Category: Other

My second tuition class after Latihan Ikhtisas

I had the 2nd tuition class today with them.  The first one was two weeks ago.  Only three of them submitted the homework.  The other two did not but I noticed that Raiz did his (the best his could) but Aiman, he only wrote less than five sentences (what should I do with him?).  These kids need lots of TLC apparently.  

I bought 2 tins of biscuits yesterday.  Guess what?  Yup.  It is nearly finished.  A small portion left for the teachers 😀   Opsiee….  Well, to be honest, I never thought the form 3 would also had their tuition class today with Ida.  So, I offered some to the form 3 students as well.  

The boys requested that we did a rationale cloze exercise today.  Well, well, well, this is the first time they asked to do an extra work.  Normally, they are not this willing.  They also asked for a homework.  They requested to do a Directed Writing composition.  What should I do to retain this desirable behavior?  

Before the break, we did a quick revision on the literature part.  Aalia did continuous writing with her class (Advanced class).  Ita did Captain Nobody’s discussion as well on themes.  

For rationale cloze, one of the trickiest parts is to use preposition accurately.  Rationale cloze is easily known as “fill-in-the-blank” thingy.  Students would either have to fill in the blank (by choosing the most appropriate word) with words either a verb, preposition, noun, adverb or adjective.   For example, students would be given a short text with incomplete sentences.  You have to choose one word to make the sentence complete.  

It is not easy to select the accurate answer especially we are not native speakers.  Even I would be confused sometimes 😀  But, there are some principles that we can follow.  Knowing the principles of tenses, prepositions and whatsnot make things easier.  😀 (Easy said than done, huh?)   Well, it is all about practice.  

Everything was normal until 9pm.  Then all of a sudden, the night __16__ extremely quiet.  All we could hear __17__ the sound of flowing water.  A few of us noticed the sudden quietness and were bewildered __18__ it.  But my brother who has the most experience in the jungle, cautioned us to be quiet and __19__ still.  __20__, everyone was together at the campsite.

16        A         become            B            became            C            becomes          D         is becoming

 17        A         is                     B            are                   C         was                  D         were

 18        A         by                    B            at                     C         with                 D         about

 19        A         stays                B            stay             C         stayed              D         is staying

 20        A         Happily           B            Obviously       C            Surprisingly    D            Fortunately

Answers: 16. A,  17. C,  18.  A,  19.  B,  20.  D

Using song to teach grammar_Part 1

When I did my Latihan Ikhtisas, I used songs to teach grammar.  It is normal in other schools, but in my school, the teachers are skeptical to use English songs to teach grammar.  Why?  This is a school which emphasises on religious studies.  But, what a heck! 

This is not a love song.  This song is famous (well, coincidentally, the movie “Bohemian Rhapsody” was premiering at the time when I taught the form 4 using this song).   Alhamdulillah I am not the typical teacher and they never consider me as one so when I did something “unusual”, the GPK and principal just let me off the hook   😀 That’s the perk of being a lecturer-cum-teacher at school.   

But, I am not the Miss Goody-Two-Shoes teacher.  So, I did use a breakup song and “motivational cum uplifting” song to teach grammar.  😀 .  

When will it end? Please do something. People are suffering

It was raining heavily at my place in the late afternoon yesterday.  I could not help myself from thinking about my aunt and cousins in Pasir Gudang.  Are they ok?  My aunt decides to stay for a while with one of her daughters at Larkin.  One of my cousins went back to Kluang (to take care of his mom) with his wife and a son. 

But how about the rest of residents who could not have any option to move or stay away from Pasir Gudang area due to various reasons?  From my observation (I am not an expert in this though), the air quality becomes worsen every time there is rain.  I am not blaming the rain.  I am blaming the people who cause this pollution due to their reckless act.  The rain is Allah’s blessing to show how bad things are than it is assumed.  It is bad.  Really bad.  

When they closed the schools last week, it was reported that only 16 schools were ordered to close.  Well, that’s not the case.  The school that I went for my Latihan Ikhtisas also was instructed to be closed.  I hope things are getting better.  

An offer they can’t hardly refuse

I taught them last year when they were form 4 when I did Latihan Ikhtisas.  Now, they are form 5 taking SPM.  Last year, when I offered them an external reward (using operant conditioning principle), only three of them got the reward.  This time around, I also make the same offer.  But, of course, it would be slightly different from last year.

Seeing the empty page with only “Target SPM” written, I bet they are thinking very carefully about it.  I know perhaps all of them are thinking how on earth they can achieve the target that they set for themselves.  I want to instill self-belief in them.  It is not easy to do so but I am doing my best here to help.

I went to school today.  Like what I have expected (based on previous experience), only the girls did the homework that I gave two weeks ago.  How time flies!  The second tuition would be this coming Friday.  Ita asked me what we should bring for them (another external reward).  I was thinking buying the biscuits that I bought for the teachers so they can eat that during the break.  They are 43 students.  So, a packet or two of biscuits won’t be enough for everybody.   Let’s see how it goes.  We plan to do summary activity.  I need to find some examples and make copy for both class.   I guess the SUB printing shop would be opened a bit late since tomorrow, we are going to have gotong-royong.  

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