INTRODUCTION

This is a journal of my School-Based Experince on the 16th to 20th August 2009 at Sekolah Kebangsaan Bukit Sawa, Terengganu. I have chosen the school because I heard the education system in Terengganu is very good and it makes me feel interested to see how the system works.

Following that, I need to complete the given assignment from the lecturer throughout my SchoolBased Experience. I have to work closely with my coordinating teacher and look for the types of communicative activities used by the teacher, analyse teachers instructional language and questioning techniques. Also, I have to compare teachers and learners roles and identify effective classroom management. Lastly, I have to collect samples of remedial and enrichment activities and write journals based on the observations.

All of the reports are based on my experiences at the school through observations, interviews, references and discussion with all the schools members. I hope this journal could helps me in order to be a good-quality teacher one day. Page|3 DAY 1 : Observing English Language Class Date : 16th August 2009 Day : Sunday

I have sought permission from an English Language teacher and I was allowed to observe standard three students in 3 Bestari class. It is the best standard 3 class among the four classes in the school.

It was an hour period lesson and I looked at the types of communicative activities used by the teacher in the classroom and teachers instructional language and questioning techniques. I sat at the back of the classroom so that I could see the teaching and learning process clearly. Also, I took some pictures and interviewed the teacher for the records what I have observed.

The lesson started at 11 am with the topic Plants. Teacher started the induction set with questions and answers session. She asked the students about plants and their experiences with it. Students responses were really good and they love to share their own stories with the class. Then, she showed a picture of a chili plant and described clearly about it. She told about the structure of the plant, the colour, the habitat and the use of it.

After that, teacher divided students into five groups and asked them to draw and labeled the chili plant on the mahjong paper given with the group members. Teacher gave students 15 minutes to complete the task. Then, a representative of each group presented the task and explained about their drawings and share with the class members.

Later, teacher distributed exercise paper about plants to each student and they were encouraged to complete the exercise with their peer. They were allowed to discuss in pair or in groups. After they have done the exercise, teacher discussed the answer with the whole class and let the volunteers to answer each and every questi On the whole, I could see that the teacher used many types of communicative activities. In example, questions and answers session, group work and pair discussion. The students engaged actively in all the activities and they seem like to enjoy the lesson. In addition, the teachers instructional language was very simple and easy to understand. Teacher used simple English words and tried her best to used very limitedBa has a Melayu words. She only used Bahasa Melayu words to translate some

complex English words. The teacher used the simplest way of questioning techniques. She asked the questions that the answers were very familiar with the students. It is because she wants students responses as many as they could and to encouraged them to involve in the communication. on. Finally, the class dismissed after a short closure. DAY 2 : Observing for teachers and learners roles Date : 17th August 2009 Day : Monday

On the second day, I get permission to observed standard 4 Cerdas. At this time, I looked for teachers and learners roles through teaching and learning process. I have interviewed the teacher and recorded the datas through lesson observation form and captured pictures.

During the observation, I noticed that the teacher used two teaching strategies in her lesson which is teacher-oriented and learner-centered strategy. Teacher-oriented strategy was shown at the introduction session of the lesson, teacher referred English text book and started to teach the topic entitled Sports. Teacher read the comprehension dialogue and explained to the students. At this time, teacher is a controller and performer while the student is the listener or audience. Also, there was only one way of communication during this time.

Learner-centered strategy was proven when lesson activities started. During the activities session, teacher asked the student to get in a group and read the dialogue. Then, they have to choose a representative for their group to make a role-play based on the dialogue. At this time, teachers role was as an observer and a facilitator who observes and helps students during the role-play. On the other hand, students role was as a performer, presenter and controller. They performed actions as in the dialogue; they presented their acting creativity and controlled the situation. At this time, there was two ways of communication process because teacher also helped students in the role-play.

As a result of my observation, both the teacher and the learners roles were important during the teaching and learning process. This is because both sides have to play their own role effectively so that both sides could achieve their goal. In this class situation, the teaching and learning process take place effectively because I could see the students were enjoyed doing all the activities and the teacher said she reached her learning outcomes that day. DAY 3 : Observing Classroom Management Date : 18th August 2009 Day : Tuesday

The third day observation was to find out how a teacher manages her classroom for learning and the different teaching styles. On the day, I get the opportunities to observe standard 5 Pintar.

Before the class begun, all the students were line up outside the classroom because the class was at 7.45 am which was after the school bell rang. After they have done their prayer, they entered the classroom, cleaned up the class and sat at their own places. Then, teacher entered the classroom and prepared for the lesson. Suddenly, there was a sound of a phone ringing, ring ring. The entire student looked for the sound and then teacher asked what the sound was. Actually the topic of the lesson of the day was Getting Connected and that was how the teacher gained the pupils attention. Then, teacher explained and gave an overview about the topic.

After that, teacher asked students to take out their E-Book or an electronic book and searched for the topic. Students followed the instruction and read the comprehension dialogue on the topic. Then, teacher read the dialogue and the whole students imitated her. Later, teacher called some volunteers to act a role-play in front of the class. One boy and one girl volunteered themselves to be in the play. The lesson continued with a group discussion about the topic. Teacher divided students into four groups and they had to discuss with the group members about the advantages and disadvantages of telephone. Students were allowed to move around the class and chose their own

working area. They could sat at the back of the classroom, had their group circle or any kind of discussion style they had preferred. They used their E-book to access the resources and teacher moved around the class to observe and monitored the discussion progress. DAY 4 : Techniques in Teaching Language Skills Date : 19th August 2009 Day : Wednesday

On the fourth day of my School-Based Experience, I get the chance to observe Puan Baki Setia English lesson. The purpose of the observation was to see her techniques in teaching language skills.

As a result of the observation, I noticed that she is a good quality teacher. The way she brought herself to class was very confident and organized. Her voice projection was very loud and clear and that was made her looked very sure in her presentation. Also, she kept an eye contact with all her students to make sure they were focused and listened to the lesson.

In addition, she asked question frequently and used facial expression and body movements while teaching. In the other hand, she looked very assertive and care about the students needs. She marked any student who looked confused and not understand what had she taught and repeated again until the student understood. Not only that, her production stages looked systematic because she stood in front of the class, at the center where every student could saw her. Sometimes, she moved around the class to monitor the students at the back. Also, her presentation time was organized very well and she could control all her students in a time.

The topic of the lesson was Animal and Us and the students were learning about Pet. Puan Baki Setia integrated all the four language skills which were listening, speaking, reading and writing in her lesson. She started the lesson with reading skill where all of the students read the comprehension text in their E-book. Then, she used a radio and let the students hear to a dialogue and animals sounds. She asked the students about the dialogue and sounds they heard and let the students to guess what the sound was. Later, she got back to the comprehension dialogue and called three students to read out loud the dialogue. After that, she discussed about the comprehension dialogue with the students and explained to them what all was about. The lesson continued with writing activity where student had to write a short essay about their favourite pet.

In addition, grammar and vocabulary also integrated in her lesson. She requested the students brought a dictionary every time during English lesson. That was because she wanted her students to

learn grammar and vocabulary on their own. They were encouraged to search in the dictionary for the word that they do not understand. Page| 13 Page| 14 DAY 5 : Types of Remedial and Enrichment Activities Date : 20th August 2009 Day : Thursday

I have collected the samples of remedial and enrichment worksheets from the teacher I have observed. The remedial and enrichments materials are for standard 5 students. I have compared and contrast both worksheets. COMPARISON

i. Both worksheets are based on students ability. Enrichment worksheet is for students who learn quickly and remedial worksheet is for students who are slower than others. ii. Both worksheets are based on mastery-learning where the students have to master every level from bottom to reach the top level. iii.The reasons to complete the worksheets are to identify students ability, level of understanding, their strengths and weaknesses. iv.Teacher could use the worksheets as a testimony of students records of achievements or failure, other than examination papers. v. The worksheets are based on English syllabus and both are created by the teacher. Page| 15 CONTRAST Enrichment Remedial i. Set for the high-flyer

i. Set for the weak achiever i. The task is difficult and challenging i. The task is easy and straightforward i.Helps to polish students strengths i. Helps to enhance students weaknesses i.Difficulty level of task increase when student mastered a level i. The exercise repeats until students master the topic/level. i. To encourage students to be more interested in learning. i. To teach strategies for coping with future difficulties.

i. Enhance a students education by bringing new concepts to light or using old concepts in new ways. i. To close the gap between the

students in the class. REFLECTION Five days of School-Based Experience in Sekolah Kebangsaan Bukit Sawa, Terengganu have given me a lot of information, experiences, knowledge, skills, and have changed my impression towards many things such as students ability, teachers credibility, schools environment and schools facilities. I felt very happy and thankful because I have given the chance to observe and learnt many things from the observations. I learned many things through the observation and interviews on the first day. As a teacher, I have to know how to create the activities for my students. Teacher should know the abilities of his/her students because not all of them have the same abilities. Some of the students are weak and some are excellent. Also, teacher should know how to make student involve actively in the teaching and learning process so that the teaching and learning goals could be achieve. On the second day, I could see the relationship or repo between the teacher and her students. She tried her best to make the students engaged actively in the teaching and learning process. Teachers role was as a coordinator, instructor, and sometimes as a friend to the students. On the other hand, learners role was as a listener, an audience, a performer and sometimes as a teacher to the others. I have learnt that as a teacher, I should know how to play my role in the class. I have to create the activities creatively so that both sides (teacher and student) could play their role actively in class. The third day of observation of standard 5 Pintar has changed a bit of my impression towards schools kids. My assumption was standard 5 students could behave themselves appropriately in class because they were big enough. Actually, it was wrong because it was not easy to control them! I learnt many things about classroom management from the teacher that day.

P a g e | 17

When the teacher walked in to the class, automatically the class were soundless and everyone seem like were ready for the lesson. I have asked the teacher how she copes with the students, and she said that as a teacher we should be assertive and be strict to the students in the right way. Not only that, I have noticed that the way of the teacher keep in touch with the students during the lesson were very good. She kept an eye-contact with the entire students in the class and always interacts actively with them. Also, she used a reward technique in avoiding potential behavior problem.

My observation continued until the fourth day where I have to look for teachers techniques in teaching language skills. Puan Baki Setia credibility is very good and high-quality. I have learnt many things from her teaching and learning techniques. The way she presented her lesson in the class was very organized and systematic. She looked very confident with herself. Also, her voice projection, body language and facial expression were excellent and interesting. So, as a teacher, I should follow her style of presentation so that my lesson could be interesting and motivating. As a result of my School-Based Experience, I was very surprised when the first time I knew that each student in standard five could have their own E-book or an electronic book. They were using the E-book in their lesson without using a text book. The E-book was given by The Ministry of State Education Terengganu to all the standard five students in Terengganu started this year. The best part was it is free! How lucky they are. I felt very thankful and excited during the five days in Sekolah Kebangsaan Bukit Sawa because I have given the chance to learn many things from head to toe. I hope I could apply all the experiences, knowledge and skills I have learnt throughout the School-Based Experience later, when I have become a real graduated teacher.

P a g e | 18