Proponents of scaffolding suggest that this is one process that allows teachers to organise a writing activity systematically to meet the needs of all students. We observe that students often write without thinking thoroughly, and therefore lack the depth and quality in their essays. Through scaffolding, the teachers step by step provide the students with adequate instruction so that the students can learn the procedure, and the teachers eventually give up the help of the students in order to pass the responsibility to the learners to complete the assignment (Faraj, 2015). It is hoped that through a well-designed lesson plan where the scaffolding technique has been used, students would be able to grasp the method and strategies to write good personal narratives. Through the various activities planned, they would be able to master the skills of writing and would eventually write a piece of good personal narrative. 

Participants will first be introduced to the lesson conducted in China. Thereafter, they will understand the design and planning behind the modified lesson package in order to suit our local school’s context. Thereafter, participants will get to see how the four different schools applied their lesson packages in their classes. 

In each school, specific teaching pedagogy has been used and highlighted to enhance students’ learning. This includes group work and peer evaluation using rubrics, the use of online learning tools such as Classkick, and how SLS and tools like “Interactive Thinking Tools” and Annotation have been included in the lesson package. Thereafter, participants will brainstorm and reflect on how they can apply the lesson package in their own classrooms. This session will end by sharing with participants how they can link the games designed to SLS so that they can conduct enriching and meaningful HBL lessons in the future.

Learning Period: 21 Feb 2023 (Tue) to 10 November 2023 (Fri) 

Application Period: 17 Feb 2023 (Fri) to 29 September 2023 (Fri)

Registration: Search for the course code CLI-000531 in OPAL2.0, or by clicking on the link here.

大家都知道课堂提问的重要性，但教师应该怎么提问呢？

我们参加了南京短期研修之旅，看到南京老师在课堂上有效提问带动学生思考，使课堂学习气氛十分活跃，因此开始探讨如何把有效提问的技巧应用在新加坡的华文教学中。我们尝试根据新加坡课堂实践教学要领(STP)中的“苏格拉底式提问法”进行教学设计与教学实践，并整理了教学心得。通过此课程，教师能了解“苏格拉底式提问法”的特征及六种问题类型，及如何在课堂中使用提问来促进学生思考并培养他们的批判性思维能力。

Everyone is aware of the importance of good classroom questioning, however, how should we teachers go about it? 

Our team participated in the Overseas Immersion Programme to Nanjing and witnessed how teachers in Nanjing used questioning to engage students in thinking, bringing about a livelier classroom atmosphere. Thus, we began to explore how to implement effective questioning techniques in our own classroom teaching. We based our lesson design and implementation on the Socratic Method of questioning as introduced in the Singapore Teaching Practice. 

Through this workshop, teachers will be able to understand the features of the Socratic Method of questioning, the 6 types of probing questions, as well as how to implement it in classroom teaching to probe students’ thinking and deepen their critical thinking.

Learning Period: 21 Feb 2023 (Tue) to 10 November 2023 (Fri) 

Application Period: 17 Feb 2023 (Fri) to 29 September 2023 (Fri)

Registration: Search for the code CLI-000532 in OPAL2.0, or by clicking on the link here.

With the implementation of Full Subject-based Banding, there is a growing need for teachers to be more inclusive in their teaching practice by implementing Differentiated Instruction (DI) in their classrooms. The learning menu strategy is one way to address varied student profiles and ensure that all students can achieve the same learning outcome whilst partaking in different learning activities. Additionally, by incorporating the elements of engagement by design into the learning menu, it develops both the students’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to complete a learning task. Participants should be able to take away new ideas on how they could adapt these two strategies for use in their classrooms.

Learning Period: 22 May 2023 (Mon) to 9 November 2023 (Thu) 

Application Period: 15 May 2023 (Mon) to 29 September 2023 (Fri)

Registration: Search for the course code ML-000191 in OPAL2.0, or by clicking on the link here.