The end-of-year exams are over, and SST has organised facilitators for our cheerleading workshop.
Initially, the facilitators introduced themselves and shared some jokes. We did some warm-up exercises shortly after. A student from each class was to be carried from one end to another, supported by the classes' hands, which in this case was me, as I seemed to be light. It felt very awkward, being lifted by everybody.
Then we began by learning some arm motions, namely: a high touchdown, a high 'V', a 'T', a low 'V', a touchdown, low touchdown, a clap and a clasp.
Then, we learnt some simple jumps like the star jump, tug jump and straight jump. After that, it was our recess and we took the time to refresh ourselves.
Next, we learnt how to perform a PA Stand. it requires 4 positions: 2 bases (left and right), a flyer and a backsport. Firstly, the right and left base form the full base. Then, the flyer puts his/her right leg onto the right base's leg. Next, the backsport, who is holding the flyer's waist, boosts the flyer up and the flyer balances on both bases' legs. The flyer then makes a high 'V'. After that, the bases hold the flyer's hand and jump on the count of 4, bouncing the flyer, who keeps his/her legs together, landing on his/her toes.
We also learnt to do a dance, comprising of various moves, following the facilitator step by step. Many of us got confused and we had to repeat it.
Finally, we combined the dance and the PA Stand. We failed many times but we did not give up. We tried and tried and eventually got it perfectly.
We would like to thank the facilitators who were very patient with us, and of course, SST, who organised this entire program!
The day had come! We were finally going to meet our potential juniors for 2011 in SST. We now have the chance to see who we would be sharing the knowledge we have with next year. This was the day when our juniors would get a feel of how we work, learn and collaborate as if they were already a part of the SST family. They will experience how it’s like being a student of the School of Science and Technology, Singapore. This day would be crucial as they would get a feel of how a day at SST is really like, and thus, would decide if such a school is suitable for them. A day of fun and learning began with all our own SST students and staff preparing themselves to receive our guests. At around 8 o’clock, our potential juniors, along with their parents, came rushing through our gates and headed towards the registration area. Our student ushers and staff gave them their tags and info kit for them to get started. The parents were ushered into the waiting area, our library, to wait for the meeting with the Principal or the Vice-Principals to begin in the Learning Oasis and ADMT Room 1. As for our juniors, they were brought to the various rooms for different activities based on the various subjects. Subjects that were previewed to the students were Science, Mathematics, English and Integrated Humanities. Our ushers were running back and forth to assist, guide and even answer questions by the juniors and their parents. Our student helpers, or the Teacher Assistants, were working hard too to ensure that their teachers managed to get their message and lessons across to the juniors. The teachers of the respective subjects did their best to engage the students in their various activities and allowed them to get a taste of SST life. Throughout the three sessions, the SST family did their best to give to her potential members. We hope that in 2011, we will be able to see the same people we saw today, this time donned with our school uniform. They will join us in our road to success and progress with their seniors to a bright future.
Written by: Hardy Shein Nyein Chan Edited by: Lee YuChong Images shall be uploaded in the next post
Student and Parent figuring out which venue to go to
SST student reporters going around doing their live feed to the parents at the learning Oasis and ADMT Room 1 sharing with the parents their learning during the classroom experiences.
An English class going on
Looks like a serious discussion in English Class!
Students arranging their instructions in English Class
Students arranging their instructions in English class
Teacher giving instructions during English Class
Students having their physics class in the Physics Lab
Students trying out a Physics software
Session 2:
Another SST student reporter going around doing their live feed to the parents at the learning Oasis and ADMT Room 1 sharing with the parents their learning during the classroom experiences.
Yet another discussion in English Class
Students recording themselves using their MacBooks
Students exploring the MacBooks
Mr. Richard Koh giving instructions to the class
Mrs. Salena Nair helping a student out with her MacBook
Students having fun while learning with their MacBook
Our Teacher Assistant helping out with a junior's MacBook
Mr James Koh helping a student with her MacBook
Someone pointing fingers? Perhaps a problem surfaced with Ms. Tay to help
Students searching for Malay Pioneers of Singapore during the Integrated Humanities lesson
During the September holidays, the school arranged a two-day programme with Ngee Ann which took place on 6th and 7th August.
For my class, we did the the micro biology workshop on the first day. Upon arrival, we gathered in the lecture hall for a one hour talk on Microbiology before moving up to the labs for the practicals. We did a total of four practicals.
First, we were given a sample of pond water and were asked to look
at it under a microscope to observe the cells of the living organisms in the pond water. Most of the cells I saw were the cells of Algae. They were green and rectangular, although there were a few cells that were circular.
The rectangular and circular cells in the pond water.
The second practical was to observe the bread mould. Before we did anything , we had to first stain the mould so that it could be seen through the microscope. The ideal structure ( of the bread mould ) we were supposed to see through the microscope was a flower shape. Unfortunately, some of us did not get it. I was one of the unfortunate ones but luckily, Michelle , who was sitting beside me got the structure so I got to see how the bread
mould looked like through her microscope.
Stained bread mould
For the next experiment , we got to wear gloves as we had to completely st
ain the slide with a crystal violet stain. It was such a messy job! No wonder we had to wear gloves!
Before we proceed on with the last experiment, we did something a little less serious. We scrapped the insides of our noses and put the sample on a blood-agar petri dish. This was to test for the presence of Staphylococcus aureus , a harmless virus in which 30 % of the human population are carriers. We were told
to proceed to the lab preparation room the next day to check out our samples. Luckily, I did not have the virus.
Finally it was our last experiment. For this experiment, we had to observe bacteria move under the microscope. Many of the students did not get moving bacteria on their slides but one or two students did managed to get it and of course, all the other students crowded around to see the moving bacteria.
The moving bacteria is in the 'donut'. However, quite a few students
pushed the lens too closely on the cover slideand broke it.
The ' moving bacteria ' that could be seen through the microscope.
After lunch break , the nine of us from my class had to attend the speaking with impact workshop. What I initially thought would be a series of lectures turned out to be a series of fun and game
s programmed to enhanced our learning. In total, there were five stations, each focusing on a different area of learning. Due to the time constraint, I only got to visit three stations.
The first station was station four, ‘ The slick salesman ‘ . Here, we were taught on how to be a perfect salesman. The lesson also provided us with a chance to practise what we learnt as each group sent out a representative to promote on the product we were assigned to.
Next was station five. The session there was full of laughs as there was a very free-style way of learning and the lesson was based on what the students said. In other words, it seemed more like a chit chat session rather than a proper lesson. After that we had a short break.
Then it was time for our last station, station one, ‘ Finding our communication styles’ . At this station , the facilitator introduced to us the four communication styles, namely , director, socializer, thinker and relator. We also did a test to find out which communication styles we belonged to. The facilitator also shared with us the importance of knowing someone’s communication style through a case study. Finally, we split into groups and did role plays of the different communication styles and had others guess who we were after we had finished acting.
For this workshop,we had to convert gravitational potential energy to kinetic energy and let the specimen,ping pong ball, roll down in the slowest timing.We had to use the only the items provided by them to make a structure which can slow the ball for the longest timing.We also had seen some of the people from S.O.E (school of engineering) presenting their structure and some of us had learn or gain a few tips from them.Our goal was to have the longest time to reach the base of the structure without the ball stopping.
The materials given were
1. Blue tack
2. 2 rolls of thin masking tape
3. 20 straws
4. 60 satay sticks
5. 2 boards
6. vanguard sheet
We had two hours or so to do the structure.During the time everybody was busily building the structure,all were trying to figure out a way to slow down the ball, cutting strips of straws and satay sticks,making the structure filled with 'bumps' and making it as tall as possible.While after that,we went back to do our trail run.Everybody was rushing for time as they prepared their structure and made last minute changes.Finally it was time to compete.Everyone looked and waited for the result.And finally,the results were out.In first place for the first day,the winning group was group 19.
eacDuring the few days before teacher’s day, HTD FM, run by Mayur, Harsh, Shamus & Shakti was played on the radio during Lunch every day, providing a platform for students to be able to dedicate songs and messages to teachers. Also, students were putting in all their effort while preparing the performance items to showcase to the teachers during the Teacher’s Day celebration itself.
On 31 August 2010, we celebrated our first ever Teacher’s Day celebration in SST. Our Teacher’s Day celebration started off with our principal, Mr Chua giving us the Teacher’s Day message,
Mr Chua giving the Teacher's Day message.
followed by Preston, from S1-09 giving an appreciation message to the teachers on behalf of the students .
S1-01 kick-started the student’s own performances with Zi Ying, Sher Li and Shamus dressed up as angels to sing ‘听老师的话’ (Listen to your teacher’s words) a remix to ‘听妈妈的话’ (Listen to your mother’s words).
1-01's performance where they dressed up as angels to sing.
Then S1-02 danced and sang their way through hip-hop music --‘Somebody to love’ by Justin Bieber as well as a surprise act done by Abilash and Hao En to present a message and a rose to their Form Teacher, Ms Seah Yen Sin.
S1-03 then showcased a video -- a literal trailer. For those who would like to view the trailer again. Enjoy!
After the trailer, S1-04 showcased a compilation of video messages written by students from various classes to the teachers.
After that, S1-07 presented a simple dance performance item while dedicating a song, ‘Stand by me’.
S1-08 continued by showcasing a video drama re-enacting the worst of what a teacher goes through--students bad behavior along with a photo montage of the teachers.
S1-08's video drama
This was followed by S1-09 performing a Radio DJ skit, making the crowd burst out laughing half-way through the skit.
Hardy & Yu Chong--the stars of the S1-09's Radio DJ skit
Last but not least, ending off the students performances for the teachers, S1-06 showcased a dedication video to the teachers followed by a group of 4 singers sang ‘You raise me up’ as a dedication to the teachers.
The students standing up to sing Wings Beneath My Wings to the teachers.
The students presenting the teachers their gifts.
Students were then invited to give their gifts and thanks to the teachers, leaving the teachers more than a handful of gifts to carry back to the staffroom. Parents for SST has also created a Teacher's Survival Kit for the Teachers which was given later at the Staff Appreciation Dinner. The Teacher's Survival Kit consist of the following items.
1. Aspirin: When all else fails, take two and have a timeout.
2. Band-Aid: For when things get rough
3. Paper clip: For when you need help holding things together
4. Peanuts: To remind you to be a little nutty sometimes.
5. Hershey kisses: For when you need hugs and kisses
6. Crayons: To colour everyday bright and cheery
7. Puzzle: Because you are a big piece of out child's life
8. Marbles: To replace those you lose from time to time
9. Rubber bands: To remind you to be flexible
10. Mint: You are worth a mint!
After all the performances are over, there was a bonding session where students challenged the teachers to a game of Captain’s ball. Each game, lasting 5 minutes, had 7 people from each class playing against 5 teachers. But this game, has a twist, when a female player scores the team get 2 points instead of the usual 1 point per score.
Surprisingly, the teams did not have many girls playing.
Some students "hanging out" to get a better view of the action.
The match started off with S1-01 playing against the teachers, beating the teachers with a score of 10:8, which was quite a close match with Mr Chua, Mrs Chiew and Mr Soh playing in that round. But tables turned when S1-02 was playing against the teachers, bringing the total score to 4: 24, especially when the teachers had Mr Glenn Wong as their best catcher.
Sprits weren't lifted as the students still have not managed to beat the teachers in the subsequent matches with S1-03 and S1-04 playing, but at the end of the match with S1-05 playing, with the total score being 51:67, the teachers decided to be kindhearted enough to allow 2 points when every boy scores and 3 points when every girl scores.
This turned the tables around for the students.
So the game went on with 10:5 for the match with S1-06 playing, until the total scores were almost tied at 76:77 after the match with S1-07 playing. A slight disappointment was seen when the teachers bounce back during the match with S1-08 playing bringing the total score to 85:87. It was up to S1-09 to decide who will win the match.
The students from S1-09 and teachers playing a friendly handball match.
S1-09 did not disappoint as they wowed the crowd with their amazing tactics and won the whole round with a total score of 113:97, therefore the students won the challenge of Captain’s Ball, but it was all in a name of good fun.
The teachers definitely have such good tactics and skill, some students even stayed back after dismissal at 10:30am to play another round against the teachers.
Teachers and students alike were definitely enjoying their teacher’s day celebration. The first ever teachers day certainly impressed the teachers.
