The final week of PBEY 3102

As we know, we are required to write blogs throughout this whole semester any tasks or events regarding this course. Blogging has helped me to express my ideas and thoughts as well as opinions to my course members and also those who view this site. Through blogging also, I can know what are people's comments towards my points of view. As a result, we enchance our knowledge and expand our skills in writing. Besides that, blogging encourages us to state on our points based on rationality which requires critical and creative thinking. Furthermore, by blogging, we can develop our ICT skills as we learn to browse for picture to decorate blog, search for information on the content of the blog and so on. However, what I dislike in blogging is that it takes ages some times to upload photos in this blog. In other terms, blogging is a cool activity.

This course seriously turned me to a new person. Before this, I had the inferiority because I would be very blur whenever someone talks to me about technological matters to me. Now, I can share something about it with my friends. Thus, I would say that this course boost my self-confidence and I love it! Unfortunately, I realized that something lacks in this course which is the creating non-technological stuffs. Actually, at the beginning of this course, I was expecting that we would prepare materials such as puppets, flashcards and masks. In short, I am happy that I have gained lots of ICT skills through this course. Thank you, Puan Foziah and TESL members...

Yippie! exam is over

The exam fever for PBEY3102 is over. Phewww....After burning the midnight oil to do revision on the notes, the 2hours test finally came to its end. I was quite nervous when I saw the exam paper. The exam questions was quite tough than what I expected. Even though the questions were related to what we have learnt throughout the year, my brain just could not work for a moment due to nervousness. Some how, I managed to answer them. I just hope that I have provided the correct answer for every question. For those who have doubt on their answers in the exam paper, do not worry and let us concentrate on organising our Portfolio. Good Luck!

Oh my god...Four lesson plans???

This is what I muttered to myself when Puan Foziah asked us to construct 4 lesson plans as our third assignment. The lesson plans must be done based on the topic and year that we got through the draw lots. Mine was about homes. I have no idea what the content of the topic would be. Before starting on the lesson plans, I borrowed the text books from neighbours and cousins. Besides that, I went to the bookshop and bought some primary school exercise books so that can be used as a guide when creating the task sheet of the lesson plan. I began working on my third assignment. In the lesson plans, I have applied my learnt skill through PBEY3102 course which are photo editing, eBook, extracting audio, downloading video and so on. I cannot imagine myself doing this as I was a really really bad in this technological and ICT stuffs before this. Now, it is simple as ABC. Through this third assignment, I realized why Puan Foziah asked to do 4 lesson plans. In schools, children will be taught on a topic for the whole week, not one day one topic. Therefore, the children must be enhanced with the four language skills in the topics. As teachers in primary school, we need to prepare lesson plans for a whole week regarding one topic. Therefore, this four lesson plans actually served as a mild training for us in preparation for practicum. So, this assignment has been an exposure on how to connect from one lesson to another.

Microsoft Publisher

The 2nd assignment fever finally came to an end when we submitted the assignment on last Tuesday. Vina and I made sure that we have compiled all the materials that need to be in. As a following task, we were required to find a partner to create a name card, poster as well as pamphlet to be inserted into our portfolio. Therefore, Loi Choi Yee and I paired up and we discussed on the features that should be taken into consideration when creating a name card and pamphlet. Then, I started to work on my name card using the Microsoft Publisher. The format of the name card was there, hence, the process of making it was quite simple. However, I changed the actual design and colour to suit the type and size of the font. The same method was applied to pamphlet and poster. Not forgetting newsletter too.

Preparing the second assignment

For the second assignment of PKEY3102, we are required to do two lesson plans and develop materials based on two videos. One video ‘The Earth Song’ by Michael Jackson is compulsory for all of us. Meanwhile, the second video is our choice. The title of the second video that Vina and I agreed to choose is Animals Save the Planet. Since there are two videos, Vina and I decided to divide our job. I chose to work on the second video. I used the Windows Movie Maker software to extract the sound, snap the pictures of the clip as well as converted the downloaded video to AVI using total video converter. Since we have to construct lesson plan based on the video, I thought of using the video in the lesson. However, not all the clips in the video are suitable and clear for the pupils. Therefore, I edited the video by omitting the unnecessary clips. Then, I also developed several digital flashcards out from the video and added images from net. In the process of creating lesson plan, my friends especially my partner, Vina were helping me alot. In fact, through ADEC, I have gained lot of information regarding this assignment as all the questions and doubts from us were cleared by Puan Foziah and tesl members. Thank you everyone!

The four skills task-done!

We were required to form a group consists of four members and each must develop a material and activity for one skill. Imannudin, Zulaikha, Safrina and I quickly formed a group. In order to be fair and square, we decided to draw lot. I got the reading skill and I was happy with it. This is because when the instruction was given, I already began to imagine how a creative piece of reading material can be developed. Story? riddles? Magazines? or perhaps eBook...hmmm...an eBook would be suitable for this skill. I told my idea and my group members were encouraging me to do it. Then, we decided on the topic. Therefore, we chose the Festivals in Malaysia. I began working on my eBook by first, browsing and selecting images from Google and Yahoo search engines. Then, I edited the images using Microsoft Paint and Nero Photoshop. This was when I use what I have learn during lecture on Photo Editing. Even though consuming time to edit the pictures, I had fun making it. The eBook was actually a slide shows of Microsoft PowerPoint which has been transformed into informative and colourful book. Then the activity on reading skill was constructed with the task sheet. Besides reading skill, I helped my group members by sharing and giving ideas and opinions on the activities of other 3 skills. In fact, each helps one another. This is where the team spirit can be seen.

E-book:tired but fun

Making e-book is really fun.At the beginning, I thought that creating an e-book is going to be difficult. However,once I started working on it, I found making e-book is quite an interesting job.After asking around for idea, finally I decided to choose the theme 'animal' for my ebook.First, I began by capturing the pictures of animals that I have drawn.After snapping, I bluetoothed the images to my PC and edited them so that the white background cannot be seen.This is when I applied my photo editing skills that I have learned in my previous lesson. I used Adobe Photoshop to do the cropping and also changing the background color of the slides.I don't prefer my ebook to be very static with only still clip arts. Therefore,I browse through net and inserted many animated pictures (gif) so that my ebook will look even lively and dynamic.Even though the process of finding animated pictures seemed to be hard,frankly I enjoyed doing that as I was quite surprise to finding funny and eye capturing clip arts through the way.One thing,it required patience, patience and patience..Why alot of animated pictures in the ebook???Some people believe that lots of animation can distract the pupils' attention on the information that to be highlighted. However,in my point of view, animations could hold the primary school pupils' short attention span for a longer period.Furthermore, I believe that input can be delivered easily through stories and moving images as pupils can recall them in the following lessons.In addition to this, I have used the Window Movie Maker to do the voice recording for the ebook narration.

Video Editing

Finally, my partner, Izuddin and I have done the video editing task which was assigned few weeks ago by Puan Foziah. Since the task was assigned few days before holidays, we thought it going to very difficult for us to work on it. However, we were advised by Puan Foziah to work through online. She said that she wanted to see how we could make use of this Internet to communicate and work on the video. We were puzzled because both of us are not having Internet access at home. However, that idea was the only hope for us to complete the task. Right after the task is assigned, Izzudin and I began to discuss on the theme and storyline. We also sketched a simple storyboard for this video. During our holidays at hometown, we tend to use the Internet access at cybercafe. Izzudin and I contacted each other and discussed about this video editing through emails. We also exchange informations and pictures through Internet(email). Then, we managed to create the video using the Power Director software and tutorial for it. Now, I agree with the saying "When there's a will, there's a way". Even though being far from each other, we manage to complete the task with the help of the emails. Distance should not be an excuse for a pair to incomplete the task assigned. Thank you for the email idea,Puan Foziah...It works.

Audio Editing

Editing audio? Gosh! How am I supposed to do that??? This is what I was mumbling when the lecturer announced on the audio editing task few weeks ago. However, after reading the notes displayed in ADEC, I determined to give a try. First, I downloaded few Tamil songs from a website, TamilBeat.com. Then, by using KeepVid, I downloaded two English songs in a cybercafé and saved it in my MP3 modulator. Then, I used the Movie Maker software to edit the audio. I listened to every parts of the song and chose the suitable parts by dragging and matching them in the Movie Maker’s timeline. I accidentally overlapped one song clip on the other but the result whooped me off. It created a continuous beat and sounded more natural. That was what I wanted and it brought me satisfaction. So, I think editing music is not hard as I thought before.

Photo Editing

We do come across with lots of pictures and images in magazines, newspapers and even billboards that make us wonder on their authenticity. Batman on the KL Twin Tower? A human’s face on a giraffe’s body? A house with colourful cloud background? How these are possible??? With lots of software available in the market, it is possible to edit original pictures for numerous purposes. Editing pictures is a significant skill that should be learned by primary school teachers. This is because by having this skill; teachers could actually edit a picture to be unique or funny so that it can capture pupils’ interest and attention during the set induction of a lesson. Besides that, teachers can utilize their editing skill to omit unnecessary parts of the picture so that it would be suitable for the use in classroom.
One of the tasks given by Puan Foziah Mahmood was photo editing. We are required to select any picture, either from Internet or camera snap and later edit it according to our choice. At first, I used Microsoft Photo Editor to edit a picture from Internet. Then, I edited the same picture by using the Photo Bucket’s tools. Then, one of my classmates taught me on how to edit images using Adobe Photo Elements software. It has variety of editing tools and user-friendly. It took me around three hours to browse through the software so that I would know the functions of each icon in the software. I also learn to crop and paste my picture to replace with a cartoon’s body. Finally, I edited the picture and uploaded in Photo Bucket. Now, if anyone ask me if I know about editing pictures, I would proudly say “Oh yes, I have done that before”

Editing images in a click of mouse

Not satisfied with your picture shot? Then, change it!Maybe some of you out there would be wondering how could we edit the so-called "imperfect" sights. Yes, we can!Yesterday, during the lecture, we learnt on how to edit photos through Adobe Photoshop. I was quite shock when I got to know that photos can be edited through many softwares. For example, removing the red-eye from the picture of a person, adding blue sky to a picture, making a picture brighter and yet, it does not look fake. We could not even detect which are the original ones. Besides that, we learnt on how to add frames,additional clips and effects such as adding bubble speechs, glittering butterflies,welcome words and so on.In addition to that,we were assigned to do photo editing individually by selecting an image from net or camera and edit it for a creative look.However, it has be potential enough to be used as an appropriate teaching/learning aid in classroom.I have not start my work on this.Currently, I am browsing for lots and lots of image in hope to get a spark of idea.As teachers,why do we need to learn about photo editing?As we know, children learn better if their learning is supported with concrete materials as well as appropriate pictures. Therefore, by having the knowledge of photo editing, we teachers could cut out unnecessary elements of the particular picture to be used during lesson.I am pretty sure every Cohort 3 members will be cracking their head for ideas on this video clip assignment.Relax and take your time...We can do the best!

Learning more?

Previous week, we learnt on the elements related to children's learning as well as the capacity of a child to learn.The interesting matter here is our lecturer, Dr. Foziah Mahmood divided us into groups and asked each group to present a topic through power point. The topic that my group received was on 'children's instinct for fun and play'. The notes related to all the topics were displayed through Adec.Therefore, it was easier for us to refer. Since i was working on the topic 'Children's instinct for fun and play', I have learnt on the importance of fun and play to kids. Firstly, it can lower the children's affective filter, promote creative imagination as well as lengthen pupils' short attention span. I also learn on the roles of teacher to promote fun and play in classroom for beneficial learning. Additionally,I was impressed with all the groups' presentations as colorful slides were prepared and also added with Youtube clips...Thumbs up to all!

What I learn...

During the first two lectures, Pn. Foziah Mahmood explained briefly on the content of this course and I found it very interesting. She also required all of us to have a 4GB thumbdrive for each. At first, I was reluctant to buy the pendrive that she suggested. This is because I already have two pendrives of 256MB. Later on, she clarified to us that by having a pendrive of 4GB, we could start find and save images, animations and download songs from Internet for our teaching during the practicum at schools. Then, I realized how brilliant idea of her was that. Yes, indeed, it would be a great act to start collecting our resources for primary teaching from now onwards. I’m glad that I have a 4GB now. Besides that, she introduced some terms related to technological and non-technological resources. There were ‘e-book’, ‘limewire’ and ‘flickr’ which I never heard before. Pn. Foziah encouraged us to browse through the net frequently so that we could get familiar with the search engines and software linked to our resources.

My expectation on this course...

The successful implementation of a lesson depends on the teacher’s creativity to develop resources for classroom. There are many resources that can be designed or adapted through the use of Internet and software. Why designing and adapting resources are important? Definitely, it is to cater the needs of pupils in classroom in order to ensure maximum learning for them. Therefore, I would love to enhance my ICT skills to prepare resources for my future students. Through this ‘Using and developing resources for the ESL classroom’ course, I’m very inquisitive to learn about making simple animation. Animation is a motion video clip that attracts primary school students’ attention as a set induction of a lesson. Hence, it would be very useful for me to have some knowledge on it in order to create my own one for future students. Besides that, I’m really eager to learn about Windows Movie Maker. This is because I have seen short video-clips that are played in classrooms for certain lessons. I always wonder how the videos can be edited with additional words and motions. Therefore, I hope this course would provide me a chance to learn about making video-clips.

The Art of Defining 'Resources'

According to Jayne Moon, which taken from the book Children Learning English, resources can be defined as anything which can assist the teaching/ learning process, either human or material. It can be song tapes, magazines, charts, pictures, flashcards, textbooks, task sheets, puppets, realia, posters, objects, pupils and many more can be listed. Resources are essential for primary school pupils because it able to make a lesson interesting as it would be colorful and has sense of motion. Furthermore, children learn better if they involve in ‘hands-on’ activities using resources as it appeals to 5 senses of the children. Thus, it can sustain students’ short attention span and also motivate them to learn. Resources help children to link meaning with the words related to the resources, which makes the learning more meaningful. In addition to that, resources also provide opportunity for the pupils to practice the language. Since we are walking along the bridge of scientific era, teachers nowadays tend to use technological gadgets as the resources for lessons. For instances, the Internet, assists Malaysian teachers to conduct lessons as teachers download video clips, songs and images from the network as aids in explaining a teaching point. This indirectly creates a dynamic and attractive learning environment as it stimulates the children to interact with the resources.