BUZZ!!!

I've always been a full support of fun and interactive teaching in class especially English. Well, other subjects too..coz u see,a person's attention span is around erm..10 minutes?huhu..well,it depends...for kids less than 12 years old,maybe around 5 minutes..Seriously,guys..I don't make dis up..especially for Year 1 students,to grab their full attention for 5 minutes are really tough...

Ok,now..I've always been following wut's going on wif da education system long b4 I'm involved in dis industry. I'm one of the supporters of PPSMI (Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris) or Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics in English. Why? The main reason is the problem these kids will face later on. This was my experience. I learned everything except English in Bahasa Melayu. I have no problem wif that but I'm blessed that Mom always stressed on English. Ok,done wif da UPSR,PMR and SPM..Da problem began here when I was offered a place in dis 1 public university to study accountancy. Imagine my surprise that I have to learn in English. Seriously, I have no problem in understanding wut the lecturer was saying. Ok, I learn all dis terms in Bahasa Melayu and now I hv to be familiar wif diff terms in a very short time. All this 2 years of learning dis Prinsip Akaun (without adding up da 3 years of basic account in Living Skill subject.) and I'd been so used wif Penyata Kewangan, Kunci Kira-kira, Belanja Terakru etc and now I've to be familiar wif Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Accrued Expenses etc..hmm..okla..no big deal pun kan..

I remembered learning Additional Mathematics during Diploma (FYI, I didn't learn dat in school..huhu..) So,everyone was like hv dis knowledge in dis subject except me and I was freaking scared dat I might not be able to catch up wif them. Ironically, I did quite well..In fact, I realised, hey,it's not dat hard..Eventually, I learned dat my frens who hv da basic hv prob to relate wut they hv learned coz well,they learned it in BM..N I didn't face dat problem coz I learned from da start in English..so I didn't hv to be confused etc..

I was really surprised dat PPSMI hv been really scrapped off. I thought dat was a gud idea. See, my parents are products of English education system. They were forced to learn English indirectly.

Ok,ppl might ask me, dh kalo budak xphm,nak pakse apenye.xkan phm punye. When I did my School Based Experience( SBE ) at a Tamil school, I interviewed dis 1 teacher.He's an Indian but he doesn't know how to speak Tamil. He said he never speak in Tamil coz 1. he doesn't know how to speak da language,2. he wants to make the pupils speak to him in English. N I was amazed to see how he teaches them. So fun and lively. My English lecturer always say,to teach da language,don't expect da class to be quiet..hehe..so true.

Way b4 my training as a teacher,while I was a relief teacher, I always try to teach them differently than other teacher wud do. Once, I asked them to make a presentation like we did in university. Of coz,the kids don't know wut to do. The reason why I did dat bcoz I want them to be familiar wif presentation coz they will do it a lot later on and the main reason was I want them to be CONFIDENT. Confident in the sense of speaking da language and confident to speak in front of da public. The 1st presentation was tough. They were shy and I hv to constantly push them to speak louder. N I'm a firm believer dat if u don't listen wut other ppl are talking to u,they will do da same to us. So, I was the garang teacher bcoz I wud scold them to listen,listen and listen when their frens were talking..

Strangely,the second presentation was a success..not really a success but they improved. I was really happy..I cudn't describe da feelings. To see them hv dis confidence to speak even though in broken English, I nearly cry wif joy!!

Now, there's a lot of response given due to poor performance in English. N nonetheless, the teachers are being blamed. Well, I must agree that 1 is a factor but I know da real root problem is our mindset. The pupils are afraid to speak coz of shyness etc. Ckp English sket kwn2 perli,ngate..In fact some parents are not helping either by discouraging their kids when they want to speak. Hmm...Seriously, for me, I must say, change da system back. A major overhaul. Ni dlm kelas,ajar English dlm Bahasa Melayu..hmm...N seriously, fun,fun,fun is da key..

Just an opinion from a novice soon-to-be teacher..huhuhuh...