MY ENGLISH CLASS IN UTM THIS SEMESTER

It is already the end of sixth week of the semester in UTM. This time, I have been given a group of students from "Fakulti Kejuruteraan Awam" - translate: the Faculty of Civil Engineering. My class comprises of 34 students, and there are more international students. There are people from Somalia, Turkey, Ethiopia, Palestine etc. One good thing about this faculty is it is easy to find a parking space even in the bright daylight. But the negative side of it, if for example, I need to have a replacement class at night and need to book a room, I have to write in and ask for permission which is definitely a tedious task to do.

a few minutes before 8 in the morning, my car is the only one visible at the parking lot

There is a big change for the course taught this semester. Students have to use new textbooks and there is a change in the course outline, content and evaluation. Therefore, I have to do some homework before going to class. There are also listening activities which require the teacher to carry the notebook, speakers (and extension wire) to class but I enjoy this session a lot because in a way someone else is reading for me from the CD. I wanted to shift the classes at night like what I used to do before but the students insisted to carry out the lessons in the morning. Nevertheless, the irony of it, attendance up until now is very poor (if compared to my previous classes) and people always come late every time.

We are almost halfway through the semester but I am still hoping for things to improve. Or perhaps, should I be a stricter teacher, like I am in school?

PMR SEMINAR IN UTM

students busy carrying out activities

There are too many students in my school. For form three, there are 15 classes and with that, there are about 600 students just for that form. So we have to divide the form three into three groups when it comes to conducting seminar with the hope that it will be more effective. The place was spacious, comfortable and cool, there was no reason no to focus. As for this group, they were lucky because the session was held in Fakulti Kejuruteraan Awam in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia nearby. The were given the chance to sit in a lecture hall in a real university and experience university life so I hope this in a way will motivate them further.

with Puan Rafidah and Puan Rozita

I guess my slot went well. The response was good and I was happy for that. We are setting high hopes for students from this group to get A's for their English paper as well as to score straight A's. Wishing them all the best of luck for the coming PMR examination.