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!
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