Task 2 : Classroom observation. Providing meaningful and fruitful learning experiences are teachers responsibility.

To create a safe, orderly and conducive atmosphere for learning activities, teachers should be able to plan and prepare effective instructional materials and activities that keep learners engage throughout the lesson, managing resources in the classroom efficiently as well as arranging and decorating the classroom to promote a productive learning climate.

Before I observed this particular class, I have met and talked with the teacher, Puan Meena a/p Lingam about the focused skills as well as the objectives for that days lesson. The main focus of the lesson was reading and the objectives wanted to be achieved for the lesson were to work on learners ability to read fluently and punctuate correctly. The duration for the lesson was thirty five minutes. She told me, this lesson was for Year 2 Bestari pupils. 2 Bestari is the first class of three classes in SK. Permatang Buloh. Most of the learners in this class are excellent and good learners.

The lesson was started with a guessing game. A pupil was blindfolded and she had to guess or name her friends by listening to teachers description. Out of three friends, the girl only succeeded in guessing one friend correctly. The lesson continued with a guided reading activity. Teacher drilled the pupils to read the text while stressing on the pronunciation. After some

explanations, they did independent reading where pupils were called randomly. The activity lasted for a few minutes. Then, teacher started with the punctuation. It seemed that they already have previous knowledge about the punctuation because they were able to name a few. In this activity pupils have to correct the punctuations in the text read. Pupils were picked randomly to perform the task. For the production stage, pupils were divided into three groups and were assigned three different tasks. Chocolate group have to copy the text and change the underlined words and phrases. The second group was Biscuit group and they have to fill in the blanks with their own answers. The last group was Apple group and they have to identify and circle the corrected mistakes which they had done earlier on the poster paper. All the pupils carried out the task given without hesitancy as they understood the lesson and what they have to do.

Before I go any further, I would like to describe the pupils in 2 Bestari and the teacher briefly. Pupils in this classroom have good self discipline, good concentration and well behave. Even though they were curious to see two other teachers in their classroom besides Puan Meena, they never showed it openly. Only two or three pupils were showing their curiosity by turning now and then to look at us. Most of the time they were busy concentrating and carrying out task assigned to them. They always behave appropriately toward their teachers request and instruction and able to pay attention in the classroom. It seemed that, as a class teacher, Puan Meena had succeeded in

implementing the rules and procedures that was beneficial for all her pupils. As for Puan Meena herself, she is a warm and kind teacher. She uses a friendly voice tone and this make pupils did not feel intimidated by her. She is enthusiastic and confident when delivering the lesson and pupils trust her to give the best to them. Even though Puan Meena never attended any KSSR courses, I think she did rather well in delivering her lesson using the modular approach. Overall, the teacher and pupils have a good rapport and friendly relations needed to promote learning.

From the observation, what I can say is that the teacher displayed a concrete familiarity with the skills taught and the lesson itself reflects adequate planning for the appropriate developmental level of pupils. The pacing, focus and delivery of the lesson were consistent and reasonable with pupils frequently engaged throughout the lesson. Teacher had used suitable approach, strategy, activities and material in this thirty five minutes lesson. Teacher used inductive approach when she blindfolded the pupil and asked her to identify her friends by touching them and listening to teachers description. In this activity, the teacher was trying to encourage the pupil to utilize her senses to make appropriate generalization and only guide her when necessary. For the next steps, the strategy used by teacher was expository and discovery teaching where teacher conducted the lesson based on the objectives stated. By using expository and discovery teaching, teacher was able to control the class and every activity can be carried out within stipulated time. In pre-reading activity, teacher drilled the pupils to read the text while stressing on the pronunciation. This was done repeatedly as repetition was needed regularly at first in order to ensure that the learning was laid down in long term memory. Teacher also gave different exercises according to group levels. The purpose of giving classification exercise was to help teacher assessed pupils understanding.

The classroom environment was clean, comfortable and safe. The seating arrangement was suitable where all the pupils sat facing the green board. This seating arrangement enable pupils to have unrestricted view of what the teacher was showing them. There was enough space for the pupils to move freely when they need to step out from their place to the teachers table or so on. Even so, the distance between the teacher and the farthest pupils were still acceptable and appropriate. The pupils at the back of the classroom still able to hear and understand what was being delivered by the teacher. Teacher was also able to move throughout the classroom and reached the pupils should they have any difficulties in the task given. Besides, the decorations in the classroom were very pleasing to the eyes. The classroom itself looked bright, colourful and cheerful with some pupils work displayed on the notice board at the back of the class. These aspects played an important roles as the pupils felt a sense of ownership and belonging thus making them ready to learn.

Teacher implemented Jacob Kounins theory on classroom management as she was always scanning and alert of what was going on in the classroom, whether pupils were engaged with the task given or doing something else. She did not allow the flow of the lesson to be dead because that will make pupils misbehave as they got free time on their hand but instead she made sure that pupils were engaged during the transitions of the lesson until the end. She also used congruent communication by using appreciative praises every time her pupils able to performed well or answered questions correctly. This made the pupils felt comfortable to volunteer answering

questions. The interaction between teacher and pupils were friendly and showed respect. This show of respect between them promoted a harmonious and positive classroom behavior.

Task 3 : Reflection.

To be assigned with the task of observing and recording and English Language Lesson by another English teacher was very intimidating but I was grateful to Mrs. Meena because she was willing to be observed and recorded. According to her, this task also benefits her as she was also a PPG student and might have to do the same assignment in her next semester. Joined me in this task was a trainee teacher from IPG Kampus Tuanku Bainun as he was also assigned the same task and Mrs. Meena was reluctant to be observed and recorded twice because she will have to make another preparations which is time consuming and she got assignments of her own to be completed and submitted to her lecturers.

Mrs. Meena was able to create an environment that was conducive to learning. Her pupils looked to be at ease due to her warm, friendly personality, approachable and appeared to possess genuine interest in her pupils achievement. The sets of rules and procedures employed by her make certain that her pupils would not misbehave during a lesson.

There are a few things that I learnt from this task. The first related to the planning of the classroom arrangement. The arrangement comes first because I want to create a safe, orderly and comfortable place to learn. Well placed resources and facilities and instructional materials will help to create conducive physical environment to promote effective teaching and learning. Secondly is the instructional strategies. When planning a lesson, I have to consider this factor as it plays an important role to ensure that the lesson carried out went smoothly between transition without stopping and let pupils have free time on their hand which will resulted in misbehavior. The third is the employment of the classroom theories. I mostly attracted to use the instructional management which focuses on preventing management problems before they occur by actively engaging pupils in high interest lessons. This way, pupils will be motivated to positively participate in activities and manage their own behavior.

The changes I would like to make in my teaching practice is that I would be able to provide a safe environment for learning. I should like to encourage my pupils to try to perform to the best of their abilities. Then I would like to set some rules and procedures and follow it. When my pupils were out of line with these rules, I would gently let them know. To be able to interact politely between teacher and pupils will produce a sense of respect for each other. This can promote a harmonious atmosphere in the classroom. To be up and moving around the classroom during any given lesson is important because I certainly do not want my pupils to play at the back of the class or missed the pupils sitting at the back of the class who wanted to participate in the lesson.

As difficult as this task to be carried out, it was very beneficial to me. I am happy I was able to have this opportunity as it opens my eyes and my mind to better my teaching practice. They gave me many great knowledge and ideas to a variety of ways to implement various activities. My classroom instruction and layout will be much better because of what I have learnt.

References :

http://curry.virginia.edu/uploads/resourceLibrary/CASTL_practioner_Part2_single.pdf http://www.assignmentpoint.com/arts/report-on-classroom-observation.html http://www.ccac.edu/files/PDF_Document/b1578a72911d40f3b0180b0c9f822ec4.pdf http://www.vcu.edu/cte/resources/nfrg/ClassroomObservationGuidelines.pdf

IPGM KAMPUS TUANKU BAINUN

14000 BUKIT MERTAJAM, PULAU PINANG

PROGRAM PENSISWAZAHAN GURU (AMBILAN JUN 2011) SEMESTER 5

MANAGING THE PRIMARY ESL CLASSROOM (TSL 3109)

Name NRIC No. Class Lecturers Name

: Hasniza Binti Md. Hashim : 740907075662 : TESL 2 : Ahmad Kamal B. Abdul Ghani

Date of submission : 28th September 2013