– a Singaporean teacher's storeroom 🖖
the google talk client on windoze is going to stop functioning from 16 Feb onwards. another IM desktop client that i’m so used to is going into history after the beloved msn messenger.
on a side note, i still dislike the skype client till today, ever since after micro$oft forced msn msgr users to port over to it.
as life/existence itself is (full of) impermanence, saying goodbye to yh2 dot com, a domain which we’ve owned since 1997, is just part of life (：
just like to make a note of this day that 99.872% of the amount that we received from the sale of the domain is donated to the Fu Hui Link（福慧林） Building Fund. the reason for the 0.128% of “leftover” is because that amount doesnt fit nicely into the formula that i have worked out to derive the values to be drawn on four cheques in the name of yh1 – yh4.
farewell yh2 dot com, for we have “graduated” as edublog.net for >12 yrs now. 阿弥陀佛 （:
chanced upon cram.com from a mailing list:
two games for any singe list. a taste of it:
http://www.cram.com/flashcards/games/jewel/chinese-characters-1001-1100-1779469
http://www.cram.com/flashcards/games/stellar-speller/chinese-characters-1001-1100-1779469
time will be sucked away by the games, but this could probably be time well-spent to recall and revise any characters set that a teacher desires a student to learn. yet to collect empirical evidence to proof that it works 😛
yesterday’s our first Clinic session for primary school CL teachers (TRAISI: 12541). we have a total of 16 participants (13 prior signup; 2 walk-ins; 1 sit in). the largest class size we’ve experienced is 10 prior to this. 6 more participants may possibly change many things, especially the discourse dynamics (are the participants able to interact well? are posts/threads from 16 an overwhelming number? how many of them will be proactive contributors, and thus influencing the answers to the previous 2 qns?)
on the whole WJ is steady, and facilitated the session well for a first-timer. no doubt some teachers appeared hesitant on the “outcomes” of the workshop, we managed to close the first session with full participation in the first introductory post （帖子A）, as evident in the df.
after looking at WJ’s reflection, i begin to have a deeper appreciation of ‘struggles’ she’s experiencing as a facilitator of such dynamic/fluid workshop that’s set to achieve broad outcomes (cf. lesson objectives). coupled with an audience that may be so familiar (and fixated) with SIOs, it’s not an easy session to facilitate.
on my part, i am also thinking of what i should do more, in terms of handholding future facilitator who would like to try out our blended learning approach.
things that i have done for/with WJ:
1. sharing of past workshop resources
2. reviewing and planning of activities (incl. schedule, instructions in handout)
2. logistical assistance (online: including setting up of coursespace wiki & df, ironing out of course publisher, setting up of fb groups; classroom: furniture arrangement, electrical wirings)
one single thing that stood out which i felt strongly i could have done more:
– to do a recap of the set of slides, and clarify the meaning and the link between slides starting from 缘起 part. i did not take this step as i safely assumed that these ideas would have been clear to WJ as she has sat in two previous sessions. a good reminder for me to rethink how to make my presentation clearer the next time in a single round. i felt it is important to make them see (or at least let them relate to some past experience) on the usefulness of pure f2f workshops, regardless of length. then we follow to sell why our experimental approach may work better.
– my failure to do this also affected the explanation of the 2-part design (Clinic-Studio). making a clearer emphasis of the design, and how the two are related yet focused differently, may also help to allay the doubts of some participants on the ‘takeaways’.
教学相长 as we often say. in the process, may we both improve on our facilitation skills. that’s all for now, “more later!” (Wu, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015) (：
(acknowledgement: photo by LoggaWiggler)
reposting this fb post to store this away in the storeroom as things in fb become lost overtime. it also allows an opportunity for pple who dun go on fb to have a chance to be in touch with the info.
[acknowledgement: Buddhist Life Mission 佛教生命协会]
my attempt at translating the words:
拜佛，不是弯下身体，而是放下傲慢。
(to pay respect to Buddha, is not about the body bending, but laying down one’s ego.)
念佛，不是声音数目，而是清净心地。
(to chant, is not about the sound nor the quantity, but to clear one’s mind.)
合掌，不是并拢双手，而是恭敬万有。
(to join one’s hand _/\_, is not about putting both hands together _/\_, but to respect all things present.)
禅定，不是長坐不起，而是心外無物。
(to meditate， is not about sitting there for long, but to clear one’s mind of external existence.)
信佛，不是學習知識，而是踐行無我。
(to become a buddhist, is not about acquiring knowledge, but to learn and practise the path of selflessness.)
pulling all the 4 lines together:
To pay respect to Buddha, is not about the body bending, but laying down one’s ego.
To chant, is not about the sound nor the quantity, but to clear one’s mind.
To join one’s hand _/\_, is not about putting both hands together _/\_, but to respect all things present.
To meditate， is not about sitting there for long, but to clear one’s mind of external existence.
To become a buddhist, is not about acquiring knowledge, but to learn and practise the path of selflessness.
Amitābha 阿弥陀佛。