From Penang With Love

Training, Tracking, Teaching and Tutoring are all part and parcel of my specialties. I have been tutoring a student from Kazan, Russia in reading, writing, listening with a focus on speaking. Jamal is a outta-sight student who will be returning to Russia early in June. We have been working together using the New Cutting Edge book as a framework. However, I say it and I live it,"Don't teach the book, use the book to teach."

In an effort to apply speaking in a real world setting, we took the show on the road to Penang. It is also know as the Pearl of the Orient. Being a top tourist destination, many people speak English on the Island. We started our journey with a brief visit to our friends at SK Kampong Berangan who were hosting a Dr Muda program. We set off from there on the road to Jeli, which is the last petrol station before entering Ancient Belum Forest. 

Belum is home to many wild exotic plant and animal species. It also home to couple herds of wild elephants who have laid claim to this neck of the woods for centuries, dating back to the Pattani Sultanate. There are remnants of a trail system that used to stretch from Pattani to Malacca which was the main route of trade for these seafaring sultanates. They were centered on opposite seas: South China sea and the Straits of Malacca. Hence, the importance of this land route based on elephant transportation. Due to changing times and shrinking habitat, the herds have been limited to this haven.

The road in Belum has many signs warning drivers of the presence of elephants and tapirs. We took a photo opp at one of these warning signs as a novelty. Belum is a breathtaking old growth forest which ends in Girik. The scenic sights don't cease there. There are the rolling hills from Girik to Kulim. There is a large patch of an industrial park in Kulim. Then you drive through a significant swathe of verdant paddy fields when the urban landscape of Penang sprouts up. 

Jamal had a chance to practice his English at the tremendously delicious Kapitan Restaurant. He had an occasion to read signs in English at the impressive Masjid Tanjong Tokong. No visit Penang can be complete with visit to Batu Ferringhi Night Market. There he had an opportunity practise his improving speaking skills with all the hawkers as we shopped for souvenirs. We saved the historic UNESCO World Heritage Georgetown for last. Jamal commented on how it reminded him of St.Petersburg. We exited the Island and headed back home to Kota Bharu.

I earlier mentioned Tracking as one of my skill sets. What is tracking you ask? I have been traveling through Belum extensively over the past couple years. Even though my aspirations to be the 'elephant whisperer' are most likely delusional, my ability to track elephants in Belum is spot on. There is a stretch of road I have dubbed 'elephant alley.' If you go there at the right time of night, the probability of spotting one of these curvaceous critters is high. Fortunately, Jamal got to see 3 young elephants scamper into the jungle. Jamal revealed his parents called him 'Jumbo' because he use to watch that movie all the time. It was yet another sweet memory to a spectacular day.

"Some people are in the educational biz, but I'm in the biz to educate." - Khidar 'AB' Abdullah

Breakdown of SCORM Packages That Are UPSR BI 2016 Friendly

In my quest to collaborate, I want to share with the good teachers of Malaysia. The UPSR is a national test for Year 6 primary school students. This year's format has been changed to reflect the new KSSR curriculum. Below is a breakdown of all the SCORM packages for Year's 4-6. I have highlighted SCORM packages which have transferable skills relevant to the UPSR P1 & P2 in BI.

In the old format Paper, 1 & 2 were a combined for a single grade. In the new format, Paper 1 and Paper 2 standalone and have separate grades. The stakes for English have risen considerably.

YEAR 4

Adventures on Planet Sierra- is a grammar lesson of singular and plurals. It explains singular and plural subjects in sentence.

Merdeka Race Day- is car racing setting. Learning to use ‘must’ and ‘have to’ (grammar). Uncle Toby’s Farm- a grammar exercise in prepositions. Using locations in farm setting to
display meaning of prepositions.

In the Jungle- grammar exercise using demonstratives: a, an, the. ‘A’ with singular countable nouns that begin with consonant sounds. ‘An’ with singular countable nouns that begin with vowel sounds.

Day In, Day Out -Present simple tense, habitual (routine) actions. The simple present tense is used to show actions we do everyday, always or sometime.

Aladdin's Adventure- a grammar exercise on how to use uncountable nouns.

Animal Kingdom- grammar activity using ‘a’ singular nouns that begin with consonant sounds.

A Pheasant on an Elephant-Speaking activity with the sound "ph" in the beginning, medial and terminal position.

Sweeny and Tweeny in Tinkletown- A speaking activity using ;tw’ in the beginning of a word.

Colourful, Wonderful and Exciting- a speaking activity how to stress 3-syllable words. 

Inspector Bakar Does It Again- A grammar activity on using What, Where and When. 

YEAR 5
The Island of Legends-This lesson is read and give details about places in story. Write
paragraphs based on given word or phrases-UPSR friendly

Fabulous Cook- This Lesson is reading and understanding simple paragraphs. Complete mind-
maps and diagrams with information from the texts. UPSR friendly, info transfer, main ideas

Stop It Now-This lesson read and tell why a person is good or bad. Complete descriptions with the missing words and phrases and people. Write sentences using words and phrases given.

Friend In Need- This lesson read a story and talk about actions of people and animals in the story. Understand some smilies and proverbs. Write sentences about animals in the story.- UPSR Friendly- Activity B- P2 Eval A- Reading Comp MCQ; Eval B writing story to picture

An Important Lesson- This lesson give information about 3 people in the story. Fill in the missing words in the story. UPSR friendly P1

Who Will It Be- This lesson read a story and give details about the people in the story. Use words to show comparison. Write descriptions about people. UPSR friendly P1

Supermarket Race- This lesson identify collective nouns. Form sentences using the words given. 
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow- This lesson answer questions from factual texts. Complete Mind
Maps with information from texts. UPSR friendly P1

Dancing Gracefully- This lesson use capital letter, full stop, question mark, comma, apostrophe
and exclamation mark properly. Write simple descriptions using given words UPSR Friendly

The Amazing Hunt- This lesson write simple directions with help of a map, Write simple directions in your own words 

Year 6
Getting Connected- This lesson answer comprehension questions based on texts given.
UPSR friendly P1

What A Day- This lesson is writing complex sentences using ‘because’ to link reasons with actions. Write a guided letter to the teacher. UPSR Friendly P2

Same Yet Different- This lesson identify correct usage of homographs. Make compound sentences using words and phrases. UPSR friendly P2

Robo and Roko- This lesson learn word opposite in meaning from the story. Learn to read and talk about the actions of people in a story. UPSR friendly P2

Almost the Same- This lesson use words with similar meanings from given words. Write sentences to form a story. UPSR friendly P2

Brothers and Sisters- This lesson combine words to form compound words. Write simple guided descriptions.

I Wish- This lesson read and understand the meaning of words in the story. Select the most suitable meaning of words in a story. Read and predict the outcome of the story.
UPSR Friendly P1

Numbers and Dates- This lesson use and recognise the spelling of numbers 1st -31st. Read and understand letters. Design posters.

Inventors and Inventions- This lesson read and tell what you have learnt from a story. Write a letter to friends or family.

All About Food- This section answer comprehension questions based on letter. Write simple letter to pen pal. 

Created with love by 

Upcoming Unitar ELF Conference at Unitar in Kelana Jaya 18/6

The Upcoming English Language Conference

18/6/2016

Unitar, Kelana Jaya

9am - 6pm

Free Tix Still Available

Here is Conference Schedule and I will be presenting in Session 2, so come on down!

SKJC Jinjang Tengah 1 & 2

On Friday 13th of May, I arrived to SJKC Jinjang Tengah 2 to be greeted by the smiling faces of Mr Tiong and Puan Lim. Puan Lim is a local GB dedicated to serve the low income urban students at her school which are predominately Chinese. The venue was a multipurpose room on the first floor. The students and teachers were still slowly assembling when I arrived. I was requested on many occasions to grant permission for others to join, the request was never refused. In total there was 78 students and about 20 teachers participating in the micro teaching demo.

I played one round of Simon Says with students. We started with an intro toon. We introduced the classroom management technique of Give Me Five to the students. Throughout the day this technique was employed much to the teachers’ amazement. I made a spot assessment of the students writing ability; I determined it was was basic.We watched Nouns and Conjunction Junction. Then we went into the Simpsons Sentence Variety tutorial. After introducing FANBOYS, the students took out their USEKL gift notebooks. 

In a game like setting, students determined which FANBOYS coordinating conjunction best joined the sentences projected on the screen. Students were shown a sentence, and they were given 2 minutes to right the corresponding FANBOYS in large print. I did the same. After a count of 3, we showed our answers. Students also wrote a couple of compound sentences and used CUPS as the marking criteria.  

Judge Jody further reinforced sentence variety with a few cases. Some sentences were on the screen and the students had to determine whether the samples were complete sentences or fragments. A brief review of narrative writing skills for UPSR P2 SEC C was also rincluded. The students were behaved and well engaged throughout the session. Many the observing teachers assisted me in monitoring.  

We briefly touched on some strategy for UPSR BI P2 Sec C. The main features of a narrative were reviewed with students. Before the students were dismissed, I assessed the students comprehension with some questions. The students were happy; moreover, they walked away with  the enhanced ability to write compound sentences. 

The afternoon session was with about 12 English teachers. We began the afternoon with English Mania as the lead in. The highlight of the pair discussion was how 25% of a student’s final evaluation depends upon their performance in English. It was significant realisation that the Chinese State Educational System had an intense emphasis on English. SKJC Jinjang T2 is a Chinese vernacular school and was impressed by the premium China puts on English. Another concept was that America was not pushing English on the world as much as the world is pulling it.

Again when I introduced Frog, I received  a collective sigh. I had to call on Kermit to re-associate a pleasant image with Frog. I introduced the laundry list of SCORM packages available to them. I broke down the learning objectives of most English SCORM packages Years 4-6. During which time, I spotlighted the packages that were transferrable UPSR friendly. skills The group randomly selected Island of Legends which was UPSR BI P1 reading comprehension type activity. We cover 2 Learning Lessons with one assessment file. The next demo was of a phonics based SCORM file that awed the lower primary teachers. Unanimously the teachers agreed of the usefulness of SCORM

The final segment of the workshop was a writing lab geared towards UPSR BI P2 Sec C. The key elements of a narrative were reviewed. Due to time constraints, we were unable to go deep into Show It, Don’t Tell It. Overall the teachers found the workshop useful and were flying high in spirits. 

JPWPKL SK Seri Permaisuri 11-12/5

The event was arranged by Mr Tiong from Sentul Education Dept. with his colleague Mr Nishan Baharum from JPWPKL. It took place on 11-12/5. 

When I met the group, I gave my necessary introductions and shout out of thanks to the organisers and attendees. I recognised the personal tragedy of the morning trainer and tried to connect with the group. We agreed to salvage the day. They started to warmup when they saw the intro toon. I did a little more rapport building with the crowd of 27 teachers from various primary schools in KL. There were a few trainers and various administrative officers like Mr Tiong and Mr Nishan in addition to the 27 participants. The multi-ethnic group was predominately female with a ratio of 26:1. 

We watched the warmup activity of Jay Walker’s English Mania then they were split into pairs for a brief discussion of English Mania. Next, I elicited main points from the vid through asking questions to the group while various pairs gave answers. The mojo in the room had changed, fortunately I got buy-in from the crowd. I forewarned them this was the most theory-ladened workshop of the training event. So I posed the question, What is the difference between assessment vs evaluation? I let them discuss it in pairs for a few minutes while I monitored the conversations. 

I levelled the playing field by commonly agreeing to a set of definitions on assessment and evaluation. It was an aptly illustrated cartoon that read one is to increase quality while the other is to judge. We touched on some of the history of evaluations back to the Imperial Exam of the Tang Dynasty and we figured out why the value of evaluation is embedded deep in Asian society. As a group we applied the set of definitions to numerous tests like UPSR, UBB, LINUS and etc. The group was much more comfortable with the subject matter so we proceeded to watch a short vid on The benefits of Assessment. Next, the teachers predicted the 5 levels of assessment focus then the answers were given followed by the details. We had lively discussion discussing the merits of teacher assessments.

It was time for the teachers to get a task. The learning objectives and the marking criteria were withheld. The task was to draw a dinosaur. Afterwards, the teachers were given the marking criteria  and scored their dinosaurs. Then they were asked to self assess the dinosaurs with, What When Well and Even Better If. Afterwards, the teacher assessed their partners’ dinosaurs with the same set of questions. The day closed with some smiles and enthusiasm.

The next day started out with an enjoyable lead-in activity. We did a quick review of assessments and evaluations.  I was running a bit behind schedule from the other day, so we continued to complete the first workshop. We highlighted the learning outcomes and the marking criteria, The group project dinosaur drawing required a name and employment. The groups got together and made some very colourful, creative and career-minded dinosaurs. By days end the concept and practice of self and peer assessment was widely accepted and deemed useful.

It was time to jump in the pond of a FrogVLE inspired training. The teachers cringed when they heard Frog, but we reprogrammed our association of Frog with the world’s coolest frog, Kermit. Then we did a demo of SCORM packages for Years 4-6. We highlighted the packages which have transferable skills for UPSR. We also did a phonics related Year 1 package called Sam the Snake (s,a,t,p) for a few of the teachers.

The SCORM packages were a hit so we learned how to build a site. The school was unable to provide a computer lab; therefore, they followed along with the step by step directions provided in their packets. The process of assigning the site to their students was also demonstrated. 

The final phase of the workshop was a writing lab. We had a good time using the Simpsons to review sentence variety. Than we dived into the differences between last year’s and this year’s format on UPSR BI P2 Sec C. Writing techniques skills were transferred. The awesome teachers absorbed all the information, tasks and skills with splendour.

JPWPKL at SMK Seri Permaisuri

It was a collaborative event between US Embassy KL and JPWPKL.  The workshop was titiled: The Role of the Teacher in the 21st Century Classroom.

Puan Norhana Binti Hashim was kind enough to coordinate this event for the top performing panel heads from various schools in KL.

Here is a brief report on USEKL sponsored event with JPWPKL on 4/26 at SMK Seri Permaisuri. The event took place in 2 locations on the campus. The majority of the session was in the music room on the 2nd floor and the remaining time in the computer lab on the first floor. The crowd was delighted by the presence of Doug, Marla and Brendan. The event was The Role of the Teacher in the 21st Century Classroom. 

However, there is a bit of backstory that must be narrated first. Due to my poor performance on a skim reading task, I missed my 6:25am flight. I mistakenly read 6:25pm. The irony of the matter is, skimming, one of the sub-skills of reading, was a part of my presentation. Nonetheless, I quickly recovered from my flub by getting a flight at 5:45 pm later that day.

Switching gears back to the event which started on time at 8:30 am. Puan Noorhana kindly introduced us all to the crowd of 51 English teachers and 2 SIC (social integration coaches) from various SMK, SJK (C), SJK (T) and SMA schools from Wilayah KL. The male:female ratio was around 1:5. The group was seasoned head of English Panel teachers with high level of English proficiency. They are a close knit group with a “family like” bond. 

I started with thanking the host, guest and participants. I encountered a little tech drama when I tried to play my signature toon-schedule for the day. Luckily, Wafi the tech guy came after the brief toon was played and sorted out some sound and projector issues. I gave a dialogue while Wafi fixed the issues. In no time at all we are back on track and I explained the task related to the warm-up activity. The audience seemed to enjoy the 10 Minute History of English. The task was to list some dates and words from the video. Afterwards, in pairs they compared answers and discussed the material. I solicited each participant to give one of the words from the video in quick succession. 

The next activity was done in pairs. The packet included a worksheet about qualities of a 20th Century Classroom and gap fills for corresponding qualities in the 21st Century Classroom. The speaking and writing task was based on prediction. The teachers had spirited discussions on the various qualities. After about 5 minutes, we collectively went over the answers. 

In the packet and on the screen were 2 visuals. One was of the 20th Century Classroom and 21st Century Classroom. I prompted the discussion by briefly discussing the 20th century qualities. The paired speaking task was based on self-inventory on the topic of which qualities do they possess. The second part was how can they develop some of the 21st Century qualities in themselves.

At this juncture, Doug politely asked permission to address the group. He posed an open ended  question about was the main obstacles the teachers faced teaching English. There were many responses, but Doug diplomatically explained many of them were out of the sphere of the USEKL. However, he did offer them services and support that would be gladly provided. Marla graciously expressed support in terms of those who want to visit America and a sampling of the various programs from sponsorship to trip-tixs. Brendan gave a brief intro and some praise to the teachers. Doug then briefly explained the materials that embassy provided for the participants. I seized the opportunity to promote the upcoming American English webinar. 

This led us to break and marked the exit of our friends from USEKL. The box lunch had arrived and the teachers voted to take a 15 minute break to eat lunch in the room. They decided to work through lunch to finish early to avoid traffic. Puan Noorhana facilitated the vote and the amendments to the schedule.

After a 15 minute break I elicited the sub-skills of reading from the group. Then introduced a text (‘This is Why Finland the Best Schools’) to them. The room was already divided in half by middle row. I assigned the top half of the article to group A and the bottom half to group B. After completing a detailed read, I had both groups count off in twos. New groups were created with mixed pairs from group A & B. The teachers did a jigsaw speaking task by summarising their half of the story to their new partner. This led to a few minute discussion about the merits of the article and the challenges of adapting this model to Malaysia. 

The next step was the new groups on the right side were assigned the task of creating 10 T/F questions and the left side was responsible to craft 5 MCQs. When they completed making the MRTs, new groups of 4 were created with members who possessed T/F questions and MCQs. They exchanged questions and completed their colleagues MRTs. Afterwards, as a group we discussed other strategies of exploiting a text and creating other student centered activities. We also emphasised how a speaking component could be in included in a reading, writing or listening exercises. Some quotes from Hammer & Handy were discussed.

We then watched 2 uplifting 3 minutes videos from Kid President (KP) on A Message to Teachers and 20 Things You Should Say More. Judging by the crowd’s reaction, they were well received. We discussed how we could implement some of the KP’s advice into their classrooms. From this discussion, we hopped into Frog.

I did a quick overview of the SCORM packages available for Forms 3-5 in English. We also broke down a few SCORM files listing their Learning Objectives in accordance with the Malaysian Standards. I demonstrated a few packages at random. As the demo completed, we packed up our things and moved into the lab which was a bit cramped. Due to slow internet speed we only opened 10 computers and worked in groups of 5. Then we went step by step on how to build a SCORM site that can be accessible by the students. The teachers were impressed with the educational quality of the SCORM packages. They particularly liked how the voiceovers were Malaysian speaking proper English not foreign native speakers. It was a splendid day!

Balik Kampong / Going Back Home To Pattani

My educational odyssey has taken me back to the beginning. It's not in a circle, like a dog chasing his tail. It's more like the spiralling string connected to a wau bulan (traditional kite) as it climbs sky high. It was time to balik kampong, to CRW Islamic School in Pattani. The friendly confines of Kersik, Thailand where my teaching career was launched. As I rolled back into the village accompanied by old friend, Hj Wae-daoh, he said, "Welcome back home!"

Wau Bulan

To add too the spiralling effect, my former student, Hasan, is now an English teacher at CRW. It was the 23rd and 24th of May. On Saturday, we gathered bright an early, early enough to enjoy the sea breeze. The eager group was made up of 9 teachers on the first day. We had a power packed 2 days ahead of us. Day 1 was a workshop for teachers only while Day 2 was an English event with the 9 teachers an 150 plus Form 1 secondary students.  The name of the game for the workshop was...phonics.

The workshop began with a warm-up activity. We broke the ice and exploded with good counsel from Kid President, With a Message to Teachers & Students.  After a brief discussion on the teachers' personal backgrounds with phonics, we briefly refreshed and rebooted a common working understanding of phonics. Generally speaking, many of the teachers were exposed to phonics in teachers college, but were not applying it in the classroom. Yet it had no bearing on their enthusiasm, they plan to use a phonics based methodology this year in lower primary. 

It was time to introduce them to their new gang of friends, Alphablocks. We watched the first episode of Alphablocks on the sound of the alphabet. This led to us learning the actions associated to the letters and sounds. After a quick fun assessment of sounds and actions, we introduced the indispensable component of teaching phonics- sight words. We did a sight words activity and assessment then it was on to diphthongs. We had a few other pleasant educational tangents throughout the day. I proposed we do a 3 station of activities somewhat like what was done recently with Lincoln Corner.

We continued to collaborate on the rest of the content for the day besides the stations. Team Work, Makes the Dream Work! We managed to organise a solid program for the students that went off without a hitch. On Sunday, curious parents looked on as their children packed the dewan. As always, the event began ceremoniously. We played a toon on some valuable points of the upcoming school year. We got the students to chant the school's initials. There was chant off between the boys vs the girls. We sang some songs, we learn some phrases and discussed the expected creative attitude the upcoming school year.

The teachers did a fantastic job creating an English environment under the blazing April South China Sea sun. Students really had a kick with the day's activities. Hasan sparkled like I knew he would with engaging his students. It was the first phase of a monthly yearlong project to lend support to the teachers as they make a leap to a phonics friendly approach this year.

Masjid Kersik

Lincoln Corner 10 Year Anniversary Celebration at KB State Library

KB Lincoln Corner’s 10th Year Anniversary English/Environmental Day

It was a hazy morning, hinting at the heat that will be unleashed later in the day. It was Monday 18, April on the second floor of the KB State Library. We started 10 minutes late to allow for students to arrive. A few more trickled in and the total was 40 students from various Agama Schools from Yayasan Islam Kelantan (YIK). A sample of few of the Mahaad’s location are KB, Tumpat and Pasir Mas. Their ages ranged from 16-17. The male:female ratio was 1:3. It placed nicely into splitting into 3 groups for the stations activity. The proficiency level of the group was high. Kira mentioned it was better than what she is used to dealing with.

Fairuz and Hafiz who are from PPAK were instrumental in setting up the venue and assisting through out the day till the finish. Fairuz arranged the snack, gifts and lunch for the participants. Hafiz was on the ball for any tech support and he was the official photographer of the day. The partners at PPAK were very accommodating and pleasant hosts for the US Embassy Kl Event.

Kira and Jake were amazing, very helpful and interactive with the participants. Jake managed the mural station and Kira facilitated the postcard writing station. They were cheerful smiling faces and positive reflections of the US Embassy. 

The warmup activity was more impressive than anticipated. The group watched a touching animation called The Giving Tree. It’s based on lifelong relationship with a boy and a tree. The students were moved in the discussion afterwards about the importance of trees. A kisah of Nabi about a tree crying was relayed to the students and it further sparked the conversation. Many of the students displayed some of The Giving Tree themes in their murals. 

After a quick chant, we broke into 4 groups of 10 and made circles. Students held hands, while a hula hoop was inserted. The groups had to the pass the hula hoop around the circle without breaking their clutched hands. Students were encouraged to use English for all events. The boys won the first pass, but were unable to adapt to the eye closed Jedi style. All the girls were able to complete it before them with eyes closed. We also did one activity where the groups were split into smaller circles. The students had to hold the hula hoop on their fingertips and navigate it down to touching the floor back to level with their head. The activity encouraged communication. 

Jake and Kira facilitated a short open discussion about the environment with the students. It was a nice transition to the 15 minutes break time. PPAK provided drinks and snacks for the students in the adjacent room. 

A couple of chants got the kids’ focus back from break, then we watched the 8 minutes long animation, The Story of Electronics. After the viewing, the students were able to articulate the main themes of the film: Designed for the dump, toxic in toxic out, recycle, reduce and reuse. 

Next, we viewed a 3 minutes long video on Earth Day 2016. The conversation revolved around the themes of climate change and eco-consciousness. 

We then split the participants into 3 groups and assigned each group a station. Station 1 was Jake’s station where students got big sheets of butcher block paper and an assortment of pastels and markers for freestyle expression with an environmental message. Interestingly, a fair number of students were unfamiliar how to use the medium of pastels. 2 groups made collaborative pieces, while one group split in half to make 2 separate murals. The murals were judged by the students and the boys The Giving Tree inspired mural won. Each boy received a gift wrapped packet of seeds for a prize. 

Kira did a wonderful job with managing the post card station. She prompted the students to write to their friends about the state of the environment. The students used markers and pastels to make their post cards colorful. The students retained their own cards as a take away. 

I monitored the Marshmallow Challenge Station. The group would be split into 2. Each group got 30 pieces of spaghetti, 1 meter of string, 1 meter of tape and 1 marshmallow. They were given one objective; build the tallest self standing tower structure that could support a marshmallow on top. It was good fun and I was able to get into some side conversations about their aspirations. Every group was able to creatively plan and build self standing towers with varying heights.  

The stations went smoothly; however, we increased the time from 30 to 35 minutes per station. In retrospect, we could have stretched it to 40 minutes. The mural making station required more time than anticipated. Between the second and the third rotation, we paused to reassemble in our seats to hear a brief talk from Imam Sbari.

Imam Sabri is Imam Tua of Masjid Sultan in Kubang Kerian. It his a high profile masjid with proximity to HUSM; therefore, the Imam does part of his khutbah in English. He kindly agreed to give a 5 minute talk on the importance of young agama students to learn English. It was well received by the students, one of the Tumpat students commented on how cool he thought it was that the Imam could speak English. Many of their ears perked when they heard the Imam mention the catch phrase: Team work, makes the Dream Work. Imam received a token gift of appreciation. He indulged us with some photo opps before his departure. After a quick chant, then the students returned to their final station.

As for the signature event of the day, we went outside to the field behind Bazar Tok Guru and did an alphabet water ballon toss. Amazingly, there were no complaints of heat, because the lure of water balloons was too overwhelming. Unfortunately, the high temperatures popped some of the balloons in the basket so we only had time for one round. As per our schedule and much to Jake’s delight, the students cleaned up the field afterwards.  

We reassembled upstairs for the finale of an English Nasyid, “Give Thanks To Allah.” We skimmed the lyrics before we sang it for any blocking vocabulary. Then I played a karaoke style video of the song. Half way the through the song, I turned the music off. The students finished on a high note. Once last chant and we closed at 1:10pm. However, many rounds of pictures and a tasty lunch, we didn't finish till 2pm.

Kira and students at the Card Making station.

Jake and students at the Mural Making station

Imam Sabri & Khidar 'AB' Abdullah

I received a few notable comments. One Ustaz from KB, really enjoyed this event and expressed the need for more English programs.

 "Ooo Child, things are going to get easier, Ooo child things are going to get brighter."

Beyond TELL2, Teaching & Training Continues

Welcome Back! Sorry for the hiatus. It's Khidar Abdullah, better known as AB. When TELL2 ended last October, there was a hope of a TELL3. Unfortunately, due to a couple of factors, like sagging oil prices, there are no plans for a TELL3. Even though the program has ended, there is still a need to launch the mutuality mindset throughout the schools in Malaysia and Southern Thailand.

Through collaboration, I'm still on a mission to make teachers be, feel and do awesomeness. I've currently gone solo. I'm playing with the name Heavy Hitters Consultancy, as the name of my biz. As of recent, I've joint ventured with US Embassy in KL, CRW Islamic School, Pattani and SK Dewan Beta. I'm doing a variety of English programs from primary to secondary. I hope to use this blog as a portal for information on some of the unfinished work I'm continuing.  Moreover, I hope this blog showcases the sincerity and professionalism of so many teachers in the region who are striving for continual growth & development.

I don't have a destination in mind, nor do I have gps or a roadmap. Although, I do have a full tank of good will and passion that will drive this journey. So welcome aboard on my educational odyssey, the more the merrier. Let's navigate these changing times together and exude awesomeness!