The first semester school break is here, but we're not going off for a holiday.
Nia has extra classes the first week Monday to Thursday, Syira has to go back to school that Friday. Nia is sitting for UPSR, Syira is sitting for SPM. Gone were the days when a break is a break, regardless of whether you have a big exam to sit for or not. But with exams getting to be more high stakes, in contrary to the move towards assesment for learning, schools are not leaving it to the parents to get their kids ready for the exam. This means teachers also have to give up their break. Is this good for everyone concerned?
We're still focusing on assessment of learning, not assessment for learning. Yet we wonder why we're still not producing truly excellent students, whose string of As in their examination result is also reflected in their character, their poise, their communication, thier thinking skills, their ethics. Instead, we hear laments of A-students who cannot use the language well, the one that they scored an A in, of students who cannot seem to think outside the box, of students who lacks civic consciousness.
Ibu went a little off tangent :). Perhaps due to the frustration in not being able to coordinate activities because even during the school holidays, our children don't belong to us. Not that I don't want them to do well in their exams, that's important, but what's also important is family, what's also important is allowing then to flourish in other ways that are not assessed through the current exam system.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
Happy teachers' day
Probably an apt day to revive this blog.
New objectives: to jot down thoughts on teaching and learning and education, doesn't have to be about the kids anymore.
But this post is personal. Azraf insisted on buying gifts for his teachers, so we made a quick stop en route to school. We bought gifts for all 10 of his teachers, and when I picked him up later, he said he didn't give them to the teachers because the school's celebration would be this Friday. Needless to say, ibu wasn't impressed.
Hania was insisting last night she wanted to give the gifts *today* and ibu was just too tired to go out again at night, papa was tired out already. So the promise was to do it in the morning, so early this morning after subuh ibu went up to the only store open at that hour and bought seven bars of chocolate. But at least she gave them all to the teachers, except one. It was supposed to go to her Physical education teacher but she later decided it was just PE. Hmmmmm.... Can you fault the kids that they think it's just PE when PE classes are more likely to be cancelled than held for exam-year classes?
Six gifts for Najwan's teachers. The secondary school kids contribute to the class collection for gifts.
New objectives: to jot down thoughts on teaching and learning and education, doesn't have to be about the kids anymore.
But this post is personal. Azraf insisted on buying gifts for his teachers, so we made a quick stop en route to school. We bought gifts for all 10 of his teachers, and when I picked him up later, he said he didn't give them to the teachers because the school's celebration would be this Friday. Needless to say, ibu wasn't impressed.
Hania was insisting last night she wanted to give the gifts *today* and ibu was just too tired to go out again at night, papa was tired out already. So the promise was to do it in the morning, so early this morning after subuh ibu went up to the only store open at that hour and bought seven bars of chocolate. But at least she gave them all to the teachers, except one. It was supposed to go to her Physical education teacher but she later decided it was just PE. Hmmmmm.... Can you fault the kids that they think it's just PE when PE classes are more likely to be cancelled than held for exam-year classes?
Six gifts for Najwan's teachers. The secondary school kids contribute to the class collection for gifts.
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