How to use FLIPGRID for Speaking Lessons?

What is Flipgrid? 

Flipgrid is a website that allows teachers to create and  facilitate video discussions. Teachers can create  groups for each classroom and in each group teachers can post questions or topics of discussions. Students can respond to the questions and topics by responding through video responses that appear in a display. The videos can be shared with classes, small groups, or any collection of users interested in a common strand of questions. However, in order to protect my students' privacy I have made the setting private and the video responses sent by my students are only available for viewing and commenting by peers from their own classes. 

What do I use Flipgrid for? 

I find Flipgrid to be a student - friendly application and it makes my speaking lesson more interesting and interactive as I could see my students' responses via video messages in Flipgrid. This helps me to assess their speaking skills especially during the pandemic where teaching and learning is conducted via online and conducting speaking lessons online is very challenging.  Besides, making all 24 students in a class to speak during an online lesson is an invitation for disaster. Therefore, I have started using Flipgrid to facilitate learning during my speaking lessons. Flipgrid allows me as a teacher to take time to watch and listen to my students' spoken responses and also provides opportunity for them to practice their speaking skills from time to time.  (from one unit to another)

Not only has Flipgrid made it easier for me to carry out online speaking lessons with ease, it also has a large space for storage (this storage is free if you use your MOE account to register) that I could keep all my students' video responses as evidence for their learning (PBD filing purposes). Flipgrid makes it so much easier for me to organise students' tasks and keep their responses without endangering my devices.  

Records in my Flipgrid 'Teacher Account'

Another good thing about Flipgrid is that it is linked to our MOE _ DELIMA account, so teachers can actually 'import' students' name lists and monitor their video submissions via Delima account. I watch my students responses on Flipgrid and keep their scores in Delima. I also leave written or sometimes video comments at the end of their videos to help them to look into  mistakes and contents. 

The video below shows some examples of students' video responses : 

Please be reminded that students can respond via the Flipgrid with any camera - enabled device. Teachers can also set the duration of responses for the topics given. Responses can be as short as 15 seconds and the longest response can be five minutes. Another interesting feature in Flipgrid is that teachers can also enable peers to respond to their friends' videos via video replies. I have enabled this feature for students within the same classroom. 

If you are interested in using Flipgrid in your lessons, click and watch the videos below and after that you will be all set to get started! 

a) Introduction to Flipgrid - Click Here 

b) How to Teach with Flipgrid  Video 1 - Click Here 

c) How to Teach with FLipgrid Video 2 - Click Here 

Understanding 'A Poison Tree' through Poetry Bingo!

In my previous post, I shared a poetry lesson I had with my students after the school reopened. As a follow up lesson to check how much they had understood the poem, I decided to do a poetry bingo with them. 

Zoe - Trying to get her first 'BINGO!'

The lesson was intended to check how much they had understood (formative assessment)  the poem from the previous lesson. This was done to ensure students' understanding of the poem 'A Poison Tree' and planning the 'What's next?".So, I decided to try out 'POETRY BINGO' with them. 

The reason I chose Poetry Bingo because I wanted to them to enjoy learning poetry. At the same time while maintaining social distancing in the class, they could do something fun.  

Ever since they came back to school on 24 June, they did not get the opportunity to move and do exciting activities as teachers were worried that they might be reprimanded for not following the S.O.P. and I also sensed growing restlessness and boredom as a result of being confined to their seats all day.  So, I decided to plan activities that were both fun and do not require them to move from their places.........   

......and I started looking for activities from the old literature modules. (they are really old. I mean who would still be keeping modules from 'The Drover's Wife' generation? I do as they come in handy at times) That was when I bumped into 'POETRY BINGO'. 

'Poetry Bingo' is not something new. In fact, teachers who had attended the 'CEFR- Aligned Formative Assessment Workshop' in 2018, would have come across this activity. Just dig your files and you may find it, just like how I found it in an old literature module.... 

So, this is how the lesson was carried out : 

Students were given an empty bingo sheet and they were required to fill in 9 words from a list of words from the poem A Poison Tree. The word list was given as well.  Once they had filled in the words, I read the meaning of the words and they had to identify the meaning. If you are teaching the weak or very weak students, you may discuss the meaning of the words with them and help them to identify the words but if you are dealing with above average group,  reduced support will do. 

Students were told that if there was a BINGO, they were to stand and shout out 'BINGO!'. They may continue doing so when they get the second, third and fourth BINGO. 

Kalai Malar- trying to make her 'Bingo' sheet as 
colourful as possible

I continued the activity till everyone got a BINGO, till the last word. 

After completing the word level BINGO, I continued with a second round, which was more difficult compared to the earlier one. In this round, they were given a list of lines from the poem and they were to choose 9 sets to fill in the bingo box. 

The second round was about making interpretations of the lines in the poem. So, I read the interpretations and they had to identify from the lines - whether they had written in the box or left them outside. In this round, I chose to read the interpretations of the 10 most difficult lines in the poem. This was because, I was very sure that they would only fill in the bingo boxes the lines they had understood the best and ignore the difficult ones; true enough, that was what they exactly did! I did not want them to shy away from the difficult lines, so I picked the difficult ones.

However, it was not completely difficult as I made the interpretations easier with 'clue words' for them to understand. There were more clue words for the weaker ones and less for the good ones. 

Some students got back to back bingos!

After completing this activity, I moved to the SPM based activitiy which was a breeze, students could answer the questions effortlessly.  You may download the 'Poetry Bingo' activity task sheet here. 

Chong Chi Rou - attempting the SPM type literature
questions after the 'Bingo' activity

The following video shows how the 'Poetry Bingo' activity was done in my class : 

Tips: 

Do not try a third round of BINGO. It will not work, the excitement dies after the second round. So stop after the second round and try something else. 

Happy Teaching!

Adding Colours to 'A Poison Tree'

I taught my students the poem 'A Poison Tree' entirely online during the MCO period. We never had the opportunity to discuss the poem during our face - to - face lessons before the announcement of the  MCO. So when the school reopened last week, I decided to revisit the poem with them. Each of the students was given a sheet of paper with the poem 'A Poison Tree' printed on it and I asked them to make their own notes. 

They were instructed to do the following things. 

a) Identify all the important words and phrases, write their meanings on the left side of the poem. 

b) Write the interpretation of the poem for every two lines from stanza 1 till stanza 4, on the right side of the poem. 

Students were provided with coloured pens to make their notes and interpretations. They were excited to do things differently. It is a norm at times to just print notes for students to read and understand while doing some SPM based practices. I decided to beat this norm and do things in a different way by guiding my students to make their own notes so that they would understand the poem better. 

Before they started the note - making activity, we had a short discussion on things that they had understood about the poem from our online lessons. From the discussion, I moved my students' attention to the words and the first stanza of the poem, once we were done with the discussion, students started making their notes and when they completed one stanza, I moved to the next stanza and it continued till the last stanza. 

Since the control movement order is still in practice and students are to maintain 1 - metre distance from their friends and teachers, I did not allow them to move or sit in groups. Instead, they were asked to do the task individually. However, they were allowed to discuss with a peer sitting closest to them, that too in a metre - distance. 

To check students' understanding, there were quick questioning sessions after the completion of one stanza and before moving to the next stanza. The sessions worked really well especially after they completed their notes for every stanza as I could actually check how much they had understood and what was missing so that I can do some sort of reinforcement before we could move on. 

I did not provide them with notes as I wanted them to make their own notes based on the power point presentations as well as discussions and rely on their own notes to understand the poem. The following is an example of a work done by one of the students : 

work done by Melissa Annabel from class 5V2

maintaining 'social distancing' while explaining one the of the stanzas 

Sabrina from 5V1 -  diligently making her notes. 

girls from 5V2  - proudly showing their products

It was a fruitful lesson as students displayed their understanding of the poem 'A Poison Tree'. After they completed their colourful notes, I gave them an SPM based exercise and they could actually complete the task by referring to the notes that they had made. That was when I wrote in my reflection - 'objective achieved'. 

By they way, excellent students can complete the note - making task in an hour lesson but the average and weaker ones should be given a lot of support and  time to digest the content of the poem as it is not an easy poem work on for the weaker ones. The following YouTube video shows more examples of my students' work. 

Happy Teaching!!

What Kind of Teacher are You???

Authoritative Style

The authoritative teacher places limits and controls on the students but simultaneously encourages independence. This teacher often explains the reasons behind the rules and decisions. If a student is disruptive, the teacher offers a polite, but firm, reprimand. This teacher sometimes metes out discipline, but only after careful consideration of the circumstances.

The authoritative teacher is also open to considerable verbal interaction, including critical debates. The students know that they can interrupt the teacher if they have a relevant question or comment. This environment offers the students the opportunity to learn and practice communication skills.

Ms. Smith exemplifies the authoritative teaching style. She exhibits a warm and nurturing attitude toward the students and expresses genuine interest and affection. Her classroom abounds with praise and encouragement. She often writes comments on homework and offers positive remarks to students. This authoritative teacher encourages self - reliant and socially competent behaviour and fosters higher achievement motivation. Often, she will guide the students through a project, rather than lead them.

                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                         Laissez - Faire

The laissez - faire teacher places few demand or controls on the students. 'Do your own thing' describes this classroom. This teacher accepts the student's impulses and actions and is less likely to monitor their behaviour. Mr.Jones uses a laissez - faire style. He strives to not to hurt the student's feelings and has difficulty saying no to a student or enforcing rules. If a student disrupts the class, Mr. Jones assume that he is not giving that student enough attention. When a student interrupts a lecture, Mr.Jones accepts the interruption with the belief that the student must surely have something valuable to add. When he does offer discipline, it is likely to be inconsistent.

 

Mr. Jones is very involved with his students and cares for themvery much. He is more concerned with the students' emotional well - being than he is with his classroom control. He sometimes bases classroom decisions on his students feelings rather than on their academic concerns.

 

Mr. Jones wants to be the students' friend. He may even encourage contact outside the classroom. He has a difficult time establishing boundaries between his professional life and his personal life.

 

However, this overindulgent style is associated with students lack of social competence and self - control. It is difficult for students to learn socially acceptable behaviour when the teacher is so permissive. With few demands placed upon them, these students frequently have lower motivation to achieve. 

Regardless, students often like this teacher.

 

Indifferent

The indifferent teacher is not very involved in the classroom. The teacher places few demands. If any, on the students and appears generally uninterested. The indifferent teacher just doesn't want to impose on the students. As such, he/ she often feels that out of the question. This teacher simply won't take the necessary preparation time. Sometimes, he/she will use the same materials, years after year.

 

Also, classroom discipline is lacking. This teacher may lack the skills, confidence, or courage to discipline students.

 

The students sense and reflect the teacher's indifferent attitude. Accordingly, very little learning occurs. Everyone is just 'going through the motions' and killing time. In this aloof environment, the students have very few opportunities to observe or practice communication skills. With few demands placed on them and very little discipline, students have low achievement motivation and lack self - control.

 

This teacher can't control class and students never learn anything in there. There is hardly ever homework and people rarely bring their books. Mrs. Johnson is a good example of an indifferent teacher. She uses the same lesson plans every year, never bothering to update them. For her, each day is the same. She lectures for the first twenty minutes of class. Sometimes, she will show a film or a slide show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sri Aman The Land of Tidal Bore

Sri Aman is a market town and port, and the capital of Sri Aman District and Sri Aman Division in Sarawak, east Malaysia.

Sri Aman is also called Bandar Sri Aman, and was formerly known as Simanggang. Sri Aman in the Malay language means "town of peace ." Located on the Lupar River, it is 193 kilometers, a three hour drive, from Kuching the capital city of Sarawak. It is a trade center for the timber, oil palm, rubber, and pepper of its mostly agricultural district.

Sri Aman is famous for the benak, or tidal bore, of the Batang Lupar River. The tidal bore comes in from the river mouth and fills up the river very rapidly in the course of about 10 minutes. The wave crest at Sri Aman is up to 2 to 3 metres high. This is one of approximately 400 rivers and estuaries in the world where this phenomenon happens. There is a timetable at the river which has the time and dates for when the tidal bore will occur, but the really big ones occur only a couple of times a year. The author Somerset Maugham almost lost his life at Simanggang during one of these tidal bores, and commemorated the event in his short story Yellow Streak.

Sri Aman is also a gateway for tourists to the Batang Ai National Park, and cultural tours to the Iban longhouses along the rivers.

Back to school - Part 2

The school term for the year 2012 kick started 2 days ago and I was very excited and enthusiastic to start my work for this year...I have prepared all the materials and got them photocopied.....I could not wait to meet new faces...I am given 4s1, 3B, 3I and 3Q this year.....In these 3 days have met all of them so far they are being good and obedient except for 4s1 as most of them were my students when they were in form 3 last year, so there was no Ice- breaking session required for that class. I started with introduction to SPM 1119 English and they seem to be eager to learn... Whereby with 3B, 3I and 3Q I am trying to get used to the students and we are still in the pace of getting to know... However, the lessons went on very well for this week. students from class 3B were given an array of vocabulary practices while for 3Q and 3I I started with simple compositions form "My writing" module which consists of rearranging jumble up words, arranging sequence of a story and so on, as I want the students to get used to writing simple compositions, my aim for these two classes is to make them write compositions using simple English..If they can do so by PMR 2012 I will be the most happiest person on earth, for that I have to work my ***********(censored) hahaha...Students from 3Q and 3I may need extra attention from me as they can be categorized as low proficiency students and they are unable to write their a composition on their own, I need to guide them all the time so that they will be able to write properly....... so I really have to be patient this year when I teach them. I have also decided not to bring cane to the classes and going to practice my new so - called strategy 'Guru Penyayang" whice I have never tried before this, but I hope I will be able to control my classes....If I can't I will go back to my old strategy 'GARANG' hahaha....

Overall it is going to be a busy year with a busy start.......

Taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!

Embaressed by yor speeling????

The folllowing article is both humorous and scary It points out some of the silly quirks in the English language.

Having learned English spelling and grammar in elementary school I have no sympathy for those who cannot spell BY THE TIME THEY REACH the UNIVERSITY LEVEL. They are either stupid or lazy or both and to give in to their inabilities and accept their careless writing would be a travesty, in my opinion.

But I admit that our language is pretty hard to explain at times and I greatly admire all of you who have studied English and learned to speak, read and write it better than many, many of our "educated" citizens.

Note: For those of you who are just learning English, please be advised that the article contains a great many intentionally misspelled words...which of course, is the gist of the article Enjoy!


LONDON (Reuters) - Embaressed by yor spelling? Never you mind.

Fed up with his students' complete inability to spell common English correctly, a British academic has suggested it may be time to accept "variant spellings" as legitimate.
Rather than grammarians getting in a huff about "argument" being spelled "arguement" or "opportunity" as "opertunity," why not accept anything that's phonetically (fonetickly anyone?) correct as long as it can be understood?
"Instead of complaining about the state of the education system as we correct the same mistakes year after year, I've got a better idea," Ken Smith, a criminology lecturer at Bucks New University, wrote in the Times Higher Education Supplement.
"University teachers should simply accept as variant spelling those words our students most commonly misspell."
To kickstart his proposal, Smith suggested 10 common misspellings that should immediately be accepted into the pantheon of variants, including "ignor," "occured," "thier," "truely," "speach" and "twelth" (it should be "twelfth").
Then of course there are words like "misspelt" (often spelled "mispelt"), not to mention "varient," a commonly used variant of "variant."
And that doesn't even begin to delve into all the problems English people have with words that use the letters "i" and "e" together, like weird, seize, leisure, foreign and neighbor.
The rhyme "i before e except after c" may be on the lips of every schoolchild in Britain, but that doesn't mean they remember the rule by the time they get to university.
Of course, such proposals have been made in the past. The advent of text messaging turned many students into spelling neanderthals as phrases such as "wot r u doin 2nite?" became socially, if not academically, acceptable.
Despite Smith's suggestion, language mavens are unconvinced. John Simpson, the chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, says rules are rules and they are there for good reason.
"There are enormous advantages in having a coherent system of spelling," he told the Times newspaper.
"It makes it easier to communicate. Maybe during a learning phase there is some scope for error, but I would hope that by the time people get to university they have learnt to spell."
Yet even some of Britain's greatest wordsmiths have acknowledged it's a language with irritating quirkiness.
Playwright George Bernard Shaw was fond of pointing out that the word "ghoti" could just as well be pronounced "fish" if you followed common pronunciation: 'gh' as in "tough ," 'o' as in "women" and 'ti' as in "nation."
And he was a playright.