12.12.12

~Bismillah~

Alhamdulillah. I think this is just the right time for me to start blogging again. It's not that I don't have any more works to do. I still got two more presentations and an assignment awaiting for me to work on them. So to say, the deadlines for these tasks will be next week. So, I got ample time to struggle (in other words, I got ample time to "break my heads apart," metaphorically). Lol. Okay, back to subject.

Look at the title. 12.12.12. I just read my friend's blog and in her latest post, she did mention about this very special date. She said that everyone wants to create their own special event on this date. Last night, as I watched the TV with my mom in the TV room, there was a news which showed about more than five couples got married on this date and I was like "Wow!". According to my mom, there will be no date like 12.12.12 anymore after this. "Alah! Nanti tarikh kahwin Imah mesti tak cantik!" Haii... merungut nampak dan mak sengih je. 

However, I had created my own special event on 12.12.12. Know what it is?My groupmates (for ELT) and I did our best for our micro-teaching presentation. Alhamdulillah, although there many things to be amended but that is where we could learn from each other, right? Yet, overall I think our teaching can be considered as the best so far (alhamdulillah3x) and we are pretty much satisfied with all the comments given by our lecturer, Dr. Maimunah and the two previous presented groups. 

Let me share with you some of their comments.

Observation: What Worked 

- Good introduction  

- Good du'a recitation - for students to remember

- The teacher asked one of the students to recite the du'a

- Good recap of the previous lesson

- The teacher managed to get the students' attention

- The teacher gave overview on what they are going to do

- Interesting and colorful slides, all the pictures are very attractive to kids

- Good interaction with the students

- Class control is good

- Good class management

- Like professional Year 2 teacher

- The teacher praised the students

- Good way to motivate the students

- Story telling is the best part

- The story is interesting

- The other instructor asked the student if she was okay or not

- Interesting activities

- The topic chosen was suitable for Year 2 students

- The activities were interesting, especially the second one

- The students responded to the teachers

Observation: What Didn't Work

- Thea teacher only focused on one side (the girls side)

- At the boys side, even though Ali was saying something and Malik didn't complete his work, the teacher didn't do anything about it

- The teacher need to be more authoritative (give punishments, scold the kids, etc.)

- Class control was poor

- Teacher didn't respond to the students' answer

- The teacher should ask the students to recite more than just once

- The teacher didn't explain what is "thief"
- The words in the slides should be appropriate to Year 2 kids
- The teachers didn't aware that one of the students was wandering around
- The teacher always pointed the same student
- For the du'a recitation part: the teacher should teach the students how to read the Arabic words, not just reading the du'a themselves
- The students were beginners. They might not understand the story. Perhaps, translations would be helpful
- The first teacher seemed to be scared by the students
- The other instructor was laughing with the students
- The teacher asked the students to clap their hands after reading the du'a instead of saying aamiin
- The class was a bit chaotic
- Students at this stage need to be scolded (sometimes)

Phew!!! So many feedbacks. Thanks to all of them.

I can't really remember some of the comments given by Dr. Maimunah but all I can recall is when she said:

"Do you plan to become primary school teacher or what?" Then, she grinned.

ELT micro-teaching had just ended. And now it's time for us to squeeze our brain out thinking of how to write a report based on the comments given by our classmates. 

"Special thanks to Hannah, Kak Nad, and Rosa for all your efforts and congratulations, you guys! You did your very best for our micro-teaching! May Allah bless you." 

p/s: To answer Dr. Maimunah's question, I would say, "Yup, I wish I could be one. Soon! But not primary school, as I've problems controlling younger kids :P"

;)