I am a Teacher

Here come new ideas for exam classes!

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

10 Islamic songs for your English Class

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Common to some, New to some.

New to me.

I think it is not peculiar to have the experience of discovering something new. I happened to find lapbook on a site I frequent and excited to do it. If you too think lapbook is alien to you, check out this video.

Generally I think lapbooking is a collection of materials of a topic. Instead of the old scrapbooking or worksheet as evidence of learning, lapbooking provides a fresh perspective. Students may choose the materials, plan the layout and organise their ideas.

Lapbooking is not an end production of learning but it is done continuously throughout the topic. Therefore it may be one of the alternatives in conducting formative assessment. The progress of the pupils may be easily tracked and documented by observing the depth of learning and the evidence of applying higher order thinking. Pupils may analyse information, compare and contrast and create something of their own. The more pupils learn about something, they would want to showcase more.

The weaker learners will be motivated to showcase too because it doesn't require them to write essays which are tedious and difficult for them. As pupils are making choice on the presentation, they will feel empowered and less intimidated.

As for myself, I started lapbooking to present my daughter's behavioural progress. At the moment, there is her good girl chart for last week's Masjeed trip and I hope to include the do's and don't at the Masjeed, with her help of course.

Recycle Materials for Lapbook

Front Cover

Inside the book for now

I used recycle materials like cardboard, stickers and printed materials from past projects. Some lapbooks shown on the net use paper file and and teacher will print materials specifically for the book. I wish to avoid that because I believe we have alternatives such as drawing and writing directly on them. This would allow creativity on the pupils' part.

These are some resources for lapbooking which I like. Click on them to check it out.

Give it a try, I know you will find dash of difference for your class!

differentiated learning

Teaching Across Proficiency

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

classroom management

Giving a little thought on the board management.

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Since my last article on Bansho, I had the chance to apply what I learn during my workshop with the year 6 students. While it is easy to read and write article on it, the application part needed some thought and review because I want to be true as not to erase anything and yet keep the content relevant throughout the lesson!

This is my first try on Bansho at a school.

This is the second.

while the third, which was on last Monday, err....I forgot to take any picture, but it was as the second!

Nonetheless, these two differ slightly as the understanding deepens. During the second and third workshop, pupils work were compared but it took place at a corner because I find it too crowded for it to be on the same board.

Applying Bansho in my class certainly has open a new perspective and consciousness in demonstrating good management in note taking. However, the activities from the workshop didn't require the students to note anything therefore, I think I have not achieve a level four in Bansho.

In addition, Bansho technique pushed me to incorporate higher order thinking skills into the lesson as it requires some analysing from the part of the students. By looking at samples from others they understand which part were they lacking without having me to show their mistakes. The only thing I emphasised was the answer or in my case, the drawing my not be exactly the same as theirs, but the main ideas were depicted.

Democracy of this kind in the classroom may demonstrate a lot of things that mirror real life. In life, people tend to be unique in their approach to things and teachers should make room for this to happen in the classroom. Allowing variation in arriving at a certain answers would be an eye opener and a trigger for creativity. We would want our students to be able to evaluate things in life from different perspectives, enrich themselves with great thoughts and ideas so that the possibilities are endless!

In short, Bansho helps me to rediscover knowledge, tactful management and wonderful experience. Maybe you had experiences using Bansho and would like to share?

reading

How do you organize your board?

Monday, February 27, 2017

I always wonder on how we could maximize the use of blackboard/whiteboard. We could just term it as a board for the discussion here. A board is a tool used by teachers to enact a routine, write facts and demonstrate ideas and solutions.

Upon discovering Bansho or Board Writing, I learn that it is a fascinating concept to be applied in the teaching of English although much of the discussion in Bansho concerns its application in the teaching of Mathematics.

What I learn of Bansho strictly came from my readings from the sources which I will cite in which I used them here.

Bansho is an organization of the board, comprising of a visual display from the least to the richest concept. Teacher elicits responses from students and organizes it into a theme from easy to complex. Students, in turn, observe their responses and reflect on the way they see and approach to problem-solving. The connection between their previous knowledge, current knowledge and the knowledge generated or discovered may be implied as a success of assessment for learning.

There are four levels in Bansho (Yoshida & Jackson, 2010) ranging from the recording of information to student reflection towards the learning. The levels are as follows:

For application of Bansho in ELT, I think it is applicable in the teaching and learning of reading and writing. In reading, we can have a demonstration of reading techniques used by students to understand or extract main ideas from text. For young learners, we may have the students brainstorm of ideas in a short period and make comparison after some examples.

As for writing class, teacher may demonstrate the writing and ask the students develop their writing and explain their process. The writing then compared and contrast while the students determine on their own, on which styles serve them well.

In order to achieve a level four, students reflected on their learning and why they chose a certain strategy over another. I observed from Yoshida & Johnson (2010), students reflected on the board as well as in their own notebook.

If you would like to read more, I find this article by Taufik Hidayah interest me.

In short, Bansho will help navigate the learning process for the students and ensure teaching progress in a systematic manner. Both teacher and students have equal accountability and the chance to be critical of the teaching and learning process. Therefore, both parties will have a sense of ownership of what is it contribute to a successful learning.

Cheers and happy teaching!

LET'S GET WORD WEBBING

Eid Mubarak to all!

Here come new ideas for exam classes!

10 Islamic songs for your English Class

Do you now about Lapbook?

Teaching Across Proficiency

Giving a little thought on the board management.

How do you organize your board?

Kampung Lil Skypers

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