Questionnaires and Interviews

This week I will look at the questionnaires  and interview questions that each group has prepared based on the approved topics. I'm very excited to see the outcome as this semester I have assigned specific themes for them to practice their research skills and later their report writing skills. 

Okay, that's all for today. My class today starts at 10:00am.

Week 5- Semester March-July 2015

It's Week 5 of the semester. I'm teaching 2 codes this time as compared to 5 different codes and 11 different classes for the previous semester. So,I have been preparing lessons for 2 subjects and 8 different classes.

Teaching many classes is not a problem for me as I have always enjoyed teaching. The challenging part is doing the evaluation,especially when the deadline is very tight. For each class, the average number of students is 35. The task is now to divide and allocate ample time to do the evaluation, both for the assignment and later the final examination. 

A Come Back

What a long break!
I miss blogging.
I miss writing my teaching reflections.
I miss sharing my experience.
I miss my teaching 'voice'.

So,here I am after 5 years in hiatus.

Stopped Temporarily!

This is an entry which is long due. This semester I have not been using this blog at all in relation to my teaching. I have not been able to allocate the time and attention to update. Partly also because I could not take my students to the Cyber Lingua Lab to use the computer facilities or even to encourage them to create their own blogs.

So,from this moment,I announce that this blog will be stopped temporarily!

At the back of my mind, I wish to write on some lessons that I want to share here.
I'll see. Perhaps,I'll concentrate on writing article review or books read. Possible!

Till I write again!

BEL312-Role Play Comments

It's gratifying to see the efforts shown by my D4D3 group, English for Occupational Purposes class. There were 4 groups;2 groups that presented yesterday and the other 2 groups presented in the 2pm class just now. Here are some of the feedbacks and comments for their role plays.

1st group
The strength was in the inclusion of some video clips to accompany their role plays.The recorded version of site project, at the office and the news item had exceeded my expectations. However,their own real life interactions needed more practice. They also lack of flow in the role play and fluency in language. They did not state clearly the issue at the beginning of the role play and I needed to identify the problem,solution and lessons from the play. The reference to the script also hindered their capabilities to show their non verbal communications. Another weakness was the appropriacy of the word choice.

2nd group
I could see that this group had prepared and practised very well. Very thorough and smooth flow of role play. They had clearly addressed all parts assigned to them and they knew how to integrate two issues in their role play. They succeeded in expressing themselves through the non verbal communications and their teamwork could be seen. Their only problem,like the first group, was on appropriacy of their word choice. Everyone seemed confident in this group.

3rd group
This group had prepared a written script for me to refer to. They memorized the script. However, most of them spoke too softly that they did not succeed in getting attention from me or their friends. This also had affected their non verbal communications. I think they were quite shy to express themselves.

4th group
This group made an extra effort in terms of appearance. The strength of this group was they did not refer to any script and acted naturally and were full of expressions.The identification of problem was clear. The constant changing of clothes were quite disturbing and had interrupted the smooth flow of the role play.

Most of them had shown improvement from their individual assessment. Although some groups did not answer clearly the assigned task,all of them went the extra mile in the role plays. Overall,each group could learn a lot from one another's role play.

I'm especially impressed with the efforts shown and told them that I believe if they continue to show these qualities, they will be successful people in their future workplace.

Semester July-Nov 2009

It has been over a month since I've last updated this blog. This semester I don't get a slot in the Cyber Lingua Lab, again! No luck ,I supposed. It makes it difficult for me to do activities through my blog or internet. Most classes are in class. I'm teaching 22 hours per week, 4 different codes and 6 different classes this semester. I'm teaching English for Part 1,Part 3 and Part 4 of diploma courses and Report Writing for a degree group.

It's also unfair for me to request all my students to create their on blogs like I used to do. So, I just informed and encouraged them to create their own blogs but no obligations.

Most of the learning reflections are typed and in printed version or the traditional way: handwritten.

However, it doesn't mean that it's less effective. This statement needs to be proven though.

First Class Attendance

Today is the first day of the new semester.

I rushed to room U108 just on time at 8am. I opened the door and found nobody was around. I checked my timetable to see if I've entered the wrong classroom. No,it was the right class. I switched on the computer,put the screen down and turned on the projector,getting everything ready for the first class. Gradually, the students came in till the number reached 16. All girls.

At ,2.10pm the students were already there as I entered AV2 USPP room. Just 13 of them. Again,all girls.

As I entered and greeted the students in my 4 o'clock class at U108,they answered enthusiastically despite being the 4th class of that day. They had 3 other classes since 8.00am and there were 28 students.

What are the differences of the 3 classes I entered today?

What conclusions can be made?

Well, I'll share the reasons here when I meet the absentees later.