Chinese New Year 2011, Day 3

Family portrait with the in-laws. This shot follows an annual ritual of dressing in our new year finery and descending to a dimsum restaurant for morning 'tea'. Taking a similar shot every year is like a record of how much we've grown over the past year. And with the amount of food consumed during this period, the annual rate of mass increase has to be pretty significant.

The lucky dimsum restaurant selected to host our carnage this year is Mandarin Court. Enjoyed the spread here because above all, there was no trace of the oily flavour that tends to taint the deep-fried dishes and makes me feel sick after. It may have been pricey here, but the food went down easy. Good choice. 

Hornet buzz

Being a superhero is easy. You either need a lot of money and a media empire or technical wizardry and kung-fu. Or preferably, both. So, Britt Reid (a.k.a. The Green Hornet) provides the resources and big-picture inspiration while Kato (a.k.a., Kato) builds the toys and brings the kung-fu smackdown. Egro, outlaw crime-fighting duo with 'normal' powers fighting for justice.

The comedy isn't in fighting the bad guys, but in the background bickering between Reid and Kato over the nature of the partnership, who has the better plan, who gets the credit and of course, who gets Cameron Diaz. Just another day in the office.

NYeDC needs you!

Proud of NYeDC for taking the initiative to volunteer an item for today's campus CNY celebration concert.

Serendipitously, it was a tactically wise move because it coincided with our one-and-only CCA bazaar (a.k.a., recruitment drive) for the newly-arrived J1s. Due to time constraints, the few aesthetic CCAs allowed to perform at the bazaar were those participating in the SYF, so we wouldn't have been allocated a slot. Besides, performing a theatrical piece would have been pointless in a noisy atrium space with a free-flowing itinerant audience.

But playing on the hall stage, we had the entire J1 cohort as a captive sit-down audience. Being miked, we were totally audible -- right down to the disparaging remarks against a popular EPL club that we engineered into our script for shock value. Kids did well to keep the energy consistently high, hitting their marks and getting the appropriate responses from the audience as expected. I will always say a couple more rehearsals on-site would have covered a few more sins. But given our prep time, I believe we did the best we could.

With the full attention of our target market, hopefully that'll translate to a better impression of us and our capabilities, and a stronger recruitment for the club. Funding's down this year, so we really need the numbers for a more advantageous bargaining position during next year's budget review.

My poor, starving child!

Kindergarten food concern
STI, Feb 1, 2011

I AM a parent of a child (congratulations on your contribution to our local population. You're still short of 1.1 children to reach the ideal replacement rate, however) studying at Radin Mas PAP Community Foundation kindergarten (can the activities at kindergarten actually be considered 'studying'? I remember the plasticine molding, the messing around with finger paints, the running around and terrorizing my fellow kindermates as my primary function in life back then. Can times really have changed so much?).

I thought schools in Singapore are trying to promote healthy eating (Ooh, a Bandwagon+Appeal to Authority combo attack! Nice one!), but my child's school serves mostly biscuits during snack time (aren't biscuits a legitimate form of snack food?). And each child is given about six pieces each time (Q-tip gets five every morning. Sounds fair to me).

Given the duration of four hours in school, how filling can the six biscuits be (spoiling his appetite for lunch is not a good idea, according to the Surgeon General)? If it is not biscuits, it would be a hotdog bun (but no hotdog? That's a violation of human rights!). Occasionally, they are given cake (Marie Antoinette would approve!).

A few parents checked with the teachers and the answer they were given (wait, what was the question?) was that the general election (GE) was coming (well, it is rather early in the year to expect Santa Claus). The room with a pantry and a stove has been locked up for some time because of the GE (we're a corruption-free society. We don't want our election officials helping themselves to kindergarten food while on duty, do we?), so they have not been able to cook macaroni, which is what the pupils got to eat at least once a week before (first, you complain that six biccies a day aren't enough; but you'd rather feed the kids macaroni once a week? Hmm... I suppose that would save some washing-up time).

I hope the relevant authorities will look into the healthy eating habits of pupils (or maybe they could improve campus security, what with all these parents trying to break into the kitchen looking for macaroni, and all).

Cecilia Teo (Ms)

Pigeonholing people

Crash course in DISC profiling. Was quite resistant to it 'cos I don't like pigeonholing people. Trainer did say, however, that depending on context people's behaviour will change. For example, if the situation is competitive, my compliant 'C' side pops up cos I tend to follow the rules. Whereas if there is no competition, my inspirational 'I' side takes over as I enjoy the silly fun of the activity. So now, supposedly, I should be able to identify similar traits in the kids I 'mentor' within the narrow contexts within which I interact with them, and respond to them according to their DISC needs.

But what's interesting about the DISC workshops the kids will be attending is the training they will undergo in decision-making and conflict-resolution skills. Think I can ride on this initial groundwork and incorporate them in GP since these skill sets coincide quite nicely. The cognitive domains (Yikes! I should wash my mouth out with soap and water for using such language!) may be different, but the processes and the results are pretty much the same.

2 balls to start the year with

What have I got myself into? By day a denizen of the classroom, by night and weekends a production advisor to campus theatrical performances. Self-inflicted, too, so this isn't a complaint about increasing workload or anything. It's wonderful to work with such obedient and appreciative kids, and the improvements they're making is visible, almost instantaneous. All they need is a little specific direction and lots of encouragement, and little else.

Currently looking after NYeDC's CNY performance -- Elim and 3L have been terrific co-workers, staying evenings with me working with the kids -- and I'm also helping Mengs with her piano kids' upcoming R+J adaptation.

It's only the beginning of the year, and we're barely getting warmed up. It'll be really interesting to juggle everything else when the J1 timetable kicks into full gear real soon.

Chocolate blocked

The J1 crowd got bussed to Sentosa for a day of fun and games. Me, I wanted to use this opportunity to try out the Megazip Adventure Park. Sadly, the rain washed out my ambitions of flying through the air with the greatest of ease, so I went to join these guys instead for a caffeine fix at the Hard Rock Cafe... and a quick snapshot with this rather animated Hershey's bar. As for the title of today's post: sorry, Chris -- didn't notice you back there!

Error not in banker's favour

Ooh, look! A guy gets beaten up because some people think he's a loan shark when he's actually a bank manager. Wait... there's a difference?

Why Cookie Monster is blue

Beware of 'bust-boosting' cookies

'B' is for 'boobies'
Dat's big enuff for me...! ¯

East meets West

In the recent flurry to compare "Eastern" and "Western (i.e., American) teaching models, there is no perfect system. Eastern students yearn for a more creative, independent-thinking, even fun approach, while the West wants more school discipline and a stronger emphasis on hard science and math.

Here, we're pulled in both directions. We're building an educational superstructure of Western cool on a foundation of Eastern geek. No wonder we're all running confused; kids, teachers, management, all. But maybe we've been doing something right all along without knowing it...? CNN seems to think so. :P

Shaolin: philosophy that packs a punch

As I was watching Shaolin, I couldn't help thinking of the villagers constantly running back and forth towards one tragedy or another. Their lives are seriously wretched, consuming all the mantou buns the Shaolin temple can provide them from an ever-dwindling rice store, yet not really contributing anything useful in return. Every time the villagers raise a lament (which is quite often) the monks risk life and limb to make them happy again (which isn't for long).

That Shaolin stars Andy Lau, Nicholas Tse and Jackie Chan, but I'm thinking more about the plights of the nameless extras makes this movie quite extraordinary. Lau, Tse and Chan do play very strong and compelling characters, however as this movie is an ensemble piece, they and their supporting cast play very integral roles and no one star pulls attention away from another -- not even Tse with his whimsical pseudo-European military garb and manga-inspired hairdo.

If not for the villagers, there would be no point to the wars fought over them, no opportunity for the monks to display compassion and heroism towards their fellow human beings. The Generals fight each other for the power to exploit the seemingly inexhaustible human resource before them, the monks are bound to protect the flock and feed its insatiable hunger gathered outside its gates.

Lau's character, General Huo, experiences both sides. His reversal of fortunes brings him down from a warlord with everything to an outcast with a price on his head. But this reduction to zero is also the beginning of his redemption as a person when he learns to stop thinking of himself and instead start placing others's needs before his own -- even if they are the unending needs of the hopeless, hapless and practically useless villagers.

There is also wisdom in discerning what can be helped and what can not. Times may call for first aid, others for last rites, and sometimes no action at all can help a situation. Fortunately for the cinema audience there are lots of opportunities where kung fu fighting is the order of the day for the monks to show off their close-up hand-to-hand skills against gun wielding enemies.

But kicks, punches and chops cannot save the day. Though destruction and sacrifice are inevitable and constant, they are also a necessary starting point for reconstruction and transformation. The other constant is the people and their continued suffering but, as Huo learns, compassion and charity are the key to transcending the common mass, thus finding peace.

So much philosophy resonating ideas from Eastern religion, Socratic thought and the Sith-Jedi conflict neatly packaged in great cinematography; each shot lovingly, occasionally indulgently crafted, rich with an emotionally powerful aesthetic. My first movie viewing of 2011 was quite a mind-blowing experience. Hope it's a sign of more movie greatness to come.

A study of study

When we talk about 'learning', do we mean the ability to recall prior input on demand or do we mean the ability to recall prior input that is contextually appropriate to the need at the time of the recall? Either way, the ability to recall is what's important, whether on an academic test or in a real problem-solving situation. So there is no doubt that retrieving information from our memories is a skill worth honing. But which method trains our memories to function best?

A recent study of studying practices looked at techniques of rote memorization (ancient and boring), concept mapping (modern, colourful and hip) and 'retrieval practice', a.k.a., essay writing (generally thought to be painful and boring) and concluded that essay writing yielded the best results in terms of recall and logical application of the retrieved material compared to the other two. However, the essay-writing method didn't give its practitioners as much confidence in what they had learned compared to the practitioners of rote or mapping techniques who reported that they felt they had learned more, even though their test results fell behind the essayists.

Proves Socrates right, doesn't it? "The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing".

I believe why essay writing works best is because the writer is actively connecting prior knowledge with new incoming knowledge through logical processes, aided by the application of language -- the glue that binds thoughts together. Learning by rote or mapping only requires a retrieval system comprehensible by the person memorizing the material. It may work for him or her, but no one else is likely to make sense of it, not immediately anyway. Whereas essays are written to share thought with an audience, and the need to communicate coherently with another person means that filing, referencing, retrieving information has to be done by a system that offers common access to everyone. Hence sharing the knowledge adds a second layer of learning to the learning process. How's that for reinforcement?

The challenge for GP is convincing our kids that essay writing is actually a shared learning experience and not simply a selfish process aimed at amassing a paltry handful of individual success scores. And maybe it's also an encouragement for me to keep posting here when so often these days I succumb to writer's block. But that's probably another story for another day.

Back to normal

We're beginning to wonder if we'd overreacted to Q-tip's malady of a couple of weeks ago. It was good to learn early that our dog was facing potential health problems due to ageing, and that we've started giving her preventive medications as a result. But it's even better to see that she's back to her normal behaviour, and back to looking almost-cute again.

Looks like we can start taking her out again! And here are some places that she will be welcome at. Click here.

Chilli reception

Entertaining foreign visitors is always a good excuse to pig out on local specialities, c.f., chilli crab. 'Foreign visitors' usually means friends of June's dropping in from all corners of the world for one reason or another. Funny, I always thought I was the more internationally cosmopolitan one.

Child-proof

Mankies = Married, no kids. That's us and a rising number of our compatriots who will not contribute to the gene pool, barring 'accident'. If you have to question why, just look at the people who ARE parents to see what parenting is like these days. Such people are absolute saints, taking pains to patiently wait in line all night to register their bawling newborn on a waiting list to enroll in a 'good' kindergarten.

People like me can only gape in disbelief at such melodramatic displays of parental self-sacrifice for their offspring. But if that is what it takes to be a parent these days, it is painfully apparent that I am patently not fit to be a parent; and neither are my more rational fellow Mankies. Good luck with that, people who are parents!

Stick it in your ear!

I could have passed Chinese Oral had I the technology to do so. Now we have Google Translate. Trans-late? Yeah, by a few decades in my timeline.

Psycho mom, successful kids?

Here's another article about motivation, except this time it's about the extreme extrinsic motivation that apparently underpins Asian academic success. No doubt this method can bring an amazing level of success, but what worries me is that the range of activities considered success-worthy is terribly restrictive; and that parental approval is conditional to success within this limited field.

Whether the philosophy tends towards applying intrinsic or extrinsic motivation, the objective is the same: to kick-start the success-self-esteem cycle. The former seeks to build self-esteem which drives success, the latter mandates success to build self-esteem. Don't we just love our kids?

Studies in Chaos -- 1st grade

I believe there is a certain level of chaos in education. However, this first grade school experiment -- in going to the extremes with intrinsic motivation while eschewing extrinsic motivation -- takes a lot more guts to attempt than I have. (Ha! I don't even have the guts to teach first graders under normal circumstances, anyway)!

Overdue reconciliation

Haven't seen Yee in a while, but because a lot of misunderstanding was developing between his private teaching methods and ours, which seems to be confusing our mutual kids, my bosses and I gladly accepted his invitation to a sharing he was conducting about how he runs his after-school programme.

Based on the feedback (intentional or otherwise) from our students, we were worried that all he was teaching were exam-smart study shortcuts that helped kids achieve high grades, but shortchanged them on actual learning. We're glad to know after today's session that the methods he uses make sense, and are geared towards teaching GP as a lifeskill and not just as a gradeable subject taken by desperate kids willing to pay any amount to score a pass in an important national exam.

Why the problems have arisen is mainly because our kids go and seek help only at the tail-end of his programme. Having missed out on all the foundational work and practice from earlier in the year, they have little frame of reference to grasp what the less tardy kids are learning. Grasping at straws, they return to us confused, with enough little knowledge to be dangerous.

What I've learned today satisfies me that Yee and I are on very a similar path in the way we break down our teaching of paper 1 and 2 skills. We are both highly sensitive to contextual shifts and share a strong belief in the moral (or at least socially responsible) basis of decision-making that must be communicated as key to our subject mastery.

Above all, we both are acutely aware that GP is the one subject at JC that actually helps children grow into thinking, mature, responsible, learning adults with the necessary skills for surviving the huge intellectual leap required of them when they reach their next port-of-call, the Uni. And even if they don't make it there immediately, the same skills will carry them through life anyway.

Since we're on the same side, perhaps we could streamline our classroom jargon so that the kids know we are essentially teaching the same things, and not get confused by differences in our vocabulary. That way, we could complement rather than work against one another. It's in both our interests, after all, to have our kids do well and grow up equally well.

The carrot is the stick

In the matter of using grades as incentives for students to work, Psychology Today provides some insight. While grades do encourage good students to work harder, they discourage students that do not make the grade who then see no further point working. Also, "working" does not necessarily mean "learning". We know of lots of short-cuts and poor study methods or techniques that can help students "score" but are not particularly helpful for long-term learning and lifeskill development.

A lot of my kids observe that what they learn in school has no application in their future lives. That's true because though they can achieve their As and Bs, they have no further utility for what they've learned. Mere stepping stones, that's all they are, not connecting that what they are about to learn next may well necessitate what they've learned before as a foundational prerequisite. So every time they have to learn something new, it's always from scratch. Painful, and ultimately pointless.

Grades are most useful as feedback; an indicator of what went right and what went wrong in order to adjust the student's path on the learning curve. When we grade students' submissions, our comments in the margins (more constructive and less vitriolic, preferably) are of more value than the digits we assign at the top of their papers. Grades are not meant to compare one student against another. Turn school into a win-lose proposition, and everybody loses.