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