fatihaizspeakin'

Bernama.com ver 5.0

2011-03-22T02:22:00.000-07:00

Regret

2009-01-02T01:15:00.000-08:00

I know I should start this entry by welcoming 2009 and goodbying 2008... but who the hell cares.
...Well I do care actually but today I had a very awkward conversation with two people. Urgh!!! I hate awkward situation. I am not sure whether it was that two people, the situation, or our feelings towards one another that made it awkward. Or perhaps I was the only one who felt that way. Then I guess what they said about Capricorns is true – that we don’t possess verbal quickness. Well, all I can say is the conversation was the first thing in 2009 that I regret doing. Wish I can turn back time and have the guts to say ‘thanks but no thanks’.

Dreamy...

2008-09-16T01:30:00.000-07:00

Nit-picking…that’s quite a word to describe me. No matter what or who…I usually manage to spot even the teeny-weeny flaw. But this thing…is too beautiful…faultless.

Damn!

What’s wrong with me?

eley...who cares with me being emotionally affected

2008-08-27T16:47:00.000-07:00

I had to do a relieve period for 4B…I know that they love me but I wondered why their faces were filled with vast disappointment once I entered their class… owh… rupa2nya I relieve masa PE deorg. Patutla muka masing2 frust aje. So, instead of giving them puzzles, riddles and spelling test (which I normally do to kill d time n to keep the boys quiet n calm during MY relief period) I just let them out to the field to play soccer. ‘Teacher we love you but we love football more.’ Cis. Kejam!

Well, being a teacher in a Boys School, you will be given no choice but to pick a football club as your favourite club although d only thing u may know bout 'football' is the word ‘foot’ which sounds something darling to you – ‘food’ – for they will ask u...

‘ Teacher MU ke…Arsenal ke…Chelsea?’

I picked Arsenal because I’ve been given what I called as quite sufficient input about it for d last 3 years from him (whose name cannot be mentioned). Good choice nway 'cause I ended up getting a loud “Yes!!" from those Arsenal fans (n of cause a bit of not-so-confident-should-i-do this “Boo” from MU n Chelsea fans..) Ahaks..sweet

To write or not to write (Hamlet's issue)

2008-08-27T01:48:00.000-07:00

I always have d urge to write something in my blog each time I surf the net… but life is so patchy right now. So, whatever that comes out from my mind will either sound crazee or too emotionally driven… guess I need to wait. However, to satisfy my craving, let some pics do the talking…

My fuel (before teaching)

They excite me... he
Nie boy yang aku confuse akan futurenye…as a man…I mean as a lelaki tulen.

Fancy this tree…I name him 'Salleh' - old n wise

He is my silent guardian, watchful protector...

Nie apsal ntah nyorok2 under teacher’s table.

Latecomers…waiting for their punishment. (haha)

Morning assembly…where every single Tom, Dick and Harry will notice if you are late.

A bunch of monkeys who have d absolute power to prove that even a saint is capable of strangling small boys to death without guilt…seryesly.

Susah tau nak maintain their interest on the lesson..

They are my cubit-cubit-manja victims

till then...da

friends and foes...

2008-08-09T04:35:00.000-07:00

so it's over ...

Million Dollar Experience

2007-10-08T17:57:00.000-07:00

It is sad to realize that this course has come to an end. I learnt a lot throughout this course and I enjoyed this course so much. To be frank, I feel that this course motivates me to be a resourceful teacher, a skilful learner, and a thoughtful thinker. The course has totally changed my perspective towards the integration of technology into the teaching and learning processes in primary schools. I admit the fact that, I used to think that making technology as a useful resource in teaching primary school is impractical, unachievable, and unfeasible…

Now that I have learnt the advantages of the use of technology in teaching and learning processes through this course, I look at technology in a different point of view. I am not anymore sceptical about the effectiveness of the integration of technology into teaching and learning process since, this course has taught me to exploit technology in creative, practical, and effective ways. I have faith in myself now…and I believe that I can be a good teacher. Thus, I would like to take this opportunity to say millionbillionzillion thanks to Prof. Raja Maznah and to her entire teaching team for giving me the opportunity to improve myself in so many respects of life. I really appreciate every effort that Prof. and her teaching team made in guiding the 75 of us towards becoming better teachers.

This course also has given me the opportunity to learn from my friends. So to Muhafiz and my dear team-mates Eureka! (Jahwati, Aizam, Mazliana & Izzwaida), thank you so much! You guys have been such wonderful friends and supportive team-mates and I could never repay all those knowledge and skills that I have learnt from you. And to the rest of my friends and coursemates, thank you to you guys too as I gained lots of useful ideas, skills, knowledge and information from all of you. I would also like to thank my family for their moral and especially financial (hehehe) supports. Their endless love, blessing and support enable me to undergo this course conveniently and blissfully.

Before I go, here are my soft skills acquisitions that I have developed all the way through the course:

o Communication
I have developed both verbal and non verbal communicative skills throughout this course as this course gave me the chance to present my ideas and group works during class presentations which enhanced my verbal communicative skills. Besides, since this course required us to work in group, I had the opportunity to communicate with my teammates as well as the rest of my coursemates and that enabled me to interact more effectively. As for non-verbal communicative skills, I have improved those skills through blogging as blogging pushed me to express my thoughts well through writing.

o Creative and Critical Thinking
Through forums in Moodle especially, I managed to get myself engaged in higher order thinking skills. I am now able to analyse and evaluate problems and issues related to the integration of technology in schools in a way that is more critical and analytic. I also managed to acquire most of the knowledge and skills taught and I believed that, those knowledge and skills enhanced my thinking skills too. In term of creative thinking skills, I am able to enhance my creative thinking skills through the tasks and assignment given as they required me think creatively in order to come up with interesting products. Through class presentation, I got the chance to increase my creative thinking skills through wonderful ideas and works presented peers.

o Team Work
This course provided us the opportunity to work in groups. Through assignment and task assigned to all of us, I managed to gain fruitful experience regarding group work. I learnt to present my ideas to my group members effectively and I learnt to appreciate each others’ ideas. I learnt how to accept people’s criticism and take those criticisms in a non-offensive ways and use them as ways to improve myself and my works. Besides, cooperation and respect among my teammates were instilled throughout the course.

o Leadership
I believe that leadership is very much related with responsibility. I may not be the real leader but I was able to acquire similar attitude which a leader should have – to be responsible. This course has taught me to be responsible towards my own learning thus, I have been very committed in any task and work assigned. Besides, another leadership quality that I have developed throughout this course is being able to work with people. This is because, through this course, I was able to interact with people effectively, express my thought well as well as to understand others. I also learnt how to express my feelings, taughts, and emotions in a socially acceptable manner.

o Ethics and professional Values
Via this course, I had the opportunity to instil myself with professional values such as responsible, resourceful, practical and creative. Besides, the Fish Philosophy taught by Prof. Raja Maznah also enabled me to gain humanistic values (which I believe to be professional), which are very useful for me as a future teacher.

o Entrepreneurship
Hmm…still thinking of one. But somehow, this course me has taught me to be productive and to be creative in developing a product. Besides, I also learnt to exploit things to the fullest and make full use of everything that I have through this course. Moreover, this course has also taught me to be practical in every aspect of life. I believe that those are some of the important entrepreneurship values that I have learnt from this course.

o Lifelong learning
Like what I have said earlier, this course motivates me to be a skilful learner and a thoughtful thinker. This course taught me to be an independent learner and I think this will contribute to lifelong learning. Besides, this course is very interesting that it makes me want to learn and explore more of it. In addition, I also have developed several positive attitudes towards learning throughout this course and I believe that those attitudes are important in ensuring lifelong learning.

To encapsulate, this course has given me sooOOoo much. I learnt a lot through this course. It is a Million Dollar Experience. So…

Thank You Everyone!!!

*adieu*adieu*adieu*

Yours sincerely,

f a t i h a s E n O m

Understanding assessed

2007-10-08T17:22:00.000-07:00

As a student, what else can be more terrifying than test? And what more if it is a 40 percent summative test? But yes…yes. Assessment is part and parcel of students’ life. Whether you like it or not, you still have to do it. Yuck! I hate that! I sound like a total pessimist!

So now, let’s look at the positive sides of assessment.

o Test gives the opportunity to enhance understanding.
Well… obviously we need to do preparation before the test. By doing preparation, we will be able to equip ourselves with useful knowledge and information and this will enhance our understanding. Besides, we will also be able to grasp any missing point or information during the lecture.

o Test increases curiosity.
Hehe…this is obviously true. The forum in Moodle is very much livelier after the exam right? I believe that the examination questions increase students curiosity thus makes them want to explore more about the topic tested.

o Test shows that learning is purposeful.
I am not saying that without test learning is meaningless but, test enables students to focus and devote their fullest attention on the lecture because they know that in the end, their understanding will be assessed.

o Test promotes critical thinking
Test enables our brains to function actively. You know…the neurons will be connected to each other and brain cells will be stronger and finally, we will be better thinkers. (I think it works that way) Without test, we may probably end up being like…err…Homer Simpson?

o Test makes us responsible of our own learning.
Hello…it is our own CGPA. It is not like others will care if we didn’t do well for our test because it is not their CGPA, it is ours…it is our responsibility. I bet, that makes us responsible of our own learning. And I think that it is useful to be responsible of our own learning because I believe such attitude is extremely helpful for long-life learning.

o Finally, test gives you reason to celebrate.
I don’t know about others but for me, when a test ends, it gives me a reason to celebrate. Be it a simple test or a tough one, celebration is a must. Well, celebration is not necessarily the I-would-like-to-propose-a-toast thingy, it can be as simple as 4 hours nap in the afternoon or 3 scoops of rice instead of 2.

Those are the positives sides of test that my roomies and I can think of right now. I bet there are more than those. But what to do, all of us are big fat pessimists. We were having extremely difficult time thinking of those advantages. Perhaps, our brains just did not allow us to find more than that. So, back to the ICTPE test, as preparation, I read all the notes uploaded in Moodle and I read articles from some websites too. For instance, the following websites as suggested by Miss Chin:

http://eleaston.com
http://www.tutor.com.my
http://www.bmspm.cjb.net/
http://www.karyanet.com.my
http://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/33.html
http://portalbahasamelayu.fateback.com/index1.htm
Besides, I got myself familiarized with Airset.com and I explored the functions that it offers.

I answered questions regarding Airset.com, blog, as well as ICT and the 14 Principles of Learning in the Primary School Curriculum by Brennan. Honestly, I am not confident with my answers but, I just pray for them to be accepted. Hopefully, I am able to score well… And the next day after the test, Jahwati and I went to Midvalley to celebrate. We watched Adam Sandler’s Chuck and Larry…and we treated ourselves with Secret Recipes’ yummy Cheezi Macaroni for ‘Buka Puasa’.

House in the Classroom???

2007-10-08T16:45:00.000-07:00

I like House. I know… House is rude… snobbish… ridiculous… unpredictable…he is a complete jerk and anything that people who prefer Heroes or Prison Break want to say about him. And of course, in term of physical qualities, he is nothing compared to Michael Scofield (well…that’s unfair, House is sick and old), and yes…he is addicted to drug too. But, let’s look at his inner beauty… he is cool (I forgive him for wearing Nike sneakers), brilliant and he saves people lives too! So…I like House. I like it/him so much that I felt extremely devastated when I knew that the season 3 is already out in AXN whilst I am so far away from home. Of course, we do have Astro in KUAZ. But, the feeling and pleasure are definitely not the same although some say that sharing is caring. But, my devastating moment has ended now. Thanks to Muhafiz…he downloaded all episodes of Season 3 from the internet. (hye..that’s technology!!!)

Obsessed? I am not! Okay…even if I am obsessed with the series, I don’t see anything wrong with it. They are simply enjoyable! And in fact, I believe that some TV series and movies are potentially powerful in teaching too! Hye…I’m not talking about Desperate Housewives or The Sopranos as teaching tools for children here. Instead, series like Hannah Montana and That’s so Raven or movies like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or I am Sam or Pirates of the Caribbean. I believe that those movies and TV series have the potentials in creating effective and enjoyable learning process. Because I believe, movies are able to provide enjoyment, instil moral values, develop students’ imagination, inspire students’ curiosity and develop insight into human behaviours. Movies are also powerful in students’ language development too! In short, movies are educationally significant! And like Muhafiz, we can get it for free!!! (though it might be illegal)

Since the beginning of time, movies are always regarded as the source of entertainment. Now, with the presence of wide ranges of genres as well as useful softwares, programmes and tools, making movies as a vehicle for educating is absolutely possible. Let’s take Lee’s IWB movie-based lesson as an example, many of us enjoyed his lesson so much and personally, I think that his activity is effective. Some of you may say, “Hye, that’s not a movie, that’s a simple Flash Video File.” Well for me, movie is simply a series of moving picture. Be it, if it is recorded with sound or without sound…as long as they tell stories, they are still movies. For me, even the simplest 30seconds clip that you downloaded from YouTube is a movie and I consider video clips as movies too! Besides Lee, Jahwati also chose to integrate the use of movie in her lesson to teach preposition. Her lesson is effective as students will be able to understand the concept of each preposition taught through the demonstration and modelling shown by the movie clip. And oh, the song in her clip makes her activity even more delightful.

The use of movie through the Notebook Software is however limited only to Flash Video File thus, teachers need to use other programmes such as PowerDVD or Windows Media Player. However, Notebook Software is still useful to be used in designing activities to accompany the movie. For example, using programmes like PowerDVD or Windows Media Player, a teacher can ask students to watch The Lion King. After that, she can ask them to categorize the animals that they can see in the movies into carnivore, herbivore and omnivore by dragging the pictures into tables on the SMART board and, this activity can definitely be developed using the Notebook Software. Anyway, we can still make the link from our Notebook file to the movie file in order to make the lesson runs smoothly and systematically.

I found both Notebook Software as well as SMART board very useful. Notebook Software for instance, is not limited to lesson development purposes only. It can also be used to do simple editing to pictures since it offers friendlier tools and functions compared to Adobe Photoshop or ImageReady. To conclude, here is my humble reflection based on the questions posed in Moodle.

Do you understand the basic knowledge of Notebook function in SMART board? If yes which part that you understand most? If not why you did not understand?
Yes. I do understand the basic knowledge of Notebook functions like modifying and moving object, writing text, functions in the toolbar, grouping, hyperlink, and drawing tools. And I am still learning at inserting music, video, and sound effectively as well as at exporting my notebook file into other types of files.

Do you understand the basic knowledge in using gallery feature and picture attachment in SMART board and incorporate for teaching English vocabulary for standard 4 students?
Yes. Basically, gallery collection offers user thousands of relevant and interesting graphics to be used in teaching and learning activity. Besides, we can also import graphics from other sources to be put into the templates and we can create our own personal template as well. Those contents later can be attached into the slides and they are obviously powerful in introducing new vocabulary to students.

Do you find that SMART board is a useful tool to support teaching and learning? If yes, why is it useful? If not, what is the problem?
Yes, SMART board is absolutely useful. It makes learning process interactive, enjoyable and effective. It saves teachers’ time too. The followings are the functions of the SMART board which I found very useful:
* Interactive presentation for large audience.
* View and navigate the Internet from the whiteboard. Surf and display websites which the entire room will be able to see.

* Students can approach the whiteboard and add their contribution to the presentation by writing directly on the whiteboard.
* Display movie files or DVD's from the PC

Contest?

2007-10-07T20:45:00.000-07:00

I also received this one... The sender thinks that i should tell you guys about this so that we are aware of this contest.
So, here's the Press Release. As you read, please note the due date as well as the participants for this contest. (I copy n paste so that the font will be bigger and it is easier for you to read)

Press Release

Interwrite Learning, in partnership with TeacherTube, announces first interactive makeover video contest

Three winners will receive an Interwrite MakeoverTM by creating a music video of the song of their choice and will receive prizes valued at more than $15,000

EMBARGOED UNTIL SEPTEMBER 11, 2007, 12:01 AM EDT

COLUMBIA, Md. — September 11, 2007— Interwrite Learning, in partnership with TeacherTube, announces the company’s first video contest to recognize teachers and students for their creativity and use of technology in the classroom. Participants of the contest are asked to create a short music video parodying the song of their choice. The video should demonstrate how different kinds of technology are being used in the classroom.

The contest is not limited to users of Interwrite Learning’s products or members of TeacherTube. It is open to all teachers and students in the U.S., New Zealand and Australia (still up for discussion) who can creatively show how they are using technology in the classroom or how they would like to use technology in their classroom.

All participants will submit their videos on the Interwrite Learning Web site at

www.interwritelearning.com/contest. Submissions will open at 12:00 Midnight EDT on September 11, 2007 and close at 11:59 EDT on October 21, 2007. Winners of the Interwrite Makeover will be announced on Tuesday, November 27, 2007.

Winners will be awarded with a complete Interwrite MakeoverTM consisting of:

Interwrite Board, an engaging, durable, easy-to-use interactive whiteboard that features the Interwrite Workspace software. The Software and Board inspire students by turning classroom lessons into interactive experiences.

Interwrite Pad, the number one leading wireless pad worldwide, gives teachers the ability to teach interactive lessons from anywhere in the classroom.

Interwrite Cricket, the newest member of the Interwrite assessment family. Cricket is a powerful yet simple to use clicker for students of all ages. Cricket "clickers" combine robust radio-frequency technology with a friendly look and feel to make real-time student assessment practical for any classroom setting.

Mitsubishi XD206 DLP projector integrates seamlessly with the Interwrite Boards and Pads with an RS–232c port for 3rd party control. The XGA projector (1024 x 768 resolution) has a bright 2000 ANSI lumens picture and high 2000:1 contrast ratio. Digital vertical keystone correction allows for presentation from a variety of locations.

FrontRow Pro Digital, a sound system shown to improve attention, test scores, and teacher vocal health. FrontRow Pro Digital clarifies and evenly distributes the teacher’s voice throughout the classroom, helping students more easily understand teachers regardless of where they’re seated. Supports streaming media and podcasting, too.

SP Controls, Inc.’s Pixie wall mounted modular control system is an elegant and complete control system that fits in a standard single-gang back box. Pixie offers intuitive control of virtually any display system with a remote control, be it a video projector, plasma screen, or LCD monitor.

Brewer Technology and Learning will provide one full day (up to six hours) of professional development to each of the winning schools in order to help teachers learn to use the Interwrite MakeoverTM equipment as tools to enhance and accelerate the learning process.

The complete interactive makeover is valued at approximately $15,000. In addition, winners will receive a $1,000 cash prize and a celebration party for the entire school. The contest will name one winner from the following three grade level segments: Kindergarten through fifth; sixth through eighth; and ninth through 12th.

The video will be judged on the following criteria: demonstration of effective use of technology, portrayal of teachers and students working together and the overall creativity and spirit. The video must be submitted by a teacher and the grade segment that the video will be judged in is determined by the grade level of that teacher. Interwrite must be mentioned once within the lyrics of the song. The conclusion must direct viewers to

www.interwritelearning.com/contest to vote. The video should be no longer than three minutes in length.

A panel of judges will select five finalists in each category and those will be posted to the contest Web site where the public can vote for their favorite to win the Grand Prize. The five finalists will be featured on the TeacherTube home page for a week following the announcement of the winners.

For more information on Interwrite Learning’s interactive learning solutions and rules and guidelines for participating in the video contest, visit

http://www.interwritelearning.com/contest

-###-

About Interwrite Learning
Interwrite Learning is a premier global provider of interactive learning solutions for primary, secondary and higher education markets. Interactive solutions, including the Interwrite Board, Pad and Panel all come with Interwrite Workspace, a next generation educational software application for creating, teaching and assessing student performance using digital content. Interwrite assessment solutions include Interwrite Cricket and PRS clickers, members of a powerful student response system that combines interaction and assessment to enhance classroom productivity and improve student results. Interwrite Learning has a rich 32-year history of delivering interactive solutions that are changing how the world learns. To learn more about Interwrite Learning’s Interactive Classroom solutions, please visit

http://www.interwritelearning.com

About TeacherTube.com
TeacherTube is an online community for sharing instructional videos. TeacherTube seeks to fill a need for a more educationally focused, safe venue for teachers, schools, and home learners. It is a site to provide anytime, anywhere professional development with teachers teaching teachers. As well, it is a site where teachers can post videos designed for students to view in order to learn a concept or skill. Most importantly, TeacherTube community members are a major part of the evolution of the site. Members are encouraged to not only upload educationally relevant videos, but also to make constructive comments and use the rating system to show appreciation for videos of value to one as an educator or learner. To learn more about TeacherTube’s online community, please visit http://www.teachertube.com.

So, what do you think? Maybe the contest is over and maybe it opened only for those in U.S, Australia, and N.Z but... who knows if there will be the same contest for us next year? Anyway I found that the teachertube.com and interwritelearning.com very useful.

MySMART

2007-10-07T20:16:00.000-07:00

Hye friends... I received this email few days ago... I bet many of you received the same mail too. Anyway still, I thought it will be good if i can share it with you...

If you realize...we are already members of MySMART. So, maybe it is the time for us to really explore and make full use everything that is provided there...

Designing Part ll

2007-10-02T11:10:00.001-07:00

Previously…on Designing Part 1
“In designing IWB activities, unique features of the SMART board (interactive & caters for large audience), should be exploited effectively in order for the activity to achieve its optimum outcomes.” (fatihasEnOm, 2007)

So…I have decided to develop a listening activity. However, I still couldn’t decide on the theme. There were too many ideas in my mind…too many that I doubt if my mind has got nothing else to do other than thinking about the theme of my SMART board listening activity. I was thinking of doing ‘food or fruits or vegetables’ as a theme when I had my lunch and dinner, ‘clothing’ when I stuffed my laundry into the college washing machine, ‘family’ when my Mom called me to ask if her favourite Snowfly shoes was still on sale, ‘celebrity’ when I watched E!, ‘storytelling’ when Jahwati told me stories about her cute lil’ Zara, and many…many…many more. Until one day, when Muhafiz and I were busy looking for some stuffs for my sister at Ikea and suddenly… he mumbled something that was minor… yet very inspiring. It sounded more or less like this,

Finally, tadaaa… I got my theme ready! I decided to do ‘furniture’ as a theme and to adapt graphics from *The Sims for my IWB activity. Without wasting any time (since I’ve wasted much), I began developing a listening activity for Year 6 students hoping that I would come up with an interesting and effective activity. I think many of us agree that it is not easy to develop a lesson that meets the requirement of the curriculum specification and at the same time is interesting and effective. Thus, in order to make certain of the effectiveness of my activity, I have taken into consideration the following factors while designing my activity:

1. The Content Validity
In designing any activity or lesson, I believe that, there is nothing that is more important than ensuring the content validity since the content is the actual core business of teaching and learning process. Hence, in order for me to ensure the validity of the content in my activity, I used theYear 6 English Curriculum Specification as the main reference. (If you don’t have it, you can download from http://myschoolnet.ppk.kpm.my/sp_hsp/b_ing.htm ). I tried to select learning outcomes that are most appropriate for initial to intermediate Year 6 students so that they will be able to be exposed to comprehensible input which enables them to learn new things and acquire the listening skills taught. Besides, I tried to incorporate higher thinking order according to Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives so that creative and critical thinking skills would be promoted all the way through my activity.

2. The Face Validity
Face validity in this context refers to the design of the slides. Since my activity relies solely on the SMART board as teaching aid, I think it is important to make the slides appealing to the students. Besides, I believe that good design of the slides is able to assist learning process and make the knowledge and skills acquisition possible among the students. Good graphics also enable students to remember things better. Therefore, I made an effort to carefully design my slides using the Notebook Software so that it is able to benefit the students. To avoid distraction, I tried not to plonk any unnecessary graphics, sounds, or animation onto my activity. I kept things simple but attractive…at least for me.

3. Practicality
Hmm…I don’t know about others, but for me, spending too much time, energy, or money in developing a lesson is simply not practical especially when the intended learning outcomes are at the very basic level or when the lesson as a whole is not really of that effective or when the activity can only be used once or when other simpler and cheaper tools such as tasksheet can give more and better impacts. So, I avoided from spending too much time, money, and energy for this. And for me, another thing that determines whether an activity or lesson is practical is the flexibility of the activity. Thus, to make my activity more flexible, I designed it in such a way that it can serve as two functions which are as a teaching tool as well as an assessing tool. Besides, to ensure the practicality of the activity, I told myself to make full use of the ‘IWB environment’. Hence, I tried to exploit the unique features of the SMART board to the fullest by kept on reminding myself that I must design an activity that is interactive and able to cater for large audience (25-35 pupils).

4. Students’ Motivation
I am a big fan of Gardner, Desuggestopedia Approach, Disney Channel, Nano-Nano and any other thing that has to do with motivation. For me, learning without motivation is like a Big Mac without its cheese…good enough to be eaten but, not yummy enough to be enjoyed. I believe that motivation assists students’ acquisition of knowledge and skills. Besides, it makes learning process meaningful and enjoyable. Personally, I feel that motivation can be instilled through many ways. Thus, in order to instil the motivation of learning for students through my activity, I tried to design an activity which is interesting and engaging. In order to do that, I included a series of problems so that students are able to devote their attention from the beginning of the activity, till the end of it. To make the activity more meaningful, I have also tried to include moral values into my activity.

Those are the factors that I have taken into consideration while designing my activity. I bet there were more but, perhaps I wasn’t aware of it. I strongly believe that those factors are very important in ensuring the effectiveness of my activity. I am glad that I was able to complete the activity despite the fact that, it may not be as good as others’. I like my activity…and I am proud of it too...and the most important thing is that, I believe in the effectiveness of my activity. Till then…ta!

*My Activity* Oh ya…besides The Sims, I also adapted some graphics from Yahoo! Avatar.

*Note : The Sims is a strategic life-simulation computer game created by game designer Will Wright and published by Maxis. It is a simulation of the daily activities of one or more virtual persons ("Sims") in a suburban household near SimCity. The main objective of the game is to help the Sims to organize their life and livings so that they can reach their personal goals such as having good career, house, health and relationships.

Designing Part l

2007-09-30T21:29:00.000-07:00

So they say that SMART board can do this…and that…and this…and oh…can do that too!

Well, yes…yes…yes. I agree.

But hye…to design an activity which integrates the fullest employment of the SMART board is definitely not an easy task for me…

It is not that I enjoy being a full time procrastinator, but it just worked for me all the time…so far. Back in MRSM Lenggong, our principal used to tell us that ‘Malays work better under pressure.’ Hence, taking that as one of the facts of life, I just continue procrastinating…without guilt…hoping that doing things at the very last minute will give me pressure, which helps me to do things better. However, I can assure you that this last minute thing certainly doesn’t work with designing SMART board activity. Because, besides skills, energy, and patient, developing an activity which integrates the use of interactive whiteboard consumes time…I mean lots of time. What more if it is the first time you use the Notebook Software where every single symbol and icon is alien and unfriendly. So lesson # 1, start early!

Blessed with 24 hours free Wifi connection in my room at KUAZ, I started to search for info on how to design a good and effective SMART board activity. As a result, here are some of the websites that I found useful:

http://www.maximise-ict.co.uk/
http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/ict/IWB/general_resources.htm
http://smartboards.typepad.com/

I couldn’t deny the fact that there are many useful websites out there which can be used as the resources and references in designing IWB activities. However, I believe that originality is important because, the process of developing original product provides us valuable experience and enables us to explore more and more. And since most of the English activities shown in the Net highlight on the writing and reading skills, I decided to do something different…a listening activity.

I found that developing an activity which integrates the use of interactive whiteboards is slightly different from designing activities using traditional tools as teaching aids. This is because, interactive whiteboard possesses some features that are unique which cannot be found in other teaching tools. These unique features should be exploited effectively in order for the lesson to achieve its optimum outcomes. But first, what are the unique features of an interactive whiteboard? From my humble opinion, I think that the features which distinguish an interactive whiteboard from any other tools are:

Interactive &
Caters for large audience

Unquestionably, computer can also be interactive but it is more suitable for small group of audience or students and obviously, a normal screen can be used for large audience but it is definitely not interactive.

So, based on these features, I tried to come up with an activity which is interactive, and at the same time, enables the participation from a large audience.

…to be continued.

If...

2007-09-30T00:09:00.000-07:00

If you were to ask me, how was it like to study in a rural primary school… My answer is, it was simply enjoyable. And despite of the limited facilities that we had, I believe that my friends and I had the same pleasure as you guys who had probably studied in big cities like Kl or Pj or Seremban or Ipoh or Kota Bharu or JB or Georgetown. Our school life was simple, unsophisticated, enjoyable and memorable.

Children nowadays are very fortunate. They are blessed with many useful equipments and tools which definitely have the power to enhance their learning. So, I assume that the students these days will have a better learning environment. To ensure their students to go through an effective learning process, schools now have lots more to offer rather than ‘chalk and talk’. The technological advancement does not only benefit the students, but also the teacher. Thus, when Ms. Fenny delivered her lecture on how to operate the SMART board, I couldn’t say how thankful I am as a teacher-to-be in the era where everything that used to be difficult and impossible has become easy, simple and possible.

It was all ‘chalk and talk’ when I was in my primary school. But now, with the SMART board at hand, learning can be more colourful and exciting. From my not-so-critical observation, I found that you need to have a projector and a computer in order for an interactive whiteboard to function. And if a computer is controlled by a mouse, we can touch the interactive whiteboard using our fingers to control the mouse cursor instead. As our fingers move across the whiteboard, the mouse follows. And, twice taps equal to double-click.

Later, I realized that any interactive whiteboard comes with its own software. As for SMART board, we have to install the Notebook Software. This software enables the users to design their presentation or for teachers, to design their lesson or activity. Notebook Software offers teachers the opportunity to vary their lessons. Lesson of a more interactive can be easily developed and produced using the Notebook Software. And if teachers are to use Notebook to jot down notes, the notes later can be recorded for future reference. The notes also can be converted to image or PowerPoint files and this enables teacher to send the notes to students via email.

To summarise, based on my observation and experience, these are what SMART board can do:

Interactive presentation for large audience.
View and navigate the Internet from the whiteboard. Surf and display websites which the entire room will be able to see.
Students can approach the whiteboard and add their contribution to the presentation by writing directly on the whiteboard.
Display movie files or DVD's from the PC

I believe that it can do more than these, but I think I need time to explore its entire functions.

This oh-so-canggih SMART board may be very useful to be used as a learning tool in teaching and learning process. But I strongly believe that teachers play vital role to ensure the effectiveness of integrating this tool into the lesson. Because for me, it is useless to have hundreds of ICT tools if the teachers do not exploit them to the fullest or worse still, do not even know how to manipulate them as an effective teaching tools.

Looking back, we may not have computer, we may never use VCR and perhaps the lessons were totally ‘chalk and talk’ when I was in my kampong school. But like what I’ve told you, those unsophisticated lessons were enjoyable and memorable. And if you were to question me, whether those unsophisticated lessons were effective… My answer would be a big YES. But one thing that came to my realization is that, the teachers…my teachers worked really hard to ensure the effectiveness of their unsophisticated lessons. Hence, no matter where you are, no matter what era you are at, and no matter what you have…as teachers, working hard is still a must.

Eureka!’s tour de force

2007-08-26T09:48:00.000-07:00

When it comes to study, nothing is more precious than having the opportunity to work with friends and learn from one another. Therefore, I really appreciate the chance given by Prof. Raja Maznah which is to allow me to work in group. Working together or as a group provides me wonderful, exciting and fruitful experience. It helps to lesser the burden, and enhances the relationship among group members. Honestly, working in group enables me to gain many useful knowledge, and skills. So, thanks to my beloved Eureka! ; Aizam, Jahwati, Mazliana & Izzwaida, for letting me sharing the moments of joy and happiness.

One thing that I love the most about working together in my group is that the pride of every product produced is equally shared among my group members despite of the inequality in the amount of creativity and ideas contributed by each member. Yup, everyone share the same amount of joy without being calculative about who has contributed more. The product will, and will always be regarded as ours. Yes..OURS! Because you see, one may very good at ‘task a’ while the other is good at ‘task b’, so contribution of each group member differs from one another but of course, everyone has contributed their fullest effort or shall I say blood, sweat, and tears. So in the end, satisfaction obtained.

In one of the tasks given, we were required to design a poster that was based on the theme of 50 Years of Independence, our group has managed to come out with not one but two beautiful posters. Here they are:

Beautiful Number 1

Beautiful Number 2

However, all of us agreed to present only the second poster although we have spent most of the time allotted completing the first one.
To reflect on the Poster Designing Activity, I will respond to the following questions:

1. Did you face any problem during the session? Why?
Honestly, yes, because we were overambitious at first, questioning why we were not allowed to use Microsoft Office Publisher or Adobe Photoshop or to use photos from the net. But hye, despite of all the restriction, every group managed to exploit the available materials to the fullest and came up with totally masterpieces.

2. What do you think of the instructions?
The instruction given by Ms. Nazirah is crystal clear. Samples of posters were shown before the activity and that assisted us in designing our posters.

3. What improvements can you suggest?
Maybe we should be given the choices to use other programs like Adobe Photoshop or Adobe ImageReady or Microsoft Office Publisher. But, the posters created using PowerPoint are not bad! And oh ya, it would be good if there were more pictures provided.

4. How would you carry out this design session with primary level students?
I believe that it is very important for primary school students to be given relevant input on designing poster before they are to design their own posters. Therefore, if I were to carry out this session with primary school kids, I must first tell them the purpose of designing poster. Then, I will highlight the criteria of good poster and tell them the dos and don’ts in designing poster before showing them the samples of good and not-so-good poster and explain why the poster is good or not good. And the most important thing is that, I must ensure that the children know how to handle PowerPoint and if they are not familiar with it, scaffolding should be done.

Now, everyone can design good poster.

To conclude, I think designing the Merdeka poster is one of the ways for me to show my love for our beloved Malaysia. Besides designing poster, I did help my father to put up Jalur Gemilang at my house. And I participate in the marching too. And I designed Merdeka Banner for KUAZ (Kolej Ungku Aziz). Whoa…indeed I am patriotic. Till then…keep our flag flying high.

Happy Celebrating 50 Years of Nationhood! Alhamdulillah…

Principles O' Principles

2007-08-26T04:40:00.000-07:00

I seldom heard that the integration of ICT in Teaching and Learning process can be fruitless and hopeless in ensuring the effectiveness of the lesson. No doubt that it is useful to integrate ICT in the Teaching and Learning process however, we cannot deny the fact that sometimes, the integration of ICT in the Teaching and Learning process can also be unsuccessful. So, how to ensure the effectiveness of the integration of ICT in learning process? ICT and the 14 Principles of Learning in the Primary School Curriculum by Brennan highlights the guidelines of integrating ICT in Primary School Curriculum in effective ways. And thanks to Ms. Chin, each principle was explained vividly and I have a crystal clear view on how to incorporate ICT based on those principles.

I feel that it is very important for me to understand these principles because it serves as a guideline for me in incorporating teaching and learning strategies through ICT. For that reason, I would like to share my opinion and view on each principle and I hope for you to share your opinion too! And oh ya, please correct me if I have created any misconception.

Principle #1 : The child’s sense of wonder and natural curiosity
As future teachers, we must realise that primary school kids develop a great sense of curiosity. According to Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development, these children are at the stage of Industry Versus Inferiority where they like to explore new things and take on new challenges. Thus, as future teacher, we must know how to manipulate ICT as a way to develop their curiosity so that they are interested towards the learning process as well as to exploit ICT as a tool to reward their curiosity.

Principle #2 : The child as an active agent in his or her learning
Primary school children are actually at their maximum capacity in learning and acquiring new things as according to Critical Period Hypothesis which suggests that there is a biologically determined period of time when knowledge can be acquired more easily. For that reason, teacher has to be smart in moulding the learning style of the children and children need to be taught to be independent and that learning should be an active process where they can discover new things and not to rely solely on the teacher as the source of learning.

Principle #3 : The developmental nature of learning
The use of ICT in teaching and learning process must be compatible with the children’s development nature of learning. The input for children to acquire should be just beyond their current level of understanding, i+1 according to Krashen’s Input Hypothesis for comprehension and acquisition to occur. Thus, teacher should be able to recognise children’s current knowledge and skill before adapting teaching strategies through ICT.

Principle #4 : The child’s knowledge and experience as a base for learning
In integrating ICT in teaching and learning strategies, children’s knowledge and experience must be taken into account. Thus, children should be introduced to simple and familiar things first so that they can develop their experience and input. This input can be extended by the teacher through scaffolding as according to Vygotsky’s Zon of Proximal Development.

Principle #5 : Environment-based learning
It is undeniably important for teacher to teach children based on things that they are familiar with. However, children’s experience need not to be confined in their environment only and there is a need for the children to be exposed to new things outside the classroom as this will provide the enrichment of experience and knowledge for children. Thus, ICT is seen as an effective tool for this exposure, and teacher should select relevant new exposure for children.

Principle #6 : Learning through guided activity and discovery
Learning through ICT can be very useful and beneficial. However, without teachers’ guidance, it can be harmful to children. Learning through ICT expose children with wide range of knowledge, from the very positive and useful ones to the most negative and detrimental ones. Therefore, teacher should monitor students’ activities and provide necessary guidance.

Principle #7 : Learning through language
Teacher should realise the useful functions that ICT offers in assisting children’s language development. With the correct selection of activity, ICT can be useful stimulus for children to develop their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. As future English teacher, I feel very fortunate that Language teaching can be enhanced through the use of ICT. Teaching strategies suggested by Piaget where repetition is given the emphasis can be easily developed through the use of ICT.

Principle #8 : The aesthetic dimension
The aesthetic development of children sometimes receives the least of attention from the teacher. Although it is often neglected, aesthetic dimension is important as it promotes the appreciation of beauty and the awareness of nature and god’s creation besides developing the creativity in them. Therefore, teacher should be able to exploit ICT in developing children creativity as well as aesthetic dimension.

Principle #9 : The social and emotional dimensions of learning
There are many theories on how to deal with students’ emotion in learning process. Krashen’s Affective Filter Hypothesis for example emphasizes the importance of having students to have low affective filter during the learning process so that learning can take place effectively. Also, theories on motivation highlight how motivation can give positive impacts on the learning process. Through ICT, all these theories can be easily applied as it offers various features that enable students’ low affective filter as well as to motivate students towards learning.

Principle #10 : The integration of learning
Using ICT enables children to apply their learnt knowledge to real life experience. Through the information provided in the internet for example, children are able to make sense of what they are learning in the classroom to the world around them. This makes the learning more purposeful besides assisting them to grasp the meaning of each input learnt. Therefore, teacher should always try their best to relate whatever in the curriculum to daily life so that learning that takes place is more meaningful.

Principle #11 : The transfer of learning
It is important for the students to be able to demonstrate their understanding. However, their ways of demonstrating their understanding are often limited to traditional methods. With the help of ICT nowadays, children are able to conveniently demonstrate their understanding through various features offered by ICT such as maps, tables, charts, and presentation. This will also beneficial to teacher as they are able to analyse the effectiveness of teaching method used through the demonstration of understanding by the students.

Principle #12 : High-order thinking and problem-solving
ICT offers tasks and activities of various ranks of thinking order. I believe that tasks from all the levels in Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives can be designed through ICT. From the simplest level which is ‘knowledge’ to the most difficult level, ‘evaluation’, task and activities can be carefully designed or selected with the help of ICT. In promoting high-order thinking and problem-solving for example, the use ICT is effectual. However, it depends very much on the teacher to exploit it to the optimum level.

Principle #13 : Collaborative learning
As future teacher, we must realise that children like to learn together as doing things together is the form that is similar to games and play. Therefore, teacher need to promote collaborative learning as it provides enjoyable and meaningful learning environment. There are many tasks and activities which promote collaborative learning that can be designed with the help of ICT for example games, quizzes, and group activities. Collaborative learning also is effective in promoting social development of children.

Principle #14 : Taking account of individual differences
When a teacher enters her Primary ESL classroom for the first time, a sea of faces appears before her. At one level, these students seem very much alike; they are nearly the same age, they have similar interest, and they study common subjects and topics. A closer look however, reveals many differences. Obviously both sexes are represented in that class. And from the teacher’s prior knowledge, she knows that students develop at different rates. Soon, she discovers that learning is nearly effortless for some boys and girls; and others struggle with even basic ideas. Her students also have different learning styles; some are field dependence students and some are field independence, some are impulsive learners and some are reflective, and they need to be motivated differently. Then, she finds out that a few students have affluent parents, and other students’ families merely eke out a living. These are some of the differences between individual in a class and I believe, with endless patient and effort, a teacher can cater this individual differences thus making learning process personalised and suitable to every student through ICT.

Hmm…I hope I have made correct interpretation on each principle. From the 14 principles, I believe that teacher plays the central role in ensuring the effectiveness of incorporation of ICT in Teaching and Learning activities. Thus, it is important for teacher to carefully examine each step taken in integrating ICT into the lesson so that optimum impacts can be attained and detrimental effects can be avoided. Till then…ta. Phew!

References
1. Brown, H. Douglas, Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, New York, Peason Education, 2000.
2. Patsy, M. Lightbown, Nina, Spada, How Languages are Learned, China, Oxford University Press, 1999.
3. Eggen, Paul, Don, Kauchak, Educational Psychology: Classroom Connections, USA, Macmillan College Publishing, 1994.

First Day…First Bay

2007-08-06T08:42:00.000-07:00

I do not see any crime in admitting that blogging is certainly not my so called ‘favourite thing’. I in fact, used to think that people blog when they think there is a need to show off…only (obviously I’m a naysayer). Thank God, my first day of Technology in Primary Education class has opened my eyes to the positive sides of blogging. People blog for a number good reasons now I realize. To announce, to advertise, to self-reflect, to voice out opinions, and to share thoughts are some of them.

The lecture then filched my attention to the advantages of having technology in Primary Education. Technology is the tool and equipment that enables conducive and effective teaching and learning activities to be carried out. It makes things easier, inculcates knowledge, skills, and creativity effectively, as well as, as a window to the new discoveries for students. ‘But hye, what is technology n’way? Is this sophisticated smartboard in front of me a technology?’ My mind wondered.

“…is not computers, not document cameras, not whiteboard. It is the people using these tools, what they do with them and how they do it”

Owh…I see…

I was then introduced to two acronyms, PLEaSE (Personalized Learning Environment and Students Engagement) and POEIT (Pedagogy of Engagement Integrating Technology). So, Engagement appeared to be today’s big word. Question raised (in my mind…again) “How can technology ensure students’ engagement with the learning process?” This question triggered my memory during the School Experience Programme (SEP) in Sekolah Kebangsaan Bandar

Baru Sri Petaling 2. I remembered observing a Science Lesson where the teacher used nothing but a textbook to explain everything and, I remembered looking at bored faces of the year two students in the class. Some jaws were even laid on the desks…it was uninteresting no doubt. And I don’t think much engagement took place.

My memory then switched to the curios and excited little face of my eight year old niece when my sister taught her how to use Google Earth. Yup! That was real engagement I thought.

Comparison made! Question answered! I am satisfied…

Hullo! My name is…

2007-08-06T08:01:00.000-07:00

I always thought that I would never have a blog. For one reason, blog is too personal I say, and I am not the type of girl who tells all. I am not a wordsmith, I express myself better physically (hell…yeah it’s true). I must admit, I am a bit sceptical about having a blog for educational purposes. Will it be effective? Will it be useful? Will it be honest? Again, because I feel that blog is something that is very personal. And it is such a sad thing if you cannot channel all your expression through something that you consider ‘very personal’ just because that something is restricted to educational purposes. (you don’t have to agree with that). So, I really hope, I mean I really really really hope that this blog can both be personal and educational. (of course the ‘ten Educational entries’ is still on and I don’t actually intend to write more than that but I bet my friends do)

So, as a start, let me introduce myself first… my name is Fatiha Binti Senom. I am from Temerloh Pahang or Jengka 18 to be exact and currently, I’m staying at the 11th College, the Ungku Aziz Residential College. I received my early education at my very own hometown before continued feeding my own brain (if there’s any) with superfluous knowledge on algebra and human’s reproduction system in SMK Assunta, PJ. (yeah baby, it was in PJ and it is still there! It is very near that I think you can walk from PJ entrance at 8.37 A.M and arrive there before 8.53 AM. Phew! told you Math is complex).Later, I moved to a school that is very far faraway, MRSM Lenggong.( it is very remote that I don’t think it exists in the map…ok or on Google Earth hehe). Then, due to my passion towards English Language (or due to my not-so-good results of other subjects), I enrolled into this B.ED TESL Programme.

Honestly, I kinda like to be in this programme. Teacher I am about to become and, I’m proud of that (aren’t you?). I love teaching a lot. My experience told me that teachers inspire. But I think, it is not as simple as ABC for me to be one. It takes loads of courage and effort (and blood and sweat and tears…I suppose). I am glad that this course offers me the opportunity to learn about technology and I believe, this is a stepping stone for me to prepare myself to be an inspiring teacher (coz I think students these days demand more than chalk and talk). So, I hope that I will be able to take this golden opportunity to equip myself with precious knowledge on technology and on how to make full use of it in teaching primary schools kiddies.

Till then, ta-ta (owh…I promise d next entry will be more educational than dis one)

this is...

2007-08-05T08:01:00.000-07:00

the new me