Peer Teaching Assignment: Drop your feedback now!

Hi friends,

On behalf of my group members, Yong Chean and You Sheng, we want to say a big ' Thank You!' for being such an attentive audience and for 'lending us your ears'. You have made our first teaching assignment an enjoyable and enriching one.

Having said so, we are very sure there are still many areas of improvement for us. Please feel free to share with us the areas we can keep, stop and improve on. We value your precious feedback in improving our oral communication and presentation!

Do post your lesson feedback as comments to this post. Thank you!
Warmest regards,
Steph :) 


PS: Unfortunately, we have run out of mint chocolates ;)

Giving Someone A Piece of my Mind

" Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach".  Tom Robbins (American Novelist. b.1936)

Although interpersonal conflicts may be common to some, it is rare for a non-confrontational person like myself, who’d prefer to avoid a contention than to face one. I attribute this partly to my upbringing, where tolerance and forbearance are encouraged. However, one particular incident gave me reason to reconsider my approach towards resolving such conflicts.

In secondary school, I was tasked to lead a squad in the National Police Cadet Corps (NPCC) with a fellow cadet, ‘A’. We each had very different personalities and unfortunately, her dislike for me was palpable right from the start of our partnership. I did not understand why she treated me with such hostility, but never did approach her. As a result, our working relationship was filled with much tension, and often misinterpreted each other’s meanings.

My pent-up frustration culminated to a head when one day (6 months after we took over the mantle of leadership), while performing a post-camp logistics check-out, the recess bell rang, signally the end of our break. As I prepared to leave, ‘A’ remarked loudly to a fellow cadet, ‘B’, that I was being irresponsible for abandoning my duties.  Right in that musty shed, that groundless accusation broke my last thread of restraint. ‘I was in no way being irresponsible!’  I thought.  In a span of a few milliseconds, I had to make a choice: swallow my anger and walk away, or confront her and demand an explanation.

If I chose to walk away, it would have been an expected response given my non-confrontational personality and things will remain as status quo – they will neither get better or worse; If I stand up to her accusations, it will most definitely trigger an argument, our working relationship may be jeopardized, but I may finally know the root cause of her hostility.

 

Dear readers, do you walk away or stand up to her accusation? 

EDITED BLOG POST #2

Why Is Effective Communication Important to Me

I have learnt that in a gist, 'Effective Communication' happens when a message sent out by a person gets understood clearly and correctly by his/her audience. Don't we all want to lessen misunderstandings in our communication? I definitely do. There are countless instances in my life when attempts at expressing my intentions, thoughts and feelings fell short of its intended purpose because I was feeling frustrated, fearful or nervous. This inevitably created misunderstandings and the friendship soured.

The above scenarios are as much due to my psyche, as they are due to a lack of practice and perhaps, confidence. Hence, having effective communication with others can keep most social or personal relationship in good condition, like the oiling of a rusty mechanism. Being able to minimize misunderstandings and barriers saves time and decreases anxiety on both parties as well. I know the saying "No man is an island", and because having fulfilling relationships is an important aspect of life, effective communication is vital.

Projecting myself as a wannabe- teacher, I hope to be able to communicate effectively with my students, colleagues and supervisors on a personal and/or professional level. With the advent of technology, more communication channels, such as skype, emailing, video-conferencing are available. Knowing which communication channels to use will be most helpful when I step out into the work force, because such skills and the ability to discern the best form of communication channel(s) for various situations are essential to making meaningful relationships with people around me.

My first blog after a long time

The green grass and dandelions remind me of nature, which I love to appreciate.