My Practical Training Journal: Week 8
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 10:38 am
Week 8
4 September 2011 – 8 September 2011
Last week, I had an observation with Ms. Lim. It was a pair teaching observation for English class whereby I was needed to teach a class with my partner, Shahera. Shahera and I had decided to perform the pair teaching in her class, Year 5A. The observation session was held on 7 September 2011 at 9.10 a.m. until 10.10 a.m.
Shahera and I decided to use the Science laboratory for the pair teaching session. It was because we needed to use the LCD projector with the white screen. At the same time, we needed to perform a group work with the pupils and the furniture in the lab has already been arranged in that manner. Nevertheless, Ms. Lim advised us that Science laboratory is not encouraged as a place for an English lesson. In future, I will not be teaching any of my English lessons in the Science laboratory any more. It is because the Science laboratory is not really a safe place for English activities for little kids.
I planned the whole English lesson together with Shahera. We sat jointly two days before the observation and organized the lesson. We thought that we had divided the lesson equally well. I would perform the Set Induction, Step 2 which was the Focused Word Work of the pronunciation drilling and grammar (simple past tense and prepositions) activities, and Step 3 which was the Individual Work of comprehension. Shahera would perform the Step 1 which was the Shared Reading, Step 4 which was the Group Work of Guided Writing, and Closure. However, according to Ms. Lim, the lesson was not divided equally. If there was another pair teaching, we will fix this, but unfortunately there was not.
4 September 2011 – 8 September 2011
Last week, I had an observation with Ms. Lim. It was a pair teaching observation for English class whereby I was needed to teach a class with my partner, Shahera. Shahera and I had decided to perform the pair teaching in her class, Year 5A. The observation session was held on 7 September 2011 at 9.10 a.m. until 10.10 a.m.
Shahera and I decided to use the Science laboratory for the pair teaching session. It was because we needed to use the LCD projector with the white screen. At the same time, we needed to perform a group work with the pupils and the furniture in the lab has already been arranged in that manner. Nevertheless, Ms. Lim advised us that Science laboratory is not encouraged as a place for an English lesson. In future, I will not be teaching any of my English lessons in the Science laboratory any more. It is because the Science laboratory is not really a safe place for English activities for little kids.
I planned the whole English lesson together with Shahera. We sat jointly two days before the observation and organized the lesson. We thought that we had divided the lesson equally well. I would perform the Set Induction, Step 2 which was the Focused Word Work of the pronunciation drilling and grammar (simple past tense and prepositions) activities, and Step 3 which was the Individual Work of comprehension. Shahera would perform the Step 1 which was the Shared Reading, Step 4 which was the Group Work of Guided Writing, and Closure. However, according to Ms. Lim, the lesson was not divided equally. If there was another pair teaching, we will fix this, but unfortunately there was not.
Our learning outcomes were specific but they still need some fine-tuning. The lesson content was also planned well. The teaching and learning strategy was good but it was still teacher centred. We could see that all pupils were just sitting on their places since the class began until it ended. In future, we need to think of activities where the pupils could move around the class or at least go to the front and tap on the laptop keyboards for the answers instead of only the teachers tapping on them.
The teaching and learning sources were very good as various aids were used. As for the Set Induction, we used the realia of the blender and mortar and pestle. Other than that, we used the worksheet for individual work and flip paper and marker pens for the group work. The values inculcation was suitable. The thinking skills elements were appropriately stated.
The implementation of the introduction or Set Induction was fine as very good effort seen. The use of realia and the teacher asked the pupils to guess the things in the plastic bags was very good as the suspense element was used. The pupils were responsive on that. The questioning technique was also good. However, some prefects in a big group were talking when I came to the pestle and mortar part. In future, I have to be sensitive with the pupils’ situation and divide the groups properly and evenly. I would also need to write the words on the blackboard.
Our lesson expansion was in good flow. My class control management was fine as some improvement can be seen. I believe that was because I was teaching the Year 5A class. This class has no problems with their attitude and I also believe that any teachers will not face any problems in controlling them. My communication with the pupils was also clear and expressive.
The teaching and learning sources were very good as various aids were used. As for the Set Induction, we used the realia of the blender and mortar and pestle. Other than that, we used the worksheet for individual work and flip paper and marker pens for the group work. The values inculcation was suitable. The thinking skills elements were appropriately stated.
The implementation of the introduction or Set Induction was fine as very good effort seen. The use of realia and the teacher asked the pupils to guess the things in the plastic bags was very good as the suspense element was used. The pupils were responsive on that. The questioning technique was also good. However, some prefects in a big group were talking when I came to the pestle and mortar part. In future, I have to be sensitive with the pupils’ situation and divide the groups properly and evenly. I would also need to write the words on the blackboard.
Our lesson expansion was in good flow. My class control management was fine as some improvement can be seen. I believe that was because I was teaching the Year 5A class. This class has no problems with their attitude and I also believe that any teachers will not face any problems in controlling them. My communication with the pupils was also clear and expressive.
My key words pronunciation drilling with the pupils and explanation of the meaning using clear computer graphics was very good especially for explaining words like ‘marinate’, ‘grilled’, and ‘wrap’ whereby the pupils understood them quickly. I also explained and demonstrated the pupils on what to do with the grammar activities such as ‘circle the simple past tense’ and ‘underline the prepositions’ on the blackboard.
Our lesson quality was good, but we needed to allocate more time for the comprehension task. I realized that Shahera and I were rushing through because we consumed pretty much times on our activities and the pupils were also anxious with the time which was approaching their recess time. Therefore, in the future, I need to perform my lesson activities smoothly and properly.
I was also advised by Ms. Lim that the simple past tense words in the passage were not completely discussed. There were other words which were not mentioned and highlighted. I need to note this and not to repeat the same mistake in the future. The discussion of the ‘root words’ after the simple past tense activity would be more accurate if I said ‘present tense words’. I was also advised to put the present tense and past tense words side by side so that they are seen clearly.
It was also good for me and Shahera to go round to monitor the pupils’ work. However, we did not take any action on a girl who had been sitting alone at the back of the class since the beginning of the lesson. In future, we need to be sensitive with this situation and encourage her to join the group beside her.
The discussion of the comprehension answers using the computer was good but the pupils should be allowed to answer them individually. I will take note of this in the future. The answers displayed on the screen were too quickly removed. They should be displayed longer so that the pupils can copy them if they do not know the answers. It happened that way because the teacher rushed through the activity. It was not supposed to happen as it is a more challenging activity.
The learning outcomes achievement was satisfactorily achieved and the values application was satisfactory. I will need to focus on this matter more in my future lessons. My reflection notes were critically done. My reflective thinking and portfolio construction were fine.
According to Ms. Lim, my appearance was good, pleasant, and polite. I was also sensitive and patient with the pupils. My behaviour was fine and I was committed and responsible with my class. Overall, I have shown a lot of progress in my teaching. I just hope that I would keep up this pretty good performance and make it better with my Year 4B class as they are pretty hard to be controlled and their ability in English was a bit weaker than the Year 5A class. God speed!
Our lesson quality was good, but we needed to allocate more time for the comprehension task. I realized that Shahera and I were rushing through because we consumed pretty much times on our activities and the pupils were also anxious with the time which was approaching their recess time. Therefore, in the future, I need to perform my lesson activities smoothly and properly.
I was also advised by Ms. Lim that the simple past tense words in the passage were not completely discussed. There were other words which were not mentioned and highlighted. I need to note this and not to repeat the same mistake in the future. The discussion of the ‘root words’ after the simple past tense activity would be more accurate if I said ‘present tense words’. I was also advised to put the present tense and past tense words side by side so that they are seen clearly.
It was also good for me and Shahera to go round to monitor the pupils’ work. However, we did not take any action on a girl who had been sitting alone at the back of the class since the beginning of the lesson. In future, we need to be sensitive with this situation and encourage her to join the group beside her.
The discussion of the comprehension answers using the computer was good but the pupils should be allowed to answer them individually. I will take note of this in the future. The answers displayed on the screen were too quickly removed. They should be displayed longer so that the pupils can copy them if they do not know the answers. It happened that way because the teacher rushed through the activity. It was not supposed to happen as it is a more challenging activity.
The learning outcomes achievement was satisfactorily achieved and the values application was satisfactory. I will need to focus on this matter more in my future lessons. My reflection notes were critically done. My reflective thinking and portfolio construction were fine.
According to Ms. Lim, my appearance was good, pleasant, and polite. I was also sensitive and patient with the pupils. My behaviour was fine and I was committed and responsible with my class. Overall, I have shown a lot of progress in my teaching. I just hope that I would keep up this pretty good performance and make it better with my Year 4B class as they are pretty hard to be controlled and their ability in English was a bit weaker than the Year 5A class. God speed!
My Practical Training Journal: Week 7
10:37 am
Week 7
21 August 2011 – 25 August 2011
A week before Raya. I bet everybody was in the mood of Raya and could not really focus to works or schools. Nevertheless, responsibilities needed to be implemented. Schools kids need to learn. School teachers need to teach.
I was supposed to be observed by my mentor, Puan Parah Zahani on Monday. She needed to see me using ICT in the classroom. We scheduled everything on Monday. However, she needed to attend a meeting during my English period on Monday. Therefore, I postponed my Monday lesson to Thursday, and brought my Thursday lesson to Monday.
Along with the festival mood, I taught my pupils with the topic of “Festive Cheers”. On Monday, I asked them to design a greeting card of Hari Raya Aidilfitri. I distributed a piece of art drawing paper to each pupil. I asked them to fold the paper to half and to design the paper as a beautiful and creative greeting card. Initially, I limited them to write only in English. But then, I could see that lots of Raya wishes wordings were not in English. Therefore, I allowed them to write in English and Arabic only.
Amazingly, that was the very first time where the pupils did not asked for my permission to go out to the toilet. Previously, they just love to frequently go out, even to the toilet. I could see that they focus their almost total attention to the greeting card design and creation. Even though they were wandering around to their friends’ places, but they were actually doing their work! I joined them with their work by monitoring them using the scissors when they needed to cut out the coloured papers to be pasted on the greeting cards.
I could also see how much they love art. They asked me a lot of new vocabularies to be inserted into their greeting cards. I helped them out for a few difficult words, but encouraged them more to look out for the words in their dictionaries.
From this activity, the only problem I could see was to make them to sit at their places. However, I think it was only a minor problem. Kids are kids. Being active is in their young blood. The victory that I had accomplished here was to tackle their interest and focus to the lesson. Not only I taught them some English, but I integrated the art skill as well.
The conclusion that I could make out from this lesson is that these kids enjoy art. In future, I think I need to figure out more activities like this which involve art to have their total focus and attention to the lesson.
On Thursday, I had an observation session with Puan Parah Zahani. According to my previous experiences having my English class in the computer lab, I have transferred my ICT-based lesson to the Science lab. I chose such venue because it has been installed with the white screen and the pupils could sit in groups whereby the tables and stools were arranged in grouping manner.
From my personal judgement, my class control was still hectic. I have numbered them so that they could be in groups mixing around with their other classmates and not only with their cliques, but I could see that some of them were pretending by forgetting their numbers and simply joined any groups that they wanted.
Personally, I have no idea on how to control the situation. I guess I need to be stricter in the later future even though I thought I have been strict enough.
21 August 2011 – 25 August 2011
A week before Raya. I bet everybody was in the mood of Raya and could not really focus to works or schools. Nevertheless, responsibilities needed to be implemented. Schools kids need to learn. School teachers need to teach.
I was supposed to be observed by my mentor, Puan Parah Zahani on Monday. She needed to see me using ICT in the classroom. We scheduled everything on Monday. However, she needed to attend a meeting during my English period on Monday. Therefore, I postponed my Monday lesson to Thursday, and brought my Thursday lesson to Monday.
Along with the festival mood, I taught my pupils with the topic of “Festive Cheers”. On Monday, I asked them to design a greeting card of Hari Raya Aidilfitri. I distributed a piece of art drawing paper to each pupil. I asked them to fold the paper to half and to design the paper as a beautiful and creative greeting card. Initially, I limited them to write only in English. But then, I could see that lots of Raya wishes wordings were not in English. Therefore, I allowed them to write in English and Arabic only.
Amazingly, that was the very first time where the pupils did not asked for my permission to go out to the toilet. Previously, they just love to frequently go out, even to the toilet. I could see that they focus their almost total attention to the greeting card design and creation. Even though they were wandering around to their friends’ places, but they were actually doing their work! I joined them with their work by monitoring them using the scissors when they needed to cut out the coloured papers to be pasted on the greeting cards.
I could also see how much they love art. They asked me a lot of new vocabularies to be inserted into their greeting cards. I helped them out for a few difficult words, but encouraged them more to look out for the words in their dictionaries.
From this activity, the only problem I could see was to make them to sit at their places. However, I think it was only a minor problem. Kids are kids. Being active is in their young blood. The victory that I had accomplished here was to tackle their interest and focus to the lesson. Not only I taught them some English, but I integrated the art skill as well.
The conclusion that I could make out from this lesson is that these kids enjoy art. In future, I think I need to figure out more activities like this which involve art to have their total focus and attention to the lesson.
On Thursday, I had an observation session with Puan Parah Zahani. According to my previous experiences having my English class in the computer lab, I have transferred my ICT-based lesson to the Science lab. I chose such venue because it has been installed with the white screen and the pupils could sit in groups whereby the tables and stools were arranged in grouping manner.
From my personal judgement, my class control was still hectic. I have numbered them so that they could be in groups mixing around with their other classmates and not only with their cliques, but I could see that some of them were pretending by forgetting their numbers and simply joined any groups that they wanted.
Personally, I have no idea on how to control the situation. I guess I need to be stricter in the later future even though I thought I have been strict enough.
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