Lessons will be suspended from 10.30-12.30 just because it is Learning Fest! I think I just  heard someone said we should organise more Learning Festival! Haha.

And here’s the timetable for the workshops:

Do check out  the website www.learningfestival2009.wordpress.com to find out more and please do take this opportunity to learn more!

The ARTS JAM – A Joint Production by the Bachelor Of Arts Club and ASEAN Club @NIE

The ARTS JAM was merely a dream of celebrating the local Arts scene encapsulating few visual art performances by youths from NIE and other local institutions. This dream was realized on the evening of 23^rd June 09 when 80 delegates from Singapore, Viet Nam and Thailand participated in the inaugural ARTS JAM- Masquerade Night, showing off their splendid performances and glamorous costumes. You could have met anyone from Cleopatra, to Sherlock Holmes to Fiona from Shrek! Members from the Bachelor of Arts Club and ASEAN Club jointly produced the ARTS JAM that took place at the Auditorium at the School of Arts, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University.

Our Guest-Of-Honour was Professor Goh Kim Chuan, Head, Academic Quality Management. In fact, even he was transformed into the Majestic King as we adorned him in a regal gold robe. Sporty as he is, he joined the spirit of celebration and enjoyed being welcomed by a whole platoon of pirates, fairies and English women from the 19^th Century.

This was an event which was initially planned for the local youths. Amazingly, it expanded to become a platform for ASEAN youths to showcase their artistic talents as with our Singaporean artists! We had 10 performances followed by the Masquerade Fashion parade. In all, we ended the celebrations at midnight! We also had art exhibitions by NIE Art students in collaboration with students form LASALLE-College of the Arts in Singapore. Our Guest-Of-Honour was extremely pleased with the creative pieces displayed.

The Arts Jam also seeks to be our very first attempt at marketing the Bachelor of Arts Club as being one of the active student body promoting the Arts scene in NIE and Singapore in an effort to celebrate the increasing attention and passion attributed to the development of Arts in Singapore. Here’s to more celebration of the Arts @NIE and beyond! Special mention goes out to Executive members of Bachelor of Arts Club, ASEAN Club, Camp Facilitators, LASALLE students, Hajjar and Faizal. Two thumbs up and hugs to all of you who made it happen!

By: Aisha Farhana

       Organizer of Arts Jam 2009

We hope you are coping well! It’s just the first week!  Have you reached your borrowing limit? Topped up your cash card/ ez-link more than twice this week? Killed many trees? Take more than 10 minutes to find your TR?   Things will definitely get better after that. You’ll get used to it! Anyway, we are still feeling _____ due to the fact that FOC was cancelled! How irritating can that get?! We have not even been formally introduced to one another. tsk.

Hopefully, this Friday, we will have a chance to get to know each other better.

The Bachelor of Arts Club, or BA Club, is one of the main sub-clubs in NIE, and we are searching for passionate individuals who are not afraid to be creative…BA Club decides to REVAMP! Shed the old, and drabby clothes and don on some shimmery and bright outfit and shimmy away (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimmy)!

 You may not ….

be decked out in blue.. or

 looking as cool when you are donating blood…

 or in white , smiling like angels…,

or look cute with sparkles..,

or wearing a smart suit and tie…

BUT,

WE WANT YOU!

(ok picture Uncle Sam pointing at you now)

We are looking for different, fun, interesting/unique/weird people (+ those who want to make a CHANGE) to form the new Exco team! YOOHOO!!!  BE the agent of change. If you feel that you can contribute a lot to the club, please don’t be shy! Join us!

Of course there are responsibilities but don’t fret!  The Exco team ALWAYS help one another and what are the seniors for?

Here are the positions for you to apply.

1.       Chairperson

2.    Vice-Chairperson

3.     Secretary

4.     Treasurer

5.      Logistics Officer

6.      Events Coordinator

 7.      Welfare Officer

8.      Publicity Officer

9.      Publications Officer

You say,

“Aiya, I got so many things to do already. So many modules, so many readings… Think better don’t commit to unnecessary things..”

Being busy is NOT an excuse. You will be amazed at how well you can manage! Trust me on this! You’ll be transformed to become a superman/woman and you’ll be so PROUD of yourself!  It will be an enjoyable and fulfilling experience!

What is BA Club about ah?”

We plan events and activities for the school! If you don’t want a boring university life, then YOU should take the step to make it interesting! We don’t have to meet up every week! We will meet if we feel there is a need to. Just to let you know, we don’t really like meetings too…. Look at our past events and upcoming events!

Great way to meet people too!

If you have any more questions about the club or if you want to participate in the activities, this coming Friday 14th August 9a.m. -4.30p.m, there will be a Club recruitment at the Library Arcade! (near canteen)!! Please do write down your contact so we can email you. We promise not to spam.

To apply for the EXCO positions, please fill in the attached form and bring it with you during your interview. Please inform us of your preferred interview time at nie.baclub@gmail.com. You can also express your passion/strong desire to assume any EXCO positions on Friday and collect the form from there! We welcome you!

BA Club 13th Exco Application Form

See ya!

Cheers,

BA CLUB

Although not all were free to turn up, we had great fun. Chilll-out babayyy. No alcohol pls. Fair weather. East Coast Park.

Working hand in hand trying to create some fire. Or at least some sparks. Ya, i’m talking about the charcoal. Not between James and Wanyee.

Right, Retreat should be fun right?! Who in the RIGHT mind will bring scrabble?

“I’m SO SORRY. I promised NOT to bring scrabble anymoree…. How about jigsaw puzzle?UNO? “

But you guys like it so much that you played till the sun went to rest.. Melvyn was SO into. Come on, English teacher, you love scrabble more than I do right?

I tell you, the wings were simply YUMMY. As what Faizah says, “Think about the calories later!”. Plenty of goodies! Ya the cheese tofu is fantastic too. I can’t believe those people(old people) did not know the existence of CHEESE tofu! Weird.. 

After some yummilicious food, we sat down. While waiting  for the food to go to our tummies and hips, we engaged in a scintillating conversation, revolving around scandalous romance and ’some maiden chasing her prince ‘story..

(psst, that’s melvyn counting his scrabble scores. We ate his dust.

We head to Macs for some more fun! Some strip teasing!! OK ok… just teasing. No stripping. See la, got Shaheena so shy and all.

They are so NOT together. haha. That’s Melvyn and Wanyee!

Candid!!! We all love them! We talked till late and laughed like mad cows. It was great to take out some time from our busy schedules to have a BBQ. We would love more of you to join us next time. Doesn’t matter if you do not know us well. When you join us in our activities and talk to us more, we WIll get to know one another better.  

 Yup, group photo of the day deserved to be big ass huge! (YOUR ass! haha!)

Our next PARTY will be on 29th August 2009! Details to be confirmed late August!

Cheers and twirls,

Sophia Ong Hui

Hope your practicum has been going well! 5/10 weeks will really zoom by real quick!

Some updates on what the BA Club :

1)Had retreat! Finally. A cosy BBQ at East Coast Park.  What you see is not the full force yet!!

(From left to right : Wanyee, Melvyn, Shaheena, Faizah, James, Hui, Sigmund, Firdaus)

2)Had a Blasting time during the ASEAN Youth Mania which was in  June! Will update with pretty pictures too!

3)Planning for Learning Festival in August!

4)Yes! Stories of NIE! Grab your cameras and snap away in NIE!

5)Blood Drive in September. Due to the H1N1, we are unable to hold some of the usual activities. There will not be any Director’s Relay or the FOC! Well, what to do?

Take temperature twice a day?

Keep fit and healthy and exercise regularly ok!

Cheers,

Hui

So many questions BUT…… WHO SHOULD I ASK?!

Am I scaring you? Don’t worry. BA Club organises the Teaching Practicum Forum (TPF) every year to help you get the answers to all the questions you may possibly have about Practicum.

This year, the Practicum was held on the 18^th of February. There were about 20 students who attended this forum. Dr Nicholas Tan, Dr Angela Wong and Ms Mak Wai Leng (a teacher who recently graduated from NIE with a Distinction for Practicum) attended the forum and answered various questions the participants had about Practicum. They also shared their own experiences.

The forum started off with a sharing by Mr Nicholas Tan. He is a supervisor in the schools and he shared with us what supervisors will look out for when they are grading trainee teachers. He highlighted the importance of teachers being involved in the school activities and the need to understand the school culture well.

After that, Ms Mak Wai Leng shared her experience with the participants. She is one of the rare few who obtained a distinction. Being lively and cheerful, she has definitely made the whole atmosphere comfortable and questions were raised freely. Currently teaching in Naval Base Primary, she shared the different needs of the upper and lower primary students.

As she has just graduated 6 months ago, she was able to raise important points that trainee teachers have to be aware of. She also shared the difficulties she faced during her practicum and also gave tips and pointers which I believe will be very useful for those going for practicum. One of her tips included going to Daiso to get cheap teaching materials.

We had an active crowd who asked many questions and thus, making the forum more enriching. So, THANK YOU to those who attended this year!

If you missed the forum this year, fret not. We will be holding another Teaching Practicum Forum next year! Look out for our announcements and posters around campus.

If you want to find out more about practicum, visit http://eduweb.nie.edu.sg/practicum/.

Yours sincerely,

Shaheena

Thank you to those who have helped! Your help is very much appreciated!

 Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure. (I tried not to include photos with bags of blood.) Go to the Gallery for more photos. All smiles except the faizah “pretending” to be afraid picture! It is really not painful!

That’s May from FPO in green. She is a regular blood donor!

That’s Faizah, the previous Bloodmobile chairperson! It’s really not painful. Really(ok, subjective).

The very friendly helpers!

I heard someone said that donating blood is an international event. Whether you are A+, B+, AB, O, when you donate your blood, it can even be used to save a person regardless of their nationality!

There were a total of 107 number of respondents and a total of 85 units of blood were collected. Thank you everyone! I hope that more people will be responding to the Blood donation drive in the next semester! Stay healthy and keep fit!

Cheers,

Hui

BA club  wishes everyone a

Happy and Prosperous Year of the Ox!

We hope you had a great start to the New Year! 4 days break for everyone! Take out some time to relax!

Chinese New Year means.. Pineapple tarts! Mandarin Orange! Bak Kwa! Cashew Nuts! Prawn rolls! Nian Gao! Ang Bao! Visiting and catching up with relatives! Perhaps all of us should wiki CNY to know more about this tradition.

Enjoy yourself thoroughly but remember to take good care of your health because there is Blood Donation Drive on 5th  February, from 10a.m. – 4p.m. in the Student Hub !

Sometimes, you may dream of wanting to be a superhero so you can save the lives of other people. But what can we do when we lack supernatural abilities? Well, you can donate your blood! Go to Health Sciences Authority  to find out the requirements for the blood donation! Also visit  Donorweb to find out more!

Anyway, the BA Club have been busy preparing with Arts Jam which will be happening around June and the FOC Committee is also busy preparing for D&D for the graduates! Go to the Upcoming events page to find out what you can participate in!

Cheers,

BA CLUB

“SCHOOL IS STARTING SOON!!! SO FAST!! WHAT SHALL I DO TO FULLY UTILIZE THE LAST FEW DAYS?!” You shrieked.

That’s right.  School will be starting next week 5th January. Probably the worst day for you.

Yet, we shall always remain optimistic. School reopening  means that you will be enjoying the cheap and delicious school canteen food, going to the air-conditioned library, climbing stairs(exercise), visiting the NIE portal and do your part in trying to make the NIE portal the most visited website in Singapore, using the new file that you have bought because you have printed all your notes, fully using your 2009 organiser because you have many deadlines to meet… Isn’t that exciting!

So here are my suggestions of what you can do before the school starts ( all readers should bear in mind that these are merely suggestions and any consequences of carrying out the suggestions, I shall not bear.)

1)Go for a “Eat-all-you-can” buffet .

2)Try something that you have always wanted to do but can’t get down to doing it  (eg, clean your room).

3) Plan for next year’s holiday trips. In fact, BOOK the tickets now. Be a Kiasu Singaporean.

4) Visit your neighbour with a present. (The present COULD be a tissue box but wrapped beautifully with a Christmas wrapper. If I may suggest, your opening greetings to them shall be, ” MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! And if I may add, start doing Christmas carols or do a funny dance. Abruptly say, OK BYE and run back to your house).

5) Attempt to borrow all the library books you will need for all your modules before someone ELSE borrows it.  Kiasu spirit!

6) Go back to NIE to take more photos and submit it for 2009 Stories of NIE! (THIS IS ENCOURAGED)

7)Join BA CLUB!( THIS IS STRONGLY ENCOURAGED AND RECOMMENDED)

Alright, see you people in school once again! I can’t wait for BA Retreat! Will be meeting up with new BA members!

Smile when you guys see one another in school ! Who knows, maybe YOU will make someone’s day better!

Lots of love and smiles and loud laughters and chuckles,

Hui

Publications Officer

2009 beckons and we are definitely looking forward to a more exciting year filled with more exciting events!

But here are some snap shots to remind you what you’ve been missing out( that is if you have not been joining the activities and not  PLANNING to join )!

Freshmen Orientation Camp 2008  (28-30th July 2008)

BA and BSc planned the FOC 2008 this year to welcome the new intake of student teachers! It was filled with fun and exciting events! It was definitely an unforgettable event! Go to the Gallery for more pictures!