Week 3: Reflection on CID2 lessons ---- Geraldine

Hey readers! Geraldine here.I am going to share with all of you about how I feel about the 3 CID 2 lessons I have so far.

In the first lesson, it was mainly introduction about what CID 2 is all about so I shall move on to tell you about lesson 2.

Well, in Lesson 2 -- A picture paints a thousand words, we looked at two pictures and tried to figure out what is happening in them. The lady in one of the pictures looked like a beggar and seemed very pitiful -- that was what almost everyone thought.But the truth was that the lady actually pretended to be a beggar to get money from others. This shows that she is a dishonest person and although she doesn't get much money, what she did is still wrong and she doesn't seem as pitiful after knowing that she cheats others does it. Therefore, from this activity, I have learnt that we should not judge others from his or her appearance as they may not be the person which they are we think from their looks. For example, I have a friend in the past who looked very shy and quiet in class. But when I get to know her, I realize that she is actually very talkative and in fact, an irresponsible person who blames her faults on others. Indeed, we really should not judge people from their appearances and I feel that perhaps before making a friend, we should observe the person for a while to figure out his or her character so that we do not mix with the wrong kind of people.

In Lesson 3, I learned more about observations. In fact, by observing closely at people,we can see how their lives are, what kind of character they have, what kind of activities do they engage and more. We observe people by looking at their emotions, actions, reactions and many other ways. For example, if a person has black circles around her eyes daily, we can tell that she often sleeps very late and her life is perhaps very tiring and busy to not even have the time to sleep.

I have learnt many meaningful skills and knowledge from the CID 2 lessons in the past three weeks. Hope that I can learn more of these interesting things in the following CID 2 lessons! :)

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Week 3: CID2 Reflection - Nellie 😊

Hey everyone out there reading this post! So, in this post, I will mainly be penning down my reflections and thoughts of this CID 2 course for the past 3 weeks. CID stands for Construct, Integrate and Differentiate, which is a course that prepare us students right from the start for Project Work (PW), a component in the GCE 'A' Levels Examination.

For the past 3 weeks, our teacher has taught us many essential skills that can be applied in future group projects and discussions. During the first week, we were introduced to CID 2 and were given a brief summary on how this course will run throughout the year. The second week was more enriching and in depth, with the main theme being 'A picture paints a thousand words'. The lesson mainly focused on getting us to gather meaning and thoughts from what we see and the importance of looking beyond just what is on the surface. The third week's emphasis was on observations and communications - that observing is not just looking but entails deeper analysis and reflections.

From those 3 weeks, I have indeed benefitted and garnered much relevant skills and knowledge. One lesson that I've especially benefitted from was the lesson where we talked about how 'A picture paints a thousand words'. Indeed, a picture paints a thousand of words. All pictures carry and contain many meanings which varies based on one's point of view. However, what we see may not be what it really is in reality.

As the saying goes, 'Never judge a book by its cover.' Based on just the exterior of everything in our daily life, we often jump to conclusion and determine the worth of that certain somone or thing. However, what we observe or think is superficial and is just an assumption. Everything has a story of its own, even the vast open sea - what we see on the surface may just be a open sea and waves, but beyond the surface, many marine creatures and plants live deep within. 

This shows that before we have a conclusion, we should always dive deeper, go in depth first - reflect on our judgement and research more about the background of it. This way, it will make our final judgement more reliable and accurate as we have already acquired the background knowledge and story of it. 

" Don’t judge someone’s choices without first knowing their reason. " ~ Robert Tew

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Week 3: CID 2 Reflection ~Shu Ting

Hi there, readers! How's your day so far? For this week I'm here to talk about my reflections on my CID2 lessons so far. The most memorable lesson I've learnt so far is that a picture can be deceiving, from the lesson when we were supposed to observe and analyse 2 different pictures of beggars and make inferences about them. The background stories of those pictures were then revealed and were the complete opposite of what we had expected.

In my opinion, I feel that pictures can be substituted with people. I once knew someone, who shall not be named, that was totally not what I had expected to be. It was a brand new year of school and I had to make new friends once again. I was her tablemate and we got along just fine. She was very participative in class and would socialise with everyone in the class. As time went by, I realised that she  was a very arrogant and sadistic person. 

I knew that as a friend, I should look past her flaws, but what if her flaws were influencing me negatively? I didn't enjoy her sadistic and arrogant comments every single day, and I had to try to shrug it off. This explains that we should not judge a book by its cover and bringing that point back to what I learnt, we may not truely understand every single aspect of a picture and can only make inferences to form a story that it may or may not depict.

Another lesson I've learnt from this module is that blogging is not all superficial texts, but our posts must include our feelings and opinions in order for viewers to relate and enjoy our blog. 

Person A:

Today I started my day waking up, getting ready and heading to school. The bus was very quiet. I reached school and headed to class.

Person B:

Today I started my day waking up and getting ready. I was so tired and felt like going back to bed again. Heading to school, I was so exhausted from doing homework so late last night. The bus was very quiet, and I hated that I had to wake up so early and go to school. I reached school and reluctantly headed to class.

Don't we prefer reading Person B's point of view? By adding our feelings, we add more detail to what we are focusing on and engage readers as they can relate to our emotions. This will attract readers to our blog and be interested in what we have to say. I have enjoyed this blogging journey so far, and hope that we would be able to express more in our posts so as to make your reading experience an enjoyable one!

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Week 2: Poverty in Singapore

Hello there, readers of this fine blog! This week, our assignment is to share about "Poverty in Singapore". As students, we rarely spend our time in the city and are therefore not entirely exposed to the financial crisis faced by fellow citizens who surround us in our everyday lives.

It is illegal to beg in Singapore, which is a well-developed and advanced country with a  strong government therefore it is highly unlikely that beggars can be found lining the streets or to see starving children walking the pavements, scrounging for food. However, there are still poverty going on behind the scenes. I'm sure that many of us have seen people going around coffee shops selling tissues or little trinkets to customers having meals there, right? There are still people who have to find a place to sleep at night as they have no shelter to go home to. We can see from these situations that these citizens face financial crisis which is very rare to spot in our everyday lives.

Most Singaporeans are oblivious to the fact that poverty is still a social problem that Singapore's facing. It's not that poverty has been eradicated in Singapore, but that they are largely being hidden - affordable public housing typically means a roof over the heads of the poor. Therefore, in Singapore, although poverty is a rare topic and sight, it is still an underlying problem in Singapore. 

What's fortunate is that the people who are considered "poor" are more well-off than those in other countries. They are not dying from starvation, they have meat on their bones and they have a penny to their name, but it is indeed a hard life. They have to make ends meet everyday and keep finding the security of a home and enough money to support themselves. It is a contant predicament they have to face in reality.

It genuinely disheartens us to see people facing life struggles, be it big or small. Being morally upright, we would feel compelled to help those in need. This picture depicts a man sleeping on a thin layer of newpapers and plastic sheets in the void deck of a certain HDB block. Even though we may not know his story, but we feel absolute pity on him. The few plastic bags by his feet may be the only few possessions he has. We wish that he can be provided with the comfort of a home and secured financial support. Nobody should have to sleep on the streets without a home to retreat to after a long day. If we were him, we would be absolutely gutted to have nowhere to go and not have a place where we can feel safe and experience tranquility.

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Week 2/3: School Life in RVHS :)

School Spirit

* Students gathering in the indoor sports hall for the celebration of RVHS 58th Anniversary

This picture is taken in the school hall and many students are gathering to celebrate the School's 58th Anniversary. The smiling faces of the students shows that they are excitedly awaiting the performance prepared by the school for the celebration. The fact that the students are gathering to celebrate the School's Anniversary projects the spirit of the RV student body celebrating a joyous occasion together as one big family just like how a normal family celebrates the birthday of a family member. The close and bonded ties that we share as a whole school despite being in different years and having different backgrounds is something that deeply touches us all.

Happiness

* Student is happy that there is no homework for the day.

This picture depicts a student jumping and throwing papers in the air. She seems to be very delighted and relief in a sense that there is no homework for the day. From my point of view, I think most RV students will be over the moon at the mention of no homework. As a typical RV student life is very stress and has a extremely heavy workload, to be given a day free from the 'terrifying' claws of homework is almost likely a blessing! When I saw this picture, I thought a bout how lucky this student was and that I wished I had a homework-free day too!

Fear

* Students are scared of End-Of-Year Examinations.

This picture depicts 2 students pointing to the words '1 DAY TO EOY'. Their faces carry a worried expression. From their body posture, we can also see that they are very tensed and stressed. End-of-year examinations (EOY) indeed is a fear for most RV students as its weightage for the whole year's progress is the highest. Most RV students would literally be mugging as much work and notes they can the day before the actual exam. As competition in RV is tense and strong with intellecture students  competing to get remarkable marks, it makes the students more stressed then ever. When I saw this picture, I could imagine myself in their shoes, having to feel the very tense and stress atmosphere and the burden of the word 'EOY' hanging over my shoulders! I indeed felt fear from this picture! 

Life

* Whole school getting ready for morning assembly/flag-raising.

This picture depicts the school's field where RV students assemble and get ready for morning flag raising ceremony. As it is essential for all students and teachers to sing the national song and say the national pledge every morning of a a school day in Singapore, we can see many RV students walking to the field to assemble. As morning assembly is an everyday thing, it has evolved into our everyday life. Therefore, from this picture, we can feel the sense of the RV life.

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Week 1: EOY School Holidays - Reuben

During the holidays, around november to december, there were 2 choir practices each week. We had to prepare for the year end concert so we worked extremeley hard. Every day of chorale practice, we had to do PT first and then sing till mid-afternoon.

Since it was the holidays, i did not have much concern about homework. My homeworm was stackingup on my desk. When i finally got to doing it, it was almost the half end of december! Everyday i slacked on my ipad playing games, enjoying life.

Besides that, i did not go overseas this holiday as i have went to taiwan in june. After all it was an exciting experience to go through christmas again. For christmas we went out to orchard road to shop and dine together as a family. :-)

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Week 1: EOY School Holidays - Nellie :)

Hey there fellow readers! Nellie here. So, this post will be regarding about how I spent my holidays. Well, many things and events happened during the holidays. It was a challenging yet fun-filled and meaningful holiday. We had a 2-month break from school starting from late October.

Anyone would be excited to know that the long-awaited holiday was finally here - not for me though... You all must be thinking, "Nellie, are you right in your mind?!" The thing is, holiday meant long hours of co-curricula activities (CCA) for me. (My CCA is choir.) I was preparing for an end-of-year choir concert throughout the whole of November. Choir practices was twice or thrice a week and usually began early in the morning at 8am with physical training (PT) and ended late in the evening at 5pm. Can you imagine having to sing for almost 7 hours every practice? That was a real challenge for me indeed! I was mentally and physically worn out and exhausted from all those practices! However, our efforts were paid off and our concert was a successful one! Throughout this long journey, I became a stronger person who persevered and overcame obstacles. I also became more bonded with my batch mates!

Then came December. My life started to grow dull after the concert. I had post-concert syndrome and missed the fun I had in November. To add on, I had a mountain high of holiday assignment collecting dust on my table... I could not bring myself to sit down and finish my assignments. Instead, I procrastinated and slacked the whole day long, either on my phone or iPad. Yeah, typical me... Those dreadful and boring days passed on like it was years... 

However, during mid-December, many exciting things happened! Although my family didn't travel overseas, we went to many places in Singapore - Ikea, Orchard, USS and many more...  We went furniture shopping at Ikea 3 times in just 2 weeks. I even ate the poached salmon set at Ikea which tasted like heavens! We also went to Orchard abundant of times, shopping and taking photos with the Christmas decorations and trees! We also went Universal Studios Singapore (USS) twice! That 2 weeks was extremely fun!

Before we knew it, Christmas arrived! My family had a Christmas feast on the eve of Christmas and Christmas Day itself! However, after Christmas, I realised that my holiday assignments were still left untouched! During the last week of holiday, I was on full engine, trying to finish all my assignments! I regretted having not plan and spend my time wisely, resulting in me having to rush everything last-minute!

My holidays were 'almost well-spend', if you exclude the fact that I wasted 2 weeks procrastinating! XD 

Well, that's about it! I hoped you enjoyed reading this post! :)

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Week 1: After-EOY-holidays--Geraldine

Hello there,readers!It's Geraldine sharing about the after-EOY-holidays here!Well,I had been really looking forward to that holiday,just like everyone else.Furthermore,it started from the last week of October,so I get to enjoy about 2 months of holiday!However,my holiday was not very exciting.In fact,it was quite boring.My family and I did not go overseas nor did we went to anywhere fun to enjoy.I simply stayed at home most of the time,almost dying out of boredom.So now,a two-month holiday would not sound good wouldn't it?Reason being the fact that I have to suffer a long,boring holiday.

So what do I do during the holidays?First thing I did,I tried to finish my homework.I know it seemed crazy--beginning of a two-month holiday and I am trying to finish homework?Well,I was just simply bored and since there is homework,why not do it to try and drive my boredom away?And the faster I complete my homework,the better and less stressed afterwards right?But to be honest,at that time,homework was only there to make me less bored,so it was hard for me to concentrate and I only completed one piece of work.

During the middle periods of the holiday,I started to carry out more activities,other than struggling with homework,to entertain myself.So I started reading storybooks,which satisfied me greatly since I like reading them and they can also drive me from my boredom greatly.I would also practice dancing at home since dance is my CCA and listen to some music to relax my mind.Occasionally,I would also go to my friend's house,which is nearby,to do my homework with  her,and also to take the opportunity to enjoy more by playing some board games with her. Several times,I would also need to have a change of scenery as facing the same wall all day was totally unbearable.During those times,I would go outdoor and do some exercise to refresh my mind or,if I am too lazy to do so,I would just go shopping,though it is not something I enjoy due to the result of sore legs at the end of the day.

As the last few weeks of my holidays approached,I finally have some chances to drive my boredom further away--CCA.I had my CCA practices starting at around 20th December then,something that was quite stressful as I had to train very hard for a performance then.So I spent those last few weeks practicing my dance moves at home and also to finish all the homework that were uncompleted.I would say that those last few weeks were the busiest periods of the holiday.

As those busy days went by,the dreaded 31st December finally arrived.Nothing special happened that day either,although I tried my best to think of something better to do.So as my sleep time came and I finally fell asleep,my holidays ended.Just like that.

So...this is the end of the sharing of my long and quite boring holiday.If you enjoyed it,perhaps your holiday was more boring than mine.If you don't,I quite understand. Nevertheless,I just hope that all of us will be able to have more enjoyable holidays in this year 2014!

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Week 1: My EOY Holidays - Shu Ting

Hi there, reader of this fine blog! In RV, our EOY holidays start at the end of October so we basically have two months to relax and unwind from the stress we had for ten months, which is a utter relief. But "every rose has its thorn", the "thorn" referring to homework for most students. I do gain pleasure in doing certain pieces of work, especially if they are of the subject I truly love, but to be honest, majority of us take homework as a chore rather than a learning experience. 

I started my holiday relaxing and catching up on sleep, but a few days after it started, I had to go back to school for my CCA, Choir. We had an upcoming concert on the 30 of November 2013 and had to practise really hard so that the people who paid for the concert tickets would have had their money well-spent. I came back to school regularly during the whole of November and honestly, after a whole day of learning choreography and singing, I was pretty exhausted and could only bring myself to do work on days with no practice.

I enjoyed performing with the school chorale and that was my first concert in RV, so I was more than willing to try my best and make it a part of my memories. I was more bonded with my peers and seniors after this journey and I admit that all the practices and physical training we had gone through was worth it.

After November, I had one week of rest before embarking on a holiday to New Zealand. We did a lot of travelling in New Zealand, a bus journey lasting more than 3 hours. Where we travelled to was full of lush greenery, some places having no buildings or homes in sight. It was such a relief to get away from the bustling city life  in Singapore.

This getaway made me realise how much I was missing while living in Singapore. Compared to New Zealand, Singapore was just concrete everywhere. In New Zealand, it was peaceful. Construction was a rare sight, giving us a chance to enjoy the tranquility and fresh air that Singapore does not possess majority of the time.

I had around two weeks left after coming back to Singapore, which I spent completing my homework and relaxing. I just tried my best to cherish the pockets of time I had before hectic school life started again.

That was only a very brief summary of my holidays but I want to keep some of those memories to myself, just to make them sacred and special. I hope you've had a fulfilling holiday in 2013 and its time to try new stuff and go out of our comfort zone this year!

Originally posted on 9/1/14

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Week 1: First Post -- Group Photo :D

Class : RVHS 2D'14

Group Name : SGNR

Group Members : Pan Shu Ting (19), Geraldine Ng (4), Nellie Lim (15), Reuben Loo (31) // from right to left

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