My First Lesson 2013

I call this activity 'New Year Resolution'

I carried out this activity as my first lesson for the year 2013...

Materials Needed :
Mahjong Papers/Manila Cards and Marker Pens

Activity :

a) Students are divided into groups ( five in a group)
b) A leader for each group will be chosen
c) Students will be required to discuss in their groups,
                       -  things they want to achieve in 2013
                       -  things that they want to stop doing in 2013
                       -  things that would want to start praticing in 2013.

d) group leaders from each group will present their resolutions to the class.

Post - activity :

Students will be required to write an essay entitled ' My New Year Resolutions".

I carried out this activity with all my form 5 and form 3 classes. This can be done and goes along with the theme 'People' in the textbook....

 

Ice - Breaking Activity 2013

It may be too late for an ice - breaking now, well dear teachers you can always save them for the following year. I tried out this activity in all my classes last week... as it was the first time I was entering their class I wanted to do something different instead of the same lame 'introduce yourself' activity...this is what I tried...I call this activity as introduce your friends activity...well this is how it goes.........

Introduce your friends

the activity starts from the monitor....the monitor will be asked to pick a friend in the class and introduce her by saying something that she knows about her....and the person she chose will choose the next person and it goes on. The last person will be introducing the class monitor. there are two rules that the students should adhere here :
a) students should not be introducing the person sitting next to them
b) students are not allowed to introduce the person who has introduced them.

My Reflection :

I carried out this activity in class 3 Partridge, 3 Oriole, 3 Eagle and 5S5... I did not carry it out in 5V2 as I taught them last year and I know all of them quite well. I find this activity really breaks the ice as when the students introduce their friends they tell whatever they know about them and teacher gets more input about his/her students on the first day itself.. If I were to ask them to introduce themselves they would have talked about the same lame things such as hobbies and ambitions..but when the students talk about their friends it was fun as they will talk all the good things and also some bad things about their friends...As a teacher we also have to set boundaries on what they can talk about in order to avoid conflicts among students in the classroom. 

Happy New Year 2013

Hope this will motivate all of us to have a great start for the year 2013.......Happy New Year!!!

School Based Assessment 2013 (English Language Form 2)

Here are some materials for the English Language School Based Assessment for form 2 2012. I attended the course in September 2011 and was chosen as trainer for Kinta Utara District. I conducted several training sessions in Perak throughout the month of October and November. The materials given are relevant materials which will guide teachers to build their instruments for their assessments. I hope this sharing will be helpful.

 Dokumen Standard Prestasi
 Powerpoint presentation
 Powerpoint presentation 2
 Contoh Pentaksiran Jangka Panjang
 FAQ

End Of The World In 2012 - Reality Or A Myth

In between my busy holiday schedule..I dropped by to blog about something that everyone has been talking about..

As the date 21 December 2012 is nearing, almost everyone on Earth is dying in anticipation about the authenticity of this rumor. However, there are countless theories in support of this rumor that are compelling the Doomsday to be true. But, the authenticity of such theories is yet to be determined. Some people believe that something will surely happen on Friday, 21 December 2012. It is a widespread rumor which people believe that the world will come to an end and life will cease to exist on Earth on 21 December 2012.

    

According to the Mayan calendar, the last day of life on Earth will be on 21 December 2012. People are calling it the Dooms Day. There are several prophecies in support of the Dooms Day. The prophecies say the end of the world is near, very near. People are claiming that many Hindu Vedas, the Holy Bible and Mayan Calendar is mentioning the end of world in December. The date 21-12-2012 sounds like a great mourning, but we are yet to discover the reality behind this notion. The truth is not yet determined and we are still relying on several theories, predictions and real world experimentations whether to believe the rumor or to let it go out from the other ear.

When is Doomsday - When will the World End?

The doomsday is said to be on 21 December 2012. The date is nearing and so is the eagerness to find out the reality of this rumor. There are millions of people who have a strong faith over the prophecies that are in support of this widespread and on the other hand there are people who just let this rumor pass by.
The ancient Hindu Vedic scriptures say that it is Kaliyuga and another Yuga will rise after its end, may be Satyug. However, Hindu scriptures also state that Kaliyuga has just been started and we have got a long way to go, like some million years.

According to Hindu scriptures, there are 4 ages (yuga) - golden age (Satyug), silver age (Treta Yuga), bronze age (Dvapara Yuga) and lastly, Iron Age (Kali Yuga). The first three ages have already ended and now we are nearing the end of Kali Yuga. Hindu mythology is of the opinion that as the Kali Yuga will end; Satya Yuga will again come to existence.

Mayan Calendar 2012 Predictions

Now let’s throw some light on the Mayan Calendar. According to the Mayan calendar, the world has 12 cycles and each cycle lasts for about 394 years. We are at the end of the twelfth cycle and it will end on 21 December 2012. The Mayan calendar clearly says that the world will come to an end on the aforementioned date. It is said that that the people belonging to Maya civilization were far advanced in the field of mathematics. Many people say that the forecasts made by Mayan people before have turned out to be a real. However, many people are also drawing a conclusion that it might not be an end of the world, but we may only witness many drastic changes or natural calamities will be at their peak.

On 21 December 2012, the Mayan calendar will reset itself and start from the point 0.0.0.0 and start the next day. The Mayan calendar suggests the end of life and rebirth. This clock hints that something big will happen on the mentioned date and life will cease to exist.

21 December 2012

This date is perfectly set in the minds of every individual. People who believe in the theory of doomsday are already making plans to escape the threat and those who don’t are living their life in a normal routine manner. It is believed that there are certain major events that will happen on 21 December 2012 or simply the dooms day. We have already heard a lot about the Mayan calendar and its prophecies. The I-Ching prophecies also support the notion of doomsday. It is said that whatever prophecies they did earlier, all have come true. One of their prophecies is of the doomsday, that the world will come to end on 21 December 2012.
Some scholars even say that the Earth will face a shift in poles. The phenomenon is about a shift in the North and South poles. It is said that due to the shift in poles, mass confusion and malfunction will arise. It is believed that all electronic items will break down and animals will lose direction. Few people are saying that there will be a major movement of tectonic plates and it will result in mass natural disaster.

How To Survive In 2012 Dooms Day?

Though there is a lot of confusion and rumors prevailing about the doomsday, but trying to believe in reality is the best one can do. Even the scientists believe that nothing is going to happen on 21 December 2012 or the dooms day and that the day will be just like other normal days. The scientists believe in reality and experimentations. A lot of study and research has been conducted in order to reach a solid conclusion about the reality and authenticity of this rumor or belief about the end of the world. There are no authentic theories that can be believed and then a conclusion can be drawn about the dooms day. The Mayan clock may reset itself or according to Hindu mythology Satyug may come again, but nothing is going to happen to this world.
The date 21 December 2012 is well known to everyone. Just as the calendar at our homes reset itself to the New Year or another day, same is the case with Mayan calendar. Our Earth has faced the polar shifts earlier too and everything was perfectly alright. Life on Earth clearly survived and it is quite clear that it will pass the situation again.
Therefore, there are no such solid theories in support of doomsday. Hence, we can say that life will sustain on this planet. Don’t be afraid of such lame prophecies and do not be a fool to consider them as truth. There is a lot more to experience in this world. Death and disaster take place every day on Earth.

Example

You've heard the expression, "Seeing is believing." That is true of teaching as well. Teachers are paid to talk - every day, for almost entire day. Much of what they say is heard, and some of what they say is tuned out. Often the 'tune out' is the result of a lack of credibility. When the teacher's position is "Do as I say" rather than 'Do as I do," the result is a communication barrier.

The best teachers model the truths they proclaim. They are living examples of the benefits of an education. Telling students they ought to further their education is one thing; showing them the positive character  and personality of a lifelong learner is another. It's too bad there isn't a college course called Example 101, because a passing grade in that course would give you a great teaching advantage.

Students who have seen kindness exemplified in front of the classroom, for example, best receive lectures on kindness. Brotherhood is an abstract principle until it is modeled by a teacher who accepts his or her students as they are.

Adapted from,

Minute Motivators for Teachers 

Is it Difficult to Say "Thank You Teacher" ?

Finally I have the time to post something. I have been waiting to blog about this for quite some time now but I had a second thought about it, whether want to or not because I do no want to hurt anybody. Well, I don’t care about it anymore….this comes deep from my heart……………….
         Recently I was entrusted to help a group of students (I do not want to mention who and what they were doing) who were chosen to represent our school for an International competition. I was involved with another teacher and we had to stay back for almost every day. I had been going home 6 p.m. every day while preparing them for the competition. Throughout the time with these students who think they are the best and smartest in school I did notice that they do not have proper communication skill and the worse of all they do not know how to respect the teachers( they have never greeted us with 'good morning' or 'thank you' teacher throughout the time we were with them). Although they were only in lower form that does not give them the licence to behave in such ways. Not only that throughout the period of preparation they were ridiculing us and argued for almost everything we did for them. For them, we were just not good enough and they refused to accept and do whatever we suggested. They had their own boring ideas and they  insisted that they were doing it professionally. Fair enough!!! They lost the competition!!!!…all the other teams did extremely well and there they came in with such a boring show which they insisted to present. God is great!! I thought they have learnt their lesson. But after the competition and when they finally reached home they did not even say sorry or thank you!!!!!...not even a thank you after we stayed back and guided them for two weeks!!! DAMN!!! Initially, I thought I was being too sensitive and also a colleague had remarked earlier, 'this is how students of today behave'. Silly me thought how outdated I was, you know, not keeping up with the current trends! And the fact that this was only my second week in the school made me think I had probably not understood the culture well enough and needed to be reeducated. And so I let the matter rest. However, a few days later, another teacher who was with us throughout the training session commented on the same thing that the students never said 'thank you' to her and behaved as if she was a stranger! They did the same thing to me wherever they saw me in school after the competition itself!!!  And then more and more comments came. And I thought I was alone...

                   Why is it so difficult to say 'thank you'? even if the teacher was not your favourite, or you didn't quite get along with the teacher, I am sure you must have learned something from him or her. There's absolutely nothing wrong for a student to show appreciation to her teachers. This should start from home they will only respect their teachers if their parents do so.....
        What has happened to good manners!!!? It doesn't cost you anything to say 'thank-you'.Well if you don’t, it only shows your cocky and arrogant character…oh ya!!! there was this girl in this group who shows a sour and rude face whenever we ask her to do something or if we scold her for her wrong doings.

      By the way after being in this school for one month I find it that not all girls are like them…most girls are so adorable and they show respect to each and every teachers in this school .It was only that one group gave me a culture shock. However, If I were to teach them in future I will definitely teach them a lesson on how to respect teachers and elders that they will never forget till the end of their lives!!!!