2016 Pre-school Engagement Programme - Session 5

Dear 2016 Sec 1 students, 

For students who have confirmed their registration status post PSLE, you can join the Pre-School Engagement Programme Google Classroom Course using the class code

s6ub6ra

As for the promised tutorial on Infographic web-app, I have decided to NOT put up in the student blog because none of the web-apps I tried can offer a totally free educational license.

If you are still interested in learning how to use such a tool, you may refer to this article and try out some of the recommended tools.

Here wishing everyone a Happy New Year and Prosperous 2016!

Mr Dean Ang Ngee Keng 洪仪庆
Head of Department

Information and Communication Technology,

[S2, S3, S4] Invitation to Class Blog

Dear S2, S3 & S4 students

Please check you email to accept the invitation to your class blog.
Reminder: You are to accept the invite with your SST email account only [for Compliance]

Remember to bookmark this page as it serves as the gateway to your learning resources.

Additional Note:
Subject teachers are in the midst of populating the relevant information/ links in the "Learning Gateway" spreadsheet. It should be accessible by students by the 8 January 2016 (Friday). Meanwhile, the file is not viewable by students.

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myLibrary ID

Dear students

Kindly note, all students are required to sign up for my LibraryID by NLB. Sec 2s students have to sign up before 8 Jan 2016 due to the oncoming NLB e-resources talk.

You need to be an existing NLB Members before you can sign for my LibraryID. PRs and Foreigners who are currently not NLB members are required to register as NLB members before registering online.

Healthy Meals in Schools Programme

Dear Students,

To encourage healthier eating habits for all, the Health Promotion Board (HPB) is rolling out the Healthy Meals in Schools Programme to schools. SST will be implementing it when the school re-opens in 2016. The food served in the canteen will come as a set to provide a balanced meal and will comply with the following HPB requirements:

1. Maximum 7% sugar content in all drinks.

2. Minimum 2 heaped dessert spoon servings of greens and 1⁄2 serving of fruit in the meals.

3. No deep-fried, pre-fried and fatty food.

4. Adding whole-grains into meals, such as 20% brown rice to white rice and 20% brown rice bee hoon to white bee hoon.

More details can be found at HPB website at this link.

Students will be given a token for every meal purchased and they can use it to collect 1/2 serving of fruit from fruit dispensing machines located at the area between canteen and science laboratories, near to canteen switches.

There will be a slight increase in canteen food prices with the use of healthier ingredients and the inclusion of fruits. A set meal will cost between $2.30 (e.g. Mee Rebus, Mee Siam, Lontong etc) to $2.50 (e.g. 2 vegetable, 1 meat mixed rice, Korean Bulgogi Chicken Rice etc).

Thank you.
Warmest regards,
School of Science and Technology, Singapore.

Temperature taking exercise

Dear students,

SST will be conducting a temperature measurement exercise on 7 January 2016. This is to ensure the school’s preparedness to resume the temperature-measurement regime and to familiarize our students with the process. The exercise also serves to educate our students on the need to take personal responsibility for their own health and social responsibility for the health of others.

The Oral Digital Thermometer (ODT), which costs $5.00 each, can be purchased from the school bookshop. Students are reminded to keep their ODTs in good working condition.

Mr Ken Yeoh Choo Kean

Operations Executive

School of Science and Technology, Singapore

[All Students] Back to School 2016!

Dear Students,

We hope you had a great holiday! 

To continue the "SST Back To School" tradition, do encourage bring items to donate to the elderly beneficiaries of 2016. These items will be wrapped & delivered by the Secondary 2 students for the elderly beneficiaries under the Caregiving Welfare Association.

We appeal to all students and staff of SST to contribute non-perishable food items as part of our Donation Drive in 2016. 

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Please bring along these items on the 1st day of school, 4th January Monday.

Secondary 2 students, please bring materials necessary to wrap a hamper eg, basket (as base), tape and plastic wrapping paper. SL representatives, do check your emails for more details.

Suggested list of food items (non-perishable)

• White/Brown rice (5kg/2.5 kg)
• Milo (tin/packet)
• Condensed/Evaporated milk (canned)
• Cereals (tin/packet)
• Soy Sauce (1 litre/1.5 litre)
• Cooking oil (1 litre/1.5 litre)
• Salt/Sugar (small packets)
• Biscuits (tin/ packet)
• Canned food (halal / non-halal)
• Dried Noodles/ Bee Hoon (packet)
• Medicated Oil e.g Yu Yee Oil, Axe Brand, Feng Yu

Note:
 All food items must have an expiry date of no less than 6 months, and must not be damaged in any way/ opened.

We look forward to your keen participation in the Donation Drive in the new year of 2016 to bring a positive New Year cheer to the community around us.

Have a Happy 2016 New Year!!

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From

Ms Adele Lim
on behalf of the SST Youth Service Programme

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2016 Sec 3 Class List

To all Sec 3s in 2016,

The new  Sec 3 class list is now ready and available on the Sec 3 (2016) GoogleSite; you may find information on your allocated subjects in it as well.

Please make sure you take a look before the new school term begins.

Thank you for your attention.

2016 Secondary 1 Students using Primary School's Smart Card

Dear 2016 Secondary 1 Students

A warm welcome to SST!

Please be informed that you will be issued with a new Secondary level School Smart Card (SSC) in due course.

While waiting for the Secondary level SSC to be ready, you may continue to use your Primary level SSC for concessionary travel till end April 2016. You can still purchase the Bus Concession Pass (BCP) using your Primary level SSCs but you would need to purchase the BCP for Secondary School students.

For clarification or assistance, you may contact SST General Office on Tel: 65717200.
Thank you.

2016 Pre-school Engagement Programme - Session 4

Dear 2016 Sec 1 students,

Welcome back to another session of online tutorial!

Online Note-taking

In this session, we are going to explore the use of online note-taking platforms. In particular, we will look at online stickies and mindmaps.


The two platforms that I will be introducing are Padlet (https://padlet.com) and Lucidchart (https://lucidchart.com).

Introduction to Padlet

Padlet is a virtual wall that allows people to express their thoughts on a common topic easily. It works like an online sheet of paper where people can put any content (e.g. images, videos, documents, text) anywhere on the page, together with anyone, from any device.

Padlet allows Google App users to log in using their Gmail credentials.

As of January 2015, Padlet has premium versions that require subscriptions to use. In logging in, if you are prompted to upgrade to the paid version, just click of the "skip" link in the top-right hand corner.

Key Features of Padlet

Easy

Drag and drop. Auto save. It's software you already know how to use.

Instant collaboration

You can see everyone's activity on the padlet instantly. Bye bye page reloads.

Multimedia
Paste link to a youtube video? Check! Drag a word document from your computer? Check! Take a picture from your iPad camera? Check! A file in your drawer? Erm .. someday .. someday.

Layouts

Like flexibility? Use the free form layout. Like organization? Use streams (and don't look at our office desks).

To find out more about Padlet, follow its Google+ Page.

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ACTIVITY 1 - Generating ideas with padlet

1. Login to Padlet and fill up the information as shown below:

• Enter the title "Digital Citizenship"
• Add the description: Let's put down, in each sticky, word/ phrases that crosses your mind when we talk about "Digital Citizenship"
• Choose an image as your portrait icon. Alternatively, you may upload your own image.

2. To post on the wall, place the mouse pointer at the space and double click.
A sticky will appear. You may start posting your thoughts. Generate as many as you could and attempt to organise them into broad categories (as shown).

3. Click at "Share" (on the right) and copy the HTML codes under "EMBED".

4. Login to your blog. Create a new post entitled "Digital Citizenship - Random Thoughts"
Switch the posting mode to "HTML" and paste the HTML codes there.


5. Switch back to "Compose" mode and the blog post should look like this:

6. Submit the link to the blog post Google Classroom.

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Introduction to Lucidchart

Lucidchart is a web-based diagramming software which allows users to collaborate and work together in real time to create flowcharts, organisational charts, website wireframes, UML designs, mind maps, software prototypes, and many other diagram types. 

Refer to https://www.lucidchart.com/pages/beginners-guide-to-lucidchart for a quick guide to the key features of lucidchart. 

Spend at least 10 minutes to pick up the basics.

Lucidchart can be upgraded to allow collaborative editing of a diagram, which is a feature only for the paid version. You will be glad that SST has already upgraded your account.

If for some reason, you are still not able to share your diagrams, follow the instructions for the free upgrade.  Otherwise, go straight to Activity 2.

Visit https://goo.gl/mufr8Y and follow the 3-steps instructions.
Click at the big blue button that says "REQUEST MY UPGRADE".

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ACTIVITY 2 - MIND MAPPING WITH Lucidchart

1. Watch the following tutorial video to learn the basics of mind-mapping using Lucidchart:

2. Using the basic mind-mapping skills, generate a to-do list for the first day of school. Make sure the items are classified into at least 3 main categories.

3. Embed your mindmap in Google Doc template in Google Classroom. Use the Lucidchart addon that I have enabled for all students. The following video might be useful:

Check out https://www.lucidchart.com/pages/tour/google_docs_addon for more information.

4. Turn in the work in Google Classroom.

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That's it for Session 4. Look forward to our final instalment on creating Infographic!

[For Info only] Relocation of Transitlink's Ticket Office and Concession Card Replacement Offices

Dear Students

Please be informed that TransitLink has officially made changes to the operations of Ticket Offices and Concession Card Replacement Offices. Please click HERE for the Relocation Notice. For your information only.

Thank You.

2016 Pre-school Engagement Programme - Session 3

Introduction to Google Forms and Sheets

Dear 2016 Sec 1 students,

In the Pre-School Engagement Activities - Session 2, we have seen Google docs and slides at work. In this session, we will see how Google Forms and Sheets can work hand in hand.

• Google Sheets App handles data and make meaning out of them using functions and formulas.
• Like Docs and Slides, Sheets are cloud-based and facilitates collaborative editing and commenting.

Furthermore, it is tightly integrated with Google Forms App and data collected from a form can go straight to a sheet.

Here are some quick starts reference material and the cheat sheets for Google Sheets and Google Forms

QUICK STARTS 

• Sheets basics (Recommended time - at least 10 mins) 
• Forms basics (Recommended time - 10 mins) 

SHEETS, err, CHEAT SHEET

Video introduction to the latest change in Google Sheets.

FORMS CHEAT SHEETS 

Let do a simple activity in Forms to collate information on the participation of 2015 Sec 1 students on the Pre-School Engagement Activities:

Activity 1 - Progress Tracking Form Activity

1. Based on your participation in the activities so far, complete the form below:

2. Access the form data at https://goo.gl/HDxudO and make a copy in your own drive.

3. Check out the auto summary of responses generated by Google Forms. Using built-in functions such as AVERAGE or COUNTIF, create a summary of responses for questions 1 to 3.

4. Turn in your work in Google Classroom, submitting your spreadsheet generated from this activity.

Activity 2 - Data Gathering Task

1. Each of you will design a survey with at least 3 questions and at most 6 questions.
The questions must revolve around a general theme or hypothesis, eg, Study habits of 2016 Sec 1 SST students, Food that we love etc .

2. Create a Google Form and get at least fifteen Sec 1 Students (2016) to respond. Store the responses in a separate spreadsheet with the same name as the form.

3. Generate a report of the findings in a one-page Google Doc. (Hint: You can grab a report template from docs.google.com.) The Doc must have more than one chart and a concluding paragraph. Embed the Google Doc as a post in your blog.

4. Turn in your work in Google Classroom, submitting your form, responses spreadsheet and the 1-page Gdoc report generated from this activity.

That's it for session 3. In the next session, we will learn some Online Virtual Note and Mind Mapping Apps. The learning material will be posted on Wednesday 16 Dec 2015.

2016 Pre-school Engagement Programme - Session 2

Dear 2016 Sec 1 Students,

Those who have NOT completed session 1 of the 2016 Pre-school Engagement Programme are encouraged to revisit the session before continuing this one. Do be informed that the learning material and quizzes are available in Google Classroom.

For those who have, welcome back! It is encouraging to see the number of submissions in this period of the year. I understand that many may be going overseas for a holiday and might not be able to keep to the schedule spelled out in the overview post. Do try to catch up the missed sessions before school reopens.

Today, we will introduce the SST account, which is a Google Apps account which allows you access to a wide range of online services.

Essentially, your SST account gives you access to services shown below:

Among these apps, Google Drive is the home for Docs, Sheets, Slides and more. Watch the video below to get a better understanding on Google Drive.

For resources on Google Drive, a good site to start with is http://learn.googleapps.com/products/drive/get-started/ (Recommended time - 10-15 mins)

After reading the guide, you should be able to :

• Set up Google Drive 
• Organize, find, and share files 
• Open and preview files 

INTRODUCING THE MEMBERS OF GOOGLE DRIVE

Here's a quick rundown of the basic google apps available in Google Drive.

DOCS

• Google Docs is an online word processor that lets you create and format text documents and collaborate with other people in real time. Here's what you can do with Google Docs: 
• Upload a Word document and convert it to a Google document 
• Add flair and formatting to your documents by adjusting margins, spacing, fonts, and colours — all that fun stuff 
• Invite other people to collaborate on a document with you, giving them edit, comment or view access 
• Collaborate online in real time and chat with other collaborators — right from inside the document 
• View your document's revision history and roll back to any previous version 
• Download a Google document to your desktop as a Word, OpenOffice, RTF, PDF, HTML or zip file 
• Translate a document to a different language 
• Email your documents to other people as attachments 

SHEETS

• Google Sheets is an online spreadsheet app that lets you create and format spreadsheets and simultaneously work with other people. Here's what you can do with Google Sheets: 
• Import and convert Excel, .csv, .txt and .ods formatted data to a Google spreadsheet 
• Export Excel, .csv, .txt and .ods formatted data, as well as PDF and HTML files 
• Use formula editing to perform calculations on your data, and use formatting make it look the way you'd like 
• Chat in real time with others who are editing your spreadsheet 
• Create charts with your data 
• Embed a spreadsheet — or individual sheets of your spreadsheet — on your blog or website 

SLIDES

• Google Slides is an online presentations app that allows you to show off your work in a visual way. Here's what you can do with Google Slides: 
• Create and edit presentations 
• Edit a presentation with friends or coworkers, and share it with others effortlessly 
• Import .pptx and .pps files and convert them to Google presentations 
• Download your presentations as a PDF, a PPT, or a .txt file 
• Insert images and videos into your presentation 
• Publish and embed your presentations in a website 

FORMS 

• Create a Google form 
• Add and edit questions, headers, and page breaks 
• Add a theme to a form 
• Control your form's page-to-page navigation 
• Share your form with collaborators 
• Send your form to respondents 
• Choose a form response destination 
• View and manage form responses 
• Edit form responses after submitting 
• Deleting a form or form responses 
• Pre-populate form answers 
• Additional forms options for Google Apps users 

Use the Google Apps Document and Support site for learning resources on Google Apps.

Specifically, learn the basics of Docs, Slides and Spreadsheet by following these links:

QUICK STARTS 

• Docs basics (Recommended time - at least 10 mins) 
• Sheets basics (Recommended time - at least 10 mins) 
• Slides basics (Recommended time - at least 10 mins) 

CHEAT SHEETS 

Activity 1 - Google Drive and My Learning in SST 

With a basic familiarity of Google Drive operations, complete Drive Task 1:

1. Create a folder named 00 School Work your Drive folder.
2. Create the following 12 folders in the folder created in step 1. 

(Hint: To facilitate sorting in Google Drive, you might want to use the 2-digits numbering system, i.e. 01 English, 02 Maths, 03 Science etc).

     3. Screen-capture the 12 folders in your google drive and submit to Session 2 - Activity 1           in Google Classroom.

Activity 2 - About Myself and My Learning Style

1. From Google Classroom Assignment, open a copy of the file 2016 About myself and my learning style.gdoc.
2. Replace and insert at least 2 original images to the google doc.
3. Complete the rest of the cells with the titles: 

• My proudest achievement in 2015 
• My strength in learning 
• My resolution in 2016 
• Area of weakness I will improve on 

   4. Invite a new schoolmate to add at least 1 comment on the doc. 

       Refer to this spreadsheet for the email list of your new schoolmates.

   5. Turn in your work in Google Classroom.

Activity 3 - A Ho Ho Ho Holiday and season greetings

1. Open the shared slide - A Ho ho ho holiday and season greetings for all

2. Insert a new slide. Add your name prominently using the text box feature. 

3. Insert a non-copyrighted image as background. Theme of slide is "Season's Greetings!". 

4. Add a comment to another slide created by someone else.

    Rules - No trolling nor spamming! Watch what you say online, and be nice!

5. Add other design elements on your slide using any feature of Google slide. 

Bonus: Embed your slide in your blog created in Session 1, like how I did it below:

6. Turn in your work in Google Classroom.

That's all for Session 2. 

Next up: 2016 Pre-School Engagement Programme - Session 3
(Postponed to Monday 14 Dec)

Title: My SST Account, Introduction to Google Apps (Part 2)

MOE Independent School Bursary (ISB) Applications 2016

Dear Students

Please be reminded that applications for the MOE Independent School Bursary (ISB) are open for eligible students who are Singapore Citizens. Current ISB awards will expire on 31 December 2015. Current recipients are required to submit a fresh application for 2016 if they wish to continue receiving the MOE ISB.

Interested applicants may obtain the application form by either downloading the form from SST website or collect a hardcopy form from SST General Office. Completed applications are to be submitted directly to SST General Office for processing.

Applicants are reminded to ensure the proper submission of applications with all required supporting documents; incomplete applications will not be processed. Applicants who qualify for 100% ISB are strongly encouraged to submit their applications as early as possible to facilitate processing and approval.

More information about ISB and other scholarships are available on the SST website.

Thank you.

2016 Pre-school Engagement Programme - Session 1

Dear 2016 Sec 1 students,

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Welcome to SST's big family! Greetings from Mr Dean Ang, HOD ICT. I will be your online guide with 5 online sessions of learning.

If you are a Sec 1 student (2016) reading this blog post, chances are you have already received your SST account and waiting for your new learning device, the Macbook, to start an exciting learning journey in a few weeks time.

Most of you will have an Internet connected computer at home, let the learning begin as soon as today! 

You will need the following:

• An SST account
  Refer to the following post for instructions to activating your account.
• A computer connected to the InternetSince not everyone has received his or her learning device (MacBook), I shall focus on cross platforms web-based applications accessible within a browser of an Internet connected desktop computer.

In SST, blogs are commonly used communication platforms. The Students Blog is our main announcement platform where information is disseminated to the student community. 

Each class also has a class blog where class activities and daily homework are posted there keep all (students and parents) informed of the happenings at the class level. Similarly, some subjects run activities via the subject blogs too.

You will be required to participate in blog activities quite regularly, as someone to comment on blog post, or as a co-author. It is therefore important for all to be familiar with the features of the blog.

Managing your own blog(s)

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To access your own blog,

• Log in to your SST (Google) account
• Click on the Apps launcher, click "More" to display the dropdown menu.
• Select "Blogger"

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Activity 1 - Setting up My Blogger's Profile

1. You will be prompted to login again. The following will be displayed.

Choose "Blogger Profile" (on the right) to create a limited Blogger profile.

2. If the Blogger Profile is not available, choose the Google+ profile first. Click on the Gear icon  to revert to Blogger profile. The reason is that Google+ service will not be activated for Secondary 1 students.

 

3. Enter your FULL Name in when prompted to update the Blogger profile.

3. Next, you are ready to create your first blog.

Click at "New Blog" (on the left) to begin

4. For the first blog, give the blog title, "My SST Journey begins here".

Create your own blog address. You are encouraged to name it with "sst-" before your full name (e.g. sst-chuawaitan.blogspot.com). 

Choose a template before clicking at "Create blog!" at the bottom right.

5. You are now ready to blog. You will be "brought" to the dashboard where your blog is.

Click at "New Blog" to start blogging.

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Activity 2 - Introducing Yourself

1. In your first blog post, you are going to do an introduction about about yourself.

Your target audience: Your Form Teacher and Classmates in 2016

• Blog title: About me (I)
• Insert image of an object that you would like your peers to associate you. 
• Give a brief introduction about yourself. It should include...
• Your name, how you would like your peers to address you
• What are some things you like to do (i.e. your hobbies)? 
• e.g. Are there some sports you enjoy doing? 
• e.g. What are your favourite pastimes?
• Your personality and behaviour that you would like your peers to take note of
• e.g. Do you enjoy talking to people? 
• Do you tend to quickly get into action?

2. Make an attempt to change the size, font and colour of the text and even highlight some key words that you would like to draw others' attention to.

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Activity 3 - Embedding a Video Clip from Youtube.com

Besides text, we can also embed video clips into a blog.

1. Create a new post entitled "A video clip that caught my attention".

2. Identify one video clip in "Youtube EDU" (http://www.youtube.com/education?category=K-12) that you find interesting and would like to introduce it to your audience.

3. Underneath the video clip, click at "Share" followed by the "Embed" button.

4. The HTML code will be displayed. Copy the HTML code.

5. Return to the blog post, switch to the "HTML" mode and paste the code in the space.

It should look like this:

6. Switch back to "Compose" mode and the post should look like this:

7.  In the same post, add the following:

• Title of the video clip 
• Briefly what is the content of the video clip
• In 3 bullet points, describe briefly what you have learnt from this video clip?

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Classroom is a free web-based platform that integrates your SST Google Apps account with all your Google Apps services for your online learning activities. 

Students can keep track of what’s due on the assignments page and on Calendar and begin working with just a click. 

Visit the Google Classroom help page to understand more about Classroom.

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MANAGING YOUR CLASSES

A Class titled "2016 Pre-school Engagement Programme" has been created and you have been invited to join as a student. The instructions and learning material available in this blog will be made available in the Class under the STREAM tab. Accept the class and submit the url links of Activities 1-3.

To accept an invitation to join a class:

Web browser

1. Sign in to Classroom at classroom.google.com
2. Click Join to join the class.

Mobile app

1. Touch .
2. On the class card, touch Join to join the class.

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Activity 4 - Submitting the url links for Activities 1-3

1. Sign in to Google Classroom and click on the Assignment 4, titled "Submission of url links for Activities 1-3".

2. Complete and submit the 3 urls from Activities 1-3 to Google form. Add the first url (to your main blog) to the assignment before you turn it in and mark it as done.

That's it for Session 1. 

Next up: 2016 Pre-School Engagement Programme - Session 2
Title: My SST Account, Introduction to Google Apps (Part 1)

Here's a little video from Google that shows some of the things your SST account can do.