Speaking-in-Role: Latiff Mohidin's "In the Midst of Hardship"

Students enacting an impromptu live news reporting using the situation presented in the poem.

A great song

john_farnham/song/youre_the_voice
We have the chance to turn the pages over
We can write what we want to write
We gotta make ends meet, before we get much older
We're all someone's daughter
We're all someone's son
How long can we look at each other
Down the barrel of a gun?

You're the voice, try and understand it
Make a noise and make it clear
Oh-o-o-o, whoa-o-o-o
We're not gonna sit in silence
We're not gonna live with fear
Oh-o-o-o, whoa-o-o-o

This time, we know we all can stand together
With the power to be powerful
Believing we can make it better
We're all someone's daughter
We're all someone's son
How long can we look at each other
Down the barrel of a gun?

You're the voice, try and understand it
Make a noise and make it clear
Oh-o-o-o, whoa-o-o-o
We're not gonna sit in silence
We're not gonna live with fear
Oh-wo-wo-wo, whoa-o-o-o

ooooh We're all someone's daughter
We're all someone's son
How long can we look at each other
Down the barrel of a gun?

What if?

What if?
What if Lincoln was a vampire slayer?
I simply adore fiction that explores that very notion. Dr Gitu always stressed on that in his classes.
I think this is what literature is all about...to ask of the author and the reader the possibilities that are out there, the infinite alternatives to reason and seeking of meaning, and the unlimited outreaching beyond borders.
Yet, the syllabus determined in the classrooms are so rigid. We rarely teach kids to think, we merely teach them what to think. Formal school education limits us so much. It curbs imagination and kills creativity.
Yet a single teacher can make that difference. It took a hobbit to save Middle Earth, a single father to champion equal rights or at least the truth (Atticus Finch), a frail old man in a loincloth to challenge the mighty empire, and a man with no university education to establish and remain at the center of the Western Canon!
I cannot begin to claim presence in this distinguished circle of minds but I can aim to reach out and beyond.
I seriously believe that when teachers see their duties as missions and not mere chores......this is what I believe...students can reach limitless possibilities and potential. Until then we stay doomed....education a mere series of chains to hold us back.  

ahhh the joy of teaching and learning ....

Woke up today balancing the ups and downs of life. My life as a teacher has been overwrought with obstacles and unnecessary bureaucracy. Too many dictate what is right and wrong without ever consulting what my and my students needs are. But perseverance and my love for these kids forged me onwards. Terrific friends and mentors have guided and seen me through. Mostly my students are my muses. They direct my teaching. I get up and go to school with this thought: "What can I do today that would direct my learners to cue me into what they need to know?"
I encouraged these eager minds to read "PS I LOVE YOU" and those who did loved it, then watched the movie and a few even reread the book! Mission accomplished! Then we go to writing journals.......what would they say to their loved ones and I was thrown aback by their responses. Total amazement on my part. I believe now that my greatest teachers are these kids.
We are currently working on The Star-Pizza Hut's Mag. Inc and yet again, their creativity and ability to go beyond astounds me. We now have feature articles on inter-racial marriages, lies and insincerity in male-female friendships, mind over gadgets, the masculine voice in choice school texts and more.

Will update soon on their finished products but for now, the journey towards accomplishment is too much for me already. I am elated and am so proud to be their English teacher.

Dare to change?

MELTA CONFERENCE

http://thestar.com.my/education/story.asp?file=/2010/6/13/education/6429230&sec=education

International Conference on Linguistics, Literature and Culture (ICLLIC)

http://www.usm.my/icllic2010/default.asp?pohon=1

Reading in English Program in School

We launched the Reading in English Program on 25 April (in conjunction with World Book Day). The objectives were
* to instill and drive the reading habit amongst teachers and pupils alike,
*to allow English teachers to act as reading models / to select reading models amongst students,
*to allow students to extend their abilities to
-value reading as means of learning and enjoyment
-read for a variety of purposes
-read a range of contemporary and classical texts appropriate to their interests and learning needs,
-read text from a variety of genres and cultural traditions,
-read independently.

Proposed Activities:
1. Selection of Readers of the Month/Year
2. Inter-Class Competitions (Book Talks, Book Reports, etc)
3. In-Class activities (SSR, Choral Reading, Reading in Pairs, and other Reader Response Strategies)
4. Quizzes on books and authorship

How to lead into writing

• Offer some tools for written response: Open-ended questions, prompts, varied forms of written response.

• Use questions that come up during discussion as jumping-off points for writing
• Open-ended questions: "How are you like this character?" or "What do you think will happen next, and why?"
• Prompts: "I wonder...", "I wish ...", "What if ....?"
• Diary entries in the voice of a character/Journal entries
• Cause/effect explanation (answering 'How come?', 'Why?')
• Letters to characters (or from one character to another)
• Sketching or drawing

Never cease to learn....

Some one finally asked what literature circles are (bless this person!). Here is what I know -
"small groups of students gather together to discuss a piece of literature in depth. The discussion is guided by students' response to what they have read. You may hear talk about events and characters in the book, the author's craft, or personal experiences related to the story. Literature circles provide a way for students to engage in critical thinking and reflection as they read, discuss, and respond to books. Collaboration is at the heart of this approach. Students reshape and add onto their understanding as they construct meaning with other readers. Finally, literature circles guide students to deeper understanding of what they read through structured discussion and extended written and artistic response".
*Reader response centered
*Structured for student independence, responsibility, and ownership
*Guided primarily by student insights and questions
*Intended as a context in which to applyreading and writing skills