Graduation Day

That day, a graduation for the SPM/STPM candidates was held. It is an annual event held to give motivation for the students to achieve better results in their real SPM/STPM exam this coming November. Students wore their best clothes. Some of them looked very beautiful whereas the others were unattractive. Nevertheless, all of them were very happy and, when asked, hoped to pass their exams with great results. After the graduation ceremony, the students flocked to a class nearby to take their graduation pictures.




The above text can be more exciting if idioms and phrases are used. A sample text:

That day, a graduation for the SPM/STPM candidates was held. It is an annual event held to give motivation for the students to achieve better results in their real SPM/STPM exam this coming November. Students were all in their Sunday best. Some of them cut quite a dash in their suits whereas the others were not much to look at. Nevertheless, all of them were all smiles and, when asked, hoped to pass their exams with flying colours. After the graduation ceremony, the students flocked to a class a stone's throw away to take their graduation pictures.

Directed Essay Made Easy

SPM trial exam has ended. It took me rigorous 3 weeks to mark the papers for 5A, 5E and 5S. Actually, 2 and a half weeks just to mark 5A papers. Although, it has to be mentioned here, the papers are far from being error-free. Basic errors on subject-verb agreements, countable and uncountable nouns, and of course, the tenses, still frequently surfaced.

Directed essays are meant to detect these mistakes. So, I recommend that weak pupils use simple and easy sentences to minimize them.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Studying Abroad

Advantages:

1. know another country
2. study at world's renowned university
3. opportunity to mix with other races
4. improve English
5. learn to be independent
6. learn to be tolerant of others

Disadvantages:

1. miss parents and siblings
2. miss home-cooked food
3. expensive fees
4. high cost of living
5. inevitable changes in lifestyles
6. inevitable changes in weather

Example of a simple essay:

There are many advantages of studying abroad. The first advantage is knowing another country. The second advantage is studying at a world's renowned university. The third advantage is the opportunity to mix with other races. The fourth advantage is improving English. The fifth advantage is learning to be independent. The last advantage is learning to be tolerant of others.

... and copy the above format for the disadvantages also.


Example of a better essay:

There are many advantages of studying abroad. First of all is knowing another country. Secondly, you can study at a world's renowned university. One of the advantages also is the opportunity to mix with other races. Moreover, improving English is an advantage of studying abroad. On the other hand, you can learn to be independent. Finally, you can learn to be tolerant of others.


And, of course, the best essay includes an elaboration and an example for each points given. For example:

There are many advantages of studying abroad. First of all is knowing another country. Studying abroad is the ticket for you to know more about the country where you will be studying. If you are studying at the University of Oxford, for example, you will know more about the United Kingdom.


Hopefully these examples will help you to write better essays in your exams.

FUTSAL FEVER

5 Setia FC still held the edge after a thrilling 7 - 7 draw against Insan-Insan Istimewa FC after winning their game last week with 7 - 4 drubbing. Tonight's game was all about Zulkhairi who scored 6 goals for 5 Setia FC. CONGRATULATIONS!


The team:

5 Setia FC

Mohd Azizul (Goalkeeper)
Che Mohd Nasir
Mazlan Wahab
Asfayuzie
Adnan Mahmud
Mohd Zulkhairi

Insan-Insan Istimewa FC

Rosmahidi (Goalkeeper)
Mazlan Rahim
Mohd Zulkifli
Othman
Mohd Yusof
Adnan Ahmad

The Start of the New Generation

The final whistle last night tasted so sweet; the hoodoo was finally broken. Arsenal away is no longer officially a jinx. The new generation has taken a big step forward; a step towards the crown. Although they needed Arsenal to become a man less before finally broken them down, it was a win nevertheless, because a football match involves the elements of surprise, determination, and of course, luck. Lots of it. Manchester United has been dominating the league using luck as their twelfth man. And what's more, there is still a certain Steven Gerrard to come forward. The captain must be itching to play his part in this new look squad (picture below).


Here are the pictures of last night's victory (taken from LFC official site):

Writing Journal

I've asked my pupils to write journals whilst implementing the grammatical items in the process. They don't have to write much, only 5 sentences are sufficient. However, the sentences must contain all the grammatical items stated. For example,

Write a journal consists of 5 sentences using the Simple Past Tense on what you did during the holidays. You must also include 10 adjectives and 5 adverbs.

It surely save me my time of correcting lots of lengthy essays with lots of grammatical mistakes. This way, I only focused on specific mistakes, and I am sure the pupils will learn aplenty.

Of course, you have to teach them the grammatical items first.

What do you think?


Update:

I just found a very good writing from one of my pupils:

Last breezy Sunday morning, as I walked gracefully to the beautiful sea, I saw a very cute dolphin swimming with the other dolphins. It made me feel good and more in peace. Sometimes, I felt like swimming with them in that blue and cold water. However, something stopped me and it was my handsome father who appeared calmly from the big green bushes. I was shocked as he told me that my sick great grandfather was dying and had to be sent to the nearest hospital immediately.

Can You Detect the Error in This Cartoon?

Malaysian Football Back to Glory Days

The three Premier League clubs - Arsenal FC (AFC), Liverpool FC (LFC) and Chelsea FC (CFC) - might just witness the return of the footballing days in Malaysia. Even though Malaysia lost all three games, their game gradually improved. Starting with a destruction in the game against AFC, Malaysia managed to get three goals against LFC and held CFC firmly from putting in lots of goals. They addressed the leaky defense, and kept CFC at bay until the 80th minute.

Personally, I think that the Malaysian football is back to glory days. They are in the contention for the Brazil World Cup in 2o14 and still running for a spot in the Olympics. Their games are fast, even though they still lack some basic techniques such as the first touch. On the other hand, their tiny stature could prove to be an asset once they are fouled just outside the opponent's penalty box. Safiq Rahim is one the names who could probably put Malaysia back on the football map, and he has got friends to help him - Khairul Fahmi, Norshahrul and Safee Sali, to name a few - achieve his mission.

Let us all hope that the 'Harimau Malaya' can roar proudly at the World Cup 2014!

Beware!

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I get this message tonight. I don't know whether it is a virus, or plain scam just to rob my money. Sometimes, these things are very annoying. Imagine that you get out of bed at 3 a.m. just to read them? Yeah, you are right! I feel like busting my phone, if I'm not being very patient.

Language Hunt

Last holiday extra classes saw a different approach in my language teaching where I used treasure hunting technique, or what I called 'Language Hunt', to fill up the 4 hours time allocation. The pupils had to go to several places in the school compound and answer the given clues for their next location. The clues were given in the form of language learning topics, and I chose the topic of Subject - Verb Agreement because it was their apparent weakness. In the end, the groups were given marks not only according to their arrival at the final place, but also to the number of correct answers for the given tasks.

Tun Mahathir Leads

After winning the Jogathon last February, Tun Mahathir (TM) continued the domination of the school athletics. They led the field with several wins in the 100 metres and also the relay events. However, next week's results are vital in order to stay at the top of the pack. Hopefully TM's athletes will be up for it.

On the other hand, TM lost in both the marching and the tent event. Nevertheless, TM is expected to win the cheer leading event which will be announced this Sunday (26th June 2011).

There were also events for the male teachers. The 4 x 50 metres relay and the push rope events were held in a very 'sporting' manner. Cikgu X and his team won the relay by hiding the extra baton in his pants.

Here I will upload the pics and the vids.

Stressful Weeks Ahead

These two weeks will be very stressful, at least to me. There will be a sports week, a farewell dinner, a retirement programme, and also a futsal final, where I will play an important role in each of them. There is also the SMM data collection, apart from completing the school's blog, to add to the task of teaching my pupils. No wonder I got involved in a small disagreement with one of my co-workers yesterday.

Hopefully I will find the solutions to all of them, even though I think I should neglect one or two of the tasks for now.

May ALLAH give me strength!

Esok (12 Jun 2011) Kelate CUTI!!!!

Praise be to Allah, for He Who bestow upon us a very understanding MB in YB Tuan Guru Haji Nik Abdul Aziz bin Nik Mat. And to further endorse his profile, he has made a very resounding announcement by giving a day off for tomorrow, Sunday 12 June 2011. This is, in his own word, "to make sure that the Red Warriors supporters can drive safely home".

So, will this be repeated every year? I SURELY HOPE SO!

Thanks, MB.

Source here : http://www.facebook.com/nikaziz

An Enjoyable Trip

"Come on everybody! Wake up! I want to see all of you in the car at 8.30 sharp, or else..." I commanded.

That day, we planned to visit the famous Crystal Mosque at Terengganu, and on our way home, stop at La Hot Springs. Everybody was ready, including my 3-year-old son, 'Ammar. He was anxious as to where I would take him.

"Where are we going, abi (father)?" he asked.

"We are going to Terengganu. You've never been to Terengganu, haven't you?" I explained, and whether he understood my explanation or not was not that important.

"Yeay!" he exclaimed, happily.

As promised, the five of us departed at 8.30 a.m. We stopped for our breakfast at Machang, near the traffic light. As the driver, I had a heavy breakfast, eating Nasi Dagang with grilled drumstick, while others only had roti canai.

Half an hour later, we continued our journey. The signboard showed that Kuala Terengganu was 144 kilometres away, and it took us approximately 2 hours from where we had our breakfast that morning, to reach our destination.

The journey was very enjoyable. We travelled through Pasir Putih, and when we entered Terengganu border, we could see remarkably-designed mosques throughout. We all gasped in awe, because the mosques looked very clean and beautiful. They were very different from the mosques in Kelantan, where the designs and the beauty were not that apparent.

Arriving in Kuala Terengganu, I had no problem in finding the whereabouts of the Crystal Mosque because we could clearly see it from the bridge. It was situated near the riverbank, and was surrounded by many structures, especially the Convention Centre and the replicas of the mosques from around the world in the Monument Park.

First, we took some pictures at the Crystal Mosque compound. There were many people there; some of them were taking pictures also, while others were having a programme inside the mosque. 'Ammar was very excited, posing and asking me to take his pictures in front of the mosque.

Then, we entered the Monument Park. It was captivating just to see the smaller scale replicas of the most beautiful of mosques and monuments from around the world, among which were al-Haram and al-Nabawi Mosques (both were situated in Saudi Arabia,) al-Hambra Mosque (Spain), and the Taj Mahal (India).

While in the park, 'Ammar saw pupils getting on the tram unceremoniously from afar. He said, "Abi, I want to ride the tram". "We can't, my dear son. We don't have the tickets," I replied.

I was taking my camera out and starting to take the pupils' pictures when I heard them calling, "Sir, come with us!. Sir, come with us!".

It was then I realized that they were actually pupils from my school, who were travelling with the teachers in a three-days-two-nights tour of Terengganu. And luckily for 'Ammar, he had the chance to enjoy a free tram ride after all, courtesy of the group tour.

After spending a couple of hours in the park, and taking pictures at all the monuments and mosques, we decided that it was time to go. But, we cashed in the vouchers given to us at the park's cafe and its souvenir shop.

It was already 5 p.m. when we got out from the place. After some discussion, we came to the conclusion that there was not enough time to continue our plan with the La Hot Springs. Thus, we found a place to stay in for the night, and would carry our plan forward the next day.