February 2020

Hello reader. 

I'm really forcing myself to get something out here, so bear with the dull posts. 

The dreaded sports day is over, and calm has once again descended upon us. I have learnt that we should really maximize these weeks that are event-free and get up to date with marking, lesson planning and everything that was put on hold. In my case, marking, lesson planning, thinking was put on a giant PAUSE during sports week. So now the engines are warming up again. All caught up on lesson plans, and slowly but surely decreasing the marking load. 

I'm also trying out a pen pal writing project between two of my classes. Just two for starters. The way I've planned it, is to add in the element of suspense by making them write anonymously or under a fake name so that they enjoy the replies for the content itself, instead of the person behind the paper. Some might not be keen knowing the person they are writing to is of the opposite sex, which might influence their eagerness to write. Therefore, I started with my form one class telling them not to reveal their gender (although this is guessable from the content) or their names. I hope to have a correspondence for at least a month before it comes to an end. Perhaps this can be a study of sorts. the benefits of corresponding with a friend rather than a teacher. Of course with the content monitored. I believe that if students know that their notes are actually being read by an unknown other person who will reply them, they will see context and purpose to their writing. As a result, it will increase their motivation to write. Here are some pics of what the kids wrote. 

I have another song-expression project that I want to try out with my 2 Cenderawasih, but until I pick the best song and actually start it, I'm not going to jinx it by describing it here. It's fun in my head, but yeah, normally that changes as we try to realise the idea. Soon!

It's raining outside and the weather today can best be described as cosy-gloomy. In other words, perfect. 

Till the next time! Cheers.