The Do's of Differentiation

It is not easy to deal with students of different abilities when they are in one large class. Teachers often face challenges in dealing with situations like this, especially when they genuinely want to deliver an effective lesson that will ensure students’ progress.

In such situations, delivering an effective lesson will not be possible without the differentiation of tasks and the outcomes that the children are expected to achieve. Differentiation is a balancing act to match work to ability, in order to ensure that the children are working at a level that they can cope with, but that also stretches them. Nevertheless, teachers need to do the following to ensure that learning takes place in a way that no students are left behind :

Be realistic on how much differentiation is manageable

In most classrooms situations, it is always manageable to develop differentiation strategies for three groups – high, average and low achievers. This is doable and we as teachers will be able to monitor the progress of students throughout the lesson. This idea may not be perfect, but it will help us to avoid getting bound up too often in the needs of small groups or even individuals.

Differentiate the activity; not the outcome

It is important to take note that when we differentiate, it is not differentiating our learning outcome, but we should actually work towards achieving one learning outcome by differentiating the activity. We should not create three learning outcomes according to the number of groups we have. It may not be easy but it is achievable. We can actually work on one task but differentiate it according to different groups. By doing this we can discuss concepts as a class but tailor the tasks to meet our students’ learning needs. This helps to keep our planning simple and at the same time, no students will be left behind feeling marginalised.

Keep your assessment tasks differentiated

If we set differentiated work it makes sense to use differentiated assessments too. Making assessment tasks fit the ways the children are able to work independently may make us to have more work, but it will create a room for a more effective assessment for the students.

Be prepared to change groupings

Rates of progress differ and it may become apparent that some children are either facing ahead or getting left behind. Changing their groups will help them cope better. It may also be prudent to change groupings if behaviour gets out of hand, or if you’re concerned about the effect that one child is having on another.

Challenge children

It is very important to challenge our students to prevent them from getting bored. Knowing how many challenges they can take is very difficult, but setting them a challenge, one that you think only the ablest will achieve, can be a good way of finding out how well individual children can cope and persevere. We can try it as a class activity and share ideas and possible solutions.

Do not let a lack of basic skills hold children in other ways

A child may have a poor pencil control, or be unable to read without support, but these things do not indicate a lack of ability in other areas, therefore, as teachers we need to provide support for students like this where they need help the most so that they will overcome their weakness and be able to develop themselves.

When putting children into groups, draw up a set of criteria for group formation

It may be difficult to decide who is going to be in which group as students tend to sit with friends who they are comfortable with and at the same time we should not label them openly as high, average and weak learners as this may cause some of the students to be feeling uncomfortable. Therefore, we can always create a set of criteria to decide which group they belong to by listing down on aspects they are to achieve and what they have achieved, this will give them more confident and will keep the class in control. However, it is advised not to stick on to the criteria rigidly and we may change the grouping from time to time based on students’ performance.

Differentiate whole-class teaching

One of the appealing things about whole-class teaching for some is that everyone is doing the same thing at the same time. This style of teaching can still incorporate differentiated elements. Even if it’s simply the expected outcome that’s differentiated, as long as these expectations are recorded, it’s still a valuable way of enabling children to work at levels at which they can succeed.

 Differentiate the support offered

Another way of using similar activities, but still ensuring that they’re tailored to meet different learner’s needs is to differentiate the level of support that they will have in order to complete the task.

The aforementioned techniques are just the tip of the iceberg, there are actually many differentiation strategies that can be used in classrooms. 

I will share more ideas on differentiation very soon. Meanwhile, feel free to share more ideas in the comment section. 

References 

Heydon, R. (2003). Literature circles as a differentiated instructional strategy for including ESL students in mainstream classrooms. Canadian Modern Language Review, 59(3), 463-475.

Baecher, L., Artigliere, M., Patterson, D. K., & Spatzer, A. (2012). Differentiated instruction for English language learners as “variations on a theme” teachers can differentiate instruction to support English language learners. Middle School Journal, 43(3), 14-21.

Baecher, L. H. (2011). Differentiated instruction for English language learners: Strategies for the secondary English teacher. The Wisconsin English Journal, 53(2), 64-73.

https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/differentiated-instruction-english-language-learners

https://esol.britishcouncil.org/content/teachers/staff-room/teaching-articles/differentiation-esol-classroom

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/esl-differentiation/

Sing to the Dawn - Incident and Character

The following is a sample answer for the novel Sing to the Dawn. I have often noticed that when students are required to write about events/incidents and characters, they often end up writing the synopsis of the entire story by weaving it with the characters. 

It is important for students to understand that an event/incident is not about writing the entire synopsis but to pick one part of the story and relating it to the answer. I hope the following sample answer would give students a picture of how to describe an event and relating it to the character in the novel. I have put the answer in an organised way to help students write better. 

The question below requires students to describe an incident that brings a change in a character and why the change is important to the character. It is also important to relate your answer to the statement.

Before you answer the question, think carefully which incident or event you would like to write about and focus only on that incident and the characters involved in the incident. As for this question, I picked the fight at the market place as it brought a twist in the story and a BIG change in Kwai. 

You have to elaborate on the event as vividly as possible focussing on the character you are going to write about.

Since the question requires you to write about an event that brought changes to a character, you have to clearly write which character has changed. It is important to have signposts such as ' the incident at the market place had brought about changes in Kwai'

The last part of the question requires you to provide reasons for your answer. So, try to write at least three, you can write more or less depends on how much you can relate them to the character and incident. However, I prefer only three to make things simple. I advise my students to work well by giving a vivid description and examples from the novel to strengthen your answer. 

You may also write your 'reasons' in separate paragraphs by starting your paragraph with a specific signpost, such as 'the change was important because', 'The first reason is...' and so on.

to make you answer interesting, you can also state what could have happened or have not happened if the change in the character did not occur, just to stress on how important the change was to the story.

You do not need to make your conclusion lengthy, summarise the whole idea in one or two sentences will do. 

Good Luck!

Descriptive Essay about Teenagers.....

Since SPM is just around the corner and I have been receiving emails requesting sample essays. So, I decided to share one today. 

The following is an essay adapted from an ancient old SPM workbook. I used that book for my SPM in 1997. I modified the essay so that can suit the current needs of the SPM students. The language used in this essay is very high ( CEFR C2) and will guarantee students with an A+ if they can actually write essays like this. 

Dear teachers, please remember that this essay is not suitable for low proficiency students who are struggling to write. If you ask them to read essays like this they will give up and may not even want to try. 

Also to be cautioned that teenagers are portrayed in a negative light in this essay so no offence to any teenagers who are reading this essay.

The rubric for the following essay is : 

In about 350 words, write your opinion about teenagers today. 

Happy Teaching Teachers!!

Happy Studying Students!!

Global Teacher Award 2019, New Delhi India

16 September 2019 - While Malaysians were celebrating Malaysia, I made my country proud in my own way.......

Me Receiving Award from The Russian Ambassador. 

My journey as a teacher started on this very day 16 years ago. Never had I imagined that I would come this far and it would have never been possible without my family, and all the like-minded positive friends and colleagues whom I keep close to my heart....and of course, along the way there were stormy and rough times, but, I have always kept my faith strong which helped me to brave through all the difficulties..... After 16 years, today was a proud day for me to be among 500 teachers from India and 100 International teachers from 72 countries to receive The Alert Knowledge Services(AKS) Global Teacher Award...What a great way to celebrate my 16th year work anniversary.....

The Global Teacher Award 2019 is an event organised by Alert Knowledge Services (AKS) an organisation working on uplifting the teaching profession around the world by recognising teachers. The AKS Foundation has its own way the reward these teachers. It was the biggest conglomeration of teachers and I got to meet with teachers from different teaching environment. I had the privilege to get to know their teaching environment and the challenges they face in their everyday lives as teachers.  

Among other teachers from Malaysia who had received the award were : 

a) Mr. Parthiban Govindasamy from SJKT Ladang Shum Yip Leong, Cameron Highlands.

and 

b) Madam Pn. Lei Sai Im from SMK Seri Bintang Utara Kuala Lumpur. 

It was a proud moment for us to once again make Malaysia proud in the global arena. 

Mr.Parthiban Receiving Award

Teachers from Russia 

A teacher from Brazil

Online Tools to Develop Writing Skills

The mid-year school holidays have come to an end and the next semester will be a stressful one as SPM and PT3 examinations are just around the corner. I believe teachers and students will be bogged down with preparatory activities geared towards the public examinations. 

If you are one of those not – so – lucky students taking the public examinations this year, you’re are right in the thick of it and I believe you will have essays to write. And let's accept the fact that writing is not everyone’s cup of tea and I have also had students who struggled to build sentences. If you struggle to write essays or if you abhor writing lessons, then writing essays can lead to frustration and stress.

Fortunately, there are ample tools and resources available online. They are also free (for basic use). I have listed the 10 most useful online tools that I have introduced to my students and they are my favourites too. Some of the tools may need you to become a premier member, but I don’t think that will be necessary as the basic use of the tools is good enough to help you write better. So don’t worry about making mistakes, use these tools to improve your essays and score well in PT3 and SPM. 

The online tools below have very similar functions. Therefore, I am not going to review them one by one. Just click on the links below and it will direct you to the websites. 

All you have to do is type your essay in the text box and get it checked for grammatical errors. You may try different websites and get your essays corrected.

I believe this is an easy way for students to learn to correct their mistakes and write better as well as grammatically correct essays!

So good luck and happy writing... 

Polish My Writing

Virtual Writing Tutor

Paper Rater

Grammar Checker   

Scribens  

Online Text Correction

Spelling and Grammar Checker 

Grammarix

Grammarly

Slick Write

MGS - NAVRACHANA : COLLABORATION TOWARDS EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Teacher collaboration and professional learning communities are frequently associated with school improvement and educational excellence. Keeping that in mind Madam Kashmira from Navrachana School, Sama Gujarat and I have been working on our collaboration for the past six months and finally, our proposal for the collaborative project was awarded the Global Teacher Grant by IREX and The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the U.S. Department of State.

The aim of our project was to bring different perspectives into the teaching and learning practices in both our schools and districts. Hence, Madam Kashmira and I decided to travel to each other's countries to conduct workshops on developing 21st-century skills for both students and teachers. 

The project kick-started with my visit to Navarachana School in Sama Gujarat on 20th March 2018. I was given the traditional Indian welcome by the teachers and students by applying what known as 'tikka' on my forehead and adorning garlands around my neck. It was touching that I instantly felt at home. Madam Bijoya Bakshi who is the Director of the School gave a welcoming speech and it was followed by a row of brilliant performances by the students. 

Pictures were taken during the welcome assembly 

During the assembly, I was also entertained with some memorable performances. One of them was a Kuchipudi dance by one of the students, Sindhuja. 

Kuchipudi By Sindhuja of Navrachana School,Sama Gujarat. 

After the assembly, it was time for a short school tour. I was told that Navrachana has a strength of approximately 3000 students and 145 teachers. During the school tour, I met a number of teachers and also all the coordinators. I was impressed by their passion and enthusiasm towards educational excellence. Each and every teacher whom I met was filled with passion for teaching. The school tour was a learning experience. I definitely understood the reason for Navrachana being among the top 100 schools in India after talking to the teachers and coordinators. 

Teachers' Hard Work Creating a Board Game Library 

During the tour, I was taken to the board game library where a group of teachers innovated board games for various subjects. The board games were both interactive and mind-challenging. I was impressed with the fact that the teachers worked together and innovatively developed their in-house products. It is the first of its kind and also first in India! The team is headed by Madam Kashmira Jaiswal. Kudos to the entire team for making their board game library a success. 

On the next day, I had a half-day workshop with the students. 

These pictures were taken during the workshop with students. 

The workshop with students turned out to be very fruitful. Their positive attitude and engaging nature made the workshop meaningful. They were willing to try, share and accept new ideas. They were also very much interested in exploring new ideas shared during the workshop. I also had story-reading sessions in between the workshop where I shared some interesting Malaysian folktales. 

What I liked about the students there was they were eager to try and speak throughout the workshop which I don't normally see when I conduct workshops in Malaysia, we can't deny the fact that our Malaysian students are very passive or trained to be quiet especially when there is a visitor.

Just like my workshop with the students, the workshop with teachers turned out to be very rewarding as well. The teachers were fun to be with. I did not only share my ideas but learnt a lot from them too. They were given the opportunity to share their ideas so that I could understand what was happening in their ESL classrooms. 

Pictures were taken during the workshop for teachers in Sama District. 

I noticed that the teachers are all well informed about teaching methodologies and classroom strategies. I was told that they have to keep themselves abreast of all new strategies as teaching is their bread and butter, being lackadaisical will cost them their job as they are all teaching in private schools and the schools demand them to be the best. They can't afford to take teaching profession for granted. Being in private school they have to constantly perform and show good results, which is why I understand the students are performing well. The teachers there are constantly on their wheels!!!! 

My four days visit ended eventually and I returned to Mumbai and then to Malaysia, I have not only enriched myself with new knowledge but I also made a handful of good friends. It takes time for us to warm up to some people but instantly get connected with some and just like that there were some people in Vadodara whom I instantly 'clicked' with. 

Memorable Pictures 

These are some people whom I have spent less than 24 hours but we developed a great sense of camaraderie. Madam Krishnamah(1st row, 1st picture)  a fellow Tamilian whom I enjoyed talking in Tamil when I was there. Madam Kamna Gupta (1st row, 2nd picture)  who gave me the tastiest homemade samosa, Dr Jamila ( 3rd row, 1st picture)  the counsellor whom I spent only a few minutes but those few minutes are to be treasured lifelong. As for Madam Gita ( 1st row 3rd picture) and Madam Kashmira (2nd row, 2nd picture), I have known them for quite some time. Madam Gita brought her students to MGS for INTELAH in 2016 and Madam Kashmira is a fellow ILEPER whom I met in 2015. from being acquaintances we have become good friends. Last but not least Ms Nigma, (2nd row 2nd picture) a history teacher who turned out to be an excellent tour guide. She made me understand so many things about the ancient architecture of  Baroda which might have been some dilapidated buildings in my eyes without her explanation. I have to thank her for being my tour guide and helped me out with shopping too.....

My visit to Vadodara ended soon and I left for Mumbai and then Malaysia, but our project continued with Madam Kashmira's visit to MGS Malaysia. 

Welcome Assembly in MGS for Madam Kashmira 

Madam Kashmira Jaiswal is the Creative Director of Navrachana School, Sama. She is also the recipient of  Pearson ELT Teacher Award. She is a respective person in her school and community for her continuous outstanding contribution to both her school and society. It was a great honour to have had her in our school for a week. She was given a warm welcome during our morning assembly with a welcoming speech by Pn. Pushpinder the Head of English Panel and also our Principal Pn. Gan Lee Lee. Soon after the assembly Madam Kashmira was given a short school tour and soon it was time for her workshop with our students. 

Madam Kashmira's Workshop with Students 

Madam Kashmira's session with our students was rather mind-boggling. She conducted a workshop on developing critical and creative thinking skills and it turned out pretty well as students were seen actively participating in the tasks given to them. This was a welcoming workshop for students who were so used to academic-oriented seminars and workshops. Our students truly enjoyed the workshop. 

Madam Kashmira Conducting a Workshop for Teachers in Ipoh

The next two days Madam Kashmira conducted a workshop for about 52 teachers in Kinta Utara District. I was there throughout the workshop and I could see that Madam Kashmira's workshop had definitely brought in ideas from a different perspective. All that she shared are applicable in the Malaysian ESL teaching and learning context. I hope that teachers who had attended the workshop will disseminate the knowledge gained to colleagues in their respective schools. I am also grateful that the Kinta Utara District English Language Officers Ms.Shallyna and Pn.Zuhira have been my pillars of support in making the workshop a success. Not forgetting the State English Language Officer En.Faisal who has been instrumental in making the collaboration a success. 

I could see that during Madam Kashmira's visit to our school both Pn.Gan Lee Lee and Madam Kashmira had developed great camaraderie. Madam kashmira also warmed - up with the English teachers and soon became one of us. I was happy that we could show the same love that was given to me when I was in India.

In conclusion, our collaborative exchange project has definitely brought in new ideas and knowledge to both schools in India and Malaysia. There are so many things to learn from each other and one project is just not enough. I believe that this collaboration has opened more doors for networking as well as collaboration and the success of this project is just a beginning for more collaborative projects between Navarachana and MGS.

We are planning for pen - pal project for students from both schools. Hopefully, it will work out well.

Effective Use of Technology in the Classroom : Writing Article

According to Shelly Pasnik (2016), incorporating technology into the classroom requires double innovation. At the same time, teachers need to ensure that they are prepared to use technology effectively in the classroom. Effective use of technology in the classroom should be able to support the learning objectives. 

At times, the use of technology deviates from the main objective of a lesson and focus is given to the use of technology rather than the learning. This happens due to lack of preparation by the teachers.

I think teachers should explore more ideas on incorporating technology in the classroom for effective learning. I have always been using technology in my classroom but it has been one way. Now, I want to make my lessons more interactive with more hands-on activities involving technology in my English language lessons. For that, I  have asked my students from class 4S1 and 5S3 to bring their own laptops and tabs to school two weeks once on every Tuesday. 

My portable wifi

As I teach in an urban school it is not impossible for me to get them to bring their gadgets. Since the internet connection in the school is not easily accessible and I do not want to waste my time to walk the students to the lab, I subscribed my own portable wifi which will be able to connect 30 gadgets at a time. This saves a lot of time.

For this particular lesson, the pupils were to write an article about a famous personality of their choice on an online newspaper generator tool. It is free and user-friendly. Please click here to visit the newspaper generator website. To ensure smooth flow of the lesson students should have identified the personalities before the lesson and gathered necessary information for their articles. They were asked to refer to www.famouspeople.com. Besides, students should have also been exposed to vocabulary that is used to describe people. They were given 2 sets of vocabulary list beforehand to study. Please click here and here to download the vocabulary list.

The Lesson Plan

The lesson plan above should be able to draw a picture of how the lesson was carried out. The lesson plan template was adapted from the 'Teacher Collection' facebook page. 

Students were paired up and they were required to type their articles on the news generating website.  Teacher's role here was minimized as it involved a lot of discussions between the assigned pairs. The teacher facilitated the lesson and dropped by whenever he was needed...Students were also reminded that their work should be original and not plagiarised. 

The pictures above show that students were engrossed during the lesson and very busy completing the assigned task. Using the gadgets have definitely made the lesson more meaningful as I could see students were showing interest in their written work for the first time. We all know that writing task is often abhorred by students at all levels. 

Upon completion, students emailed their articles to the teacher. The teacher will print, read through, check and return the articles to the students. 

You may ask, 

This lesson can be done effectively without even having to use internet and laptops, why waste time then? 

My answer : 

I know that this can be done without having to use technology, but I believe that the use of technology has made the lesson smoother and students actually liked typing their essays in the newspaper generator than writing them in their exercise books. Besides, I also noticed that students were more engaged in their task. If you don't believe me, try it! and you will be amazed! 

These are some examples of my student's article done in the newspaper generator. Don't they look interesting? 

Reflection : 

Students find the lesson to be interesting and they were interested. Since they were interested they followed all my instructions. The lesson was not only about using the tools to write an article, it was also about demonstrating the use descriptive words and phrases that are used to describe people. Students have demonstrated effective use of vocabulary in their essays. Grammatical errors were minimal as students have checked their essays in the grammar checking tool www.grammarly.com .