Wednesday, November 4, 2009

What Does Confucious and Linse Say?

Dear All,

Here's an interesting contrast that I got as a combination of TWO profound quotations:

1) Confucius said (or something like this):

Tell me and I will forget
Show me and I might remember
Involve me and I will understand

2) Caroline Linse said

You need to hear a word before you can say it
You need to say a word before you can read it
You need to read a word before you can write it

Ref:
Linse, C (2005) Young Learners. New York:McGraw Hill


Have a good day teaching!


Rodney Tan

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

You've Got A Friend

Dear ETs,

This is a touching video clip with a moral value for our English lesson. The song is "You've Got A Friend" sung in Spanish (I think). It's 1 minute 40 seconds long.

Rodney Tan


News: New System for SPM Merit Points



Just in case you may have missed the news announcement, the MOE is starting a new grading system to calculate the merit points for the SPM exams.

It looks like the STPM format.

With our Malaysian students getting straight As in the thousands, I wonder sometimes whether we have lowered our standards or our students are just "too smart" academically.

We hear complains that a student who gets an 'A' in English is not able to speak or write fluently in English.

Teachers are under tremendous pressure to produce "A" students and will therefore probably choose the easier method of teaching for exams rather than to "develop the whole person"--one who will be competent users and speakers of the English language.


Rodney Tan