In-house Training Course (26 June 2009)

Group discussion, peer- sharing.
Puan Noreen is reaching out to future test-makers!

Three Frogs and The Mosquito. Guess which is which?

TADAA! Our beautiful scenery masterpiece!
Shahafiza’s cow.
miss Saras is trying to decipher our funny drawings..

Kak Zaljiah must be drawing the lake..
Azlin is trying hard to get her railway drawn correctly! Pressure…pressure!

Lunch couldn’t get any better without these people! They just make us laugh…and laugh….

Kak Zaljiah, Mr. Zaid and Kak Nadiah with their questions-formation brainstorming session!

“It is by teaching that we teach ourselves, by relating that we observe, by affirming that we examine, by showing that we look, by writing that we think, by pumping that we draw water into the well.” -Henri Amiel, 1853.

Nothing gains from nothing. It is through the act of learning that we learn and discover. This was exceptionally true when the in-house training organized by the English Unit, held last week on the 26 June proved fruitful and insightful for the new English language lecturers.

Participated by 10 new lecturers, the training was divided into two sections. The first section entitled “Going Beyond the Text” was conducted by Miss Bala Saras while the second half of the training was taken over by Puan Noreen Kamaruddin with her slot entitled “Assessment and Evaluation”.

For the first half of the training, all of us went through a cycle of engaging materials and handouts showered. From discovering ourselves through the handout “Who Am I?” and a short sketch on “Three Little Frogs” to guessing the products from the slogans and more, we had the most unforgettable session of taking instructions for directions as all of us were made to draw on the board based on a set of instructions given. The whole event was hilarious as we put our drawing skills to test!

Next, the second half of the session continued after our lunch break. Puan Noreen gave all of us a perceptive insight into how evaluations can be done for our students. We had hands-on practice on questions formation where all the participants ended up challenging one another for the best formulated question.

The in-house training ended with the prize-giving ceremony for the course conductors and course-evaluation forms filled. All 10 of us had a remarkable 9 hours training where none of the minutes were left bored!

Apart from experiencing peer-coaching, we had a good time learning as well. The entire training did not only equip us with the necessary knowledge and information needed to enrich our teaching experience but mostly, all of us enjoyed taking part in the course as students and with this, we managed to visualize ourselves in the shoes of the students. This is something I personally felt edified as teaching and learning can be very effective once we, as educators learn to see things from the eyes of our learners.