SPM ENGLISH TRIAL PAPERS 2018

Hi peeps! Thanks to all those who pieced this up together, here are the trial papers from all the states  for that last push for your students. Click on the image. Happy teaching!

Those who can DO, Those who can do more TEACH

Descriptive Writing: Shared Sensory Writing with 5 Abu Hanifah and 5 Farabi

Hi peeps! Time to add that spice to my teaching 😊😊😊 This is a wonderful mini-writing that you can try in your class. I found it here -http://secondaryenglishcoffeeshop.blogspot.com/2017/04/collaborative-writing-activities.html

Anyway here's a quick guide on how to carry it out:

1. Put SS in groups of three.
2. Get each group to describe an object e.g. a pencil, a bunch of keys (preferably have the objects ready but I didn't have them ready. I had them look around the library and choose the objects they liked)
3. Revise the five senses quickly. Then get them to choose three senses.
4. Each SS will take one sense and describe the object chosen using that sense in note form. (I used sticky notes because they are colourful)
5. Then groups piece them together and write a descriptive paragraph.

A neat writing task don't you think? I wanted to share this with the Batu Pahat teachers yesterday during the workshop but didn't want to keep them in the hot room for too long sigh...Anyway give it a try teachers.

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You Rock Muarians!

Date: 13 AUGUST 2018
Venue: PPD Muar

I was very impressed with the 46 teachers who attended the Yapeim 21st Century Learning workshop in PPD Muar. They were an awesome lot! I especially like the part when they evaluated the lesson plans in the module. One group stood out in that they were able to give a critical appraisal of one of the lesson plans and came out with suggestions on how it could be improved. We all know that no lesson plan fits perfectly for a group of learners and they were not meant to be prescriptive anyway  so it allowed us to have a professional discussion on the lesson plans in the module. 

I'm usually a bit wary when corporate sectors organise something for teachers 😜but I guess this is part of their CSR, so as a trainer I wanted to make sure teachers get something useful from the session and I hope they did. We had a good mix of young and experienced teachers. One has just taught for two years and at the other end of the spectrum, we had someone who has done thirty! (sounds like my own panel 😑). I was pleased with the teacher's participation and enthusiasm despite the small room. 

Tree of Hope 

This is the participants' Tree of Hope in which they wrote what they had hoped to gain from the workshop. At the end of the four-hour workshop I picked some "hopes" and read them aloud and asked teachers if their expectations were met. One "hope" really stood out 😂😂😂. The teacher wrote "I'd like to learn about cultures." to which I responded jokingly, "You're in the wrong workshop!" followed by laughter from the whole group 😃😃😃. The group was such a sporting lot! Think we had a successful outing here in Muar.

Thanks to YAPEIM and En Fauzi (DELO Muar) for their support. YOU ROCK MUARIANS!

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27th MELTA International Conference in Johor Bahru, 18-20th August 2018

Calling all English teachers in Johor! There is a special rate of RM280.00 conference fees being offered to 150 teachers to attend this conference. As we all know, the Duli Yang Maha Mulia Raja Zarith Sofiah binti Almarhum Sultan Idris Shah, Permasuri Johor herself is MELTA's patron and this year's event is held in Berjaya Waterfront Hotel, Johor Bahru. 

MELTA has a special place in my heart. I won the Dr. Basill Wijasuriya Award for Best Teacher Presenter in 2009 in Putri Pan Pacific, Johor Bahru and again in 2012 in Sunway Putra Hotel. As a matter of fact, I am a life member and I enjoy reading the bulletins they have been sending me. It's a shame that I won't be able to join this conference as I'll be in Turkey (my second trip- some people can't get enough of Turkey 😆) during that time. 

I hope teachers in Johor will take this opportunity to attend this prestigious conference and perhaps present a paper or two to improve their practice as ESL teachers. You can download the letter here.

And here's the form for the special rate.

Wishing the organising committee and participants a successful conference!

Those who can DO, Those who can do more TEACH

Classroom Observation: 1 Ibnu Sina (2.30-3.30)

Was in Farid's 1 Ibnu Sina today despite the headache and neck pain. Happy with the lesson today 😊 Definitely an improvement from the previous observation. Teacher was well-prepared and the lesson was clearly structured. However, the pace of the lesson could have been a little bit faster for Activity 2 (rather draggy) and therefore more time could have been given to Activity 3. Overall, a well-planned lesson and I could see that the teacher had taken a lot of effort for this lesson. Well-done! Such a joy to see a teacher improving!

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SPM English Workshop 2.0/2018- Poems and Captain Nobody

Alhamdulillah...after three postponements, this workshop finally took off. 102 SPM candidates were in IKBC (Ibn Batutta Knowledge Centre) for the workshop. Another 20 had to re-sit their papers in the Maths Room. I dealt with the novel Captain Nobody and Poems namely The Living Photograph and The Charge of the Light Brigade. Here's hoping that students understand the poems and novel better Ameen  😇

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Modules Galore!

Recently, PPD Kluang in collaboration with Kluang District English Panel, set up a Quantum Leap Taskforce to produce three modules for SPM candidates. The taskforce consists of 20 teachers and we divided ourselves into three groups. Since Kluang was 5th for English at the state level for SPM 2017, we are trying our best to better the record to Top Three for SPM 2018 in sha Allah...I hope the modules will be very useful for teachers and students in Kluang. There are three modules for three groups- Galus, Sederhana and Cemerlang. The modules are specifically examination-focussed and will be distributed to schools by PPD Kluang. 

Thanks to all committee members for their contribution and Pn Nurasyikin Abu Bakar (DELO Kluang) for her support in making this a success.

KLUANG TOP THREE! Ameen 😎😎😎

Happy teaching!



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21st Century Teaching and Learning with YAPEIM Module

Date: 11 JULY 2018
Venue: SMK Tangkak, Ledang, Muar
No of teachers: 24

Today I conducted a four-hour workshop in Ledang. We went through the module prepared by YAPEIM and revisited 21st century teaching and learning. I miss training so much and so I was really looking forward to this! Thanks to YAPEIM officer En Zaiful Yaacob, En Saifulbahri (DELO Muar) for their support and Ledang teachers. Met Hida and Mazlinda from SAMURA too. It was good to meet them again. The teachers were a sporting lot! Going back I couldn't resist the row of textile shops that laced the street 😍😍😍 and ended up with three pieces of material! 

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Mini-plots with 5 Abu Hanifah

Do your students complain of not being able to elaborate their essays? Or not have ideas to write? Well, if you have the same problems I do then you can try this lesson in your next class.

TIME: double period

MATERIALS: 

1. Essay titles ( one per group). Since I'm focussing on the narrative and descriptive essays, I give them relevant titles related to the two genres.

2. Mah jongs, marker pens, masking tape

STEPS:

1. In groups of 4, SS discuss a mini-plot for the title given. the mini-plot must consist of an introduction, development, climax, falling action and denouement.

2. Groups paste their mah jongs on walls so that you have 5 stations (depending on the number of groups you have).

3. 3 stray 1 stay: 1 member will stay to explain the mini-plot to other groups while 3 members will be going round to other groups to look for for information or learn about idea generation from other groups. After the three members return, they in turn explain other groups mini-plots to the 1 member.

4. T reviews group's language errors and recaps lesson.

5. SS individually write essay as homework.

Happy teaching!

Those who can DO, Those who can do more TEACH

My Fantasy Island 1 Ibnu Majah and 1 Ibnu Khaldun

Congratulations to 1 Majah and 1 Khaldun for your hard work and excellent presentation! I'm very proud of all of you. What's most impressive was the questions you asked the presenters. They showed a lot of maturity and sense 😍 Well-done to all and especially to the winning groups: 

• 1 Majah (Group 6 for Most Creative Group and Best Presentation)
• 1 Khaldun (Group 1 - Most Creative Group and Group 4- Best Presentation)

Here's how to get this simple but meaningful activity done:

LANGUAGE FOCUS: Listening and Speaking

TIME: 4 periods for preparation and presentation

4C's incorporated: comunication (encourage the use of English), collaboration, creative and critical thinking skills 

STEPS: 

1. Write task on board:

My Fantasy Island- What would it look like? What attractions would you have on your island? 

How can visitors get to your island?

2. Draw and colour your island. 

3. Select not more than two presenters to explain to the class. (5 mins per group).

4. After each presentation, allow three questions from the floor.

5. Peer Evaluation: SS vote for the best groups for Most Creative Group and Best Presentation.

6. Always have a bag of sweets and chocolates ready for the prize 😃

I carry out this activity without fail every year. 

Happy teaching peeps!

Those who can DO, Those who can do more TEACH

PPD Kluang Taskforce Meeting

I chaired this meeting with a team of teachers recently. Guess what? We have been tasked to build three types of SPM English modules for galus, sederhana and cemerlang students. Modules again? Yup you read right 😆 But since it's a directive from PPD and JKd Kluang, here we go! Teachers were broken into three groups and team leaders had to report back. The modules will be exam-focused based on Papers 1 and 2. Our next meeting is scheduled on the 10th July. Meanwhile yours truly has her hands full:

1. MPSM State Level Module (Forecast Questions) - completed and awaiting editing meeting next  

    Tues (26th) 

2. STF-MOZAC- SASEM Immersion Programme (14th July) - yet to be done

3. The next chapter of my forthcoming book - not done 😞

4. English Seminar in Kota Tinggi - not done

Those who can DO, Those who can do more TEACH

Eid Mubarak!

Eid Mubarak to all followers. 

Maaf Zahir Batin 

Those who can DO, Those who can do more TEACH

Once Upon a Team-teaching

May has been a busy month for me. Although I have only four classes I'm always hoping for more time.  I'm always cooking up something  😅 😆 Well, in all that  madness, two team-teaching  sessions were arranged with Farid and Syamsul. It wasn't perfect but we learned a lot!

The lesson with Sam was on writing. His warmer was excellent to the extent that he got carried away a little and took my time. On my part, I was struggling a little to get the SS to understand how to do the gallery walk but the main thing is we achieved the objectives we collaborated on. Alhamdullillah...

Farid (the handsome newbie hahah), also got carried away with the warmer which was supposed to be mine! He went on and on and I was like "O.k. he can take the whole lesson now." 😆 From the outset we faced  a technical glitch when the lappy and LCD that didn't want to synchronise so the lesson stretched to another 30 mins but team-teaching doesn't have to be perfect the first time right? What's crucial is what important lessons we took from it. Here are mine:

• it was a rejuvenating process for me (after teaching for 31 years) to collaborate with young teachers after having taught for 31 years
• my regret for not doing this more often
• Sam and Farid have a lot of potential. However it is about POTENTIAL MEETS PREPARATION EQUALS QUALITY LESSON. Time must be given to think out a lesson properly. We face a lot of distractions yes but there must be that quiet time where we sit and plan our quality lessons.
• the lesson planned need not be perfect because as teachers, we know that we need to make allowances for the unexpected in the classroom. A lesson plan is important of course but flexibility and resourcefulness on the part of the teacher and the ability to think on his or her feet to change a strategy/question phrasing/technique will help during these times. Alhamdulillah experience helps.

Thanks to Sam and Farid for having me in their classes (ke kena paksa ni 😉😉😉)
You guys rock!

Boy am I going to miss teaching 😭😭😭

Farid and I team-teaching Charge of the Light Brigade- for the memories

Sam an I teaching writing in Form 3- a great experience

Our collaborative report

Happy teaching!

Those who can DO, Those who can do more TEACH

Ramadhan Mubarak!

Here's wishing all of you Ramadhan Mubarak. 

Have a blessed Ramadhan!

credit: google images

Those who can DO, Those who can do more TEACH

MODULE -21st century Teaching and Learning SPM ENGLISH

Thank you for your inquiries about this book. You can get the latest edition from  https://www.nilampublication.com.my/

Unfortunately, it isn't available in book stores. Thank you for the positive comments I've received thus far about the book. God bless 😍😍😍

Happy teaching!

Those who can DO, Those who can do more TEACH

Forthcoming book - Writing to Score

In sha Allah...will be published by August this year. Here's a teaser: a guided writing book that incorporates 21st century learning ideas for use in the classroom. Writing is a very complex process so Fuziana (co-writer) and I are helping teachers to break down the writing process into manageable parts whilst at the same time integrating best practices from our teaching experience. The current title is 'Writing to Score' but who knows, in the process, things may change 😊May Allah accept our contribution to the ESL classroom. Ameen. 

Happy teaching peeps!






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A great website!

I must share this wonderful site with all of you! It's called on the same page. There are really many fresh and creative ideas here which align with 21st century learning too. Aside from onestopenglish, this is definitely a great resource for teachers. Have a look see o.k 😊😊😊 Be good peeps! I've been busy so I've not been able to post anything thus far. Catch you later!

click on pict

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Vocabulary Attack vs. NILAM

Vocabulary Attack versus NILAM 😃

Instead of NILAM why not get your students to do vocabulary work? Aren't all of us tired of the lies with NILAM? How do you get your students to read a book in 1-2 periods and get the report done? At best, they just copy the blurb! We all know for far too long it doesn't work and yet we still so it 😒.  Even reading has to be forced down the students' throats. Parents should inculcate the reading habit at home. Teachers too yes but not the way it's been done all these years. Hmmm...someone is in bad mood today 😆😆😆

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Writing Introductory Paragraphs - Form 5 Abu Hanifah and 5 Al Farabi

Hi peeps! Hope you're still in one piece. It's the 6th week of teaching next week...which means we've survived five weeks already 😃 💪💪 I feel rejuvenated this year. Not sure why :) Just hope that I'm well so I can prepare and teach well. It's so rewarding to be able to carefully plan a lesson and execute and see the impact (that's three 'and's by the way). Well, here's another sharing from me. This is a writing lesson, specifically on how to write introductory paragraphs. You'll find the materials below. By the way the key to the the worksheet is: 

a. dialogue

b. listing

c. question

d. personal experience

e. general statement

f. quotation

h. opinion

Try it! Happy teaching peeps 😍

1. The lesson plan
2. The Opening paragraphs worksheet





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53 WAYS TO CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING

Here's a list of 53 interesting ways you can gauge your students' understanding in the classroom. (courtesy of edutopia.org)

Click on the image.

Credit: edutopia.org

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A VOCAB LESSON: SHOWING FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS

Here's a lesson plan I plan to carry out in 5 Abu Hanifah dan 5 Al Farabi next week. It is a vocabulary lesson focussing on useful words/phrases to spruce up that essay. After a few weeks of teaching, I noticed that my students' grammar is not too bad but their vocabulary is really basic 😌

Materials used

Lesson plan and materials

Happy teaching!!!





Those who can DO, Those who can do more TEACH

Idioms- A Vocabulary Lesson warmer

Tired of watching your students sit in class all the time? Well, you can make them move around a bit. In today's lesson, I did just that. Boy, were they reluctant to move 😊 Hence, this is a warmer that you can do to get them moving before teaching the beautiful phrases in English- idioms, pairs of words, similes etc.

STEPS

1. Print our a list of idioms and their meanings enough for the whole class. I have 21 so it was 11 idioms and their meanings.
2. Cut them up into strips and jumble them up in a bag.
3. Get SS to each pick a strip. Half the SS will have the idioms and the other half the meaning.
4. Ask them to mingle and find their partners. Once they've found their partners, make them stand around the classroom and call each pair to read aloud their idioms and meanings.
5. Clarify any unclear idioms.
6. Now, you can continue with the handouts and lesson proper on beautiful expressions in English!

Simple isn't it? I thought about this 45 minutes before entering class and managed to google the idioms and cut them into strips. I hope my students understood what I was trying to achieve in 5 Abu Hanifah today 😊

Happy teaching peeps!

5 Abu Hanifah

1

They just love taking photos!

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STRATEGIC PLANNING 2018-2020 AND 2018 YEARLY PLAN

Medical leave or not, I was in school yesterday briefing three senior asistants and their secretaries on the 2018 Annual Strategic Planning. We had a good discussion and I managed to explain the latest requirement from PPD Kluang on the need to extract from our current three year plan. I believe things have to be done properly and time must be given for discussion since this the school's strategic plan. You can't just brush it off and say change the dates! I know we are always looking for shortcuts and the strategic plan is a white elephant anyway, but I can't be making the decision as to which strategies the sectors (Curriculum, HEM and KOKO) would like to select for 2018. I wish my boss understands this. Anyway, I think we had a fruitful briefing-cum-discussion and again at 2.30 pm, a briefing with all teachers. 

I discovered that the boss might be selected to present the strategic planning to the PPD in February, so MC or not, I had to be in school yesterday.  KPJ actually gave me a five-day MC due to my joint pains post dengue fever. I'm so much better Alhamdulillah. It was the right decision to be given that MC - the longest I've ever been given. 

It will be a busy few weeks from now for me because we have agreed on the deadline: 30th January.  After that, I need to figure our how to amend the current strategic plan for 2018-2020 in line with Gelombang 2 PPPM.

At the same time I'm also training and preparing my student to take part as a paper presenter for the Johor International Student Leaders Conference. Our proposal was accepted and now we are working on the details 😁😁😁 I suddenly feel rejuvenated! Am really hoping that 2018 promises a good year and that am healthy to teach well. Ameen.

I'm also revisiting a book I co-wrote with SISC + Fuziana Ali some time back. We want to add 21st elements in it and collaborative features too. We shelved the project for about three years already I think it's time to publish it 😊

Happy teaching!



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OF FORM 1, PULSE 2, SOW AND DSKP....

Dear Form 1 teachers,

I know you're in the midst of preparing your RPH and SOW (over 100 pages woohoo good luck!) I'm teaching two Form1 classes this year and 2 Form 5's. Here are some useful links that might help and do yourselves a favour- go get that nescafe or something 😎😎😎 In my school, we had already submitted our Rancangan Harian for week 1 and next week we have to submit everything i.e RPH for Week 2 and the whole Fail Rekod Mengajar (with SOWs and what not). 

Take a deep breathe everyone. Don't know what has become of education but watch out for more paperwork. All that instruction that you MUST follow the SOW is an attempt at limiting my creativity as a teacher hmmm...but some say just follow...it's easy and fun 😖😖😖 Just looking at the SOW, already gave me a headache 😅 Having said that though, we must thank the CDC and the trainers for giving us a head start with the SOW. I'm trying to find time to look at them though while revising the strategic planning for the whole school...sob sob sob. May take ages to try and fathom that and to link it with the textbook. Looks like the entire 2018 will be devoted solely for the form 1's...forget about the form 5's. But in reality, school worries about SPM GPS all the time!

By the way, have you ploughed through Pulse 2..okay okay...skim through more likely 😊. I tried while having dengue fever...I was like lying in bed reading the first few pages and then I decided to put it down- sooooo much to digest and my headache caught up with me. That was the end of it till now 😇I'm pretty lucky because the form 1's have not registered so I will catch up with Pulse 2 (not my headache) again. Now that the MOE has decided on a Mat Salleh's textbook, we teachers need to really understand the textbook and the SOW.

I have to admit I was in the committee that looked into a range of Cambridge English books but I wasn't assigned Pulse 2 then. If you're going to take a book wholesale and plant it here in Malaysia, obviously there would be discrepancies especially in terms of content, wouldn't you agree? Now that 31 million has been spent on it, we need to justify the cost. Here's wishing all form 1 (and 2) teachers good luck! Complaining makes it worse so just try your best peeps...just try your best! This is my 31st year of teaching so if I can do it, so can you 😍😍😍

1. DSKP for Form 1

2. Scheme of Work for Form 1

3. Summary of Yearly Scheme of Work Form 1

Happy teaching peeps!






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5TH JOHOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENT LEADERS CONFERENCE

Hers'a a chance for your students to take part in an international conference! Click on the picture for more information.

https://www.jslcouncil.com/

Those who can DO, Those who can do more TEACH

Happy New Year 2018!

Masha Allah it's already 2018! All praise to Allah for giving us the opportunity to still contribute as teachers. I'm still recovering from dengue fever but I am as eager as ever to start the new year as you are. By the by, 22 posts in 2017 is really embarrasing 😄 This blog needs a makeover!! Let's hope I can share more in 2018 Ameen 😎

Happy teaching peeps :)

(credit: google)

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