Essay but this is a joke
When you talk about 20 years to come, there’s a lot to talk about, from different perspectives and whatsoever. We don’t know what the future is for us but what we can do is to imagine. Here, I have compiled some of my dreams and imaginations. Some of them are weird and wild while some are plain boring. For context’s sake, I will be 35 and I assume something weird has happened to the world. E.g. the Third World War, economic collapse, and everything are messed up. Without further ado here’s number one:
With the pandemic in the way, I think some way or another the world economy is collapsing. A collapsing world economy is a suitable political climate for revolution as seen before in the Russian, French and Italian revolutions, yes the revolutions are totally in different eras but what drove them were declining economies of the respective countries. Some countries whose economies rely on export or import will be affected the most. Back to my main point, that revolution is inevitable in some countries. I imagine myself as a political author who will be writing theses on resurrecting the idea that true communism may be achieved today because of the technological advance in comparison to a hundred years ago.
Next, I imagine myself as someone who would help injured people without pay. Yes, voluntarily. Some say this is stupid, but who cares about capitalists right? Even if I become a doctor, I will also still be a political author. I think the author's bit is inevitable. Do you expect an essay from me without mentioning politics, even a bit? Anyways without the author's part, this job will be loved by the proletariat because of free healthcare. I think governments of the world should make healthcare free or I will make it free.
Next, I imagine myself as a boring content creator on Youtube. Quote “everything is messed up.” makes this plausible because why not? I absolutely love making content on Youtube but no one is going to watch them. You know when something weird already happened when you see my channel is getting a lot of subscribers. It’s weird alright but this is how my brain works, mate. Imaginations are wilder than a wild lion doing weird stuff such as acting like a cat.
In conclusion, don’t ask me to give you ideas on what to write except stories. My imaginations are very wild and it's like, you ask one question and I will answer with another. This last paragraph is just that, trying to write something to satisfy the reader that there’s an ending paragraph. That’s it from me today, and I want to go to eat.
By someone who doesn’t know how to write???
Get rekt
ammakambing.blogspot.com
To make teaching speaking effective, the feedback needs to be precise and prompt. In a traditional classroom, teachers gain access to monitor students’ progress, give feedback and encourage participation. The presence of a teacher makes the teaching and learning of speaking effective as students can follow the whole process and interact with it.
As our class moved online due to the pandemic, teaching speaking has become a challenge. While some may suggest the use of video conferencing tools such as Skype, Zoom, Web ex or Google Meet, there will inevitably be technical challenges standing in our way. Personally, I am into video conferencing as I love seeing people, doing tasks together as in a traditional classroom with the advantage of recording the whole session. The recording features of video conferencing will enable the teacher to reflect on the session while students can improve their language.
In this post, I would demonstrate how WhatsApp can be used for teaching speaking. As I mentioned in my previous post, WhatsApp was the most widely used medium for TnL in my district. For a start let us review some of the features we can use in the classroom.
1. Video call
WhatsApp supports video conferencing accommodating 4 people at one time. It can cater for a small group discussion sans recording features.
2. Voice recorder
Students can use the voice recorder to speak up and practice speaking.
3. Video sharing
Teachers and students may distribute offline videos from their gallery in the chat. It may be during class or at any other time.
4. Chatbox
Teachers and students may type questions, answer or for anything that they want to say.
5. File transfer
Teachers may transfer files for students to use for the lesson. It can be downloaded prior to use during the class sessions. Revision materials may be distributed utilizing this feature.
Okay, now let’s get on to it. The lesson notes for teaching speaking to young learners. The learning materials are from the Superminds. This is a textbook for primary, level one students. Oh! the class size must be in a lesser number, preferably 10. Refer to my previous post, on why small groups?
This is not genuine, you might have read it elsewhere on how to keep in touch during a pandemic or maintain the relationship with your students remotely, something like that. I consider the articles I have read interesting and perhaps I should record my thoughts on it. I will link the articles I have referred to by the end of the post.
What does it suggest, holding hearts?
In our tangible classroom, we meet and greet our students. We project emotions; we anticipate responses and we expect feedback. The same goes for online learning. However, emotions are not clearly expressed by emoji and words, let alone being felt. And feedback...
Let's retrace our steps. Before the tasks are assigned, what did we do? Did we merely instruct? Did we give orders? Or simply just a hand over of task?
We have to understand that the transition from school to home is not easy, let alone is not an enjoyable one. Our students might have a myriad of things to do at home before possessing the time to attend to their learning. They might barely receive the support they require from their parents to accomplish their tasks. Overwhelming!
I think it is not too late to consider this. To hold their hearts. To let them know that we are here, and we care. We care so much about their mental well being, about their challenges and their learning in this new environment.
So here go, three ways you can hold your students' heart.
In Malaysia, we have a programme called "Guru Penyayang" or simply Loving Teacher programme. One of the initiatives is to greet students upon arrival. To wish them a great day ahead and to acknowledge their presence at school on that day. A similar principle goes for a remote classroom. We can say hi, or simply share our morning in a one-minute video. It comforts the students to identify that their teacher is there, ready and accessible for learning to take place.
Make the effort to call students sometimes, to talk to them and see how they are doing. We can focus the conversation on their daily life so that we can understand their learning challenges. It can be a one-to-one conversation or a small group video call, it depends. Just checking on them like we habitually do at school.
Instead of having them perform the task you have given, how about them assigning you something? Or have a class challenge out of the school task? For example, showcasing secret talent, learning a song then performing together online or a photo contest? Students are creative, they can throw you a challenge without much thought. The key point is to have fun together.
As promised, these are the articles I've read.
7 Ways to Maintain Relationships During Your School Closure by Sarah Gonser
4 ways COVID-19 could change how we educate future generations
How to stay creative and keep your family sane during lockdown – from one of the world’s best teachers
What does it suggest, holding hearts?
In our tangible classroom, we meet and greet our students. We project emotions; we anticipate responses and we expect feedback. The same goes for online learning. However, emotions are not clearly expressed by emoji and words, let alone being felt. And feedback...
Let's retrace our steps. Before the tasks are assigned, what did we do? Did we merely instruct? Did we give orders? Or simply just a hand over of task?
We have to understand that the transition from school to home is not easy, let alone is not an enjoyable one. Our students might have a myriad of things to do at home before possessing the time to attend to their learning. They might barely receive the support they require from their parents to accomplish their tasks. Overwhelming!
I think it is not too late to consider this. To hold their hearts. To let them know that we are here, and we care. We care so much about their mental well being, about their challenges and their learning in this new environment.
So here go, three ways you can hold your students' heart.
1. To broadcast good morning video every school day.
In Malaysia, we have a programme called "Guru Penyayang" or simply Loving Teacher programme. One of the initiatives is to greet students upon arrival. To wish them a great day ahead and to acknowledge their presence at school on that day. A similar principle goes for a remote classroom. We can say hi, or simply share our morning in a one-minute video. It comforts the students to identify that their teacher is there, ready and accessible for learning to take place.
2. Make a video call.
Make the effort to call students sometimes, to talk to them and see how they are doing. We can focus the conversation on their daily life so that we can understand their learning challenges. It can be a one-to-one conversation or a small group video call, it depends. Just checking on them like we habitually do at school.
3. Connect with their world.
Instead of having them perform the task you have given, how about them assigning you something? Or have a class challenge out of the school task? For example, showcasing secret talent, learning a song then performing together online or a photo contest? Students are creative, they can throw you a challenge without much thought. The key point is to have fun together.
As promised, these are the articles I've read.
7 Ways to Maintain Relationships During Your School Closure by Sarah Gonser
4 ways COVID-19 could change how we educate future generations
How to stay creative and keep your family sane during lockdown – from one of the world’s best teachers
As the MCO dawns its third week on Malaysian, teachers are looking for alternatives to teach remotely. As expected, we turn faithfully to social media to help us in this quest. Countless platform to explore with an endless array of materials to choose from, do create excitement (initially?), then confusion (which one?) and anxiety (oh my god, oh my god!).
Digital Classroom provided by the ministry may help to reduce this anxiety (or so I hope) by grouping the noteworthy educational apps that teachers can use in its platform. I will not get on to that, but you can check out my previous post here and here.
What I wish to cover in this post is how teachers can use WhatsApp to facilitate learning. Yes, you read it right, the WhatsApp. Based on my survey for teachers in my district, it is the most popular social media platform I can't assume for the whole of Malaysia, but if you ask around, everybody is into it.
1. Create a focus group.
To ensure the success of the learning and efficient delivery, first, we must set up a focus group. The focus group might be according to the proficiency level, interest or outcomes desired. While it is easy to just disseminate instruction and tasks in a larger group, but as a conventional classroom, there will be backbenchers and it will be harder to spot them in an online setting.
2. Set the learning objectives.
You must have a sense of direction in your TnL. Discussions need to stay in its course amid the emojis and all other noises. At the end of the interaction, it will be easier for both teachers and learners to evaluate the outcome of the session and take further action.
3. Assign one task at a time.
It is helpful when one task is being given at a particular time. It helps learners to maintain focus on the content as well as the discussion. The teacher may set a time frame for a task to complete its cycle before proceeding to the next task.
4. Tag students when replying.
It is important to highlight feedback to students. Using the reply feature is not enough when you have many students that have the same problem. Tagging them to the feedback you made serve to alert them and point out to things that require their attention. Tag also useful when highlighting achievement, conveying praises and acknowledging hard work.
5. Mind the language.
Never forget to cultivate good language used (I don't mean just grammatically correct sentence) and observing manners. Apart from teaching the content of a subject, teachers must instill good values in their learners all the time. Reality check...I know in some ESL classrooms, mixed-used languages do occur, but we might want to keep it to the minimum. We would like WhatsApp to become not only a tool for learning to take place but also for learning to take its place.
While there are issues concerning students' engagement and internet connectivity, I think teachers' efforts are all that matter. We must not think that our effort goes to waste, but rather as an investment to our questions bank and personal growth as an online tutor. After all, the ministry has long encouraged the use of online learning as a tool to educate and don't you think that NOW is the right time?
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