Botero's influence

On Friday night, my wife and I made a trip to the Singapore Art Museum. Every Friday night, it seems, the Singapore Art Museum offers free entry to all from 6pm to 9pm. We went in with the intention to look at Russel Wong's exhibit of photographs. Instead, we joined a tour organised by the museum and were introduced to the world of Fernando Botero. We were awed by his unique style of drawing people and things in inflated forms (Some children present call it as drawing fat people and fat things.). However, the details of his painting are very small. Even his sculpture are in inflated forms. Something within us changed. May be we don't always have to paint a beautiful picture. May be looks don't matter that much. Isn't that what the current Mediacorp drama serial is trying to tell us too?
This morning, when my wife and I took a walk to the UOB plaza, we immediately recognized the sculpture of a fat bird near the Singapore river as Botero's work. We paid more attention to the many sculptures near the river. A sculpture outside the UOB building aptly summarised the effect of our experience at SAM. The sculpture, Homage to Newton by Salvador Dali showed Newton with an apple falling from his right hand. He has an open torso with a suspended heart and an open head. An open heart and an open mind.
P/S: If only I had gone down earlier. That would be a wonderful Fine Arts lesson for the pupils. The exhibition ends today.

Silent Reading in the morning

I love reading. I remembered USSR (Uninterrupted Sustained Silent Reading) was implemented during my primary school days. The programme forced my father to borrow books from my richer relatives. A book to read was a requirement and no one dared to defy that. My very first book was "The matchstick girl". It was a board book. I remembered I was looking at the pictures only, pretending to read. But it helped. The next time I remembered reading a book was in primary 5 or 6. I found a book in the school library. A fantasy story about a boy who liked to draw cats. I still remember the story. That was the real beginning of my reading journey. A journey into fantastic, futuristic and imaginative worlds. A journey into conflicts and resolutions. A journey into countries I could not afford to go to. A journey into dreams. I could spend hours in the public library reading a book and not felt tired (I still can). Call me a nerd. I am. A proud one too. Reading helped to develop my passion for learning. The greatest gift you can give your pupils is the ability to read. I still read. Sometimes I am asked how I could find the time to read amongst my busy schedule. I don't know but I must. I am a reader. I woke up at 5 this morning, just to get some work done before the world awakens. The silence was peaceful. The air was raw and fresh ... and cold too. It was a great feeling. I started to read...

P/S If you come across a book about a boy who liked to draw cats, let me know. I would like buy it and give others a chance for the journey of their life time.

The wisdom of a child

"I was telling him to give others a chance too." That was the reply a primary one pupil gave when she was asked why she was talking to a talkative boy sitting behind her. "Give others a chance." What profound words from a seven-year-old. The children have some things to teach us too, if you bother to listen. This became a motto in the class. I make use of it. I included it when we discussed our first rule: Respect others. Now, even my weaker pupils could say it and I believe, understand what it means. "Mr Chua, XXX don't give others chance to talk." I can't help but ask myself the question. Do I give the children equal chances? I like to think that I do. But, honestly, not always. It is probably impossible to give them equal chances. But I try. Some may lag behind but no one left behind. Do I give them enough chances? I hope I do. In a recent article I read on noise in the classroom, it was mentioned that noise (disruptive, not constructive noise) may be generated by an imbalance in activity between the teacher and the pupils. This means that the duration of a teacher's speech should not exceed that of his or her pupils'. Let them talk, please! I must consciously remind myself not to go into a mode of endless ramblings. Give others a chance, including your pupils. Sometimes, the words of a child can have an unexpected influence. Listen...

P/S: If you are interested in the article on "Noise in the classroom, obstacle or opportunity?" click on this link http://www.reading.org/downloads/publications/journals/TC-3-3-Zagashev.pdf

To reward or not to reward – a reflection on the use of extrinsic motivation.

I have yet to establish some form of systematic extrinsic motivation in my classroom. I hesitated because I was seeing if I could do without one. I was wondering if intrinsic motivation could be nurtured without the use of extrinsic motivation. I was taught to reward the well-behaved rather than to penalize the misbehaved. The logic is: If you reward the well-behaved (with praises), others will see and emulate the good behaviours. If you penalize the misbehaved, you are giving them the attention that they do not deserve, even if it is to punish them. Play up the praises for the well-behaved! The books say. If the misbehaviour is serious enough however, you will probably need to model justice. Some things cannot be condoned and the children must know that. The children probably need to see justice being served. While some may argue that life is never fair, it is precisely why we need to make it a little fairer, to make the gap a littler smaller. According to Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, most children up to the age of ten are at level 1: Preconventional Ethics. At this level, children are incapable of thinking beyond the self. They learn right and wrong from the consequences of their acts. This level is typical of children who believe in “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”. Maybe it is time to put in a system, a system that rewards the well-behaved and pupils with good attitude. Maybe the reward could be something that each pupil in the class could look forward to. Maybe each reward accumulates to a class reward. Let me think.