Term 1 Week 9

Through our sharing during the Staff Time, many of my experienced colleagues reminded me that Cambridge regards the O-Level Syllabus document very seriously. Whatever is in the syllabus document can be tested by Cambridge, so it is very important for students to know the scope of their syllabus. Suddenly, words such as "describe, recall, state, explain, understand, define" needs to be taken seriously as they inform students of what is expected of them. The syllabus document is not something that can be taken lightly or just with a glance.

Hence, this week, I made my class of 4E3 bring their textbooks to school. Usually, I seldom use my textbook as I want them to pay attention in class and whatever is necessary- can be recorded in their Physics notebook. To me, the Physics text is just a form of reference and what is more important is the fact that the students understood the concepts covered in lessons.

With much grumbling, my dear kids lugged their heavy textbooks to school. We had just finished the topic on Electricity. The first thing I did was to flash the syllabus document on the screen.Then I went through point by point, and directed them to the page number. For example, if the document requires them to 'describe' something, then I will tell them to turn to a certain page and highlight a certain paragraph. I also asked them to write notes by the side such as "must know how to describe this experiment" or "must recall this formula" or "must know how to apply this formula."

My intention of doing this is that I hope my kids will know which areas to focus on when they study for exams..if they are studying of course (which I hope that they have already started). With this, they will be able to pay particular attention to which particular areas to 'describe' or which 'definitions' they must remember.

Having said all that now I'm wondering...since I have started using this technique for Electricity, how am I going to find time to go through the rest? Imagine going through the Sec 3 topics such as Kinematics, Dynamics, Light, Heat ....I think time will definitely need to be set aside just for going through the syllabus document point by point. With 6 periods a week, we definitely MUST make time for it!