Reflections: Term 1 Week 5

Another eventful week has passed. It has been five weeks since school started and I am still as busy as ever. It's a challenge to juggle between teaching and my duties as a HOD. It's a constant tug-of-wall within me, should I focus more on my teaching and neglect my duties as a HOD? Or should I do well as a HOD but allow my pupils to suffer? It's really not an easy question to answer. To sway either way is not right. The best answer is, of course, to strike a balance, but it is easier said than done. I learned to purposely set aside time for both. Like on Mondays and Tuesdays, I would dedicate the majority of my time to my teaching duties. Since it is the start of the week, it is a good time to prepare for my lessons, mark and set assessments for my pupils. The rest of the week would be devoted more towards planning and creating structures for my department.

Though it has been a busy first month, it is really exciting to think of the possibilities I can set in place for the pupils to benefit from. The introduction of iPad means a whole host of possibilities and innovative ways of learning. Meeting with Lead's sales executive today showed me a possibility of using iPhones on their TRAILS. This got me very excited as pupils are all really excited about the iPhone since its the "in thing" now. So if we can allow them to use it as part of their learning. I am sure they would take it seriously and benefit much from it. Some teachers were concerned however, that the lower ability pupils might not be able to use it properly and effectively. I choose to disagree with this view point. I firmly believe our pupils are all "digital natives" and when you leave technology in their hands, they would know how to use it. We need to move away from that mental model and believe that our pupils can achieve their best. But what they say about weaker students having difficulties using technology to learn holds some weight still. So how do we balance it all?