A Course on Pedagogy, Johor Bahru District, 23 May 2009

Praise be to Allah, the most merciful. A great day to remember. The course in Sdary, JB went really well. Sallina (the principal) and her organising commitee did a wonderful job and made me feel very welcome. I had a three and a half hour session with the teachers and Dr Zubaidah from UTM handled the next one hour and a half. The 67 participants were mainly non-optionists. I hope I was able to share some of the best practices in teaching literature and summary writing. I must thank Aisyah (English GC in SDARY) for her excellent coordination and her patience in meeting my requests.., Maimunah and many others. Had lunch with Sal, Anidah and hubby Ashari (retired Lieutenant Colonel) after the course before we had to rush to the Pasir Gudang stadium for the state level Teacher's Day celebrations. Thanks for the choc cake Anidah and the goodies Sal.

Some reflections on the course by the participants:

1. I was a fun session! It is very useful to me!
2. Your talk was very infomative and useful to me.
3. Your techniques on how to teach literature is sure to be useful in my class. Thank you for exposing me to to some of the useful , more meaningful and funfilled ways to teach literature, rather than using the orthodox way of teaching. And the video clip from the Dead Poet Society was awesome. Infact truthfully speaking it was the movie that inspired me to be intereted in literature and the profession of teaching.
4. Very good. I personally learnt many things and out of the box on how to teach. Yes, it's true I was skeptical about exam result but I think I should move ahead and change the way I have put for ward my teaching method.
5. I learnt a lot from this course. The way the course was conducted is interesting. The only thing is in future, the exercise on the slide can be printed out for our use. We don't mind paying :)
6. Excellent inputs. Resourceful- especially the blogs, the videos. Should be made into a full day course. More time should be allocated to gro through the module (summary writing)
7. Very useful for me as a new teacher. I wish I could be a creative teacher all the time but sometimes the time will not allow me to do so. However, I really love yout talk.
8. Dear Pn Rahmah, Your knowledge and the way you shared your skills are FANTASTIC! My friends and I are indeed enlightened. Personally I needed these boosts to be the best teacher for my students (Prem, SMK Taman Puteri)
9.Dear Pn Hjh Rahmah, I love your presentation. I have learnt a lot. I hope there will be more seminar/courses for teachers teaching below 3 years.
10. Full of informations. Many new ideas that I never thought of doing before. Very generous.
11. That was quite a 'refreshment' for me on teaching literature. That was also the first time listening to David Gilmor- Sonnet 18. Thank you very much.
12. Interesting session. I learnt a lot of tips on how to teach Literature since I am a non-optionist teacher.
13. Very engaging and helpful. Really enjoyed it.
14. Very interesting and full of informations which are very useful and applicable. Not boring at all. Your students are so lucky 2 get you as a teacher (wish to be like you someday in the future... :)
15. It's interesting- the methods you suggested can be implemented in my T&L. Thanks.
16. Good materials provided, clear explanations, benefits for teachers as well as students.
17. The materials were very useful Thank you very much.
18. Too many exercises to be presented (summary writing)
19. It was a fun-filled activity, especially the poem by Mc Beth. I'm sure I can provide something new to my ss.
20. I would prefer more time to be allocated for discussing some activities on the session.
21. Objectives achieved. thanks so much!
22. Puan, your talk was very informative and useful to me.
23. Puan, you are a great teacher. Ia have learnt a lot today. Thank you.
24. I am looking forward to practice the summary-writing techniwues in my classes. I am sure it will work for my students! Thank you very much!
25. Should go along with a module
26. Awesone! Good! Excellence!!
27. The introduction of the lecturer's blog was interesting. The ice-breaking was creative. The theories of teaching literature were useful, brushed up my past knowledge. The video clip on 'Dead Poet Society' was an eye opener, Mr Keating was passionate, I'm not. I learnt that teaching literature must be 'FUN'; yet not teaching without context. In short I enjoyed the sessions and hope to use it in my lessons.
28. It will be good if we can have some of the soft copies of the activities (as displayed on screen during the lecture) for FOC! :)
29. No doubt , it's the most difficult task when it comes to summary writing. I was impressed by the lecturer's input presented but they will not be useful if I don't work hard on students' problem of low proficiency in English. Such uphill task will not be accomplished if the ground work (basic foundation of grammar knowledge). Soft copy for FOC pls. New teacher needs SOS!
30. The course and activities were good and I've learned a lot. I just wish that our school stop giving us LDP but they should have this kind of courses for teachers. It's more realistic. THANK YOU PN RAHMAH :)
31. Lesson carried out too fast (sum writing)
32. It is a very interesting session. I love to have the materials use for Lit. However my school don't have the facilities for ICT.
33.Good materials provided, clear explanation, benefits for teachers as well as students (sum writing)
34. Very interesting slot. Gave us ideas how to conduct lesson and the activities.
35. Very interesting. Do more courses for pedagogy (sum writing)
36. Very clear guidelines on how to answer sutdents' interest in learning/grasping the literary component.
37. A clear/vivid guideline is given on teaching summary writing. A JOB WELL DONE!
38. The session was very good. I gain more knowledge on teaching literature.
39. Session 2 a bit fast. Where here I having problem. Anyway, the handouts will help me in teaching summary writing.
40. Congrats! I gain a lot of new ideas today. Tq for your superb presentation & high spirit motivation! Keep it up!

51 out of 67 participants submitted their reflections. Space doesn't permit me to type them all. Thanks guys hope to see you again some time :) Your feedback on the use of the materials in your classrooms would be most appreciated.