My PMR & SPM Seminars @ SMK Katibas

-
Just touched down in Kuching a few hours ago for my well-deserved break at home. I've got 4 days to rest before I make my journey back into the jungle again.
"Why so little?" you ask as you stuff your face with mom's rendang? Well, it's because I gave up the first half of my break to stay with the students at school. I wanted the PMR & SPM students to stay back & do some self-study. Knowing them, it would be unlikely for them to study if they were home. The good ones will be helping the family at the farms while the spoilt ones will be lazing around.
I also took this opportunity to give BOTH the PMR & SPM students tips on how to excel in their respective English Language papers.

PMR Seminar
All through the 8 hour sessions for each of them, I reiterated the need for them to be disciplined, focus, work hard & work independently. Values that will serve them well after they finish school. However, I sometimes feel that I am alone in the struggle to lift these people. Then, I remember the handful of people in the school who have worked with me above & beyond the call of duty to make a difference in the lives of the students. I am grateful for them. I know that sometimes I don't appreciate them enough or support them when they need me. I'm working on that & learning as I go.

SPM Seminar
I told the students that it was compulsory for them to attend. 99% did attend. The other 1% will get a 'special' present from me after holidays. If I am able to sacrifice my holidays for your benefit, you should be able to stay back. Or else, you'll just piss me off & I'll make sure you know that. You have been warned countless times before. Yup, I'm tough like that. Don't you ever mess with me. I'm here to teach you & I'll make sure you learn something through that thick skull of yours.

For the seminars, I developed PowerPoint presentations. I developed the PMR slides myself from experience, discussions with examiners, reference book & online material. Since I did not have a lot of experience with the upper form, a veteran examiner was ever so generous to give me his old slides. I used his slides as the base & added some of my own research. This guy is a legend & he is bigger than life!
He's probably going to comment about this below. See if you can guess who he is.

From the feedback, it seems that what I've shared was helpful & some of the things I shared was never shared before. Good on those who attended & paid attention.

I apologise for not sharing the slides. I worked really hard on them so I have attachment issues. It's right what they say about you won't appreciate something you haven't worked for. Anyway, it's nothing earth-moving or overly genius. I'm sure you can come up with something even better.
I'll do the next best thing & give you a basic idea of what I shared with my students:
  • Past Year Questions Analysis
  • Tips to Score Better
  • Learning Strategies
  • Practice with Past Year Questions
  • Common Mistakes
There are more pictures here on my FB page. Check it!

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri!
Maaf Zahir & Batin!

Popular posts from this blog

What To Do When Your Unifi Service Suddenly Drops

-
Image
After finally putting my kid to sleep, I was about to settle into the couch with my wife & stream a movie, when my Unifi fiber optic internet connection suddenly dropped. When it didn't come back after 1 hour, I realized that I had to do something. Considering that I pay my bills promptly every month, it must be a technical issue. Here's what I did to fix the problem. It look me less than 20 minutes. 1. First, I checked my modem (the white machine). I checked the lights on the modem. When the modem is functioning properly, lights will be on for POWER, PON, LAN1 & TEL1. If the red light for LOS lights up, call 100 to resolve the issue. Also, I made sure that all the wire connections were tight. 2. Next, I checked my router (the black machine). Again, I checked the lights. When the router is functioning properly, lights will be on for POWER, GLOBE, WIFI, LAN1. My POWER light was blinking, so that means that there was no internet connection. Again, I made sure th
Open Full Post »

Understanding The New SPM (2021) English 1119 Paper Format

-
Image
This outline & those of other SPM language papers were made publicly available on the Lembaga Peperiksaan Malaysia (LPM) website . I'm sure you've seen the above being circulated on the internet. But, what does it mean? How does this paper compare to the current SPM paper for English? Do we have to change our testing practices in Form 4? At this moment, information is sparse despite great public interest. As the head of the English panel at my school, my Form 4 colleagues will come to me for what to do & parents will ask me what this is about. Until we have very specific instructions from the ministry, this is what I will be telling my colleagues & parents based on the limited amount of information available to me from my intimate experience with the current SPM paper & second-hand information about the PT3 English paper. Let me know if I got anything wrong or if you have more detailed information.
Open Full Post »

How To Fix Logitech Options Not Loading

-
Image
I use a Logitech K380 bluetooth keyboard at home & love it to bits. Very quiet & the tactile response is just perfect. Also, it's super small so easy to put away when I need to pile exam papers on my desk. Still, there's one small problem though... It is a compact keyboard so the multimedia buttons double as function keys. I use the function keys A LOT & it's really cumbersome for me to have to hold the "fn" button every time I want to use them. I.e., try pressing alt+fn+f4 with one hand. Thankfully, with the Logitech Options software, I can default to the function keys. A few months ago, I was chagrined to learn that my keyboard had spontaneously returned to factory settings. "No problem", I thought. "I'll just change the settings in Logitech Options." Only to find that the app wouldn't load on my Windows 10 machine, resulting in the blank window you see screen-captured above. "Let me try reinstalling." Uni
Open Full Post »

A Review of Mosquito Coils In The Market

-
Image
Mosquito coils = The first line of defence against savage jungle mosquitoes. Remember when there was completely no electricity at my school ? It happened during the dry season so the nights were really really warm & hard to sleep with the windows closed. Why close the windows you ask? Because if you don't close the windows, the savages from the jungle will climb in & suck your blood! Literally! I'm talking about swarms of mosquitoes gang-banging your skin & leaving you with clusters of chickenpox-like bumps on your skin in the morning! These guys even bite through clothing!! The itchiness that ensues will practically ensure that you never have a good night sleep. In order to keep those monsters at bay, I had to go really low-tech. I eventually experimented with mosquito coils. There are so many in the market & I thought that all of them worked the same since they had the same basic ingredients. I was wrong. They had different effects on the mosquitoes &am
Open Full Post »

Exotic Fruit: Buah Isu

-
Image
I've been teaching in the Iban motherland for more than 1 year now & I have tasted many exotic fruits exclusively available only within these quiet secluded timber forests. Now, don't you smirk at me! You perverted baskets I call friends are thinking about a different 'fruit'! There are no innuendos here. The exotic fruits that I'm talking about are REAL fruits. First, let me introduce you to the cousin of the king of fruits... Buah Isu Buah Isu resembles it's cousin, the Durian , but I was told that it is NOT in the Durian family. The spikes are longer & they are sharper. They are also very much smaller than the Durians. It's about the size of a man's palm. It has a pleasantly sweet fragrance which is not pungent like the Durian's. Because of it's size, it is easily opened with a cleaver. After opening my first Isu, I couldn't help but bounce off the walls in gay laughter. It was all too amusing to me! I though
Open Full Post »