Today I woke up at 3:45am and it was really cold. Come to think of it, I woke at at 1.30 am. Not sure why? but I guess I still am having jetlag. Its been 5 days, and for some strange reasons come 2-3pm I feel really sleepy, that’s like 4 am SIN time. Showering was not so bad as the warm water comes out easily and the pressure was good.
I did Subh and was able to dzikr and read Al- Mulk and Ar-Rohmaan. Later, I skyped and Faiz showed me the latest 3D drawings of our renovation plans - the wet kitchen, dining room, study and plans for Eidl Adha. Mum and Dad is ok and is in their usual mood. It was a pleasant and cheap way to touch base with people at home from a distance. (Come to think of it, tomorrow may be the first Eidl Adha when I am not home, Faiz is manning the fort for me at home).
Its time for school.
The night before I Googled and found out that George Washington High School is about 1.6miles away. I can walk or I can take public transport. Walking in such a cold weather does not seem appealing, so I decided to take a public transport. The bus 83L departs at 6.45 am from the station at Leetsdale and the school is 4 bus stops away. I drew the map in my Moleskin diary the night before, taking care to jot down the names of streets and the stops. So I had an idea of how to get to the school. However before I get to the bus stop, I had to walk about 400m.And boy, oh boy at 6.35 am it was freezing. The wind and freeze penetrated through my coat and thanks for the long sleeved shirt and 2 socks that I was wearing, my body warmed up after walking for 50 m.
When I reached the bus stop I asked 2 girls,(they look young and both was wearing an earphone) if George Washington was down the road. One replied yes and for my next question on the fare, she said it costs 2 dollars. Ouch! Despite my planning I had forgotten about small change. The smallest that I have was $5.
Anyway the bus was on time but the 10 minutes waiting time was a real killer. Four bus stops down Leetsdale Road and like in Singapore, you know its time to alight when you see many school boys and girls standing and moving to the exits.
I reached the school at 7:20am and school starts at 7:30am
While walking towards the school's main entrance, I could see flecks of white cotton falling gently and lightly to the ground. A piece landed on my face. It was snowing. Yipee!
The cold morning transformed into a beautiful sight as green trees started to be swirled by cotton snow and in green and white, the fauna painted God's work and reminds us of his gift of beauty to mankind.
Like all school in Singapore, you can sense a good school once you are in the lobby. Two things stood out. Students safety and secondly school culture.
I can see that the students are a happy bunch. Giving high fives, embracing one another, talking loudly, smiling faces and eager to be in school, with one difference, instead of school uniforms, they wore their home clothes. And there was the glass showcases at the lobby in front of the general office showing the victories in sports and academics and other school's accomplishments. (I will post some pics on this soon).
Secondly, there were two staff members who were patrolling the lobby and one reminded me to get a visitor pass. Unlike the high schools in Brooklyn, New York, GWHS does not have police conducting checks and using metal detectors on students belongings.
With the help of Mrs Dolan, I got my visitors' pass and minutes later Josh a student of Mr Marcus Lee (the head of Social Studies) came to guide me to his class. My first impression of Mr Lee was a favourable one. He was warm, inviting, not the follow by the rules type but go by the ear sort of fella, kind of like myself. I also guessed correctly that both of us were of the same age.
As he was going to have students in his economic class and about thirty students were present, he improvised. We did a talk show. I became the guest from Singapore and he asked questions on Singapore and economics. I tried my best to provide answers and we did the same routine for the next 3 classes, with different questions. I tried to be entertaining giving humour and evidence to back up my points of view. It was a chance for Mr Lee and his students to get to know me and Singapore further.Among the many memorable classic questions were
-
Where is Singapore?
-
Population size and the different racial makeup in Singapore
-
Where in the spectrum of market type are we? Command or free market?
-
How come we do not possess any natural resources yet we are economically successful?
-
My background, being Indian Muslim, family, national service and Anderson Secondary
-
The issue of sustainable development and my views on it.
-
The Sing dollars versus the US Dollars.
-
Why do we regard the British imperialists favourably in Singapore? How could we? Aren’t imperialists evil?
Mr Lee did a great job, in teasing the economic learning points from my answers and explaining it to his students in terms that they would understand. He also connects the points to what they have and is going to learnt in his economic classes. I was glad to hear laughter from the students, especially when questions on the unbelievable fact that we banned chewing gum was being asked. Again as a defender of authoritarian Singapore, I clarified that we will not arrest anyone of chewing gum but instead it’s an offense to sell gum in Singapore. It was hilarious and I guessed unbelievable at this point to some of the students the way Singapore approached the issue of gum chewing.
What struck me was the seating positions of the students. There were 15 seats placed facing directly in front of another fifteen seats, which means students sat in a position where they were able to look at each other and the black board (yes they used chalk and duster) was either on their right or left. Secondly what caught my eye was the VGA projector. It was not ceiling mounted but instead it was on a trolley in the top rung and below it was Yes! an Overhead Projector. They do not have a white screen but instead improvised and made do with a white butcher paper taped at the black board.
I attended an AP US History class by Ms Lamitie. She was trying to teach the idea of the Westward movement and it was in my opinion content intensive. She did a good job as her classroom management skills were there given a challenging topic and a few uncooperative students. She farmed the lessons well, breaking it into a 20 minutes lecture and 20 minutes small group work to consolidate learning. At critical points, she asked students what they have learnt. For example 3 conditions that the Mexican government did in an attempt to populate Mexico and the issue of the Louisiana Purchase – why and what and who wre involved, etc. There was an attempt to connect what they have learnt to their present, example San Francisco 49ers to the start of the gold rush in San Francisco. Also connecting Nov to the election victory of the US President to the month when President Obama got elected. Those were pretty good strategies.
On the other hand the students were a tough lot. But I must stress that it is not all who were tough. Many were busy doing their work. It is only a handful who were busy chatting, walking across the class and in their own world. Ms Lamitie did a good job in delivering and getting students to consolidate their content. She was patient and on task though I could see that among the students who did not pay attention, many were trying and Ms Lamitie is just patient enough to weather the class through.
I attended a history lesson on the social impacts of industrialisation by Ms Sherie, who taught social effects by making students (10 in her class) write a descriptive essay on how they would feel if they were in the shoes of the people whom they were studying. There was a tense moment in class between two boys, and I gave some pointers to two group of students on how they could proceed with their tasks. I believed that the teacher was trying to get students to work and during curriculum time was trying to get them to do homework, which other wise would not get done.
Mr Leets, a one year old teacher conducted a lesson on WWI and this two had tough students of varying ability. Some were still plugged into their MP3 players and one was sleeping on a couch next to me. He did well I must say, using a short video, talking about what the students know, what they don’t etc. The crux was why did the US not participate in WW1 when it began? And why it participated later. Group work followed and students are asked to write down the meanings of WW1 related historical concepts by looking at the textbooks and later, ‘Yes!’ to draw out the concepts. One bright person, whom I though was not ‘in’ the lesson proved me wrong, when he gave a good explanation to Central Powers and drew a clenched fist depicting it. Mr Leets read the students work and affirmed them. He handled the class well, despite his youth and this also was a strong point when at times he joked on the music selection choices of some students. I thanked him for allowing me to be present in his class and shared a few ideas on how technology shaped WW1. We both agreed that there were more interesting stuff, but I guessed he needed to scope his lesson and had to follow the guidelines as laid down by the school district. There was a concern in not covering what was officially prescribed.
Mr Lee was kind enough to send me home and along the way we talked about professional development of teachers and teacher’s belief. He lamented on the US system on doing things in the name of political correctness instead of what was required. I could sense that he liked the fact that we could stream students. What got me really excited was when he said that he wanted me to share with the entire staff on Thursday on the difference between the Singapore and US system and how was it that teachers in Singapore could yield higher performance from their students than the US. I shared briefly with him on the role of culture and teacher’s belief and what I heard from Kareem Abdul Jabbar the other day. We was sold. So here I go.. thinking about what to present on this Thursday without embarrassing myself and did I say that tomorrow is Aidil Adha?
Powered by Qumana
Kareem Abdul Jaabar is a Muslim. I know that. Muslims know that Kareem and Jaabar are virtues and even names of Allah. They mean the servant of the exalted one. Awesome. In person he is 7 foot 2. The introduction that they did send Goosebumps in me. I was not keen to attend this talk but somehow, when I see the teachers walking briskly for the final keynote address, I followed and I was not disappointed.