Sengkang Green Primary School (Teaching Assistantship)

In Sengkang Green Primary School, I was shadowing a P4 & a P3 class. Throughout the 5 weeks, I had the opportunity to teach the P4s once or twice a week from Week 3 onwards.

As it was a class with students of higher learning progress, the planning of lessons was more skewed towards stretching them and promote higher order thinking in class. The class was enthusiastic in learning and was a joy to teach. From my interactions with the students, I could see that their behaviour and passion for learning was closely related to my CT's classroom management. She was stern, yet fun. Students were always engaged in her class and I have benefited greatly by observing her classes. This experience was extremely valuable for me as I could finally try teaching in a classroom and my CT was very nurturing. She constantly reassures me and was never hesitant to share her valuable experiences with me. I've learnt a lot from her and will always be grateful for this experience.

For the P3 class I was shadowing, it was slightly more challenging as there are a few students with Special Education Needs (SEN). My interactions with these students also prompted me to want to understand how I can better help such students. As there are increasingly more students of such profile, I felt that it was important for me to know how to manage and help students with SEN. Hence, I took up AED06C - Inclusive Education: Teaching Strategies for Students with Special Education Needs to better prepare me for students with such profile in the future.

All in all, my time in Sengkang Green Primary School was extremely valuable and eye-opening. My experiences from this Teaching Assistantship gave me a clearer idea of how I can improve as a teacher, and work on my weaknesses.