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!

Those who can DO, Those who can do more TEACH

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! 

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

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

Those who can DO, Those who can do more TEACH

e-guru to fine-tune your teaching!

Click on the link for useful videos on teaching English and other subjects.

e- guru

Those who can DO, Those who can do more TEACH

Lesson Plan: Eat Healthy, Stay Wealthy

Dear all,
Here's another lesson plan conducted last week. Try it and share with others. And oh! the next time you go to Giant, grab those brochures and use them for this lesson 😊

Lesson Plan:

DAY/DATE	SUNDAY		13/8/2017
FORM	2 QAYYIM	TIME	9.30-10.30	NO. OF SS	28
THEME	People & Health
TOPIC	Eat Healthy Stay Wealthy
LEARNING STANDARD	Know fundamental skills in reading and acquire new vocabulary.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES	By the end of the lesson, you will be able to: 1. Read a variety of texts and scan for details and  individual meanings of unfamiliar words. 2. Acquire vocabulary related to food.
SUCCESS CRITERIA	I will be successful if I can 1. Read and understand the gist of a text and answer open-ended questions. 2. Classify 25/30 food-related words into 5 groups correctly. 3. Decide and classify healthy vs. unhealthy foods satisfactorily.
TEACHING &  LEARNING ACTIVITIES	1. SS watch a video on “Eat Healthy Stay Wealthy”. 2. SS answer some questions based on the video verbally.. 3. SS read a passage on “Food for Fitness” silently 4. SS classify words from the passage into six groups and answer comprehension questions based on the passage read 5. Feedback and discussion 6. Using a circle map, SS choose pictures of healthy and unhealthy foods to complete the circle map.
TEACHING AIDS/RESOURCES	Circle map, handouts, GIANT brochures, video
21ST CENTURY ELEMENTS	Collaboration / Creativity / PBL SS centeredness / Communication / Critical thinking / I-THiNK Maps / Task-based /
SCHOOL-BASED ASSESSMENT	1 2 3 4 5 6
REFLECTION

Download the handouts, video here HERE.

Happy teaching peeps 😎




Those who can DO, Those who can do more TEACH

How can we engage students in the classroom?

The following is a list that is probably so common but partially understood by teachers :) It's time to add spice into that classroom of yours by using some of these engagement tools. I've tried some of the techniques and they were fun but I really hope there was learning too. 

1. Cooperative Learning Structures Techniques
2. Struktur Pembelajaran Kooperatif





Happy teaching peeps!





Those who can DO, Those who can do more TEACH

The Science of Learning

I've always believed that teachers must be guided by what research says about teaching and learning. This is one wonderful article highlighted in a group I've joined. Thanks to Learning Innovation Circle (https://www.facebook.com/groups/LearningInnovationCircle/?pnref=story) and in particular Zaid Ali Alsagoff (https://www.facebook.com/zaid.alsagoff?fref=nf), whose expertise is mind blowing!. FYI Zaid I've been very quiet because I just feel overwhelmed by the experts in your group. A small teacher like me who belongs to the baby boomers generation is still learning how to embrace technology in her classroom in small strides. Thanks also to Fazleen (http://fadzleen.com/?page_id=22) for accepting me into the group. 

Sometimes teachers make day-to-day teaching and learning decisions in the classroom based on their whims and fancy. Small wonder then the results achieved. It's time to change this by doing some reading on what research actually says before planning to teach. Enjoy the article below!

(credit: http://deansforimpact.org/the_science_of_learning.html)

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Professional Learning Community bil. 6/2016: Cooperative Learning Structures

Date: 19th July 2017
Time: 3.00-5.00 p.m.
Topic: Cooperative Learning Structures

Think teachers had a lot of fun during the session. Thanks to Kluang District SISC + , Pn Fuziana Ali, Hjh Nurmina Hj Rusli and Haji Yazif for conducting the session. The session focussed on practical cooperative learning strategies we can carry out in the classroom. From the feedback I gathered from random teachers, they learned interesting and practical ways to conduct group work in the classroom. However, they felt more time was needed as the second speaker was rushing to do her part. In sya Allah, will organise part 2 as soon as time permits. Thanks to all committee members of PLC and teachers for making this a success! 

My report is ready :)

Hjh Nurmina explaining a point

Terima kasih daun keladi! 

Those who can DO, Those who can do more TEACH

'A Poison Tree' with 5 As Syafie

Raya songs were already in the air! But at the corridor, the principal quipped, "Hajah, saya belum observe hajah..esok boleh?" Huh? Orang dah mood raya ni haha. The lesson took place on Wednesday anyway, yup, a day before the Raya break. Boy..was I at pains trying to give instructions in 5 As Syafie - they can be pretty rowdy especially when they are doing the gallery walk. You really have to be strict with instructions. However, overall the lesson was o.k. but my throat wasn't!

I was given 95% for this lesson. My principal said he couldn't give me 100% because it might be an issue with officers. Apparently, there was a teacher in a day school who was given 100% and officers were sent to investigate the matter! Knowing my principal, he will avoid that any cost :)  Told him no lesson is perfect and it's up to him what he thought I deserved. By the by, hubby got 98% in his day school and was happily teasing me on my 95%...perhaps he should be a guru cemerlang instead :)

You can find the lesson plan below. Try it. Your feedback is much appreciated :)

Gallery Walk and peer evaluation using 2 stars and a wish

Thank you for your comments! Will do better!

click on image to view

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21st Century Learning tools

Finally got time to do these sigh...in an effort to keep up with 21st century learning. After this will be the laminating process and into the classroom in sha Allah! 

You can click here for the files. 

• traffic lights
• group roles

Happy teaching!

Thanks Jenny Ho for sharing this :)

Those who can DO, Those who can do more TEACH

2 stars and a wish!

What we did in 5 Khawarizmi last week- a lesson in paragraph-writing.


Topic: Paragraph-writing
Time: double-period
Materials : mah jongs, marker pens, lots of post-it notes in different colours, masking tape
Procedure:
1. Get SS to recall 6-7 words studied from previous lessons. (a mix of verbs and nouns)
2. Put SS in groups of four and give them mah jong papers, marker pens. ( I had 6 groups therefore 6 stations)
3. In groups, they create a story in one paragraph (Yes, one. The aim is quality)
4. Groups must underline the words chosen to show they have used them correctly.
5. Gallery Walk- SS rotate clockwise and evaluate other group's work. They use 2 stars (positive comments) and a wish (what/how the group can do better). I learned this in the Differentiated Learning Course by ELTECs. The idea is assessment for learning can be done in the classroom while activities are taking place. Assessment need not be done by the teacher all the time but can also be done by peers.What did I do? I underlined the errors made on the mah jong papers and highlight them to the group :)


Give it a try peeps!
Happy teaching!

Today SS learn how to assess their friend's work by awarding them 2 stars and a wish ")

Those who can DO, Those who can do more TEACH