Jonathan Koh
PGDE (Sec)
For my Teaching Apprenticeship (TA), I returned to Springfield Secondary School, from 23 March to 17 April 2020. I had previously done my contract teaching stint there, and it felt good to be back in a familiar environment. I enjoyed being with friendly colleagues and amongst the students there again. My cooperating teachers requested that I spend the first two weeks of my TA observing classroom dynamics and how lessons were carried out before I started teaching.
Two weeks in, the Covid-19 situation had taken a turn for the worse. Students and teachers were both surprised and worried as all the news updates spread rapidly amongst the community. The news that everyone feared came to pass when it was announced that all schools were to be closed and had to transit to Home Based Learning. It was disappointing to abruptly leave the school without getting to bid my students goodbye, or conduct the lessons I had planned. It was also scary that I would lack the required teaching experience before my upcoming Teaching Practicum in January 2021.
Thankfully, my cooperating teachers gave me the opportunity to convert my original lesson plan into an online lesson instead. They shared with me the various constraints of Home Based Learning, such as the 30-minute limit for students’ screen time. They also shared how to engage students in spite of the lack of ‘real time’ feedback. With all these in mind, I created a lesson on Student Learning Space (SLS) for Secondary 2 Express and Normal Academic History students on the Maria Hertogh Riots. I was able to access my students’ answers on my SLS lesson and crafted slides to tackle common misconceptions they still had on the topic.
Although my TA did not turn out the way I had hoped, I had certainly gained new skills and experiences that would probably not have come otherwise. The Covid-19 situation has indeed brought about many inconveniences and worries, but all we can do is to give each day our best effort.
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