Reported by:
Grace Low Shing Wei Sr1ScA
From 7th September to 28th October 2021, Kuen Cheng High School organized a peer learning program for a period of 2 months, offering students the opportunity to learn from each other. The project took place every Tuesday and Thursday evening from 8 to 9. It involves students from the Senior Middle Levels tutoring the Juniors, or students in the same year assisting each other on a certain subject.
The last day of the program kicked off with a 10-minute meditation led by our Counselling Teacher, Mr Tan Yong Chin, who is also the Head of the School Counselling Department. Then, it is followed by a sharing session from two volunteers of the peer learning program.
Firstly, the former Head Prefect, alumnus Lim Jia Yong shared with us his learning experience, that is to always be curious about what we are learning. Besides, he also said that the purpose of the teacher asking us questions is to know our understanding of certain topics and to address the misconceptions of the students. Next, he advised us to immediately clarify with our teacher when we don’t understand a topic, and not delay asking questions in class. Lastly, he also suggested that we apply our knowledge on a daily basis and set realistic goals for academic improvement.
sharing session
Moving on, some study tips are shared by student Ang Jun Kye from Sr1ComB. Jun Kye was once a participant in this program two years ago. With the help of his teacher and family, he has improved drastically in his academic performance. And now he is a volunteer in the peer learning program. He said his way of learning is to teach his friends what he has learnt and pay more attention to his weaker subjects.
Furthermore, he recommended two productivity apps for students—Notion and Forest. With the help of Notion, we can record our learning progress and manage our time wisely.
Notion app
Next is Forest. Whenever we want to start a study session, we just plant a tree. With the deep focus mode, our tree withers if we leave the app. When the study session ends, users are rewarded with coins that can be used to buy a new tree species.
Forest app
After the sharing session, students were assigned to their respective breakout rooms. This private study room allows the peers to learn with volunteers, and there is a good deal to be learned by the volunteers from explaining the ideas to the peers too.
At 9:10 p.m. sharp, students returned to the main room. The teacher in charge sent a padlet link for students to share their reflections and feedback on this two-month-learning-program. In return, students also sent their heartfelt gratitude to the teachers and the volunteers for helping them out in their learning process.
Moving on, the Principal, Madam Chua Lee Lee, gave a speech to the audience. She appreciated the teachers and volunteers for their dedication and support to the project. She also said that getting bad results doesn’t mean that we have lost, but it just means we have not found a learning method that suits us. In any case, don’t give up on yourself, because no matter how hard, there will always be someone there to help you with. At the end of her speech, she wished everyone all the best in their upcoming exam.
We took a big group photo to capture this wonderful moment. The event drew to a successful close, with everyone feeling accomplished and satisfied.
Group photo