My journey through this module has been a real emotional rollercoaster ride venturing into the unknown. Starting off in a small class of 6 students under Ms Happy Goh, Kesleen and I were informed that the class might have to be shut down due to insufficient students. We cheered when we got the good news that we could continue on after all, but 2 more lessons after that, we were informed that our class had to shut down again. And that’s how Kesleen and I arrived in Brad’s class!
I was rather apprehensive at first; we were the new ‘kids’ on the block and I had no idea how my classmates would be like. Brad was unlike most teachers I have ever seen. In my very first class, he took me out of my comfort zone by pairing me with someone I did not know. Thankfully Shinye was rather nice and friendly to me. I had expected to be paired with Kesleen since most teachers would rather go with the flow rather than poke the hornet’s nest. Had Brad not done that, I think the class would be split into many different cliques rather than the nice integration we see now. Furthermore, all my classmates called Brad by name and not Sir or Mr Blackstone. I found this perplexing and was not fully comfortable addressing him as Brad at first.
My first real assignment was to present on the wiki. We had no idea what NUS wiki was and it sounded terrifyingly foreign and difficult. Furthermore, it could not be found in the textbook which I had bought for this module unlike other topics like resumes or application letters. As a result, I had no ‘proper’ reference materials that I could depend on. On hindsight, I’m glad that I got that topic. It allowed me to expand my horizons and gave me the opportunity to make really creative slides. Had I done one of the standard topics, I’m sure I would have continued in my old ways by simply dumping all the information from the textbook on the slides and ending up with extremely boring slides.
Next up were the application letters and resumes. I have never written a resume before because I felt that I did not have any relevant job experiences and hence nothing to write in my resume. However, that concept was thrown out of the window and I found that I could write a strong resume even without any job experiences. I am quite happy to have achieved this even though the resumes were not graded.
I felt that I was different from most of my classmates taking this course. Many of them took this course in order to gain a competitive edge when looking for a job in future. However, I already have a job as a teacher and I took each assignment as a practice on presenting myself. I found that it helped me to gain confidence, especially when standing in front of a large audience to speak. This was something I was never able to do; or maybe I could have, just that I never had the opportunity to do so.
At the end of the course, I found myself to be a much more confident person. Furthermore, I am much more aware of my actions. For example, now when I’m nodding along to what people are saying, I know that I am practicing active listening. So thank you Brad, for helping us grow and giving us a different learning experience. It has certainly been an interesting ride while it lasted!
I was rather apprehensive at first; we were the new ‘kids’ on the block and I had no idea how my classmates would be like. Brad was unlike most teachers I have ever seen. In my very first class, he took me out of my comfort zone by pairing me with someone I did not know. Thankfully Shinye was rather nice and friendly to me. I had expected to be paired with Kesleen since most teachers would rather go with the flow rather than poke the hornet’s nest. Had Brad not done that, I think the class would be split into many different cliques rather than the nice integration we see now. Furthermore, all my classmates called Brad by name and not Sir or Mr Blackstone. I found this perplexing and was not fully comfortable addressing him as Brad at first.
My first real assignment was to present on the wiki. We had no idea what NUS wiki was and it sounded terrifyingly foreign and difficult. Furthermore, it could not be found in the textbook which I had bought for this module unlike other topics like resumes or application letters. As a result, I had no ‘proper’ reference materials that I could depend on. On hindsight, I’m glad that I got that topic. It allowed me to expand my horizons and gave me the opportunity to make really creative slides. Had I done one of the standard topics, I’m sure I would have continued in my old ways by simply dumping all the information from the textbook on the slides and ending up with extremely boring slides.
Next up were the application letters and resumes. I have never written a resume before because I felt that I did not have any relevant job experiences and hence nothing to write in my resume. However, that concept was thrown out of the window and I found that I could write a strong resume even without any job experiences. I am quite happy to have achieved this even though the resumes were not graded.
I felt that I was different from most of my classmates taking this course. Many of them took this course in order to gain a competitive edge when looking for a job in future. However, I already have a job as a teacher and I took each assignment as a practice on presenting myself. I found that it helped me to gain confidence, especially when standing in front of a large audience to speak. This was something I was never able to do; or maybe I could have, just that I never had the opportunity to do so.
At the end of the course, I found myself to be a much more confident person. Furthermore, I am much more aware of my actions. For example, now when I’m nodding along to what people are saying, I know that I am practicing active listening. So thank you Brad, for helping us grow and giving us a different learning experience. It has certainly been an interesting ride while it lasted!
Hi Russell,
ReplyDeletehaving known you even before taking up this module, I can't help but notice a change in you. You have become more sensitive and receptive to critism. Being in the same team as you for peer teaching and our project, I realized that you had made great improvements in your presentation skills.
I also like your writing style. I remember you consulting Brad with regard to your usage of sacarsm in your blog post. Honestly, you were quite critical in your evaluation but I could see the change in you now (you look at the big picture instead).
I have learnt much from you and thank you for this interesting post!
See you in school!
Regards,
Kesleen
Thank you, Russell, for this very well crafted reflection. The way you relate your experience as a roller coaster ride is, unfortunately, too true. (Sorry about that! I am very glad that you and Kesleen were able to join Group 2 though. We would not have been the same without you two.) Luckily things worked out and once the term and class numbers were settled, we could get down to business. You hit the work in full stride and put together a very impressive lesson on wikis.
ReplyDeleteThat was the first indication that I had that you were a flexible, creative and hard working fellow. You also wanted to know exactly how you could improve your blog post, which was yet another sign that you took becoming more of an effective communicator very seriously.
Your post documents more proofs of that, for which I am very appreciative. I'm also happy that you could point out how full integration within the classroom was further enhanced by the different groupings we set for various tasks. Indeed, by the end of the term, the rapport in G2 was really at a great peak. Thank you once again for making an fine effort at being part of the team that scaled those heights so adroitly!
Best of luck in your future--- I hope you enjoy your teaching!
Thank you Brad!I'm glad we got into this class too! We wanted to come to this class at first anyway, but we got outbidded. So all's well that ends well! (P.S we got your class for one CORS point wahahahha)
ReplyDeleteHaha Kes, you know I will go back to being my cynical self next semester right.
See you both for the extra lesson!
hello... hapi blogging... have a nice day! just visiting here....
ReplyDelete