JB's 2010 English Literature Course

 Pn. Hjh. Rahmah Sayuti, the trainer

Kak Rahmah & I

 

Flipping fantastic! That's how I would sum up the 2-day course that I've just attended with the other 22 participants at SMK Tasek Utara 2. Kudos to the trainers, Pn. Hjh. Rahmah and Mr. Azri for sharing with us the splendid approaches in tackling the new literary texts. I'm sure you had fun handling a room full of hyperactive teachers (only when we're not stuffed with tasty nasi lemak, lol)

 Group 3 members with Pn. Hjh. Rahmah & Pn. Zalina, GPK1 of SMKTU2.

Trying to gulp everything within 2 days is not an easy task. We were gasping for more time in order to digest everything that were presented. Nonetheless, I can assure you that all of the teachers who attended the course were totally immersed in all the tasks, especially the group activities. I can vouch for my group (Group 3: the loudest, the craziest yet the best group for this course!) that we enjoyed every single minute of it. I personally enjoyed the poetry in motion (meandering like a river), the choral speaking session (Selvi, you are the maestro of choral speaking, hands down) and the drama presentation of Gulp & Gasp.We could sense budding actor and actresses among all the teachers in JB. Rosyham Noor and Fasha Sanda, eat your heart out!

Poetry in motion. Credit: Engoasis

 Light, camera, action!!!!

Although we could leaf through the dictionary-thick modules or explore the CD on our own, I personally believe that by doing the activities ourselves, we could clearly see how they could be conducted or adapted in our own classrooms. I would like to congratulate all the State JUs for putting together the modules to assist all the teachers in teaching the new literary texts with ease. One interesting info, drama will not be tested in any assessment. However, we still need to teach them as part of literary appreciation and enrichment programme. By the way, I'll try to download some of the materials online for easy reference soon.

19th MELTA International Conference

The 19th MELTA International conference will be held this year at three locations as given below:

-7 and 8 June 2010 (Kuala Lumpur)
-11 and 12 June 2010 (Kuantan, Pahang)
-17 and 18 June 2010 (Kuching, Sarawak)

Important Deadlines*

Submission of Abstract and biodata : 26 February 2010

Registration and Payment : 31 March 2010

Submission of full paper for Conference CD :15 April 2010

For more information, please go to http://www.melta.org.my/2010/

Source: MELTA's website

English Literature Component Course 2010

Good news for all the English Language teachers. The Johor Education Department will be organising an English Literature Component Course throughout the state. For the district of Johor Bahru, the details as follow :

Date: 28 - 29 January 2010
Time: 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Registration: 7.30 a.m.
Venues: SMK Dato Abdul Rahman Yassin SMK Tasek Utara 2 (change of venue) and SMK Taman Tun Aminah
Trainer: Rahmah Hj. Sayuti

Hanim and I will be attending the course at SDARY SMKTU2 and we're looking forward to learning effective methodology in teaching the new Literature Component. Hopefully, I can get some spritely ideas on how to teach drama in class.

No pain, no gain

Alhamdulillah, I'm back to school and it's back to the grindstone, folks. It's time to oil up the rusty teaching cogs and kick start the learning mechanism. It is great to be reunited with wonderful colleagues and beloved students but the work schedule is as hectic as ever. I'm teaching all the Form Four classes and 5KN this year. My eyes almost popped out of the socket when I saw the number of students in 4SN1. 63 students! They had to use the lecture hall in order to accommodate such large number of students. It's maddening but I've been informed that the class will be splitted into two by next week. Now that's a relief!

 This year would be challenging as the Form Four will be using the new English Literature Component and it would be intriguing to see their feedback on the literary texts. So far, I'm glad with the students' enthusiasm although I think I've scared them a wee bit with the workload that they have to endure this year. Knowing that they need to write 350 word-essay shook them to their core but I'm sure they are aware that it all goes back to the old adage ; no pain, no gain :)

Albeit constant workload, I still believe that it is vital for the teachers to have fun in teaching. Fun, teaching? Yeah, it's shocking I know . True, our education system is pretty much exam-oriented but it's not a good excuse not to instill the element of fun in our lessons to encourage maximum engagement from the students. We can't change the wind but we can always adjust the sail :)

It doesn't hurt to ask for help and learn from your students too :)