PESANAN PENGETUA
En. Chia Song Choy
Leadership, Management, Administration (LMA)
Attending 1st day Cluster School Course at IAB Genting, meeting up with old and new friends! Our Course Consultants Mr Jeremy and Mr Marcus shared with us their insights and vast experiences on Centralized and Decentralized School Management Systems. Very Exciting, Challenging and Fun way of learning indeed! We walked through the LMA concepts in details: Leadership-Bringing School running somewhere; Management-Keeping school running whereas Administration-To oil the machinery of school management. Leadership is NOT STATUS but RESOURCE. One single non-negotiable factor as leaders is the OPPORTUNITY to lead!
Specific Formats and Answering Techniques
On 2nd Oct (Friday) morning, I conducted another 2 hours Physics Lessons at DAGANG Hall. This time we stressed on Paper 2 and paper 3: Conceptualization, Decision Making, Problem Solving (Qualitative and Quantitative) as well as Designing Experiments! Most importantly we hope the students remember and practise the specific Formats used in presenting answers! I wish to spend more time and showing more examples to students! I have briefed ALL Physics Teachers in DAGANG and they are more than willing to further coach and guide the students, so please don’t ever hesitate to consult our DAGANG Teachers!
3T3L and Tips
On 30th Sept (Wednesday) afternoon, I conducted 2 hours Physics Lesson to Form5 Technical Students. I introduced 3T3L effective revision techniques and also 10 points Tips. Responses from students are very positive even though the DAGANG Hall was very warm and cramped for nearly 400 students. I am sure the students will find Physics Learning is exciting, is challenging and of course is FUN! Let’s strive for A+ in SPM 2009 especially for Physics 4531!
Another Surprise Visit....
Last night I received another surprise invitation for dinner with an old friend Prof Dr Shaun Zeng, who graduated from Oxford University UK in the field of Psychology and Computer Science. Dr Shaun is also a member of the American Psychological Association and a professional member of the American Counselling Association. After dinner we walked round the school and hostels areas. Many positive inputs by Dr Shaun to DAGANG! I enjoyed the precious time and valuable suggestions by Dr Shaun. We’re looking forward to another visit or professional collaboration with Dr Shaun in the near future!
A Surprise Visit
Last week I received a special phone call by a very special person-My High School Teacher-Mr Bong. He would like me to pick him up at Larkin Station at 7.30am and pay a surprise visit to DAGANG! A big surprise indeed! Mr Bong my Chemistry Teacher, reaching 70 years and still very strong! First question was: Why I look so old? Not healthy? Any sickness? Tears dropped! I lost 8 kg at Klawang in the past 5 years as Pengetua and further slimmed down another 3 kg at DAGANG in merely 2.5 months! Well my dear boys and girls, please use your calculator to estimate how much energy involved by using famous Einstein equation again; E=mc^2?
Why Study Physics?
Two simple reasons:
1. Physics is one of the most fundamental of the sciences. Every discipline of sciences uses the ideas, principles and laws of physics. No one can design any kind of practical devices or gadgets without first grapping to understand the basic principles of physics.
2. Studying Physics is fun, is challenging, is adventurous and of course richly rewarding! (RM 500/= 1A Physics SPM 2009). We consider success in Physics as a towering achievement of human intellect! Hence as the festive mood of Aidilfitri approaching, please try to relate “Pelita, Kuih Raya, Baju Kurung, Kepaya…” or even phenomana along “Balik Kampung” with laws and principles of Physics!
SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI; MAAF ZAHIR & BATIN
LED Light Bulbs & OLED Panels
Light Emitting Diodes (LED) light bulbs are getting popular with their minuscule energy consumption (less heat dissipation) and 20-year life expectancy! However the new generations of Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED) create uniform, diffuse light across ultra-thin sheets of flexible materials! Do you know that the new Display Panels for computers can be rolled in and out of the barrel of a pen! Currently OLED is one of the top research priorities that almost absorbed half of the research and development budget!
Inverter Air-Conc
To improve the efficiency of T&L in Physics for High School students, we can always refer to the lattest development of Technology. One very interesting example is how does the Inverter Air-Conc help to save electricity bills?
The inverter tag found on some air conditioners signifies the ability of the unit to continuously regulate its thermal power flow by altering the speed of the compressor in response to cooling demand.
Traditional reverse-cycle air-conditioners use a heat pump that is either working at maximum capability or switched off, as the compressor's speed cannot be varied. In order to regulate temperature a thermistor is used to measure the ambient air temperature and switch the compressor on when the ambient air temperature is too far from the desired temperature.
Air-conditioners bearing the inverter tag use a variable-frequency drive to control the speed of the motor and thus the compressor. The variable-frequency drive uses a rectifier to convert the incoming AC current to DC and then uses pulse-width modulation of the DC current within an inverter to produce AC current of a desired frequency. The AC current is used to drive a brushless motor or an induction motor. As the speed of a brushless motor is synchronised to the frequency of the AC current, it is thus possible to build a compressor that can be run at different speeds. Similarly, the voltage and frequency can be varied as needed to efficiently run an induction motor at different speeds. A microcontroller can then sample the current ambient air temperature and adjust the speed of the compressor appropriately.
Eliminating stop-start cycles increases efficiency, extends the life of components, and helps eliminate sharp fluctuations in the load the air-conditioner places on the power supply. Ultimately this makes inverter air conditioners less prone to break downs, cheaper to run and the outdoor compressor is generally quieter than a standard air conditioning unit's compressor.
(Adapted from Wikipedia)
Can you think of other innovation of technology or processes that can improve Energy Saving in our School?
Pantun Perayaan Aidilfitri for Physics Gang
As the mood of Raya Aidilfitri getting hotter, I wish to contribute 3 pantuns for my Dear Friends in Physics and family: Bada, Ana, Rahim, Zainal, Joned, Yati, Azizul, Amelia, Lina, Noorliati, Fathira, Halimah, Helmy, Maznah, Norliza, Haffizam, Wan Aimran, Prof Roslan, Prof Razak and many-many others:
1. Buah pauh di tengah bendang, Jadi dagangan di tengah kota; Hari Raya sudah menjelang, Bermaaf-maafan sesama kita. 2. Sungai disusur sehari-hari, Dalam gelap menangkap ikan; Saya menyusun sepuluh jari, salah dan silap harap maafkan. 3. Kalau ada sumur di ladang, Boleh saya menumpang mandi; Kalau ada umur yang panjang, Boleh kita Gang Physics Berjampa lagi. Maaf Zahir dan Batin. 1 Syawal
Cyber Space
We are living in borderless cyber space. Information transmitted at consistently increased speed. We need to stay connected even at critical time of crisis like the outbreak Influenza A (H1N1). However there are many new threats we are facing:
1. Pornography-more and more naughty websites linked and attached even to the Educational Websites...
2. Cyber Bullying-Kids and students may easily fall into the traps, they'll lose confidence in life....
3. Cyber game addiction-precious time, money and energy wasted. Students cannot catch up in studies, home-works and essential revision practices neglected..
4. Racist and extremely prejudice articles and information highly detrimental to our multi-racial society...
Hence we always advise our students to explore the cyber space very carefully and never hesitate to consult teachers or parents. Selamat Berpuasa and Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri soon. Maaf Zahir dan Batin.
REACT Strategies
CORD (1999) proposed 5 processes for effective learning with UNDERSTANDING (Oppose to ROTE MEMORIZATION):
1. RELATING-Learning in the context of life experiences. The process of relating abstract concepts to familiar ideas and situations.(Please refer to examples of Butterflies and CDs in my previous article)
2.EXPERIENCING-Learning in the context of exploration, discovery and invention.(Extremely critical for Technical Education!)
3. APPLYING-Applying concepts and information in useful contexts-Real woarld applications or work-based experiences provides evidents for usefulness of abstract concepts.
4.COOPERATING-The brain is social.Learning occurs at much higher cognitive levels when learners interact!
5. TRANSFERRING-Learners able to process new information when they engage in transferring what they already know to unfamiliar situations!
Teachers please discuss these strategies at KMK meetings.
Contextual Teaching
Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock (2001) have identified 9 research practices that improve student performance:
1. Identifying similarities & differences
2. Summarizing & note taking
3. Reinforcing effort & providing recognition
4. Homework & practice
5. Questions, cues & advance organizers
6. Non linguistic representation
7. Cooperative learning
8. Setting objectives & providing feedbacks
9. Generating & testing hypotheses.
