Raine-drops Falling on My Head

 Disclaimer: Nope, this blog post was not written by AI, just the pea brain of Raine. Following the department's conversations on ChatGPT, I find myself reading up on the many AI tools out there (and thanks to the power of social media), I started browsing random AI tools hack for productivity as recommended by some IT guy I follow. Here is an example of the list of tools he consolidated (an older version which I've saved previously): Originally, I had hoped to find a coding AI that can help me overcome challenges faced in updating school website efficiently. (Alas, that is still a search in progress, since GitHub Copilot that I've tried is not free at all grrr). Something else that caught my attention was Tome AI , which helps you generate presentation slides. I thought this would be useful for my Sec 3s who are working on their research on SG Tourism. Here is what I generated on my own just to see how it works (in less than 10 min): random piece of research on Marina Bay ...

CONNECT One thing that connected with me today was definitely the benefits of Inquiry-Based Learning . Compared to the earlier years of implementation, I feel that at least right now, the learners do not have as much inertia towards asking questions compared to the generations before. It is in a way, a habit that had to be formed  in their formative years, so that they may continue to more sophisticated levels of questioning at the secondary school level.  When they become curious enough to want to find out more, there is motivation to want to search for the answers. The unknown becomes an exciting notion that ought to be solved, and the process to working together to find the answers becomes an interesting one. Having gone through it first-hand, they can then better retain the learnt knowledge to memory. If sufficient interest is generated, it may even deepen learning.  EXTEND To some extent, IBL also brings back our last few discussions on metacognition . As we plan for...

(Note to self: Stop saving posts as drafts and forget about them) Used strategically, interleaving challenges students to learn in smart, adaptive ways instead of relying on too much rote learning and muscle memory. https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-use-interleaving-foster-deeper-learning Is there a way we can include this purposefully as part of our SOW? Focus on the Princess and the coins, not the pits https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vJRopau0g0

BREATHE. As usual, Term 3 was hectic and I'm just glad that we're down to the last term of the year. I've been wanting to try the new SLS features (course plan and practice) since the last round when ETD Officer Shu Ping came down and joined us for our TTT discussion. At the same time, I was wondering how we should be organising our notes for the students, now that they each have a PLD. (I mean, it jsut wont make any sense if they have their PLDs on hand, and we still make them fill in the blanks on hardcopy notes, right?) Hence, this term, when I began the topic of Weather and Climate, I made it my personal goal to apply our knowledge on Active Learning Processes and KATs by designing new SLS lessons, including at least 1 course module. So how does a SLS course work? Well, a course  is essentially a few SLS lessons strung together , which is pretty neat, in my opinion. So what I did was I put together a course plan based on the KQs I'm going to cover. So far, I have cr...

Learning should be challenging . Communicate clear expectations. Provide learning support Learning should be inclusive . Learning should be owned. Empower students to set their own goals. Creating the need to know (bring relevance to the content) Facilitate demonstration of learning

 Sharing a series of screengrabs from the presenter's sharing, just to give an idea of how the GI was constructed. CoSpaces allows students to upload 360 environment photos and then drag and drop characters/elements to create 'scenes'. Presenter's suggestion to adapt CoSpaces project into assessment rubrics What have I learnt from this sharing session? The greatest takeaway from the sharing is the introduction of the apps Google Tour Creator and CoSpaces EDU .  Google Tour Creator  allows the students to create their own 360 photos (though presenter did warn that stable and patient camera skills are paramount to getting a good 360 view), while  CoSpaces EDU  allows the kids to upload 360 photos to create their own virtual 'scenes', before making use of their creativity to modify these scenes using character/item templates and annotations of their own.  The use of these 2 apps definitely provides a valuable opportunity for students to enliven their presenta...

The Synopsis:  WiREAD+ is a web-based, computer-supported collaborative reading and learning diagnostics environment. WiREAD+ was conceptualised with the objectives of developing critical reading skills, promoting self-directed learning and deepening student engagement with multi-modal texts. Aligned with the Learning Outcomes of the English Language Syllabus 2010, WiREAD+ was designed to provide students with the opportunity to engage with texts in a social environment, which would allow greater participation, critical thinking and engagement within a class. The ‘critical lens’ and collaborative talk’ prompts guide the students’ critical thinking process. They receive instant responses from their teachers and peers during the sessions. Student, peer and teacher interactions are tracked via the learning analytics function. Teachers are able to view student interactions through social learning maps and manage discussions. The students’ use of the ‘critical lenses’ and ‘collaborative...