National Museum of Singapore

This completed our first full-strength class excursion to the National Museum of Singapore (NMS), after the DNA workshop @ AJC and LJ to the Zoo. =D

Though this is my 4th visit to NMS since 2006, I look forward to it. I like the serenity & tranquility there, and is definitely best enjoyed with companions of the same interest to discover the history of Singapore.

Frankly, I feel that the programme can be better. Faster-paced activities and more walk-about in the gallery. I find the sit-down in The Lab too long, though we derived important and valuable information from it.

The most interesting segment has to be the role-play. I missed the first part and caught only the one between Samantha (as grassroot leader) and Ezekiel (as citizen). I must say it was really funny. (",) Samantha was composed at first, trying to convince Ezekiel that NS was necessary. But Ezekiel was a difficult citizen who opposed the idea of his son, Mitchel, serving NS. Obviously, Ezekiel was too much for Samantha to handle and she turned nasty. xD

We left the museum 25 minutes behind the scheduled time and I had to persuade the security to allow the school bus to wait at the alighting bay when it arrived at 12noon.

What's next? I am not sure if we will be going to Science Centre eco-garden for its "Aquatic Plants & Animals" programme.

Else it will be the P6 motivational programme in the first week of June. Last year, I organised an Amazing Race for 6.7 @ Sentosa. This year, I am not so sure since Sentosa has changed greatly after the opening of Resort World Sentosa (RWS).

But the most important of all, the teacher himself is not motivated this year, in fact disappointed (not with the class). Who's going to motivate him first?

Public Speaking - Day 3

This is the third day of the public speaking for our class. Ryan Lai had to play lone ranger, as Nishtha went missing in action (MIA) today. I hope her tummy ache has nothing to do with the sharing. ("!)

My first impression of Ryan, when I first saw him in 2008, was that of a outspoken and possibly a troublesome boy. But he is neither. I realised this during the one-week trip to Chennai, India.

Later I discovered that he could speak intelligently, but is a very shy boy. Though he could amuse me greatly with his witty thoughts and comments, he was afraid of approaching the tourists to conduct surveys at the Singapore Flyer.

Today, he displayed the same characteristics - shyness. His shyness brought about the nervousness that was visible to all. It is definitely not easy to speak in front of an audience, yet he accepted the assignment when chosen to. This is courage.

I am confident that with more frequent exposure, this fear can be overcome. It can also be reduced if one prepares well for the presentation. Trailers are good tuning-in or concluding techniques that we can use for our presentation. But keep in mind that all these and more should be done beforehand to avoid any unexpected circumstances that could jeopardise the sharing.

Tomorrow, Thursday, we will be off to the National Museum of Singapore (NMS). Ryan Tan and Valery who have been scheduled for this day will resume on another. The date will be confirmed later.

The last two speakers on Friday are Zhi Hao and Hilary. Stay tune! (",)

Public Speaking - Day 2

The speakers for Day 2 are ShiHui and Pierre.

ShiHui chose the well-known Japanese anime, "Naruto", for her sharing.

Though the trailer was a little long, it was well-balanced with her well-prepared presentation. Movie trailer serves as a good introduction to the presentation as it rouses the interest of the audience immediately, giving them an idea of the story, especially to those who have not seen it before.

Her 2nd final statement, "If I were to choose to be one of the characters, I would choose to be Naruto for his loyalty to friends," would have put a good close to her sharing. However, the last statement, if u have heard it, soured it to a certain extent, revealing a sign of insecurity and low self-confidence.

Pierre chose the movie, based on a historical and famous battle in ancient China, "The Red Cliff". The choice, in terms of language, could have been more universal to cater to different ethnic groups.

As the movie requires some prior knowledge of the characters and scenario, some audiences may not understand the story. But the use of the video clip may have somewhat helped in their understanding.

Public-speaking requires plenty of courage which both of them have exhibited. It is certainly not easy to speak in front of the audience, and could be nerve-wrecking. Their courage and enthusiasm definitely command our admiration. =D

Learning Journey @ Singapore Zoological Garden

After a month of rainless spell in February, the sky decided to make up for it by raining every day since the start of the March Term break.

It is a pity that it rained during our learning journey yesterday, ending our trail abruptly at around 3pm. Some seeked shelter momentarily at the Australian Outback, while some journeyed on in their ponchos and brollies.

Due to the thundering weather, the trail eventually had to be terminated prematurely. Fortunately for the 20-something of us, we were at the Zoo enclosure at the right time to catch the elephant show.

This is an inter-disciplinary trail consisting of topics in English, Mathematics and Science. It is especially significant in the area of environment and animal adaptation which we will study next week.

For now, we look forward to the trip to the National Museum of Singapore this Thursday. =D

Public Speaking - Day 1

The topic is on a TV programme/movie that one has recently watched.

Ezekiel kick-started the first slot of the first session of Term 2 with a loud bang. His excellent choice of the heart-warming movie "Hachiko" won the approval of everyone in InnoHub today.

His comparison of man and dog in his conclusion drew huge laughter from the audience, immediately after the showing of the attention-grabbing video clip of "Hachiko". His PPT slides also helped to a great extent in sustaining audience's focus.

The point of advice to Ezekiel is to maintain eye-contact with his audience.

With the high standard set by Ezekiel, everyone anticipated Siying's presentation. "Alvin and the Chipmunks 2", however, did not draw as much interest as "Hachiko", due to a lack of novelty in the former.

Siying's stage-fright was very obvious right at the start, but soon reclaimed her composure as it progressed.

Siying should explore ways in attracting and sustaining audience's interests in her presentation.

We Are The Champions! (",)

Hope u have all enjoyed and picked up useful strategies in these two-day MindChamps course conducted by, of course, MindChamps. (".)

I learnt a technique or two from them too, and could have been more if I had stayed in the dance studio throughout.

The photos are not comprehensive of all the "uNuSuAl" happenings in there. It is a pity that I was not around during some of the hilarious moments. =S

MindChamps may be back for with more in the later part of the year, should the feedback be positive, enough. =P

Everyone's a champion. =)

DNA Workshop @ AJC

This is not exactly an excursion, but it is definitely the first outing for our class for the year. After two and a half months that is, and considering that we only have eight school months together. =O

Though there were only 25 of us this afternoon, with another seven from 6.3, we can look forward to two more in the next few weeks. Possibly more, if the class is able to self-managed when we are out of school.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly today. The presenter, Dr. Sarasa, was clean and straight to the point in her lesson. No nonsense. I am especially amazed that she was able to deliver the DNA concept so clearly to a bunch of 12-year-old kiddos, despite the fact that she teaches the JC students on her normal days. This very day was obviously abnormal. ("!)

We would like to thank Dr. Sarasa & AJC for hosting our two classes these two days. =D