Week 3

Back to MK2 for week 3. Mdm. Fouziah started the class by giving us the book "Teaching English in the Primary School" to everyone in the lab. It was indeed a great book for us as going-to-be ESL educators. We were then divided into group of 6 and each group was allocated one subtopic for the chapter one of the book - Working with young language learners.

These are the sub-topic:

1.1 Children's ability to grasp meaning

1.2 Children's creative use of limited language resources

1.3 Children's capacity for indirect learning

1.4 Children's instinct for play and fun

1.5 The role of imagination

1.6 The instinct for interaction and talk

We were called to read the sub-topic given, discuss and online to add on to the materials in the sub-topics. After one hour of discussion, the group leaders came out to draw lots. The first group presented on the ability of children in grasping what is being said to them even before they understand the individual words.

Week 2

The second class for this course proved what I was expecting - enlightening experience of learning! Today, I learn about touch typing and the practical steps in acquiring this skill. I learn that I need to sit at a right and comfortable posture and my elbows should not be resting on the table when I am typing. It's interesting to type without using the eyes to find the keys for each alphabet. After learning this useful skill, which I still need to practice on further, we (group 1) were given a questionnaire on technology each. The questionnaire made me realized that the computer skills I have is only the "tip of the iceberg". There is so much that I need to learn - audio and video editing etc. Pn. Fauziah then told us about the portfolios that we need to prepare for this course. She then showed us a senior's example of the portfolio that we will prepare. After that, we learn about an online storage space called Skydrive. It is a useful knowledge for me as I can now safe things online, without the need to bring any portable device. Besides, we also learnt about Moyea video, a useful video site. Then, we were given a link to do free typing test. It was indeed a great and useful class!

Week 1

A good "touchdown" of this course at Computer Room 2. We were briefed by Pn. Fauziah bt Mahmood, our lecturer for this course on the outline for this course and also on the list of things that we need to do and have to get the ball rolling. Personally, it was a brand new experience when the course started. It had reinforced my positive perception and believe on using technology and variety of resources in teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) to primary school children. Looking forward for more enlightening learning experience at UM through this course!