Thursday 20 November 2014

Microteaching theory: Money and Resource Management

So I am back with a post reporting how my microteaching theory was. It really was an enriching experience for me where I could assess myself of how well I could engage and manage my students. 

In this post, I will be sharing with you a summary of what I executed for my microteaching and what could have been done better. The topic I attempted to teach is Money and Resource Management. I showed a snippet of how I’d carry out my trigger, my main activity and my conclusion.

Before my trigger, for the class opening, I played a short clip of the song price tag which played the lyrics ‘It’s not about the money’. This was a great way to begin the class as it could grasp the attention of students as familiar tune was played, but my approach of the song was incorrect as I told the students to forget the song because today’s lesson IS about the money. This was not a recommended way of using the song as once a familiar tune is played, students tend to remember it. Instead, I could have built up on the song and explaining the importance of money so that students can relate the song with the lesson.

Also, as I thought merely listing objectives on my facilitating slides, would not help students understand what they are to learn for the day. Thus, as shown in the image below, I had rephrased the objectives as questions and I used pictures to describe the objectives. However, this was not clear to the students. I could have perhaps been clearer with my instructional verbs. So that students could relate them as objectives of the lesson.


My trigger activity was a think-pair-share activity on needs and wants of which students were required to identify a need or a want from their personal belongings and share it with their partners. An improved way of conducting this activity would be to for students to show the item to their partners but instead of sharing with them, asking them to guess if it’s a need or want. This would allow students to understand the differences in opinion that they have and emphasize the point that people have differing needs and wants and what is most important is that they follow their values and live learn to live within their means.

My main activity was a group case study which I went through during my microteaching. I thought I provided students with too little time to complete the activity, thus the audience were really not representative of how an actual class would react to the case-study. Other than that I thought the questions were well structured, and this exercise was highly beneficial to assessing if students understood what has been previously taught.

My final activity was the rapid fire round where I asked true or false questions and students were given cards to raise (red representing false and green representing true) to provide their answers. This was a great way to wrap up the class and check the understanding of students without verbal responses. Another concluding activity that was executed by my friend that had a gist of what I did is something I’d like to share as I thought it was effective. My friend conducted an activity called quiz kinetic by labelling tables as options and students were to move to the option they think is the right response to a question. This is a more physical approach as to what I conducted and I thought it is more engaging as students get to move. Classroom management however needs to be well-taken care of during the activity.


I hope the pointers I have shared are useful as they definitely were to me. I am glad to have made mistakes as it serves as an opportunity for me to improve. Hopefully, for my next microteaching, I will return improved with more creative ideas to execute. 
Till then, its me devi signing offJ

Saturday 15 November 2014

Game for FCE Lesson


Students have varying learning needs, learning abilities and learning styles. Games can be used in class to enhance learning experience as they promote active involvement and provide platform for experiential learning for the students.


The game that we chose to focus on in this entry is Bingo. Bingo can be used when concluding a lesson as it helps the teacher to review the learning objectives and also check for students' understanding of the lesson.

Resources
  • Sufficient Bingo cards (customized to suit the topic)
  • 'Hints' cut-outs 
  • Box (encase the 'hints' & for teacher to draw the 'hints' by random)
Example of the bingo cards
Diet-Related Health Problems
B I N G O
Blocked arteries of the heart
Glucose
Blood in stools
Hypertension
<7.8mmol/L
Constipation
<130/80mmHg
Eat in excess

Poor healing of wounds
Lower cholesterol levels
Iron
Insulin
Symptom of anaemia
Insufficient intake of calcium
Restrict food intake
Vitamin C

Example of the 'hints' (has to be printed and cut into the respective boxes)
Soluble fibre
Osteoporosis
Coronary heart disease
Excess sodium in diet
Simple sugar
Aids absorption of iron
Symptom of diabetes
Anorexia Nervosa
Healthy blood glucose level
Bulimia Nervosa
Lack of energy and feeling weak
Controls blood glucose levels
Required to form haemoglobin
Normal blood pressure
Symptom of colorectal cancer
Difficulty passing out solid waste

How to play?
  • Students will be given a 4x4 bingo card with key words or phrases in each grid.
  • Teacher will randomly draw hint from box - one at a time.
  • Students to mark a 'X' on the grid that complements the hint the teacher picked from the box. Eg. Simple sugar (teacher's pick) and Glucose (on student's bingo card)
  • Students to shout 'BINGO' when they form TWO horizontal, vertical or diagonal lines on their bingo card.
  • Teacher will then double check the complementing key words and phrases with students

Instructions for TEACHER
  • Instruct students to form groups of 5
  • Distribute Bingo cards (1 Bingo card per group)
  • Explain how Bingo works 
  • Pick out hints from the box, one at a time, ensuring students have checked the complementing box on the bingo card before picking the another hint.
  • Check answers with students when they have BINGO 
Instructions for STUDENTS
Teacher to give instructions:
"I will pick a hint from the box and you have to locate its complementing key word or phrase on your bingo card and mark a 'X' on it using a marker. In order to get BINGO, you have to form 2 horizontal, vertical or diagonal lines on your bingo card. When you have completed 2 lines, shout BINGO, and I will double check the complementing key words and phrases with you verbally to ensure that it got it right."

This game provides opportunity for cooperative learning for the students and it will challenge students to think quickly and clearly on their feet. It is a fun and engaging way to summarize and review the lesson. 


Friday 24 October 2014

Using ICT in the Teaching of F&N - Liping

Subject: Food and Consumer Education 
Topic: My Healthy Plate
Web Resource: Health Promotion Board http://www.hpb.gov.sg/HOPPortal/health-article/HPB064355

Explanation: 
The Health Promotion Board recently changed one of the nutritional tool that was commonly used. Previously, we were using the Healthy Diet Pyramid where all Nutritionist and Home Economists are familiar of. Thus, I would like to recommend the use of HPB website for students to know and understand better about this new nutritional tool called "My Healthy Plate". 


The website has various links which allows the ease of assess for students. It provides a more in-depth information as compared to the "Food and Consumer Education" textbook. 


These information are important and useful for students. Be it for their daily life or when they are tested in examinations. They will be able to comprehend the questions better as they know these information. 

Health Promotion Board also provides additional link for everyone to assess. For instance, it provides us with more information on what "My Healthy Plate" mean by 'Fill half your plate with fruit and vegetables'. It teaches us what nutrients does fruits and vegetables, the nutritional advantages of consuming fruit and vegetables in our diet. 


Referring to the Health Promotion Board website is the best, if not the best. As it is what we base our syllabus on. Where we abstract these important information from. Thus it has extremely reliable information for our students to look at and learn from. 

Furthermore, students are more interested to actually assess this websites then referring to the textbooks as it may seem boring to them. Exposing them to the HPB website can also help students to explore the website. As they may be able to find more information or nutritional tools they can use to help them in their subject. Which will help them when they are doing their coursework when they are in their upper secondary years. 



Subject: Food and Nutrition 
Coursework
Web Resource: Nutrition.gov http://www.nutrition.gov/

Explanation: 
Nutrition.gov is a website base in USA. It is somewhat similar to our Singapore's Health Promotion Board website. However, it is still different as the statistics and information are base on what is tested in USA. They have a variety of Nutritional Tools for us to use that is somewhat similar to what HPB has. 

Additionally, they provide many information and links to different website that will aid in student's learning. 

I find this website useful for students because when students are doing coursework, they will need many different websites for them to refer to. They will be able to understand and digest this information better as they can see it in different perspective. They will also be able to better analyze the information they have found and make comparisons. 

To state an example, there is this SuperTracker where I would recommend students to use to see the differences between what American and Singapore guidelines are. Where they will be able to give more constructive feedback or information for their targeted personnel in their coursework. 



As you can see from above there are various tools from'Food Tracker' to Recipe Analyzer. This website provides a variety of tools for students to use and for them to learn better. 

Thus I feel that it is important for students to look at different nutrition websites in different country to enrich themselves and be able to know the differences of the different countries websites for them to write their coursework better. However it is also important for students to keep in mind that these are just references to enhance their knowledge. They should still always give their feedback and suggestions base on the Singapore Health Promotion Board. 


Thursday 23 October 2014

Using ICT in the Teaching of F&N - Nellie

Subject: Food and Consumer Education
Topic: Money and Resource Management
Web Resource: TheMint.org http://www.themint.org/

Explanation:
I would recommend the use of this website when teaching topics under Consumer Studies. The website provides wide range of tools to help educators teach children and teenagers how to manage money wisely and develop good financial habit: the building blocks for a secure future. It contains many activities that are ideal for teachers to illustrate sound money management concepts and it would be a very fun and interactive way for students to learn about all the things people do with money: earning, saving, spending, tracking, investing, and safeguarding. 

Specifically, for the part on Money and Resource Management in the syllabus, I will use the ‘Determining Your Budget’ page found on the website to enrich my lesson. After teaching my students Budgeting, they have to put their skills into use and apply it in a real-life situation to ensure they see the relevance which will make learning meaningful. The page allows users to input their income and plan their budget accordingly. I will have the students to work out a budget plan based on an assigned annual income. Students will have to decide for themselves how much money they wish to save, how much money they will have to spend on transportation, entertainment etc. Through this budgeting activity, they would be able to identify and be aware of the different aspects that they have to consider when managing their finances. 

 

 


 
 

However, there is a down side to this website, as it is based in the United States, there are certain areas of the ‘Determining Your Budget’ page that will not apply in the Singapore context, particularly, the deduction of tax and also the interest rates of the saving accounts. But overall, it is still a good tool for students to practice budgeting and have an idea of the factors they have to consider when planning a budget. It is also more interactive and interesting for the students compared to the conventional paper and pen approach of planning a budget. 

In addition, there are many other tools and games on the website that will enhance and enrich the learning of consumer studies. For instance, there are articles and quizzes on differentiating needs and wants and smart shopping, I feel that it is a very good resource for self-directed learning. I will encourage my students to visit the website prior to my lessons so that they will be better prepared when they come to class and this will also encourage them to be more responsible for their own learning.


Subject: Food and Nutrition
Topic: Meal Planning
Web Resource: Health Promotion Board http://www.hpb.gov.sg/HOPPortal/

Explanation:
I would strongly recommend my Food and Nutrition students to visit the Health Promotion Board (HPB) website to aid them in the completion of their assignments and coursework. There are many educational materials made available on the website, as well as many useful resources and tools. 

Under the ‘Resources’ tab, you can find ‘Educational materials’ where the most updated nutrition-related information and educational materials like brochures and handouts are easily accessible. You will able to find the most credible details of ‘My Healthy Plate’ and online educational booklets such as ‘Salt, less is best’, ‘Do you have high blood pressure?’ and ‘Have you eaten 2 servings of fruit and 2 servings of vegetables today?’. 

Also under the ‘Resources’ tab, they have a link to ‘Games & Tools’ where a wide range of nutritional tools can be found. I would like to highlight two of them: 

1. Energy and Nutrient Composition of Food 
2. Food Intake Assessment 


1. Energy and Nutrient Composition of Food 
Using this nutritional tool, students are able to find out the nutrient contents of different food based on their respective serving sizes – all macro and micronutrients. It is a good tool when looking up local one-dish meals as the database is Singapore-based, unlike other soft wares that are based in other countries, for instance, FoodWorks that is based in Australia. 



2. Food Intake Assessment 
This nutritional tool is similar to the Energy and Nutrient Composition of Food, but students can use it to analyze their meal plans. Instead of just analyzing a particular food item or dish, this tool will help students to analyze meals of the entire day and compare it to the recommended daily allowance based on the nutritional requirements of the target individual and make recommendations on how the students can improve on their meal plans. 


I feel that the HPB website has very comprehensive information on the health-related issues, so I would encourage my students to visit it frequently to keep themselves up to date and also make good use of the extensive nutritional tools HPB provide to help them with their assignments and coursework.