ORID elements Focus Guiding Questions

Facts, Data  What were the key points you noted about the lessons?
 What did the students actually do during . . . ?
O What?  What did you observe during the . . . ?
Objective  What were the student behaviors you observed?
Reflective questions, Reactions  As you look at the students’ works, what concerns/pleases you?
 How did you feel as you were . . . ?
R  As you reflect on the lessons, what was exciting, surprising, or
What about the “What”? frustrating about . . . ?
Reflective  Which activities/actions do you think fostered high engagement?
Interpretive questions, critical  What could you have done/could you do to increase . . .?
thinking:  What could you have done/could you do to minimize the
I undesirable . . . .?
 What other ways could you check for students understanding?
Interpretive So What?  What did you learn about yourself through this experience?
Decision questions:  What things will you do differently?
 What things will you do the same in future . . . ?
D  Which of your skills will you further develop? And what will you
Now what? do to develop them?
Decisional  What are your next steps? What actions/ideas has this triggered
for you?
My Reflections

Differentiated Instruction in the T&L of English (Corporate Video w PMT Mr Cedric Leong)

Teaching English to my secondary 1 FSBB classes has been challenging but definitely fulfilling thus
far. First off, incorporating the new IMs from our ELS 2020 whilst also making headway on our IP level
materials in Deyi has been a balancing act. I am making intentional effort to weave in elements of
“Voices At Play” along with driving the T&L of editing skills, situational writing considerations like
PACC, introducing students to reading comprehension strategies, explicitly teaching grammar, building
up robust vocabulary and the list goes on.
Thrown in the academic mix, were pertinent considerations related to Differentiated Instruction.
Furthering our collaboration with PMT Mr Cedric Leong, Gladys and I were tasked to record a
corporate learning video enacting elements of D.I. in a large English language class. The runway for
the conception, discussion, evaluation and preparation of the actual lesson was incredibly short, and
hence, it did make for a couple of stressful weeks leading up to the filming.

Focussing on the learning process, I am thoroughly appreciative of this opportunity to work with PMT
Mr Cedric Leong and to contend, conceptualise and grapple with tenets of D.I. and how to make these
teaching actions / initiatives visible for a video recording. I was exposed to a whole range of
pedagogical considerations that included intentional and flexible grouping, creating and fine-tuning
elements of the lesson to aptly demonstrate and hone various SSABs in the 2020 syllabus and even
orientating the classroom set-up for optimum differentiation in instruction. Working alongside Gladys
was a true joy as well. We discussed the lesson extensively and created the lesson materials together.
Filming alongside her for the teacher discussion segments was so easy, fun, fulfilling and truly
collaborative. I greatly appreciated our genuine interest in the topic/task at hand and enjoyed much
chemistry as we discussed our thoughts openly and critically.
The filming was a tremendous experience for the students as well. Quiet and rather lacklustre in the
beginning (owing to the presence of so many cameras/microphones/glare filters/huge lights/video
equipment), my students slowly but surely became more expressive and vibrant in their classroom
engagement and participation. They did exceedingly well amidst the ‘stressful’ circumstances and
answered my questions eloquently, with due insight related to reading skills and strategies.

Through the enactment of this lesson, I deepened my own understanding in terms of how to enact
various tenets of D.I. in class. These include, but are not limited to, focussing on the process of inquiry,
differentiating content (related to classroom materials), co-constructing reading goals/profiles and
raising students’ metacognitive awareness. These past two weeks have certainly brought with it much
learning and development for me.