American English Webinar 4.6- Classroom 2.0: Tools for Digital Learning

American English Webinar Series 4 was a worldwide internet based professional development course for English teachers. The course was divided into 6 sessions, alternating Wednesdays from September to November at UNITAR KB. Prospect, SK, SMA, SMK and university teachers alike attended. There was a total of 28 teachers who participated, 10 of which qualified for certificates. Compliments to all the teachers who took part. My role was as the moderator of the lively 30 minutes long discussion that proceeded after each 60 minutes long webinar.

The final instalment was Classroom 2.0: Tools for Digital Learning. One of the takeaways from this session was the idea of not to expect technology to do the teaching, rather use technology as a tool to teach. It was an informative session which shared many free internet based resources for the classroom. Most of the teachers had some experience with the blended approach previously, but they all found it useful. 

The session revolved around Carol Chapelle's, Choosing the right tools (2000):
1. Language Learning Potential
2. Learner Fit
3. Meaning Focus
4. Authenticity 
5. Positive Impact
6. Punctuality 

The last discussion was a brief reflection on the entire series and a 10 minute demonstration on SCORM  packages accessible through FrogAsia. The demonstration was upon request of the teachers. Since the SCORM packages met Chapelle's 6 criteria and were tailored made to the Malaysian syllabus, I thought it an appropriate use of time.  The teachers were pleasantly suprised of the list of all the SCORM packages available to them on spp.moe.my.  They were hooked and found them to be an awesome tool in making their classrooms more blended. Utmost respect to all theses super teachers who sacrificed their free time to voluntarily improve their skills sets. Huge thanks to all the partners involved: Douglas Black USEKL, Tn Hj Ramlan Awang UNITAR KB and Mohammad Aswari Japar UNITAR KB.

Here is the link to webinar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCj-hHSnuqk&list=PL7BlTIDdOgZJ63fcD0WsatBODvNCeHA0t

American English Update- November 16, 2016

What’s New from AE? 

• Celebrate International Games Day on November 19^th by playing Activate Games and encouraging others to create an original board game for our 4^th annual Create Your Own Board Game Competition! Deadline: Nov 25. Winners announced: Nov 30. 
• It’s International Education Week! Attached to this email are new graphics created by OELP for IEW. You can use the hashtag #IEW2016
• Post fun facts about English with these five “fun facts” graphics created by OELP. (Attached to this email.)
• This week in the Teacher’s Corner, we explore using a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) approach to help incorporate technology into classroom practice without the need for every student to have a personal computer.

Social Media

Please feel free to use this language to disseminate the new AE content via your social media platforms. 

Create Your Own Board Game Competition Do you use board games in your classroom? Do you ever create your own board games for your students? Enter the 4th annual #AmericanEnglish Create Your Own Board Game (CYOBG) Competition! Submit your original board game to americanenglish@state.gov  by November 25. Winners will be announced on November 30. Learn more and see past winners here: http://bit.ly/AEboardgame #AEforEducators #WeLoveAE  Do you like games? Are you creative? Enter the 4th annual #AmericanEnglish Create Your Own Board Game (CYOBG) Competition! Submit your original board game to americanenglish@state.gov by November 25. Winners will be announced on November 30. Learn more and see past winners here: http://bit.ly/AEboardgame #WeLoveAE	Like board games? Enter the 4th annual #AmericanEnglish CYOBG competition!	https://americanenglish.state.gov/create-your-own-board-game-competition Shortened Link:  http://bit.ly/AEboardgame
Teacher’s Corner: Trends in Education Looking for internet-based tools to use in your classroom? Check out this week’s #AmericanEnglish #TeachersCorner!	Looking for internet-based tools to use in your classroom? Check out this week’s #AmericanEnglish #TeachersCorner!	http://bit.ly/TCdevice

American English Webinar 4.5- Multimodal Writing: Using Media in Academic Writing

On alternating Wednesday nights, from September - November, UNITAR KB has been the sole provider of American English Webinar Series 4 in Malaysia. AE Webinar 4 is a live simulcast from the U.S. Department of State’s Office of English Language Programs in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in Washington DC. It is a virtual learning platform broadcasted live around the world.

AE Webinar is a professional development programme aimed to provide methodological topics that foster interactive, student-centered language instruction. Webinars normally last 60 minutes and are followed by a guided discussion. There are 6 sessions. A sample of topics: Humour in the Classroom , Engaging Young Learners, Tips on Effective Writing and Digital learning.

Tn Hj Ramlan Awang Omar hosted the Webinar at UNITARKB, His school has a solid working relationship with the US Embassy in KL. They have collaborated on previous English Language programmes together. He wants to bring the best practices in English instruction to his students and other teachers in his community. He invited local primary and secondary teachers from SK, SMA and SMK to attend. The entire spectrum from future teachers to university lecturers attend this programme. 

USEKL provides a moderator for the webinar, Khidar Abdullah, to facilitate the discussion afterwards. These dedicated teachers receive a certificate upon completion of the programme. AE Webinar 4 results in the addition of new skills for the educator’s teaching toolkit.

Here is the link to American English Webinar 4.5- Multimodal Writing: Using Media in Academic Writing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udY8IR7aRys

Part 4- Benaa Group- The Tales and Travels of 1,001 Words

The sand slipped rapidly out the hour class, as the epic journey drew to a close. We left PD, to go to IOI Palm Garden Resort in Putrajaya. The group had 3 nights left in Malaysia. We had traveled through the jungle, mountains and beach... last stop was the city.

We had one final session in Putrajaya before the culminating event of the spelling bee. The final session was divided into two parts: course review and spelling bee practice. We played our last round of Secret Sight Words. Each student had come a long way, all making commendable personal progress.

The spelling bee differed slightly from a normal one, because the students were allowed to write the word on a blackboard. This eliminated any possible discrepancies. The room was stuffed with competitive spirit. Each round had a new set of 100 words which were selected randomly via an app. The final rounds were sanctioned to use any words from 501-1,000 of the Fry list. The students sailed through the first 3 rounds of 1-300 Fry Words. As we proceeded, the competition started to dwindle.

It finally became a showdown between Abdul Rahman and Osama. They went back and forth a couple times. In the end, Abdul Rahman was triumphant. Way to go! A fantastic performance by the group. We concluded by singing a final round of our trips theme music, "We Love Muhummad."

As mentioned in Part 3, I was tasked with awarding the best overall student. It was a really difficult decision. They were all champions in their own rights. After evaluating everybody's performance, it was a dead heat between two brothers Hashim and Abdul Aziz. Hashim is remarkable student and he was a steady contributor throughout the program, he's got a bright future ahead of him. Yet his brother, he showed the most improvement. Moreover, he became a whiz in phonics. Therefore, Abdul Aziz was awarded the best overall student.

It was an amazing trip. Everybody made notable progress in their English language skills. The
students had all improved in speaking, writing, reading and listening. Consequently, we have a whattsapp group where they continue develop. They were a sad to leave Malaysia, but happy to go home.  "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."- Dr. Suess

Abdul Rahman, spelling bee Champion!

Part 3- Benaa Group- The Tales and Travels of 1,001 Words

As we traveled out of the mountains of Bukit Tinggi, we played paint ball followed by another feast at Balquis restaurant.  BTW, Team Talal was victorious in the round robin paint ball event. We arrived at our new destination, Eagle Ranch Resort in Port Dickson. It is located on the West Coast of Malaysia next to a beach. This resort specialises in team building activities and hosts a wide range of obstacle courses.

In PD, we had a lots of fun in and outside the classroom. The students skills steadily improved from individual, pair and group work. We completed our first 500 words of the Fry list. We managed to have one session on team building as well. Balloons were used as teaching aid for prepositions of direction. The students had a practice round for the upcoming finale, the spelling bee.

The group spent some time on word families. This proved useful on how to pronounce properly future words. We had many games and competitions to reinforce the 500 words. This group of students was keen on competition.

One of the standout games in their eyes was when I plastered the wall with words. There was 3 groups: Future Leaders, Badr and Uhud groups. Each group would provide a challenger for every round and rotate. The students had to line up behind a line. I would give a word then the challengers had to race to the wall to locate the word. The first person to find it gets a point for their team. They really got involved in this exercise,  the competition was stiff.

The team building session in English was jolly. The theme of the day was based on the unknown quote,"Teamwork: Simply Stated, It Is Less Me And More We." Our session included hula hoop and marshmallow challenges. Again the students exemplified their fervour for competition. Future Leaders were victorious in the marshmallow challenge.

Another crowd pleaser was the Long 'i' Fries. This game practices all the combination of long 'i': i, y, ie, i_e and igh. Students were split into 2 teams. I would give a fry with a word on it like crying. They had to correctly pronounce the fry, then run to their respective wall to place it the corresponding fries scoops. Even the most advanced student in class enjoyed this activity and realized the power of phonics.

We did a little penmanship work to improve their written script. They also made Thank You cards to their parents for sending them on this remarkable trip. We had completed our 500 words and everybody displayed noticeable improvement from the beginning. The last thing was to prepare for the final spelling bee. Dr Ghassan sweetened the deal by offering a router as a prize for the champion of the spelling bee. The same deal was made for best overall student. However, the mood was bittersweet. The guys were psyched about the prizes, but they were sad that their saga in Malaysia was creeping to it's end.