A note from a student. Semester 2 (2015) D&T

A note by a semester 2 (2015) D&T student:

'mr lim has thought us much valuable lessons fr our character development. firstly, he taught us to put in our best effort and focus in what ever we do. he was patient with us. if we dont understand his instructions and he would willingly repeat it to us in a more detailed manner. he thought us to take initiative to do our works and also make sure that we did it to the best of our ability.

secondly, he thought us to look at things in a different manner and step out of our comfort zone. we usually try to do things in the way we feel most comfortable at, but mr lim enabled us to be daring and try to do things in a different way. he thought us that, thr are many ways of doing things. overall, mr lim is a great teacher!

-(name taken out, class taken out)'

~ Thanks student. mrdanielsos ~

A Thank You Letter from a student from Mauritius.

~ This email came in on 15 February 2015. I've decided to share this nice letter to everyone. To encourage those who think you do not have good support or lacked resources to do well, there are always avenues you can excel and produce quality work. However at the end of the day, your decision matter. A decision to give yourself a chance to produce work to the best you can. This student signed off as 'NSF Dev' did not have the privilege of have me in person to explain to him concepts or to guide him in his coursework. But nevertheless he helped himself and was happy with his efforts.~

"dear mr.daniel,
 

i was not actually a design and technology student, instead i was studying design and communication(o-level). it's like a derivative of design and technology, i don't know if you know the syllabus, but it was quite similar. i am from mauritius.

almost every student took private tuitions especially for coursework. but i did not. lawl.

there was a lot of peer pressure but i still did not.

fortunately, approximately 2 months until submission, i found your blog. your blog was like my tuition but online. getting tips and all that. i had to fork some things due to the different syllabus but it was still very very very helpful. i read nearly all related posts and files related to things i was looking for. thanks to you, i went back and edited all previous segments of my coursework with your tips and suggestions(we can do our coursework on pc here btw). i realized all the missing critical parts i did not know of thanks to you.(especially on research and analysis, and ideas.).

guess what...i scored an A. an A!! not being mean but that's better than 80%  of the dudes who took tuitions. lawl. there were 3 who scored an A* though. who cares. ok maybe you will since you're a teacher. shoot.

i'm now 17, doing my last two years at school(a-level). although now i dropped design and technology(it becomes d&t for a-level). now, i'm studying computer science since i love computers and there is no coursework and it's less bulky. yes i'm lazy.

anyway, i guess i won't be visiting your blog now. and i guess you won't be reading this pointless e-mail. and knowing how you indirectly made a student score an A.

THANKING YOU,

ex-design and communication student from mauritius who just remembered you from looking at his "design stuff" folder on google drive."

~ Dear NSF Dev, I am very encouraged by your letter and more excited about your achievements.You did a great job. mrdanielsos ~

General Testimony from Class Level D&T and Project Work Experience with Mr Daniel Lim

I facilitated this class for Project Work in the first semester of 2015. Teaching and coaching the class using design thinking processes for their group project had been quite an experience. Approaching project work systematically in broad design steps reduces the entire project task to clear and manageable bite sizes. Groups were given full autonomy when it comes to decision making to ensure authenticity in the final product. In the second semester, half the class ended up with me for their Design & Technology subject. 

Cannot run away from being assigned another two project work classes in the second semester 2015. This 1E3 class is bright, bubbly but cannot stop talking. I am humbled they learned something from the facilitation especially in the generation of possible practical ideas and fine-tuning of their milk carton boat design. What I liked best was the decision to get every group to work on a single sheet of mahjong paper from the initial design stage to the subsequent stages of modification and improvements. The interaction, iterations and discussions generated through and fro from the recordings on paper and their physical prototype is phenomenon. I have photos of them but wait till I find them I'll post it here. Watch this space.

I'm happy and also humbled that my students get amazed when I teach them. I believe in staying true, honest and steadfast in the facilitation of the Design & Technology Coursework.

Secondary ONE 2015 Students' Reflection | Semester 1 | Boat Pen/PencilHolder Project

Secondary ONE students get to design and make an Boat Pen/Pencil Holder for Semester ONE. I had two classes, 1E3 and 1N2. Here are some of the things they say about the class.

Reflections and Testimonies from 1E3:

Reflections and Testimonies from 1N2:

Student Boat Pen/Pencil Holder Projects and camera shy students.

Secondary 2 Semester 2 Mechanical Toy Boat Project students' reflection HERE.

Students' Reflection on Design & Technology - Secondary TWO Express (2013)

Students' Reflection on Design & Technology - Secondary TWO Express (2013)

It had been a tiring 2013 with two graduating O Level classes under my charge on top of a couple of lower secondary classes. I had to give consultation priority for graduating students in most of all my afternoons after 430pm because all classes had extra lessons everyday from 230pm till 430pm. D&T had extra lessons too but once every two weeks for an hour or less is too little.

My Secondary Two and Three classes did not have the luxury to see me for consultations as often as they wished after school hours.  In most of their reflections, quite a number talk about 'little communication', or commented that 'time is too short' and 'wishing to have more time with the teacher'. A few holidays and school programs that fall on official class times added on to the lack of time. My two weeks In-Camp-Training in July added more misery.  However, I was blessed to have eager Secondary Two students who even though did not get to see me as often as they could, most of them managed their work well. They could rely on the posts and tips I uploaded in Facebook or in this blog to complete their work to a good standard.

My Secondary 3 cohort were weaker academically compared to their peers but they picked up real fast - especially in terms of attitude towards quality work. Though they too did not get to see me often after school, they have improved a lot in terms of self-discipline, self-motivation and taking ownership on being responsible for their successes.

The designjournalsos blog becomes a necessity where students can refer to and hopefully gain some momentum on their own whenever I cannot be reached. This will also help keep their coursework up to date and with good standard.