Adibah's Graduation

Congratulations on your graduation! May your future be bright and may you realise that dream!

Immersion Programme

Soon I will be involved an immersion programme organised by the Kluang PPD. A briefing was given by Tn Hj Jalil Satari (PPD Kluang) during our Majlis Guru Cemerlang meeting yesterday. I had many questions to pose but the officer had to leave earlier. There were no handouts given and I felt I had to fill in all the blanks! A call to a GC friend did not help either. She was of the impression that if the school's results improve, then we would have done a great job! This is a pretty myopic view I think. For a start, what can a few observations do to help raise standards in the school? At best, they can only raise awareness. I was informed that another district is arranging for three classroom visits only. Can you really be immersed in three visits? For something to have an impact, I think a range of three months would be great.

The immersion programme (or shadowing) basically is a mentoring progrramme where I shall be assigned to two English teachers. As a mentor I will observe his/her classrooms and give relevant feedback. He/She will also observe me teach and we will then exchange notes. In order for this programme to be successful, we definitely need clear guidelines and preparations. I'm looking forward to this programme as a way to also rejuvenate my teaching. Both mentor and mentee should benefit greatly if important matters  such as who the mentees are, etiquette, the right procedures etc. are taken care off. A great place to begin  with is shamblesguru. To other Excellent/Master teachers who are involved in the immersion programme, watch this video to get some ideas:

I had to remove the latest survey on TOT as my new mozilla does not support the size. But thank you to those who took part in the survey!

State Level Teacher's Day Rehearsal

Date: 20 May 2010

Venue: SMK Simpang Rengam

The choir was melodious!

1 malaysia dance

The Teacher's Choral Speaking..you go guys!!

Some of the choral speakers

Good luck to the team taking part in the state level Teacher's Day! Great job Mahyudin, Hjh Mahizan, Ismail Yon, Vasu, Puniah, Patidah, Mui Nar and all those who helped make this a success. Without them, we would not have made it. All the trainers deserve a medal! We started from nothing but look at them now! My small contribution was in editing the script but I'm proud to be a part of the team. Am trying to upload the teacher's performance to youtube but the size is mighty big!! All the best on Monday- such a shame I can't be there. Daughter's convo on the same date!!

30,000 and growing!

Thanks to one and all for visiting my blog.

Your friendship,  positive comments and motivation have inspired me to continue sharing.

 May God keep you in His loving arms!!

'Makan-makan' with Mentees

A free choc cake from Pumpkin House..

My mentees (Islamic Society) - Sahira, Farah, Syafiqah, Syazana, Siti Hajar, Syahira at Pumpkin House. We had a great time! Great food! Study hard girls and hope you excel in the mid-year exam. All the best!

Using Multiple Contexts to teach Idioms (MICELT 2010)

Date: 17-19 May 2010
Venue: Equatorial Hotel, Melaka

This was my second appearance in MICELT and it was indeed a rewarding experience to be able to share ELT matters with conference participants. I drove to Melaka with Fuziana and Chau Meng Huat who teaches in Sunway College, JB. The paper I presented was entitled "Using Multiple Contexts to teach Idioms"- an action research I conducted from January to April this year. Here's the abstract of the paper to summarise what my research was all about:

Idioms as a type of multiword unit present a real challenge to ESL teaches. They are non-literal expressions because meaning cannot be derived by adding the meanings of the individual words. It is no surprise that teachers are apprehensive about teaching idioms. However, excluding idioms from the teaching menu would mean denying students of the richness of the English Language. Cooper (1998) wrote that "Since idiomatic expressions are so frequently encountered in both spoken and written discourse, they require special attention in language programmes and should not be relegated to a position of secondary importance in the curriculum." In this paper, I will share an action research carried out recently. I will examine the place of idioms in the current Forms 4 and 5 secondary syllabi, discuss the effectiveness of the teaching strategies and contexts employed and evaluate students’ feedback on the teaching strategies for teaching idioms. Finally, I will discuss some classroom methodological implications and suggestions.

Met some old friends like Rudy and Ai Ling. This year's conference is themed 'Connecting Teachers and Learners through Best Practices'.

 With Alan Maley

New found friends

 

Dr Ivor Timmins whom I met in Leeds Metopolitan University in March this year

Dr Brian Cullen on Writing Songs for ELT

Yours truly

This is what I think...

Sharing ideas on the international platform

Happy Teacher's Day

Happy Teacher's Day to all my friends who are teachers, my students who are now teachers and all teachers in the world!! Keep the passion burning!!

5S1 rehearsing for Teacher's day yesterday..I was invited to listen to the song earlier as I will be away

next Monday (sob sob)!! Anyway, you sang beautifully girls. Well-done and thank you!!

Eye on London, March 2010

MICELT International Conference 2010

MICELT 2010 will be held from 11-13th May in Equatorial Hotel, Melaka. I will be presenting my latest  action research in the conference. Here's the programme upload. Hope to see many friends there.

Lesson Plan: Using modern songs in the classroom

How about some variety eh? Even teachers get bored with the same mudane activities :) Chui Ling's comments in her journal last week is also food for thought - 'today's lesson is the most boring of all...'(hehe I deserve a medal) But seriously girls, sometimes your class is sooo moody. You can be hyperactive one moment and plain passive the next..besides the mid-year exam is just around the corner. Well, in response to your request, I will use the following songs tomorrow.

1. Thank you (Dido)
Focus:  i) intensive listening ii) opposites iii) prepositions
2. Lemon Tree (Fool's Garden)
Focus:  i) ryhming pairs ii) simple present and present continuous

Meanwhile, am still working on the MICELT presentation in Equatorial Hotel Melaka next week. Hope to catch many friends in the conference!

State Level Teacher's Day Presentation Rehearsal (2)

Date: 4-6 May 2010
Venue: SMK Canossian Convent, Kluang

From left: Mui Nar, Vasu (trainers), Tn Hj Shaharudin (PPD Kluang),

Hjh mahizan (my PK1) and Ismail Yon (trainer and MGCK president)

Tn Hj Shaharudin (PPD Kluang) came to give them motivation and Hjh Mahizan (my PK1)

getting the dialogue right..

taking a breather..

Vasu (trainer), Tn PPD and Ismail Yon (trainer and MGC Kluang president)

helloooo!

They have been rehearsing hard..three days in a row and it's no small feat with the heat we've been experiencing..the drama techniques have broken the ice and the teachers are more at ease with one another. Tn Hj Shaharudin (PPD Kluang) came to give the participants motivation and to remind them to do their best. After all, Kluang is hosting the state level Teacher's Day celebration this year. Next week they are practising in SMK Spg Renggam, the venue of the celebration. Good luck to all of them!

Excellence Programme in STAB, Kluang

Date: 6 May 2010
Venue: STAB, Kluang

80 excellent students

The cute photographer...

Good luck in your SPM!

I was with 80 SPM candidates today sharing some tips for excellence. I was invited by Pn Azah Mahani (the head of panel) for a two-hour talk. It was blooming hot and the construction work next door was a real challenge! Well, I hope the talk was useful anyway. Am planning to conduct two such talks to my own students in June.  Best wishes to all the students!

Panel Perunding Mata Pelajaran (PPMP) State Level Meeting 1/2010

Date: 4th May 2010
Venue: SMK Indahpura, Kulai

The first state PPMP English meeting was held recently in Kulai. As chair for SPM English, I attended the meeting which was chaired by En Shanmuganathan, Principal Assistant Director, English Unit , JPN Johor. Also present were En Rozlan and Hj Jemali (senior suprevisors) and Pn Eva Abdullah (Pengetua Cemerlang and Chair for PMR). About forty members were present and the state programmes for 2010 were lined up. The programmes are:

• LET (Learn English Together)- primary schools to make use of S-BELT module
• Exam Techniques workshops
• Pedagogy course
• Immersion Programme
• Video-taping of lessons
• Internationalisation programme
• "Common Errors" Module
• "Writing Simple Sentences" Module
• Spelling Competition
• EW20
• Public-speaking/Drama/Play

Public examinations results were also discussed and targets for UPSR, PMR and SPM set by the JPNJ. In my capacity as the chair for SPM, I think PPMP should also look into research on teacher competencies to address the real problems faced in teaching English. We must have realiable data in our decision-making process. Decisions on what strategies to choose must not be based on what we FEEL is the problem. This is to avoid giving the wrong treatment for the wrong  problem. I am wary of the current role of PPMP - module-production seems to be the order of the day whereas it should be more forward-looking and that data-driven culture must be a part of it. Mr Rozlan (senior supervisior English Unit) responded to my idea and said it could be done on a small scale first. I reached home at 6.30 p.m. really exhausted.

State Level Teacher's Day Presentation Rehearsal (1)

Teachers in action

Ismail training the teachers

Kluang has been entrusted to produce a special presentation from teachers for the state level Teacher's Day celebration on the 28th May 2010. I managed to edit the text but am not sure now what the concept of the presentation is like. Perhaps it's theater and choral speaking all infused into one. Well, the PPD would like to see action from different parts of the stage. It's no small feat rehearsing for this presentation. Thank God Ismail Yon (Chairman, MGC Kluang) finally came to lend a hand. SMCC is definitely grateful. Today and the next two days will see rehearsals and drama techniques to get teachers to loosen up. The heat doesn't help at all...but the job has to be done! It's great to see some young talent getting into the mood and acting their part. I pray that they will come up with a sterling performance. Time sure flies! We don't have much time left..