from the English corner

Menjelajahi facebook ,makcik came across some very nice blogspots….actually gazillions of them.
Tapi I was enthralled when I went into Reading & Language Arts Bulletin Board Ideas…wow…macam mana dia orang dapat ideas secanggih itu…it beats me.
Seingat makcik…I had done quite a number of them myself,some quite awesome..cewah.

Siang tadi ,I was on my nerve.Eeeeeeeee…..kalau tak sabar mau jadi gorilla.
A number of my class exercise books were found with pages ripped off.And the papers were turned into airplanes which then landed in the wpb.Atas lantai penuh dengan cebisan kertas dan asahan pencil.
Panjanglah khutbah makcik kat anak anak itu….
Keluar semua cerita malaikat dan jembalang serta saton.Neraka ,syurga dan padang mahsyar.Ternganga mereka cikgu Bi dah jadi ustajah.

Maka ,sebelum keluar meninggalkan kelas untuk hari ini….makcik tampal poster berbunyi:
TOLONG JANGAN KOYAK BUKU LATIHAN …..


Dalam mesyuarat macam nak cerita kisah ini,tapi kan dulu dah kena warning…..Itu kelas dot dot dot dot.

Apa cerita ……oh

Betul ke ni minggu 12.Besok akan bermula minggu 13.Ikut kalendar sekolah lah bukan kalendar kuda.

Hai ,macam macam perkiraan yang ada.

 

Oh ya ….minggu lepas,mamason super duper kelam kabut.All because of the English Carnival RCE level.

We were supposed to enter 3 competitions but as luck would have it,the action song has got to go.Marah nampaknya orang orang kat bangunan dekat pekan sana.Bila mamason telipon bagitau,depa kata jawablah  dengan surat show cause letter!

Oh ye…..syarat utk tahun 3 saja boleh masuk.Kira pi kira mai hanya 6,7 orang saja yang pernah ambil bahagian,boleh ambil bahagian.Depa pun ada 20 orang saja.

Syarat untuk lagu contemporary tak mau lagu lagu kanak kanak…..ha ,orang lama macam mamason babablackship faham lah.Tapi depa mau mikael jakson.Cucuk langit,goyang pinggul,goyang punggung…..wei mana aku tahu nak buat..

Dan lebih menyesakkan …..mamason tinggal sorang tokontang konteng.All able bodied were either on course,sakit or being busy themselves.

Though the story tellin and public speakin tahap 2,mamason tak tengok saja.So I bundled them to my home for an intensive training during the weekend.Ala banyak mana lah yang depa boleh hafal within that 24 hours.So we have to carry training the next week.

Oh well….. the days before the carnival the girls were involved in Bola baling pula.So no training.Only on Wednesday,I got to see them properly.

Oh no….the script got to be slashed here and there when I got hold of the competition rules!

Oh lala…on Thursday,the girls did their performance.Takpalah….what to do ayam patuk itik sudu.But anyway,congratulate them for the effort.

Oh ada lagi …. the two emcees did their job well.Impressive.

Juga the interns from MPP …thank you for the assistance rendered.

And we wrapped the day with a makan makan at the seaside stall of Kuala Perlis.

Oh  oh oh…….tak ingin ku ulang makan kat situ.Flies dan makcik makcik lembut dont ever go well together.Ever.

Dari zero

 

Memanjat 4 tingkat memang melelahkan untuk lutut seorang aku.

Mengajar kelas yang kotor,bersepah ,lintang pukang bukan pilihan aku.

So bila aku lihat bilik darjah yang kosong disebelah pagi,

aku minta permisi untuk guna saja bilik itu untuk beroperasi.

Inilah asal usul bilik bahasa Inggeris. Bilik terbiar sebelah bangunan kantin.

Masih banyak lagi nak ku rintis.

 

 

Tuuu bilik KAFA….. kata banyak suara.

Biarlah bilik apa pun.Aku nekad untuk guna juga.

Saya guna waktu pagi….depa petang.Apa masaalahnya.

 

So bilik yang satu itu,aku transform ikut suka aku.

Atur letak kerusi meja ,papan notis juga tingkap aku ubah ikut nafsu.

 

Aye ye…..at last aku tak perlu berpindah randah.

Cukup masa ,murid saja datang menjengah.

 

 

Hanya tahun satu terpaksa di jemput

Yang lain datang berlari sampai naik semput.

 

Tapi kadang kadang aku jadi lelah

Bila anak murid buat juga kerenah

 

Sampah masih ada dilantai

Anak orang kalau nak tibai

 

So jadilah aku cikgu,

Juga tukang sapu.

 

 

Anyway……biar deras peluh meleleh

Buat anak anak SKRPB,apa saja semua boleh.

Hanya kalau anak anak semua mau berusaha

Semoga usaha ku tidak sia sia.

English carnival 2011….TTulang.

 

It was slotted for 27th April.Then we received an SMs noting the change in the date. 5 was the number  registered in the head. 5 for the month or was it for the date…?

And …..It was a day when I could not get my sleep the night before.I woke with a head spinning around faster than the spinning wheel.Furthermore,the toil of the three days journey was making a mark.To top it up,I took the task to complete the costumes for the boys.Making appliqués of lollipops and mr.sun on the t-shirts till the clock struck twelve.

It was a shock to me when the moment I arrived at the teacher’s room,I got the news that the actual competition would be that very afternoon!

Hooo hooo, tons of work to be completed.Dress rehearsal,parents to be informed of the change in the time ,food to be catered,transport  etc etc etc etc.

Lucky me.Being in a school where co operation is high….everything fell into place smoothly.Thanks to Yani,Zura,Ita,Faizah,Zaid and  ustaz Sirhan and ust.Zaki of the school.I was indeed indebted to them for their support.Without them I doubt we even have a team.

Though we didnt get any number,the children did quite well.Rasanya inilah pasukan sekolah yang terdiri dari murid tahun 1,2 dan 3 dan juga murid pemulihan.

uniy …tahun 1

mr.lollipop takut senyum

  mr.sun

winning team

By the way,our mr gingerbread man did come out third in the story telling .

For the children …hope their love for English would grow and their experience on the stage be confidence booster .Bukan macam teacher mereka dahulu yang gigil kepala lutut bila kena panjat tangga pentas.! hehe.

So sorry….gambar atas stage pula blurrrrrrrr saja yang dapat.

to the left,to the left

After packing the curry puffs ,off to the school I went.On a Saturday!

The mission ….. to train the 15 odd students from yr 1-3 for the action song. The day before,potential students were selected by way of elimination round ala AF.

When mamason arrived at the school before the stipulated time,the school ground was alive with eager children .Most of  them had already memorised the lyrics but none had been taught the dance steps.

Tr Mariani,Faezah,Wawa,Zaid were already in school to help out.How indebted I was to them.Ust Sirhan joined later to give a helping hand. I was amazed at the speed the 7,8,9 yrs old grasped the beat,rhythm and steps very quickly.

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But ada juga yang terover goyang dan terlebih .

Anyway,I was a satisfied soul before we wrapped for the day.But the day of the competition is postponed until 5/5.As  such we have more days to practice.

So for the next few days ,the school would see we teachers teaching the kids to the left to the left.To the right ,to the right.

The songs sunshine,lollipop and wheels on the bus ringing throughout the school.

 

You are my shunshine ………..You are my shunshine

And another student from another kind was also too eager to join singing “you are my purrrr eow”.

 another aspiring student.

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Came home around 1 happy and full.Makcik kantin gave us free makan.Yummmm. Sedap. Lemak nangka + sayur keladi and kembong cicah sambal….phew. Menjilat jari!

choir/choral speaking…take a break teacher.

 

The other day,I watched KBS ,my favourite tv program.I had few chances to watch astro as pakli would be conquering it.Tak habis habis dengan cerita koiboi,perang,bunuh,seram. Sedangkan makcik suka reality. Tak suka rekaan or fantasi .

It was about Kolleen betulkah ejaan ni and her choir.How she struggled to put up a choir macam choral speaking pun ada in her school.

                           

                

And the end was touching.The children besar panjang dah pun budak budak ni wished goodbye to their teacher in a special way among tears that streamed so readily down their cheeks. How was I not touched i memang touchy these days.hmmm.And tears did flow easily out of my eyes these days.

 

                          

the teacher ….                          the students

                   

the actor                                    the audience

Well, well. The story on KBS did bring a flood of memories of my teaching years.Years of years of putting up performances for competitions.Either it be story telling,drama,singing ,choral speaking and what not.And as a teacher,every given task was not regarded as mundane. I would be very very sorry if my students were to perform badly.So practice and lots of practice were the order of the day.Even my home would be turned into a studio with pakli as the willing director.Jadi bila diumumkan pemenang ,bukan saja mrs rosli yang terlompat…pakli pun sama.Dan pernah terjadi anak dapat Johan,anak murid ibu pula dapat tempat ke 2.Dua dua pengumuman pakli dan makli suka hati.

And I do believe,even a small part in the choir or drama pegang tombaklah ni akan memberi impak dan kenangan yang abadi pada murid.I still remembered a 48 years old episode of me dancing to the tune of:

Put your left foot in

Put your left foot out ……pakli pun sama. Hehe.Comei.

Teaching English….down memory lane

I came across this book in my safekeeping.

Not a novel .Nor a history book.

Well, its a TEACHER’S HANDBOOK …for The post 1970 Primary School English Syllabus.

In college ,I was put in a class for English teaching teachers.My classmates came from all over Malaysia.And the year was 1971-1972.

After 2 years in college,I came out as a teacher trained to teach all subjects excluding Agama.See we didnt have options.I could teach all subjects beside Pendidikan Islam.So those teachers who came out of college from those years were able to teach a wide range of subjects.

Coming back to this worn out book,it gave a lot of guidance when teaching.At that time the old syllabus for English,teaching the subject was by items.184 items divided into 6 school years.And it was grammar based.So you have a lot of stress on grammar.

In item 118 for example ,The classroom formula-Do you know +……..?

Item 163 …Conjunctions “when” and  “after” with all the tenses.

And later the syllabus was revamped and grammar teaching strategies gave way to KBSR.

Forgive me ,if I might say that teaching using the old approach gave students a better foundation with grammar which is basic to learning English.By KBSR, student’s vocabulary increases but grammar wise…it needs looking into.

And those adjustments I have to undergo switching from one approach to another.And lastly we have to import > 300 teachers from overseas to help raise the  level of English.

Hmm,what about that.Macam mana jadi lagu tu?

cerita lawakWC dari olympus mamason ini.

 

Dell tengok keluarga pakli ,mamason dan abang dara ( kata kak aten) dah tak berapa ceria sejak WC tu dah tak ada.

Kalau seminggu 2  yang lalu,habis tidor kami tak nyenyak kerana anak beranak asyik bersorak. Sebentar gol,sebentar GOL!

Bola sebiji nak berebut.Bagilah sebiji seorang main senyap senyap dipadang buat apa nak hempas pulas sampai semput.

Ni tadi mamason dok belek olympus dia.Ala,kamera digital yang tak seberapa harga. Sekali muncung sekali ketawa,macam ada yang tak kena.

 

Rasanya  apakah  di kata dua gondrong diapit puyol ini.

Dell rasa ni lah apa depa dok tekak:

Hei,botak,main baik baik tau,kalau tidak kad merah aku bagi.

Eleh botak,kad merah tak heran,buang padang dapat rehat dari main.

No 3 tu kata apa kat baju oren biji saga.

Dell rasa dia kata : Habislah ,baju hijau dah mai,bagi kad merah untuk kita…

Yang ini pula : hu hu cek nak balik,hari ni jugaaaaa!

Baju hijau ni kata: Jangan dok melawan,nanti hampa kena buang padang.

Tapi ni dia betul betul kata: Adoi,sakit dada!

 

Well teachers, if you care,there’s plentiful of teaching aids in WC pictures . Alas mamason has  put away her  name tag and rengkasan mengajar,2 years ago .

These pictures and pictures from the newspaper ,she would  cut into figurines and used for presentation or story telling.

Or they would be glued onto playing cards for a game or speaking cues.Yes,the use is endless!

By the way,the snapshots were taken on pakli’s  Olympus during the  live telecast on Astro.

Wow. Mamason turned  photographer from the tv room of her house. Buat apa pi South Africa! Paris Hilton tak pa la perginya ditaja oleh milionaire Malaysia.

Kita? Dok lah dengar keluarga pakli dok bertempik habis suara.

the day our kampung came to class

I used to ask my head for Art classes to complement my English teaching hours.

The topic or theme was buildings and we we learning about directions, description of buildings and so forth.

In my art class I,made the children drew pictures of their own houses.And to cut  the outline,colour them and paste some thicker paper at the back as figurines.

Soon an assorted shapes and colour of ALL the 40 something students’ homes were in my hands.

The whole standard size noticeboard was soon turned into a background with roads running and winding through the village. Colour paper was used and tacked with staples.

In no time, a village where the students live soon cover the whole length of the board. That was the point I left the children with a saying:

You could put your father’s car,your hens,cows or goats.It doesnt matter.

The next day when I entered the class ,students were happy to point out their houses with cars and chickens on the lawn.Soon birds were flying in the blue sky. Fruit trees and gardens too.

Hey,teacher,are you teaching English?

Plenty.Prepositions,directions,comparatives ,superlatives ,possesions.Well there’s no end.

When the time came for another topic,all was not lost.The whole village was taken down and kept in an envelope.

The next time when there’s a need,the village will come to life again!

Senangkan kerja BI teachers?

Sapa kata?

Alas,the photograph of the children’s work were destroyed in the big flood a few years ago. I knew some  teachers took photographs of all those work during a school visit .If only they still have them and I can contact them.Wishful thinking.

the day the mad teacher counted the traffic

It was a topic concerning transportation. The students were 10 or 11 years old .

Something struck me.Reading is sometimes boring.isnt it? I could visualise the boys and girls yawning.

Hey, children,pick up your pencils and note books. We are going out.

The moment I said out,a loud cheer broke out.

The curious young pupils were given directions on their assignment:

Count the number of lorries,cars,buses,trucks,bicycles or whatever passed by them.

For a child of ten ,do you think they know how to count and take note.I didnt explain.

Out of the many students ,only one could get it right.SIRIM.They others were writing :

lorry ,bus,car,lorry,car,truck ,bus,motorcycles,lorry,lorry,lorry,lorry ,bus,car,lorry,car,truck ,bus,motorcycles,lorry,lorry,lorry.

Teacher,tak larat la,many lorry.No time.

And the student who got it right was doing this :

////////////   in his notebook. Maybe he learned it from somewhere.

That simple assignment soon bloomed into finding what was the make of the car,the number plates and so on.

So the young sleepy heads were turned into inquisitive minds,bringing pictures of cars and how to pronounce them.A bar graph also  materialised on the soft board of the classroom.Children’s work.

One thing though ,some people were cynical when they saw an over enthusiastic teacher giving all sorts of ideas in teaching the class.

Dia ni tak berapa nak betul kah? Ada dok kira kereta dalam English class. or

Dia bolehlah,dia pi London!

Do you know that empty tins,cartons,wrappers could make a lifeless class come to life.Try it. Maybe I will tell later.

the engilsh calss

 

The engilsh calss anybody?

I remembered a not so happy father accompanied by the head confronting me about the low marks and the red ink his son got from me.

Dulu anak saya dapat markah tinggi. Buku dia pun cikgu dulu right panjang.

Well,I was not that right panjang panjang type of teacher.My students ,I could proudly proclaimed were never given the task to reproduce all correct copy paste type of assignments.

Their books could be red,who cares.Because I care for what the children have learned not what the children have produced.

Copying.Fill in the blanks.What will the children learn.So little if I may say.

Tu yang jadi : the blood go upstair.thank kayu.Tulisan pula macam hantu.

English teachers, Aural-Oral,reading ,writing are what you should do.

NOT

Hari hari buku text ,photo sheets or   dok diam kat situ.

Have fun teacher,

I was blessed to be an English teacher.It was noted that most English teachers are fun to be .They are mostly out of the box type of teachers.

Disagree?

Well thats my point of view.

Teaching English is FUN! The song in that TVP tells all.And I cant agree more.

Reliving the days of me teaching English,I could be dead serious but fun was my way.

Care for dancing,singing,story telling,aerobic,sight seeing,game show ? Come to my class.

Dont be mata juling if you see a fifty something teacher berjoget joget in her English lesson?

Come one,two steps to your left..hmm

Turn…two steps to the right..turn.

And dont call me crazy if my children were counting the cars that vrrrromed by in front of the school .

Sayang cikgu,you miss the fun, if you , day in day out,use those Photostatted worksheets to let your children work on.

That’s not the way ,English teacher!

teaching english through newspaper

 

I have a soft spot in teaching English using the newspaper.I am not going to discuss the methods or activities just yet but on how to organise the class.

I found that teachers are somewhat put off by the extra work that they have to put up compared when teaching using the chalk or the textbook.

But English without variation is learning English with no fun.

These are a few tips that I would like to share:

• Open you ears and eyes for newspaper freely subscribed to your school.
• Negotiate with the admin to have one day full authority of the papers.
• Buy the extra papers,sharing the money among the class.So that each child has a copy of the paper.
• Teach your children how to open,fold and keep the paper for further using.Teach them how to fold and throw remnants away. ( If not ,the class will be an absolutely rubbish dump.I tell you)
• Teach them the concept of newspaper,the layout and what each particular section is called.
• Teach them how to cut the articles,glue  them and how to organise their work in their NIE exercise book.(A4 if possible)

 

So if children are told and guided on how to handle the newspaper,using them is a bliss.

No more hassle to photostat pictures,advertisements,articles.

You would be a teacher out of the ordinary.

You have a class that have creativity at their fingers.

Children are indirectly exposed to reading newspaper.

Indeed they are motivated,captivated and updated .

And its true that a newspaper lasted as long as the news and pictures are there to be used up.

 

SK Kayang 3 students to MCKK in one year were the result of NIE.Also true when SKSI was beaten by Kayang in 5As.

I stand by that testimony.