Week 15

LAST ENTRY FOR PBEY 3102~ BLOGGING~

1. What do you like about blogging?
I like blogging because I got the chance to reflect on my own learning. Whatever we learned in the class will be reflected in the blog and this enhances my understanding on that particular issue discussed during the class.

2. What you do not like about blogging?
I do not like blogging because I felt very difficult to insert pictures for my entry. I prefer my entry to be interesting and the best way is by doing the reflection in the form of narration and also by inserting pictures. Unfortunately I find it very difficult to insert pictures as it is time consuming.

3. What have you gained from blogging e.g. Language skills, improved fluency, critical thinking, improved thought processes, technology skills etc. How?
Blogging, helped in terms of enhancing my critical thinking skills. This is because I will try to analyse on how the topic discussed during the class can be incorporated in primary classroom and I will state it in my entry. Besides, I will try to think on how I should write the entry in order to make it appears interesting so that my friends will also be eager to read my blog and gain benefits from it.
Next, blogging also help to improve my technology skills. This is because, when I reflect on my learning in order to include in the blog, indirectly I am learning back on the technology skills that Pn. Foziah taught in the class. Thus, the skills and information that Pn.Foziah taught me will be very helpful to enhance my technology skills.

4. What do you like about this course?
I like this course because it involves hands on activity (practical) rather than just theory. This is very helpful for me because I understand better when I do something rather than just learning it theoretically. In fact, this course helped me a lot in terms of exposing me to technological skills. I learned a lot of important things which are very crucial for my profession.

5. What you do not like about this course?
I do not like this course is because it involves a lot of work. We need to complete the modules and also the tasks stated in each module. In fact, most of the time we have to sit in front of the lap top and that caused me backache.

6. What have you learnt from this course?
I learned on many things. From the first module, I learned how to download educational journals, free music song and also song’s lyric. I also learned on how to edit pictures so that it satisfies my own interest. Next, I learned on how to edit song so that I can combine 2 songs. I also learned on how to create e-book and also how to create my own video clip.

7. What have you learnt from this course that you did not expect to?
I did not expect I can edit pictures which make it looks so real. The first time when Pn.Foziah told about photoediting, I just thought of adjusting brightness, or adding frame. I didn’t know that I can change the background of the picture and in fact I can edit the pictures where I can stand beside my favourite celebrity.

8. What have u expected but do not learn from this course?
None

Comments regarding modules:

Internet and computing skills

a. What do you like about this module?
I like the tutorials given in this module especially the one on searching article journal and also song. Frankly speaking, I do not know how to download journal or song. Because whenever I try to download it, it requires me to buy it. Thus through this module, I learned on how to key in the right word so that I can get the journal and songs.

b. What do you not like about this module?
There is nothing that I do not like in this module because; all the skills are important and useful for me as a 21st century educator who is equipped with all the technological skills.

c. What do you like about the task given for this module?
I like the task because I can prepare wonderful teaching aids in short period of time. In fact the teaching aids that I have prepared can be used during my practicum.

d. What do you not like about the task given for this module?
There is nothing that I do not like in this module because; all the tasks that are stated in this module are important as I can practise on how to design lesson for my pupils in future.

e. What are the specific skills that you learn in this module?
I learned on how to download and upload and the most important thing is that I learned how to store my files in the website. It is something like free storage to keep my collection.

f. How the skills learnt in this module can help in the making and choosing of teaching aids for the ELT classroom?
I learned on the type of pictures that I should choose and download for primary pupils. This is because there are a variety of pictures available on the net but as a future teacher I must choose clear, colourful and large pictures for the pupils.

Photo Editing

a. What do you like about this module?
I like this module because there are varieties of software that serve different function. Many thing can be done using the software introduced in this module.

b. What do you not like about this module?
Some instructions are not correct. For instance it stated that we need to open Triscape FX Photo in order to complete the tutorial. After searching for so long time, I found that the particular icon does not exist in this FX Triscape software. So I need to open all the software that I have downloaded for this module in order to search the particular icon and I found that in Photoscape software and not in Triscape software.

c. What do you like about the task given for this module?
I like the task given because I can learn on how to design a better lesson and activity which uses wonderful pictures which are free from error in order to attract the pupils’ attention and stimulate their curiosity.

d. What do you not like about the task given for this module?
There is nothing that I do not like in this module because; all the tasks that are stated in this module are important as I can practise on how to design lesson for my pupils in future.

e. What are the specific skills that you learn in this module?
I learned on how to edit pictures so that I can remove all the negative aspects like red eye and blemishes from my picture. In fact, I can edit the pictures so that it looks clear.

f. How the skills learnt in this module can help in the making and choosing of teaching aids for the ELT classroom?
This skill is very useful because there are many pictures that I took to show to the pupils, for instance pictures of animals taken in zoo. Unfortunately due to certain error, the pictures could not be used. Thus with the help of the software introduced, this problem can be solved.

Audio Editing Skills

a. What do you like about this module?
I like this module because there is software called Audacity and it served many purposes. Many things can be done by using this software and it easy very easy to use this software.

b. What do you not like about this module?
There is nothing that I do not like in this module because; all the skills are important and useful for me in order to be a 21st century educator who is equipped with all the technological skills.

c. What do you like about the task given for this module?
I like the task given because, I learned on how to combine two nursery rhymes in order to create a wonderful nursery rhyme which is different from the ordinary one. This is important in order to avoid the pupils to become bored hearing to the same nursery rhyme again and again.

d. What do you not like about the task given for this module?
There is nothing that I do not like in this module because; all the tasks that are stated in this module are important as I can practise on how to design lesson for my pupils in future.

e. What are the specific skills that you learn in this module?
I learned on how to edit a song which is downloaded from the internet. Probably I can change the speed. Besides, I can cut certain parts which I do not like in the song.

f. How the skills learnt in this module can help in the making and choosing of teaching aids for the ELT classroom?
The skills that I have learned are very essential because, at times certain nursery rhymes has a good language focus in it, unfortunately due to the speed of the song, pupils in primary schools could not catch up it. Thus with the skill that I learned in this module, I can decrease the speed s that Pupils are able to follow the song.

Video Editing Skills

a. What do you like about this module?
I like this module because this is new experience for me. I have create videos even before I was exposed to this module but extracting picture and audio from a video is something new for me and I did not expect I can learned this skill. There are many tutorials in this module which is interesting as I did not expect to acquire all the ability in editing a video.

b. What do you not like about this module?
There is nothing that I do not like in this module because; all the skills are important and useful for me to be a technology savvy teacher in future.

c. What do you like about the task given for this module?
The task given is useful for me as I can practise on how to create activity and lesson for my pupils by using these video editing skills.

d. What do you not like about the task given for this module?
There is nothing that I do not like in this module because; all the tasks that are stated in this module are important as I can practise on how to design lesson for my pupils in future.

e. What are the specific skills that you learn in this module?
I learned on how to extract pictures and audio from a video.

f. How the skills learnt in this module can help in the making and choosing of teaching aids for the ELT classroom?
This skill is very important because once I have extracted the audio from the video; I can carry out a lesson in the class to test the pupils on their listening skill. Then for the next stage, I can use the same video and this enables the pupils to see the connection from one stage to another stage although the activity varies.

Software for ELT

a. What do you like about this module?
I like this module because many things can be done, for instance brochure, banner and many more. Learning all these skills is important as I can use it not only for my profession but also for myself. For instance I do not need to waste money buying greeting cards from shops; I can create it by my own with the help of the skill that I learned in this module.

b. What do you not like about this module?
There is nothing that I do not like in this module because; all the skills are important and useful for me.

c. What do you like about the task given for this module?
I like the task given because it helped me to think on how I can use this skill to make the teaching and learning process different than the usual one.

d. What do you not like about the task given for this module?
There is nothing that I do not like in this module because; all the tasks that are stated in this module are important as I can practise on how to design lesson for my pupils in future.

e. What are the specific skills that you learn in this module?
I learned on how to create greeting card, calendars and brochure which are very important for me as a future teacher.

f. How the skills learnt in this module can help in the making and choosing of teaching aids for the ELT classroom?
These skills are very important as I can teach my pupils these skills so that they can learn on how to create greeting card and calendar independently without buying it from shop. In fact these skills are important as it can help the pupils to develop their creative and aesthetic skills in decorating the cards and calendar.

10. If you can change anything about this course, state what is and elaborate?
I think that there should not be so many tasks. This is because it will only cause students to do the task given for granted. They will not be serious in doing it as they will only make sure the tasks given can be done before the date line. In my opinion the quality is important and not the quantity. Probably the tasks at the back of each module can be minimised to one task which emphasize on creating teaching aids using the skill learned in that module. This will be very useful for us as we learned the skills in the module and practise on how to use those skills in creating teaching aids for pupils.

On a scale of 1 – 10, please rate your computing and technological skills for both before and after undergoing the course.

· Before-2
· After- 9

Week 14

This is the last week that we are going to meet Pn. Foziah, our lecture who had taught us a lot of technology skills. I am going to leave this course with full of satisfaction because after 14 weeks attending Resouces (PKEY 3102) class, I can now consider myself as 21st century teacher. Ok in this week entry, I would like to discuss some information that I gained regarding video editing.

After Pn. Foziah entered the class, she asked whether everyone has uploaded the video on youtube or not. All the pairs in Monday group have successfully uploaded their video. Thus Pn. Foziah decided to show the video that each pair has created in the class. We were very excited as we got the opportunity to view our friends’ work. There were many interesting videos showed to us but the one that impressed me a lot belongs to Faiz and Atikah.

CANCER is the theme of the video that Faiz and Atikah have created. The moment I watched the video, I felt so sad and pity of the cancer patient and I almost drop my tears. They brought up the storyline very well. Moreover the background music they have chosen for this video really suits the video’s theme and storyline. I really appreciate their idea on creating the video. HANDS OF TO THEM : )

When Pn. Foziah viewed the video that my pair and I have created which is about HUMANITY, she was not so happy with it. The feedback that she gave is that, our video could not really deliver the message to the viewer. This is because there were not many wordings in the video compare to the video that other pairs have created. Emmm, Pn. Foziah was right, there is no point creating a video if the message of the video could not reach the viewer.

Thus, my pair and I edited the video and this time around we included more wordings so that the message of the story can be understood by the viewer. After viewing the video, Pn Foziah told us on what are the chapters we should study in order to answer the exam questions successfully. Moreover, I was very hapy when Pn. Foxiah said that most f the questions in the exam is more to application rather than fact as I can apply all the skills that I have acqiured in this exam.

That all for this week entry and I would like to thank Pn. Foziah for being very patient in helping us to acquire the technology skills. We were proud to say we are the product of PBEY 3102 course because; plenty of important skills can be acquired once you have completed this course.

Week 13

Hello everyone, meeting you again in 13th entry. The moment I entered the class, I was wondering, WHAT IS THE NEXT TASK? In other word, I am asking myself WHAT I AM GOING TO LEARN IN TODAY’S CLASS. The moment Pn. Foziah entered the class, she asked us to submit the 3 tasks that we are supposed to submit on this week which are MODULE 2, GROUP’S LESSON PLAN as well as E-BOOK. We really struggled in completing all these assignments but we have learned a lot of important things and the most important thing is that we COMPLETED it within the due date.

Thanks to all my group members, Kumaresen, Syuhada as well as Teh Ban Leng for being so cooperative in completing the entire group work without delaying it or giving any excuse. Today, Pn. Foziah was checking each pair’s storyboard and most of the storyboards shown were rejected. This is because, the storyboards that most of them showed to PN. Foziah do not tell any story and the same thing goes to my storyboard. My pair and I showed our pictures that we want to include in the video and our intention was to make comparison between luxury life and poverty. There is a message that we would like to deliver to all the viewers which is “Help the poor” but we do not have any storyline.

So we changed our plan. We still remain with our previous theme, humanity but we introduce a character in this story. The storyboard is about the life of a rich girl who made her journey to meet all the poor people and decided to help them as much as she could. We want the storyboard to have a story as well as a moral message for pupils to follow. Thus, my pair and I are working very hard and we really hope that Pn. Foziah will accept our storyboard.

Besides, we were also asked to do tutorial for the picture that we have uploaded in Photobucket and the due date is tomorrow. Just hope that I will be able to complete this task and submit to Pn. Foziah. Ok, that is all for this week, now I need to work on the tutorial task. Bye and see you all in next entry : )

12th Week

Hello everyone!!!! We are meeting again in the 12th entry and now I want to share my experiences in Pn. Foziah’s class. The first thing is she called of us to move to the front and she showed us her students’ eBook. It was really eye-catching and interesting. Each of the eBook is different from one another. For instance, the first eBook showed consist of Pn. Foziah’s recorded voice. The second eBook showed which was on the life-cycle of a butterfly uses a melody music from the beginning till then end of the slide show. The final one was very attractive and colourful and the picture used was big and clear.

After viewing all the eBooks, she reminded us that the eBook that we created must have NAVIGATION KEYS, THEME and PLOT, SOUND EFFECT as well as GOOD QUALITY PICTURES. So far, the eBook that my partner and I have created consist all the characterisation above except for PLOT. This is because we used a nursery rhyme and not a story.

Next, we were also given some module and I thought it was our module 4, unfortunately I was wrong. The module given is the continuation on module 2 (photo editing). I think that Pn. Foziah still wants us to learn something important in that continuation module. Next, Pn.Foziah went around checking the eBook that we have done. Pn. Foziah also commented of those eBooks and that was very useful on order to help us improve on our eBook.

Finally, before the class ends, we were shown a video clip on CUN and ELLA. It was very touching and it really amused me. Pn. Foziah assigned a new task for us where we were asked to create a video on any theme. That’s all for this entry, looking forward to meet in you in next entry, till then bye from me.

11th Week

Entering 11th week with full of confident and feeling proud as I have learned many new things from this class which other students outside there are not able to do. Today lesson is still on photo editing as Pn.Foziah was checking the task that each of us has done.


We were asked to edit a photo and the edited photo must be able to carry a message to the viewer. I edited a photo where I change the background setting. I changed the background and it appears as if I went for a holiday in Egypt. I edited it using Adobe Photoshop and frankly speaking, it consumes so much of time as I need to be very careful in erasing the old background.



Unfortunately, when I showed my picture to Pn. Foziah, she commented on the photo that I edited. She said that I went to Egypt which is a hot country but I was wearing a black shirt. Next, she said I must be wearing a bag or hat to show the viewer that I went for holiday. I was so disappointed but what Pn. Foziah said was correct.

This is because we could not just edit a picture for the sake of editing it. It must be logical so that the viewer will not feel doubt looking at the edited picture. Thus I still use the same background but I change my picture. This time around I add in a picture and in that picture I will be wearing a handbag as well as a hat.

It was successful and I uploaded it in the website that Pn. Foziah had allocated for us. I hope that my effort that I had put in is worth so that Pn.Foziah will be satisfied with my work. That is all for this week and I see you in next entry. Bubye : )

10th Week

This is our 10th week and today we are expected to submit our groups’ lesson plan as well as teaching aids. It was a great satisfaction when we were able to complete the task on time. In fact, my group and I were eager to submit our lesson plans and the teaching aids as we have put in so much effort to produce a creative and interesting one.

We were quite free today as Pn. Foziah asked us to continue doing module 2 and thanks to her for allocating us that precious time. I used this time to complete the tutorial that I do not know how to do by asking my friends. Besides, Pn. Foziah also asked us to view our senior’s works which are outstanding in order to set an example for us to produce a better one. I was really impressed with my senior’s work and that motivate me to produce a more creative one.

Next, Pn. Foziah asked us to submit module 3 the next day and she also gave us 3 tasks to be completed. We need to choose a song, and then edit it and make it in a ringtone. The next task is to cut and paste two songs together. The third task is to edit a song and to change the quality of the song to make it sound better. The editing must be done for the song ‘dua insan’ sung by siti and M.Nasir.

Thank God the module 3 is still with me as I can use it as my guidance. At the moment, I’m working on it and hope to finish the tasks as soon as possible because the date due is next day. That is all for this week. Bubye and see you in next entry

9th Week

Waiting in front of MK2, with the hope that Pn. Foziah will open the door but instead of Pn. Foziah, Haiqal and Ashraf came carrying a box. They told me that Pn. Foziah is away and we have another task MODULE 2. Thank God, I had already finished my module 3 and now it time to start Module 2.

“PHOTO EDITING”, this is what I waiting for since the beginning of this semester after Pn.Foziah explained to us about our course. I really had fun editing the photos and in fact I’m really impressed with the software like Adobe Photoshop, iPhto, Photo bucket, Photoscape and also Triscape FXfoto. Many times I got disappointed as some pictures taken during happy moment got spoiled due to ‘red eye’, ‘blemishes’ and ‘scratches’. But this is not a big deal as all the problems mentioned above can disappear in split second just by using the software that Pn. Foziah introduced in this module. I did not expect that I can do many things by just using a photo, for instance like changing background, adding frame and text to the picture and many more.

Although completing module 2 is really fun, yet it still consumes a lot of time. This is because we need to download the software before carrying out the tutorial. Besides downloading, I also spend a lot of time exploring the software in order to find for the particular icon to edit the photos. The easiest software that I had explored in this module is Triscape FXPhoto, where else the most difficult one is PhotoScape.

Anyway I still manage to complete MODULE 2 and now waiting forward for module 4 and 5. Just hoping that, MODULE 4 and 5 will also be something useful for us to explore and learned. That is all about my experience completing module 2, see me in next entry, BYEEEEEEEEEE : )

8th Week

This is the last week which is full of excitement as we are going back for Raya holiday. Before we went back, we were given module 3 and I was telling myself, HERE COMES ANOTHER TASK. I really enjoyed doing module 1 because I learned many new things but it is really time consuming especially when downloading certain software. Anyway I told myself that I must finish this task on time so that I can enjoy my holiday. Besides this module, Pn. Foziah also assigned us another task and I told myself, there is no enjoyment this holiday. Anyway I was determined to finish the entire task given to us before going back.

Module is all about Audio editing using audacity. I thank Pn. Foziah as this module is easier compared to module 1. There are 7 software that we need to explore in order to complete this module. This is also an exciting task as it is very useful for me as well as for my career in future. I was interested in using the audacity to cut audio, create minus one and also combining songs using Sony Vegas software. This is because I cut the music at the beginning of the song as I only prefer the song and I saved the song in my hand phone.

Next, the minus one is also very helpful as I got the opportunity to create my own minus one. I can choose my own word to create the minus one. Next I also enjoyed combining two songs and it was fun hearing the song I combined. I was experimenting it many times and because I love listening the song that was combined using two songs.

Besides module, I was also working on another task on creating three lesson plans with 30 minutes duration and another 1 lesson plan with 1 hour duration. We have chosen to carry out a lesson for year 4 and the topic is on food. Creating lesson plans were not a big deal for us as we are use to it and in fact it is a good practise for us. Besides lesson plan, we also need to choose a topic from each year (1-6) and create technology as well as non-technology teaching aids for each year.

I did teaching aids for year 1 and 2. The topic I have chosen is on animals and family members. The technology teaching aids I have created are video clip, slide show presentation and also song. Where else for non-technology are puppets, picture cards and also clip arts. We tried to create as creative as possible using colourful pictures as we know that pupils love colourful teaching aids.

7th Week

Entering the 7th week and thinking that Pn. Foziah is going to teach us something on photo editing. I was so curious and excited because one of my friends explains to me that through photo editing we can edit our photos as if we are in other places although we have never been to those places. Unfortunately, I was mistaken. This week Pn. Foziah has decided to allocate time for us to continue doing our first module. This was so kind of her as she is being so considerate and that is why she stands top in my heart.

So I think by now, all my buddies are familiar with the saying “Sleep module, Eat module, and Drink module” as that is what they will be doing. I admit that there are many things to be completed because we need to browse the internet, search for the correct link and then download what wanted. Besides browsing, we need to print screen each steps and paste it in Microsoft Power Point. At times we do not get the exact steps mentioned in the module but we still manage to complete the tutorial.

Thus, whenever I come across any differences between the module and my steps, I will jot down the problem in the place provided in the module. I do not have any major problem till I reach the part for ‘file conversion’ which made me so confused and tired. I was trying for many times to carry out a few tutorials in the conversion part using the Zamzar software but I failed. So I ask Pn. Foziah, how am I supposed to complete the tutorial. The answer given by Pn.Foziah was so simple; she said “try to find other alternative”.

Other alternative? What that means? After thinking for a while I got an idea, I could not convert PDF to POWER POINT and WORD to POWER POINT if I use Zamzar software, so how if I use different software to complete the conversion. I tried the other alternative and it was a SUCCESS. Fuhhh!, At that moment I was so happy and I praised myself for not giving up and thanks to Pn. Foziah for hinting me.

This module is very helpful for me because before this, I did not attempt to browse internet to find song, MP3, articles and journal because frankly speaking, I do not know how to find for it. This module helps me to make life easier and in fact I learned and gained a lot by doing this module. Not only that, I gained confident in myself because I am starting to become technology literate. Finally for all this knowledge, I need to thank Pn.Foziah. That is all for this week, see you in next reflection.

6th Week

How time flies and its already 6th week of class. Interesting, enjoyable and useful things learned in this class for past 5 weeks. For today’s class also, definitely Pn. Foziah will be introducing something new for us and I’m curious to learn the new skill. “Sleep module, Eat module, and Drink module”. That is the famous saying for today’s class and that is what we are going to do for the next 2 weeks. Pn.Foziah distributed the module to all of us.

The moment I saw the module, I was just blinking speechlessly. Oh My God!!!!! The module is so thick and what should we do with that? After everyone got the module, Pn. Foziah explained to us about our portfolio. Actually the assignment given to us is quite easy but its time consuming because there are many things that need to be done. This is because. Moreover we were only given 2 weeks duration to complete the assignment.

Anyway, I was impressed looking through the module. This assignment will definitely benefits us because in future we will be using all those methods of downloading presented in the module. For instance, as a teacher definitely I will be using pictures, songs, animations as well as the software to carry out an effective teaching and learning process in the classroom. Besides that, the methods used to download journal articles are very crucial for us to complete our research.

Although, we just follow exactly what Pn. Foziah’s has outlined in the module, indirectly we are learning and practising. As we know ‘practise makes perfect’ and it will be very helpful for us to master ICT skills. This module is only a part of this course and there are other 4 modules that need to be completed.

WOW!!! By the end of this course, I will definitely be well equipped with most of the ICT skills. At the end of this course, I will definitely be qualified to be labelled as 21st century teacher who are technology savvy and ready to uphold the future generation. I’m really waiting forward to explore the other 4 modules in the upcoming weeks.

5th Week

Stepping into MK2 class with new hope and expectation because every time I enter Pn. Foziah’s class, definitely I’ll discover something new and interesting. Yes, this is a fact and I’m really impressed with the skills that I acquired from this class. In fact, the skill that I learned from this class is very useful for my everyday life. To be honest, I rarely download songs and videos because it consumes a lot of time. Fortunately, by using MOIER. This was fantastic because almost everyday I am using this software to download my favourite video and song.

While Pn. Foziah and we were discussing about the benefits of using MOIER, a guy entered the class. He is doing his PHD and he needs us to complete the questionnaire. After completing the questionnaire, Pn. Foziah asked all of us to find a partner from the opposite gender in order to do a task. After everyone has/had selected their pair, Pn. Foziah explained to us in detail about the task that we need to complete.


The task is to design activities which incorporated technological teaching aids for each stage in a lesson. Thus, my pair and I need to design activity for year 1, 2 and 3. The topic assigned for year 1 is “Places In My School”, year 2 is “Liza’s Family” and finally year 3 is on “Animals and Pets”. I was glad because all the topics are interesting and I was confident thinking that we can produce a good piece of lesson.

While we were busy planning for the activity, I came across a problem. In a lesson usually during the “while” teaching, pupils will be given task sheet and they need to complete the lesson. But one of the criteria for this task is we must prepare teaching aids which are technological. So, we were quite confused until my pair got a fantastic idea. He suggested to include smart board during the while teaching, where each group of pupils are called to the front to carry out the exercise using smart board.

Besides, designing the activity for each stage, we also need to write a rationale for carrying out the activity in that particular stage. This was a good idea as it prompted us to involve in brainstorming to think the reason for using that particular teaching aids. We were really impressed with our own task because, it will definitely be interesting if a teacher can carry out all the technological teaching aids stated in the lesson to her pupils.

Finally, after we had completed the task, we were so eager to submit it to Pn. Foziah and waiting forward for her comments regarding the task. This task is also very useful for me in future as I can use it to carry out the teaching and learning process in the classroom. Moreover the most important thing is that I learned on how to prepare technological teaching aids in order to expose my pupils to ICT.

4th Week

It is our fourth week in Resources class and I walk into the class with full of confidence and curiosity thinking on what are we going to learn today? The moment Pn. Foziah entered the class she told us that she wants to introduce ‘something’ that we will be doing till the end of this course. ‘SOMETHING’, I’m curious to know what new thing is that and I’m very sure the ‘new thing’ that Pn. Foziah wants to introduce will be very useful for our profession in future. But before she proceeds further regarding the ‘new thing’, she asked the other four groups to carry out their presentation for last week’s slot.

The first group presented on “working with young language learners”. There was a significant sentence said by one of the group members; “children are not born with a blank slate”, and this is very true. When we teach the pupils especially the year 1 pupils, we should not assume that they do not know anything. We should realize that children are biologically programmed for language. When we talk to children, they are able to respond to us although they do not really understand all the words in the sentence. So how this happens? This is based on our facial expression, gestures, intonation and rhythm that enable the children to understand what we mean. For instance, when the teacher tells the pupils a story which consist of low frequency words, the teacher can flash out the picture of those words. Thus, we can see here that teachers play an important role in helping the pupils to understand the story and indirectly developing their language proficiency.

The second group presented on/ the topic “Children’s instinct for play and fun”. We should realize that children could not be separated with fun and games because both of it are fundamental for healthy development of an individual. Songs, drama and art projects are some of the activities that we can carry out in classroom which are fun as well as educational. Moreover I believe that indirect learning is an effective way of teaching as it enables the pupils to acquire the language more quickly compare to direct learning.

“Children’s creative use of limited language resources” was the topic presented by the next group. Here it explains that although the child could not utter sentences which are grammatically correct but they are able to express their concept creatively. Here pupils tend to convey the intended meaning based on their own experiences.

The last group presented on “The role of imagination” and this is the topic that really interests me. I felt that imagination is a powerful stimulus that provides real language use. Besides, role of imagination suits pupils with different learning style as well as different characteristic. Teacher’s role is very crucial in developing imagination among the pupils. For instance, teacher can carry out activities like role play, hot seat as well as drama, where pupils will act out the character involved in those activities.

After all the group had presented, Pn. Foziah taught us how to use MOYEA to download songs and videos. This is the new thing that Pn. Foziah told us at the beginning of the class. MOYEA is not only useful when we step into school but also for current use when we want to download our favourite songs and videos. This software is convenient as it saves our time because we are able to download the songs and videos within a short time.

The class for today was very interesting because we learn many new things from our friends as well as Pn. Foziah. Thanks to Pn. Foziah and all my friends who presented today as they gave many beneficial information which is very useful for me as well as my profession in future.

3rd Week

Fuhh! I feel like I just entered University Malaya and now I’m already in third week. At the moment the only task that we have to do is updating our blog with weekly reflections. I’m glad because after these three weeks, I feel that we are getting closer to Pn. Foziah. During the first week, Pn. Foziah will be talking and when she asks our opinion, everyone will be quiet. Probably because we are still new to University Malaya and we are not familiar with the lecturers over here. She encouraged us to talk and she told us that she wants us to be a part of the classroom discussion. So today we really had a good time in Pn. Foziah’s class as there were two way interactions between Pn. Foziah and us.

Today we were divided into 6 groups and each group was assigned a topic. Pn. Foziah allocated 1 hour for us to discuss the topic and after that we need to present it to the class.

My group consists of 7 members and our topic was about “The Instinct for Interaction and Talk”. At first when I read the notes in the book, my understanding of the topic was just at surface level. But after discussing with my group members, I have a clear understanding of what the topic is all about. In short, the topic is about pupils’ own initiative to indulge in an interaction. In the slide show we included the definition of the topic, the benefits of instinct interaction and the role of teacher in developing instinct interaction in a classroom. Based on the topic that we had presented, I do realize that whenever possible, a teacher must indulge the pupils in group discussion, language games and group activity. In a classroom, there will be pupils with different kind of learning styles, attitudes and characteristics. Thus as a teacher, our responsibility is to understand them and find a way to indulge them in an instinct interaction.

We were the second group which presented today, before us there was a group presented about “Children’s capacity for Indirect Learning”. The group had done a good job because their explanation enabled us to understand the topic thoroughly. Indirect learning is something regarding “subconscious learning” and when this situation takes place pupils will acquire the language quicker. The types of activities that can be integrated in classroom to foster indirect learning are broken phone, hang man, and also word puzzle.

From what the group had presented, I learned that in a lesson we can integrate both direct and indirect learning to make teaching and learning more meaningful. Direct learning is the teaching part where input are delivered to the pupils and this direct learning can be carried out in a presentation part during a lesson. Where else, indirect learning which emphasizes on learning through fun can be integrated either in set induction or production part.

Due to time constraint, only 2 groups got the chance to present their topics. The other 4 groups will be presenting in the next class. In today’s class I learned a few things as what I mentioned above and it will be very useful for me as future teacher as I can implement it in my classroom.

2nd Week

Time flies very fast, today is my second day in this class. I was waiting patiently right in front of MK2 entrance. The door was open but I dare not enter in without Pn.Foziah’s instruction. This time around I was determined to sit in the front row, because I do not want to miss any information and instruction given by Pn. Foziah. Unfortunately, before I enter in, a group of students rushed in and took the front row. But its okey, I still managed to get a place in the centre.
This time around the class was under control because our group which consist of 75 students were separated into two groups. Thanks to Pn Foziah for making such changes as it will be very helpful for us. This is because Pn. Foziah can give closer attention to all the students in this smaller group. Next Pn. Foziah started to explain to us about our course and what we should be able to do at the end of this course. She explained about the five modules which she expects us to master at the end of this course:

1. Computer and blog, Internet skills
2. Photo editing skills :
3. Video editing skills:
4. Audio editing skills
5. Software for ESL skills

In photo editing, we’ll be taught on how to edit pictures, for instance we took the picture in Malaysia but we can edit it as if we were in any other place or country. Secondly in video editing, if there is certain part that we do not want it to be in that video, we can cut it. For instance, if I record a programme on making a kite from television and want to show it to pupils, so I can cut out the advertisement and just show the pupils the process of making a kite. The same goes for audio editing but it involves sound. “Don’t you think its “GREAT?”. I was so excited when I heard the explanation given by Pn. Foziah because frankly speaking, I do not possess most of the skills that she mentioned. Thus learning the skills above will definitely benefits me as I will be able to produce better teaching aids for the pupils in future.

Next, Pn. Foziah asked the class if anyone of us could type by just looking at the screen and not the keyboard. He,he,he if not mistaken only 3 or 4 of them nod their head indicating that they have that ability but the rest of the class just kept quiet. I was also quiet because I do not possess that skill. Anyway I just give a try and start typing. For your information, I was just typing without knowing what alphabet I was typing. It was so kind of Pn. Foziah because, she gave us the software which enables us to master touch typing skills. Learning to type faster is crucial as it helps us to save our time.

Besides, she also exposed us to “Windows Live Sky Drive”. This is the place where we were given 25GB free online storage. This is very useful for us as we can store all our projects that we will be doing throughout this course. I salute Pn.Foziah because I do not know anything about it until she shared it with us.
Last but not least, I am lucky as I got a chance to study for this course. I will make sure at the end of this course I will be able to master all these five skills. Mastering these five skills will enable me to create an exciting and interesting teaching learning activity for my pupils.

1st Week

Name: Dhachaini A/P Prabhakaran

Matric Number: PEH080008

Ok, this is the first time I’m entering this class. The title of this course is “USING AND DEVELOPING RESOURCES FOR ESL CLASSROOM” Fuhhhh!! Such a long name, don’t you think so? What is this course all about? Just by listening to the course’ name, my stomach was filled with butterfly. I was asking my peers, what are we going to learn in this course. They said “May be we are going to learn on how to make teaching aids like puppet and flash cards”. “Really? But we have learned that in our Maktab”. So I was just waiting anxiously, wondering what we are going to learn.

The moment I entered a lab called MK2, I was shocked. “Hei! What is this???? Are we going to do puppet in computer lab?” IMPOSSIBLE!!!! So I took my place and waited for the lecturer. Thousand and one questions were running in my mind. What are we going to learn? Who is the lecturer? Man or Female? Strict or friendly? After a few minutes our lecturer entered. HOOREY!!! She is female and I’m happy because I feel more comfortable working under female lecturer as I think they are more caring and I was absolutely right. She introduces herself and her name is Pn. Foziah. I was sitting at the back and I saw Pn.Foziah talking to my friends who sat at the front row. By looking at her, I told myself “Hei girl, don’t worry. You are going to have a wonderful time in this class because Pn. Foziah seems to be a friendly person”.

The class was congested as 75 students were sitting in the lab. So could you imagine how the situation was? Pn. Foziah was quite stress when she look at the big crowd which was so noisy. Moreover everyone was excited as they got the chance to browse internet. To speak the truth, I just could not hear what Pn. Foziah was telling because the situation at the back was out of control.

Before the class ends, I ran to my friends who sat at the front row and ask them what Pn. Foziah told. They told me that we need to create a blog, buy 8GB pen drive, install Photoshop CS3 in laptop and also bring in a passport size photo.

But I do not really know what we are going to do in this class. May be Pn.Foziah explained to us but I could not really hear her. So that was the first day in Pn. Foziah’s class. Looking forward for next class to discover more about this subject and I promised myself not to sit at the back for the next classes as I do not want to miss any information given by Pn Foziah.