5th Reflection - Seven Methods for Effective Powerpoint Slide Presentation.

       In the previous class, we looked into few powerpoint slides on lesson plan based on each of our majors including English, Economics and Mathematics. Many of us got different comments on the outlook and content of our lesson plan. There are few methods which I wrote down in class based on Madam Ng's comments :

1) Keep the background design minimal and it shouldn't be too colourful 

We always hear the quote "less is more" and it could be well applied in this case when we do our powerpoint slides. Good colour contrast on the background should be inserted like the example given by Madam Ng is that the background should be in a darker shade and whereas the text should be in a lighter shade to make it easier for the students to read.

Example :
This is one of the examples on how it should look on powerpoint slides :)

2) Importance in using proper type of fonts and font size. 

Often at times when I choose fonts for powerpoint slides, I choose the ones that looks attractive to me, but then during the class last session I realized how important it is to choose fonts that could be read easily by students. The example Madam Ng suggested in class was Century Gothic and the size should range from 20 to 25 so that students could read them clearly even from far.

   

3. Avoid cramming all the information in one slide. 
It is important that we don't cram a lot of information in one slide in order to avoid students from getting bored  or even lose focus of the subject being taught. Cramming too much information in one slide is never a wise thing to do, its okay if you have many slides as it could lead to better understanding and concentration.

Example of a bad powerpoint slide where they are overloaded information in one slide. 

4. Avoid using cartoon pictures or clip arts. 

I have always had the thought that cartoon and clip art could be something really attractive to be used in slides as it could make the slides more interesting. In the previous class, Madam Ng actually explained to us that it is always good using a real picture that is very much related to the lesson we would be teaching in class.

                                

An example of an emoji(clip art) and a real picture. Instead of using emoji's in slides we could actually use real life pictures of people that would represent the thing we would want to talk about to make it more realistic. 

5. Make the powerpoint slide lessons as local as possible.
What it means is simply by using Malaysian context examples in every points or even examples so that every student in the classroom would receive the message behind each lesson. Each student are brought up in different cultures and background so it is important that teachers find good examples to aid their teaching and learning. Students from urban and rural areas have different thoughts so its important teachers study each students before giving out their opinions on certain things so that they could relate it well to their own lives.  

"Malaysia truly Asia" - Be proud to be a Malaysian by using examples close to Malaysian students. :)

6. Use innovative way of beginning the teaching and learning session.

Often at times, teachers are prone to give notes to students from slides before starting off any lesson. What we fail to do is understand that we should come out of that norm and do something differenet for example like showing them a picture and asking them to guess whats the lesson of the day is going to be. By that way, students become more interactive in classroom rather than reading from the slides and causing them to get bored so easily. Different approaches would attract the students and enable better understanding and results.

7. Cover book examples 

This point applies to teachers who would like to show student examples of the books that teachers would be using in class. Most of the times, teachers would take the whole cover of the book and show it to the students. Its not an efficient way of showing students because they might not grasp the important elements from the cover page of the book. A good cover page example should be properly cropped with all the proper elements and information in it so that the session would be effective and fruitful.


This are few of the many methods given out by Madam Ng in helping us produce a good power point slide. Thank you so much Madam Ng for all the guidelines you have taught, it would definitely be very useful for us all in the future for mock teaching and as well as when we have officially graduated as an educator. That's all from me for now. Thank you so much for reading my blog and hope it would be useful for everyone. :) 

4th Reflection : Important Part of a Lesson Plan :)

         

          Lesson plan is known as every teacher's "best friend" haha I hope. Well, in the previous class, we were exposed in creating our very own lesson plan based on the major we are going to take up in the future. I had experience doing lesson plan when I was teaching in the kindergarten and I got to admit that it seems quite different from what I have to design for secondary school going children. Firstly, would obviously the content of the lesson plan where kindergarten kids activities are far more easier to be designed in my opinion compared to secondary going children. Secondly, the complexity of the lesson plan itself is turning me into an angry bird. haha Why? Because it's not easy at all to design for secondary going children. Well, that's exactly why I am in Pedagogy in Education class right? hehe to learn better and use whatever I am exposed to in the future. :)

          Well, coming back to the main purpose of the blog where I am assigned to talk about the most important part of a lesson plan. Every part in a lesson plan should be given great emphasis but in my opinion the most important part would be on how we organize the time and activities in order to produce a very fruitful teaching and learning lesson. Time management and how a teacher organizes each activities should be done in great precision. This takes us to the stages in a lesson plan which compromises of elements like stage/duration, content/skills, teacher/student activity and lastly rationale behind each activities and audio and visual aid(AVA). Good content and approach in teaching and learning would ensure the good flow of knowledge in class because teachers are aware of what they going to teach their fellow students and when they know  they would be able to find the best method and skill to ensure their students actually would be able to catch up. Good content is proven to be an important element of a lesson plan. 

Side track! :p hehehe #truestory 

          A teacher should take into account all this important elements in a lesson plan, in order to create a good generation of students. Lesson plan could actually decide the flow of teaching and learning. Whether the class session is good or not, it all depends on the lesson plan and in my opinion each part of the lesson plan should be designed carefully as it determines the key performance index of a teacher and also the quality of students that would be produced. I honestly now have great respect for all teachers because designing a lesson plan is not an easy task at all and I believe most of my teachers have done a great job in sacrificing their time to be spent on creating a lesson plan for each class. A BIG SALUTE TO ALL TEACHERS AROUND THE WORLD FOR THAT! :)

Appreciation post to all teaches around the world who work really hard to create lesson plans. Big salute, again! :)



Thank you so much for taking your time to read my blog. Have a great weekend! ;)

3rd Reflection - Padlet, Creation of Lesson Plan & Life Experiences :)

         
          This time around in class Madam Ng introduced us to "Padlet". It wasn't something new to me because I have used in my previous semester and I was aware of how sensitive it could get. ;) Its a very creative method of teaching and learning where students can post their views and it automatically shows in the screen. It could be in words, videos or even pictures. We were assigned to share on the best school of thought and the best method that could be used to this school of thought's approach. Many shared various kinds of school of thought with various and new methods of teaching and learning which some I have never heard off before. Personally, I think its a very good method using Padlet in teaching and learning because its very fast and we could actually view and read each one of us opinions in matter of second and clearly. I would definitely use this method of teaching and learning in my classroom in the future to get out of the usual chalk and board method which bores students. I wouldn't want my students to fall asleep in classroom, you see hehe :p

          After some good time doing Padlet, we were assigned in groups to do a "Lesson Plan". The most important tool a teacher would ever encounter in their teaching life. Something I would end up living the rest of my life I think. But hopefully not :p hehehe My group consisted of four beautiful ladies - Diyanah, Shevaanni, Tracy & Jessicca. We used Google as our reference and we got our lesson plan done well. Well, not only Google did the work, we did too ;) hehehe Good remarks from Madam Ng and friends boosted up our confidence level and it sought off helped us to come up with something better in the future.

Literally how the four of us the whole time when we got constant praises. :D Thank you amazing friends :)

          Happen to be on that day was my 23rd birthday and Madam Ng actually shared her life experience on her life experience, It meant a lot to me as it gave me some sought of comfort to me that though you jump from one path to another doesn't mean you wont do well in life. When Madam shared on how she would quit her work because she feels she doesn't belong there and she deserves better gave me a click where once I deferred my studies in my previous law school to do teaching course in Unitar. Not many would understand the pressure and obstacles I went through but I am glad that I actually could relate to Madam Ng's life experience and advises. It means a lot to me and it motivated me to work harder in where I am right now.

          Well, another piece of advise from her on how ladies should never quit job and be a house wife. I totally could relate it to my mum's advise on how ladies should learn how to be independent and not always rely on their husbands in any circumstances. I felt like I was hearing words from my mum throughout the time. Well, it was a good reminder again to my girl friends in class and as well as for me. A well educated lady deserves more than being a house wife, doing chores and changing diapers. They deserve to shine brighter than the stars do, so know your worth and work hard to strive for the best in life may it be in career or knowledge. :) 

Thank you so much for reading my dearest beautiful people. Have a good day ahead :)

2nd Reflection : BEST SCHOOL OF THOUGHT

         
          This time around in my second reflection in my blog I would be sharing on The Best School of Thought. As we are aware, there are three school of thoughts - HUMANISTIC SCHOOL OF THOUGHT, BEHAVIORAL SCHOOL OF THOUGHT AND COGNITIVE SCHOOL OF THOUGHT. I am planning to major in language and literature and based on the discussion I find Humanistic School of Thought as the best school of thought.

          Reason I chose Humanistic School of Thought is because of the beliefs whereby it emphasizes students to have good feelings about themselves as its vital for self development which can encourage academic achievement. As we are well aware that language and literature needs students to express themselves out in literature especially so as a future teacher, I feel that humanistic approach enables students to express themselves in the art of literature. When students are able to master the art of loving themselves then no doubt that they will be able to be successful in their lives.

          Next, its also been said that school should be made to fit the child rather than the child made to fit the school. What it means is simply students should be self directed where teaching and learning should be personalized to students preferences. I find this belief really interesting as an aspiring language and literature teacher to be. I find it vital to let students find their own methods and preferences while expressing themselves in the art of language and literature. Teachers act as mentors to guide them through the students they make while the full decision lies in the hands of the students.  This is more like the student centered concept which I believe is one of the best method to be used in teaching and learning in schools.

          Moreover, humanistic school of thought also believes in accepting differences in oneself and embracing it in teaching and learning. There are various ways a student may digest the art of language and literature so I believe as a language and literature educator is important that this element is taken into close account so that my students differences in the future is not taken as a weakness but as plus point for them to actually move forward in life and be really successful - which is my aim in education. :)

       

  

The Maslow Hierarchy of Needs could be used as an important tool to measure a students needs in teaching and learning. 

       
           In a nutshell, other school of thought is definitely good as well as it has been well planned and formed by intellectual people all around the world and as future educators it is important that we do more research on all those other School of Thought so that it could be implied into teaching and learning in the classroom. Various School of Thought has different beliefs and approaches so this varsity could be used a good platform to make the teaching and learning in the classroom a real meaningful and fruitful one. 

I end my blog and leave you with a video which would help you have a good overview about Humanistic School of Though. Have a good day and thank you for taking out the time to read my blog. I appreciate thoughts on the best school of thought from your side too. Thank you again :) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMGRWVXyrqg