Reflection on my 2008 A Maths (4E2 and 4E6) O level results

Last year was the first year that I taught Sec 4 A Math, having taught the Sec 3 syllabus in 2006 and 2007. I was of course nervous as I await for the result on 12th January. My first concern was my form class 4e6. I guess I should be slightly happy as the number of passes for A Math for 4E6 was more than that during the prelim exams ( 2 passes in Prelim and 12 passes in O level exams is not too bad ) but I guess after working hard on many Saturdays in 2007 and 2008 I can't help but feel sad knowing that the remaining 18 didn't manage to pass ( out of 34 students, 4 didn't sit for the paper). I can't help thinking that I have not done enough for them. The Saturday lessons, the scoldings, the motivational talks and the small group coaching was not enough for this class....? I'll be meeting with the ones who have passed, for a small celebration lunch at Swensens this Saturday. I will definitely ask what had made them really turn around and be able to reach that passing mark....Hopefully what worked for them will work for the weaker students this year...

For the 4E2 on the other hand, I know that most of them will make it. Out of the 10 failures during Prelims, only 1 failed in the end ( and I know this student started to be serious a little too late) and with a D7 at that. They were a really determined lot and helped each other out with the extra papers that I had given them, a few weeks before the O levels. I should have paid more attention to them. They should have achieved better grades earlier had I given them the same attention as 4E6. I am glad that most are able to go to the next level of learning and perhaps continue with Mathematics.

I am back teaching Sec 4 E Maths this year. I really REALLY hope that the results will be a whole lot better than last year's. Teaching half of 4E1 should be easier than the whole class. And 5N1, after teaching them for the last 2 years, still needs a lot of coaching and motivating. I am determined to make sure that they get at least a B4 from the CA1 to the final 'O' level Maths paper. Anything less would mean that I haven't done enough for my students. I hope the other teachers will make sure that I keep this promise till this year's batch of students finish their Sec 4/5 education.

Reflection T1W1 - 1E2 (introduction)

I first got to know the students from observing Sok Gek going through the Class Code of Conduct on the first day of school. They were very quiet and a bit reserved and introduced themselves very softly. Thursday was the only lesson I had with them and I went through my introductory lesson, set expectations and got myself a Maths rep. I will only start my first lesson on next Monday. The first topic will be Factors and Multiples. Till next week....:)

Reflection T1W1 - 4E1 (Circle Theorem)

Shobha and I shared the 4E1 class. for the first lesson, 17 out of 20 attended my class in ITR3 as 1 student was out of school and 2 of them were caught by the PMLC for thei personal bearing. For the past two lessons I taught them the symmetrical and angle properties of circles. They were able to understand the symmetrical properties as they were able to try a few sums for classwork and homework. I went through the angle properties quite fast as they should have done some, if not half, of their Holiday Homework on Circle Theorem. We went through 1 question that makes use of the first 4 angle properties of circles which are, angles in the same segment, angle at centre is twice angle at circumference, right angle in semicircle opposite angles of a cyclic quad is supplementary. I told them to finish up on the 50 questions that were given for their holiday homework, during the weekend. I will mark the first assignment tonight and will go through with them the errors( if any) and go through the 50 questions next week...

Reflection T1W1 - 5N1 (Probability)

The whole class is back again. I have a sense that everyone wants to do very well this term. Firman was asking me to give him extra lessons so that he can get into SAJC as he was intending to go there. Teenesh was asking when SRP will start and I told him that it would start next week. Bernice was really paying attention in class. Last year her performance was inconsistent. I hope to be able to be capture her attention every lesson so that she can stay focused in class. They were given a one-week extension for their Holiday Homework (the whole TYS).

They have learnt about sample space, simple probability, possibility diagram, tree diagram and mutually exclusive events. I think most of them were able to understand the lessons that have been taught for the week. Shahira and Shiek were quite confused at first but I was able to make them understand by the second lesson. Need to mark their first assignment on Probability to really gauge their understanding. Will do it tonight.... :)

Reflection T1W1 - 2N3 (Data Handling)

I admit I was quite 'scared' to go into this class as I saw that it is made up of 2008's 1T, 2T, 1N and 2N students. Their ability is so varied I just don't know how to start. So in following the SOW, I started with Data Handling. The 1T and 2T and 2N students have finished this topic last year so I guess it is easier to teach the whole class. The students were really enthusiastic about learning and were even more motivated after Mr Chin came into the class to say that he knows that they will be the best class out of the three 2N classes, based on 2008's statistics. I have the same feeling too...:)

I gave them a test yesterday on putting data into frequency table. As expected, most were able to do it with little difficulty. Since I had written the question on the board, it's only right for me to read the question to the 2 visually handicapped students who were sitting in the first row. I will mark the test papers tonight and hopefully get a 100% full mark for this first test. As for SRP, the whole class of 23 students will attend and I will work on their sec 1 syllabus. I will continue on the same topic of Data Handling - representing data ( Bar chart, line graphs and Pie Chart) next week.....