With the continued demands made upon us to ensure continuity and consistency in learning and curriculum coverage during such a period of uncertainty, these past couple of weeks following the April break has seen the timetable changed further with increased Zoom face to face learning as well as the Google Classrooms being used to replace the classroom based learning.
As this becomes the present norm for learning, this has increased the pressure for flexibility for all stakeholders. Routines become crucial to supporting this as a successful platform for learning and thus new levels of communication become increasingly important.
The challenges for delivering the curriculum have become reliant on technology and the forms of assessment and feedback to inform learners of their learning has had to change. Where a teacher may sit alongside a learner in the classroom, becoming aware of body language therefore also helping a teacher to recognise understanding is now not possible. New ways of recognising understanding are being discovered by all facilitators across the world as learners are now miles apart from their teacher sitting in their own chair in their own home. I am sure that like many parents, this is one of my greatest concerns for learners at TIS Puchong.
We are endeavouring to ensure clarity of learning and understanding for all learners, but measuring the understanding is more challenging. Assessment will help identify these issues and we are working on how assessments can be done effectively in this climate. For now, teachers are using various forms of feedback, this underpins the progress our learners are making. We have monitored the feedback from teachers to learners and learners to teachers closely and we are greatly encouraged by the evidence we have gained from e-books, completed projects, essays, marked exercises and discussions observed. This evidence all feeds into the assessment picture and it looks really encouraging.
I am reassured that at present the curriculum coverage is moving ahead on target under these new plans and that learners are gaining the necessary understanding and progress as if they were in the classroom environment. Furthermore, in the majority of cases, I am delighted to see that progress achieved by learners has been extended beyond expectations as all stakeholders have risen to these new challenges we find ourselves in.
Additionally to ensure continued success in this process, I would ask all parents to recognise that teachers are continuing to provide a full day’s teaching whilst based from their own home. Also recognising that teachers have their own families and worries to manage while at home, it becomes an amazing juggling act that proves their individual strength and courage. I am sure that there has been a rare occasion when a teacher’s child may have turned up to join a lesson, teachers are still driven to provide the best learning experiences for all learners in their care during these very rare distractions.
Finally, an amazing thank you to all parents who have completed the survey and recognised and complemented the teachers on their hard work. Like myself, we are humbled and grateful in this recognition while together we applaud the teachers amazing drive for excellence in continuing to create outstanding learning opportunities for TIS Puchong learners.
