SPM - Continuous Writing

As a teacher whenever I grade my students' compositions and return to them, the questions that I get will be " Why do I get a C or D but almost all my sentences are correct?" How do you tackle this issue with your students? 

Well as for me I will always look for concrete sentences in order to give an A or B for any particular essay. So how do we show to our students how does concrete and abstract sentences look like? Here is one simple activity which has worked very well in my Continous Writing Introductory Lessons to show high proficiency students the types of sentences that they should construct in their compositions  in order to get A besides having idioms and proverbs... please click here to download them. 

Hard Work Paid Off - GC DG48

I was first appointed as GC in 2010 and ever since then there was no turning back.  I know I have to keep working and working to keep my self abreast of  whatever things that was happening around me. So what did I do to become a GC DG48 ? Here are a few simple things that I did and worked well with me :

a) Firstly I did a lot of sharing and documented them...How did I do my sharing...well through this blog...Well my online sharing did not just reach people in Malaysia but also from other neighbouring countries. I have received emails complementing all my work. That was an added advantage that went directly into my professional portfolio.

b) Secondly as a GC you have to always be innovative.. However your innovation should have received some recognition at least at the district level. Therefore, I did a lot of homework on innovation in ESL and came up with "Wheels of English" which I presented at MELTA Conference 2012 and rebranded it in Perak Innovative Teacher Competition 2014 which earned me a Bronze Award.

c) The most important thing as a GC is your performance as a teacher in classroom. No matter how many innovative and creative method you use, at the end of the day the evaluation will be based on your students' performance. Therefore, I made sure that my students do well in the public examination, it is not about getting As but it is all about improving from one level to another. Ever since I became a GC I  made sure that I am given the weakest classes to prove my worth as a GC. Teaching the 'weaklings' is challenging but also a rewarding experience. I have taken up weak classes and recorded their performance in every examination and filed them. I had a few who failed in the public examinations and could not make it 100% pass...but that was due to students failure to attend school (I had some students who did not come to school for a whole year but turned up during SPM examinations).

d) Well how I  made my weak students pass? first I identified their weaknesses and I created modules that will help them,,, trust me, textbooks and workbooks in the market do not cater to the needs of the weak students. Thus far, I have created about 35 modules, which I have used with different level of students. All the modules were used at school. My modules are not just modules, they were created with purposes. they come with objectives and the before and after use report with photographic evidence to show as a prove that the modules really work in certain circumstances.

e) I have also had my trial - and - errors in teaching. I have practiced various interesting teaching methods throughout the years and improvise them every now and then as preparation for the big day - the teaching and learning observation session. You have to really make an impressive lesson and make sure that objectives are achieved at the end of the day. The lesson must be interactive, interesting, hands - on as well as techno friendly and also you should prove that learning is taking place. Therefore, you should really look for ideas and practice them in your classrooms while improvising them...you do not want to mess up during your classroom observation don't you?

f) Some of my successful lessons were made into research topics and I wrote extensively about them and got them published in two jurnals one in Malaysia and another in Australia. I have also presented my work in various conferences such as ASIA - TEFL Conference 2014, MICELT 2013, ICELT 2014, MELTA 2012 and MELTA 2014 and I will be presenting again at ICELT 2015. Please be there!!

f) Having a good rapport with everyone at school is also important, because when the 'nazirs' visit you at school they will randomly pick some teachers and students for a private interview. Besides, the principal and seniors assistants will be interviewed too. Till today, I do not know what my teachers and students told the 'nazirs' during their visit.

g) Besides, creating modules, as a GC I also shared some of my work through publications. I decided to write in an academic magazine called 'Wadah Siswa' which I managed to write for 12 publications.

h) grade students work appropriately.....It may be time consuming....but the way you mark your students exercise books reflects you....

i) I have always believe in GOD and Hinduism has taught me to stay humble...Therefore I believe that being humble and accepting criticism will take you a long way....