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.

My Story - A day helping at a primary school

Posted to Facebook on 23/2/2020 at 3:24 AM
My Story - A day helping at a primary school

Written on 23 February 2020

On Monday, 17 February 2020, I dropped by at the primary school I volunteered in last year to check with the teachers when I should resume my service this term.

Two out of three teachers I helped are using different classrooms, except the Prep class teacher. The former Year 5 teacher is teaching Year 1 this term.

Only the Year 4 teacher was ready, while the other two asked me to delay for another week or two when they get things sorted out.

Tuesday, 18 February, the rain bucketed down as I was about to walk to the school. I had no choice but to drive for just half a kilometer in order not get myself drenched. This was the first day I sat behind the steering wheel after my surgery.

I met the Year 4 students. They were doing maths on number value and position. My role in the class is to help a designated group of students when necessary, otherwise I just help whoever require my attention or assistance.

I am a very strict teacher, and when I see a student makes a mistake, I want it fixed without delay. However, I make sure the student understands why the mistake was made, and how it can be fixed. I do not like to see a straight line crooked, not drawn with a ruler, or a mistake not rubbed off properly, before new information is written over it.

The class teacher pointed out to me two students who were rather difficult to manage, because they seldom followed instructions or paid attention. I did have a chance to deal with one of them, and I put him "straight" by doing it my "proper" way.

Children do need to learn to behave, especially in a group environment, and do things properly in order to build a firm foundation for future undertaking.

There were two girls reading with their books held at very close distance. Both were not wearing glasses. I asked them to mention to their parents that they needed to have their eyes check out.

For about half an hour, the class was switched from maths to English. I then supervised the students doing some English activities.

The class teacher asked a girl who just joined the school this year to read me a story from some printed sheets. She had a soft voice, and a problem with her diction. Many people, not students only, speak with monotone.

I stopped her after she finished the first page. I just wanted her to relax and had a casual chat with her. I asked whether she liked acting, or made a speech on stage in front of an audience. She had a smile on her face, and replied she liked acting. I told her she could make it if she listened to my advice.

I never mentioned the word confidence to her; I did not tell her about her "negatives", but I advised her not to bend her neck, look at the sentence first before reading it aloud; and raise or drop her tone according to the punctuation.

With my guidance, she no longer read the story; she was telling the story confidently with expression and proper tonation. Most importantly, she enjoyed my lesson!

Thank you for reading.