Teachers' Day at SK Kg. Berangan & SK Banggol Pa' Esah

On 18th of May, two of my neighbouring schools had Teachers' Day Celebrations on the same day. It is well known; I'm a party animal. So, I went to both jubilant events.  My first stop was SK Kampong Berangan.

I got there in time for the teacher relay games.  We were assembled in groups of 7 on the basketball court. The first fun game was to pass bags of water from the front of the line to the back of line, without breaking them in a timely fashion. I also received some gifts from a few precious students, It wasn't much longer, before I requested to suit up and join the Teachers on the pitch. Football (soccer) is not my strongest sport, but I'm always game to play. It was a pleasure to play next to the likes of Teacher Kamaruddin. 

The sun was scorching on the football field at 10:00 am. It was like Clash of the Titans, Teachers versus Students.  I was grossly unprepared for the gruelling task.  I kicked off my sandals and played barefoot just like the majority of the SKKB student team. Luckily, the few times I got the ball, I was able to pass to a competent teammate. I have to mention, Ustaz Nassar was phenomenal on the field.  Actually all the Ustazs were really good.  About 2/3 into the first half I was replaced by the talented Teacher Mazwan.  It was close game to the end, but the teachers were triumphant. Gomo Kelatae Gomo.

I barely caught my breath, before I made a move to SK Banggol Pa Esah. I happen to reach school on time for more Teacher relay games. This time I represented the GB's team. The first game I played was we had a balloon tied via rubber banded to our leg. Then all the men from the other teams converged in a circle and bedlam began. The object was to stomp and pop the opponents ballon while protecting your own. The lady teachers followed suit.

Next, we assembled in a lines of 7 teachers. We were all given a water-ballon, except one lucky person who was the designated catcher. On our team, the position was filled by GB Cikgu Subri.  6 of us lined up about 12 yards from the catcher and we had to toss our ballon to them. I was first, I threw my ballon with a bit of an arc and the GB skilfully caught it. He caught 4 water-balloons an earned us a second place finish.

The final challenge was a watermelon eating contest. Watermelon has a strong association with the lazy crazy days of summer to me. Today was no exception. Each team was given a whole tasty weight equivalent watermelon. On the count of three, each group had to cut their watermelon into pieces, the first group to consume the watermelon wins. As soon as a piece was sliced, it was gripped into a teacher hands to be devoured.

Seeds and watermelon rinds were flying everywhere during the contest, again our team had a top finish.  Even though I was overloaded with watermelon, I made some room for the Teachers' feast. Many teachers went for the laksa, my eyes were focused on the red pulut with rendang. I was delightfully delicious; however, I had to pass on the additional watermelon for desert.

I had a blast at both events. I'm overwhelmed on how gracious and accepting all the GBs, PKs, teachers, ustaz, ustazahs, staff and students are to me. It is an honour to celebrate and be included in the ilk of such wonderful and professional Malaysian Teachers.
Happy Teachers' Day, You Deserve It!

Rockin' Teachers' Day SKKB style

GB's Team winning basket SKBPE

SK Bukit Abal's English Month Official Launch

It was a fresh Sunday morning at SK Bukit Abal, when the school's English Panel launched English Month. This year's theme is: To Love, to Enjoy & to Explore English. The head of the English Department, Teacher Maznah opened the ceremony by explaining the purpose of the event.  She also highlighted the upcoming activities throughout the month. The teacher encouraged and challenged the students to try increase their daily use of English.

The school's administration was out in full force. GB Mr Fadzilah, PK Ku Mr Mustapha, PK HEM Mr Rusdi and PK Ko Puan Rohana presided over the event with the best seats in the house. Teacher Maznah's introduction was followed by an ardent supporter of the English Department, GB Mr Fadzilah.  He gave a talk about the international importance of English in ongoing education as well as the job markets.

The whole school was sitting in the dewan; however, their formation was slightly different this morning than normal. The children were parted like the Red Sea with an aisle down the middle. Next, we heard a honk and engine approaching. The students all looked back to see a Pos Laju Postman ride a brand new shiny postal moto down the aisle.

He drove up to the stage where the GB was standing and dismounted his moto. All eyes were peeled on him, when he delivered an oversize letter to the GB. The GB open the gigantic letter to find a plaque with his name on it.  He took the plaque and affixed to the official English Month banner which was the centrepiece of the stage. It was the climax of the launch. It was another creative design of Teacher Salmah and it was definitely an eye-catching crowd pleaser.

There were a few other activities by some of SK Bukit Abal's top-notch English Department. Teacher Maznah, Teacher Rezwanee, Teacher Faridah, Teacher Hamizah, Teacher Mr Rusdi, Teacher Salmah and Teacher Suzana all contributed in making it an excellent event. I missed a little of the event, because I was busy with Teacher Siti Basirah (Bah) getting the Year 3 students ready for their performance.

Teacher Siti Basirah is the mastermind behind the SK Bukit Abal's Year 3 Action Song team. Last year, she led the school to be district level champions. Other teachers are also involved. She has set her sights on the title again this year (Insha Allah). I was invited again to assist with numerous practices and performances, but don't let me fool you, she is the Coach in Charge. I'm a meeger water-boy or a cheerleader at best.The group has been practising all month to prepare for District level competition at the end of May.

This was the first time the group performed publicly to a crowd.  There were many little tummies filled with butterflies.  The team climbed on the stage with their game faces on and took their positions. I apologise, but I'm unable at this time to reveal to many details about the performance. Primary competition is heated statewide and nationally. Nonetheless, it was great finale to a delightful event. A stupendous event by the good people of SKBA. Like they said, "To Love, To Enjoy & To Explore English."

Terrific Presentations At The TPD

On the 5th of May, it was the second to last TPD of TELL2.  It was located at the old PPD in Pasir Puteh. The TPD was dedicated to Teachers' presentations. Every school was assigned a topic based on the KSSR syllabus according to a specific grade level. The assignment was to present a fun alternative lesson from the book that can be replicated by other schools.  First of all, every school did themselves proud.   However, I'm going to highlight three of the presentations.

Teacher Sabariah, Teacher Tengku Khairani and Teacher Zuraida (SK Padang Pa' Amat) presented on Year 1, Unit 13 Good Deeds. The Teachers created a good deed vocabulary based board game. The group supported their board game with a power point.

The power point was on How To Play: 1. Make groups of 4-5 2. Place all picture cards in the holder 3. Take turns rolling dice 4. If the die lands on 5, move steps 5. Locate the picture that explains the verbal description of the good deed in the space (ex: SWEEP MY ROOM) 6. If the wrong picture is placed, you loose the turn and start over 7. If the space is occupied  with a picture, you must start over 8. First person to finish,is the WINNER!!! Nice Job SKPPA!

Next, the Teachers from SK Kampong Berangan were given the task to present on Year 3, Conjunctions (and, but, or). Teacher Mazwan, Teacher Rofia'ah and Teacher Siti Hazura decided to incorporate Frog VLE for their presentation. The Teachers used SCORM package Looking For Gold to liven up the lesson. The teachers built an all school accessible site for BI Year 3 Grammar Conjunctions, Looking For Gold.  It is made up of an Introduction, Learning 1(and), Practice 1, Learning 2(but), Practice 2, Learning 3(or), Practice 3 and Evaluation (and, but, or). Unfortunately, they had no access to the internet and were required to hotspot wifi, which was lacking in strength. 

The teachers were graceful as they had to tackle a few technological difficulties during the presentation. They persevered and were able to demonstrate the Introduction, Learning 1 and Practice 1. The crowd was fascinated with high definition quality of the lesson and it earned SKKB a tie for  3rd place finish. Great Job SKKB!

Finally, the number one, peer voted, presentation went to SK Panggong. Teacher Ros, Teacher Zailina and Teacher Zuriana who gave a top-notch exhibition of Let's Go Fishing. They were assigned Year 1 Vocabulary Review; however, adapted their activity for Years 1-3. Let's Go Fishing is a fun, colourful and creative activity for Vocabulary Review. The teachers prepared a power point to bolster their kiddie pool, poles, fish words and fish pictures. 1. Spread out lots of picture cards In the beautiful pond (60 pictures or words). 2. Put the kids into groups of about 5 or 6. 3. Every team has a pole which has a clip on the bottom of it. 4. The teacher tells them a category (ex: Animals, Fruits, Occupations and Vegetables) 5. They tried to fish and search the word cards or picture cards. 6. Fill in the form of worksheets in groups.

It was obvious that SK P's presentation was over-the-top. The student centred activity displayed lots of preparation, creativity and panache. If that wasn't enough, they also displayed a phonics review of Consonant Vowel Consonant vocabulary words. They had flashcards with a picture and two letters of a CVC word. The missing letter's space had a strip of velcro (zip-zap) and the students most locate the correct letter from a pile of letters with velcro. When they place the  correct letter in the space it completes the word. The pictures help students comprehend the word. It's a wonderful exercise for LINUS students as well.  Superb Job SKP! You deserve to be on Cloud 9!

Congrats to SK Bukit Merbau with a fun 2nd place finish! 

Dealing with a technological snafu

Celebrating Victory- SKP Style!