers' Day again and Happy Holidays.

Five Questions That Will Improve Your Teaching

Five Questions That Will Improve Your Teaching

Seoul and Dog Poo

Two weeks ago, I was on a lightning trip to Seoul to visit a writing camp organised by the Bay Area Writing Project (BAWP). I have known about the BAWP from my postgraduate days at UC Berkeley and was keen to see what programmes they were offering. Unfortunately, I landed in Seoul on the morning of the storm-of-the-century and was caught in a four-hour traffic jam getting to the hotel.  Our very resourceful taxi-driver worked hard, taking every short cut he could think of. Otherwise, we could have been in the jam for a much longer period. With no English newspapers, it took me a day or more before I discovered the extent of damage in Seoul from the rains that fateful day.

Our three-day trip was spent in the camp and during our free time, we were in a mall to escape the rain. Sadly, I am in no position to say much about Seoul from this trip. But I was most impressed by Incheon airport and learnt a bit more about the art of kimchee making.

                                 A "royal" procession at Incheon airport, staged to entertain tourists.

Back home, I spent the Sunday attending the Buddhism and Science Symposium, where experts spoke about the link between scientific research and Buddhist practices like meditation.  Here are some of the ideas I took away from that day:

1. The map is not the territory. Our perception of the world is just that- a perception, and not the real thing. We should not use our perceptions of people and of the world to measure or judge people or events because ours is only one view.  A timely reminder.

2. Life is not about being good. It’s about being real. CG Jung.

3. We have 5 dreams per night and 1825 per year. We all dream but each dream is unique and particular to the dreamer.

4. Here’s an exercise that Dr Marke Greene suggested. Try it.

      Close your eyes. Imagine a person who is very difficult. Choose someone of the same gender. Think of a word that describes what makes this person difficult.
Chances are that the word you chose to describe the person also describes you. I tried this and it took me a while to understand and accept that the word also described me. That was humbling and enlightening.

      5. The Ven Chuan Guan gave a lively talk during which he told a story about dog poo. Here’s a paraphrase of what he said: When we are out and about, and we step on dog poo, what do we do? We try to get rid of it immediately, either by wiping our shoes on some grass or with tissue. We don’t pick the dog poo up, put it in a bag and tie it up neatly to take it home. And when we get home, and we are asked what we did outside, we don’t take our pack of dog poo out, unpack it and share it with our family. Nor do our family members share the dog poo they've inadvertently stepped on with us. 

The Venerable’s message is this: Don’t take home your emotional dog poo and share it with your loved ones. Leave the dog poo outside where it belongs. Making your loved ones deal with your dog poo is not a loving gesture. 

I thought this was an interesting metaphor and a good story to share with everyone. Like itor not, we are all a little guilty of unloading dog poo on our loved ones every now and then when we get home from a stressful day at work. Perhaps it’s time to rethink this habit.

So, it was a Sunday well spent and after that I had a week of work and fought the flu at the same time.  National Day came and went.  At one point, it was bad enough for me to cancel yoga and all physical exercises and although work went on as usual, I never really got better. Today, I still have a bad cough after having consumed a whole bottle of cough syrup.  Ah well.  Thank goodness it’s Friday! 

Four Steps to Staying Sane as a Teacher

This is the time of year when teachers go a bit crazy with stress and work. Perhaps it's a good time to take a bit of time over the weekend and read this article about staying sane.

Four Steps to Staying Sane as a Teacher

Narrative feedback

Recently, an American educator told me that she heard from a friend who taught here in a premier junior college that Singaporean teachers don't care to give feedback when they mark. They are only concerned with grammatical mistakes, he said.

I don't know if that's true of the whole system, but in the primary schools and to a large extent the secondary schools, marks are what count for teachers, students and parents. This is sad because a mark does not tell us enough what is good or not so good about a piece of writing. And if teachers say it's easier to give a mark than comments, I would beg to differ. Have we not, at one time or another, been caught in this great dilemma of how many marks to give? 5, 5.5 or 6? And what is the difference between these marks?

It is really time to give more attention to giving quality feedback instead of marks. Watch this video about narrative feedback, which is more than just giving comments, and see if there's a way we can adopt this idea for our marking.

How narrative feedback can crush the ABCs - South Euclid, OH, United States, ASCD EDge Blog post

Walking down the tracks of time

In the late 1970s, I was one of the many Malaysians who came to Singapore in search of a new life. Like many of them, I too came by train through the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station. So when it closed recently, I did feel a sense of regret.

In those days, I travelled by train frequently and although I did sometimes drive, my husband felt it was safer for me to travel by train, especially when I was travelling alone. My family and friends came to visit me by train and I still remember the anxiety and the excitement among the waiting crowd when the train appeared around the corner, very often behind schedule. Going home was another anxious event especially getting past the less-than-friendly Malaysian customs officers. But still, taking the train was better than the bus in those days when luxury coaches and superhighways were non-existent. 

But from way back in my childhood, trains were a part of my life. I went to school in Sentul which was where the largest railway workshop in Malaysia was situated. The railway track was about 300 metres behind my house and I spent a lot of time playing on the tracks. On school days, I’d walk to and from school with Roziah Sultan, my best friend then, and part of the journey was along the railway track. The nicest part about the walk was the railway creepers with their lovely pink flowers.  Some days, the train would pass, and we would wait behind the railway gates, staring up at the people in the train and wondering where they were going.

When I started travelling to university, I was able to take the commuter train from a train stop behind my house to the main railway station in town where I caught a bus to the campus in Pantai Valley. Near my home, a road, Ipoh Road, crosses the railway line creating a tunnel below. My brother and his Boy Brigade friends spent many a weekend practising their bugle playing in that tunnel. They weren’t the finest musicians so the tunnel was the best place to practise improving their lung power.  Not far from this tunnel was a railway bridge which spanned the Batu River. My siblings and I spent many a mischievous day there, crossing the river on the railway track. That was not really a safe thing to do; one misstep and we would be in the fast flowing waters of the river, but we were young and foolish then. Sometimes a train would appear unexpectedly and we would have to step off the track and cling on to the side of the bridge while the train roared past us.  When there was no train, we would practise balancing on the tracks (pretending to be ballerinas or tightrope walkers) and pick wild rhododendrons and grass flowers for our home.  On the odd occasion when the neighbourhood crazy man appeared on the track, exposing various parts of his emaciated body, we would throw stones at him. I don’t ever remember being afraid of anyone or anything in those days.

Today the railway workshop has been replaced by The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPac) and Sentul West looks a lot like Singapore with its Singapore-styled condominiums. The old golf course, built for the managerial and administrative staff of the railway workshop, is still there but that part of Sentul is no longer the working class neighbourhood it used to be. Our family home has gone too but my sister still lives nearby and the trains run a road away past the front of her house. The railway track is now electrified and fenced up. Whenever I visit my sister, I still hear trains roaring past at odd hours of the day and night.

I was recalling these and other events from my childhood when I took a walk with my husband along the old railway track from Silat Walk to Bukit Merah Central last week. The walk brought back many memories; a railway track is somewhat the same no matter which country we are in. Here are some photos from our walk.

We began at Silat Walk and many people were already there, taking pictures and just looking around. 

The track into the station has been cordoned off already so we could only walk westwards.

One of the several bridges we went under. Many glue sniffers frequented these places judging from the empty tubes and tins.

A sign reminding train drivers to check their brakes. Good to know that they take their job seriously.

Wild rhododendrons and other wildflowers along the track.

Making a “phone call”.

There was even a romantic message!

The sun was shining in my eyes as we walked westwards, but when I lifted my eyes and looked out from under the brim of my Tilly hat, I saw an amazing sight- sunlight shining on some grass flowers, turning them into bouquets of burnished gold. Wordsworth can keep his daffodils! This was so breathtaking.

We should all support the proposal to turn this railway line into a green rail corridor. It will be a wonderful place for the young to explore and to enjoy. 

Learning to write from real books in the Stellar Programme (Part 2)

Last week, I wrote about helping pupils to understand and learn about story structure from Owl Babies.  Apart from the story structure, there are other useful details that pupils can learn from the story about writing.  Owl Babies provides a good example of how to use dialogues.

 Let me begin by compiling the dialogues by each of the owl babies.  

“Where’s Mummy?” asked Sarah
“I think she’s gone hunting,” said Sarah
“She’ll be back,” said Sarah
“She’ll bring us mice and things that are nice,” said Sarah
“I think we should all sit on my branch,” said Sarah
“Suppose she got lost,” said Sarah
“I knew it,” said Sarah

“Oh my goodness!” said Percy
“To get us some food,” said Percy
“Back soon!” said Percy
“I suppose so,” said Percy
“Or a fox got her,” said Percy
“And I knew it,” said Percy

“I want my mummy!” said Bill
“I want my mummy!” said Bill
“I want my mummy!” said Bill
“I want my mummy!” said Bill
“I want my mummy!” said Bill
“I love my mummy!” said Bill

Looking at these dialogues, you can tell that Sarah is the oldest baby owl and that she called the shots most of the time. Percy supported her by echoing her views or reinforcing them. Bill is clearly the baby who says the same thing all the time except at the end. The dialogues tell us more about the characters which the story does not. Choosing the right dialogue for each character helps the development of the character and the plot of the story. Bill’s last statement tells us indirectly what they have learnt from the whole episode- that they love their mummy.

Once children understand this, help them to craft some short dialogues to flesh out their characters and the storyline.  Try to make the dialogue realistic; avoid stilted expressions like “Oh my goodness” which many young people don’t use. Repetition, like Bill’s constant “I want my mummy” can be quite effective too.

Another valuable lesson from the book is the use of descriptions and of showing not telling. For instance, the author described their hole as one with “twigs, leaves and owl feathers”. You can infer from these details that the hole wasn’t a mere hole; it was a comfortable home. Here are more questions to help pupils see how the author shows emotions and actions.

·         When they woke up and found their mother gone, how did they feel?

·         How did the author show this instead of telling you they were worried?  

·         Later, which part of the baby owls’ actions told you they were getting anxious?

·         Why did Sarah say that they should all sit on her branch instead of on separate branches?

·         Why did the baby owls close their eyes?

·         And when their mother returned, how did you know they were happy?

All these questions help pupils to see that showing helps the readers to be more engaged with the story than telling. Merely saying the owls were happy has less of an impact than

“Mummy!” they cried, and they flapped and they danced, and they bounced up and down on their branch.

So, going back to our original plans, how can they show the happy kittens? What would the relieved Nadera say or do when she found her mother? Once pupils are able to write some short dialogues, these can be incorporated into the actual story.

Now using plan B, I can help pupils to craft a story following the structure of the book and the sentence patterns used in the book. For the introduction, I could write:

Characters and Setting	Once, there were two baby kittens: Kitty and Percy. They lived in a basket in a garden shed with their Cat Mother. The basket was made of straw. It had soft rags in it. It was their house. (Note: Encourage pupils to add details to make the descriptions vivid)
Problem	One afternoon, they came home from playing in the garden and found Cat Mother GONE. “Where’s mum?” asked Kitty. “ Mummy, mummy!” said Percy. (Note: I left out “Oh my goodness” because in my world, kittens don’t talk like that.)

The story can now be further developed following the plan we’ve made. It’s always easier to write a first draft and then revise it to include dialogue and descriptions.  There can be variations made to parts of the story; don’t be afraid to improvise. Pupils can have many interesting ideas; for example, they may suggest changes to some of the dialogue. Finally, they can also write a conclusion that parallels that in the original story.

Following the joint construction of the first story, pupils are now ready to write their own individual parallel version. They can choose any of the plans you have brainstormed earlier. Weaker pupils can be encouraged to write in pairs, but they all follow the model that is given. Again, emphasise the planning first.

What I have suggested here can fill several lessons, and they are meant for a series of lessons not just one. Pupils can also be taught with different books but using the same approach. For instance, I can deconstruct any storybook once I know how to do that. I can also explore the use of dialogue with any other story, so this need not all be taught with Owl Babies.

As a teacher, I need to be able to pull out what is useful in a story for my pupils to emulate. Every story presents interesting story elements that can be studied. These in turn can be recycled into pupils’ writing. Try not to teach too many things in one lesson.  After you’ve done a draft of the story, use another lesson to revise and add dialogue to the story. You don’t need a lot of dialogue. A few lines may suffice for these young writers.

I understand that some of you may think this is too difficult for P2 pupils. Well, you decide. I know many P2 pupils who are ready for this. And if they are not, wait for another year or so. 

Learning to write from real books in the Stellar Programme (Part 1)

Since STELLAR (Strategies for English Language Learning and Reading) began in our schools, pupils have been exposed to many good quality children’s books. The advantages of good literature are plentiful: enjoyment of good stories, learning about what makes for good stories and good writing, enriching vocabulary etc. However, these benefits remain a list unless teachers know how to use these books purposefully to maximise learning.

Recently, I learnt that a fellow teacher was planning to improve the teaching of narratives to her 7 year olds. I thought then of how I would do that if I were in her shoes.  The result is this sample lesson plan based on Owl Babies, which is a title used in P2. This delightful story is about a trio of owlets who woke up one evening and found Mum missing. I hope this lesson plan will be useful to teachers.

The first thing about writing narratives is to help pupils understand the way narratives are structured.  One useful way to do this is to deconstruct the story as a class. For Owl Babies, here is a simple story structure to use. Teachers should complete this story map together with the pupils and with close reference to the book.  My book has no page numbers but I have indicated roughly what the possible pages could be. Close reference to the story helps students locate the information systematically instead of trying to retrieve the information from their memory.

Story Structure

Characters	Sarah, Percy, Bill and Mother Owl (p.1-2)
Setting (place & time)	hole in a  tree trunk/ one night (p.1-2)
Problem	The baby owls woke up and found mother was gone.  (p.3-4)
What did the characters do?	1.  They thought about where she might have gone. (p. 5-6) 2. They came out of their house and sat on the tree and waited. (p.7-8) 3. They sat on one branch and talked and thought some more. (p.9-10) 4. They closed their eyes and wished their mother would come home (p. 11-12)
How the problem was solved (resolution)	Their mother came home. ( p. 13-14)
How they felt? What they learnt	They felt happy. ( p. 15-16) They learnt that they should trust their mother to come home. (p. 17-18)

Deconstructing the story this way has a number of merits. First, pupils will learn what the essential elements of a good narrative are. Then they also see that details are important to a story-for instance, what the characters did after they discovered the problem. Pupils also learn that a satisfactory conclusion is necessary and that a good closure involves some element of change in the characters (the lesson learnt).

Once pupils have understood the structure of a story, it’s useful to help them jointly reconstruct the structure by writing a parallel story. A parallel story is simply one that follows closely the original story but with some changes in the details of the story. Here are some possible suggestions:

Story titles/ Characters	Storyline
1.       Cat Babies	Baby kittens find their mum missing after coming back from a romp in the garden.
2.       Bird babies	Birdies miss their mum when they awake from their afternoon nap.
3.       Josie Baby	Josie baby wakes up from her afternoon nap and finds no one in her room.
4.       Mum is missing	A primary school pupil wakes up from her nap and finds no one at home.

Selecting the story is important. You can choose any of the four given above but note though that    the two stories about children ( 3&4) are different from stories about animals.  It won’t be appropriate to begin these stories with Once as in the Owl Babies story, as this is more suitable in fables.

Choosing any of the other two plans will allow us to follow the introduction in the book closely. You need to decide what your students can do at this stage to help you make the correct decision.  On the other hand, you can simply change Once to One day and the plan will still work. A plan for the cat story is also given here.

Once pupils have selected a parallel story, then brainstorm a plan. This is a crucial aspect of the writing and should not be neglected. Use the story structure to plan the story.

 Here's plan A for story number 4.

Characters	Nadera, a Primary 1 pupil, and her mum.
Setting	at home in an HDB flat
Problem	Nadera had an afternoon nap with her mum after school. When she woke up, she found her mother was gone.
What did Nadera do?	1.   She got up and looked around the flat, room by room. 2.   She was afraid but tried to be calm. 3.  She sat down and thought about where mother could be. 3.  She decided to call her on the mobile phone.
How the problem was solved (resolution)	Her mother was next door at their neighbours helping Aunty Lucy to make nasi lemak.
How Nadera felt? What they learnt	Nadera was relieved. Mother apologised for scaring her. Nadera learnt to be calm even when she was afraid.

Here's plan B for story number 1.

Characters	Kitty and Percy, two little kittens and Cat Mother.
Setting	A garden shed where the cats lived
Problem	The kittens came back from playing in the garden and found mother was gone.  (p.3-4)
What did the characters do?	1.  They thought about where she might have gone.  2.  They got worried and scared. 3. They decided to remain in the shed and not go out to search for her.
How the problem was solved (resolution)	Their mother came home. ( p. 13-14)
How they felt? What they learnt	They felt happy. ( p. 15-16) They learnt that they should trust their mother to come home. (p. 17-18)

Now that you have a plan, you can begin writing but well before you do that it’s helpful to direct pupils’ attention to some details in the story. A plan is good but good writing and a good story is all about the details. Each book will provide different details for you to focus on.

Look out for Part 2 of this blog where I will talk about teaching pupils to write dialogues and descriptions from Owl Babies.