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!
