See you in 2012!

It has been three years since I started blogging to share best practices and matters on CPD. I hope I've been able to share things of interest with my blog visitors whoever you are. In the three years I've met many of my blog visitors,  Saidatul, Violet and Lailatul from Sabah, Anizah, Jenny, Khalipah, Azimah, Saodah, Fazleen to name but a few. Sometimes they surprised me with " Hello, you're the blogger!", "Hi, I know you!" or " You inspire me..." in meetings and conferences. It has been a wonderful and enriching three years.  I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart.

In addition I've received many emails especially from would-be teachers looking for tips on teaching. It has been rewarding indeed to share and to make many new friends. In the the three years, I've only received ONE negative comment from the 1,141 comments. It is delightful to know that there are many positive people out there who just want to interact and learn from each other. My take is, if you want to look at the positive side of things, it will be positive vice versa.

To date, the page views to my blog have surpassed half a million! (579,224 page views) Thanks to one and all. Once a friend asked me whether I was making money out of blogging. I'd be rich by now if that was my aim :) Those adverts are just for fun- gives my blog a little 'hardcore blogger' look! Yes, you can make money from blogging but you must have sponsored adverts. It's too complicated for a simpleton like me.

This is me signing off for 2011. This will be my last post for the year. It's not easy to let go when you've been at it for so long but everybody needs a break now and then. Am so looking forward to spending this hols just reading and frequenting the gym and yes, finishing that elusive book...Hope to see you again in January 2012 with more postings and a fresher outlook.

Happy hols and be good! Thank you for your support and friendship :)

engoasis (12 Nov 2011)

The thinking teacher

Best Wishes!!!

Best wishes in your SPM to all my former students in

SMK Canossian Convent, Kluang and visitors.

Break a leg!

PMR English too easy?

Today' discussion menu. Because it affects us in one way of another (as teachers and parents), here it is for you to read. Is it true that the standard of English has fallen? If so, what are our roles in lifting the standards to a respectable level? Read on and tell me what you think?

(credit: The STAR)

Sunday October 30, 2011

PMR English is too easy

STUDENTS across the country sat for the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) English examination recently, and I have been reading and analysing both components – Paper 1 and Paper 2.
Paper 1, which focuses on reading, consists of 40 questions which every student has to answer in an hour.
The first 10 questions consist of 10 passages of around 200 words each. Challenging words students may encounter include “chaos”, “authentic”, and “bedazzled”.

From questions 11 to 18, students have to read a passage where they are supposed to fill in the missing links in the passage which tests their grasp of grammar. It consists of approximately 180 words.
The next five questions test students’ understanding of idiomatic phrases, and some of the difficult phrases are “pull their weight” and “abide by”.

There is an advertisement consisting of around 120 words which students have to answer from questions 25 to 28. Sophisticated words they encounter are “zenith” and “community.”
Students then have to read a “long” passage of 225 words and answer the questions from 29 to 34. Sophisticated words they might come across are: “complex”, “numerous”, “peers”, “ethnic”, “influence”, “hence”, “maturity”, “discriminate”, “genuine” and “exclusive”.

After that, students have to read the poem The Dead Crow, consisting of roughly 90 words, written by national laureate A. Samad Said. There is one difficult word “dignity” and one interesting phrase “gasping for air” in the poem.

The final passage they have to read is an extract from the short story How Dalat Got Its Name which consists of approximately 150 words and answer from question 38 to question 40. Sophisticated words they may encounter are “carved”, “memorial” and “mourned”.

All in all, students have to read about 1,200 words or six 200-page-long pages.

Then I compared our 2011 PMR English Paper 1 to the 2011 International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) English Reading Paper, which tests students’ English proficiency in private and international schools.

It consists of 45 questions in which students have to answer in 45 minutes. It has eight passages in total, ranging from a 53-word passage to a 471-word passage. Students have to read about 2,000 words, the equivalent of ten 200-word-long pages.

More sophisticated words and phrases are encountered, such as “memento”, “shivered”, “eerie”, “efficient”, “reckless”, “ripping yarn”, “mortal combat” and “no-holds-barred style”. There are about 70 challenging words in total.

One question that tests students’ vocabulary in the PMR paper asks students the meaning of the word “develop” and they have to choose from the words “build”, “allow”, “support” and “consider.”
By comparison, a vocabulary question in the ICAS paper asks students the meaning of the word “adversity” and they have to choose from four options: “conquest”, “hardship”, “enemies” and “confusion.”

Dear readers, which English paper do you think will enrich our students’ minds more and prepare them to be competitive in this rapidly borderless world?

I have not even been comparing apple to apple. While the PMR English paper was taken by 15-year-olds, the ICAS English Reading Paper I was sat by Year Four Malaysian pupils and Year Three Singaporean pupils in private and international schools respectively.

How can we expect our local students to compete with students from other countries if the standard of English of our PMR exam is even lower than standard of English required for Year Four pupils in private and international schools?

The Education Ministry should upgrade the level of English taught and tested in Malaysian government schools. At least then the English standard of our Form Three students can be on par with Year Four and Year Three pupils in private and international schools.

MR LIM
Via e-mail 


~the thinking teacher~

National Convention for Excellent Teachers 2011

Date: 21-24 October 2011
Venue: IAB Jitra, kedah

The MGCM convention just ended. I had to miss the closing ceremony as MAS changed my flight to 9.25 a.m. Overall, congratulations is in order for JNJK officers (En Zulkifli Nordin, Ketua Unit GC, JNJK) and MGCM committee members for a well-organised event. We received a lot of input from big names  but I was slightly disappointed that there were only eight papers for the parallel sessions. I must thank JNJK though for selecting my paper and I'm truly honoured. However, since this was a 'persidangan', I thought more emphasis should have been given to the papers. This will inevitably raise standards amongst GCs. I also expected more academic rigour in the conference as this was a national level event and excellent teachers were involved. Perhaps an ideas market on innovations by excellent teachers could also be inserted in future conferences to encourage creativity and innovation?

My paper was on the use of two web 2.0 tools to improve writing and critical thinking. Despite the technical glitches, I managed to share the digital notebook online. This was a project that involved two classrooms in my former school, SMK Canossian Convent, Kluang. Many teachers gave positive feedback after the presentation and I'd like to thank JNJK for the opportunity.

The talk I enjoyed most was Dr Rusmini Ku Ahmad's, Senior Lecturer IAB Jitra. She touched on innovative people who always ask these questions- WHY? WHY NOT? and WHAT IF? I like the part when she talked about FB (yes, facebook) - a gentle reminder to all of us. She was amazed at how people relate every single thing that they do for e.g. what they ate, where they were going, what they were feeling etc. For FB junkies like me (am a guilty party), this was a timely reminder. Dr Rusmini candidly pointed out, "Too much of anything is not good. Trivial matters train your brain into triviality." Thank you Dr, I will surely remember that! Well-done to the organisers for another milestone in MGCM's chapter!

Thanks to Ismail Yon (YDP MGC Kluang ) for the chocolates. Zana, Mail and I had char kway tiau and nescafe tarik outside till midnight. It was a good break for all of us :)

The input sessions:

1. Wacana Ilmu : Pn Hjh Normah Hj Ismail, Ketua Sektor Penaziran Kepimpinan Institusi Pendidikan, JNJK, MOE 

          (change and managing change, X-PLUS principles for excellence, excellent teachers must have  

          CAN-DO mentality and committed to life-long learning)

     2.  Ucaptama: Tn Hj Sufaat Tumin, TKPPM, Sektor Pembangunan Profesionalisme Keguruan , MOE

          (protecting instructional time in schools to improve students' outcome and instructional leadeship)

     3.  Opening Ceremony : Dato' Dr Ismail Alias, Timbalan Ketua Pengarah Perkhidmatan Awam 

          (Operasi), JPA

          (the need for value-added element in innovation, value-creation)

     4.   Pleno 1: Dr Rusmini Ku Ahmad, Senior Lecturer, IAB Jitra
          (sustainability, innovation, creativity, developing soft skills in secondary schools based on her
            research with University of Cambridge)

     5.   Pleno 2:  Prof Madya Dr. Idris Mohd Nor, UniMAP
          (challenges for excellent teachers)

     6.   Pleno 3: Prof. Madya Dr. Abu Bakar Mohamad Diah, Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif, Jabatan
           Penyelidikan dan Rancangan Kreatif, Inovasi dan Multimedia, Melaka Planetarium Sdn. Bhd

           (Innovation and examples in society)

     7.   MGCM Resolutions:

• Kepimpinan bilik darjah merangkumi aspek softskills
• GC berperanan sebagai konsultan di peringkat PPD dan negeri
• GC berperanan sebagai kumpulan pemikir untuk membantu KPM merancang dasar   baru dalam kurikulum
• Mewujudkan gred Dg40 bagi guru bukan siswazah
• Menempatkan semula GC DG48 di sekolah rendah ke sekolah menengah