Weekly Record Book Term 1, Week 9 (2019)

English Language and Literature Department

Name: Mr Timothy Joshua Ong

Term 1, Week 9 (ODD WEEK) :

ORID Focus Guiding Questions

elements
Facts, Data  What were the key points you noted about the lessons?
 What did the students actually do during . . . ?
O What?  What did you observe during the . . . ?
Objective  What were the student behaviors you observed?

Reflective questions, Reactions  As you look at the students’ works, what concerns/pleases you?
 How did you feel as you were . . . ?
R  As you reflect on the lessons, what was exciting, surprising, or frustrating about . . . ?
What about the “What”?  Which activities/actions do you think fostered high engagement?
Reflective
Interpretive questions, critical thinking:  What could you have done/could you do to increase . . .?
 What could you have done/could you do to minimize the undesirable . . . .?
I  What other ways could you check for students understanding?
So What?  What did you learn about yourself through this experience?
Interpretive

Decision questions:  What things will you do differently?

 What things will you do the same in future . . . ?
D  Which of your skills will you further develop? And what will you do to develop them?
Now what?  What are your next steps? What actions/ideas has this triggered for you?
Decisional
My Reflections

The need for Differentiated Instruction in 308

308 could very well be the most diverse class I have ever taken. This week’s reflection will focus on my
W.A. feedback session with the class. Before I pen down my thoughts on that session, allow me to
share some observations I have made about 308 after almost a whole term with them.
There are numerous students who are fluent in their spoken and written language, perhaps stemming
from their love of reading novels. Some boys and girls are rather boisterous and are unafraid and
uninhibited in expressing their views, thoughts, feelings and are bold in speaking their minds. This
manifested when I conducted a debate in class when we were covering the unit on argumentative
writing earlier on in the term. Insightful points were raised and sides were taken very passionately, as
students were visibly heated when they tried justifying their stands on various issues/topics!

On the flip side, there are a significant number of students who do not speak English as their 1st
language and are thus, extremely weak in their grammatical proficiency. These comprise a mix of
foreign students and a handful of boys who often get into disciplinary issues (these boys were
conditionally promoted as of last year’s streaming results).

To add to the complexity, the class comprises colourful characters who, individually, have quite a bit
going on in their personal lives and these issues do affect and sometimes impede their learning. These
students are often tired, lacklustre, unmotivated and are in school simply to go through the motions.
Having said that, there are yet, another handful of students who are highly motivated and very
interested and passionate about learning. These students frequently pose insightful questions in class
and enjoy the limelight of being seen and heard. Affective resources are most certainly a key factor for
consideration in the T&L for 308.

The culmination of the aforementioned factors reflects a dire need for Differentiated Instruction in 308.
The first diagnostic was the recent W.A. that consisted of an editing passage and a Visual Text. The
results were mind-boggling. The class had a 25% distinction rate (scoring A1 or A2) and among the 6
students who failed, 3 of them scored 3 to 4 marks upon 15. Our class had the highest percentage of
distinctions, and yet the lowest scoring marks in the level came from 308 as well. To be very honest, I
was perplexed.

As we went through the feedback for the W.A. task, instead of just copying the answers, I insisted on
each student analysing where they had gone wrong and penning down their specific challenges. This
gave rise to a rich discussion on identifying which specific areas of language they needed to improve
in. Metalanguage was my key focus and gradually, students were (ie. Tenses / plural vs singular nouns
/ appropriate prepositions, interpretation of visual images, structural accuracy ‘phrase’ vs ‘sentence’
etc.)

I kept the explanations simple and concise, yet I stuck to linguistic terminology to acquaint them with
subject-specific vocabulary and to raise their awareness of the English metalanguage. This ensured
that everyone was on the same page in terms of the categorisation of their areas for improvement. My
T&L strategies will continue to evolve as I teach 308, and I will endeavour to incorporate more step-
ups/downs in future lessons and I will do my best to create varied learning experiences to better cater
to the diverse learning needs present in this class.

Reporting Officer Signature: _______________________

Date: _______________________