…just imagine
This excerpt from an article in Time magazine earlier this year has me thinking of another reason why I hear Singapore calling my name …can you imagine working with these teachers and in a place that respects the profession and takes such thoughtful care of the people who are educating the citizens of our future? Yes, I wax lyrical, but for good reason: read on and then answer the following question for me. How do you think this would change the face of teaching and learning here in Australia?
When I visited Singapore’s National Institute of Education, the nation’s only teacher-training institution, nearly all the people I spoke with described how they were investing in teachers’ abilities to teach a curriculum focused on critical thinking and inquiry–skills needed in a high-tech economy. To get the best teachers, the institute recruits students from the top third of each graduating high school class into a fully paid four-year teacher-education program (or, if they enter later, a one-to-two-year graduate program) and puts them on the government’s payroll. When they enter the profession, teachers’ salaries are higher than those of beginning doctors.
Expert teachers are given time to serve as mentors to help beginners learn their craft. The government pays for 100 hours of professional development each year for all teachers. In addition, they have 20 hours a week to work with other teachers and visit one another’s classrooms. And teachers continue to advance throughout their career. With aid from the government, teachers in Singapore can pursue three separate career ladders, which help them become curriculum specialists, mentors for other teachers or school principals. These opportunities bring recognition, extra compensation and new challenges that keep teaching exciting and allow teachers to share their expertise.
… the post below
… was made using Smilebox. I did it just for some fun to share but I think it would be good to share with some of my classes. EM might also find it handy for the ESL kids who are struggling with the newspaper assignment, so I will share & smile. 
…making lemonade
You need to appreciate this on several levels … I had a somewhat irate email from a co-worker today because it was perceived that I am hogging the bookings of the laptop pod (that’s the lemons)… my first reaction was irritation mainly because it was copied to our Head before it was even discussed between me and the co-worker … not a biggy I know but one of those common courtesies that I would normally try to afford others myself … truth of the matter is it was an honest mistake by me on the booking process where I selected the wrong end date etc etc and I immediately offered my help for today and then set about rectifying the long-term error – even called in TFT to help … THEN tonight, on the way home, while I was still mulling it over, it occurred to me … and I smiled … this co-worker, who professes to know little about using computers, was fighting for computer time!! (that’s the lemonade!)
But what do I do now about my dilemma that I want that time for my class? 
