P.S Can Audrey or Kate pass the envelopes to me so that I can analyse the results? What is the correct name of the "guess-the-picture-on-my-head" game?
P.S Hi all, pls add in more learning points that you have gained during the 2nd session.
Update: Compilation of Lit review, documentation and methodology for chapter 2 is on the way....
Session 2
Activities after the break (Tmh will note what happened b4 the mini break)
We split the group of students into four mini groups led by each facilitator. Each student took turns to have a picture placed above his or her head whereby he or she had no idea what the picture was about. The other students in the same group would then provide him or her with clues what the picture was without giving the answer away.
For instance, a facilitator placed a picture “burger” in front of a student without allowing the student to see the picture. The others who can see the picture will provide clues such as “You can find it in McDonald’s”, “it is junk food” and “there’s meat and vegetables” etc. Pictures depicting brushing of teeth, hamburger, Super Mario, water bottle, computer, milk and salad were used in the game.
Besides encouraging the students to talk about the pictures and have fun; this ‘guess-the-picture-on-my head’ game was also for us to find out their understanding about junk and unhealthy food. The students seemed to enjoy it. One discovery was that salad was not sold in the canteen. However, a learning point was that we could have printed more pictures related to nutrition and health so that we can find out more about their attitudes towards junk and unhealthy food.
The students had a mini break while the facilitators put stickers on the ground to demarcate four boxes. After the students returned, they were told to choose to stand in one box to answer each question asked.
In the first round, four television channels, including cartoon channels, sports channel, Disney channel, Channel U and 8 were placed in each box. The students were then asked to stand in a particular box that stood for their favorite television channels.
In the second round, the students were asked about their favorite type of food in the school canteen; the majority stood in the ‘snacks’ category, while others stood in either ‘Chinese’ or ‘Malay’ food category. Nobody choose Indian food as it was not sold in the school canteen. They were then asked to stand in the box that represented their favorite fast food; choices included MacDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Long John Silver and Burger King.
Throughout this game, the students got very excited and shoved and pushed to get their places in the particular boxes they wanted. Some students were unhappy about the shoving; a few were grumbling about the lack of space to the facilitators. The objective of the game was once again to find out about their perceptions of food.
Following that, the facilitators engaged the students in the ‘envelope game’. Each student had to put a hand into a particular envelope and asked their peers to write answers on his or her envelope according to questions posted by the facilitators. The student who got the most number of names and answers will win.
There were four rounds altogether. Each question was asked in each round. Questions asked included “What did your friend eat last night?”, “What food your friend dislikes most?”, “What is your friend’s favorite food?” and “What is your friend’s favorite outdoor game?” Via this game, our project group hoped to find out more about their eating habits and preferences by analyzing the envelopes that were collected at the end of the day.
However, there were problems when it came to analyzing the findings as we realized that some of the answers might be repeated by the same person, hence skewing the results. Additionally, by asking them about their favorite outdoor game, the results would not tell us if their lifestyles were sedentary or if they had sufficient exercises. Only one girl wrote “Maple” which was the name of an internet game as her favorite outdoor game.
Shortcomings aside, we were able to draw up some general findings among the students. Firstly, vegetables were lacking and no salad was sold in the school canteen. Secondly.......I need the envelopes for further information.
Towards the end of the second session, the students were asked to pen down their thoughts on the colorful pieces of paper which were pasted on a big board. The big board was put up on the wall in the school library, next to the first board put up after the first session. They were told to write about their thoughts and feelings about the games, and the types of games they would to play in the future sessions.
Learning points:
Some of the girls did not like too rowdy games whereby they had to shove and fight for their places in the small boxes. We may need to fine-tune our games a little bit to accommodate the needs of everyone and modify them according to the feedback the students wrote on the pieces of paper.
Secondly, we ought to incorporate more pictures and questions that queried about their daily lifestyles and diets so as to get a clearer picture of the kind of health issue they may be facing. We may need to engage in small talk with them to find out more about them as we can only derive general findings from the games but these findings were not as specific and detailed as we would like to have.
For the next session, more must be done to find out more about their weekly diets, exercising regime and time spent on playing computer games so that we can pin-point more specifically what is the main health issue the students are facing.
Chen MeiHui
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Radin Mas Primary School
A clip of what Shaun and I saw...
Anyway, the clip is more for entertainment. But it does show bonding with teachers and students.
We also talked to Mas about the programme and here are some learning points:
1. The parents support group is not very active in RMPS. Still, Mas said that we could involve the parents if the programme is to be sustainable.
2. There is no cyberwellness programme for the kids so far.
3. We should set two days to be involved in the Strategy Planning Week of RMPS (16th, 19-22 Nov 2007)
The Strat Plan is used to plan for curriculum in RMPS in the next academic year. The teachers can experience our programme in full, so that if the programme succeeded, it can be implemented by the teachers.
Thaz all for now!
Anyway, the clip is more for entertainment. But it does show bonding with teachers and students.
We also talked to Mas about the programme and here are some learning points:
1. The parents support group is not very active in RMPS. Still, Mas said that we could involve the parents if the programme is to be sustainable.
2. There is no cyberwellness programme for the kids so far.
3. We should set two days to be involved in the Strategy Planning Week of RMPS (16th, 19-22 Nov 2007)
The Strat Plan is used to plan for curriculum in RMPS in the next academic year. The teachers can experience our programme in full, so that if the programme succeeded, it can be implemented by the teachers.
Thaz all for now!
Friday, September 28, 2007
Ideas from previous sem group
Talked to one of the member from Holistic Health group today and some findings.
1. they were allocated only 3 sessions with the kids. so they initiated to participate in every possible program that the school had. their kids (like our's) came from different class so they don't know each other prior to this program. so in participating the school events they did more than just observing the kids. but also the general school environment.
2. info were gathered from little chats - main problem is kids will not reveal as much when filmed. some questions like how did u like the program? what have u learnt? , kids will still respond. --- so i guess if Halcyon didn't object to them using little chats to find out more about the kids, it should be ok if our's is not documented also rite??
3. they did things like health booklet (filled with info, quizzes, jigsaw puzzles and some other games and the kids were to document what they ate each day, and autograph page)
4. she verified kids are motivated by prizes. hence they awarded the kids with prizes after completion of each quiz/jigsaw puzzles. --- we could award them things like our collar pins after completing some activities and at the end of the whole program our saammmiky tee shirt could be given to them. just an idea. OR we could also do something like take a group photo help them frame up and give to each kids. OR like the Holistic Health group, give healthier choice of snacks/sweets.
their prizes were healthy snacks/sweets. --> idea: if it's impossible to get the kids to quit sweets/snacks... teach them to choose a healthier choice. indulge in unhealthy ones less often. giving them these healthier snacks as prizes allows them to taste and decide if they like this and can substitute their current junk.
5. problem was more or less identified by the NUS group via observation than doing survey/focus groups. they observed fat kids being insulted during sports day. noticed 40% of the kids were overweight. none of the TAF students ever graduated from the club. their TAF activities were a total failure. assemble 6.30am and teacher was late for 15mins, 15mins to take attendance. bell rang for morning assembly. no time for TAF activities at all. --- so is it really that important that we must have the kids to say "yes i think this is a problem i'm facing"? was thinking we are already more or less quite safe to identify nutrition as a problem, and probably we can find out if they lead a very sedentary lifestyle. If yes, we could target GENERAL WELL-BEING/HEALTH encompassing proper nutrition, proper meals at the right hour, sufficient exercise every week. (exercise for these kids can be games -- captain's ball, bball, freeze, dog-and-bone etc etc... fun and high exercise level.)
6. what they did
- played games games and more sports games - freeze was very popular. where catcher has to run around tapping the kids. some kids will be appointed as the "Special one" who can unfreeze the other kids. this game was madness... it was running non stop. but well the kids loved it. and it is a form of exercise what...
- competition for hula hoop... who can hula hoop the longest. u'll be surprised at their ability to hula hula non stop... but i was also curious why are they still fat then?
- skipping competition (same as hula - popular among girls)
- captain's ball was popular also (forgot she said among boys or among alll the kids)
- incorporate games with teaching kids how to read nutritional information on the food packs. --- thought this is a good idea we can also do.
- some boring lessons taught, then made the kids form 2 groups and compete. winning group got a prize. --- surprisingly the monkies were willing to sit down and go thru the lesson.
- feedback was gathered from the kids about which aspects of the program they liked most then the group would tweak the activities to suit their "taste". according to my fren, she felt that this is already considered a bottom up approach. from her experience, kids at this age have NO concerns. nothing is worrying to them even though they know what is unhealthy. so we need to not just facilitate their activities but guide them due to their age. the feedback part is already sufficient to acccount for the a bottom up approach cuz their opinions are taken into account to plan activities that best engage this group of kids to help them achieve a goal. --- i thought she sounded reasonable to me. it's just like Jiang Rong's comment... he knows that fast food is junk food, western food (his fav pork chop, fish & chips) is unhealthy and fattening but he just likes the taste of it. probably at this point in life he doesnt feel that being fat is a hindrance to his life so of course it's not a problem to him.
--> should we be moving out to do some outdoor games on tuesday morning? sounds fun and gets the kids moving... as they requested. we could probably play MONKEY! haha... can we already use 2nd half of our 3rd session to start the idea of FUN EXERCISE?
for morning sessions we could probably prepare breakfast for them to eat together in the morning (MUST be HALAL though). or we could pilot test this plan: get the school to have the snacks stall cater HEALTHY breakfast (we could guide on what is healthy) for these 23 kids and they will reach school at 7am to collect and eat together at the canteen before going for morning assembly. we could also gather feedback from the kids about have their acceptance of certain vegetables changed after eating our "designed breakfast".
yep just some ideas. guess we will really need to discuss all these. btw meihuis and me are scheduled to meet dr park for our proj on monday 12-2pm cuz that's the only slot the whole group is free. so we might need to find another time for all to meet before Tues session.
1. they were allocated only 3 sessions with the kids. so they initiated to participate in every possible program that the school had. their kids (like our's) came from different class so they don't know each other prior to this program. so in participating the school events they did more than just observing the kids. but also the general school environment.
2. info were gathered from little chats - main problem is kids will not reveal as much when filmed. some questions like how did u like the program? what have u learnt? , kids will still respond. --- so i guess if Halcyon didn't object to them using little chats to find out more about the kids, it should be ok if our's is not documented also rite??
3. they did things like health booklet (filled with info, quizzes, jigsaw puzzles and some other games and the kids were to document what they ate each day, and autograph page)
4. she verified kids are motivated by prizes. hence they awarded the kids with prizes after completion of each quiz/jigsaw puzzles. --- we could award them things like our collar pins after completing some activities and at the end of the whole program our saammmiky tee shirt could be given to them. just an idea. OR we could also do something like take a group photo help them frame up and give to each kids. OR like the Holistic Health group, give healthier choice of snacks/sweets.
their prizes were healthy snacks/sweets. --> idea: if it's impossible to get the kids to quit sweets/snacks... teach them to choose a healthier choice. indulge in unhealthy ones less often. giving them these healthier snacks as prizes allows them to taste and decide if they like this and can substitute their current junk.
5. problem was more or less identified by the NUS group via observation than doing survey/focus groups. they observed fat kids being insulted during sports day. noticed 40% of the kids were overweight. none of the TAF students ever graduated from the club. their TAF activities were a total failure. assemble 6.30am and teacher was late for 15mins, 15mins to take attendance. bell rang for morning assembly. no time for TAF activities at all. --- so is it really that important that we must have the kids to say "yes i think this is a problem i'm facing"? was thinking we are already more or less quite safe to identify nutrition as a problem, and probably we can find out if they lead a very sedentary lifestyle. If yes, we could target GENERAL WELL-BEING/HEALTH encompassing proper nutrition, proper meals at the right hour, sufficient exercise every week. (exercise for these kids can be games -- captain's ball, bball, freeze, dog-and-bone etc etc... fun and high exercise level.)
6. what they did
- played games games and more sports games - freeze was very popular. where catcher has to run around tapping the kids. some kids will be appointed as the "Special one" who can unfreeze the other kids. this game was madness... it was running non stop. but well the kids loved it. and it is a form of exercise what...
- competition for hula hoop... who can hula hoop the longest. u'll be surprised at their ability to hula hula non stop... but i was also curious why are they still fat then?
- skipping competition (same as hula - popular among girls)
- captain's ball was popular also (forgot she said among boys or among alll the kids)
- incorporate games with teaching kids how to read nutritional information on the food packs. --- thought this is a good idea we can also do.
- some boring lessons taught, then made the kids form 2 groups and compete. winning group got a prize. --- surprisingly the monkies were willing to sit down and go thru the lesson.
- feedback was gathered from the kids about which aspects of the program they liked most then the group would tweak the activities to suit their "taste". according to my fren, she felt that this is already considered a bottom up approach. from her experience, kids at this age have NO concerns. nothing is worrying to them even though they know what is unhealthy. so we need to not just facilitate their activities but guide them due to their age. the feedback part is already sufficient to acccount for the a bottom up approach cuz their opinions are taken into account to plan activities that best engage this group of kids to help them achieve a goal. --- i thought she sounded reasonable to me. it's just like Jiang Rong's comment... he knows that fast food is junk food, western food (his fav pork chop, fish & chips) is unhealthy and fattening but he just likes the taste of it. probably at this point in life he doesnt feel that being fat is a hindrance to his life so of course it's not a problem to him.
--> should we be moving out to do some outdoor games on tuesday morning? sounds fun and gets the kids moving... as they requested. we could probably play MONKEY! haha... can we already use 2nd half of our 3rd session to start the idea of FUN EXERCISE?
for morning sessions we could probably prepare breakfast for them to eat together in the morning (MUST be HALAL though). or we could pilot test this plan: get the school to have the snacks stall cater HEALTHY breakfast (we could guide on what is healthy) for these 23 kids and they will reach school at 7am to collect and eat together at the canteen before going for morning assembly. we could also gather feedback from the kids about have their acceptance of certain vegetables changed after eating our "designed breakfast".
yep just some ideas. guess we will really need to discuss all these. btw meihuis and me are scheduled to meet dr park for our proj on monday 12-2pm cuz that's the only slot the whole group is free. so we might need to find another time for all to meet before Tues session.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Horror Stories
Hey all,
From my conversations with facilitators and silent observers. Please post the horror stories you all are having. Apparently the boys are really a handful and the some of the girls as Ming Hui put in, ummm. "Small but want to act big as in mature..." Also some wanting to know which games have prizes and stuff are crucial to make sure the right message is getting across. PROCESS is important! We had back to back the last session so we couldn't tweak much, but the next one we can do better!
Anyway..these are important learning points that we should share so all can have better suggestions and aid in finding a quick solution.
Shaun
From my conversations with facilitators and silent observers. Please post the horror stories you all are having. Apparently the boys are really a handful and the some of the girls as Ming Hui put in, ummm. "Small but want to act big as in mature..." Also some wanting to know which games have prizes and stuff are crucial to make sure the right message is getting across. PROCESS is important! We had back to back the last session so we couldn't tweak much, but the next one we can do better!
Anyway..these are important learning points that we should share so all can have better suggestions and aid in finding a quick solution.
Shaun
Financial Issue
Hey guyz just thought will update you all on our financial health now. We started off with $180 ($20 each) and we've spent $76.73 on stationaries (murals, construction papers, tapes, markers etc), tapes for recording, and prizes for the kids. Prizes alone is about 17% ($12.95) of our expenditure. Considering we will be producing collar pins (price unknown), probably t-shirts, and not sure what else depending on what we intend to give to the kids... we need to be more "miser". That links us to our choice of giving out 23 disposable cameras and prizes for the kids. maybe children's day presents too (or sponsored by ourselves?)
Yup so would be good if anyone has cheap and good suggestions for the kids' prizes and children day presents. and maybe we have to keep to only 1 prize for each games. Save the $$ for other stuffs that we're gonna give the kids as part of the learning process =)
p/s: apologies to the writers team. i wrote the post le then yi eng suggested we all collate under Kate's entry with different colour codes. cuz im rushing materials for 3 proj meetings on fri so haven had the time to shift my observations into kate's post. will try to do it asap.
Yup so would be good if anyone has cheap and good suggestions for the kids' prizes and children day presents. and maybe we have to keep to only 1 prize for each games. Save the $$ for other stuffs that we're gonna give the kids as part of the learning process =)
p/s: apologies to the writers team. i wrote the post le then yi eng suggested we all collate under Kate's entry with different colour codes. cuz im rushing materials for 3 proj meetings on fri so haven had the time to shift my observations into kate's post. will try to do it asap.
Some ideas...
Hey,
Sorry fellas for not being able to attend for Wed session. Had a filming engagement with a cast of 17 i think. The largest I've ever had to handle but i hope its well worth it. The film will be out hopefully in the next 2 weeks and i'll post it on Youtube for viewing. Its still currently in post production at 80%completion. Anyway, here are some thoughts from what i gathered so far.
1. We could work on the branding that this is the SAMMMIKY program, make it seem less harmful and fun.
2. I found that the board comments were really useful and gave excellent feedback to us without pressuring the child. Perhaps after each session, 2 papers could be given to the kids to fill up as they please (Not compulsory) and past anywhere on the board. A way of a forum for them to communicate to us rather than blogs and stuff.
3. Think working on the sustainability issue after the prog is over is to try to find a room for them.. possibly a CCA?
Anyway, do try to search for contacts for the collar pins so that they can be given to the kids for completion of the project.
Found these contacts via yellow pages:
http://www.attractivegifts.com.sg/
9456 6827 Helen
Umm.. She just called back so this is an update.
Per piece $3 for collar pin. If order more will be cheaper of course.
For a plaque however, one is $80.
But we order more can try to strike a deal... Anyway, thus far, this is it that i've gotten.
http://www.progiftsmarketing.com/
http://www.aquaholic.com.sg/
Aquaholic's like minimum offer is 1000 pieces... Way too much. : )
Shaun
Sorry fellas for not being able to attend for Wed session. Had a filming engagement with a cast of 17 i think. The largest I've ever had to handle but i hope its well worth it. The film will be out hopefully in the next 2 weeks and i'll post it on Youtube for viewing. Its still currently in post production at 80%completion. Anyway, here are some thoughts from what i gathered so far.
1. We could work on the branding that this is the SAMMMIKY program, make it seem less harmful and fun.
2. I found that the board comments were really useful and gave excellent feedback to us without pressuring the child. Perhaps after each session, 2 papers could be given to the kids to fill up as they please (Not compulsory) and past anywhere on the board. A way of a forum for them to communicate to us rather than blogs and stuff.
3. Think working on the sustainability issue after the prog is over is to try to find a room for them.. possibly a CCA?
Anyway, do try to search for contacts for the collar pins so that they can be given to the kids for completion of the project.
Found these contacts via yellow pages:
http://www.attractivegifts.com.sg/
9456 6827 Helen
Umm.. She just called back so this is an update.
Per piece $3 for collar pin. If order more will be cheaper of course.
For a plaque however, one is $80.
But we order more can try to strike a deal... Anyway, thus far, this is it that i've gotten.
http://www.progiftsmarketing.com/
http://www.aquaholic.com.sg/
Aquaholic's like minimum offer is 1000 pieces... Way too much. : )
Shaun
Meetings for the coming week
hi ppl,
for Session 3, we have set a meeting time to be Mon 12-2pm, currently the 2 Meihui, Minghui, yi eng and Kate can make it, i jus realised i need to meet my prof for presentation consultation (my presentation is 2pm onwards).. =p and shaun wont be in time after he touched down. jus wondering how abt alvin n irene?
for Session 4, it will be after Session 3 ie Tue 9.30am onwards. understand that most haf lessons from 2pm, so we ll do a short one from 10am to 11+am then if need be, we all meet again after 6pm?
wat says u all?
audrey
for Session 3, we have set a meeting time to be Mon 12-2pm, currently the 2 Meihui, Minghui, yi eng and Kate can make it, i jus realised i need to meet my prof for presentation consultation (my presentation is 2pm onwards).. =p and shaun wont be in time after he touched down. jus wondering how abt alvin n irene?
for Session 4, it will be after Session 3 ie Tue 9.30am onwards. understand that most haf lessons from 2pm, so we ll do a short one from 10am to 11+am then if need be, we all meet again after 6pm?
wat says u all?
audrey
Games for Session 3
Here are the things brainstormed for Session 3 after Session 2:
1. Theme for the Session and mural: Pirates!
- I.e. bring along a picture of ur "precious" treasure e.g. a toy or a book etc.
- A treasure hunt game ll be incorporated
- Look for the best pirate among the students
* This is like a followup from the previous sessions whereby Session 1 is knowing ur likes and dislikes, then Session 2 is to be a detective and find out what ur frens like and dislike, so Session 3, we were thinking along the line of knowing ur potential, empowering them.
2. Games
a. Treasure hunt game - Kate
Aim: To find out their perspective and knowledge of food (n other health issues)
- Answer cards will be placed thruout the room, hidden and not hidden
- We will give a set of clues e.g. the thing is often red on the outside and taking it everyday keeps the doc away.
- A few copies of the same answer will be placed thruout the room for them all to find within a time limit
- The student who manages to find the most will be the best pirate for the day
b. Game of empowerment - Audrey
Aim: To get the students to be used to speaking up and giving instructions, taking the lead as well as listening to their peers
- All the students will be moving in the room
- When 1 student shouts "stop" then the whole room must stop
- Similarly when 1 student shouts "start" then the whole room will continue moving
- Doesnt haf to be the same person
- Then they move up to another level when 1 shouts funny faces then all ll do funny faces etc.
so far these are what we haf gotten. cos we are using the fundamental movement room, so we shd make use of the big space.
any more sugestions do add on.
thanks! =)
* i ll upload the prog sheet for Session 1 and 2 and subsequent sessions for all's reference.
1. Theme for the Session and mural: Pirates!
- I.e. bring along a picture of ur "precious" treasure e.g. a toy or a book etc.
- A treasure hunt game ll be incorporated
- Look for the best pirate among the students
* This is like a followup from the previous sessions whereby Session 1 is knowing ur likes and dislikes, then Session 2 is to be a detective and find out what ur frens like and dislike, so Session 3, we were thinking along the line of knowing ur potential, empowering them.
2. Games
a. Treasure hunt game - Kate
Aim: To find out their perspective and knowledge of food (n other health issues)
- Answer cards will be placed thruout the room, hidden and not hidden
- We will give a set of clues e.g. the thing is often red on the outside and taking it everyday keeps the doc away.
- A few copies of the same answer will be placed thruout the room for them all to find within a time limit
- The student who manages to find the most will be the best pirate for the day
b. Game of empowerment - Audrey
Aim: To get the students to be used to speaking up and giving instructions, taking the lead as well as listening to their peers
- All the students will be moving in the room
- When 1 student shouts "stop" then the whole room must stop
- Similarly when 1 student shouts "start" then the whole room will continue moving
- Doesnt haf to be the same person
- Then they move up to another level when 1 shouts funny faces then all ll do funny faces etc.
so far these are what we haf gotten. cos we are using the fundamental movement room, so we shd make use of the big space.
any more sugestions do add on.
thanks! =)
* i ll upload the prog sheet for Session 1 and 2 and subsequent sessions for all's reference.
Session 2 + RMPS environment
Had some time to walk around the school to survey the environment today so here's what I found:
1. bubble tea shop opposite RMPS (damn packed with kids when the morning session ended)
- if we want, we can try to find a corner and film the chaotic scene at the bubble tea shop to prove its popularity
2. exercise machines placed outside hall
- according to little chats with the kids the machines were first placed there in Feb this year. Aleady spoilt now. Kids don't play it anymore cuz they're spoilt. We were also wondering if the height of those machines were actually suitable for those kids.
3. lack of vegetables served in canteen food
- BUT you see the eat 2 fruits 2 vege poster around the school. even on the door of some pri 1 classrooms.
4. convenience of 2 hawker centre right outside school.
- avail: western food (eg. fries is a popular choice - at least back in my pri school days. 1 boy today mentioned he likes to buy fries from there too cuz not avail in school)
Session 2
1. Kids don't eat proper lunch (also found out from little chats during focus group)
- 1 boy drank slurpee from 7-11 opp school, some didn't eat, another gal drank only a pack of milk. main reason quoted for not eating: not hungry. really don't understand how they can survive w/o breakfast and lunch... emanuel and another gal said they ate chicken rice. chicken rice is served w/o skin and w/o vege.
- school sells sandwiches (egg and sardine flavour) w/o vege.
2. Pending Kate to find out some answers from Mas about school background.
3. Jeremy Teng and this other fat boy i can't remember his name (not jiang rong)... loves fast food, western food (they named pork chop, fish and chips) fast food.... the fat boy said he will remove all vege from his burger. likes soft drinks. but 2 other in their focus group said they dont like fast food at all.
4. Usage of computer is common at home. Those who dont use, quoted "computer spoilt" as the reason. Some are strictly controlled at home (eg. only 1 hour a day) some are not controlled (unlimited hours) and some say they play about 3 hours. Mainly they use the computer to PLAY GAMES like maple story, and that dance game (audition - did i get it right?).
5. The picture game ended too fast for the kids... as Eleanor's gang of friends said: they always CHEAT! --> referring to Jester and his best friend for saying out the name of the food and spoiling the whole fun of the guessing game. Game ended too fast so we ended up chatting with them.
6. School no longer helps the kids to order milk
- they used to take orders from all the kids and think they distribute the milk during class like 3x a week. (choice of vanilla, chocolate, strawberry) not sure why it was stopped cuz i remember almost entire class will order the milk.
Problem
As Audrey mentioned these are what we found out during little chats during focus group. Not documented. But today was a bit short handed so I was running across 3 groups to chat with the kids also. so filming was a bit sacrificed.
1. bubble tea shop opposite RMPS (damn packed with kids when the morning session ended)
- if we want, we can try to find a corner and film the chaotic scene at the bubble tea shop to prove its popularity
2. exercise machines placed outside hall
- according to little chats with the kids the machines were first placed there in Feb this year. Aleady spoilt now. Kids don't play it anymore cuz they're spoilt. We were also wondering if the height of those machines were actually suitable for those kids.
3. lack of vegetables served in canteen food
- BUT you see the eat 2 fruits 2 vege poster around the school. even on the door of some pri 1 classrooms.
4. convenience of 2 hawker centre right outside school.
- avail: western food (eg. fries is a popular choice - at least back in my pri school days. 1 boy today mentioned he likes to buy fries from there too cuz not avail in school)
Session 2
1. Kids don't eat proper lunch (also found out from little chats during focus group)
- 1 boy drank slurpee from 7-11 opp school, some didn't eat, another gal drank only a pack of milk. main reason quoted for not eating: not hungry. really don't understand how they can survive w/o breakfast and lunch... emanuel and another gal said they ate chicken rice. chicken rice is served w/o skin and w/o vege.
- school sells sandwiches (egg and sardine flavour) w/o vege.
2. Pending Kate to find out some answers from Mas about school background.
3. Jeremy Teng and this other fat boy i can't remember his name (not jiang rong)... loves fast food, western food (they named pork chop, fish and chips) fast food.... the fat boy said he will remove all vege from his burger. likes soft drinks. but 2 other in their focus group said they dont like fast food at all.
4. Usage of computer is common at home. Those who dont use, quoted "computer spoilt" as the reason. Some are strictly controlled at home (eg. only 1 hour a day) some are not controlled (unlimited hours) and some say they play about 3 hours. Mainly they use the computer to PLAY GAMES like maple story, and that dance game (audition - did i get it right?).
5. The picture game ended too fast for the kids... as Eleanor's gang of friends said: they always CHEAT! --> referring to Jester and his best friend for saying out the name of the food and spoiling the whole fun of the guessing game. Game ended too fast so we ended up chatting with them.
6. School no longer helps the kids to order milk
- they used to take orders from all the kids and think they distribute the milk during class like 3x a week. (choice of vanilla, chocolate, strawberry) not sure why it was stopped cuz i remember almost entire class will order the milk.
Problem
As Audrey mentioned these are what we found out during little chats during focus group. Not documented. But today was a bit short handed so I was running across 3 groups to chat with the kids also. so filming was a bit sacrificed.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Issues to ponder over... BEFORE children's day
After session discussion:
The little detective at home...
We are deliberating as to whether each student should be given a disposable camera as pre and post evaluation.
A list of things will be given to the students where they should take pictures according to those themes.
This include pictures of food they eat, things they do. To make this more interesting for them, we would include questions that need them to take pictures of what their friends/family/teachers do or eat.
We intend to give this to the kids on Friday, so that they can return to us by Monday for analysis before the tues session. A post-evaluation will be conducted one or two weeks after our programme with them.
Please advise as to whether this is feasible by tomorrow?
The little detective at home...
We are deliberating as to whether each student should be given a disposable camera as pre and post evaluation.
A list of things will be given to the students where they should take pictures according to those themes.
This include pictures of food they eat, things they do. To make this more interesting for them, we would include questions that need them to take pictures of what their friends/family/teachers do or eat.
We intend to give this to the kids on Friday, so that they can return to us by Monday for analysis before the tues session. A post-evaluation will be conducted one or two weeks after our programme with them.
Please advise as to whether this is feasible by tomorrow?
Session 2 - Focusing on Issues (260907)
Today's Programme and thoughts
Ice breaker - Poncho in the middle and calling out names.
The class starts at 1.30pm today, with 23 students altogether. Because of the new arrival, an ice breaker game was introduced to get them to familiarize with the names of one another.
The ice breaker:
1. Divides students into two groups
2. A poncho was placed in the middle so that the two groups cannot see each other
3. The facilitator ask questions such as "who in the team has the longest hair?"
4. Each team needs to find a representative without letting the other side knows
4. The team will then have to shout out the name of the representative when the poncho is lowered.
Kate's thoughts:
The ice breaker went on well, though it might not be a very active game. Facilitation was not tough, maybe because it was a hot afternoon.
There was only an instance when two boys (Nicholas and Makesh) were fighting over some card stickers. Apart from that, I would say the game went well.
Yi Eng's Thoughts
I think the game went pretty well. Some of the quieter ones were also pushed to participate in the game by their peers when they are the only one for that category. Everyone was pretty noisy.
*realised my previous additions were all gone.. O_o nvm. i would agree that the game got the students to work tgt n like wat yi eng mentioned, how they would select the most suitable candidate n thru this, all got a chance to play.
Focus group - Pictures Guessing Game
Students were shown pictures of different objects namely:
1. Hamburger
2. Milk
3. Mario
4. Salad
5. Brushing teeth
6. Potato Chips
7. Computer
8. Water bottle
While one student will hold the placard over his/her head (not knowing what the item is), the other students should help the student in the guessing.
Objectives:
- Make associations with the random items shown on the picture
- The randomness is to assure that we do not have a too narrow focus on food and nutriention alone.
The game did not go accordingly as students (from Xiao Meihui and my group) saw the picture even before hand. (Haha I agree. Think the paper was too thin). Nevertheless, we still retrieve some information from the kids.
Overall, their knowledge of the objects shown are good. It also illuminates certain perceptions of the objects shown.
For an instance:
COMPUTER - A girl said that she uses it everyday. For my group, a girl and a boy said they used 3hrs a day, another girl as long as she like, and a boy for one hr a day when his computer was not spoilt. They mostly use it to play games like Audition, Maple, offline games (some dont have internet connection) etc. As for projects, they sometimes do use computers for them but it is not often. For my group, i realised some differences btw the 2 genders. the 2 gals in my team said that they used computer for onli 1hr per day while the 3 boys said that they can use computer up to 7-8hrs per day, and one even said that he can use 24 hrs! all of them use it for games and not projects. when i asked them if their parents will scold them for using the computer for so long, they said no! their parents wont stop them at all..
MARIO - Everyone knows who mario is. When asked how many play computer games, all the boys and 1 girl in the group does. yup my group too. all of them played before n the 2 boys - jester and marquis (ignore the wrong sp) - even play warcraft. think their level of knowledge of computer games is pretty high.
SALAD - Students say that this is not sold in school. A girl reacts with "yucks" when asked whether she likes it. Haha one guy say he likes salad but does not know how to make it. my group (with eleanor) cldnt make out the pictures. some said spaghetti. could be their exposure to salad varieties are limited... Same thing, the 2 gals in my team like salad. But the boys.. haiz..they dont eat salad at all.. unless it is coated with mayonaise!!
WATER BOTTLE - Generally, students in the group bring a water bottle to school. This is good for the eight hours a day requirement. water bottle is a parent initiated idea, so when some of them lost it, there is no desire to replace it. Oh, for water bottle, i think there's quite a worrying trend. most of them said that they drink 1 bottle per day or sometimes even less than 1 bottle. they prefer sweet drinks/ soft drinks than water. even the 2 gals who i find quite 'healthy' from previous questions said that they find water plain and bland and yucky.. so when they are thirsty, they will drink soft drinks, and when they get thirsty again cos of the sweet drinks, they will drink sweet drinks again.. they jus refuse to drink plain water!
POTATO CHIPS - Students expressed that they like it very much. mine too, rem lai ling saying that she eats it regularly (looking at her size, its believable) yes, most of the kids in my grp like potato chips!
HAMBURGER - Mixed reaction. Some say they like some say they dont like.
the 2 gals mentioned she eat hamburger once a week, for the guys 3 times a week. and one boy said that he live western food and not hamburger??!! he said hamburger is unhealthy so he dun like. i ask him y he find hamburger unhealthy but dun find western food unhealthy.. and he was like.. errr... i dun noe leh.. i jus like western food..
MILK - My group like milk a lot. One guy say he drinks it everyday. Jess asked them if the school orders milk for them but they say dont have. mine had mixed reaction.
some of them said they drink milk once a day in the morning. some picky ones said they only drink flavoured milk like strawberry milk etc cos they taste better. n one boy even said he drink durian milk..?? i asked him where did he get such a weird kind of milk. he said his parents just use durian and use blender to make durian milk for him.. yucks. n one boy said he dun drink milk cos he see it as cow's urine..
Others - Hmm I asked them if they ate breakfast - 2 did not & 3 did eat bread. They normally had their breakfast during recess time which is around 9am. As for lunch, some did not eat lunch at all (wonder how they survive?). 2 ate chicken rice, 1 drank slurpee (he doesnt eat in school), 1 fasting and the other didnt eat. Also some said they like fries. Since the school dont sell them now, they buy from outside.
Although nothing is definite or conclusive, it does show areas of common problems that we can address. I do think that meals might be a problem - eating at the correct time / eating the correct type of food.
Break
Boxes Game
1. Four squares are taped on the floor
2. Answers to questions are placed in the four different squares (e.g. KFC, Macdonalds, Long John Silver, Burger King)
3. Facilitator will then ask questions "What fastfood do you like to eat the most?"
4. Students will then rush to the box of their choice.
Topics include sleeping hours, TV programmes, food eaten during recess and fastfood eaten
This is a bit messy as the boxes quite small to squeeze everyone in. It is quite hard to see how many students in each box too. Maybe we should have separated the squares like we did for volcano game so that it is easier to see how many are in each boxes. Also some of them we were shoved out of the 'hot' boxes just went to other boxes.
One thing we got from this is that some students do not eat during recess (other than fasting). Like this guy Kate asked, he said that instead of spending on food to eat, he actually saved the money up.
yes i would agree that it is a little messy. my fault that the planning didnt forsee this. from here, i realised they enjoy prize-motivated game - sad to say so - and they can entertain themselves pretty well.
& The Photos!
Showing the things they like from the picture game.
(upload more photos another time. connection somehow vv slow)
Ice breaker - Poncho in the middle and calling out names.
The class starts at 1.30pm today, with 23 students altogether. Because of the new arrival, an ice breaker game was introduced to get them to familiarize with the names of one another.
The ice breaker:
1. Divides students into two groups
2. A poncho was placed in the middle so that the two groups cannot see each other
3. The facilitator ask questions such as "who in the team has the longest hair?"
4. Each team needs to find a representative without letting the other side knows
4. The team will then have to shout out the name of the representative when the poncho is lowered.
Kate's thoughts:
The ice breaker went on well, though it might not be a very active game. Facilitation was not tough, maybe because it was a hot afternoon.
There was only an instance when two boys (Nicholas and Makesh) were fighting over some card stickers. Apart from that, I would say the game went well.
Yi Eng's Thoughts
I think the game went pretty well. Some of the quieter ones were also pushed to participate in the game by their peers when they are the only one for that category. Everyone was pretty noisy.
*realised my previous additions were all gone.. O_o nvm. i would agree that the game got the students to work tgt n like wat yi eng mentioned, how they would select the most suitable candidate n thru this, all got a chance to play.
Focus group - Pictures Guessing Game
Students were shown pictures of different objects namely:
1. Hamburger
2. Milk
3. Mario
4. Salad
5. Brushing teeth
6. Potato Chips
7. Computer
8. Water bottle
While one student will hold the placard over his/her head (not knowing what the item is), the other students should help the student in the guessing.
Objectives:
- Make associations with the random items shown on the picture
- The randomness is to assure that we do not have a too narrow focus on food and nutriention alone.
The game did not go accordingly as students (from Xiao Meihui and my group) saw the picture even before hand. (Haha I agree. Think the paper was too thin). Nevertheless, we still retrieve some information from the kids.
Overall, their knowledge of the objects shown are good. It also illuminates certain perceptions of the objects shown.
For an instance:
COMPUTER - A girl said that she uses it everyday. For my group, a girl and a boy said they used 3hrs a day, another girl as long as she like, and a boy for one hr a day when his computer was not spoilt. They mostly use it to play games like Audition, Maple, offline games (some dont have internet connection) etc. As for projects, they sometimes do use computers for them but it is not often. For my group, i realised some differences btw the 2 genders. the 2 gals in my team said that they used computer for onli 1hr per day while the 3 boys said that they can use computer up to 7-8hrs per day, and one even said that he can use 24 hrs! all of them use it for games and not projects. when i asked them if their parents will scold them for using the computer for so long, they said no! their parents wont stop them at all..
MARIO - Everyone knows who mario is. When asked how many play computer games, all the boys and 1 girl in the group does. yup my group too. all of them played before n the 2 boys - jester and marquis (ignore the wrong sp) - even play warcraft. think their level of knowledge of computer games is pretty high.
SALAD - Students say that this is not sold in school. A girl reacts with "yucks" when asked whether she likes it. Haha one guy say he likes salad but does not know how to make it. my group (with eleanor) cldnt make out the pictures. some said spaghetti. could be their exposure to salad varieties are limited... Same thing, the 2 gals in my team like salad. But the boys.. haiz..they dont eat salad at all.. unless it is coated with mayonaise!!
WATER BOTTLE - Generally, students in the group bring a water bottle to school. This is good for the eight hours a day requirement. water bottle is a parent initiated idea, so when some of them lost it, there is no desire to replace it. Oh, for water bottle, i think there's quite a worrying trend. most of them said that they drink 1 bottle per day or sometimes even less than 1 bottle. they prefer sweet drinks/ soft drinks than water. even the 2 gals who i find quite 'healthy' from previous questions said that they find water plain and bland and yucky.. so when they are thirsty, they will drink soft drinks, and when they get thirsty again cos of the sweet drinks, they will drink sweet drinks again.. they jus refuse to drink plain water!
POTATO CHIPS - Students expressed that they like it very much. mine too, rem lai ling saying that she eats it regularly (looking at her size, its believable) yes, most of the kids in my grp like potato chips!
HAMBURGER - Mixed reaction. Some say they like some say they dont like.
the 2 gals mentioned she eat hamburger once a week, for the guys 3 times a week. and one boy said that he live western food and not hamburger??!! he said hamburger is unhealthy so he dun like. i ask him y he find hamburger unhealthy but dun find western food unhealthy.. and he was like.. errr... i dun noe leh.. i jus like western food..
MILK - My group like milk a lot. One guy say he drinks it everyday. Jess asked them if the school orders milk for them but they say dont have. mine had mixed reaction.
some of them said they drink milk once a day in the morning. some picky ones said they only drink flavoured milk like strawberry milk etc cos they taste better. n one boy even said he drink durian milk..?? i asked him where did he get such a weird kind of milk. he said his parents just use durian and use blender to make durian milk for him.. yucks. n one boy said he dun drink milk cos he see it as cow's urine..
Others - Hmm I asked them if they ate breakfast - 2 did not & 3 did eat bread. They normally had their breakfast during recess time which is around 9am. As for lunch, some did not eat lunch at all (wonder how they survive?). 2 ate chicken rice, 1 drank slurpee (he doesnt eat in school), 1 fasting and the other didnt eat. Also some said they like fries. Since the school dont sell them now, they buy from outside.
Although nothing is definite or conclusive, it does show areas of common problems that we can address. I do think that meals might be a problem - eating at the correct time / eating the correct type of food.
Break
Boxes Game
1. Four squares are taped on the floor
2. Answers to questions are placed in the four different squares (e.g. KFC, Macdonalds, Long John Silver, Burger King)
3. Facilitator will then ask questions "What fastfood do you like to eat the most?"
4. Students will then rush to the box of their choice.
Topics include sleeping hours, TV programmes, food eaten during recess and fastfood eaten
This is a bit messy as the boxes quite small to squeeze everyone in. It is quite hard to see how many students in each box too. Maybe we should have separated the squares like we did for volcano game so that it is easier to see how many are in each boxes. Also some of them we were shoved out of the 'hot' boxes just went to other boxes.
One thing we got from this is that some students do not eat during recess (other than fasting). Like this guy Kate asked, he said that instead of spending on food to eat, he actually saved the money up.
yes i would agree that it is a little messy. my fault that the planning didnt forsee this. from here, i realised they enjoy prize-motivated game - sad to say so - and they can entertain themselves pretty well.
here are some observations i took down during the game 9based on agaration cos quite hard to make out how many ppl are there in each square:
Sleeping time- most of them sleep ard 10pm-11pm. (girls esp).. Some boys were in the 'others' box and some shouted they slept onli ard 3am.
TV channels- Alot of them like cartoons! Few like channel 8 and U. some said they like kids central and less than said that they watched sports progs.
Lunch- Most had chinese food. very few ate malay food and 2 chose indian food. 6 of them were in snacks box.
Fav fastfood- Most like Mac and KFC. as compared to long john and BK.
Envelope Game
1. Students were given envelopes to wear on their hands.
2. They will then collect signatures and answers from their friends when being asked questions
3. Students who collect the most names will get a reward.
Topics covered: Dinner/Like/dislike food/Outdoor Sports
I leave the last two sessions to be elaborated by Audrey. Haha...
Generally the game went pretty well but some groups tend to stick together. Others just shout across the room and wrote answers themselves, instead of interacting by writing on each other's envelope. But some of them approached the facilitators and asked us, so I feel that is pretty good :)
We should have split the envelope into four distinct columns, because most students fail to understand the instruction of having to divide the answers according to questions. Hence we fail to gather the data we would like to collect since we cant differentiate btwn answers for the food questions. But Audrey said that the data could be used another way - to see what kind of food they are generally exposed to. But I think we havent collated data on that yet.
the envelops are with me, so i ll get down to it and hopefully we haf some useful data.
Others
1. We had to move from the fundamental room to the library games room halfway due to a dance class occupying the former. The 2nd room is much smaller and hence I feel it restricts movement. Also the room is much hotter. If I am not wrong, we will use that room every Wednesday.
i think this is an important point to note. one suggestion is to stack the tables, instead of jus shifting to one side. or maybe fold them up, if possible.
2. Not enough facilitators. We had 4 groups and 6 facilitators. Some groups had 2 facilitators. Was facilitating a group for the picture game so did not take much photos.
yesterday not in good condition, cldnt count.. -_-
3. Some students rather shy in front of the camera/vcam. Generally the environment quite noisy, not very sure about the sound pick up. May be hard to interview. One girl just totally dao us when me & Jess tried to interview her. Then when interviewing guy, all other guys come and disturb.
i was suggesting using less intrusive methods like digital cams..
Kate
Yi Eng
Audrey
& The Photos!
Showing the things they like from the picture game.(upload more photos another time. connection somehow vv slow)
Students' Comments
Some comments I saw at this wall opposite the school bookshop. It's for the kids (in the whole school) to write their comments on how they think the school can be improved... interesting things are like fitness park is old... but they have exercice machines outside the hall. they lack the knowledge on health (yi eng said she don't believe kids will actually write this... must be the teacher forced him/her to write it)... and probably an environment that's not conducive to drinking enough water.
More updates from Mas
Three issues to look at:
1. Collar pins
Mas says this is a "go".
2. Tee-shirts
Mas says this is most probably a "go" as well as some students wear other uniforms for actvities as well. However, she will tell us abou the neccessary clearance (if there are any.)
3. Adding another session on Wednesday
This meant that we will have six sessions in total; with two sessions every week.
1. Collar pins
Mas says this is a "go".
2. Tee-shirts
Mas says this is most probably a "go" as well as some students wear other uniforms for actvities as well. However, she will tell us abou the neccessary clearance (if there are any.)
3. Adding another session on Wednesday
This meant that we will have six sessions in total; with two sessions every week.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Two cents' worth of thoughts for the focus group...
According to the Theory of Planned Behavior, in order to change a person's behavior, you need to know about their attitudes, beliefs, subjective norms before you can predict their intended behaviors. Applying to our focus group tml, I think we need to find out more about their attitudes towards healthy lifestyle and nutrition. To measure their attitudes, I suggest that we can print out pictures of the cards and ask them how often they eat a particular item and engage in a particular behavior or activity. For instance, we can draw out cards of different items, such as item 1, 2, 3 etc and ask them to write the number of frequency that they eat the item and their thoughts on a piece of paper. We will then match their responses with the numbered items. Alternatively, they can be given 3 votes to vote for their most favourite food or activity. In this way, we will know about their attitudes and from their responses, we can then come up with more 'why' and 'how' questions to find out more about their attitudes and beliefs. But at the same time, MingHui and I were discussing if such a formula would be too leading or suggestive. Thus, I propose we also add in items (such as "others" in survey) which the kids suggest. It may not be purposeful for the kids but it will be good for us to comply statistics about their health attitudes and beliefs. Wat do you guys think? =)
Chen MeiHui
Chen MeiHui
Session 1 – Getting to know us and them (250907)
1. Problems encountered:
Audry explaining the board
Since this was the very first session on getting to know the students, timeliness was an issue. Students were streaming into the class room despite the designated time of 7.30a.m. This staggered arrival of students, resulted in disruption as well as a challenge in conducting a get to know sessions with all the participants. Furthermore, participation for this first session was not 100%. This would most likely result in ‘stragglers’ in the next session whom aren’t up to date or familiar with participants.
It could be due to unfamiliarity with the program that the students fail to turn up. Perhaps we can ask Mas about it and evaluate from there? Could it be due to the rush to start that the school was unable to have adequate time to collect back the consent forms and verify.
The facilitators Audrey and Kate, despite their enthusiasm had some problems in getting the attention of some of the overly enthusiastic students. There were times where their voices were drowned out by the chatter, especially from the boys.
2. Any health issues sieved out?
From the first session of ice-breaking games as well as through some projection techniques, there are some possible avenues for greater expansion, that could highlight health issues were discovered.
- Not starting of the day with a good breakfast.
(Discovered in the introduction game of introducing the self and what they ate this morning for breakfast.)
- Generally they seemed pretty active and weren’t overly obsessed with fast foods or computer gaming. There were no clear consensus of what particular health issues might relate to them. More research and information gathering to be conducted on the next session.
(Extrapolated from group drawings of their likes and dislikes.)
- Thus far, it seems to tend towards nutrition issues
However, with the exception of a few, there doesn’t seem to be a serious case of obesity or underweight problems amongst the students.
Perhaps it will work to our advantage as the group demo is not pre-determined by the school...
3. Communication problems
As highlighted in the previous section of problems encountered, facilitator voice projection as well as class control faced some difficulties.
Apart from this, some students were quiet and shy, which made it hard to get them to participate and give information on the group illustration activities.
4. Attitudes, behavior, communication patterns of students towards group
Students were relatively responsive and forth coming in participation. However there needs to be more energy and edge for a response from the class.
The girls however still needs more time to warm up, but the boys were pretty receptive and interacting well amongst themselves as well as with the facilitators.
Observation: The boys were pretty shy to interact with the girls too e.g. dont want to sit with the girls and talk to them.
However, there still remains a divide amongst male and female students, as well as amongst some groups of students, many of which come from different classes within the school.
Need consistent bonding sessions and collective decision making
5. Perceptions, knowledge, behavior of students towards health issues
As of now, the students do not have any idea that this SAAMMMIKY program is related to health issues, being the first session is to make first contact. From the second session onwards, there will be more hints and indication of which the direction of the program is heading towards.
To have them set the objectives to be fulfilled for the next session?
6. Activities that got them most interested / least interested.
The children particularly enjoyed the ice-breaking activities which had lots of movement in it and didn’t take too well to the sit down ones.
The students enjoyed the interaction with facilitators.
7. Learning points
- High energy games are preferred amongst the students.
- The board needs to be explained more and importantly, the program SAAMMMIKY needs to be explained more. The brand named program needs to be established.
- Facilitators need to command the room and speak up to catch the attention of the pupils.
- Have a backup game to fill in for a game that may go down hill.
- Time management is key.
- There needs to be more done by other back-up facilitators to help with room activities and keep energy high.
Hey here are some of the points that I felt were important. But if you’d like to add, please add it under the comments and label the section. E.g. you want to add under learning points, then under comments>
7. Learning Points:
Think we need to keep drawing their attention back to the topic at hand.
Writer team, hope this helps you in consolidating information.
Shaun
Audrey
The last few survivors of the Earthquake, Tsunami and Volcano.
Audry explaining the board
End of session 1 for the team SAAMMMIKY
Monday, September 24, 2007
More details on Radin Mas
Interesting details regarding Radin Mas:
Regarding the students:
There will be 24 boys and 9 girls assigned to us.
They are from Primary 4 and 5, and the tendency is that they don't know each other prior to this. Most of them just stick with their own class.
There is no activity for the underweight students prior to this. According to Mas, these students might not even know they are underweight. Currently, the school is planning to order free fresh milk for them.
Regarding the mural board:
Mas mentioend of a store room that is not used by anyone. Actually, I thought it is pretty good to decorate that room, and make it a "secret room" for the kids to go in and draw. Of course, it depends on the kids' part to play along.
Maybe make them swear on a piece of paper or something. LOL
Does that sounds like "the room of requirement" from Harry Potter?
Regarding bonding with students:
We are welcome to join Radin Mas assemblies tmr.
P4s are having assembly at 11am tmr; whereas P5s are having theirs at 2.30pm.
Teachers are also having sharing sessions on the last Wednesday of every month. (Mas will give me a calendar of events that we could join in.)
More interesting events coming up!
P4s are visiting Singapore Discovery Centre on Thursday, 1.30pm - 5pm.
Children's Day Celebration on Friday (Full day event)
- Must Go EVENT!!!
P4s - Having some little bean challenge in their class.
Mas is happy to put us up to help out that day. What says everyone? :)
Regarding the students:
There will be 24 boys and 9 girls assigned to us.
They are from Primary 4 and 5, and the tendency is that they don't know each other prior to this. Most of them just stick with their own class.
There is no activity for the underweight students prior to this. According to Mas, these students might not even know they are underweight. Currently, the school is planning to order free fresh milk for them.
Regarding the mural board:
Mas mentioend of a store room that is not used by anyone. Actually, I thought it is pretty good to decorate that room, and make it a "secret room" for the kids to go in and draw. Of course, it depends on the kids' part to play along.
Maybe make them swear on a piece of paper or something. LOL
Does that sounds like "the room of requirement" from Harry Potter?
Regarding bonding with students:
We are welcome to join Radin Mas assemblies tmr.
P4s are having assembly at 11am tmr; whereas P5s are having theirs at 2.30pm.
Teachers are also having sharing sessions on the last Wednesday of every month. (Mas will give me a calendar of events that we could join in.)
More interesting events coming up!
P4s are visiting Singapore Discovery Centre on Thursday, 1.30pm - 5pm.
Children's Day Celebration on Friday (Full day event)
- Must Go EVENT!!!
P4s - Having some little bean challenge in their class.
Mas is happy to put us up to help out that day. What says everyone? :)
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Writer's group update...
Dear CFSC group and writers...
As discussed during last Thur's meeting:
Alvin and Irene - Will do Chapter one...(It's in the works already, in case anyone is wondering...)
Meihuis x 2 - Will be doing Methodology + Sustainability portion of last chapter concurrently. This is because Sustainability has been discussed and confirmed. Hence, wanna get a head start first. =-p
We will buffer time to enable the entire group to vet through the report before final submission.
Xie Xie Ni
Alvin
As discussed during last Thur's meeting:
Alvin and Irene - Will do Chapter one...(It's in the works already, in case anyone is wondering...)
Meihuis x 2 - Will be doing Methodology + Sustainability portion of last chapter concurrently. This is because Sustainability has been discussed and confirmed. Hence, wanna get a head start first. =-p
We will buffer time to enable the entire group to vet through the report before final submission.
Xie Xie Ni
Alvin
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Saammmiky Logo
Is this ok? Too colourful/childish?
Give comments & I will change it..
P.S: Anw there's a triangle cos the symbol triangle stands for change.
P.P.S: I make so colourful cos we are dealing with Pri school students.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
What's in a Name? SHAUN
See lead by example. : )
Waiting to see the rest of ya all BEAUTIFULLLL name cards.
Waiting to see the rest of ya all BEAUTIFULLLL name cards.
Detailed Reply from ACS
Hi Kate
We appreciate your invitation to work with you on school health promotion and regret that we are unable to collaborate with NUS this term. Here are the main points stated by the 3 teachers who sat in for the presentation on Friday, 14 September:
1) Mr Elkan Lim (Head, Pupil Management): The 2-hour sessions for 5 weeks do not seem adequate for true leadership development, and as the project has to do with first eliciting the needs of the pupils, it does not have a fixed plan on what traits/skills to develop. This might lead to an overlap of the things we may have planned to develop next year.
2) Mr Kelvin Lim (Head, PE and CCA): The main problem we are facing now is the high rate of obesity of our pupils, and it is a school-wide issue. The pilot project you are proposing targets a small group (one class) which makes it difficult for us to select, as there are some obese pupils in each class.
3) Mr Lim Yong Ming (Coordinator, Health Education): The ideas proposed in the presentation are refreshing and it would be good to try a bottom-up approach with the school's health promotion efforts. However, as it is not feasible during the last term where we are focusing on the exams, we have to give it a miss. Problems include having to re-do the time table for the chosen class to free up 1.5 to 2 hours of curriculum time, which group of pupils to choose, time to showcase their mini-projects, and additional manpower or monitoring which might be required of the teachers during this stressful period where we are bogged down with a lot of marking, exam planning etc. There will also likely be resistance from both teachers as well as parents regarding the initiative being carried out this late during the academic year.
Recommendations: Timing is of the essence. If this project were to be attempted again next year, ironing out the operational details would be best done before the school term starts. Thus, all pupils and teachers involved could be briefed on their role and what to expect. Term 1 and Term 3 are the better times for such programmes.
I sincerely hope you were able to find another school whose objectives fit your group's. We are open to such programmes, though feasibility remains our chief concern. If another opportunity arises, feel free to contact my principal. We look forward to having NUS as a partner from the larger community for our school health promotion efforts.
Thanks and regards
yong ming
We appreciate your invitation to work with you on school health promotion and regret that we are unable to collaborate with NUS this term. Here are the main points stated by the 3 teachers who sat in for the presentation on Friday, 14 September:
1) Mr Elkan Lim (Head, Pupil Management): The 2-hour sessions for 5 weeks do not seem adequate for true leadership development, and as the project has to do with first eliciting the needs of the pupils, it does not have a fixed plan on what traits/skills to develop. This might lead to an overlap of the things we may have planned to develop next year.
2) Mr Kelvin Lim (Head, PE and CCA): The main problem we are facing now is the high rate of obesity of our pupils, and it is a school-wide issue. The pilot project you are proposing targets a small group (one class) which makes it difficult for us to select, as there are some obese pupils in each class.
3) Mr Lim Yong Ming (Coordinator, Health Education): The ideas proposed in the presentation are refreshing and it would be good to try a bottom-up approach with the school's health promotion efforts. However, as it is not feasible during the last term where we are focusing on the exams, we have to give it a miss. Problems include having to re-do the time table for the chosen class to free up 1.5 to 2 hours of curriculum time, which group of pupils to choose, time to showcase their mini-projects, and additional manpower or monitoring which might be required of the teachers during this stressful period where we are bogged down with a lot of marking, exam planning etc. There will also likely be resistance from both teachers as well as parents regarding the initiative being carried out this late during the academic year.
Recommendations: Timing is of the essence. If this project were to be attempted again next year, ironing out the operational details would be best done before the school term starts. Thus, all pupils and teachers involved could be briefed on their role and what to expect. Term 1 and Term 3 are the better times for such programmes.
I sincerely hope you were able to find another school whose objectives fit your group's. We are open to such programmes, though feasibility remains our chief concern. If another opportunity arises, feel free to contact my principal. We look forward to having NUS as a partner from the larger community for our school health promotion efforts.
Thanks and regards
yong ming
Some things i learned from my fren last week when i met him on my way back after class:
how to handle young children in general:
1. need to let them noe who you are n that you are a fren, as well as firm in ur stand too.
2. talk in their lang.
3. stand before a simple background, so that they wont be distracted by wat is happening behind you.
4. lots of patience.
5. need to be high energy.
6. need to know their needs- sensitive.
7. need to learn what is the "in" things among their age group now...
some thing that i feel ll be helpful too:
1. dress colourful and comfortable! positive image then positive "aura".. haha
how to handle young children in general:
1. need to let them noe who you are n that you are a fren, as well as firm in ur stand too.
2. talk in their lang.
3. stand before a simple background, so that they wont be distracted by wat is happening behind you.
4. lots of patience.
5. need to be high energy.
6. need to know their needs- sensitive.
7. need to learn what is the "in" things among their age group now...
some thing that i feel ll be helpful too:
1. dress colourful and comfortable! positive image then positive "aura".. haha
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Some PR matters
Hey was thinking if we want to drop RMPS to go for ACS we could pay attn to some "PR matters" cuz we don't want to piss the school off. Ultimately it's their school and they can refuse to let the other group enter if they think we're so fickle minded last minute change a group to go in after we've settled the details. Dont think it's good to let them know we're migrating over to ACS cuz it's better... hmm... probably a good excuse to say it's to accomodate the other group so we "switched" schools else it's gonna be too late to start on our proj n the whole module is graded based on this proj. Not really sure if this works but Kate can just KIV if you're proposing to RMPS to get the other team to go down =) Yep otherwise I've all the logistics ready and all set for Tuesday's session.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Writer’s content page
Introduction
- Project overview (renamed Executive Summary)
- Organization structure aka About Us
- Group communication: Timeline (i.e. division of sessions) + modes of communication i.e. the blog and meeting (include minutes in appendix) + Appointment structure (General) + Micro-management (Writer level, media level) + modes of communication with school, HPB and internal
- School selection process: Choice + rationale of primary school e.g. age of change + literature review + neighborhood schools + incentives offered by school
Methodology
- Research: Projective techniques + Socio-psychology approach i.e. how we got the information out of the children + Findings + Academic support/Theory
- Student sessions (Practical)
- Pre-testing (commence on 2nd week)
- Documentation methods (Details of the methods we use – media, observations, murals etc.)
Data Analysis and findings
- Actual interview findings etc.
- Survey and games findings
- Logs (visit and student transcripts)
- Post evaluation methods
- Final campaign
- Sustainability (Participatory, monitoring and evaluation + trophy + program booklet + training video + information for teachers to continue to run the program + template proposal for continuous funding and/or program
- Conclusion (KIV)
Extras
* Lesson learned points at the end of each chapter.
* Categorize the appendixes according to chapter and tab it.
Introduction
- Project overview (renamed Executive Summary)
- Organization structure aka About Us
- Group communication: Timeline (i.e. division of sessions) + modes of communication i.e. the blog and meeting (include minutes in appendix) + Appointment structure (General) + Micro-management (Writer level, media level) + modes of communication with school, HPB and internal
- School selection process: Choice + rationale of primary school e.g. age of change + literature review + neighborhood schools + incentives offered by school
Methodology
- Research: Projective techniques + Socio-psychology approach i.e. how we got the information out of the children + Findings + Academic support/Theory
- Student sessions (Practical)
- Pre-testing (commence on 2nd week)
- Documentation methods (Details of the methods we use – media, observations, murals etc.)
Data Analysis and findings
- Actual interview findings etc.
- Survey and games findings
- Logs (visit and student transcripts)
- Post evaluation methods
- Final campaign
- Sustainability (Participatory, monitoring and evaluation + trophy + program booklet + training video + information for teachers to continue to run the program + template proposal for continuous funding and/or program
- Conclusion (KIV)
Extras
* Lesson learned points at the end of each chapter.
* Categorize the appendixes according to chapter and tab it.
Updates from writer team...
Dear CFSC writers,
Asked Miss Liew on the following:
Report: We will be submitting to her on a chapter-by-chapter basis. From what she said about the chapter contents being in a process oriented approach, we are all on the right track! She will be giving us the submission timeline in about two weeks to go...
HPB proposal: There is no specific deadline, but Miss Liew said that the proposal should be rather detailed esp the budget breakdown. She reckons we are able to draft a rather concrete one, following the first 2-3 school sessions. (Minghui pls KIV...)
Updates: To put it properly, portions of the report, HPB proposal and executive summary are in the works, and these have been monitored. =-p
Also, Audrey, could you kindly put up the Contents page as discussed during the last meet up. Note that this can't be the final version, and it may continously change to be improved.
Lastly, the programme synopsis has been submitted to Kate to be inserted into the consent form. Kate has since emailed this to Radin Mas on Friday afternoon.
Let's make this work....Do it once...Do it GOOD!
Alvinz
Asked Miss Liew on the following:
Report: We will be submitting to her on a chapter-by-chapter basis. From what she said about the chapter contents being in a process oriented approach, we are all on the right track! She will be giving us the submission timeline in about two weeks to go...
HPB proposal: There is no specific deadline, but Miss Liew said that the proposal should be rather detailed esp the budget breakdown. She reckons we are able to draft a rather concrete one, following the first 2-3 school sessions. (Minghui pls KIV...)
Updates: To put it properly, portions of the report, HPB proposal and executive summary are in the works, and these have been monitored. =-p
Also, Audrey, could you kindly put up the Contents page as discussed during the last meet up. Note that this can't be the final version, and it may continously change to be improved.
Lastly, the programme synopsis has been submitted to Kate to be inserted into the consent form. Kate has since emailed this to Radin Mas on Friday afternoon.
Let's make this work....Do it once...Do it GOOD!
Alvinz
Friday, September 14, 2007
SUSTAINability Ideas!
Sustainability
Gifts for students upon completion: (STUDENT)
They get a goody bag that will contain tools necessary for them to carry on their behavioral change outside the program easily.
E.g. The problem highlighted is Unhealthy eating
Perhaps a monthly score card to take weekly weight measurements for them to keep track of their weight.
or
A fun booklet that tells them simply what they are eating.
Perhaps the individual can return to the teacher to get a prize.
Perhaps an achiever award.
Gift Bags for school: (Teaching Kit for staff)
In the gift bags, the school will receive
- Training Material and Video
- HPB proposal
- Program booklet to conduct courses on their own.
- Detailed course description (i.e. Our report.)
Incorporation into the school curriculum (For the school to self-sustain)
Have the program be:
- A recognized CCA
- Incorporated into the school’s curriculum under civic and moral education or health education. (Whichever the school has available)
School will attempt to endorse and improve accordingly to health issues highlighted by the winner of the Health Carnival.
E.g. Winner for P5 health carnival was 5F with their issues regarding nutrition. Hence the school, should try to work with canteen vendors to serve more vegetables.
Going BIGGER
Carnival held at different levels, organized upon completion of the program. Their classrooms shall be converted into mini health education fun stops and stores. Money generated from sales of merchandise or food product may thus be re-injected into the SAAMMMIKY program.
- This maybe held as a carnival competition. The first carnival held will have the principal judge for the best booth and award it with the prestigious “world cup trophy”. (Name of trophy maybe changed.)
Subsequent years, the winning booth, or class and principal will play the judge and had over this world cup to the next year’s winner.
- As previously mentioned, the winner’s booth on a particular health issue ought to be endorsed and worked upon by the school collectively.
Here’s some suggestions…
Shaun and Kate.
ACS Barker... The lone journey
Hey fellas,
Just went to ACS Barker for a presentation. Here's Mr Yong Ming I talked to.
Man their school is gorgeous! Huge spaces, water features, looks nothing like a school. More like a Chalet. Anyways, the response from ACS was excellent. They are really keen. However, the problems come with us having this module so late in the course. School's aren't able to readjust their timetables so that we can have a 2hr session during the school curriculum periods. Lessons learnt from the teacher who was the health coordinator. Things they liked were the bottom up approach as well as the leadership development issue. Ah, but I digress.
The lessons learnt....
Sustainability is key! Importantly we need to pull in all publics, this includes the schools teachers, the principle and the other publics in the school. So ideally, a school is like a sand box, after each batch, they try to upgrade where possible for better health and psychological wellness, based on the programs developed by the students. A good suggestion that came about was that if this was really successful, that a level event could be held and I suggested to have each class room convert their class room to a mini exhibition to promote ownership.
It would be great and for importance of sustainability for the Principle to go around and award the best class with the "world cup trophy" I mentioned. We need to work on sustainability issues! It would be fantastic if we could make this program instead of it being a EXTRA curricula activity to have it incorporated into the school curriculum. It is important for not only the students learn, but for the parents, school and all parties involved be a part of and endorse the program for it to be truly sustainable.
Anyway, here are some pictures taken.
After school
Taka like parking spaces...
Olympic sized pool!
Their gorgeous wood office table.
The main admin building.
Yes ppl... drool over their "Chalet" School.
Just went to ACS Barker for a presentation. Here's Mr Yong Ming I talked to.
Man their school is gorgeous! Huge spaces, water features, looks nothing like a school. More like a Chalet. Anyways, the response from ACS was excellent. They are really keen. However, the problems come with us having this module so late in the course. School's aren't able to readjust their timetables so that we can have a 2hr session during the school curriculum periods. Lessons learnt from the teacher who was the health coordinator. Things they liked were the bottom up approach as well as the leadership development issue. Ah, but I digress.The lessons learnt....
Sustainability is key! Importantly we need to pull in all publics, this includes the schools teachers, the principle and the other publics in the school. So ideally, a school is like a sand box, after each batch, they try to upgrade where possible for better health and psychological wellness, based on the programs developed by the students. A good suggestion that came about was that if this was really successful, that a level event could be held and I suggested to have each class room convert their class room to a mini exhibition to promote ownership.
It would be great and for importance of sustainability for the Principle to go around and award the best class with the "world cup trophy" I mentioned. We need to work on sustainability issues! It would be fantastic if we could make this program instead of it being a EXTRA curricula activity to have it incorporated into the school curriculum. It is important for not only the students learn, but for the parents, school and all parties involved be a part of and endorse the program for it to be truly sustainable.
Anyway, here are some pictures taken.
After school
Taka like parking spaces...
Olympic sized pool!
Their gorgeous wood office table.
The main admin building.
Yes ppl... drool over their "Chalet" School.
Shaun
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Introducing Team SAAMMMIKY
The Debut of Team SAAMMMIKY!
Ah yes. Labor. NUS Student labor. Anything to save cost. Craftsmanship at its best!
Everyone's listening intently to Writer/Editor department as he does the one two run down of what goes into the report.
The call from Radin Mas! Yashamash, Great Success. Kate asking for what we need, parking and what food do they serve in the canteen.
Pictures pictures, pictures...
Its either tears of Joy or utter shock... Am not sure... hope its the former...
Ah yes. Labor. NUS Student labor. Anything to save cost. Craftsmanship at its best!
Everyone's listening intently to Writer/Editor department as he does the one two run down of what goes into the report.
The call from Radin Mas! Yashamash, Great Success. Kate asking for what we need, parking and what food do they serve in the canteen.
Pictures pictures, pictures...
So prrreeettttyy... -_-;
Its either tears of Joy or utter shock... Am not sure... hope its the former...Report on school's healthy lifestyle day visit on 100907...
Hi all,
Here is another short report from my visit to my brother's school on Monday. They conducted a massive healthy lifestyle week on 10 - 11 sept.
Activities:
1) They had events that encouraged student participation from all primary levels - Mass work out, games and quizzes.
Drawback - It became rather messy due to inadequate crowd control, as students were all over the place.
Good thing - Students were VERY active when it came to quizzes, 3-4 even came up to answer one question! Hence would support that quizzes and games are key to obtain willing participation.
2) Many events were held concurrently
Drawback - Only selected student groups (mainly participants) had maximum exposure for certain events. Eg: Students left for the Sandwich making competition during the mass work out.
3) There were less than 10 parents despite a notice from the school encouraging family members to be present to attend. This is damn sad. I spoke to some, some did not even want to come, but thought that they could see the events on the ground.
Then again, parents were not even briefed on the activities, hence, many kept a distance from the students, as they did not really know what to do.
Learning point - Reconsider inviting parents to attend ours. It's a working day too, most parents may not attend. Even the housewifes I spoke to were rather reluctant to come.
4) There were trophies as a form of recognition of the students efforts. Shaun also said that we could come up with a "challenge trophy" for sustainability purposes. This is a good point.
5) Creative items / contests - There was a student rap competition on how to save water (health issue? haha)...This was the best item that morning, and many enjoyed it. Hey, even primary 3s can RAP man! We could consider some kind of activitiy in that sense too.
6) The sandwich com encouraged students from all primary levels to participate. But it seemed that as soon as they finished the sandwiches, they took a group pic and cleared up. There was no crowd supporting etc. Seems that they (the teachers) just wanted to get things over and done with. I saw the students looking rather dejected too..the cute chef hats and aprons did not help too. I felt like crying...
Logistics:
1) There were health related sponsors like Gardenia, Evian and optic point. HPB was there with a eat healthy display.
Drawback - There were many info boards on health and eyesight issues, BUT these were not even visited by the students. Perhaps due to the lack of ample visit time. I wonder if this served its purpose. Students were encouraged to visit these during recess, but I also wonder how many would turn up?
These boards are also generic material, and may not be effective at specific health issues.
2) Gardenia sponsored the sandwich making competition. I am not advocating for sponsors in any respect. Gardenia has some healthy food pyramid board on the tables, but it was not filled in at all...(see pics). Hence, I also wonder the effectiveness of this.
Learning point - Consider if sponsors are to be involved, and if so, how to maximise their presence in the school.
I asked my brother if he learnt anything or was he impressed with the setup etc..He just said not really. He was more like talking to his friends, and only learnt a bit of stuff.
Lastly, I feel that the school just casted a wide net on the students on MANY health issues, but failed to identify and target at some that really need help. Whether this "campaign" will sustain into a yearly affair...I have my doubts. It's like.."Ok kids, let's do this for the sake of it, and call it a day."
Alvin
Here is another short report from my visit to my brother's school on Monday. They conducted a massive healthy lifestyle week on 10 - 11 sept.
Activities:
1) They had events that encouraged student participation from all primary levels - Mass work out, games and quizzes.
Drawback - It became rather messy due to inadequate crowd control, as students were all over the place.
Good thing - Students were VERY active when it came to quizzes, 3-4 even came up to answer one question! Hence would support that quizzes and games are key to obtain willing participation.
2) Many events were held concurrently
Drawback - Only selected student groups (mainly participants) had maximum exposure for certain events. Eg: Students left for the Sandwich making competition during the mass work out.
3) There were less than 10 parents despite a notice from the school encouraging family members to be present to attend. This is damn sad. I spoke to some, some did not even want to come, but thought that they could see the events on the ground.
Then again, parents were not even briefed on the activities, hence, many kept a distance from the students, as they did not really know what to do.
Learning point - Reconsider inviting parents to attend ours. It's a working day too, most parents may not attend. Even the housewifes I spoke to were rather reluctant to come.
4) There were trophies as a form of recognition of the students efforts. Shaun also said that we could come up with a "challenge trophy" for sustainability purposes. This is a good point.
5) Creative items / contests - There was a student rap competition on how to save water (health issue? haha)...This was the best item that morning, and many enjoyed it. Hey, even primary 3s can RAP man! We could consider some kind of activitiy in that sense too.
6) The sandwich com encouraged students from all primary levels to participate. But it seemed that as soon as they finished the sandwiches, they took a group pic and cleared up. There was no crowd supporting etc. Seems that they (the teachers) just wanted to get things over and done with. I saw the students looking rather dejected too..the cute chef hats and aprons did not help too. I felt like crying...
Logistics:
1) There were health related sponsors like Gardenia, Evian and optic point. HPB was there with a eat healthy display.
Drawback - There were many info boards on health and eyesight issues, BUT these were not even visited by the students. Perhaps due to the lack of ample visit time. I wonder if this served its purpose. Students were encouraged to visit these during recess, but I also wonder how many would turn up?
These boards are also generic material, and may not be effective at specific health issues.
2) Gardenia sponsored the sandwich making competition. I am not advocating for sponsors in any respect. Gardenia has some healthy food pyramid board on the tables, but it was not filled in at all...(see pics). Hence, I also wonder the effectiveness of this.
Learning point - Consider if sponsors are to be involved, and if so, how to maximise their presence in the school.
I asked my brother if he learnt anything or was he impressed with the setup etc..He just said not really. He was more like talking to his friends, and only learnt a bit of stuff.
Lastly, I feel that the school just casted a wide net on the students on MANY health issues, but failed to identify and target at some that really need help. Whether this "campaign" will sustain into a yearly affair...I have my doubts. It's like.."Ok kids, let's do this for the sake of it, and call it a day."
Alvin
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Monday, September 10, 2007
Updates on Schools
Here is the list of schools that we have approached and the progress:
1. Radin Mas Primary School
- Have to reply the school by Wednesday.
- Talked to a lady called Mas, and she is all ready to select students from TAF Club (Both overweight and underweight) to be in the programme
- She is already asking me if she should prepare the consent forms...
Decided time:
Tues 7.30am - 9.30am
2. Monfort Primary School
- A slumbering block here: MOE letter
- The principal is worried that the confidentiality of the school's activities will be compromised without the letter
- Anyway, instead of contacting Ms. Koh, I will be sending an email to the principal Ms. Judina Chua by tonight since she would not be available to meet up anytime this week.
3. Anglo Chinese Primary School (yes.. yes.. I have never updated on this.)
- The principal Richard is my Dad's friend. Apparently, he was away for the school holidays.
- He could only get back to me by Wed or Thurs. (Might be too late isnt it?)
- The good things about this are:
1) He might not need a presentation. 2) ACPS is an independent pri sch.
Anyway, I will keep everyone in the loop.
Cheers.
1. Radin Mas Primary School
- Have to reply the school by Wednesday.
- Talked to a lady called Mas, and she is all ready to select students from TAF Club (Both overweight and underweight) to be in the programme
- She is already asking me if she should prepare the consent forms...
Decided time:
Tues 7.30am - 9.30am
2. Monfort Primary School
- A slumbering block here: MOE letter
- The principal is worried that the confidentiality of the school's activities will be compromised without the letter
- Anyway, instead of contacting Ms. Koh, I will be sending an email to the principal Ms. Judina Chua by tonight since she would not be available to meet up anytime this week.
3. Anglo Chinese Primary School (yes.. yes.. I have never updated on this.)
- The principal Richard is my Dad's friend. Apparently, he was away for the school holidays.
- He could only get back to me by Wed or Thurs. (Might be too late isnt it?)
- The good things about this are:
1) He might not need a presentation. 2) ACPS is an independent pri sch.
Anyway, I will keep everyone in the loop.
Cheers.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Board IC
Board Week 1
The journey to what we see before us wasn't an easy path. For the few who saw the peril of the overly hardworking cleaning staff almost taking away our Black and yellow board before completion, was the first threat to our 5 part art piece. Thank goodness to the keen watchful eyes of NM4101 group mates who warned me of the cleaning uncle assuming this MASTER PIECE (without e pics at that time) to almost be taken away! Anyways...
Mounting Board $3.15.
Yellow Colored backing $1.50
Glue and pics $3.00
The behavioral change to students and team bonding,
PRICELESS.
There are somethings money can't buy, for everything else, there is NUS co-op and team "Communications for social change.." -_- . . we need a name guys...
Week 1 board! Keep e posts comin yeah.
Shaun
The journey to what we see before us wasn't an easy path. For the few who saw the peril of the overly hardworking cleaning staff almost taking away our Black and yellow board before completion, was the first threat to our 5 part art piece. Thank goodness to the keen watchful eyes of NM4101 group mates who warned me of the cleaning uncle assuming this MASTER PIECE (without e pics at that time) to almost be taken away! Anyways...
Mounting Board $3.15.
Yellow Colored backing $1.50
Glue and pics $3.00
The behavioral change to students and team bonding,
PRICELESS.
There are somethings money can't buy, for everything else, there is NUS co-op and team "Communications for social change.." -_- . . we need a name guys...
Week 1 board! Keep e posts comin yeah.
Shaun
Friday, September 7, 2007
Writing team updates + SOP...
Hi people,
Here is what transpired during today's meeting for the writer group. Would like to inform the rest of the group on our plans, and suggested approaches on issues. Please let me know if there are any errors or any unsatisfactory areas. We can talk over it.
Report –
* Action by Irene, who will start off first to do the process of sourcing for schools for the first chapter.
* After which, writers will take turns to tackle the chapters. Actual process TBC.
* Writers will write in chapters, as this is a process-oriented approach.
* Chapters from previous groups are Introduction (Project overview + schools selection process, planning for working sessions), Methodology (Research, Student contact, documentation methods etc), Data analysis and findings (Interviews, surveys, games, logs, pre and post evaluation, final campaign, sustainability etc, conclusion.) These are only tentative chapters, and may change with the group’s or Miss Liew’s requirements.
¤ Almost every nitty gritty have to be included (eg: why we have a group blog?)
¤ Writers will take reference from previous group’s content page to determine suitable headings and report categories
¤ Rest of the group will be researchers / writers on an ad-hoc basis, should we require some help.
¤ Would like to suggest that appendices / attachments will be put with each chapter, rather than combining 100 appendices at the very end of the report. More systematic this way.
HPB Proposal – Action by Alvin and Chen Mei Hui
¤ Plans to review previous group’s proposals + HPB’s official guidelines.
¤ Will factor in estimated budget as from reading previous proposals, as this seemed to give the most headaches. (Will work closely with Treasurer Ming Hui)
Programme booklet – Proposed action by Yi Eng and Kate
¤ To serve as part of training materials for schools as form of sustainability.
¤ Info to be accumulated and entered weekly.
¤ Final product given to teachers at the end of the project.
¤ Yi Eng and Kate will design and write the booklet.
¤ Booklet will be inserted into the final report as part of main text and as appendices.
(Suggested content – Feel free to modify)
Ice breaker Games (Session one) Primary 5 session – 1 hr – No agenda intended.
Here is what transpired during today's meeting for the writer group. Would like to inform the rest of the group on our plans, and suggested approaches on issues. Please let me know if there are any errors or any unsatisfactory areas. We can talk over it.
Report –
* Action by Irene, who will start off first to do the process of sourcing for schools for the first chapter.
* After which, writers will take turns to tackle the chapters. Actual process TBC.
* Writers will write in chapters, as this is a process-oriented approach.
* Chapters from previous groups are Introduction (Project overview + schools selection process, planning for working sessions), Methodology (Research, Student contact, documentation methods etc), Data analysis and findings (Interviews, surveys, games, logs, pre and post evaluation, final campaign, sustainability etc, conclusion.) These are only tentative chapters, and may change with the group’s or Miss Liew’s requirements.
¤ Almost every nitty gritty have to be included (eg: why we have a group blog?)
¤ Writers will take reference from previous group’s content page to determine suitable headings and report categories
¤ Rest of the group will be researchers / writers on an ad-hoc basis, should we require some help.
¤ Would like to suggest that appendices / attachments will be put with each chapter, rather than combining 100 appendices at the very end of the report. More systematic this way.
HPB Proposal – Action by Alvin and Chen Mei Hui
¤ Plans to review previous group’s proposals + HPB’s official guidelines.
¤ Will factor in estimated budget as from reading previous proposals, as this seemed to give the most headaches. (Will work closely with Treasurer Ming Hui)
Programme booklet – Proposed action by Yi Eng and Kate
¤ To serve as part of training materials for schools as form of sustainability.
¤ Info to be accumulated and entered weekly.
¤ Final product given to teachers at the end of the project.
¤ Yi Eng and Kate will design and write the booklet.
¤ Booklet will be inserted into the final report as part of main text and as appendices.
(Suggested content – Feel free to modify)
Ice breaker Games (Session one) Primary 5 session – 1 hr – No agenda intended.
Purpose: See how and what students think or perceive. Encourage ice breaking, group interaction for a start. It’s also to bring in facilitators with the students on a comfortable interaction level.
Three Islands Paradise– Volcano, Flood or Earthquake – Eg: Facilitator shouts Volcano! Volcano group has to occupy two other islands. The challenged is to be the sole survivor.
Murderer – Pre determined murderer would wink. The person who got winked at will “die”. Others have to guess who is the murderer.
(Standby) Handkerchief – All students will sit in a circle. The facilitator will drop a hankie. The person which the hankie lands closest to will have to chase the other person around, and find out a fact from him / her.
(Standby) Win, lose or draw – A classic game now available in schools at competition level. Group will be spilt into two sub groups. One will draw, and the other group will guess the picture.
Getting to know them (Session one) Primary 5 session – 1 hr – No agenda intended.
Aim: To sieve out any possible and salient health issues.
(Dis)like x 3 - Kids will ask their partner on left to name three things they like and dislike. Objective is for facilitators and fellow peers to know each better too. Word association can be used too.
Building board murals – Mounting boards to document weekly thoughts, reflections, and expectations etc. What best represents your group. Students will colour and paint the boards on a weekly basis. This also serves as pre and post evaluation for the team to note down pertinent health information.
Top 3-5 - Essentially things that students do in school, during weekends, or during leisure. Will write entries on mahjong paper.
SOP template for on-site team / observer to record school sessions on blog.
Note:
¤ It may take more than one school session to have concrete stuff to write.
¤ Please add on any suitable headings that you feel it’s useful.
¤ Repeat the name list for all points.
1) What they (outfield group) did
Shaun:
Kate:
Yi Eng:
Ming hui:
Audrey:
(Observer name):
2) Problems encountered
3) Any health issues sieved out?
4) Communication problems
5) Attitudes, behavior, communication patterns of students towards group.
6) Perceptions, knowledge, behavior of students towards health issues
7) Activities that got them most interested / least interested.
8) Learning points
Executive summary – Action by Tan Mei Hui
¤ Document project and timeline info etc.
¤ To be used as appendices in final report.
On-site attendance for writers
Odd Sept 9 Week 2 – All to be present
Even Sept 16 Week 3 - Irene
Odd Sept 23 Week 4 - Alvin
Even Sept 30 Week 5 – Tan Mei Hui
Odd Oct 7 Week 6 – All to be present
Regards
Alvin Lee
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Monfort Junior School Pitch
Hey peeps,
Shaun and I went to Monfort Junior School (located at Hougang Ave 10) this morning. We didn't meet up with the principal, but we met with Miss Koh who is the health ed coordinator.
We presented and liken our project to 'Pay It Forward' and she is interested on what we are offering.
She understands that we will go in without any health topics in mind. She did ask if we have any specific plans on how we are going to carry out the events, but we explained to her that we will only be able to plan for the specific actions for sustainability and learning after we find out about the students health issue. We only told her how we are going to carry out the first two sessions to find out about the health issue.
She is interested about some of the possibilities we mentioned, like asking parents to come in for the final event, like having the pioneer batch set up mini booth in canteens but she knows that these details can only be worked out after the health issue is confirmed.
As far as I feel, I don't she expects a very big programme from us. She didn't request any specific things from us too. She did mention this health survey that the students did recently, where the students said that they don't like vegetables because they are bitter. We just gave her examples like what could be done i.e salad making, but we didn't say that we will be doing exactly that.
The students she is able to provide us as the pioneer batch will most probably be her class, sec 5D students, which is around 35 of them (Is that a lot? I remember meeting time we were targeting around 20 students). She wants to be present during the sessions. Time slot she is asking for is Mon or Tue, 2pm to 4pm (school ends at 1.30pm). However, we told her that if she could get us Wed 2pm to 4pm, that will be great, so she is asking her principal for it as that time slot is normally used for school's meetings. She said she probably can get exemption from the meetings and just read the minutes.
Monfort's exams starts on 23 Oct which is in week 7. Also another point to note is the PSLE Marking days which falls on 16 - 19 Oct, meaning the teachers will go to other schools to mark papers and students will not be coming for school. Probably ALL the primary schools will be affected by this, so we need to take note in our time line.
Basically she is very nice and said that it is ok for us to chose another school if the other school can fit our schedule better. She has another HPB health project coming this Nov. But if we decided to work with her (provided her principal approved of the project), she is more than willing to welcome us :).
And last but not least.. some photos which Shuan say we must have because don't want to lose out to the other group who went to Radin Mas. Lol.
Miss Koh, Shaun & Me.
Monfort Junior
Shuan and the 'study hard' statue.
(aka the yay we have one more photo than Radin Mas group. Lol so baichi. >_<)
Shaun and I went to Monfort Junior School (located at Hougang Ave 10) this morning. We didn't meet up with the principal, but we met with Miss Koh who is the health ed coordinator.
We presented and liken our project to 'Pay It Forward' and she is interested on what we are offering.
She understands that we will go in without any health topics in mind. She did ask if we have any specific plans on how we are going to carry out the events, but we explained to her that we will only be able to plan for the specific actions for sustainability and learning after we find out about the students health issue. We only told her how we are going to carry out the first two sessions to find out about the health issue.
She is interested about some of the possibilities we mentioned, like asking parents to come in for the final event, like having the pioneer batch set up mini booth in canteens but she knows that these details can only be worked out after the health issue is confirmed.
As far as I feel, I don't she expects a very big programme from us. She didn't request any specific things from us too. She did mention this health survey that the students did recently, where the students said that they don't like vegetables because they are bitter. We just gave her examples like what could be done i.e salad making, but we didn't say that we will be doing exactly that.
The students she is able to provide us as the pioneer batch will most probably be her class, sec 5D students, which is around 35 of them (Is that a lot? I remember meeting time we were targeting around 20 students). She wants to be present during the sessions. Time slot she is asking for is Mon or Tue, 2pm to 4pm (school ends at 1.30pm). However, we told her that if she could get us Wed 2pm to 4pm, that will be great, so she is asking her principal for it as that time slot is normally used for school's meetings. She said she probably can get exemption from the meetings and just read the minutes.
Monfort's exams starts on 23 Oct which is in week 7. Also another point to note is the PSLE Marking days which falls on 16 - 19 Oct, meaning the teachers will go to other schools to mark papers and students will not be coming for school. Probably ALL the primary schools will be affected by this, so we need to take note in our time line.
Basically she is very nice and said that it is ok for us to chose another school if the other school can fit our schedule better. She has another HPB health project coming this Nov. But if we decided to work with her (provided her principal approved of the project), she is more than willing to welcome us :).
And last but not least.. some photos which Shuan say we must have because don't want to lose out to the other group who went to Radin Mas. Lol.
Miss Koh, Shaun & Me.
Monfort Junior
Shuan and the 'study hard' statue.(aka the yay we have one more photo than Radin Mas group. Lol so baichi. >_<)
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