ThE rOaD nOt TaKeN.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Just noticed that only 13 posts(on this blog) so far... so to be superstitious, I gonna quickly put in this one.
Sometime ago my QSE tutor (SWMNBN) suggested that all the students spend some time to log down their learning journey for the course, the idea being, that as you progress through each lesson, you record down all the new things learnt and reflect. So from today onwards, I'm gonna do that right at the end for Wednesdays and Thursdays...
Weather today was the continuation of the entire week's weather trend which was rainy and downcast. Since I was in berms and polo-t today, I was basically doing a good impression of an icicle throughout all my classes today. Brrrrr....
Morning was QSE so will talk about it at the end. This was followed by "Introduction to German" which was conducted by this nice lady called Ms. Suraiya who did like 2-3 yrs worth studying German at NYP and at the Goethe Institut in SG. She's not a super pro but when you compare to the class (our idea of speaking German is "Porsche...BMW....Volkwagon") she is like miles ahead. Here are some of the phrases I learnt today:
1) "Ich bin Dieter" which means I am Dieter. (We had to choose a German name to use during the class. )
2) "Mein name is Anthony." which means my name is Anthony (Duh!)
3) "Wie geht es ihnen?" which means How are you?
4) "Gut" which means Good or you can also use "prima" (great) or "Wunderbar" (wonderful) or "fantastiche" (fantastic)!
5) The usual line after that is "Und Sie?" which means "And you?"
6) "Guten Morgen" means Gd Morning, "Guten Tag" means Gd afternoon, "Gute Nacht" means Gd nite.
7) Also learnt the German alphabet and how to say the numbers "Zahlen" and the colours...
Had to rush for lessons after (without lunch!!!) but thought it was a really good experience overall. I think learning a new language can be fun and it is also a good way to overcome any prejudices which you may have because you don't understand the language. Although I'm still far from being fluent in German, I'm still happy to be able to make a small start today. Wunderbar!
Continued to freeze in the later lessons, still lots of work to do next week as the assignments are going to be due soon... fortunately next week is e-learning week, so officially there are no lessons although I will still be in sch on Mon and Thu.
Currently waiting for DW to pick me up from sch, so I'm hiding in the library after having some fried rice in the canteen, washed down with a latte frappe (mMmm). DW is a bit stressed today as she needs to find something to wear for her Teachers' Day dinner. I got a call from Habiba yesterday as LPS invited all the NIE teachers back for the high tea but as luck would have it, I'm having lessons in the same timeslot T_T
I would have loved to just spend time chatting with the teachers... so much to ask and talk about. Oh well, just have to make do in the timespan tomorrow morning =)
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QSE Reflections
Fairy Tales (15 Aug 07) (Book brought: Rapunzel by Zelinsky)No presenter today, so SWMNBN made the presentation... still very shaky on the text analysis as it is the first time we r doing it, need to get proper highlighters. Quite a wide genre as fairy tales have been around for a long long time, however surprising thing was that no one wanted to give it a try... of course it could be due to the short prep time (something like 1 week plus to prep only)
Fractured Fairy Tale (17 Aug 07) (Book brought: The Three Pigs by Wiesner)This would have been my choice as I am a big fan of stories with unexpected endings/twists... By taking different perspectives and changing familiar storylines, it usually results in a refreshing story like telling the Red Riding Hood Story from the Wolf's perspective or making the Big Bad Wolf a good character etc. However, another gp beat me to it. They did a gd job (they were even dressed like school kids , complete with pig tails). However, SWMNBN mentioned that they could have improved on the presentation by utilising the books that were brought by the students.
Myths and Legends (22 Aug 07) (Book brought: John Henry: An American Legend)The group went through the whole presentation with a good pace, the use of Powerpoint helped to grab a lot of attention through the interesting use of animation. They made the point to involve the students and we had a lively discussion afterwards... Must admit that the show was good as the presenters were well-versed with the subject matter. We need to be equally comfortable (if not more!) in order to raise the bar again.
Fantasy (24 Aug 07) (Book brought: Tuesday by Wiesner)I missed this session as I was sick but I managed to sit in on the Friday session. I think the fantasy genre is really about expanding the limits of imagination if there is even such a thing. In a setting where anything can happen, there is a lot of scope for amazing stories which are both entertaining and captivating. Would have loved to hear the 2 ladies present but too bad...
Pouquoi Tales and Fables (29 Aug 07) (Book brought: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema)This was another interesting session as the presenters went all out with a nicely published handout and a slick presentation using a Macbook. High wow factor,but they missed out on using the books brought by the students. I'm getting more confident in text type analysis in terms of using episodes as a way to segment the stories.
Contemporary Realistic Fiction and Historical Fiction (30 Aug 07) (Book brought: Zoo by Anthony Browne)Initially my concept of CRF was limited to just books set in modern day, however after the presentation, I realised that the characters can also be animals. For example, Anthony Browne likes to use chimps as characters. I also realised that when I was in primary school, I had spent a lot of time reading CRF authors like Bevely Cleary and Judy Blume. In HFs the setting seems to dominate the story permeating through the language, the description of the surroundings, etc. The presentation was not bad with a lot of props and even a minor dramatisation to boot! I think the only issue was the time management... We will need to work on rehearsing the sequence properly and include in time for reflection on the entire process.
