Thumbs up to NiE
Educators give their feedback on how students fared at lessons where the newspaper was used as a learning tool, after gaining invaluable tips and techniques from trainers at earlier workshops.
Educators give their feedback on how students fared at lessons where the newspaper was used as a learning tool.
FROM February to August, Newspaper-in-Education (NiE) workshops were held at Menara Star for Primary and Secondary school teachers in the Klang Valley.
The workshops by The Star freelance NiE trainer Lucille Dass equipped teachers with techniques of using the newspaper as a language resource in the classroom.
Teachers who attended any one of the NiE workshops were to return to share discoveries, insights and challenges when trying out the newspaper activities in their classes.
The last two sharing sessions on Sept 19 and Oct 13 were complemented with feedback from Institute of Teacher Education, International Languages Campus (IPGKBA), Kuala Lumpur, lecturer Manoharan Nalliah and Dass respectively.
These sharing sessions were a platform where the Klang Valley school teachers exchanged insights and learnt new ideas from each other.
Tan Wei Wei, an English teacher from SJK(C) Chen Moh, Petaling Jaya was pleased to see that all students are involved whenever she conducts an NiE activity, even the ones who are poor in English. “I was also impressed that they were able to complete their tasks.
“The only thing I struggle with is time management – it always seems like there is never enough time!” she said, adding that cleaning up after the activity, was also a challenge as she teaches Year One pupils.
Nurr Azreen Abdul Karim who teaches English at SK La Salle, Petaling Jaya, chose to encourage creative writing skills through her NiE activities.
“Students have negative views about writing. They also have a limited vocabulary. So in my activities, I don’t usually focus on correcting mistakes, but mainly encouraging them to write and to have a more positive view.”
What she found was that the weaker pupils in her class started showing interest in the lesson. “They have been more participative. I also find that they relate better to the newspaper, compared to workbooks or the textbook. This is because the newspaper is an authentic resource with content on the real world. “
“There is peer teaching in the respective groups. The students are sensitive to the people around them and their surroundings, and that I think has inspired them to read even more outside school hours.”
Teacher Jessica Lim Wee Keun from SMK Bukit Rahman Putra, Sungai Buloh, found that NiE activities could be used during any part of the lesson – from a starter to a wrapup.
“It’s a very good tool. I’ve tried out many activities. I would get students to bring their own sets of newspaper from home – they just need two copies for a group of four or five. And it is better this way as they have a wider selection of pictures to choose from.”
One challenge she had was dividing students into groups, as they would tend to group with friends.
“I preferred mixed ability groupings so that stronger ones can help weaker ones.
“Based on my observation, everyone was involved in the activities –
APSAH Aliah, will leave a void that would be hard to replace at SMK Mantin, Negri Sembilan.
The teacher who retired recently will be remembered most for keeping the school’s Home Economics PMR passes at 100 percent for three years in a row.
Her exemplary service also saw her receiving several achievement awards. SMK Mantin principal Norfaimi Mohamad Nor thanked Apsah for her dedication.
A slide show on some of her memorable moments and a song and dance performance by stu- dents were presented during an event held in her honour.
About 1,600 students were at the compound to bid her farewell as Apsah left the school in a yellow vintage car.
Apsah in her farewell speech advised students to grab every opportunity to gain knowledge and skills to upgrade themselves.
She also advised teachers to remain committed to their work, adding that they should upgrade themselves to keep up with knowledge on the latest developments in learning and teaching.