The recent learning symposium that was organised was a very good experience. It challenged me in many aspects of my lesson design. One area I was exposed to was the design and re-design of the lesson. I feel that this is an important cycle to go through as it helped me to refine my lesson. This made me think and rethink the learning outcomes of the lesson first, followed by the vehicle in which in was used to deliver the lesson (the ICT component). I had to ask myself how is ICT enhancing the students learning instead of merely using technology for the sake of technology. In addition, it also made me evaluate how the c2015 student outcomes are to be integrated. The outcomes play a very important role in developing the whole child.

In my lesson, I designed a web-quest to allow the students to learn independently. The product they had to produce was a piece of writing on crime. The children were able to learn independently and then shared what they had learnt via a forum. They collaborated with each other and shared what they had learnt. This platform facilitated the children’s learning as they go about sharing with each other what knowledge they had acquired. It was very encouraging to see how some children were able to reconstruct their knowledge as they assimilate information from their friends. The children were then able to transfer what they had learnt into their writing assignment – this was an indicator that the children had achieved the learning outcomes.

It is important not to stop here at this point but to share these findings with my peers and colleagues. This was achieved through the learning symposium that was organized by the school. The symposium served as another level of refinement. I had the privilege to my more experienced teachers (including STs) and through the Q&As, I was further able to refine my lesson as questions were asked. This allowed me to consolidate my thoughts and also to accept any constructive criticisms that were presented. It was truly a learning experience for me. This experience encapsulates what it means to have a professional learning community.