My Story Book

Here is an example of a story book.... it's meant for preschoolers . However , there are some flaws that need attention . Flaws ..?? Where ...???

Writing 

When writing , whether it's the cover or the words inside , bear in mind the font case that we use . As we can see from the example below ( Picture 1 ) ,writing in full uppercase is incorrect . This is giving the wrong idea to the pupils . It should be written in sentence case where the capital letter starts the sentences . Please take serious note of this matter because the book is going to used by preschoolers or primary school pupils . 

Picture 1

Pictures

If the picture that we use is taken from a magazine , newspapers or other sources , make sure that the picture is cut out nicely so that it would look nice and not take up space in our book . Look at the picture of the snake below. It is taking some space from the upper page . If it is cut nicely according to its image, a lot of space can be saved .

In Picture 1 above , as the cover of the book , the picture SHOULD be more vibrant , colourful  and brighter  than that . This is because , in a story telling session , we start with the cover which is the essence of the book / story. We talk about the cover and explain the title as we begin . 

Picture 2

Colours

Make sure that the background colours that we use are able to highlight the words that we write . If you are using a dark background , please use bright colours for the lettering and vice versa . This would ensure that the wordings are readable even from a short distance . The example above ( Picture 2 ) uses a dark background as well as dark lettering . It is still readable if we are holding the book and read but for story telling sessions , where the pupils are sitting in front of the teacher in a group , they would have trouble looking at the words .


Facts

Please proofread your work before putting them on the board , worksheets or in this case , the book . As can be seen in the example above ( Picture 2 ) , " Ular sawa ada bisa" ( Pythons are poisonous ) , the sentence gives incorrect fact. Do not mislead your pupils especially preschoolers .

Writing activity

Assalammualaikum and a good day to all .....

Here is an idea on a writing activity . We will write a story as a group but the most important thing is DO NOT TELL THEM THAT THEY ARE GOING TO CREATE A STORY BOOK. This element of surprise will add more fun and excitement in the activity .You will need :

1. old newspapers
2. scissors
3. glue sticks
4. A4 papers

Firstly , divide the students into groups of 4 or 5 .
Next , give them some old newspapers
Ask them to find 5 pictures . Make sure that the pictures are big enough .
Tell the students to paste the pictures on 5 pieces of papers .
Write 5 sentences to describe each picture .
Collect the pictures and arrange them to form a story .
Use sentence connectors ( For, And, Nor, But,Or,Yet,So ) to connect the sentences forming a story .
Create a cover , title and illustration for your story .
Compile the pictures together with the cover , staple it and you have a story book .

Ask the students to send a representative from each group to come to the front to tell their stories .

Suitable for upper primary (Years 4,5 and 6)

Add- ins.....

1. give a theme for the books or a theme for each book.
2. instead of using pictures from newspapers, use black and white pictures such as the one below.

Ask the pupils to colour them . That would be more meaningful for them . This is suitable for pre-schoolers.

Oral Presentation / Action Research

Assalammualaikum and a good and fruitful day to all ...

Conducting an Action Research as a requirement for the teacher trainees to graduate is truly a challenging but exciting experience . They will have to discuss an issue that they found throughout their three practicum experiences ( or any issue related to teaching and learning that they can think of ) . This is to train them to become an educator who is more dedicated to his / her work and would stop at nothing to ensure that the pupils who come to school learn something .
The issues , once located , will then be solved through an intervention ( or a series of interventions / cycles ) , planned and conducted by the trainees using action research models such as Kemmis & Mc Taggart (1988) or Kurt Lewin       (1946) to name a few .

The first obstacle that they have to overcome is the issue(s) that they have to find. Some of the trainees choose an issue which they themselves are not familiar with such as phonics or sounds of language . This topic needs the correct framework and instruments in order to come up with the correct findings to show the outcome of the intervention . This is where the role of supervisors come in . They will have to guide the trainees in choosing the correct angle to tackle the issue(s) that they have chosen because most of the time the topics that they  choose is too wide to be addressed with just one action research . Having said that , the trainee then has to present his/ her Action Research in front of  evaluators . In other words , the trainee has to convince the evaluators on his / her topic . Some trainees , during presentation , gave a good presentation on their work while some did not . However , the supposedly good presenters suddenly started to stutter during the Question and Answer session . Here is where the trainees are tested on their work , to see whether the Research is actually theirs . It is important to mention here that the questions asked are meant to test the trainees and not to find faults . Here we can see some trainees whose explanations are totally opposite from what they had presented . When these contradictory statements are questioned , they will try very hard to say that they are right even though they they do not possess any sufficient evidence !

My advice to all is be prepared ! Make it a point to do ALL the work yourselves and know WHY you are doing them such as why are you using Model 'A' and not Model 'B' or why did you choose this group of pupils instead of that group ? Justify whatever it is that you do . Show or prove to the evaluators that this work is indeed yours and not just a plagiarized copy from the internet .

At the end of the day , when you have this work of yours in a hardbound copy , you will be very proud to say that this is YOUR own work . The feeling is PRICELESS ... believe me ! Good luck to all .

Fashion among trainees

Hi there all ... this was last semester's story . I came across this student while invigilating the final semester exam . These little fingers caught my eyes and i managed to snap a photo of them . The only question that came to mind was : " Are they allowed to paint their nails ".
Being fashionable is one thing but you are still studying ... in a government institute ... under the government's law which does not permit such fashion among students . It was surprising to find this being practiced by trainee teachers .
Hope that this would not be copied by other students .

Ramadhan Kareeemmm

Assalammualaikum and a very good day to all....Ramadhan Kariem ...!!!

It's THAT time of the year where Muslims the world over celebrate the holy month of Ramadhan by fasting for the whole month .... and today's the 3rd day of fasting . Alhamdulillah ...everything's good and healthy .

We are still in the school holidays and all the teachers or students are having a jolly time at home taking care of things or running errands that they were not able to do so during school days  . What ever it is , keep yourselves safe and healthy because next week , you'll need all the energy  that you can muster as schools REOPEN .

Two weeks seemed like two days . For IPG lecturers , we used to get THREE weeks . Well, you can't win them all . i have been off line for quite sometime due to some personal matters . Sorry about that. A lot of things , good and bad , happened during my keyboard absence and i would like to jot some of them here . All in good time .

Ok then..see you guys soon .

NEVER JUDGE ANOTHER AS THAT ANOTHER COULD BE US ...!

Time Management

Assalammualaikum and a very good day to all.....

In a lesson , time management is very crucial as it ensures that our pupils will learn from us . The key to having a good time management is very closely related to preparing enough activities to occupy the time that YOU have allocated in the stages of your lesson . If we have not prepared enough activities for the pupils , we will have the tendency to drag the lesson to occupy the time . When this happens , the class will go haywire as the rest of the class will start to drift into their own world .

 At the beginning of a lesson , the pupils are interested to learn . This is because they are anxious to know what their teacher has prepared for them . Maybe singing , role play , reading etc. In this stage , they will give their full attention towards the teacher , participate in the activities and answer questions asked . The teacher then gives an exercise for the pupils to do in the activity stage .

 

Pupils walking around and chi-chatting with friends

 But then , after a while , the pupils feel that the lesson has come to an end because they have completed the exercises that the teacher has given them and that is it ....no new tasks are given for them to do . The teacher herself  has turned her attention to the weak ones who are still struggling to complete their tasks .
So , what do the rest of the pupils do ? They FIND things to do to occupy their time ... things like walking around the class or playing 'batu seremban' in a group , on the floor , under their desks . The teacher is left on her own.

                                          Group playing under the table

One of the remedy for this situation is to prepare TWO activities for the pupils to carry out and ONE  additional activity  in case the excellent pupils finish early . This is one way to make sure that you will not get wet if it rains suddenly as you have an umbrella available .  Another remedy is to STICK TO YOUR LESSON PLAN ... if you have allocated five minutes to an activity , STOP if you have exceeded five minutes . Do NOT go on because you will steal a few minutes from your next stage and the next and the next until you noticed that the teacher for the next lesson is waiting to enter your classroom and you HAVE NOT finished your lesson YET . Be extra careful when it comes to time management because it is something which is invisible but the effects are pretty much visible .

Teacher trainees .....

Remember that you are among the selected few who were given the opportunity to undertake teacher training . From the tens of thousands of youngsters who applied....... a few thousands were called for interviews and the physical tests ... but only a few hundreds were given the chance to join the teaching profession .

Once you're here , please think of the others who did not get this chance . They would give away their hands and legs to be where you are now. You should be more thankful for this opportunity .

The odd thing was , instead of being thankful and study as hard as they could , SOME trainees tend to forget the purpose of being in a Teacher's college ... they get poor marks , play truant , didn't submit their assignments and / or failed their exams and / or practicum . This kind of attitude usually surfaces towards the end of their training . This has really been a mystery as to why it happened . What made them lose interest ...?

I did ask them the reason for joining teacher training and , sure enough , they blamed their parents, especially  mothers , who want them to become teachers . Personally , i can't say anything . It's your life and your choice . One thing is for sure though ....If you are kind to your parents , God will be kind to you . Listen to them. They know best . I have friends who , at one moment in time , were forced to become teachers by their parents .... They are now excellent teachers and they have children who are excellent teachers as well .

There's no shame because it's a noble profession ...be proud of being a teacher .

TSL 1054

I am blessed to be able to teach this subject this semester TSL 1054 Language Development . As promised , here's your weekend homework guys .

2016

Assalammualaikum and a very Happy 2016 to all ...

A new year ...a new challenge ....

It has been a while since my last entry here . Been busy with the tasks to be carried out before the school holidays and of course ENJOYING the holidays .

A new year carries with it new ideas / tasks / hopes /  dreams ( take your pick ) into our lives . So many things that happened to us the year before ...some were nice while some were NOT . What ever they were , DEAL WITH THEM .... try to be better THIS year to overcome last year's frustrations .

Two of my students have left teacher training . Both of them are in Politeknik Ungku Omar , Ipoh ...one studies IT while the other is in mechanical engineering . Both of them confessed on not being interested to become a teacher . Well...good luck guys . God has granted your wishes and gave you the chance that you asked for . Put your whole heart in this new world of yours. May you succeed with flying colours .