Part 2: Presentation Continued [IWB Assignment]

19th September 2007 – The presentations on IWB products were continued with the rest of the groups not presented last week. I would depict the scene at MK2 similar to last week. It seems that the faces in MK2 were again filled with amazement. One could not stop admiring each of the products presented.

Everyone seated in the cinema (MK2) was eager to watch

the PART 2

Below are some of the products presented by my course mates:
- Hanna present on her product to teach Time (Mathematics)
- Iz with her lesson on the topic Money- I find this lesson to be quite confusing.
- Nad came up with her poem in her product. I like the spinning tool from the smart board tools utilized here.
- Alison presented a Science lesson on Food Chain.

Today, my group had to present one of the selected products too. Actually, we were in the midst of deciding whose lesson to be presented until the last moment. Finally, it was Nanthini’s to be presented.

It is a lesson on Countable and Uncountable Nouns. Actually, this lesson is simple yet practical and meaningful to be used with young pupils who still developing the concept on Nouns. The first part of the lesson deals with a self-discovery learning where pupils will have to write their answers in the space provided on the IWB. Following that, pupils can drag the stars at the bottom of page to check if their answers are correct. Next, pupils will move on to a simple task of classifying done by dragging the correct object into the boxes (person, place, thing) specified. After that, pupils can write their answer on what are countable and uncountable nouns. The answers can be checked by using the eraser in the smart board. The most interesting part of this lesson is the nouns and ladder game at the end of the lesson. This is to replace to traditional snake and ladder game. It is something new for pupils to try out snake and ladder using IWB. This game will be able to attract pupils’ interest.

The activities presented by Techno_thinkers:

To recap, all the products or courseware presented last week and this week are wonderful and amazing. I never thought that all of us could come up with interesting activities because we are novice learners in this field. But we have prove that we will strive hard to master the skill of manipulating IWB and smart board tools to contribute to pupils’ learning.

Part 1: Presentation [IWB Assignment due]

12th September 2007 – Have you ever been in cinema and watched a number of tremendous shows in a row continuously without being able to rate which was better than the other? I had a number of experiences of watching a few shows/movies in a row but could pin point the weaknesses as well as the strength of the show besides rating it. But watching the presentations on IWB lessons was something unusual. How should I describe it? (thinking). I could only say, “Wow…. Amazing smart board lessons were released in cinema!”

The lab (MK2) was like a cinema. The presenters were like a professional artist on stage while the rest were like a big bunch of audience who are enjoying themselves with excitement and full of surprise. The only technical hitch was that the IWB (imagine as the cinema screen) was not functioning in the beginning but our technical crews managed to fix the problem (Ms. Ng & Ms. Chin manage to fix it). Due to the technical problem, the show was delayed but it did not lessen the interest of the audience. They are willing to have the show the following week. Fortunately, our technical crews have managed to fix it. Hence, we were able to start the presentation.

Yes, the IWB lessons presented were all amazing and I could not say which one was better. All the lessons were great in its own way because each lesson is unique and interesting. I was speechless when I saw the lessons presented. It was really good and some of these ideas never crossed my mind before. I was really impressed with each of my friends’ product. I am sure, young pupils will be attracted to these lessons and want to be involved in the activity. It is indeed true, SMARTBOARD can do miracle.

All together we only had time for six groups to present the chosen lesson. Ms. Teoh started the ball rolling with her Mathematics lesson on a topic of Money. Wow, there were 100 slides in her lesson. The activities were design in a way that it will really cater with the needs of the pupils as well as the teacher. This is because, there is a session called ‘Teacher Guide’ for each activity which is linked to the procedure and rationale of the activity. This will be useful for the teacher when using the activity. Teacher will not have to think of ways to carry out the activity. Teacher can just refer to the procedure and either follow it or modify it based on the current needs. However, in my humble opinion, 100 slides can be quite confusing. Although, the links are provided to go back to the content page, there will be some confusion if the teacher needs to return to the third question or answer in a different activity to show the pupils some related skills.

Following that, Jeng Yeong presented his superb IWB lesson on a mathematics topic, Time. He used fun animated clips in his lesson with a story. It was a good idea to incorporate story in a Math lesson to contextualize the content. I guess everyone was entertained with his lesson since everyone was laughing out loud. This is indeed a good sign because young pupils need to be engaged in fun learning environment. According to Krashen’s Affective Filter Hypotheses, one learns better if the level of anxiety is low. That means, pupil should not feel threaten to lower their level of anxiety. Instead, pupils should enjoy the lesson.

Next, Lina came up with a brilliant idea of having the pupils to catch the thief using direction. When I saw her lesson, I could recall my childhood memories where we often play games like catching the thief. Pupils will definitely be interested in this lesson, since they can now catch a thief in the classroom using IWB tools.

Here comes Ashah (my ex-roommate, ex-housemate but still a loving friend). Ashah represented her group to present a Science lesson prepared by Anis. I am sure all my course mates whom are taking Science would have felt relieved by now. The lesson was about life cycle of animal. There was integration of video clip of the life cycle of a frog. This will provide pupils opportunity to observe the cycle step by step.

The next actor on stage was Azlan (my classmate, Resourcesaurus group mate- nice working with you, Azlan). He came up with a simple yet interesting lesson. There was a lot of effort put in. I noticed he was having difficulty in handling the IWB. I guess it is still a major problem for most of us.

Before the curtain draws, Mellisa (my great..great ...friend) the great actress step forward with her usual expressions of excitement. Mel presented a lesson on a science topic, SPACE. Well, the design and layout of the lesson slides are eye-catching thus would definitely captivate pupils’ attention. I personally did try out this lesson and I really find it interesting. (Mel, I love the part where pupils have to drag the planet to its name)

The show ended and I could see various expressions on the audience but most obvious was the feeling of amazement. The rest of the groups will continue to present next week. My group will be presenting next week as well. Hopefully, it will turn out well. Prof mentioned that she was really impressed with all our works. Actually, today is the due date to upload the IWB assignment into AIRSET. Today I have learnt a lot of tricks and technigues of smart board tools when designing a lesson. The presentation also has opened my eyes to believe that SMARTBOARD do not restricts one's creativity when designing a lesson.

Note: There were two guests present in the lab. (I am not sure of their names)