Reflection

1. What I like about blogging?

I like blogging very much. It is very good for interaction and communication. On other words, blogging enables me to have social interaction with my friends. I can add commentary after reading one another’s blogs. Besides that, blogging is like an interactive online diary for me. I can express my ideas through my postings.

2. What I do not like about blogging?

So far, I do not have any bad comment about blogging.

3. What have I gained from blogging?

Blogging really encourages me to write. As I did not write essays for so long time, I can feel that my language now becomes rusty. So, it is the best platform for me to improve my language again as well as develop critical thinking skill.

4. What I like about the course?

This course gives me guidance on how to develop teaching resources using technology as well as non-technology in order to help me in carrying out a good teaching and learning process. Besides that, I have gained some skills like photo editing, audio editing, video editing, and converting files using a lot of free software in the internet.

5. What I do not like about the course?

This course is very time- consuming. It requires me to spend most of the time to practice all the skills and finish up the tasks within a short period of time.

6.What I have learnt from the course?

I have learned that in order to deliver a good teaching, teacher must use good and suitable teaching materials/ resources in order to help the pupils’ learning. With good teaching resources, it makes pupils’ learning become meaningful and interesting.

7. What I do not expect but have learnt from the course?

The thing that I do not expect but I have learned from this course is blogging.

8. What i expect but have not learnt from the course?

Mostly, what I expect to learn is taught in this course.

9. If i can change anything about the course, state what it is and explain.

In my opinion, this course should combine with another subject that is Technology in ESL Classroom. The skills and contents are almost the same. It is like a redundant. Thus, by having only a subject, we can save our time and apply for another elective course.

TEST

Hurray!..my heart had swollen with joy as I had sat for the test for this course. Basically, the questions were a little bit difficult to me. Even though I have read all the notes given, I did not feel very satisfied with all the answers that I had written. It was because, all the questions are application questions, no more direct questions which we have to remember the important facts and terms.

However, I had put my effort to the maximum revising all the topics until the midnight. So, how much I get for the marks, it’s all up to my lecturer. I really hope that I could pass the test, InsyaAllah..

Educational software.

Recently, a number of games have been generated and created with regards to help children learning and acquiring some fundamental skills e.g- writing, speaking, reading, listening and counting. Even though there are some issues arise regarding to children’s eye strain, it is the parents’ and teachers’ responsibility to control and monitor the appropriate amount of time for the children to engage with interactive and computer-based learning.

There are a number of educational software that consist of interactive and fun games which can help children to develop important skills that are necessary to bloom. An important example includes software that are designed towards developing reading skills. These games combine the use of phonics with word families, while using colors and music to enhance children's retention. As reading is one of the most important skills a child should develop, more and more educational companies are starting to realize this. As a result, parents and teachers should not worry to search for suitable games for young children who are eager to read.

Besides that, educational software can help to build fundamental math concepts. Through the games, children will be given insight into basic addition and subtraction, as well as basic geometry, especially with regards to shapes and their names. As children age and their skills and understanding broaden, these educational games can provide an exciting means of learning about multiplication, division, time, and more.

Apart from that, using educational software do not only bring benefits for children’s academic development, it also reinforces children’s emotional and mental development. Emotionally, it makes children feel less bored and make positive progress in their learning. Lastly, in terms of mental development, they will make positive progress to more advanced concept as they mature.

How has the pattern of my school holidays changed as I have grown older.

When I thought back about my childhood, many vivid memories sprung to my mind. The most vivid memory for me seemed to be going for a drive in my father’s car. As my father and my mother had to work all the week, the only time they could take the family out was during the weekends or school holidays. During school holidays, my parents would bundle all of us in my father’s car and take us to visit some interesting places. Sometimes, we went for a picnic or shopping. My brothers and I really did enjoy these trips. So, what can I say is life during primary school was one big round of enjoyment and happiness. We had nothing to worry about. We only knew how to enjoy the life and play!
Growing up has changed things a bit. School holidays now seem mostly fulfill with homework and assignments. During this Hari Raya holidays, I pushed myself to finish up some assignments. I glued myself in front of my laptop, browsing some information regarding to my assignments from early in the morning until the afternoon. I stopped for a while and continued until the evening. My parents especially my mother wondered, “Why there were so many assignments during the holidays? Just ignore them laa. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. When I heard my mom told that, I laughed very loudly. Then, I had to stop doing all the assignments for a few days. I knew why she told me like that. She wanted to have some chitchats with me as I rarely went back to my hometown. So, I entertained her by going out to Bazaar Ramadhan together, cooking new recipes, watching television and others. Furthermore, as my mum now suffers from lung cancer, she really needs support and attention from all the family members. She lost her weight from 72kg to 46kg. I felt so sad. I could not see any happiness from her face. She is now extra sensitive. She could easily cry if we did very simple mistakes. Huhuhu..
All in all, I could say that the pattern of my school holidays changed as I have grown older. It was from playing and changed to have some commitments. I thought this was part of the process of growing up. My small world of the family is gradually changed and now it expanded to include my friends, lecturers and doing assignments. Perhaps in the future the pattern on my holiday activities will change even more. I cannot say for sure what they would be but I have to face and do them when the time comes.

SELAMAT HARI RAYA..MAAF ZAHIR BATIN

First of all, i would like to wish Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir & Batin to all my lecturers and friends..So, i would like to put my hands together and ask for forgiveness if I ever make any mistake or offended anyone in any of my postings.

Today, i'm leaving for my hometown..yeah!!! i am looking forward to meet my abah and ma, my sweet and naughty cousins, Athirah, Muahz, Ifah and Sumaiyyah.

After packing all my things, i have done a list of assignments to be done during this holidays.. oh my God! i have 7 assignments: Resources, Mathematics and Assessment. Huhuhuh.. it is too much for me..i don't know whether i manage to do and finish up all the assignments or not. i try to comfort myself telling everything is gonna be OK. Raya tetap raya..but with good time management and self-discipline, InsyaAllah, i try my best to finish them up..

Responsible for our own learning.

Studying in MPIK and UM has a very big difference for me. I felt very secured and comfortable learning in MPIK because most of the lecturers are friendly and love to ‘spoon feed’ us. Some people might say that it is not good to ‘spoon feed’ the students all the time. We must work on our own or be independent. When the lecturers gave all the important notes and fullest guidance, I knew that I was on the right track of learning. When the examination days, I felt well-equipped with all the information and ‘vomit’ them to score high marks in the exam J
Unfortunately, in UM, I have to be really independent and responsible for my own learning. No more PowerPoint slides, no more extra notes and no more spoon feeding. L. I have to have my own alternative routes or strategies for attaining the learning goals, correcting my errors and redirecting myself when my work plans do not work. At first, I felt very tension to face this new learning situation. Now, after 3 months in UM, I could say that I am able to adapt myself with this campus life which has no free time to enjoy and ‘honeymoon’ J. After experiencing 3 months of self-regulated learning, I could say that I am able to know my own strengths and weaknesses and know how to deal with them productively and constructively.
The second assignment challenges me a lot. I am required to design two lesson plans using any resources in the net and manipulate the resources to the maximum level. However, the lecturer had given a resource to be manipulated for the first assignment, that was a video of “Earth Song” sung by Michael Jackson. For the second one, I have to find out any appropriate resources on my own. Before this, the lecturers will suggest and recommend a list of websites which are suitable to get learning materials. It saved my time and energy. Not for this time, I had to sit in front of the laptop, browsing the best and appropriate video to be manipulated for my lesson. I should say thank you for those who have contributed useful videos in the net. They are all kind people who really help other people like me which I can download them for free! Hehehe.
Own, forget to say, this assignment has to be done in pairs. What I learn through this co-operative learning is about tolerance. I have to tolerate with my partners as we have our own ideas on how to use the resources well. Sometimes we argue when I think my ideas are good enough and my partner says no and vice versa. Here, tolerance takes place. What we do is we list down all the ideas and use all the ideas, if possible.
I think that I have to recharge my energy. I really-really hope that my lecturer would not give any task for next week, InsyaAllah. J

Teachers : Being realistic.

For the last week, we had to work in groups and prepare a presentation. Each group had been given a topic and my group had received a topic ‘Being Realistic’. First of all, let me define what ‘realistic’ is. Realistic means being sensible and understand what is possible to achieve in particular situation or showing things as they really are. Therefore, teacher should be realistic in bringing about success in English language learning among pupils.
There are many things that should be taken into considerations in order to be realistic in teaching. Firstly, in selecting activities, teachers should questions themselves when they want to select or design an activity to use with the pupils- e,g- “Will it be difficult for pupils to carry it out?”, “Is the language suitable for the level?”, “Which skills does it practise?”, “Does it create a good atmosphere?” and so on. By doing this, teacher will have specific, clear and explicit purposes in their mind and can deliver the learning successfully. On the pupils’ side, they will enjoy learning and process the learning more deeply.
Secondly, it is undisputable that motivation is an extremely an important factor in determining success in pupils’ learning. Therefore, teachers should be realistic in teaching in order to arouse pupils’ motivation. In this case, familiarity of the subject and their cultural background knowledge help to increase pupils’ motivation. When the pupils are familiar with the topic, they will eager to participate in the lesson to the maximum level. This is good in order to ‘settle down’ pupils who are restless or active and naturally pay attention during the lesson. For those who are weak in learning process, providing familiar topic and their cultural background knowledge enable them to ‘feel’ success and motivate them to further their learning to the fullest.
Teacher should also be realistic in term of providing support to the pupils. Pupils really need support or assistance in order to carry out the activities that they are not able to do unaided. When teachers provide support to the pupils, they will gain confidence and eventually able to function independently. For example, teachers can support pupils by giving pictures to comprehend text, gestures, related vocabulary and others. However, teacher should know how to adjust, reduce and match support to pupils’ understanding and experience. It is not appropriate to provide fully support the advance students. They might feel that teachers do not appreciate their own capability. Besides that, it might reduce the level of challenge and pupils might not experience learning progress.
Lastly, lesson planning is just a guide or reference to teachers for smooth and efficient teaching. Sometimes, what they have planned does not work at all depending on the pupils’ mood and classroom situation on that particular day. For instance, pupils might be passive in the morning lesson. If the teachers want to do reading activity, I am sure that they won’t give full participation. Teacher should be realistic by not continuing teaching according to the lesson planning, but being flexible by asking the pupils to sing songs or do physical movement activity. This will help to awaken the pupils. Therefore, teacher should be realistic and flexible in teaching in order to suit their mood and interests.