my last words before it really ends....

What do you like about blogging?
personally, i am not a person who like to keep a diary, so i was not interested in blogging that much, but i do write some poems or scribble something here and there. Too bad that i have gotten monkey hands, it just won’t stay still very long. And my best friends introduced me to the blogging world which i was a bit active be fore this, however, due to exam, stress and university life, i do not blog that often anymore. I like blogging because, it allows me room for me to pour out my feeling. I can also share knowledge, opinions, ideas and many more with people from all corners of the world. Blogging makes me feel less stresses as i am pouring out my feelings and i enjoy blogging.

2. What you do not like about blogging?
i dislike the fact that i can become addicted to blogging and some people who i do not like can read my blogs. I also dislike being grammartically judged in blogs, blogs are mainly to share ideas and knowledge, not to pin point on each other’s weaknesses.

3. What have you gained from blogging eg. Language skills, improved fluency, critical thinking, improved thought processes, technology skills etc.
honestly, i improved my typing skills, i can now type faster than before. My language has improved as i will always check and make sure that the grammar and other language rules are not offended. I learnt to think critically before jumping into the wrong conclusion.

4. How?
i weigh the pros and cons and then think carefully, i rationalize the scenario before arriving to any conclusion.

5. What do you like about this course?
The exploitation done on the resources. I like the fact that i am taught and allowed the freedom to do so.

6. What you do not like about this course?
Some complicated softwares must be taught in a more understandable manner.

7. What have you learnt from this course?
i have learnt a lot, photo editing, audio editing, video editing, how to use softwares like FxPhoto, Photoscape, Adobe and many more

8. What have you learnt from this course that you did not expect to?
i did not expect to be doing my own creations like my own video. I am so proud of myself for that.

9. What have u expected but do not learn from this course?
i was expecting to learn how to use technology to the maximum.

10. If you can change anything about this course, state what is and elaborate?
i want to change the way the instructions are given. Giving pupils a manual which has all the explainations of the softwares learnt and used in the course.

11. On a scale of 1 – 10, please rate your computing and technological skills for both before and after undergoing the course.
BEFORE- 5
AFTER - 8



with that my semester in UM officially ends....

the end

WEEK 14th. ……………………
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Honestly, i am so so so speechless. I cannot believe it, my first semester in UM is over!!!! I survived, am still breathing, am still in one whole piece, am still insane…. WOW!!!!! I feel like screaming on top of my lungs. I spent a whole lot of time back in “maktab’ wondering how thing will be in UM and now i know how things really work here in UM. I have no idea how the 14 weeks past, i still feel as though it was only yesterday we entered UM; the most prestige university in Malaysia. What I do know is that throughout the whole time I have learn a LOT of new things. I learnt new applicants and functions that will be helpful for me in future to use as part of my teaching in classroom.

I started with eagerness, but not ending it with sadness. I am going to miss the course. It was a very useful course as it taught me how to use the resources to my advantage in making my teaching and learning classroom activity a success. The only thing that i can promise is that i will make full use of whatever the course has taught me and offered me. Thank you so much to Pn. Foziah for her undying energy and effort. Without her, my learning would not been complete. Thank you so much ma’am.

Lesson Plan

Next up in the list is lesson plan. Many people have asked me what is lesson plan? Why is it important? lesson plans are actually a kind of manual used by the teacher that is prepared by themselves… it is important because, it is a framework that tell what need to be taught and when it needs to be taught. The lesson plan tells the teacher what to do at which point of the lesson, although it may not be 100% accurate, it is no doubt still the best way to keep the teachers on track.

And so was i to design lesson plans for my future lessons based on this very course, i am to use the resources knowledge that i have gained to design my lessons and see the practicality of carrying it out in classroom. Ma’am made our life easier by making the assignment as a group works. 4 people in a group. I felt more confident as i can discuss and share ideas before designing the lesson plan. Like what Vygotsky has said before, interaction is the best way to learn.

I have to admit that i am poor in time management so u suffered in handling not only this course’s assignments but also other course’s assignments. I find it difficult to juggle all at a time. But thank heavens, i manage to sail through the process…

next assign........

Work and more work….. can you name me a course that has no work, no assignment or no exam? I you can name me something that something is not worth being studied. A course which is being tested will make the pupils to study and understand it deeper. It proves that it has value and benefits that we need to master. Same goes to me, as a future teacher in this 21st century, it is not going to be an easy thing, kids nowadays are very smart and advance. So as a future teacher it is vital that i learn and equip myself with all the knowledge and skills that will be handy in my future profession.

A teacher has the vital weapon of changing, moulding, shaping and creating a person, an individual who is competent and fulfills the national philosophy. In order to do that i need my tool, a tecahers’ tool; TEACHING AIDS!!!!!!!!!!....this is the most deadly weapon that can make changes and shape someone. And my next assignment was to do a set of teaching aids that will be useful to us the future teachers in classroom.. we are to do it groups, we had the opportunity to brainstorm and share ideas, all these will come in handy when i am posted and became a full proper teacher. Thank you ma’am for guiding us to do our best. Till i see you all again,, bye………..

Making my OWN video...

OH MY GOD!!! That is exactly what i said upon hearing the task set my Pn. Foziah. Make my own video??? But HOW???? That was the main question that was doing a 100metres dash in my head. I have NO experience at all making a clip, a video clip. I admit i love to watch the video clips that are found online in youtube or metacafe.com however, it had never occurred to me that one day, i, THANUSIAA d/o NAGANATHAN would need to do so… nevertheless, a task is a task, i duty is a duty, the task set by ma’am for a future teacher like myself is a duty that must be carried out. so, i paired with Haziq and we brainstormed on what can possibly be our gist of the video.

Ma’am gave us time to discuss in class and told us to see her if at all we have any queries. Well, i at first had difficulties in deciding what will our message be in the video. YES, ma’am emphasized on a clear message-based video that can be used in the primary ESL classroom. There were a wide range of topis/messages that captivated my interest. I was browsing in my mind, mentally telling myself about all the possible choices that i have; love to parent, love towards animals, love toward plants, and many more on love. Conversely, i wanted to do something different, i my motto in life; DARE TO BE DIFFERENT.




My original idea was to put all the miseries that are found in the world in my video and ask the viewers to think and ponder ‘how lucky they are, that they are not in such position’.





However, when i consulted ma’am, she said that my idea ws good but the way i planned to develop it is not good. It is too scary and sad. Thus ma’am suggested that i do it on a smaller scale, in a story form. A story about a rich boy who is spoilt brat, neglects his education and wastes food, overall the boy is UNGRATEFUL to things that he has in life. The story revolves when the father of the boy decides to talk to the boy, the father takes the boy for a walk down a village. The villager are very poor and upon seeing the sufferings that they are going through, the boy realized his mistake and turns over a new leaf. That is basically my story for my video. Planning to put it in to action and hopefully it turns out to be good. Wish me LUCK ya friend, Ii will be back soon for more updates. And before I go here are some pictures used in my video.

MARCUS

LOOKING BACK…..

As the semester is at its end, when our very last assignment needs to be submitted, as i am looking through, looking at my blogs, i realized something. OH my, my…. I actually do not have enough blogs….wondered why, i did. and then i noted that i missed a blog in between the sixth week and the seventh. I made the eighth week blog to be the seventh, no wonder i did not have enough. I almost went hunting high and low for it. Isn’t this a common scenario among students? Getting confused, doing crazy things, forgetting events and activities, and many more. Looks like too many books have gotten into me these days. I have been dreading the day to come, to sit for my finals; my very first finals in UM. Phewwww…. That is the exact word that will describe how i felt when i realized which blog i missed and immediately blogged it, and the BiG, PHEWWWW is because, EXAM is over and after submitting the final assignment; the portfolio and the blogs, i will be FREE (atleast for this semester). Honestly, holiday is the main word that keeps me going, it is the one thing that is pushing me to my limits. Making me to hold on and not to slack along the way. It was not easy; definitely not easy, you can ask anyone in my cohort, they will tell you that they had a hard time. They will be lying a big time if they deny it. But the hardship is the one that SHAPES, MOULDS, and SHARPENS us and our abilities and make us stronger.

This week was task setting week and we were divided into groups that will be editing audios. Well, i have never done this but, there’s always a first time for everything and this is my first in audio editing. I came across a number of softwares that can be used to edit audios. Through learning this is realize that doing a rap song is not that hard after all. If you know the rule A-Z and you put in effort and time, you will be able to do it. I did try my very own so-called rap song. I rapped an old tamil song. Am i am very proud of myself for being able to do that. Never did i thought that i will be able to edit audios as i like. I am having a lot of fun with the course. Although for an outsider the course may look a bit awkward and weird and they may even be wondering “what is the use of this course?’ well for me, as a future teacher, it is important that we equip ourselves with all the possible knowledge, pupils nowadays are very smart and it will be a humiliation if the teachers are not capable of answering their questions. With the realization of my role and duty to the nation as a future teacher who have a strong influence on the future generation of the country, the future leaders of the nation, i am resting my thoughts and reflections for the time being. I will be back soon to share more of my thoughts and ideas, till thank mucho gracias and bon voyage. ;-p

Video viewing in class

This week, ma’am came to class and said she will be coming in only 40mins later. She was not feeling well, pity her. The terrible weather and haze made many people fall sick. And with H1N1, things were even worse. Not was she the only one sick, I was also not feeling myself. I am suffering from allergic rhinitis a.k.a sinus. My doctor friend corrected me sometime back. I realized even more these days that I am learning something new each and every week if not days. I am doing things that i have not done or tried before. The evidence is the short video clip that I and my pair, Haziq did for the resources class. So while waiting for ma’am, we uploaded our video into the computer as we were going to watch it together and enjoy the good job done by ourselves. We may come from different background and culture but we, future teachers think alike, anything that we do nowadays has an embedded message, just like the very video clip that we all did. Each and everyone had a message; not any message but meaningful message that are suitable to be used in the teaching and learning of English language in primary classrooms. The creativity and effort was clearly seen by the fantastic video clips made.

We had many interesting and awesome videos, some were on love; love for dad, some were food for thought; do not take life for granted, and some were memories that can never be forgotten; COHORT 4, ONE BAND ONE SOUND….
Weather is it still the same or not does not matter, what matters is that we learnt a lot together and it made each and every single one of us wiser and ready to face the real world as teachers, as citizens, as human. I am proud to say that each piece of video was unique and we had a great time watching it together and laughing and a few of it. We commented on the videos as we were watching them. We shared our point of views and ideas on the message delivered through the video clip. We even had a discussion among ourselves of how to make the clips better and what were the weaknesses and strengths. Ma’am was happy and impressed with our work. She was smiling and nodding; approving our concept n way of presenting our ideas and message. No doubt, ma’am was helping us since the beginning; from the storyline, the storyboard, and others. She taught me how to edit a video and even to make my very own video. Never have i thought that i will be able to make my very own video. But thanks to ma’am, i did n i will in the future for my lessons. I am going to stop here for this time and will be back again, updating my progress in this course.