Tuesday 19 July 2011

Floating sets..What do we do with them?


The term 'floating sets' must be a Malaysian invention, The term is so commonly used in schools to refer to the forty-odd set of model test papers or workbook that teachers use in the classroom. I checked the term over the internet but failed to find the same term. A teacher never stops learning and this applies to me too despite the fact that I've been teaching for twenty-four years. What is the meaning of the figure 24 if I have not added new values to my teaching methods and approaches? I may be repeating the same mistakes for the past twenty-four years! I have been quietly admiring one teacher's style or approach in teaching a language. She brings the floating sets and gets students to attempt various exercises from the book. Genius! I thought. This saves a lot of time  photocopying (which I do every week). I quickly did a mental audit of the pros and cons and came up with the following:



PROS
CONS
·      saves time photocopying
·      ss know what to do automatically
·      saves money
·      excellent for drills of grammar items
·      practical


·      ss can copy answers at the back (if key is not removed)
·      teaching is monotonous
·                                 materials tend to be exam-based
·      copying takes a lot of ss time
·      storage



Maybe I should take this up seriously. To be honest I hardly use 'floating sets' in the class. Probably it's time for a change..


3 comments:

Al-Manar said...

Floating set? I have no idea what this set contains. I very much like to know this innovative method.Only then I can meaningfully give my comments, or learn to use it myself. I have only 17 years against your twenty four - a lot to learn.

Rahmah said...

Salam pakcik,
I'm not sure if it's an innovation but it's practical. Well, they are a set of books, workbooks, reference books that 'floats' i.e. can be used in other classes and shared with other teachers. Normally the subject panel will have a few sets of different titles. However I doubt if we should use them frequently. They may be taking the place of the teacher and the teacher may be too dependent on them. But they are useful because they save you a lot of time.

Rahmah said...

ur welcome cookies. sorry i just saw this comment :)