Learning journey to the Apple company located in AMK on the first day of the teachers' conference. I must say it was a fruitful trip - getting to know how Apple become so successful today as well as hands on in using the Mac book.
Learning points:
- Time machine for backup. Hard disk plugged into USB of router.
- Design of hardware together with software such as ilive and iwork
- Use of iwork – just like photoshop – alpha – delete background easily (similar to lasso)
- Spotlight on top right hand corner – can be used to search for file, as a dictionary and calculator. Shortcut for spotlight – command and space bar
- To zoom – hold on to control and 2 fingers on touch pad.
- Photo booth – interesting way of using video and photo with special effect and background.
- Work with many universities to launch iTune U. Great resources - many applications created by the universities free for download. Development of ebooks from University of Florida e.g. Moby Dick
- Emphasis on using the best men – many have PHD/master in education
- Millions of ipod sold, branches into ipad and even rechargeable batteries for their wireless mouse, track pad and keyboard.
I like the concluding statement made by Ms Seah in her address on 7th Sept:
Have the conviction, make the choice, be humble to learn and be courageous to lead
Attended 2 sharing sessions on the 7th September.
The first one is on the implementation of integrated humanities by the teachers from East View Secondary.
Making use of the Integration Model - Natural, conceptual and thematic
I also like the idea of their IH Credit System – credit points given (look very similar to the Elsa's dollar) as a form of reward system – positive stroke for the students and effectively engaged the students.
In terms of their Pedagogy, they have made use of:
- Cooperative learning
- ICT
- Experiential Learning
CL – Jigsaw, informal learning groups, think pair share, round robin, games
Experiential learning – fieldtrip to Singapore River
Use of sch heritage wall to learn about change and continuity
ICT based - e-portal lessons, photoblogs, SBQ skills -students to formulate their own inferential questions based on the pictures they have taken. Environmental through photos,
Map reading skills via google maps
The 2nd sharing which I attended was Using Assessment of concepts to increase metacognition and disciplinarian thinking.
A bit more complex as the study was made with students from RGS, some under the gifted students programme.
However it seemed a bit too challenging if we were to apply that to our neighbourhood schools. However one learning point is the use of common meta-lang across disciplines all the way from yr 1 to yr 2
System, Change, Scale, Model
Look similar to the Understanding by Design Model that we are working on.
Using the meta-language of the Geog discipline – spatial and temporal dimension, interaction of the elements which resulted from the man-land relationship.
e.g. Earthquake
1st draft : When earthquakes happen, the damage is more when people are caught off guard
Improved – the severity of damage is determined by the preparedness of the place, whether the people are prepared or in terms of their building structure.
Further improved - The extent, type and severity of the damages caused by the earthquakes are determined by the level of development of the country
Sec 3 – students are required to show the following:
Change is inevitable and it occurs over time, and that the impact can be both positive and negative
Illustrate both metacognitive abilities and disciplinarian thinking
There is explicit use of overarching concepts “system” and “change”
We went to this wanton mee stall (Uncle koh) recommended by William for lunch. On our way there we stopped at a stall and bought my favourite goreng pisang. 
After that he brought us to Sutera Mall - nothing much there - bought the prepaid broadband card there and then went to Merlin tower to buy my medicine. After that went to taman pelangi area- a shop called "bao zi lin" for the massage and then the nearby hawker centre for dinner - the claypot rice and penang kway tiao were fantastic!
Went to the hawker centre 大马花园 near to the hotel - many stalls are still closed so we took a cab to Jusco Tebrau. I bought my daily disposable contact lens - the moist type which cost $60 in Singapore but only RM90 a box over there. After that, we went to "Tang Shifu" for lunch and love it. The coffee contains ginseng and the mee sua we ordered have some sort of herbs in it. I ordered the one with scallop and abalone. Lee ordered the one with wine herbal soup. The price aren't too high either - paid less than RM50 for the 2 of us. I also bought some of the TVB series on promotion over there. Imagine buy one get one free - I paid RM39.90 for 2 TV series which is like a quarter of the price I pay in Singapore - and they are original discs! 
After that we took a cab to merlin tower as I need to change some more ringgit. I must say the rate there is the best so far - $100 to RM239.2. I bought some titbits from the Indian stall as well as the deparmental store. After that we went to the restaurant outside Merlin tower.. I love the "chee cheong fun" and the steam fish (thai) style.
I realised that this time round -traffic was pretty bad - quite jammed along the roads.
Went to Fizzio massage centre which is located opposite taman seri tebrau (大马花园) for a second round of massage. I must say the massage here is much better. After that we went to 大马花园 for dinner. Not really impressed with the food there though it seemed to receive high recommendations on the net - maybe I will try other stalls tomorrow.'
