AKM101 and Me

Last night was the last night for AKM101. It was a bittersweet moment. We were glad that the first semester is finally over but sad that we had to part for a while. My coursemates and I have really bonded well these past weeks. I truly enjoyed their company. The next time I see them is next year. Can't wait!

We had THE TEST last night. It was something that I didn't really expect. My mind went blank the moment I received the paper. I didn't know how to answer the questions. I looked around and saw so many of my classmates furiously writing down their answers. It panicked me for a while. At last, I started on mine. Well, we shall see how we fared in a few weeks' time when results are released.

Let me use this space now to talk about my takeaways from this course.

Dr Yeap. I admire the passion he has in him. You can see from his actions, the way he talks, the way he plans his lessons that he truly enjoyed what he's doing. He defines the word 'teacher'. He has become my role model. I am trying to model the way he scaffolds his lessons, and the way he guides us to being better students, and ultimately better teachers.

The problem-solving activities that Dr Yeap introduced are always interesting, engaging and mind-boggling. Hahaha! I can't believe I'm a teacher when sometimes I get stumped over these activities. Guess what? I shared some of the card tricks of Dr Yeap with my colleagues during one of our sharing sessions. I did the spelling of numbers using cards in front of my colleagues but I was so nervous that some of the cards fell to the floor. Thank God, I made it to the last card!

Another thing that I learnt a lot was professional development and lesson study. I thought that lesson study are just a waste of time, another observation to do. After listening to Dr Yeap, I realise that lesson study is a wonderful way of improving your lesson by collaborating with your colleagues. If every teacher embarks on lesson study, imagine the number of well-planned, well-executed lessons there are.

All in all, this course has broadened my mind on what it takes to be a teacher. From initiatives, to lesson planning, to professional development, to engaging and interacting, I have learned that as time evolved, we have to evolve too. To be a better teacher, the teacher must put in effort to be a better pupil.

With that, thank you Dr Yeap. Thank you, my friends. Till we meet again.