While browsing through the TWA website some months back,I was thrilled to see an opportunity being attached to ETD. Being a newly appointed KP , I thought it would be good to apply for attachment and to learn as much as I could. Hopefully,I would translate what I have learnt back to my school and to the cluster. I am fortunate to have the blessings of my Principal for this attachment.
It was great seeing a familiar face on my first day of attachment. Seryne, my cluster ETO was there to receive me. After settling down, Seryne walked me through the new Byites that would be launched soon. Personally , I feel that the new Byites is more comprehensive and offers more clarity than the earlier versions .Particularly useful are the authentic examples that are tagged to each domain. Examples of CoL and SDL are clearly stated. While not prescriptive in nature, it does, in one document , highlights what are some of the best practices that schools are doing.
In the afternoon, Bradon, an Education Policy Analyst, walked me through the cyberwellness education which includes the implementation strategy, ambassador programme as well as the ICSC. It is indeed encouraging to see that HQ is placing a lot of emphasis on Cyberwellness especially with the rise of new media tools. Equally encouraging is the fact that HQ has put in many resources that are available to schools for their use. I will be looking at how I can incorporate some of these resources for our current cyberwellness training programme for next year. I am also thinking of how as a school, we can partner parents and activating student leaders in bringing cyberwellness messages to the rest of the student body. It is also reassuring to know that I could always give a phone call to my new found friend, Brandon, if ever I need any advice on this.
We also had an interesting discussion on whether it is ok for primary school pupils to use facebook to communicate with their teachers considering the fact that facebook does have an age limit for children.
I am glad that the first day of the attachment has been off to a good start. Just by talking to Seryne and Brandon, I have gained much in perspective. Besides talking about educational technology matters, we also spoke about school practices related to teachers' professional development. For instance, Seryne shared with me that in her former school at Ngee Ann Primary, teachers would write weekly reflections on their lessons (soft copy) instead of submitting weekly lesson plans. This reflection would include strategies been used, own observations and follow-up actions. The ROs would then read the reflections and pen down their comments. I thought this is something useful as this would encourage a more reflective teaching staff. This brings to mind an article entitled, "Reflection as a Critical Component of the Technology Adoption" which I read months back.
http://www.ericdigests.org/2005-2/reflection.html
Quoting from the article,the following paragraph sums up the role of reflection in IT integration.
"Reflection that increasingly challenges educators to consider changes in their practices as part of adopting new innovations helps educators devised technology integration strategies that lend themselves to the to configuration of the classroom, enlist support to help develop necessary skills, and use technology-based resources that are accessible and appropriate to the classroom (Medeiros, 1999). "
I look forward to another exciting day ahead.
