Objectives
The objectives for the pupils to do on the day of visit to the zoo is to learn about the diversity of the animal kingdom, to solve a few word problems based on scenarios at the zoo and lastly is to write a journal to a friend about their day at the zoo.
For the 3 different days that I have went, there were different a slight variation to the route that is taken including rest time.
Day 1
For Day 1 I was with class 3A2, Mr Kenny Goh’s class. There were little breaks as the Mdm Morni was rushing from one exhibition to another exhibition. Most pupils do not have enough time to finish taking down the notes either from our flash cards or from the notice board. Most of the time, pupils have a hard time even noticing the animals as they take a slightly longer time to identify the animals or to take a photo of the animals.
In between different destinations there was lack of time for pupils to rest or even to take a sip of water. I am choosing to believe that most of the teachers have recce the place and they must have lookout for toilets so that pupils can have their toilet breaks. But during the first day trip, from my memory, there was not much toilet break. From the time table that is shown, there is suppose to be 2 toilet break session but there was only one toilet break session.
Pupils for the first day have a longer breaks compared to the other 2 days. They have at least 20 minutes more break than the rest of the pupils. This would clearly say that the timing was not managed properly. Pupils were restless and they were more tired than before as they spend more time waiting then to see the animals. It makes it harder to drag them to see the animals.
Day 2
I was not given any class to follow so I just decided to follow the first class which is Ms Nurdiana’s class. At first all the pupils were able to follow the instructions before the trams come appear at the wild Africa side which is starting from the Nyala/Gnu. For this particular class, they have toilet break at the Forest Lodge before we move on. So most of the pupils are behaving themselves but like mentioned before they start to misbehave after seeing Nyala.
At this station, I then realised that Ms Nurdiana’s class do not need much attention when compared to the other two classes such as Ms Cheong Gui Ying and especially Ms Zheng Minghui. For Ms Cheong Gui Ying’s class, there was another teacher there therefore it was not misbehaving as much as Ms Zheng Ming Hui’s class. Ms Zheng Ming Hui, from my point of view, tried to be fierce but not fierce enough to draw attention to the danger that might be involved in the trip. I had to become a bad person, and yelled at them. Tram is coming to their way and there was a line of 6 when asked to line up in twos quickly. I do not know what to do but all I know is that their safety comes first so I yelled at them. After the tram has passed by, I shouted to the group that line up in 6s. I was totally disgusted by the way the pupils behave. They do not have the sense of urgency or sense of danger.
For B cluster, we did not see at least 2 to 3 animals. We missed out on the frogs, proboscis monkey and the penguin. Penguin may have glance but not really see as they were almost lacking of time for breaks before the show. Students see the different kind of monkeys but that is not according to the trail that is stated on the paper. I do understand at times it is okay to not follow the trails. But apparently I do not think that by missing out the frogs and proboscis monkey is good for them as the pupils might share what happen during the trips and found out that they missed out on these they might not feel good about it. Throughout the trip, Ms Zheng Ming Hui’s class is really the worst class compared to the other classes that I have taken and been before. I really wondered what I should do to get the attention of the pupils when such things happen.
Day 3
This is the last day for the 3 different clusters. I followed Mr Zhang Si’er’s class as it is like the day before we have more than enough teachers and PSG to help out on that day. There was not much incident that happens throughout the day. All three classes are on their best behaviour. I wondered was it because it is the C cluster and thus they are behaving better. They have a sense of urgency in them that makes it easier to get them to line up in twos and see the reason to why we want them to be in twos.
Mr Zhang Si’er actually scolded one of the pupils in his class. I do not really know what the real reason is for him to scold that particular pupil so fierce that the zoo attendant actually came and ask me what exactly happen. I was asked for information on the incident but I only gave the name of the school and the teacher’s name (Mr Zhang). I told the person in charge that any other information she will need to ask Mr Zhang directly. I do not really know the reason. I would have not given any information if they are going to ask about the incident that happened. I hope I have not landed the school into trouble or landed Mr Zhang into trouble.
After the show ended one of the pupils from Mr Zhang’s class felt giddy and want to vomit. After checking her, I realised that there are 2 reasons to why she is feeling that way. She did not have breakfast before the trip and that during the trip when I reminded them to drink their water, she did not even drink. From this I predicted that she is just dehydrated and hungry. I started to get her to drink sip of water slowly until the buggy come to bring her to a cooler area to rest. While resting at the rest area provided by the Zoo, the zoo attendant brought her some breads and milo for her to eat. After munching finish, she felt better and energetic. I guess next time I will prepare some bread for such emergency.
All 3 Days
There was not much facilitation seen in the trip. Due to the number of pupils in each classes is not the same but it is still too much in facilitating the class. I agree that it is good for the whole class to move together. But there is a problem. One exhibition can hold at most 30 – 40 pupils at one go, this resulted that when all 3 different classes are all gathered there, it is hard for the pupils to see the animals and pushing was seen in the process of seeing the animals.
If the pupils of each class are split to 2 different group, group A and group B, it will help the pupils to stay focus easily and that even if the pupils try to misbehave, at least we can easily identify them and put them into another group. If the worry is that the PSG is unable to facilitate the group well, then I believe that we can hold a session to teach them on facilitation skills so that there could be better quality is given to the pupils and that they will not feel last minute given work.
Most of the pupils do not have the time to complete every question in the worksheet. Since the notes did not have the time to complete, I believe that most of the pupils have not complete word problem scenarios and to write a journal.
Most of the classes do not have last man to help in assisting the teachers in ensuring the numbers of pupils are correct.
Solutions:
Firstly I think the routes should be clearly identified and that all teachers should have racee before the trip. This is to ensure that every teacher know what to do and where to go in case of emergency. All PSG and interns should be briefed a day before or an hour early before the activity to ensure that they are clear about what they are going to do in the trip. I think it is also important for the teacher in charge to inform the PSG and intern who are the pupils that tend to misbehave easily so that PSG and intern can be on the lookout.
I think it is better that teacher have planned the route with breaks so that they can ensure that pupils will have sufficient breaks and have enough time to do their notes. If possible it is wiser for teachers to come up with the worksheet that follow the routes so that it is easier for pupils to copy their notes.
In term of facilitation, I think it is better for the teachers to be given a portable mike so that they are easier to talk to the whole group of students.
That’s the end of my reflection.
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