My trial was with a Buddhist primary school which are the P4 kids to a bowling excursion at Safra Toa Payoh. We are needed to gather at their school first before boarding the excursion bus to go together with them to the location. We were worried that we might be late so we met up earlier but ended up reaching rather early. So after everyone reached, the coordinator, which is sort of the person in charge, show us a list with our names on it and who we are going to pair up with. Just nice I didn't look at the sir name of the person where there are two of them with the similar names but with different sir names. I felt slightly fluttered as I was with the wrong facilitator and initially i thought i was going to be with my friend under the same person. However, after that i managed to get to the correct facilitator that I am under. One class (mix one) was separated into groups so there is a total of 2 facilitator and 2 newbies in charge of the class. Like I mentioned, one of us newbie will be following one of the facilitator. Thankfully, the one I am under was alright and not awkward. Occasionally,we will chat for awhile from time to time and he will share more about the job and also something about himself. Our main objective of today trail trial was to observe and learn from them. I felt more at ease knowing that the facilitator that I am with is not a stern one but more of those that you can joke with. They also told us to be confident at all times even if we are unsure about certain things. It was a bit stressful when the teachers were standing near or behind you like they would be eyeing at your every movement so I have to act professional. Luckily I was able to mingle with the kids well and they completed the worksheet given to them rather fast without much assistance! Some play bowling like a pro with "X" !! STRIKEEE ! Unlike me, I ain't good at bowling but phew I am not the one bowling! One of the facilitator told me to try throwing once since it was the kids throwing all along and they are done with it, after they had filled up the questions and blanks in their worksheet. Guess what? It got into the gutter!! Pfttt. Before it was my class's turn to go in, the facilitator that I am with beckoned for each of the group leader to follow him into the bowling alley to look at the price for each ticket per person, cost to rent a pair of shoes, the number of lanes (25 lanes), number of pins per lane (20 pins) and label the different zone of the bowling lane. The group leaders will then share the information with their group members. Some of the groups were in group of 4,5 or 6. I also found out that they are actually not all from the same class some of them are from other classes. I have no idea how they are being arranged. So during the period of waiting outside the bowling area, after discussing with them the questions, they are allowed to eat the snacks that they brought along with them and one of them brought small moon cakes and laid it all on top of his worksheet. Then the facilitator told him not to put it there as it will dirty the paper. While they were doing their worksheet, I tried to assist those students who need help and slowly through this process (of walking around and peeking at their worksheet, catching their attention) some of them begin to interact more with me. Two girls tried to hide behind me and one of them want to put their jacket on my shoulders when I was not facing them. I also learnt that if you make the children stand up they tend to wonder around everywhere but if you make them sit down, you got to entertain them as they get bored easily. I also try to engage with them by asking if they are excited for bowling and thankfully they replied me like " little bit (looking shy)" , " Yes!" and " I scare I cannot throw and score zero". At least i got answers rather than silence or embarrassed smiles. After they finished snacking or in between snacking time, some of them wanted to go to the toilet or throw rubbish so I was bringing them and going to-and-fro from the toilet and back again. They were all super excited when its finally their turn to go in as they have waited for almost 30 minutes or more I guess. Picking their shoe size and then putting them on,outside of the bowling area. Helped two of them with tying their shoelaces as they didn't know how to. Then, the coordinator started to brief the classes about what they will be doing later and demonstrate to them how they are suppose to throw the ball in 4 steps. After the game ended (10 rounds per game), they are told to change back their school shoes and keep their belongings as we will be going out and settle down at the same area again that we waited at the start to continue doing their worksheet like the recording of their peers' score, total score of their team (doing fraction and decimal) and recording them in graph form where they shade the paper. After they are done packing I told some of the girls to go to the other side first, they said, " no I want to stay here with you", " I will go to jail with you", " I will go anywhere with you". One followed by the other follow the example. It was kind of sweet though! I replied by saying " wa wa wa (for the jail part)." One section of their worksheet requires us to time the speed of the ball from when they throw the ball till it reaches the pin area so that they can fill up their worksheet. They were given a feedback form to fill up too! Their reflections also include what activity they enjoyed most (which is only bowling though, it was the only activity they played) and the mathematical concept they learnt today. AFTER ALL THESE ARE DONE, it was finally the end of the excursion and my facilitator said the trip has ended and I was like YAY finally! As usually after they board the bus, we check on their seat belts and all and have a short chat with them on the bus. However, I cannot stand standing for the whole day so after awhile I went to take a seat. It was tiring but it was fun to interact with the children too!!
Upon reaching their school, the teachers told them to stand up, face us and thanked us for this trip! We said, Goodbye to them after they have thanked us. I saw my facilitator bowing slightly so I imitated him and bowed slightly too, as a form of gratitude I guess.While waving enthusiastically, to the girls whom I played with just now. We were given a debrief in the school canteen by the coordinator before leaving. I haven't had the chance to say bye to my facilitator as I have to go and he is nowhere in sight. Then he was actually at the bus stop that we are also taking so we approached him and I called his name! He was kind of rushing to some other place! I actually learnt something about bowling today!
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