My Story - Volunteering at a primary school

Posted to Facebook on 31/3/2020 3:44 AM
My Story - Volunteering at a primary school"

I am very fortunate that the school I volunteer in trusted me to assist teachers in three different Years in a single day.

In a normal class, a teacher can only use one method (teaching style) to teach the students. However, when the class teacher assigned me to help small groups each are generally of the same competence level, I can use different techniques to help them understand better.

In my opinion the problem is not about the class size, but the student mix. It does not matter how a young teacher is mentored, they will still be frustrated because the one-size-fits-all method will not achieve an optimal outcome. It is sad that the system got rid of streaming, and therefore the end result is that the overall performance is just average. That my be what Australian culture is about - chopping down the tall poppies!

How can a young teacher deal with a student rolling on the floor crying, or the student keeps saying she is a failure? How can a young teacher cope with naughty or mischievous students who cannot be punished or reprimanded? How can a young teacher just use generic words to describe exact nature of the students' behaviour or the actual performance of the students in the "report card"?

It is not just the young teachers having problems. In fact many experienced teachers are as stressed and frustrated when they write the individual reports.

Thank you for reading.

'Worst since 1932': Two million Aussies face unemployment queue

Posted to Facebook on 24/3/2020 at 9:53 PM
'Worst since 1932': Two million Aussies face unemployment queue
'Worst since 1932': Two million Aussies face unemployment queue

I am very vocal and I really don’t like a lot of the interviewers and interviewing techniques used by the employment agency consultants, HR representatives and potential employers.

The terminologies used are no more than jargons, and normally fairly new in the vocabulary. Unless the job seekers have just finished a management course in tertiary education, there is a Buckley’s chance that they can understand what they interviewers are talking about.

One typical example is about being a team player. Without having worked in that specific company or organisation, how does one know about it’s team dynamics, and therefore whether one can fit in. Then there are words like hard skills and soft skills.

Some of the advertisements are just plain ridiculous and expect too much. Unfortunately, these are written just as a formality, because the position is meant for someone awaits to be promoted internally but due to organisation policies that the position has to be advertised externally.

Cities go into lockdown, and many businesses especially fashion, hospitality, entertainment, motor vehicle and tourism and all related industries will close for good. No one has ever imagined such a disaster can ever happen leading to depression.

No one knows when this pandemic will end, and how much longer can any government pour money in to support the businesses, workers who have been stood down and casual workers who could not find work to subsidise their income. Many businesses may not survive and even if there is a restart button, some businesses will take much longer to rebuild.

Those unemployed former employment consultants, HR experts and business owners will be queuing up to compete with a lot of others. These people will understand some of prejudices they had before, and how difficult is to be across am interviewing panel bombarded with questions only the quick minded can handle.

The negative impact of this disastrous pandemic on private schools is more visible than the public sector. I did challenge the usefulness of the lush green carpet grass school field, swimming pool, gymnasium, posh canteen, etc. These do not come into the equation of education system proper.

For those loyal followers of my real estate blogs, you probably have heard enough about my asking you to save, save and save for rainy days, and never jump in to invest on negatively geared properties. I think my advice is spot on. My prediction about the negative impact on the real estate industry has come true. Auctions and property inspection are halted during the current state of emergency and the imposition of self-distancing rule on public gathering.

After all that being said, do not get disappointed, disillusion and get yourself into a state of depression. You have a lot of spare time, and use this time wisely to self-improve yourself, not only in terms of knowledge, but also outlook in life. This is also the time to reconsider your next career path.

In one of my blogs, I explained economy will stay stagnant if money does not flow by changing hand. Until consumer confidence returns, that is when people perceive to have financial stability again, money will be saved rather than spent.

The economic recovery takes time, and you must remain strong, physically and mentally.

Thank you for reading.

'Worst since 1932': Two million Aussies face unemployment queue

How a Springvale school overcame disadvantage and blitzed NAPLAN

Posted to Facebook on 21/4/2020 at 10:16 AM
Commenting on "How a Springvale school overcame disadvantage and blitzed NAPLAN"
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/how-a-springvale-school-overcame-disadvantage-and-blitzed-naplan-20200320-p54ca5.html

It is nothing to do with the best school canteen, green carpet grass school field, swimming pool or the best equipped science laboratory, but the effort put in for quality teaching.

Many schools market through glossy advertisement and promotional material as well as on multi-media. Some also spend big for a few seconds air time on television.

There are quiet achievers that target at the students’ shortcomings and find ways to improve on the them, rather than on the parents’ hip pockets.

So, when you enrol your child in the forthcoming year, find out more about the history of the school, and compare how much you have subsidise those posh facilities that your child will never use.

Thank you for reading.

How a Springvale school overcame disadvantage and blitzed NAPLAN

It is unimportant mathematics and science be taught in English

Posted to Facebook on 21/3/2020 9:08 AM
It is unimportant mathematics and science be taught in English"

English language is like Lego blocks. With the blocks, one can build small figurines as well as gigantic castles or even spaceships.

When one talks about Maths and Science subjects, they do not realise these are more than just subjects that can be taught in English language or any language with any loss in translation. Both subjects contain special languages, and technically speaking, more advanced papers can be written incorporating these special languages.

Historically China was great in many branches of maths, but the lack of Positional representation of numbers, and maths symbols, China fell behind in the development of powerful maths. In the ancient time in China, a number is written in words rather than Arabic-Hindu numerals.

Science formula and information of elements shown in a Periodic table are not normal English sentences conforming to the proper grammatical construct. They have their own rules and syntax.

There are debates going on in some countries whether maths and science be taught in English, my answer is "that's unimportant".

Thank you for readding.

'Mass confusion': Classrooms thin out as parents pull kids from school

Posted to Facebook on 17/3/2020 at 12:04 PM
Commenting on “'Mass confusion': Classrooms thin out as parents pull kids from school”
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/mass-confusion-classrooms-thin-out-as-parents-pull-kids-from-school-20200316-p54aly.html

This is why I am so dissatisfied with the state Government and Chief Medical Officer of their wish-washy instructions and indecision in closing the schools.

The number of deaths caused by the COVID-19 has been estimated by some experts to be between 50,000 and 150,000. Why don’t theses procrastinating pendulums just call the shot to close down the schools now, just like the Grand Prix?

Is it possible to have social distancing between teachers and students? Have they seen how Prep or lower primary school children behave in the classrooms, and in the school yard? Do teachers just let the little angels walk by themselves, or stay 4 feet away?

The news article in the following Comment presents a totally different view by the author why keeping the schools open for the sake of the kids.

I believe this is the opportune time for the Education Department or educators to develop and implement online remote teaching classes, like using Google Education / Classroom, a concept that has been in my mind for a long time.

In fact some less sophisticated form of webinar or podcast have been around, and even church services are recorded for the absent congregation.

There are many factors that hinder the use of such method, particularly the cost factor whether to be borne by the parents, and how well the students can operate the computer or similar devices.

Thank you for reading.

'Mass confusion': Classrooms thin out as parents pull kids from school

The future of work won’t be about college degrees, it will be about job skills

Posted to Facebook on 16/3/2020 at 11:06 AM
Commenting on "The future of work won’t be about college degrees, it will be about job skills"
https://bit.ly/2x9Nyb7

If everyone has similar job skills, the competition will still exist and no one is wiser. The most important factor to win the race is to be a multi-disciplinarian.

The is no one-size-fits-all job, and college degrees are equally important. Many courses need to be modified to adapt to market requirements.

I have been advocating that all people, obviously include students as well, should have a good understanding of marketing.

Successful marketing is about knowing consumer and buyer psychology, and match their needs and wants. Having job skills, therefore, may not match the potential needs and wants of the employers, and give the wrong idea to the future job seekers that it is the panacea to secure a job.

Thank you for reading.

The future of work won’t be about college degrees, it will be about job skills

My Story - A day with the Preppy

Posted to Facebook on 14/3/2020 at 1:11 PM
A day with the Preppy

Written on 29 February 2020

After a long break, I returned to the Prep class again on Tuesday 24 February, I arrived just about 5 minutes early, and the door of the single storey building to the classrooms was closed, but not locked.

There was a long queue of students accompanied by their parents. I think the parents were just as eager to get in the building than the students.

I opened the door of the building which housed several classrooms. Class teacher Mrs G had not arrived yet; so I roamed round and checked out what were on the display boards and on the wall in the classroom.

Mrs G arrived, and opened the door for the anxious parents and students to come in. Overall, they were were well behaved; the cute children walked in a single file but some were holding on to their parents. Surprisingly, none was in tears.

The noise of the excited students and the parents broke the silence. Many parents spoke with the children in Mandarin, while the rest in English. The parents helped the kiddies’ to locate their respective cubical storage to put away their bags and lunch boxes.

There were hardly any Caucasian students, about 10% of the total class enrolment.

Mrs G introduced me to the young students, and they would addressed me as Mr Chan from then on.

The students learn the phonic pronunciation. That is not something I am in favour of.

Thank you for reading.

Logic and creative hemispheres of the brain affect students liking STEM subjects

Posted to Facebook 8/3/2020 1:31 AM
Logic and creative hemispheres of the brain affect students liking STEM subjects

Written on 8 March 2020

Some people have developed well logic part of the brain, or left hemisphere, and they tend to be more capable in handling STEM subjects. For others, they are like to struggle to well in those subjects.

Conversely, people who have well developed cognitive or creative part of the brain,or right hemisphere tend to paint, dance, act better or have greater understanding and appreciation of arts.

I have been volunteering in a primary school, helping students in maths ranging from Prep to Year 6. I have been given a free hand by the teachers to help students with learning difficulty.

There are many reasons why some cannot do well, not only in maths but also in other subjects. In general, it has nothing to do with brain development.

It takes time, patience and power of observation to unlock each individual's problems.

I have tried and successfully helped a number of students by building up their confidence, self-esteem, changing mindset, showing them how to approach problems from different angles, etc.

Once the blockage is realised and unblocked, the students can be left to their own devices.

The teachers appreciate my effort very much, and invite me back term after the term, and the Principal and Assistant Principals treat me like another staff member.

Thank you for reading.