September 29, 2009
No laggers here as Ms Fernandez builds respect and breaks down hurdles in her literature classes
They called themselves the "Lit Laggers."
Convinced that they lacked the aptitude for Literature, one entire class in Catholic High School gave themselves this nickname, to the utter dismay of their teacher Ms Lucy Oliver Fernandez. But Ms Fernandez took on their collective wit and strove to ignite their interest in the subject, introducing afternoon study sessions and study camps.
As she shared with them in vivid detail how literature captures the eloquent truths of human life, it wasn't long before the Lit Laggers "began to identify with Literature more and more", as she says, and, to Ms Fernandez's amusement, they rechristened themselves "Lit is for the Brave!" and finally, in tandem with their growing enthusiasm, "Lit for Life!"
Mr Terry Tan at Anglo Chinese School (Primary) is also familiar with this sort of runaway passion. To make his Mathematics lessons fun and engaging, the self-taught "techie" uses computer games that he has written himself. Not content to just play along, some of his pupils asked him to teach them computer programming. One boy was so keen that when challenged with a seemingly "impossible task", he worked for two months to turn the tables on Mr Tan and come up with a problem-solving robotic mouse. "It was my turn to be amazed!" says Mr Tan.
Be it through tales or technology, Ms Fernandez and Mr Tan are teachers whose abilities to inspire and innovate have made them two of four recipients of this year's President's Award for Teachers.
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