Reflective Journal 5: Reflect on SES. You may want to
consider the curriculum, the learning process, the assessment, difficulties you
faced, how you overcame them, and how might SES be applicable in time to come.
SES
was undoubtedly one of the toughest subjects I have ever taken. Although my
grades for SES was relatively okay, compared to the other subjects that I
failed, I still think it is extremely challenging as a subject itself. At the
end of the term, I must say, I have learnt a lot and benefitted an awful lot
from this subject.
Firstly,
I think that the curriculum is quite good, in terms of its applicability and
usefulness to my future. As China is expected to overtake America as the
economic powerhouse in the near future, the contents of this module is pretty
relevant and useful because it provides us with many opportunities to learn
about China with regards to its economy, corporate culture, family culture,
education, political system etc. I believe all this information is going to be
quite applicable to me in helping me succeed due to the need and requirement to
know essential facts about China when I enter the workforce. However, I think
there is still some room for improvement. For instance, I think that the module
should go a little slower so as to let the students adapt to the system of this
new subject. Furthermore, the transition from Secondary 2 life to Secondary 3
life is pretty drastic hence I think we should be given more time to digest the
knowledge taught during the first few lessons.
Moving
on, I would say the assessment style is unique and special. Never once have I
experience assessment such as reflective journals, in class participation and
term papers. This is my first time having to face the pressure and the mindset
that I am graded for every lesson and to write a 1000 word term paper. It is a
good learning experience as I learnt how to write proper term papers and
reference properly. Although I would prefer tests and exams compared to this, I
think that SES should continue with this mode of assessment as it trains
students to be quick with their thinking and go prepared for lessons so that
they can quote relevant statistics and evidences to back up their points when
they share them with the class. Also, the reflective journals are effective in
allowing the students really put their mind into it and reflect on the lessons
as the teacher provides a scope for us to reflect on, which I think is quite
necessary. Students are also required to provide constructive comments on other
students’ reflective journals as some kind of peer evaluation. I personally
think that this is effective in developing the students’ critical thinking
skills as they have to reflect on other’s reflections and then give comments or
suggestions.
To
be honest, I faced quite a lot of difficulties. And most of these difficulties are
due to my laziness and could be easily avoided if I had not been so lazy and
procrastinate so much. In the first term, SES lessons were on Mondays and
Fridays. So we usually did our work during the weekends. As weekends are the
only chance for me to eat out, I ate out almost every week in the first term. I
enjoyed myself so much, or rather too much, that I always leave SES till Sunday
nights. On Sunday nights, I will sit in front of my laptop, racking my brains,
trying to think of some points to share with the class the next day. But, I
always fail to do so because I always feel very tired on Sunday nights after
going out and playing basketball frequently for the weekend. As a result, I
usually was unable to learn anything during SES lessons, which made me unable
to cope well.
In
term 2, although I think there was some improvement as I did some work for the
first few lessons, there was still much room to improve on such as speaking up
in class to share my ideas and thoughts. Frankly, I was quite uninterested in
the lessons and could not be bothered by what is thought. Every night before
SES lessons, I would just try to figure out some points just to satisfy the
teacher. Now, thinking back, I was a terrible student with the wrong attitude
towards learning. Till one fine day when I was messaging my friend through the
phone and got caught by the teacher. The teacher confiscated my phone till the
end of the lesson. I went to apologize to the teacher and the teacher said some
pretty inspiring and motivating words that I actually had the thought to change
my attitude towards my studies. Currently, I am trying to change for the better
and for the sake of my results. I do not want to disappoint my teachers and my
parents again.
In
this reflective journal, I am really unable to reflect much on the curriculum
as I really did not care about the whole subject. I was very ignorant towards
my studies and now I kind of regretted it. To me, SES is a subject that acted
as a “wake-up call” that I have to adopt a better attitude and be more
enthusiastic about learning and not so much about teaching me the content of
the subject.
