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REIMAGINE TEACHING
REIMAGINE TEACHING
Teachers who Teach, Teachers who Inspire
Mr Justin Ng, Head of Department, Educational Support
“I believe in tapping on the power of choice, where students choose their course of action and willingly participate in the lesson in order to benefit fully from the experience. For this to happen, I ensure that my lessons are engaging, the classroom culture is safe, open yet disciplined while promoting values-based education.”
Mr Justin Ng has been awarded the Outstanding Youth in Education Award (OYEA) 2021 for his efforts in supporting vulnerable and at-risk students in Springfield Secondary School. He has worked closely with his colleagues to introduce an array of initiatives to better the lives of these students. These include designing experiential learning experiences for students with low motivation in learning, curating a two-week programme for defiant students to reintegrate into class, as well as working with community partners to support at-risk students during the school holidays.
Embracing Inclusivity – Springfield Secondary School’s Milestone Programme
Embracing Inclusivity – Springfield Secondary School’s Milestone Programme
Breaking away from routines
Breaking away from routines
As part of our efforts to engage and excite our students in the Normal (Technical) Stream in learning, the Educational Support Committee organized the NT Milestone Programme 2021. The programme introduced novel and experiential activities that got students very excited as many of them were trying out the experience for the first time.
Hirzi Sufyan Hisham Bin Noorhisham of Secondary 1D shared that,
“It is fun learning in this way. We had to do warm-ups and follow the steps the instructors taught us.”
The different levels engaged in a variety of activities as follows.
Braving uncertainties
For many, these activities threw many challenges in their way. For the Secondary 3’s, the Escape Room programme involved solving a series of puzzles to work out who broke into the Science lab and where the secret formula was located. They were designated as agents to solve the crime.
Norlisha Binte Zulkifli of Secondary 3D opined that,
“The Escape Rooms were fun as we had to solve puzzles as a group in order to get through the tasks. The most important thing is that I learnt how to solve problems which is a useful life skill that I can apply in my life too.”
Mr Mohd Fuad Salim, Subject Head, Malay Language & School Staff Developer (Covering)
“Jauhari juga yang mengenal manikam”- It takes a skillful jeweler to identify precious stones. Every child is like a jewel and it takes a skillful jeweler to take it and make it precious. The responsibility is on teachers to ensure that every student matters. I believe that it is the responsibility of teachers to upskill so that they are able to guide students and teach them well.”
For his efforts and contributions to the teaching of Malay Language, Mr Mohd Fuad Salim clinched the Arif Budiman Malay Language Teacher’s (AGAB) Award 2021 for the Role-Model category (Secondary) in a jointly organised competition by the Malay Language Council, Singapore (MBMS), Berita Harian (BH) and the Malay Language Learning and Promotion Committee (MLLPC).
As Subject Head, Malay Language Mr Fuad has spearheaded programmes to ensure that language is taught in context. He believes that the teaching of the language is grounded in three foci: Authenticity, Relevance and Contextualization. Mr Fuad believes that
“Language is about using it and teachers need to be able to help the students make connections with the language in everyday life. Teachers have to teach in context so students are able to understand the language.”
Contextualizing Language
In his classes, he frequently uses popular shows like TED:ex to give students context. Thereafter, the Malay language and its nuances are explicitly taught. Students are also given the skills to use language within a community and to use words appropriately for a specific audience and purpose. Mr Fuad is also responsible for spearheading Podcasting, a new Malay Language programme which plugs into technology to teach language learning.
Malay Language and Podcasting
The Malay Language Unit has introduced Podcasting as one of the latest mediums to emerge into the mainstream into their curriculum. The podcast is an audio programme, just like Talk Radio. It is a series of spoken word, audio episodes, focused on a particular topic or theme. One can access it via their smartphone and listen to it whenever and wherever they like. Thus, podcast provides the students with the opportunity to learn, as a podcaster or a listener, anytime or anywhere. Students are able to have an opportunity to enhance their language skills at their own convenience.
In Springfield Secondary School, the teaching and learning of Mother Tongue Languages (both Chinese and Malay Languages) emphasises on the need for it to be authentic and contextual. Learning can and should take place not only beyond the four walls of the classroom but at the student’s own convenience. Thus, there is a need to design the programme, materials, and approaches to provide the opportunity for students to experience learning anytime and anywhere.
Malay Language students created podcasts which required them to record their conversations with each other about key issues like racial harmony. They even interviewed Mr Masagos about the planning of Tampines development. Podcast topics range from music, social media to festivals.
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING TEAMS RECREATE AND REINVENT TEACHING
Every year, teachers from each department collaborate to reimagine new teaching methods. Through Professional Learning Teams (PLT), each teacher inspires others, learns from each other, innovates, and implements lessons that go beyond everyday teaching. The highlight was the Learning symposium held at the end of the sessions where some live sessions were held.
Mdm Siti Zubaidah Binte Arshad, Senior Teacher for English Language opined that,
“The PLT teams are a great way for teachers to come together to plan and create interesting lessons. It is definitely helpful for all of us as it reminds us that we are professional educators and need to continuously take on the mindset of life-long learning.”
English Department Leverages on Technology
The English Language Department has spearheaded programmes that underpin the student as an empathetic communicator. Its main thrust is to equip the child with these skills to make an impact in society. At lower secondary, Virtual Reality (VR) goggles are used to help students overcome their fear of public speaking. The upper secondary professional learning team then leveraged gamification strategies to scaffold student’s learning. Gamification as a strategy for writing was introduced to help students write more effectively. During lessons, students could build their own avatars and compete with their friends to gain points for some tasks that were created for them. They then embarked on a role-playing game assuming the identity of an explorer on various journeys to different parts of Singapore.
Head of Department, English Language and Literature, Mr Muhammad Hafiz Bin Salleh shared that
“Our department teachers have been authenticating the students’ experience to build relevance in their everyday teaching. We believe that effective communication skill in speaking and writing is important so that when the student leaves Springfield, they will be able to realise the power of the language and be able to use it effectively in all domains of their lives.”
INTEGRATED LEARNING
Professor Tan Eng Chye, President of the National University of Singapore
“Covid-19 has exposed many “wicked problems” that are ill-defined, mutate all the time, defy single-discipline solutions and even challenge established bodies of knowledge. The pandemic has taught us that it is more than a medical issue, with a broader impact on society, politics, the economy and the environment. To even try to understand it much less solve it, requires integrating knowledge, skills and insights from different perspectives.”
SFSS has made inroads into interdisciplinary approaches in learning. The Mathematics and Science departments have combined their efforts in ensuring that students are able to have a holistic view of their subjects.
Kite-making during post-exam was an activity where students explored the Mathematical concepts of the Bernoulli principle and Physics concepts of the different forces that act on the kite which allows it to ascend: tension, thrust, drag, lift and gravity.
Mathematics Department
The Mathematics Department makes abstract concepts more concrete and applicable in everyday life. On Pi day, children’s stories were used to make Maths come alive. Pi, an important concept in Mathematics was taught through story-telling techniques. It was to give Springfield students a greater appreciation and understanding of Pi and its origins. The programme was also supported with an SLS package, through fun activities centred around Pi.
The teacher’s spirit of innovation took greater heights as trigonometry ratios were taught in an experiential way. Students were tasked to measure the height of the flagpole using trigonometric ratios. They had to use the measuring app on their phones to find the angle of elevation of the flag pole from fixed distances. After gathering data, students tabulated their data on google sheets. They made use of the formulas within google sheets to aid in their calculations. This experience gave them exposure to Excel which can be seen as an introduction to coding. Students enjoyed the experience of gathering their data and were able to collaborate online.
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