I will be discussing about this topic through the perspective of a sports champion, which is also my CA role.
Sports is about winning competition
As a sports champion, I firmly believes that the main role of sports in schools is to train athletes to win competitions. In my opinion, the meaning of the word “sports” itself is just about competitions. Sports is an organized, competitive, and skillful physical activity requiring commitment and fair play. There are rules and regulations in sports that one has to follow. But why are there rules and regulations? This is to ensure that the players win fairly and only the player who deserves it can raise the trophy in his hands. The spirit of sports itself is about winning.
The purpose of sports is also to win. Let’s face the fact. We play sports because we want to win. We want to defeat the opposition and come first. Sport is about winning.
I think that school sports should continue to be an arena where athletes can challenge each other. School sports should be more competitive as competitions would encourage and motivate us to work hard and play the sports well. It is due to the desire for glory and honour that compels us to be serious about training and do our best when we play the sports. It is the fear of losing that hinders us to be lazy and not train up our skills. Hence, competitions are important as they raise our standards and we would strive for the better.
Elite sports in schools select the best players when they are recruiting members to the CCA. Why best players? This is because they would be able to win more competitions. They want highly potential players that could help them to win competitions. If not, they would be selecting them based on interest than skills instead. Hence, the main role of sports in schools, as well as in national context, is to train athletes to win competitions.
School sports should also be more competitive. Competition is good for us as without it we would not evolve, we could not better ourselves and world records could not be broken. Competitions push our limits and we will improve ourselves. Competition drives us forward and it is a way to strive for continuous improvement whereby we tries to do the best you can and doing even better next time.
Professional Coaches inculcate sportsmanship in players
Competition is harmless and most of the time it is, but there are times whereby competition becomes violence and we do not respect our opponents. An example is the incident on the students from Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) and Saint Andrews’ Secondary engaging in a major brawl after an ill-tempered rugby match. I think that this incident could have been prevented if they had developed sportsmanlike behaviour and were able to lose graciously. Hence, I strongly believe that players require professional coaching. Professionals would do a better job in imparting sporting skills and inculcating soft skills. These soft skills include teamwork, building of character and sportsmanship. Learning to become a graceful loser is certainly an important lesson.
Furthermore, these coaches would demand good sportsmanship from their players and this help shape the moral, ethical, and spiritual character of the players. Young players look up to their coaches as role models and are likely to observe their coaches’ behaviours. Professional coaches who show respect to officials and opponents before, during, and after games can truly expect their players to do the same.
Professional coaches engage the athletes in the sport, making it interesting for them and teach good sportsmanship through competitiveness. Therefore, I think that professional coaches should be hired so as to solve the problem of players being scared to lose and their resentment towards their rivals and opponents. This would then prevent incidents such as the conflict between ACS(I) and SAS.
Safety standards in Singapore School Sports
There also had been a spate of injuries and accidents that took place and the present safety standards of sports in Singapore was questioned. In my opinion, I think that it is inevitable that injuries happen and there are no safety lapses in sports in school. It was also reported that since 2007, the post-final celebrations of the B Division rugby have been incident-free. This shows that such injuries happened rarely, and these accidents occur as a low rate. There have been 54 games in the B Division Rugby Championship this season but such accidents happened in only two games. Such low percentage of the accidents happening shows that there are no serious safety lapses in school sports.
In conclusion, I think that the purpose of having sports in school is to train athletes to win competitions and for school sports to maintain as a platform for athletes to challenge each other. I also think that school sports should be more competitive and the players will be able to cope with professional coaching. They would have the right mind-set from such coaching. I also think that the current safety standards and practices do not have to be revamped.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Ranting about Projects Day
Our Projects Day experiment just ended and this is the last time we will be doing the experiment! Yay! Enough of looking at crickets and crickets and crickets. After calculating, I just found out we did 416 trials with maximum of 5 minutes each for only experiment! Imagine the amount of time we spent on the experiments. I have spent approximately 35 hours observing the crickets going out of the hole for 416 times! The time and effort spent on this is epic.
Before the semi-finals, we finished experiment 1 and 20 crickets for experiment 2. The teacher judge was not sastified with the little number, and even said that for professionals like scientist, when dealing with life science (like crickets), normally do 200 of the subject matter. We certainly do not have time, hence she suggested 50. So we have it, we did a total of 52 crickets for the experiment and for richer data.
Experiments aside, there are still discussions and research that had to be done before the experiment. This causes much more time to be spent. Furthermore, during the discussions, our group members are not contributing much, causing the slow progress of the discussions. Other than the leader (the rick), the others just want to slack. The slacking included not doing of the google docs tasks and it dates back to term 1, including the research notes, experiment ideas, extensions ideas and now the discussion document. If the google docs task were completed, the work would of low quality and does not benefit much to the experiment.
Things are worse during meetings. People (with exception of the leader) only wants to kill time and hope that the meeting will end early so as to go home. I do admit that I am sometimes one of them but at least I do contribute to the meetings. This causes the whole meeting to be unproductive and to be a waste of time. Furthermore, people also finds excuses to not come for meetings. This includes deliberately arranging CIP to be at the day of the experiment or meetings.
However, come to speak of it, our group members is actually better than other groups that I know of, these include giving up of the whole projects day finals and finding lame excuses to skip meetings. That's all for the ranting..
Before the semi-finals, we finished experiment 1 and 20 crickets for experiment 2. The teacher judge was not sastified with the little number, and even said that for professionals like scientist, when dealing with life science (like crickets), normally do 200 of the subject matter. We certainly do not have time, hence she suggested 50. So we have it, we did a total of 52 crickets for the experiment and for richer data.
Experiments aside, there are still discussions and research that had to be done before the experiment. This causes much more time to be spent. Furthermore, during the discussions, our group members are not contributing much, causing the slow progress of the discussions. Other than the leader (the rick), the others just want to slack. The slacking included not doing of the google docs tasks and it dates back to term 1, including the research notes, experiment ideas, extensions ideas and now the discussion document. If the google docs task were completed, the work would of low quality and does not benefit much to the experiment.
Things are worse during meetings. People (with exception of the leader) only wants to kill time and hope that the meeting will end early so as to go home. I do admit that I am sometimes one of them but at least I do contribute to the meetings. This causes the whole meeting to be unproductive and to be a waste of time. Furthermore, people also finds excuses to not come for meetings. This includes deliberately arranging CIP to be at the day of the experiment or meetings.
However, come to speak of it, our group members is actually better than other groups that I know of, these include giving up of the whole projects day finals and finding lame excuses to skip meetings. That's all for the ranting..
Mug Mug Mug
Haven't blogged for quite some time and I just found out that my latest blog post has been spammed with comments from anonymous users. So I decided to repost it as the some of the content of the comments are undesirable. This is the effect of leaving your blog dead for a long time!
Coming back to the topic, this post is not to promote the initiative of the Ortus Council (selling teachers' mug) or to advertise for Ms Lim's personally designed mug (although it had been sold already). I will be looking into the another (singaporean) meaning of "mug" which is what we, HC students like to use to connote studying, revising, doing homework, looking at notes, flipping through notes and even taking out your files, books, etc.
From wiki, it says that the term "mugging" is a Singapore colloquial term for intensive studying; a person who is studying intensively - derived from British colloquial term to mug up. The real meaning of the word "mugger" is someone who robs and attacks another in a public place. In HC, the term "mugging" when used on others seems to be a form of discrimination and people detests muggers. We often hear phrases such as "Can you stop mugging?!"
Everything time I am online on MSN, people would be telling me to go and "mug", and the way he puts it seems to be a stereotype that I am a mugger and I should go and mug. I hates it, especially when I was just playing the computer or not mugging.
I also think that the term "mugging" is similiar to that of a "nerd" and it actually shows that one is only capable of studying and do not know how to enjoy life. It is as if that if you mug, you will for sure get the highest grades but less likely to do well in other aspects, showing that you are not an all-rounder.
However, I do agree that there might some positive things about being labeled as a mugger. You can treat it as a compliment to show that you are hardworking and do not slack. It also shows that you are preparing for test and that gives you some kind of confidence that you can ace your test. Furthermore, when you are playing a computer and your friend expects you to mug, it could be a reminder for you to mug and stop playing.
Or is it that I am just thinking too much and that mugging is simply a plain word used to describe someone who is studying and does not carry any negative elements in it?
Coming back to the topic, this post is not to promote the initiative of the Ortus Council (selling teachers' mug) or to advertise for Ms Lim's personally designed mug (although it had been sold already). I will be looking into the another (singaporean) meaning of "mug" which is what we, HC students like to use to connote studying, revising, doing homework, looking at notes, flipping through notes and even taking out your files, books, etc.
From wiki, it says that the term "mugging" is a Singapore colloquial term for intensive studying; a person who is studying intensively - derived from British colloquial term to mug up. The real meaning of the word "mugger" is someone who robs and attacks another in a public place. In HC, the term "mugging" when used on others seems to be a form of discrimination and people detests muggers. We often hear phrases such as "Can you stop mugging?!"
Everything time I am online on MSN, people would be telling me to go and "mug", and the way he puts it seems to be a stereotype that I am a mugger and I should go and mug. I hates it, especially when I was just playing the computer or not mugging.
I also think that the term "mugging" is similiar to that of a "nerd" and it actually shows that one is only capable of studying and do not know how to enjoy life. It is as if that if you mug, you will for sure get the highest grades but less likely to do well in other aspects, showing that you are not an all-rounder.
However, I do agree that there might some positive things about being labeled as a mugger. You can treat it as a compliment to show that you are hardworking and do not slack. It also shows that you are preparing for test and that gives you some kind of confidence that you can ace your test. Furthermore, when you are playing a computer and your friend expects you to mug, it could be a reminder for you to mug and stop playing.
Or is it that I am just thinking too much and that mugging is simply a plain word used to describe someone who is studying and does not carry any negative elements in it?
Analysis of the poem "Rainbow Death"
1. Point of View
The voice of the poet is dramatised. This is evident from "Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri". The poet listed the colours, "green, pink, purple" to emphasise on the different types of chemicals used and each had their negative effect on people. This presented chemical warfare in a dramatic way. "Death potpourri" makes it more dramatic as it showed that the chemicals not just had negative effects on the people, but it can and it will led to death.
It is also evident from "Generations untold WILL pay". The intentional making of the word "will" in caps show the exaggeration and emphasis on this word. This is to show that even people that are borned after the war will suffer from the war as well. The poet was particular sure of that from the word "will".
2. Situation and Setting
Social conflict between the Vietnamese and the American. This is evident from "omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn". The Americans thought that they have unlimited power and could do what they want to the Vietnamese, mostly whom were innocent. They disregarded the sufferings that would occur just because of an instant release of the gas.
There is also emotional conflict in the poet. He was an American yet he criticised America for killing the innocent. Furthermore, he was one of the personnel involved and sent to Vietnam. The criticism is obvious in "nefariously America led astray". He criticised America for being extremely wicked and evil.
3. Language/ Diction
The use of the word "potpourri". Potpourri actually is a mixture of dried, naturally fragrant plant material. "Potpourri" is often used to refer to any collection of miscellaneous or diverse items. The word "pourri" means rotten. This implies that because of the chemicals, a lot of people died and the corpses start to rot. This resulted in a "mixture" of people who died, ranging from children to the eldery.
The use of the word "innocent". This emphasises the fact that the Americans are killing the innocent who was not harmful in any ways or did not offended them. They are not of any danger to them so why do the Americans still kill them. Furthermore, using chemicals like that causes the unborn to suffer as well, which were free of evil or any sin. The word "innocent" also shows that negative side of Americans and they were oblivious to the suffering of the innocent.
4. Personal Response
I agree very much with the poet. War is a harsh and cruel thing and we should try to avoid war as much as possible. War does not solve any problems. In fact, it causes more problems and suffering to the people, the government, the victim, the offender, etc. It is a lose-lose situation for both sides. Nobody would benefit from war and it is not worth it to start a war. One's decision can cause a lot of harm to millions and millions of people.
1. Point of View
The voice of the poet is dramatised. This is evident from "Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri". The poet listed the colours, "green, pink, purple" to emphasise on the different types of chemicals used and each had their negative effect on people. This presented chemical warfare in a dramatic way. "Death potpourri" makes it more dramatic as it showed that the chemicals not just had negative effects on the people, but it can and it will led to death.
It is also evident from "Generations untold WILL pay". The intentional making of the word "will" in caps show the exaggeration and emphasis on this word. This is to show that even people that are borned after the war will suffer from the war as well. The poet was particular sure of that from the word "will".
2. Situation and Setting
Social conflict between the Vietnamese and the American. This is evident from "omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn". The Americans thought that they have unlimited power and could do what they want to the Vietnamese, mostly whom were innocent. They disregarded the sufferings that would occur just because of an instant release of the gas.
There is also emotional conflict in the poet. He was an American yet he criticised America for killing the innocent. Furthermore, he was one of the personnel involved and sent to Vietnam. The criticism is obvious in "nefariously America led astray". He criticised America for being extremely wicked and evil.
3. Language/ Diction
The use of the word "potpourri". Potpourri actually is a mixture of dried, naturally fragrant plant material. "Potpourri" is often used to refer to any collection of miscellaneous or diverse items. The word "pourri" means rotten. This implies that because of the chemicals, a lot of people died and the corpses start to rot. This resulted in a "mixture" of people who died, ranging from children to the eldery.
The use of the word "innocent". This emphasises the fact that the Americans are killing the innocent who was not harmful in any ways or did not offended them. They are not of any danger to them so why do the Americans still kill them. Furthermore, using chemicals like that causes the unborn to suffer as well, which were free of evil or any sin. The word "innocent" also shows that negative side of Americans and they were oblivious to the suffering of the innocent.
4. Personal Response
I agree very much with the poet. War is a harsh and cruel thing and we should try to avoid war as much as possible. War does not solve any problems. In fact, it causes more problems and suffering to the people, the government, the victim, the offender, etc. It is a lose-lose situation for both sides. Nobody would benefit from war and it is not worth it to start a war. One's decision can cause a lot of harm to millions and millions of people.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
IT Home Learning T2W10 Task 1
The poem I chose is Rainbow Death by Hubert Wilson.
Rainbow Death
America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.
Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously America led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable effects of agent orange spray!
About Hubert Wilson
Hubert Wilson was a Staff Sergeant in the United States Air Force (USAF). He was a Vietnam War veteran who served in the USAF Security Service. He was prepped for about 14 months, before he was sent to Vietnam in 1970. About half of those who accompanied him ended up in Da Nang (an Agent Orange hotspot) in the 6924th Security Squadron. The rest of them were assigned to Shemya Island, Alaska, with the 6984th Security Squadron which was a MORE contaminated environment than Da Nang. Being involved in the Vietnam War, he was particularly familiar with chemical warfare, as well as the effect of it.
He started to have health problems, with unexplained headaches and limb pains. Around 10 years later, his central nervous system radically deteriorated with Parkinsonian type tremors, severe headaches, progressive limb pains, etc. He deduced that it was the heavily contaminated drinking water at Shemya during his year there as an intelligence analyst that caused the problems. Because of this, he have turned to writing just like his late Father.
About Chemical Warfare
The poem is about Agent Orange and chemical warfare, so I researched more about it. The title of the poem, "Rainbow Death" actually means the deaths and diseases caused by this type of warfare, particularly the Agent Orange. Agent Orange was the most widely used of the so-called "Rainbow Herbicides" employed in the chemical warfare program. The term "Rainbow Herbicides" explains the use of the word "Rainbow" in the title.
During the production of Agent Orange (as well as Agents Purple, Pink, and Green) dioxins were produced as a contaminant, which have caused numerous health problems for the millions of people who have been exposed. According to Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange, resulting in 400,000 deaths and disabilities, and 500,000 children born with birth defects. This implies that the effect of the Agent Orange and the war still continue even if the war ended. "This poem remind us that wars aren’t over when the wars are over."
Rainbow Death
America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.
Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously America led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable effects of agent orange spray!
About Hubert Wilson
Hubert Wilson was a Staff Sergeant in the United States Air Force (USAF). He was a Vietnam War veteran who served in the USAF Security Service. He was prepped for about 14 months, before he was sent to Vietnam in 1970. About half of those who accompanied him ended up in Da Nang (an Agent Orange hotspot) in the 6924th Security Squadron. The rest of them were assigned to Shemya Island, Alaska, with the 6984th Security Squadron which was a MORE contaminated environment than Da Nang. Being involved in the Vietnam War, he was particularly familiar with chemical warfare, as well as the effect of it.
He started to have health problems, with unexplained headaches and limb pains. Around 10 years later, his central nervous system radically deteriorated with Parkinsonian type tremors, severe headaches, progressive limb pains, etc. He deduced that it was the heavily contaminated drinking water at Shemya during his year there as an intelligence analyst that caused the problems. Because of this, he have turned to writing just like his late Father.
About Chemical Warfare
The poem is about Agent Orange and chemical warfare, so I researched more about it. The title of the poem, "Rainbow Death" actually means the deaths and diseases caused by this type of warfare, particularly the Agent Orange. Agent Orange was the most widely used of the so-called "Rainbow Herbicides" employed in the chemical warfare program. The term "Rainbow Herbicides" explains the use of the word "Rainbow" in the title.
During the production of Agent Orange (as well as Agents Purple, Pink, and Green) dioxins were produced as a contaminant, which have caused numerous health problems for the millions of people who have been exposed. According to Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange, resulting in 400,000 deaths and disabilities, and 500,000 children born with birth defects. This implies that the effect of the Agent Orange and the war still continue even if the war ended. "This poem remind us that wars aren’t over when the wars are over."
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Attitude and Discipline
In this post I will be talking about these two words that are my "core values" in my life. They are attitude and discipline. Attitude here refers to one's positive working attitude, to do something to the best of my ability. Discipline refers to one's moral values and self-discipline. One focuses on work-efficiency (academic/non-academic) while another focused on moral values.
I think that a good attitude leads to success. Some may think that "good attitude" refers to optimistic or cheerful. However, I think that good attitude refers to having right mental attitude, in whatever things you do, be it academically, or non-academically. Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich, says, "Having a positive mental attitude means that your actions and thoughts further your ends". A good attitude is the right attitude for the circumstances. It isn't necessarily gleeful. Therefore, Attitude helps you to excel in academic or non-academic areas.
"Training to act in accordance with rules", this is the definition of discipline. This is especially important because we should follow the rules and not make trouble. I always see "discipline" as having moral values, and this is essential to our personal development. Moral values lead us to differentiate right from wrong and we would be able to make the right decision. Self-discipline is also important as self-discipline is ability to get yourself to take action regardless of whether you want or not. When you know that you are going to commit a crim, for example, you would be conscience-smitten. This also applies to our studies. Imagine what you could accomplish if you could simply get yourself to follow through and complete your best intentions no matter what.
I think that a good attitude leads to success. Some may think that "good attitude" refers to optimistic or cheerful. However, I think that good attitude refers to having right mental attitude, in whatever things you do, be it academically, or non-academically. Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich, says, "Having a positive mental attitude means that your actions and thoughts further your ends". A good attitude is the right attitude for the circumstances. It isn't necessarily gleeful. Therefore, Attitude helps you to excel in academic or non-academic areas.
"Training to act in accordance with rules", this is the definition of discipline. This is especially important because we should follow the rules and not make trouble. I always see "discipline" as having moral values, and this is essential to our personal development. Moral values lead us to differentiate right from wrong and we would be able to make the right decision. Self-discipline is also important as self-discipline is ability to get yourself to take action regardless of whether you want or not. When you know that you are going to commit a crim, for example, you would be conscience-smitten. This also applies to our studies. Imagine what you could accomplish if you could simply get yourself to follow through and complete your best intentions no matter what.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Busy Bees
This post is going to be about being busy, which I have been for the past few weeks. The reason which is the most common, is the revision for tests. Before the end of Term 1 tests, I was basically just doing homework, revise, eat, revise more and sleep after I reached home. There are even more thign to do such as CMC meeting, ACE, research for project's day, etc.
However, revision does not take up most of my time. Even before the tests dates were revealed, the homework itself is a lot due to the new teaching technique called JITT. This requires massive researching and homework before/after lessons. Anyway, I didnt expect me to be have so many homework to do as there was a sharp contrast between the first few months of Sec 2 and the first few months of Sec 1. I do expect some differences, but not to this extent.
All this decreases my free time, be it time to rest, time to play and time to sleep. It is very tiring after a day full of work and I would have to wake up early in the next morning which siginifies the start of another day with similiar things to do.
One who is busy would be irritated easily, such as when he is finishing or "chionging" his ACE or online research, he is disturbed by people who are asking him other non-important things. This is one of the cons of being busy. Another is that one whoulf be frustrated when he is unable to acheive his target (eg. to finish homework by 8pm). This leads to emotional unrest and may be harmful to our mental health.
This is also the case when all the tests are over. This week is the sabbactical week, which meant to be a relaxing week for us. However, yesterday, I had to stay back all the way to 4pm for Sci Olympiad and I had to finish the homework, CMC meeting minutes, Geog Ace, etc. Haixx. Anyway, busy is defined as "actively and attentively engaged in work or a pastime" so I am also busy typing this post now. :D
Hope that I can get to enjoy more free time in the coming days~~
However, revision does not take up most of my time. Even before the tests dates were revealed, the homework itself is a lot due to the new teaching technique called JITT. This requires massive researching and homework before/after lessons. Anyway, I didnt expect me to be have so many homework to do as there was a sharp contrast between the first few months of Sec 2 and the first few months of Sec 1. I do expect some differences, but not to this extent.
All this decreases my free time, be it time to rest, time to play and time to sleep. It is very tiring after a day full of work and I would have to wake up early in the next morning which siginifies the start of another day with similiar things to do.
One who is busy would be irritated easily, such as when he is finishing or "chionging" his ACE or online research, he is disturbed by people who are asking him other non-important things. This is one of the cons of being busy. Another is that one whoulf be frustrated when he is unable to acheive his target (eg. to finish homework by 8pm). This leads to emotional unrest and may be harmful to our mental health.
This is also the case when all the tests are over. This week is the sabbactical week, which meant to be a relaxing week for us. However, yesterday, I had to stay back all the way to 4pm for Sci Olympiad and I had to finish the homework, CMC meeting minutes, Geog Ace, etc. Haixx. Anyway, busy is defined as "actively and attentively engaged in work or a pastime" so I am also busy typing this post now. :D
Hope that I can get to enjoy more free time in the coming days~~
Monday, March 1, 2010
Intrapersonal
Since there is no "logical" section in the task, I shall do my third highest one in the test, that is, intrapersonal.
"Intrapersonal [pick one]:
a. Who would you want to be friends with in the novel? Explain."
For me, I would gladly want to be friends with Boo Radley. This is mainly due to the lack of description of Boo Radley in the novel. Although there are some kind of mention in the novel about Boo Radley, they are all others' perceptions with no evidence. This increases my curiosity about how Boo Radley behaves, why he is "emo" or anti-social. He appeared at the end of the novel, showing his particularly shy character which I seemed it as his way of showing politeness and friendliness.
Other people in the novel think that it is abnormal to be anti-social, thus criticizing Boo Radley and made up myths and stories that are false. This is especially unfair to Boo Radley. They think that he is scary and was seen as a demon or a monster. However, this is not true. It is ironic that since Boo Radley is in his house all the while, how would they know what he is doing in the house?
I want to be his friend as I want to know more about this mysterious character. What is his real character? Is he really a scary person like what they say? From the last chapter, he does not seem to be so. Is he a friendly person then? Why did he choose to stay in his house all the time? I want to know more about his lifestyle. How is life like for him?
Given his character, I guess it might be impossible for me to be friends with him. If I could, this would mean that he is sociable which he is the opposite. Even Scout or Jem did not manage to see him after the incident. Perhaps he just want to live life without any interferences from others.
"Intrapersonal [pick one]:
a. Who would you want to be friends with in the novel? Explain."
For me, I would gladly want to be friends with Boo Radley. This is mainly due to the lack of description of Boo Radley in the novel. Although there are some kind of mention in the novel about Boo Radley, they are all others' perceptions with no evidence. This increases my curiosity about how Boo Radley behaves, why he is "emo" or anti-social. He appeared at the end of the novel, showing his particularly shy character which I seemed it as his way of showing politeness and friendliness.
Other people in the novel think that it is abnormal to be anti-social, thus criticizing Boo Radley and made up myths and stories that are false. This is especially unfair to Boo Radley. They think that he is scary and was seen as a demon or a monster. However, this is not true. It is ironic that since Boo Radley is in his house all the while, how would they know what he is doing in the house?
I want to be his friend as I want to know more about this mysterious character. What is his real character? Is he really a scary person like what they say? From the last chapter, he does not seem to be so. Is he a friendly person then? Why did he choose to stay in his house all the time? I want to know more about his lifestyle. How is life like for him?
Given his character, I guess it might be impossible for me to be friends with him. If I could, this would mean that he is sociable which he is the opposite. Even Scout or Jem did not manage to see him after the incident. Perhaps he just want to live life without any interferences from others.
Interpersonal
"Interpersonal:
a. Conduct an interview with a friend (not from HCI) or family member. Find out from their point of view on prejudice and discrimination. Either record the interview or write out the interview transcript."
Alright, the task is as above and since my highest was interpersonal, I decided to embark on this. The interviewee was my ex-primary school friend, now she is studying in RGS. Ok, let's begin.
What do you think of when you come across the word “prejudice”?
Racial discrimination? One example of prejudice which is very common should be racial discrimination aka racism. People have prejudice against certain races; they don’t like them with no reason.
What is discrimination in your opinion?
Discrimination is just to unfairly dislike this certain person/group of people.
So, do you think there is a difference between prejudice and discrimination?
The intensity of prejudice is greater. The feeling of prejudice is an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed towards someone without reason therefore the intensity of the feeling is more intense. It is not merely “don’t like”, but its becoming like detesting.
Do you think that there are problems pertaining to discrimination in Singapore?
There's a serious case of discriminations to indians. They are thought to be untrusted and people sort of relate them to perverts.
What are some examples of prejudice?
Prejudice towards people who are poor or towards a certain race, such as adolf hitler and nazis.
What are some of the existing types of prejudice in real life?
There is age discrimination, in relevance of the recent pastor news. Perhaps height discrimination? A well as weight discrimination.
What kinds of discrimination do you know?
Gender, racial, religious, age
Do you have any form of prejudice towards any group of people?
Yes, and actually I think that everyone discriminates.
She didn't want to elaborate on the last question so, oh well, this would then mark the end of the interview.
a. Conduct an interview with a friend (not from HCI) or family member. Find out from their point of view on prejudice and discrimination. Either record the interview or write out the interview transcript."
Alright, the task is as above and since my highest was interpersonal, I decided to embark on this. The interviewee was my ex-primary school friend, now she is studying in RGS. Ok, let's begin.
What do you think of when you come across the word “prejudice”?
Racial discrimination? One example of prejudice which is very common should be racial discrimination aka racism. People have prejudice against certain races; they don’t like them with no reason.
What is discrimination in your opinion?
Discrimination is just to unfairly dislike this certain person/group of people.
So, do you think there is a difference between prejudice and discrimination?
The intensity of prejudice is greater. The feeling of prejudice is an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed towards someone without reason therefore the intensity of the feeling is more intense. It is not merely “don’t like”, but its becoming like detesting.
Do you think that there are problems pertaining to discrimination in Singapore?
There's a serious case of discriminations to indians. They are thought to be untrusted and people sort of relate them to perverts.
What are some examples of prejudice?
Prejudice towards people who are poor or towards a certain race, such as adolf hitler and nazis.
What are some of the existing types of prejudice in real life?
There is age discrimination, in relevance of the recent pastor news. Perhaps height discrimination? A well as weight discrimination.
What kinds of discrimination do you know?
Gender, racial, religious, age
Do you have any form of prejudice towards any group of people?
Yes, and actually I think that everyone discriminates.
She didn't want to elaborate on the last question so, oh well, this would then mark the end of the interview.
MI test
I took the Multiple Intelligence test and my results are:
1st place goes to ... Interpersonal! People Smart!
2nd place goes to ... Logical! Number Smart!
3rd places (tied) goes to ... Intrapersonal and Linguistic! Myself and Word Smart!
Well, think that this is quite true, because I also think that I am a more social and logical person. I like to interact with my peers and I love getting to know more people. However, I didn't expected it to be the first and it should not be. I am not really a very "opened" person which means that I can't go all out to socialize and make new friends. Howevr, I like to maintain a friendly relationship with others. Thus, I value relationship with my peers, as well as my family members.
Now to logical. I was expecting it to the first, reason being that I like mathematics. Since the term logical is linked with "number smart", so is it that being good in maths makes me a logical person? Maybe that's the case for me. I also like to think about maths, and I enjoy the process of that. It trains my thinking skills. However, my thinking extends, not just in maths but in everything. I think about a lot of things and starts to have my own views about certain things. When I have the time (eg. on a bus), I would reflect on the day or the past and I often have many thoughts about the particular issue. Coming to maths, there is truth in the MI test that I am a logical person, but I was expecting it to the first instead.
Lowest: Musical and Naturalist. This is very true because I have few interactions with the nature nor music. At the very most, I only listens to music, but not composing one which sounds impossible for me. About naturalistic, I seldom observe the nature, I don't bird-watch nor anything else. I guess the reason is that I have little interest, as well as time to do that.
What do you think of the MI test? Share your views!
1st place goes to ... Interpersonal! People Smart!
2nd place goes to ... Logical! Number Smart!
3rd places (tied) goes to ... Intrapersonal and Linguistic! Myself and Word Smart!
Well, think that this is quite true, because I also think that I am a more social and logical person. I like to interact with my peers and I love getting to know more people. However, I didn't expected it to be the first and it should not be. I am not really a very "opened" person which means that I can't go all out to socialize and make new friends. Howevr, I like to maintain a friendly relationship with others. Thus, I value relationship with my peers, as well as my family members.
Now to logical. I was expecting it to the first, reason being that I like mathematics. Since the term logical is linked with "number smart", so is it that being good in maths makes me a logical person? Maybe that's the case for me. I also like to think about maths, and I enjoy the process of that. It trains my thinking skills. However, my thinking extends, not just in maths but in everything. I think about a lot of things and starts to have my own views about certain things. When I have the time (eg. on a bus), I would reflect on the day or the past and I often have many thoughts about the particular issue. Coming to maths, there is truth in the MI test that I am a logical person, but I was expecting it to the first instead.
Lowest: Musical and Naturalist. This is very true because I have few interactions with the nature nor music. At the very most, I only listens to music, but not composing one which sounds impossible for me. About naturalistic, I seldom observe the nature, I don't bird-watch nor anything else. I guess the reason is that I have little interest, as well as time to do that.
What do you think of the MI test? Share your views!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
How should teachers teach?
I came across Kenneth's post on how should teachers teach. I find this very interesting so I am post about it. How should teachers teach? By strictness? By humour? By being fierce, students would be well-behaved and thus pay attention in class? By being humorous, would students love the class and thus be keen to learn and be interested in the subject?
I agree with Kenneth that teachers should teach with humour. This makes the lesson more lively, thus causing lesson not to be boring.. (or sianzz..). Being humorous also means that the teacher looks more easier to approach, thus we could consult him or her when we face any challenges. We would be more active in class participation, thus learning more through this process. A friendly teacher would certainly help if we have a hatred to the particular subject. We would start to enjoy the lesson more and more. This is especially important as we would be "loving what we do" rather than "do what we love".
However, I have to agree that being friendly or less strict have its own disadvantages. Students tend to place a lesser importance of the subject because the teacher is easy-going and negotiable. They would also not treat the subject seriously, thus causing grades to deteriorate. We would have the mentality that there is no need to do this or that because the teacher would not scold. If this is to continue, we would also be rowdy and rude because we have no respect for the teacher anymore. This is especially the case if the teacher was teaching to a group of more than 100 students, even more than 400 when there is an assembly. Since there are many more students, the voice produced would be much louder. Hence, if the teacher is not fierce and not strict, the situation might go out of control.
How about being strict then? This would be the opposite of what mentioned above. Let's take a look at the advantages. The students would be very well-disciplines as they were scared that the teacher would be pin-pointing at every mistakes they do. Thus, the whole class would be quiet and thus making learning a more conducive environment for all with no disturbance. The class would be more serious about work, thus producing better standard of assessment.
However, there still disadvantages in this. I mentioned about the class being quiet, but sometimes, it might be TOO quiet. Nobody would dare to make a sound, let alone participation in class discussions. Even the most obvious questions would take sometime for any response. Even if there is an immediate response, only a few "brave souls" were the ones that gave the response. With a strict and fierce teacher, there would be "hatred" for the teacher, and the subject. There would be and "inaudible" groan, or even complaints if that lesson was in the next period.
From what I have said, having teacher with humour has a lot of disadvantages, as well as having one who is very strict. So, what do I think a teacher should be? Well... I think that it have to depend on the situation. I think that a teacher should be humorous all the time, with a few times being strict when one does not meet his standard. This would allow other students to know that there would be punishment if we do not finish our work on time, or give a low-quality work.
I agree with Kenneth that teachers should teach with humour. This makes the lesson more lively, thus causing lesson not to be boring.. (or sianzz..). Being humorous also means that the teacher looks more easier to approach, thus we could consult him or her when we face any challenges. We would be more active in class participation, thus learning more through this process. A friendly teacher would certainly help if we have a hatred to the particular subject. We would start to enjoy the lesson more and more. This is especially important as we would be "loving what we do" rather than "do what we love".
However, I have to agree that being friendly or less strict have its own disadvantages. Students tend to place a lesser importance of the subject because the teacher is easy-going and negotiable. They would also not treat the subject seriously, thus causing grades to deteriorate. We would have the mentality that there is no need to do this or that because the teacher would not scold. If this is to continue, we would also be rowdy and rude because we have no respect for the teacher anymore. This is especially the case if the teacher was teaching to a group of more than 100 students, even more than 400 when there is an assembly. Since there are many more students, the voice produced would be much louder. Hence, if the teacher is not fierce and not strict, the situation might go out of control.
How about being strict then? This would be the opposite of what mentioned above. Let's take a look at the advantages. The students would be very well-disciplines as they were scared that the teacher would be pin-pointing at every mistakes they do. Thus, the whole class would be quiet and thus making learning a more conducive environment for all with no disturbance. The class would be more serious about work, thus producing better standard of assessment.
However, there still disadvantages in this. I mentioned about the class being quiet, but sometimes, it might be TOO quiet. Nobody would dare to make a sound, let alone participation in class discussions. Even the most obvious questions would take sometime for any response. Even if there is an immediate response, only a few "brave souls" were the ones that gave the response. With a strict and fierce teacher, there would be "hatred" for the teacher, and the subject. There would be and "inaudible" groan, or even complaints if that lesson was in the next period.
From what I have said, having teacher with humour has a lot of disadvantages, as well as having one who is very strict. So, what do I think a teacher should be? Well... I think that it have to depend on the situation. I think that a teacher should be humorous all the time, with a few times being strict when one does not meet his standard. This would allow other students to know that there would be punishment if we do not finish our work on time, or give a low-quality work.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Revival of my blog
After many months of leaving my blog dead, I am back to blogging. I officially declare that my blog is revived! That might be too exaggerating, but I am elated to be back to blogging and of course, giving readers the best of my blog posts. Now, the first blog post of the year, I shall firstly reflect on my blogging experience of the past year. There are two questions that I asked myself, ‘What do I like about blogging?’ and ‘What do I hate about blogging?’
What I like about blogging
Well… The main reason why I blog is for ACE, that’s basically the main purpose of this blog. It is the main reason but not the sole reason. From blogging, I could improve my writing skills as there are more opportunities to write and express myself. By using this blog, I could express my personal thoughts and feelings about a particular topic which I have no opportunities to voice them out. When I observe or consider about a particular thing, it would be a pleasure if I could write it or to show what my thoughts are. That’s what I am doing now, “typing my thoughts”.
What I hate about blogging
The time taken for a blog post. Sometimes, it would be troublesome to post something because it takes time to write a blog post. I would be impatient to convey what I am thinking about. Another thing I hate is that it is troublesome to change to the blogskin so that my blog would be unique and stands out from the rest. Looking at the complicated HTML is such a bother! Another thing is that I would have to come up with things to write but sometimes there would be a lack or inspiration for me to write blog posts.
With this very simple reflection, let me begin my “blogging journey”~~
More posts coming up:
- Teaching techniques of teachers: How should teachers teach?
- Future Class: JiTT
- My view on the tiring NPCC trainings
What I like about blogging
Well… The main reason why I blog is for ACE, that’s basically the main purpose of this blog. It is the main reason but not the sole reason. From blogging, I could improve my writing skills as there are more opportunities to write and express myself. By using this blog, I could express my personal thoughts and feelings about a particular topic which I have no opportunities to voice them out. When I observe or consider about a particular thing, it would be a pleasure if I could write it or to show what my thoughts are. That’s what I am doing now, “typing my thoughts”.
What I hate about blogging
The time taken for a blog post. Sometimes, it would be troublesome to post something because it takes time to write a blog post. I would be impatient to convey what I am thinking about. Another thing I hate is that it is troublesome to change to the blogskin so that my blog would be unique and stands out from the rest. Looking at the complicated HTML is such a bother! Another thing is that I would have to come up with things to write but sometimes there would be a lack or inspiration for me to write blog posts.
With this very simple reflection, let me begin my “blogging journey”~~
More posts coming up:
- Teaching techniques of teachers: How should teachers teach?
- Future Class: JiTT
- My view on the tiring NPCC trainings
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