Dear Colleagues,

Please welcome Nur Farhanah who joined us as an untrained teacher on Thursday. I want to thank the team for planning a memorable Total Defence Day skit and thanks to our volunteer defenders who put up an unforgettable skit. We will be hosting a visit on 2 March from 8 to 10 am to our STeP classes, and I would like to open this to you if you are keen to learn and happen to be free during that time.  

It has been some weeks now since we started the weekly 7 Habits reflections in the morning. Next week we will focus on Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind. I want to encourage everyone to find every opportunity to practice the 7 Habits yourself as well as with your boys throughout the day to hopefully intentionally cultivate in them the 7 Habits so that become more effective people in life. 

“Sow a thought and you reap an action; 

sow an act and you reap a habit; 

sow a habit and you reap a character; 

sow a character and you reap a destiny.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Credere et Servire! Keep Believing and Serving,

Timothy Goh

By:    VP

Relevant Levels:   All

Date and Time of Event:  -

Information Details: 

Dear everyone, 

As we reach Habit 7 Sharpen The Saw, I thought it will be nice to model that - get outside perspectives, new ideas, an outside different voice, to grow. Below is a short article that Google Search threw up in its top search results. Enjoy, and again, do have a cuppa, take a break, in between our frenzied end-of-term marking. Take care and press on everyone! And after that intense marking and prep, let's go do something you enjoy to unwind and recharge, swim, eat, walk, play, shop, rest, sleep :D

THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE TEACHERS

https://www.theedadvocate.org/the-7-habits-of-highly-effective-teachers/

BY MATTHEW LYNCH JULY 19, 2019

As a young adult, one of my favorite books was The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It gave me the tools that I needed to make it in any space of human endeavor, and for that, I am forever grateful to the author, Stephen Covey (rest in peace). One of the areas of my life that applied the principles of this book was my career as a teacher, professor, and education administrator.

As I walked by one of the bookshelves in my study this morning, I glanced at the book and smiled. Before I spied it, I was in a minor rut, as I was unsure of what to write for my next article. This chance encounter inspired me to write an article entitled, The 7 Habits of Highly Successful Teachers, an homage to one of my favorite books.

1. Sharpen the saw. Don’t work yourself to death. Teaching can be one of the most labor-intensive careers if you let it. The trick is finding ways to work smarter and not harder. It means being as efficient as you can be, always. Instead of trying to be a super teacher and write all your lessons plans from scratch, find some on the internet, and revise them to meet the needs of your students. Also, for traditionally labor-intensive tasks like communicating with parents, move into modernity by finding a parent-school communication app to streamline the process.

2. Be proactive. Instead of waiting for something to go wrong before you act, always look to solve potential problems before they materialize. You can do this by continuously improving your processes, even if you’re the current way of doing things is just fine. There is a reason why Microsoft keeps improving its Microsoft Office Suite and why Toyota’s current year vehicle line is more advanced than last years. Think of it as a constant strive for perfection that doesn’t end until you retire.

3. Begin with an end in mind. People don’t plan to fail; they just fail to plan. Whatever you are doing, make sure you plan it all the way to the end. This kind of strategic thinking will increase the likelihood of success and save you a lot of wasted time and energy.

4. Put first things first. When completing a task, or attacking a day, we sometimes save the most challenging part for last. This is a backward way of approaching things, as you should always deal with the most elaborate task first. This increases the likelihood that all of your duties with be completed. With the most difficult task out of the way, the rest of your day will be smooth sailing.

5. Think win-win. Instead of approaching a situation from a win-lose angle, try to approach it from a win-win perspective. When negotiating with others, we tend to want to ensure that we get what we feel like we deserve and have a fear of getting the short end of the stick. Instead of doing this, try to create a solution in which each party can get something that they want and walk away as victors.

6. Seek first to understand, then to be understood. It is human nature to want to be understood, and so we approach communication from that perspective. Instead of doing so, try seeking to understand the other person first, and then you can speak your mind. Doing so diffuses volatile situations and allows you to hear the other person’s perspective, which allows you to make a more measured and informed response.

7. Synergize. You ever wonder why early childhood teachers make such a big deal of the developmental skill of “playing nice with others?” Because they know that to reach your potential in life, you will need to depend on other people. Nowhere is this more important than in the field of teaching. To become the best teacher you can be, and provide your students with the best possible education, you will need to collaborate with other teachers and education professionals.

Have a great weekend!

By:     Murni Masuath

Relevant Levels:     Staff

Date and Time of Event:    27 Feb to 3 March 2023

Information Details: 

Dear Colleagues,

The school is scheduled for another Seat Refresh. More than 30 staff are involved in this exercise. 

Please click the link, view the document "Copy of Techers List" to check if you are involved. 

https://go.gov.sg/ssoe2seatrefresh2023

If you are involved, book a time slot at the same link, at document "Handover Schedule" . At your booked scheduled time, you are to handover your current SSOE2 computer notebook and collect the new SSOE2 computer.

TO TAKE NOTE:

1)  BACK UP your data in your current SSOE2 computer before your scheduled time slot.

(Your current SSOE2 computer will be sanitized, and all data erased. Once sanitized, you are NOT ABLE to retrieve any data.)

2) During your scheduled ‘handover’ time slot, you are to bring your current SSOE2 computer to Computer Lab 2:

3) Return your current SSOE2 computer (including ICT accessories eg mouse, adapter, computer bag, cable lock etc) to the ICT Team.

If you have any queries on the matter, please approach Siddiq or any DEs.

Thank you.

By:  SDT Team   

Relevant Levels:     P1 to P6

Date and Time of Event:    20 & 21 March 2023, Monday & Tuesday

Information Details: 

 Dear colleagues,

You have been informed at your recent level meeting on the Whole School Experiential Learning Programme which is happening on 20 & 21 March 2023 in Term 2 week 1.  This is SDT team's new structure and effort to bring about positive learning experiences for our students by consolidating and cooridinating all Learning Journeys (LJs) and character building programmes championed by the various departments to coincide programme implementation on specific common date(s) across all levels.  The aims are:

1) Reviving and commiting to Learning Journeys which create joyful and meaningful learning experiences in both academic and non-academic subjects/ areas with the current "Dorscon Green" status.

2) Make good use of the free-up time for holisitic developement when mid-year examinations are removed for all levels

3) Minimize curriculum disruption when half of the Mother Tongue class is missing due to staggered level LJ dates.

Please fill in the staff unavailability link below if it applies.  This is for our deployment planning on 20 & 21 March. 

2023 Staff Unavailability for Experiential Learning 

Timeteable will be suspended on these 2 days, more details on deployment and timetable will be shared in the subsequent Bulletin.

Thank you.