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March 29, 2009 by red-december

How powerful words are. For a long time I haven’t been able to feel God’s presence in my life because of so many distractions; school work, my relationship issues, the past, and all the things that contribute to wearing me out emotionally, physically and mentally. However when this song was played during the combined service today, I suddenly felt a sense of peace that I haven’t felt for a few months now. I felt the holy spirit stirring inside me once again. It’s not much but it’s an encouraging feeling.

~Lord I offer my life to you~

(Verse 1)
All that I am, all that I have
I lay them down before you, oh Lord
All my regrets, all my acclaims
The joy and the pain, I’m making them yours(Chorus)
Lord, I offer my life to you
Everything I’ve been through
Use it for your glory
Lord I offer my days to you
Lifting my praise to you
As a pleasing sacrifice
Lord I offer you my life

(Verse 2)
Things in the past, things yet unseen
Wishes and dreams that are yet to come true
All of my heart, all of my praise
My heart and my hands are lifted to you

(Chorus)
Lord, I offer my life to you
Everything I’ve been through
Use it for your glory
Lord I offer my days to you
Lifting my praise to you
As a pleasing sacrifice
Lord I offer you my life

(Bridge)
What can we give
That you have not given?
And what do we have
That is not already yours?
All we possess
Are these lives we’re living
That’s what we give to you, Lord

(Chorus)
Lord, I offer my life to you
Everything I’ve been through
Use it for your glory
Lord I offer my days to you
Lifting my praise to you
As a pleasing sacrifice
Lord I offer you my life

(Chorus)
Lord, I offer my life to you
Everything I’ve been through
Use it for your glory
Lord I offer my days to you
Lifting my praise to you
As a pleasing sacrifice
Lord I offer you my life
Lord I offer you my life

 
As I joined the congregation in this song this morning, I felt as if God revealled himself to me again and through the lyrics of this song, that he understood my sincere passion to want to serve him. This was the song he wanted me to sing this morning to him.
This song meant a lot to me at that point of time as well, for it explains exactly why I haven’t been able to feel spiritually connected. I mean, all these years all I’ve been praying so fervently was to be able to get a place in the local university and get a stable, well-paying job. Now that he has blessed me with this secured future, I have put him aside and forgotten to recommit myself to him. I had only offered my sec and jc life to him to put me in a university.
 
I have been a hypocrite by praying to God to give me a good life and future and he has blessed me with these when he opened the doors of NIE to me. Yet, not only have I forgotten to thank him everyday for it, I realise now how selfish I had been to have only taken a habit all these 7 years to pray for only myself and not others. I haven’t been participating in activities to help others, to show love to his people. All I thought of was myself, my relationship, my inconveniences, pitying myself, my work, how tired I’ll be, how precious my time was - Everything was about me. And now I feel isolated all the time as a result of not appreciating or spending time with the company God has provided each of us with. This is terrible. I must change.
 
I’ll be returning to LG this coming saturday again and I’m gonna apologise to my LG leaders who have cared so much for me. I haven’t been attending LG for about a month now, and it’s time to head back, I’ve taken a good break. More so, I have to learn to help the community that God has placed me in and pray especially for God to get rid of the green-eyed devil that has been subjecting me to jealousy and distraction. But even as I pray for strength, I am human after all and the one thing I’m really praying for now is for God to speak to him and help him to love me even during ministry so that I may feel part of it, because sometimes I feel that my cry is drowned amongst the cries of the rest of his youth ministry..

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new phase

February 24, 2009 by red-december

Hi everyone,

Many things have happened these few weeks and consequently, I’ve also adopted a few new mindsets which I feel are good. They say in anything, one should learn young to avoid stepping onto the wrong path in life. One should start young so that one does not have to bear more responsibilities at a later age as a result of not having known earlier. Although I have little time to spare, I feel that I have to journal the following down so that I may never forget these good lessons.

I really have learnt a lot from bearing with the harsh remarks of someone who cares for me. I have learnt that I mustn’t continue to be naive and depend on others all the time, or trust any one to the fullest extent. By this I have to learn to discern for myself who and what source is reliable. I cannot always follow an opinion, but I have to find out things FOR MYSELF and trust myself as I take my own path. Why I’m practicing to be this independent is not because I habour any thoughts of becoming a spinster who will only rely on herself, but in my opinion I feel that many girls have to acknowledge this independency, for one, so as not to wear out their significant others, and secondly, to build character. Many girls my age are acutally becoming more naive as they grow older. What is it about becoming a princess and wanting to live in luxury? For sure, extravegance and beauty alone does not impress rich, intellectual men, and so their dreams will always be so long as they remain dreaming and waiting.

I’ve been taking an interest in the financial sector recently. It started with a mentor of mine who first told me how he was going to retire at 35 and about private banking, and then someone warned me about inflation and depreciation of currency value. And then a wealthy aunt of mine shared me me about how she became successful in investment properties.

These made me believe that working hard and saving hard will not get me or my family very far, but rather, working hard and saving smart is the route that well-off people are taking. So how about working hard, put a little money into investment, save some, and put your mind at ease to spend the rest? Not forgetting to buy only the smart choice of insurance. I want to take over the responsibility of the insurance policies my parents got for me perhaps in year 3, to relieve my parents off some financial burden. This evening I met up with an insurance agent to learn about insurance policies but it was more just to get myself familiar with the terms like savings account, transaction account, life endosement, compound interests, coverage, investment insurance, death-TPD-CI-DDI enhancement, 3.25-4.25% interest rates, 12-, 24-, 25- year plans, healthshield, and so on…
I guess all these terms must sound really commonsense to people with economics background, but tonight was really an eye-opener of these terms to someone like me with zero experience with economics. So yeah, just joting down so I won’t forget:)

////////////

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January 29, 2009 by red-december

Even in the most difficult conditions, one must perservere. It’s most difficult to perservere for something that you’re working for, not for yourself, but for your family…

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Not-so-happening-CNY

January 23, 2009 by red-december

Chinese New Year has never been much of an anticipated event. Every year’s the same, same words, same ang pow amount, same fruit, same butter feast, weight gain. I mean the REAL new year’s already over!! And auspicion is simply superstition. Show me an article writing of strange or miraculous cases of prosperous luck befalling on people on Lunar New Year’s day…

Anyway CNY this time hasn’t hit off well with me. The 2-day break has been conveniently converted to e-learning weeks for 2 of my modules, with one 1200 word essay and one 2000 word essay due just the week after next. There’s also a bio test on 4 chapters on 5th feb, advanced wine appreciation course on 7th feb, valentine’s on 14th feb, Accountability group mtg on 16th feb night, AED104 case-study essay (yes another one which constitutes 40% of my overall module grade) due on 18th feb.

It doesn’t help that I finish off school everyday at 530pm, except tuesdays. Doesn’t help much either that my body has an inclination to turn off once the clock strikes..11.

Well, yes I am pretty stressed up, especially over the 3 essays that will all be due in LESS THAN A MONTH, 1 10% test in 2 weeks, and I’ve to keep in pace with my revision as my modules this sem are SHO TOUGH! Really rough one month ahead…

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moving out.

January 8, 2009 by red-december

Many apologies to my loyal readers who have been offering so much time to checking up on this awesome blog. I certainly have been no loyal blogger myself and aim to change that as part of a new year resolution. But I do have my reasons and one being entirely the fault of this stupid blog site which totally detests irregular bloggers. I had 2 eariler posts for the new year, but due to some technical errors in this weboage, my posts were not published, twice. Pretty annoying considering that one had probably spent one twenty-fourth of their well-planned day putting their thoughts in pixels, only to have them washed away in less than 2 seconds. That’s not the only problem.

 Recently there have been plenty of junk messages sent to my inbox, and really strange videos of the same exotic young lady in pink bikini appearing in my comment box. I’ve had it. I’m officially switching to Facebook after finding all 790 of my friends there, and creating a Blogspot account for myself.

Another reason is that I’ve been committed to several blogs over the last semester, and will have to commit to blogging in 2 new ones soon. The latter 2 are for educational purposes, for my Academic discourse skills class and Interactive communication technology class this semester. It’s horribly exhausting to be blogging and mugging every single hour. 2 new blogs, each worth 10% of my courses’ semestal grades. 1 other blog which I’m personally sworn to secrecy or die of love-spank embarrassment. And the last being this personal one.

And of course, my last reason is time.  Travelling back and forth pasir ris and boon lay every single day’s no funny joke. In addition to travelling time, I’m giving my priority to mugging, family time, and to meeting up with precious.

So there, my excuses for this annoying inconsistancy.

Anyway, school’s started once again! I’m excited only at the prospect of knowing graduation is just 3.5 years away! As much as I enjoyed secondary and JC life, I totally abhor life as an undergrad. You’re often on your own here, as much as you really want to make friends. But that’s why they call it a cruel world folks It’s absolutely heartless, competitive, and downright self-seeking. Like really, what’s wrong with waiting for a person you’ve just made friends with? Or can’t people appreciate when you’re just trying to help? (This sentence is refering, with much infuriation, a particular unappreciative MCP the writer ran into this week who has without doubt the least score for EQ on this entire planet!) And it’s totally not accepted, non-excusable, against humanity, to forget old friends in place of newly-found significant others! Argh. So enough! Tsk tsk, shame on these people who only think about themselves.

Aye, anyway not to worry, I’ve not been affected by these people. As usual, just penning down my thoughts. No one is cursed in this process whatsoever. All I’ve got to say to them is, all the best in your endeavours, make sure you work on your EQ before others turn really nasty to you! Like the old saying goes, “What goes around comes around”. So be nice!:)

Have a great weekEND everyone!:)

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December 23, 2008 by red-december

What is it to be happy?

Just a whole day rollerblading at ecp and enjoying the sea breeze… that’s all. And I’ll be really happy.

What is the christmas spirit?

I don’t know..

What I need is someone to listen to my soul, someone free. What does it mean this “free”? I want someone to answer it, that is my desire.

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psy essay

December 15, 2008 by red-december

Should schools play a significant role to help students develop their self-esteem?

 

Introduction
       Confining success to the measure of wealth, achievement and honours, have you ever thought of what makes a person successful in life? Some would simply pass success as a thing of luck, or perhaps an inheritance had made the person wealthy. Putting good fortune aside, I believe in self-esteem being a significant contributor to one’s success in life. According to Joseph (1994), self-esteem is an attitude about oneself. It is the estimate of how capable, worthwhile, and successful one thinks he or she can be. Self-esteem is a realistic respect for or favourable impression of oneself. It is self-respect (American Psychological Association, 2008).
       In this essay, I will name several educationalists of self-esteem, and will go in depth into the theories of one particular educationalist because his theories have contributed much to the issue of self-esteem in individuals. Then, I will describe the effect of self-esteem on individuals, and why every school’s management must put in conscientious effort in building opportunities to raise positive self-esteem in their students. Thereafter, I would explain a four-fold checklist to which schools can use to develop strategies to raise their students’ self esteem. In conclusion, I will examine some of the strategies that are practiced in Singapore schools in raising the esteem of students and elaborate on some unique approaches our government has taken to ensure that every student has been nurtured in a wholesome way.
       Although there were many enthusiastic scholars of self-esteem, I feel that Maslow’s Hierarchy of Esteem Needs and Bandura’s Theory of Self-efficacy best allows me to understand the relationship between self-esteem and how it influences the individual.
 
Maslow’s Hierachy of Esteem Needs
       Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs suggests there are two types of esteem needs; the primary one seeks for the respect of others, the need for status, fame, glory, recognition, attention, reputation, appreciation, dignity, even dominance. The secondary esteem need involves the need for self-respect, such as feelings of confidence, competence, achievement, mastery, independence, and freedom (Boeree, 2006).
 
Bandura’s Self-efficacy Theory
       According to Bandura (1995), self-efficacy is “the belief in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to manage prospective situations” and these beliefs determine how people think, behave, and feel (1994). Bandura also noted that self-efficacy is established from four main sources; Mastery experiences where one acquires experience first-hand, Social modeling whereby one models after a successful person who was like himself, Positive Social Persuasion from others, and Psychological responses of the individual towards a situation (1994). It is crucial for one to maintain a high level of this confidence in himself as self-percepts of efficacy can enhance or impair the level of cognitive functioning (Bandura, 1986; 1988a; 1988b, in press).  Hence, self-esteem is built from one’s self-efficacy because after being able to accomplish a difficult task, a person becomes motivated to embark on greater goals. Those who have a strong sense of efficacy exert greater effort to master challenges (Bandura, 1977; Schunk, 1981).
 
The influence of positive self-esteem on individuals
       Self-esteem influences many qualities of a person such as his behavior, character and personality. The feel-good factor of high self-esteem can make one well behaved, good-natured, and well-mannered, and these have sweeping effects on many areas of one’s life such as in his academic performance. High self-esteem makes success more probable by giving students the confidence to tackle challenging tasks, to persevere in the face of difficulty, and to minimize anxiety (Crozier, 1997).
       Covington’s (1992) self-worth theory suggests that individuals are thought to be only as worthy as their achievements. In other words, the achievements that one has attained will affect how good one perceives him or herself to be. A confident person who has done well in his examinations will put in more effort, thus he will take initiative to perfect the uncertainties in his subjects. This person is attentive during lessons because he is motivated to do well. Students with high efficacy may achieve at superior levels because they engage in cognitive processes that promote learning (Pintrich & Schunk, 2002). A person with high self-esteem is also well-liked. According to Joseph, (1994), people generally like to hang out with individuals who think positive because they feel that these persons can influence them positively. However, positive self-esteem does not come as a privilege to all. Students who possess negative self-esteem undermine their ability and are being perversely restrictive against their own good.
The influence of negative self-esteem on individuals
       By approaching tasks with strong self-doubt, these persons dwell on personal deficiencies and generate debilitating distress, which creates internal obstacles to effective performance (Flavell & Ross, 1981). Research shows that low self-esteem also creates health problems in alcohol abuse (Abood & Conway (1992), weight control and smoking (Pervin,1993), and early teen pregnancy (Kissman, 1990). Also, low esteem people often believe that if people they are dating do not want sex with them, they must not like them (Gerber, 2001). Hence couples with low esteem individuals tend to engage in pre-marital sex.
       Negative self-esteem instances are worsen by the media which portrays many models perceived to have “perfect” builds and desirable features, so youths often use physical attributes to measure their likely acceptance by others. They become demoralized and ashamed of themselves when they do not possess “perfect” physical and material attributes, which dampers their self-confidence. Research has shown that girls who are exposed to these kinds of unrealistic images are more dissatisfied with their own bodies. Boys can also develop distorted expectations of what girls bodies should look because of constant comparison to the media images they see every day. Poor body image has been associated with higher levels of depression and anxiety. Hence it will cause girls to avoid activities, possess lower self-esteem and confidence, and, in some cases, lead to eating disorders. (Carney, 2007).
Schools should play a significant role to help develop students’ self-esteem
       It is sad to see the consequence and deprivation of those who do not believe in themselves, yet, we have seen the privileges offered to one with positive self-referent thought. Hence it is important for one to have a good self-esteem. However, such a quality is not an innate entity; it can only be build up through various positive experiences provided by the environment that would allow an individual to discover his or her abilities.
       I feel that most esteem needs can be met in schools, and since schools have the conducive environments with trained professionals, they should play a significant role in building esteem in their pupils. The purpose of schools is to impart education, and since self-esteem and education are future-oriented (Jeffs & Smith, 2005), one can say that education and self-esteem should form an intertwined partnership towards an individual’s success in life. Schools must see this collaboration so that they will understand why it is important to place emphasis and time on improvising strategies to develop the self-esteem of their students. Strategies of schools in building students’ self-esteem can orientate around tackling these areas where students often set themselves goals; physical, intellectual, emotional, and social (Cole & Hall, 1970).
       According to Crow & Crow, (1965), the physical and physiological changes in a  young person makes him or her aware of definite body changes, experience “feelings” that are strange and new, and is likely to develop an attraction to the opposite sex. Most teenage boys will begin to take pride in their physique and girls will become conscious of their bodily proportions (Carney, 2007). Hence a school should regularly organize talks and discussions during civics periods with their students to teach them to appreciate the appearance and physique of themselves, and that these are not the only factors one should focus on to be prideful.
       Low-esteem can grossly obstruct the development of one’s intelligence and academic capability. Often, teachers stress upon their students to do well, with the reason that they will be better accepted in the workforce than those who do not do well. Students are made to believe that great academic achievement correlates to success and acceptance, and those who do badly academically are frequently accused of possessing negative attributes such as laziness, low self-competency et cetera, thus severely impairing these students’ self-belief. However, ever since Howard Gardner (1983) introduced the Multiple Intelligences theory, IQ alone was no more the only measure for success. Given this, schools should cease to place sole importance upon academic results and step-up on activities that help those who are gifted in other areas of intelligence find their path to success. These activities can be in the form of intra-school competitions, after-school talent shows, student-led performances where students can showcase, master, and achieve recognition for their unique intelligences and abilities.
       Emotional Intelligence is being able to monitor our own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use this to guide our thinking and actions (Salovey & Mayer, 1990). In 1996, Dr. Reuven Bar-On explained Emotional Intelligence saying that it reflects our ability to deal successfully with other people and with our feelings. This is because individuals with high Emotional Quotient (EQ) are able to conscientiously evaluate the mood of the situation and exhibit appropriate social graces that allow them to get what they set out to achieve. Finegan (1998) argues that schools should help students learn the abilities underlying emotional intelligence. Teaching emotional and social skills is very important in schools as these skills can affect academic achievement positively not only during the year they are taught, but during the years that follow as well (Elias, Gara, Schuyler, Brandon-Muller, & Sayette, 1991). Schools should incorporate lessons to teach students emotional intelligence so that students will learn to be more sensitive to others around them, creating a community of care which will bring up the self-esteem and morale of the community altogether. Within the class, teachers can also instruct students to create encouragement boards in the classroom to recognize classmates who have helped them, and to cheer on those who are not participating much in class, which will make students feel good about themselves.
       As teachers, we must understand the essential need of a student to feel socially accepted. In an article, findings support therole of self-confirming feedback in the development of self-acceptanceand the importance of socialization in forming self-respect (Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, 2005). Students generally want to be liked by their peers, given attention to and cared for by others because it makes them feel good about themselves. This acceptance makes them confident that what they do will influence others and the decisions they make will be significant and respected. According to Crow & Crow, (1965), some students wish to be members of a group but feel that they lack the attributes like physique, attractiveness, poise, the ability to engage in “chitchat”…that would make them desirable to their friends. Teachers need to realize this feeling of social inadequacy amongst students and create programs which will socially engage them. One method is to organize the class into groups for group work. As said by Bandura, (1997, 2000), students may have greater self-efficacy when they work as a group as they not only receive perceptions of themselves but also of other’s capabilities…and how they may work together and coordinate their roles and responsibilities. Group work in classrooms allows every student an opportunity to contribute to group assignments given, and hence making their contributions significantly valuable to the group. Cooperation from group work hence raises the confidence of students in their ability to communicate with their peers and hence nurturing a good self-esteem. 
Strategies used in Singapore schools to develop esteem in students
       In local context, our Ministry of Education (MOE) believes that education in Singapore should encompass two things: developing the individual and educating the citizens. It is apparent that our government has molded the education system to allow students to develop themselves and hence their esteem through physical, intellectual, emotional, and social means. For example physical education is incorporated into the curriculum so as to develop students’ sense of coordination and self-competency through participating in team games. Also, the government ensures students receive a holistic education by sponsoring inter-school competitions to encourage students to showcase their talents, such as in the recent N.E.mation! , a competition for youths to express their notions on Total Defence through animation. Civics Moral Education teaches students how to make the right decisions which is a crucial platform for self-confidence. Co-curricular activities (CCAs) allow students of the same interest to interact, teaches them to take on responsibilities, and give recognition to outstanding performers. In addition, MOE reinforced social and emotional learning (SEL) in all government schools. Research has shown that SEL has impact on 2 main areas – character and citizenship. SE competencies help students to achieve his academic best. SEL activities include teaching Self Management skills like impulse control and stress management which help students to finish their work first before play. These lessons also help them to deal with negative emotions like anger and anxiety so that they can concentrate better in class and in their work. When grades improve, students’ self-esteem is boosted. Relationship Management skills teach students how to reduce interpersonal conflicts that result in negative emotions among themselves and their peers. Going back to what Bandura (1994) said, having good social relationship with others can have positive implications on an individual through social modeling and positive social persuasion on decisions. These skills also enable students to be more effective in obtaining the help they need from others for their studies. Furthermore, MOE is implementing steps to provide greater autonomy and resources to schools to develop their own distinct strengths and specific areas or niches of excellence, allowing schools to encourage pupils with special talents to go as far as they can (MOE, Singapore).
       Scrutinizing all these programs set up by MOE into schools, we will realize how marvelously they coincide with Bandura’s four sources of self-efficacy and Cole & Hall’s observation of the four goals of adolescences. I feel that other countries can safely use Singapore’s education system as a model for their own because it is a good system which incorporates many factors to ensure that students would be born into the society with the essential skills and confidence to take on future challenges to become successful. This is backed by the Global Competitiveness Report 2007–2008, which states that Singapore is ranked 1st in quality in education system.
 
Conclusion
       In conclusion, schools should intervene in helping students strengthen their self-esteem by initiating programs and activities that would teach students how to appreciate themselves. Schools have the resources to create avenues that can help students discover their abilities, gracefully accept their weaknesses, and work upon their strengths so that every student that leaves school would be enthusiastic of his or her future in the workforce as well as in forging relationships with others. Most importantly, they would have learnt to respect the beautiful metamorphosis of their true, unique selves.
 
Original work by Anastasia Yeo. Plagarism will not be tolerated.
References cited in original work.

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philo essay

December 15, 2008 by red-december

Montessori’s Philosophy of Movement

 

         The famous Greek Stoic philosopher, Epictetus, once said that “Only the educated are free.” Because I believe in this statement, it is therefore necessary for me to explain to my reader first how education should be defined, that lead me to my beliefs of the responsibilities of educators. Thereafter, I would introduce Montessori’s philosophy of movement and suggest how it can actually benefit learning at all ages, despite controversies from Cartesian Dualism and Erickson’s life-span development model that her theories may only work well for younger and lower-intelligence students. In my conclusion, I will rectify why teachers are reluctant to teach through a hands-on method and how their techniques may be improved to facilitate real learning through experience, then, you will see how Montessori’s methods truly bring out the art of education.
 
The Aim of Education
        Education, I believe, should inculcate into a student the love for life-long learning and development of moral values. Both can be done when a community of inquiry is habitually practiced in classrooms and not simply expecting pupils to regurgitate facts all the time during question-and-answer sessions in lessons. After all, our aim is to “give birth” to a generation of creative and critical thinkers, not sing-along textbooks. Basically, education is not merely about acquiring knowledge, but it is also about understanding, reflecting, and applying what has been taught. Our role as teachers hence must not be undermined to an outsider who simply imparts knowledge to a child, but we must assume responsibility over the child’s mental development and intellectual maturity. That means being a teacher is not an easy job and we will need an array of delivery methods at our fingertips to bring about the best in our students.
 
The Early Years
         A head start in learning could put one child ahead of the others in life, and a child who starts late in learning may find it difficult to grasp ideas and concepts taught in pre-school. Since infants cannot make do of verbal instructions, I feel the best method for an infant to learn is through Montessori’s technique of infusing voluntary movements which in turn develops the mind. In addition, I have confidence that they will make excellent learning strategies for adults. E.M Standing’s book (1984) on the biography of Montessori’s life writes of Montessori’s long experiences with the children she studied. Through actual observations, she discovered that children (mostly under age five) through the process of play had amazing mental concentration with selective objects given to them. Some observations she made of children were these; the children loved to repeat working on objects, they loved keeping things in order on their own, they wanted to choose their play materials, they preferred work to play, they did not care for rewards, and they loved to work in silence on their own, totally satisfied and contented with their motor actions. ‘It is through this experience of objects in his environment, in the guise of playing, that he goes over again the impressions that he has already taken in with his unconscious mind’. (Standing, 1984)
 
There were yet more thrilling observations, of which Montessori repeatedly tested until she was absolutely sure they were typical constructive behaviors of children. She concluded that movement connects the actions of the child’s body to his or her mind. The child hence “develops himself by means of his hands, using them as the instruments of human intelligence.” This was an extremely crucial discovery of child development in history as it later influenced the objects that toy-makers produced. Toys were molded into geometric solids in all colours, made to look like everyday household products, included numbers, movable letters, and some even play tunes to facilitate a child’s attention to it. All these were made in the belief that the mind absorbs all physical encounters unconsciously and, in time, influence the child’s conscious behavior.

Support from Jean Piaget
There were many who also agreed on this connection. For example, according to the famous educationalist Jean Piaget, “…thought grows out of the internalization of concrete motor activity… education must respect this process by permitting the child multiple and varied opportunities in the early grades for direct action upon concrete objects.” Thus we can see that Montessori and Piaget’s theories are useful during the first three development stages of Erikson’s life-span model; Infancy, Early childhood, and Play age. However Erikson’s model appears to provide a loophole in Montessori’s movement because it suggests that there are stages following the play age in a person’s development. Skeptical persons would point out that children would grow up losing their occupancy in concrete objects as they move on to take an interest in logic and abstract ideas.
 
Cartesian Dualism…no strong opponent.
         The latter may shed some light on the idea called Cartesian Dualism, that there exists no connection between the physical body and the immaterial human soul or mind. After all it appears that humans, after passing the three mentioned developmental stages, can start to work well on logic and abstract concept…their minds continue to develop healthily even without their hands coming into contact with solid objects all the time. But to simply give up and give in to Descartes’s dual theory of the person proves that one has not done his research well on the philosopher. The little known fact is that “dualism has few supporters and Descartes himself later admitted that he found some difficulty supporting his theory “(Philosophy: The Classics, Nigel Warburton, 1998). From Descartes’s conclusion, “All thoughts have thinkers, there are thoughts now, so the thinker of these thoughts must exist”, we can see that there is a degree of admittance that the physical brain and mind coexist and are not as what dualism suggests, separate entities. Hence, Montessori and Piaget have little to fear of dualists putting down their theories.
 
Conclusion
         So in fact, it should be right to assume that activities connected with the body assist the thinking process for every age, not simply for children. It is apparent that Montessori’s theories would work fantastically to capture the concentration of children under five and for those with downs-syndrome, autism, low intelligence quotient et cetera, because these two groups are not able to communicate effectively with speech. The logical and perhaps the only way to teach them is to allow them to explore. However, adults have the ability to communicate their ideas clearly to one another, and using ourselves as examples, we may not always need to go experimental to learn. We can learn simply from communicating with one other. It is arguable that physical movement will only benefit kinesthetic learners, but a waste of time for visual, auditory and audio digital learners. But Montessori and I will not support that. Quoting Montessori, “This principle of movement should be carried right through education . . . The organization of movement is not simply the completion of the psychological construction; it is the foundation.”
 
       In my opinion, I feel that kinesthetic involvement in education of any sort, any age, is not a futile activity. However it is true not all forms of action are beneficial. The fear most teachers have in implementing hands-on activities in classrooms is that students in their excitement would lose their focus on the purpose of the activity because such hands-on activities are often mistaken by students as positive reinforcers, rightful activities bestowed on them for pleasing the teacher. It was my mistake one day when in my frustration, I told my class ____, “All right, if you cooperate and keep quiet during this lesson, I will bring you to the science lab to play with the models next week.” My intention was for them to learn better from their hands-on experience, however on the next week in the lab, the class was so terribly excited over playing with the models among themselves, they did not touch the worksheets I gave them. My students assumed that the activity was a reward with no educational purpose attached to it. Hence, the activity becomes meaningless when students misinterpret the teacher’s purpose for it as teachers have so often in schools introduced it as a bribe. So let me just suggest then, if we are to apply physical activities in our lessons, let us keep in mind these four basic rules; Movement must be disciplined, movement should aid concentration, movement should complement knowledge, movement must be treated as a form of exploration, not a reward.
 
       I hope that the reader has gotten a clearer view from my essay of what Montessori was trying to preach when she introduced movement into education. Her experiments may have originated from studying the young and less-intelligent, but the concept can be applied universally, across a spectrum of subjects and schools. Success of movement in learning is achieved when the educator makes clear the objectives of the activity from the very beginning, not tie them with incentives. Once the wrong signal gets to the students just once, it will be difficult to direct students’ impression of activities to a more serious educational purpose.
 
       No doubt for any kind of learner, we cannot deny that physical movement is inevitable for a greater impact on learning. The impression gained from interaction is greater than any amount of theory that is spoon-fed to us. Just like how conversing and getting to understand a person gives us a different impression of him or her from what others tell us, a personal encounter with something such as in an experiment, allows us to understand for sure the truth of the subject. It would be a bonus if inspiration hits us during such an encounter that inspires us to be a great man.
      
       If education is about knowledge, about understanding, well, we see a lot of knowledge being imparted in schools, but have the students understood? Movement presents that to us. For: if pictures speak a thousand words, what furthermore, actions?
 
“Man believes only his experience.” -Empedocles
 
Original work by Anastasia Yeo. Plargarism will not be tolerated.
References cited in original work.

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December 15, 2008 by red-december

Busy busy. But as quoted by Daryl, “If she’s not busy, it’s not ana.”
The fact is that I don’t like to be. I’m busy because of school activities (previously cca trgs), and now camps and christmas celebrations. Ahh! I can’t wait for next semester’s break…3 MONTHS!!:D And NOTHING’S gonna touch it except practicum, and my old friends :) AND I STILL HAVENT GOTTEN THE CHANCE TO PAINT. ARGH.

Well at least 1 family chalet and 1 nie camp is down. Speaking of which, I’ve gotten this sem’s results already! Well, I didn’t achieve my aim of GPA 4.0, but I’m not far from it either:

Cell Structure & Function: B
Biodiversity: B
General chemistry: A
Physical chemistry: B
Education psy: B
Education philo: A

More disappointing is my both bio modules as I’d put in tremendous effort in them. Probably have to go find out how to turn my B to an A from those who got an A this sem. The hard part is that the teachers refuse to let us in on how to score. Then again I guess it must have been my bio tests that pulled the bio grades down. The tests were really tricky, especially the MCQs. The bio group will testify that. I’m really proud of my psy and philo grades though, psy could have been better I felt, nonetheless, my psycho essay was such an accomplishment.

Youth camp left to go which starts…LATER! And then it’ll be christmas. I can hardly wait!:))

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December 8, 2008 by red-december

Just got another lovely surprise yesterday from my LG!:D there were like 4 things i got all at the same time…a collage of photo with me in them (yes there were 3 VERY prominent solo shots and 3 others which i don’t even have in my own collection. sam claims it’s from her PRIVATE COLLECTION XD), a collage made of postcards, cookies from sam and a cake from my LG. *sniffs*deeply touched. I’ve never gotten a collage before..this is the first time and they’re REALLY good!:D To my lifegroup members if you read this, THANK YOU SO MUCH! The gifts are beautiful :D and yes I love your foldable spoon too jocey..the idea’s so you and the colour’s so me la..XD too bad my family’s camera isn’t charged or I would take a good shot of everything and post it up here for remembrance.

It’s been such an artsy fartsy one this year, the presents. This birthday reminded me how much my friends not only remember me but including my interests. This year the presents are remarkable, describes the thoughts and efforts put in to GET and MAKE them, even though some of them are in the midst of their examinations…

I really don’t know what to wish for this year before blowing all 3 birthday cakes cuz I’ve gotten everything I wanted from everyone, but more than just the gifts, I heard from all my friends again and truely, thoughts DO count ;’D

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