Reflection for Week 5

Hi fellow bloggers.This week there was no pedagogy in Education class because of the Deepavali holidays.Hence I have decided to do my assignment instead.I went to the bookstore to buy a few lower secondary English reference books for my own reference.We were asked to design three different types of lesson plans and I referred to the example given by the course leader as my guideline.I printed it out and it was really straightforward.I went to the bookstore and tried to find some English references books to help myself with designing my lesson plan.I came across a book about grammar,an book filled with SPM past years questions and also an activity book for SPM English Paper 2.I then decided I wanted to design two 30 minute lesson plans and one 60 minute lesson plan.I tried to remember the activities and things my English teacher asked me to do as a student which really helped me as a student.Then,it suddenly hit me.I remembered my teacher giving us all sorts of words that were outside of our vocabulary or at least my vocabulary and I had a really hard time spelling them out.Hence,I did not do very well during that spelling test but I did learn a whole lot of words.So I have decided to add a spelling test in two of my lesson plans.I also understand that I have to train my students in the future to know the format of the SPM examination inside out.Hence,I wanted to add SPM questions into my lesson plan as well.I want to guide them on how to answer objective questions,explain to them words they do not understand and also give them ideas and tips on writing an essay.Not to toot my own horn but I did score an A1 for my English SPM 1119.Hahaha.I also wanted to make sure that I always ask my students what they have learnt during the end of the lesson just to make sure I taught them right and also I would also want to ask them on ways I can improve my teaching.This not only helps me become a better teacher but it also helps my students speaking and thinking skills.Without constructive criticism how can we improve?Teachers can learn from students as well.I also want to start every lesson by asking my students questions to improve their speaking skills and I want to expose them to the four wives one husband questions because they are going to face a lot of those type of questions in the future.I have written a rough sketch of my lesson plan and I am going to make sure that pictures are used as one of my teaching aids.I will also show students videos and ask them to reflect upon them.Sometimes students get tired of listening to their students talk.So,it is time for the computer to talk.Haha but seriously I want my students to constantly reflect on things and talk to themselves.This helps them think creatively and think of new perceptions and ideas to improve on certain things.People think talking to yourself is crazy but I am pretty sure Mark Zuckerberg did a lot of thinking and talking to himself when he started Facebook.We need to ask ourselves questions to boost the creative mind and a creative mind is needed to write good essays.To do well in an English examination is not just about getting every single sentence grammatically correct but it is also about being creative in expressing yourself through your writing.Do you think people like Nicholas Sparks or J.K. Rowling would be who they are today if they were not creative.I am very sure they have a good grasp of the English Language but creativity plays a huge role.That is all from me for today.I will update you all about my next class and also about this particular assignment.