THE DAY WE HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR…......

Session  :  2 & 3
Time       :  10.30 a.m. - 12.00 p.m. / 2.00 p.m. - 3.30 p.m.
By           :  Chris

2 weeks ago we were eager to go back to our respective homes. The feeling was still there, but with a mixture of sadness, as we had bonded as a group. Laughing together… eating together….. teasing each other. We will surely miss our new friends. It was especially sad not having our Indian friends around, as they had gone back for the Deepavali celebration.  

 We had our final 2 hour slot with Chris, where we looked back on our journey. In groups, we had to discuss if the course had met our expectations, and present what we thought were the strengths and weaknesses and how it can be improved. There were common areas which were identified, for example, gaining new knowledge on methodology and teaching strategies, exchanging ideas ,networking with new friends, as well as, enjoying Penang food. Every group highlighted the hope of getting a ticket to London. A group highlighted the hope that apart from having fun, the lecturers  have become more creative, resourceful, innovative and reliable. The groups also felt that the 2 weeks allowed the lecturers to develop their communicative skills and enhance their ability to cooperate, as well as, work as a  teamwork.

Reflection:

 I don’t think anyone can say that they had not learned anything at all over the 2 weeks. I think we have to think positive and not be too critical about petty things.  It would have been nice if over the 2 weeks we were put in different groups rather than stay in the same group and that would enable us to get to know other teammates even better.

 

Impact:

 I have to say that some of the activities are not new to us, however, some of the other activities did trigger new ideas and we got the opportunity to exchange ideas during group work. The activities are practical and can easily be adapted and used in the classrooms.

Written by

Marina Abu Bakar

Politeknik Melaka

A NIGHT FOR MINGLING…..

A NIGHT FOR MINGLING…..

It was a night for Chris to literally let his hair down. By 7.40pm a few tables were already full. Barbequed chicken, mutton, prawns, fish , salad, fried rice were some of the dishes served. Needless to say, the Liverpool team wore their red Liverpool T-shirt and was a standout in the crowd. We waited patiently for Chris to see if would actually wear the given t-shirt. About 10 past 8, he arrived and came out of the MPV car in his red Liverpool T-shirt and holding his ukulele. His hair was down and he looked very relaxed but probably sweating due to the humid air. We were very excited and cheered when he arrived, showing off our ‘uniform’ for the night. He seemed thrilled with the Liverpool supporters especially, when a Manchester United fan was found wearing one too.

 After dinner, group photographers were taken Chris came over to our table with his Ukulele. He strummed and plucked his ukulele while the rest of us had a mini karaoke season with song requests. Of course we didn’t always know the songs he knew. After a while, Peter and Katie joined in and the singing and laughing continued till almost 10 at night. We were the last group to leave and as usual, Bill had to literally ask Chris to stop. Despite the heat, we had a lot of fun and to an extend it removed some of the stress we had been having for the past 2 weeks.

Written by,

Marina Abu Bakar

Politeknik Melaka

Support Stragtegies......

Session  :  1
Time       :  9.00 a.m. - 10.30 a.m./11.00 a.m.-12.30 p.m. / 2.00 p.m. - 3.30 p.m.
By          : Bill / Andrew / Chris

Session : 1
                Today’s first session focused on the Support Strategies & amp; Meeting the needs of all Learners, in which Bill has touched on ways that teacher could apply to cater classes with mixed ability students. We were asked to share our thoughts on ways that we have applied in our classes back in either polytechnics, community colleges or vocational colleges. This was really good and helpful for us because we got to know various ways and ideas that can be applied in classroom with mixed ability students.

 

Session : 2

                The second session was about Methods To Help Learners Develop Learning Strategies / Independent Learning Through Technology.  In this session Andrew discussed about learning strategies which can cultivate autonomous and independent learning culture amongst the students. The strategies were through blogs, Wikipedia, twitter, podcast and bookmarking. This session was very useful for us as an educator because the English lecturers  were exposed the new methods of independent learning which help to improve the students’ performance in various subjects.

  

PART III: The Second Session of Presentation

In the afternoon, the second session of presentation is being conducted by the second group. It consists of 11 amazing presenters and a reliable time keeper, one of the blogger Wilson. Although we have presented the same topic with the first group which was on Tourism but it was very much different from the first group because each of us focused on the specialty and uniqueness of the different states in Malaysia. Each of the presenters displayed their own unique and variety styles of presentation technique. We managed to attract the audience who were the tourists with our informative and catchy presentation. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the first group for allowing us to use the setting that they have created yesterday. We believed that we have entertained the audience for the whole one hour with colourful information of Malaysia. Throughout the one hour presentation, each participant managed to give in countless meaningful information from each session covering about the places of interest at different states in Malaysia, food and delicacies, cultures and celebration, customs and handicrafts. Good Job I praise to all especially to Group 2 and a big round of applause to all Liverpool members.

 

Reflection:
We have gained so many valuable knowledge throughout all the three sessions today. It is great exposure to us because it has broadened our knowledge and view about teaching and learning. We really hope to be able to apply all the knowledge that we have gathered here back in our own institution.

Written by,

Shamsul Banu Binti Mohamed Siddik
 Politeknik Ungku Omar

 

Fauziah Bt. Aarif

Politeknik Sultan Azlan Shah

M. Puspha

Politeknik Tuanku Sultanah Bahiyah

EAT, SLEEP AND DREAM WITH ABBREVIATIONS..

Session :  1, 2 , 3

Time     :  9.00 a.m. - 10.30 a.m.

By         :  Chris & Carole

 

 

Taken from http://pivotallabs.com/omg-stop-using-abbreviations/

CLIL..HOTS…LOTS..CALPS..BICS…TKT…STT…TTT and KISS but not CHRIS (^,^)…Those abbreviations has become our “food and pillows” throughout this course. Though it may sound complex to us as student-teachers, exploring this approaches and terminologies have given us better understanding and breaking the brick of What? How? When? Where and Why? questions about teaching and learning  that haunt the teachers all this while.

PART I

           As for today session, we were being introduced with an approach of scaffolding content and language learning. Scaffolding means the steps teachers take to support learners so that they can understand new content and develop new skills. In the other words, scaffolding function as assistance the teachers can give to the students to help them with their only or new skills developed in the lesson.



At first, Chris showed us a video from the Youtube on scaffolding and coaching. As we were listening to the content, we have to make a brief note on the content of the video. There are some examples given in the video on how teachers can adopt and adapt the scaffolding role in the class to support learning activity. As we have watched the video, Chris then asked us to share our ideas and experiences on how we scaffold our lesson in the class. Although it was just a short session of sharing ideas, we find it very impressive on how the teachers use their creativity in making the lesson interesting for the students to grasp the lesson in class.

Next for the pre-session task activity, Chris pasted few pieces of papers that contain important information on the wall around the class. We were then provided with a hand out that consists of five questions and we need to find the answers pasted on the wall. In this activity, it requires us to use our kinaesthetic and cognitive skills to locate the answers around the class. As we put the hat of a student, we find this activity is very helpful to get the students to be aware of the lesson, instead of merely listening to the teachers.

 

To sum up, what we have learned in Chris class today has made us realize how important scaffolding process in helping the students to develop their ability in the learning process apart of aiming to reach the outcome of the lesson. Our students need the support from the teacher in order for them to identify their own ability in one learning process. Teacher need to be creative to break the task into smaller parts where each and every part is activating their cognitive process. As teachers begins to see the students are able to work independently, teachers can start to remove the scaffolding away and focus on the teaching of the content.

 

 

PART II

The second session of the class was taken over by Carole. She was conducted on the topic of Cognitive (and higher order thinking skills) across the curriculum. When we first look at the topic in our schedule, we felt quiet uneasy with the term “Higher order Thinking Skills”. In our first impression, this topic will make us scratch our head to bleed because we might be tested with HOTS task. However, Carole has taken the pressure away from us through her simple explanation about the topic.

She first started the session by dividing us into group and each group was given a stack of paper cut. In this activity we have to match answers according to category. As we gone through this activity, there are a lot of discussion and sharing ideas among us. Without us realizing, this activity has led us to use our HOTS to understand the content of HOTS across the curriculum.

What we like in Carole sessions is she has introduced a lot of activities that helps learners to think.  We verbalize our cognitive process, we work together in groups, we walk around the class to ask and search for answers. Those activities that she had done in class gave us greater chance to understand the topic better. Well done Carole!!!

To err is human...

Session  : 2
Time       : 11.00 a.m. - 12.30 p.m.
By           :  Peter

 

"Keep Calm and Be Creative”...

Basically, the phrase above summarizes the whole lesson about “Support Strategies and Meeting the Needs of All Learners”...

Keep Calm...

      Personally, I believe that we learn best from mistakes. Thus, we as teachers should not feel bad if our students make so many mistakes. It is not totally because we fail to deliver the lesson effectively but learning process is actually taking place. Let’s give our students the wisdom and sense of having autonomous learning. All we have to do is support them!

     Give our students chances to finish something rather than expecting perfection in the final product. The most important is to encourage the effort as much as the end results. Yes, we want them to so things right, but we need to let them learn from their mistakes. This is a real life situation because when the students get out in the real world, they surely make mistakes...and they need to learn that it is not the end of the world!

     Changing your students' perspective on mistakes is the greatest gift you can give yourself as a teacher. Imagine having a classroom of students who are engaged and constantly improving -- it's every teacher's dream.

 

 

...and Be Creative!

 

 

     Dealing with mistakes and correcting them can be done in so many ways. Therefore, as teachers, all we have to do is be creative in correcting our students’ mistakes. Whatever techniques or ways of correcting mistakes that we use, always bear in mind that the main purpose of doing it is to motivate our students to learn more, not to demotivate them or make them feel bad. For example, by giving ‘hint’ that the students are making mistakes and not directly correcting them is actually encouraging them to be autonomous learners. We encourage them to take responsibility of their own learning pace and putting more effort to achieve their target. That is the least we can do to help our students excel in their learning.

I believe that there is no best way of correcting our students’ mistakes. One technique may work with certain group of students and may not work with others. Thus, teachers need to take the effort to ‘try and error’ in finding the best correction techniques that work well with their students. Yes, it sounds more works on the teachers’ part...but isn’t it beautiful and meaningful watching our students moving a step further in their learning?

 

Written by,
Noorasmawati Bt Shafee
Politeknik Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah, Pahang

The Knight in Shinning Armour

Session  : 1
Time       : 9 a.m. - 10.30 a.m.
By           :  Carole

'Language is the armory of the human mind, and at once contains the trophies of its past and the weapon of its future conquests' - 'Samuel Taylor Coleridge'

 

            Language is the most powerful tool in communication. If it is unclear, people will misunderstood the message. Carol, our trainer taught us that knowing and understanding the different use of genre-based approach is important and it is not just for the teacher to plan and prepare but also for the students to identify and understand the language features that they need to equip themselves for their future life.
            I feel that this lesson is utterly important for us, the educators to prepare ourselves with such important knowledge and apply it in our teaching once we are back in our institution. I am truly grateful for this opportunity and thank you to Jabatan Pengajian Politeknik, WKC trainers and especially to Carol for exposing us on this lesson, and of course for being such a great teacher and trainer.
          Last but not least, to my students, if you ever read this, language is definitely your armour, to prepare you for a new battle in the real world. Learn and prepare yourself and may the force be with you. :) 

Written by,
Huwaina Jasmin Bt Hussin
Politeknik Banting Selangor

 

Gear Up for CLIL Resources....

Session :  2
Time      :  11 a.m. - 12.30 p.m.
By          :  Peter

Resources Including Multimedia and Visual Organizers

       This session was further continued by Peter, one of the WKC experienced trainers. The objectives of this topic are rather comprehensible as to ensure the fellow language educators to know more about visual organisers and their uses in CLIL contexts, be able to match visual organisers with their purposes and understand the reasons for applying multimedia in the classroom. Interestingly enough, teaching and learning resources play a crucial role in

       Peter started off the session by distributing each and everyone of us a piece of  grid-category kind of handout  on ‘What kind of learner am I?’ We were asked to go through each of the questions and select an option out of A, B and C that best suits our personality and learning style that we are commonly used to. Such an interesting activity it was, I must say! The whole class was pretty excited to find out what kind of learner he or she is. Once we selected our options in another piece of ‘answer strip’, the results went on to show whether the particular indivdual is either visual, audioty or kinesthetic learner. This is such an eye-opener activity as it opens a gateway for language teachers to find out what kind of learners our students are. Rowdy ones can always be the kinesthetic ones and same goes to passive ones, who may turn out to be either visual or auditory learners. Due to the importance of different kinds of learning styles, Peter then further explained the different types of intelligence that play an important in creating and using a range of resoureces in language teaching and learning.

      With different kinds of intelligence that students may possess in mind, language teachers should always be aware on what kind of resources that we can fully utilize and thus, generates students’ language skills effectively. The use of visual organizers also known as graphic organizers was introduced by Peter. Most of the teachers do recognize and are familiar with the examples of graphic organisers shown by the trainer such as bar chart, storyboard, flowchart and such. Then, came the use of multimedia or ICT that plays an interactive role in recent teaching methods nowadays. This type of teaching learning resources combines an array of text, graphics, audio, video, animation, software and online content for the  purpose of presenting multimedia information for the students.

Reflection

      Generating teaching and learning resources may be considered a daunting task when students are of different language abilities and needs. However, our trainer was able to direct us on how to start-up our teaching implementation on different uses of resources using multimedia and visual organizers. As teachers and language eduacators, we should admit that our students are excellent in whatever they are best at be it visual, auditory or kinesthetic. Since their learning styles differ from each other, teachers are encouraged to set up language resources  which may include graphic organizers and the use of multimedia to fit students’ learning styles and somehow encourage as well as motivate them to produce effective language communication skills. It may be done gradually as to cater the different needs of students who seldomly use the target language in their everyday life. But to support them with the necessary language resources is what we are looking for imperatively.

Recommendation

     Multimedia is definitely the ‘in’ thing nowadays. We can’t simply underestimate them in regards on the use of multimedia. Video making is simply one of it where students are provided with a specific topic and a situation. Using the situation, they need to record a video of given situation. With the use of a smartphone / video recorder and Movie Maker application, they are required to publish a short movie of less than 5-minute on a customer’s complaint. It would be intersting if the trainer could provide us the examples of multimedia projects by his students J

Written by,
Hanimarlia Bt Hassan                                                            
Kolej Komuniti Ledang

Here Goes Engineering time !!!

Session : 1
Time : 9 am - 10.30 am
By : Peter

         It’s the second day of the second week here at PBU. The lesson for today started with Peter, where we learned about English Language class in the context of Engineering. We’ve been given the picture of a 30cm ruler that we needed to cut out. It seemed some of us really enjoy cutting out the picture of the ruler. However, we didn’t have any idea what was the purpose of doing so. After that, Peter asked us a question “How is the average Engineering students like?” Some of the participants replied that the Engineering students were able to understand the language but unable to communicate; while some of them said “They are lack in self-confidence”. We were given worksheets on the vocabulary of different types of biometric where we labelled the vocabulary according to the pictures. Then, we found out that the use of the ruler was to measure the hands as the hands were parts of geometry data. We discussed some issues regarding hand biometrics in groups where we were pretending as a different group of engineers. We discussed if hand geometry would be unique enough to serve as an element in a new security system for a museum. All groups have given some interesting feedback and ideas in the discussion. As for me, to reflect on this lesson, based on my honest point of view, this lesson is difficult for me to comprehend. Most of the time I have no idea what we supposed to do. Maybe because I have in my schemata that Engineering is difficult so I kind of get lost during the lesson. However, I am grateful that I am learning something new although it does not interest me.

Written by,

Fathiah Izzati Binti Mohamad Fadzillah

Kolej Komuniti Segamat 2

 

Anything need evidence, right?

Session :  3 
Time      :  2 PM till 3.30 PM
By          : Chris

 

And it was nearly end of the day!!! Yeay !!! Frankly I am tired to digest all valuable information since the first day of the course. But thinking of the end of the day and it was my favourite topic; I tried my best to stay awake until the end of the session. I am very keen in teaching and learning assessment, the topic for third session of the day stimulates my interest.

Initially, I thought this topic will focus on how assessment can be a tool to correct mistakes done by the students particularly in language. I was nearly correct with some enhancements.

            Dealing with assessment and error correction are the important stage of acquiring the concept of CLIL in the classroom. It does not base on the language solely but the content too.  However, teachers and learners should understand their roles from implement it. As what was done in the pre task activity, teachers might have different reasons to assess the students. They should know what their focus, either language, content or both. When preparing the task, the instruction should be clear and understood well by the students. As what happened to us during completing Worksheet 1, to identify the statements related what to focus for the assessment. I think if we know who the students are then we didn’t get confused so much.

            The learners should learn from the assessment, able to enhance their knowledge and apply in their daily routine. The evaluation should help the students to use their cognitive, practical and communicative skills. I believe every lesson in the classroom benefits the learners if teachers are aware what they want.

            Error correction can be done in three ways; teacher- correction, peer correction and self- correction. All these corrections can be applied in different kinds of learning situations based in tasks given, level of the students and other factors. I would like to know more about the self- correction which I think it is quite impossible to carry out in my classroom where the students are average and need to have a lot of direction before ask them to do my their own.

 

REFLECTION

This session is interesting session where we are exposed to the important of setting up the purposes of assessment before carrying out and able to help the learners to practice specific skills. It ensures both parties; teachers and learners benefit the assessment session. Most importantly, assessment shouldn’t be as frightening as before.

 

SUGGESTION

I think it should have more discussion on the real practice in the Malaysia classrooms compare to just discussion on general practice. Perhaps, the trainee should state their own assessment and the other might guess as a complement activity for Worksheet 1.

Written by,
Zarina Bt Hashim
Politeknik Kota Bharu

Planning a lesson or a series of lessons

Session :  3

Time      :   2.00 p.m. - 3.30 p.m.
By         : Peter

        Peter was the last of the six trainers to come to our class. Naturally, we were curious and it was a relief that he was funny, full of expressions and kept us on our toes, especially considering it was a post-lunch session.

               

 

After introducing himself, he dived straight into lesson plans – starting by asking us if we had completed the pre-task worksheet.  Ok, so only two of us had done it (facepalm!). We were given a few minutes to complete it. We discussed it and then we moved on to what headings we would include in our lesson plans. Interestingly, ours differed from his. Though mostly it was just the terminology used, his was, of course, more comprehensive.

Next, we were made to think of our most successful lesson in class and to share them within our small groups. A few were called to share with the whole class. Then we were asked to group ourselves based on the month we were born. The next thing you know, it was chaotic like a local ‘pasarmalam’ as everyone tried to find others who share the same birth month as them. I believe his main aim is to get us to share experiences as again, we were made to share our most successful lesson with our group members.

 REFLECTION / IMPACT

Overall, the session was a great refresher as what to include or to think about when planning a lesson. I especially loved the sharing session. I got to learn more about my fellow group members as well as fresh, new ideas to carry out my lessons!

 SUGGESTION

Maybe one thing that could be put into consideration is having ‘differentiation’ in our lesson plan which Peter has included in the suggested lesson plan. Though probably not practical to be done in all our lessons throughout the semester, we could try to have it in a few lessons.

Written by :

Aliza Abdul Razak

Politeknik Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah, Shah Alam

Problems in Materials selection ? Read On.......

Session  :  2
Time     :  11.00 a.m. - 12.30 p.m.
By         : Bill

Materials Selection, Adaptation and Activity Types

 

The second session of the day started with us closing our eyes and visualizing that one of us, is a Spanish learner and the other a CLIL materials developer. A short role play was carried out between the ‘Spanish learners’ and ‘CLIL writers’ about their dissatisfaction of the produced materials. The definition of authenticity was identified and groups discussed ‘how materials are selected’, ‘what criteria are considered in selecting materials’ and ‘how can we adapt materials to help learners understand the content’. In developing and adapting materials, we may have to apply the Text-task Seesaw, where if, the chosen text is difficult, we have to create an easy task and vise versa. Another aspect to consider, is the cultural triangle which incorporates the knowledge about the target content, the world, and their home (local culture).
  

Groups were given 3 samples of reading materials to analyse their suitability in terms of classroom usage. Bill then shared a few types of activities that can be used in the classroom such as hot seat, web search, pyramid discussion and  Caroll's Table, before ending with the Domino/Loop Game where participants had to match a word to its definition.

REFLECTION / IMPACT:
 This session highlights the possible ways of adapting materials to make it user friendly for our students. Adding pictures, a glossary or simplifying the language used in descriptions can help learners to cope with difficult text and make it manageable. Shortening texts and doing jigsaw reading are also alternatives to providing differentiation in the classrooms. Materials shared in this session are practical and can be easily adapted in the Malaysian classrooms. Although developing materials may be time consuming for lecturers, we have to find a way to help support our students’ learning process.

SUGGESTION:
Carry out a workshop for materials development in your respective institutions, where 3 different groups are set up(low, medium, high proficiency) to prepare materials for different levels. E.g. a reading text on piling(Civil Engineering) is provided and different groups prepare comprehension questions for the same text and TADAA...you have differentiated materials. File them up and label them to be shared with all lecturers. Sharing is caring.....


Written by,
Marina Abu Bakar

Politeknik Melaka

Technique of Job Hunting Skills

Session  :  1
Time       :  9.00 a.m. - 10.30 a.m.
By           : Katie

The aims of the session for students were to practise presentation skills, opening a presentation and asking questions about information from a presentation. As for the lecturers, the aims were to discuss concerns they have about teaching employability skills, identify strategies that could be transferred to other class and discuss strategies for differentiation.

 

In the warmer stage participants had to decide on the meaning of the pictures with gestures. That triggered off some surprising discoveries of how different people interpret certain hand gestures in their culture. Next, participants made a mind map on the most important aspects of giving a presentation. Participants were reminded to keep it short and simple (KISS) in the opening phase of a presentation.

 

In the preparation stage, participants worked in group and practised giving the opening part of their speech individually with different topics as written on the KISS cards. The rest of the group members monitored and made notes of the errors using the Useful Language section on the worksheet. In providing differentiation activity, blank cards were available for any participant who completed the task early to try at preparing their own presentation opening without any guidance.

 

 The practice stage was on asking questions at the end of a presentation was truly engaging, as participants had to ask questions on what they thought the drawings on the board were. This was then followed up with the participants (in pairs) drawing pictures and repeating the activity on their own.

 

Reflections/Impact

The session introduces the gradual process of preparing students for a presentation, making it seems feasible and manageable even for struggling learners. The brilliant idea of working in pairs first before proceeding to group level will positively build up the students’ confidence before venturing to a class level. Furthermore, the idea of injecting differentiation task caters not only to the beginners and intermediates but the advanced students too making it more challenging.

Recommendations

This is a wonderful idea for us to consider, adopt or adapt in our teaching and learning especially on the topic of oral presentation skills. Perhaps by introducing the task gradually, we could slowly ease the students’ anxiety level and at the same time provide support and guidance before they are thrown into the lion’s den. The shy and terrified learners will most likely appreciate the support provided.

Written by:

Teh Phaik Sim,

Politeknik Kota Kinabalu

Third Day of WKC Class

Session  : 1 / 2 / 3
Time      :  9.00 a.m. - 10.30 a.m./11.00 a.m. - 12.30 p.m./2.00 p.m. - 3.30 p.m
By          : Bill / Chris / Katie

Session 1

The day started with a session by Mr. Bill Bowler, focusing on English Language Class (Accountancy) at 8.30 am. He started by giving a few terms related to accountancy and asked us to give the definition in our own words. The purpose of this activity is to gauge our understanding. Some participants later randomly answered the questions. He commended those who managed to answer correctly & gave a bit of feedback to those who were not that successful.

Next, he explained the difference between accounting & auditing. Participants later had to say a number, from 1 to 16. 1 half said first followed by the other half. The first half were given a text on auditing while the second half on accounting. In their respective groups of 4 (the original seating orders since the first day), participants read through the text & answered the questions based on their discussion. Later, they matched up with their partner (the 1 from the 1^st half of the class with the 1 from the second half, 2 with 2, until 16 with 16) and checked their answers through jigsaw reading. This was to ensure each participant got a clear understanding of the differences between auditing & accounting via pair work. Mr. Bill once again randomly selected participants to share their answers while the rest listened attentively & posed questions in case they had any doubts.

He later gave a few true/false questions and asked participants to answer them. Most of the participants managed to successfully answer the questions. Before the class ended, he shared about the history of Earnst & Young, the internationally renowned accounting firm.

Session 2

The second session was on Language across the Curriculum with Mr. Chris that started at 10.30 am. He started off by asking what features of language that we use in our subject area and the aspects of language that our learners find difficult. He also asked how we help them with their problems. Some participants rose up their hands and shared their thoughts with the entire class.

Next, he gave us a worksheet with 4 columns, which were verb form, subject, example & amp; meaning. In pairs, participants had to fill in the gaps (each participant had a different gap to fill with his/her partner). Each pair completed the activity by giving clues to their partner.

After that, he gave another task where participants had to look at language areas and draw a smiley face next to the ones that they felt confident about (as a teacher or learner) or put a question mark next to the ones they felt they needed more practice on. This activity was successfully done in their respective groups.

Before dismissing the class, Mr. Chris summarized the lesson for the day in our home group session and gave additional handouts as references.

Session 3

The final session of the day was with Ms. Katie at 3 pm. Her session was on communication skills across the curriculum, focusing on the topic ‘food preservation’. She started off by posing the question ‘what are the things that educators can do in the classroom to encourage communication’. Some participants shared their thoughts, such as meaningful information gap activities, brainstorming, group discussion/pair work and role-play, among others.

Later, she divided the entire class into 4 groups and instructed each group to go to a section of the class where she had pasted articles on 4 different methods on food preservation (canning, refrigerating, pasteurizing and dehydrating). With a piece of paper in their hand, each participant had to first read the said article and then fill information in 3 columns, which were ‘things I knew’, things I didn’t know’ and ‘examples to remember’. After returning to their groups, they had to come up with 5 sentences, such as ‘all of us knew that’; some of us didn’t know that’, ‘most of us knew that’ (based on the findings in the article in their respective groups). Next, a representative of each group read out their answer aloud while participants from other groups attentively listened to examples of the 5 sentences, whether it was using ‘some of us knew that’, ‘all of us didn’t know that’ or ‘most of us knew that’ among others. A participant would be randomly selected and asked to read out the examples that they had earlier listened. This activity not only tests the participants listening skills but also their co-operation when it comes to group work.

Before ending the class at 4.30 pm, Ms. Katie stressed on 4 important responsibilities an educator should have that could improve communication skills across the curriculum. They were task manager, time keeper, motivator and reporter.

As soon as it was 4.30 pm, loud noises could be heard in the classroom. Apparently most participants were eagerly looking forward to the weekend as they wanted to explore the ‘Pearl of the Orient’ while the rest were heading back to their respective hometowns for the weekend.

Written by,
Joseph Selvam Neelagandan

Politeknik Sabak Bernam

Ahmad Hafizu Bin Abdullah

Politeknik Ibrahim Sultan