Top 5 Things to Do with 4+ Students in Your ESL Classroom

1. Ask the students to do activities in groups for example writing script and performing role plays related to the topics in class focusing on the target language.
2. Give students handouts with challenging tasks so they will spend more time trying to solve the tasks instead of making too much noise in classrooms.
3. Read aloud notes where students will refer to their copies and discuss each points in the notes one by one where possible. This method always keep the class well controlled and easy for teachers to monitor the students.
4. Ask students to write simple or short essays or write simple sentences related to the subject taught. 2 to 3 sentences are enough so teachers will have enough time to check the students sentences.
5. For each subject taught, pause and ask students to come up with some examples to keep the students on track.

How to get unlimited data by using DIGI Blackberry internet

I am pretty sure that you have heard about 'hacking' DIGI internet to make it unlimited but you pretty much don't know how do it yourself and keep wondering if someone out there will be nice enough to help you to achieve your unlimited dreams.

Well today is your lucky day as I am going to show you how play some tricks to get unlimited internet if you are using DIGI numbers. It's very simple to be honest. Just follow the steps as shown below.

1. Make sure you are using DIGI as your telecommunication provider, no matter what the package provide. I am using DIGI Best and that pretty much it.

2. Make sure you have enough credits, to be in the safe spot, make sure you have at least RM15 balance running in your DIGI number. This is because your credits is going to be cut once you registered for the unlimited plan.

3. Now go to your phone setting (edit access point) and search for APN as shown in the picture below (not sure what APN means but this is the way it should be done anyway). change the APN to blackberry.net and click OK.

4. At the end of the process your 'access point' should looks like this (above picture) meaning pretty much you are using or subscribing to blackberry.net for your internet access.

5. The next move would be to register or more to turn ON your subscription after you have completed the process above.

6. Go to 'new message' in your phone message and type 'ON BB BBM' and send to 2000. There's a mistake up there (in the picture) where it should be ON and not OK but since I have set my message to automatic correction every time I type ON it will be corrected to OK. Make sure you are aware of that okay. it's ON and not OK.

7. Once you have completed the process above (no. 6) after a while you will received a message telling that you have succeeded in the registration. You will be charged RM0.50 per day and they will give a notification on that cut form your account every single day. Just make sure you have sufficient amount of credit. You can pretty much say that you will only spend RM15 in a month, not more and not less than that amount.

8. There you go, now you can try it on your own and get yourself unlimited data by using DIGI blackberry plan. Good luck trying and please like this post and share it with your friends.

Understanding Your Body & Soul

The mind, body and soul must move parallel in order to achieve maximum life purpose and also the balance of almost everything related to the life itself.

By understanding your body and how it works, you'll have a great access of understanding your soul and the reasons of our sole existence in this world. A good read will always be a good read and if you want to know about your body, then click here to get the access of everything that you want to know about.

ESL Not Your Typical Final Exam Tips

Be prepared and be early

A good preparation other than reading notes would be knowing what to do and knowing what are the essentials that you need to bring (especially your students I.D and the exam slip). If possible, put everything that you need in a small bag/ case so that they are not scattering around.

By coming early you don't have to thing about arriving late. In a psychological way, you'll be more compose and relax, your heart will not pound as much as those who are coming late to the exam hall. This way you can answer the questions in the most comfortable situations.

What to wear?

Wear bright coloured shirt. The logic is you might not know if you are going to sit the exam in a class where the fans or air conditioning are fully functioning. By wearing bright coloured shirts, you can keep your body temperature cool if the fans and air conditioning are not properly working or in the worst case, not working at all. Physics says that dark colours trap heat, so avoid wearing one.

What to have for breakfast?(for morning exams)

Get yourself a good breakfast but not a heavy one just enough for you to sustain energy to go through the 2 hours grueling papers. Avoid 'nasi lemak' as it will cause you to go to the toilet the way you didn't expect.

Where to sit?

Get yourself a good seat. Well seats in the exam halls or classes are determine by class or related course and not according to students' name alphabetically. Be wise when choosing your seat. Sitting at the back has nothing to do with you leaving early or getting low scores. It is very wise to sit on the chair that is the nearest to the fans or air conditioning. This way you don't have to worry about the global warming that will eventually happen in the hall or class. Logically you should feel comfortable answering all questions through out the exam period.

Get Noticed, Get Good Marks, Get Yourself a Good Presentation with Microsoft PowerPoint

ESL students always miss this one out; a good presentation that contributes to good marks needs Microsoft PowerPoint helps. It always does not only with Learning ESL but also especially Teaching of ESL.

Recently I realized that ESL students take things too easy which can cause a big difference in their marks between what they got and what they should get at the end of a presentation. A good presentation is just another presentation without the aid of any visuals but a presentation will be a better or best presentation once students know how to utilize visuals related to their presentations and know how to use Microsoft PowerPoint. 

In example, a student that is doing a presentation on a process on a DIY project (do it yourself) should put something in the slides for example related verbs to the process or maybe some pictures on how the processes are developing and most probably some tips and tricks. This will help the audience to understand the whole process and not to get bored with the presentation too easy. And after all we are human and human tend to love visuals and colours more if to compare to only the sound of a presenter's voice and only some gestures through out the presentation.

Using the PowerPoint is one thing but really know how to use it is another thing. Most students didn't realize that they are packing too much sentences in the slides which can cause disaster. In this case students will read their slides instead of presenting and of course will affect their marks. Another thing is the choice of backgrounds and the selection of font, font size and colours. Students made a lot of mistakes related to this where they tend to use fancy fonts which may look very not professional, the size of the font which is too small and is hard to be recognized or read and also the colours of the fonts that seem to blend with the background or theme of the PowerPoint that cause difficulties for the audience to read them.

MUET Speaking: Example of a Group Discussion

CANDIDATE C:   Good morning everyone. We are here to discuss ( To initiate the discussion) the most effective way to overcome the problem of obesity. We have four suggestions, which are to change eating habits, daily exercise, health talks and awareness campaigns. Candidate B, would you like to share your opinion with us?( To ask for opinion/view).

CANDIDATE B:      Yes I would, thank you, Candidate C. I strongly believe that (To express opinion/view) the most effective is to engage in daily exercise. Exercising increases our metabolic rate and this helps to burn calories. Exercise such as jogging and swimming burn the excess fat accumulated under our ski. Half an hour of exercise daily will surely help to keep obesity at bay. Do you agree with me,(To ask for opinion) Candidate D?

CANDIDATE D:      I am sorry, Candidate B. I don’t agree with the point that you have just mentioned. I do not think that ( To disagree) daily exercise is the most effective way to check obesity. In my opinion, I would say that (To give opinion) awareness campaigns are a better solution because such campaigns  could influence the minds of the public. Such campaigns, if widely publicized by the mass media, could be highly effective in getting people to be aware of the dangers of and consequently check obesity. It is when people are aware of the importance of taking care of their health that they will take the pains to stay fit.

CANDIDATE  A:   Excuse me, (To interrupt) Candidate D, can I say something? (To interrupt)

CANDIDATE  D:      Yes, please go ahead.

CANDIDATE  A:     Thank you , Candidate D.  I see your point, but I am of the opinion that (To partially agree) changing eating habits is the most effective  way to overcome the problem of obesity. This is because bad eating habit is the main reason for obesity. We need to fight the problem from is roots. Taking a balanced diet according to the food pyramid would reduce the intake of high fat, sodium, sugar ,calorie- and cholesterol-laden food. Fruits, vegetable and cereals that provide fibre reduce hunger pangs and provide essential nutrients. Lost of water flushes out the toxins accumulated in the body. I believe (To give opinion) all these could help to check obesity. Candidate C, what do you think?(To ask for opinion)

CANDIDATE  C:    I am sorry , Candidate A. I feel that changing eating habits is not necessarily the best solution.(To disagree).In my point of view (To give opinion),health talks are more effective in dealing with obesity. People get more direct information on how to choose the best type of food for them and they also learn different ways to improve their health. There are often free screenings like Body-Mass Index tests and health checks during these talks and this will help people become more aware of health problems related to obesity. People can get advice that is tailored to their personal needs.

CANDIDATE  B:        I don’t agree with your point, (To express disagreement) Candidate C . I think health talks are not effective in helping to check obesity as people merely listen and forget about the advice when they get home. People don’t internalize the information. Don’t you agree with me, (To ask for support/opinion) Candidate D?

CANDIDATE  D:    You have made your view very clear. I agree with you.(To agree) Well, now that we have presented all our view points, what do you have to say (To come to consensus), Candidate A?

CANDIDATE  A:      I support the opinion of (To agree and support an opinion) Candidate B that daily exercise is the most effective way in checking obesity.

CANDIDATE  D:       What about you(To ask for opinion),Candidate C?

CANDIDATE  C:   I guess Candidate B has a very good point there.(To agree and support an opinion). Daily exercise is the most effective solution.

CANDIDATE  D:       Right, so we all agree that daily exercise is the most effective solution to control obesity ( To express the group decision). Does anyone have anything else to say? Otherwise, let’s bring his discussion to a close(To end the discussion). Thank you for your contributions to this discussion.(To close the discussion)

GUIDELINES

1.    Practice, practical practice!

·         Practice preparing points on a topic within  two minutes

·         Practice speaking in class

·         Practice in front of mirror

·         Practice note-taking skills

2.    Read widely and keep abreast with current issues

3.    Organize your ideas and thoughts quickly

·         Highlight key words or phrases to help you focus on the task

·         Use short notes

·         Organize key word/note in a logical order

·         Avoid sweeping statements or generalizations

·         Give reason and examples to substantiate points

·         Given a reasonable, practical opinion or suggestion

4.    Be calm and confident. Speak convincingly.

5.    Body language

·         Sit upright

·         Smile and be cheerful

·         Use appropriate, natural hand gestures

·         Do not look nervous or sad

·         Avoid fidgeting, folding your arms or shaking your legs

·         Avoid fiddling with your pen or tapping the table with your pen fingers

6.    Speck clearly

·         Ensure your voice is audible; do not mumble

·         Do not shout

·         Do not speak too fast or pause too long

·         Vary your too fast or pause too long

·         Vary your pitch and intonation

·         Articulate your words properly

·         Avoid filled pauses such as ‘ err’ or ‘uuhhh’

·         Refrain from peculiar speech habits such as ‘you know’, ‘alright’, ‘actually’

·         Remember not to use ‘lah’

7.    Be an participant in Task B

·         Do not keep quiet

·         Learn how to interrupt politely

·         Do not dominate or monopolize the discussion

·         Do not assume that you are always right

·         Use connectives and relevant expressions

8.    Observe social conventions when interacting

·         Address others properly

·         Be friendly, polite and diplomatic

·         Do not be upset if your opinion or suggestion is not accepted

·         Accept better suggestions

·         Avoid being personal, defensive or creating uneasiness and anxiety

9.    Pay attention to the discussion

·         Listen attentively when others are talking

·         Do not daydream

·         Keep to your topic and be focused. Do not go out of point

10.  Keep within the stipulated time

·         Ensure that there is enough time for  everyone to present their points

·         Do not spend so much time on the first point that there is insufficient time to discuss  other points. Allocate sufficient time for each point.

Help me in helping you by filling the ESL and More survey form HERE 

ESL Top 5 Learning Motivation Tips

Motivation is one important factor that goes around our life in everything and anything that we do almost every day. Well, ESL Learning is not an exception when we talk about motivation or stimulus factor. I have figured out some motivational acts that I can practice in my ESL classes in order to motivate ESL learners to learn and stay interested. Below are 5 of them.

1. Instead of stating the students are wrong for example in writing or sentences construction, tell them nicely on how they can change or repair the sentences appropriately without leaving the original meaning.

2. Praise the students once they have successfully completed a task. Give them the credits especially when they are trying their best in ESL activities for example in oral activities. Praising technique is the simplest way that an ESL teacher can do to boost students’ morale and it works all the time.

3. Check their works from time to time and give proper comments. Basically people will appreciate attention and so do ESL learners in our classes. This way can somehow motivate ESL learners to participate more seriously in the future and gain something useful for themselves.

4. Allow students to make comments or suggestions for a change. Take those comments or suggestions that are acceptable and brilliant. Please don’t straightly deny comments that you think as inappropriate, just tell the students that you’ll think of the comments and will get back to them later on. Make sure you as teacher has a written record. Once students believe that you as teachers can accept their way of thinking, it will somehow can motivate them to learn and continuously participate in your next class.

5. Last but not least ESL teachers can publish students’ work in their ‘ESL and More’ website and inform the students that their work are being published and can be read all over the world. Personally for me if my ESL teacher told me that my work is being published, I will feel very proud and this can encourage me to love the target language more than before.

What To Do When Insect Goes Into Ear

Especially for us who have young children....
Very useful tips for parents and grandparents, baby sitters, aunties and uncles:
FYI. Especially those who have young children, sharing this knowledge.

A Family wrote about the incident of their child.

Early this morning at about 4am, my eldest daughter was complaining and cry-saying that she felt pain in her ear. I tried to calm her down and persuaded her to let me have a look at it but she refused and showed us her stubbornness and tormented her anger at us.

I can see why, as I saw pain in her little eyes. It was a scary incident for us as we're worried and got no clue of what is the cause of it and what to do. So I decided to call my sister-in-law whom is a doctor for advice. She told me to pour baby oil into my daughter's ear. After a while of persuasion, I finally manage to calm her down and pour baby oil into her ear. She then manage to go back to her sleep.

Next morning, she woke up without complain and went to her usual Sunday Class. I thought everything was ok. But,when she came back from school, she complained to me that she found difficulty in hearing clearly. I quickly took her to ENT Specialist. In my heart was asking questions on whether is it due to the oil that I poured last night and hence, it affected her drum? The thought of it scares me.

When it's our turn to see the doctor, I explained to the doctor on last night incident. The doctor then inserted a small wire, which is also known to be a tiny camera into my daughter's ear. I was amazed when he showed me on the TV screen, the leg of an insect and told me that was the cause of the pain and hearing problem. He then inserted another kind of wire to suck the insect out. He told me that luckily I poured baby oil into my daughter's ear quick enough, otherwise the "alive insect" could go deeper and it can damage her ear.

He told us what we did was a right thing to do as baby oils or cooking oils will kill the insect. However, after doing so, we must quickly visit the nearest doctor, to take it out. Do not wait any longer. I was relieved and thankful that nothing happens to my daughter, even though we took our time to see the doctor, after putting the baby oil in her ear.

Seven Steps to Better Presentations.

1. Tell stories. Seriously. People could care less about the five ways some XML vocabulary will enable enterprise whatever. Rather, put a screenshot of your project up, tell people what you learned while doing it, then give them a slide that reiterates those ideas in easy to digest bullets. That's interesting. Even more interesting are before-and-after screenshots. Better yet: a step-by-step evolution. Just do not go from bullet-point slide to bullet-point slide trying to tell people what to think.

2. Show pictures. Got a good metaphor? Use it. "The Web is like a school of fish." But go to images.google.com and type in "sardines" or "school of fish" or whatever. Make it a slide. Then say the Web is like that. Much more powerful and memorable.

3. Don't apologize. Ever. If something is out of order, or if something occurs to you as a mistake during the presentation, keep it to yourself. They'll never know. Besides, nobody cares about the presentation itself. This is really hard, because you know the whole backstory, and you'll be tempted to explain why something isn't quite perfect. Skip it. Also, you don't need to apologize about the color on the projector, or the fact that your mic just popped off your lapel, or that a staff person spilled a pitcher of water. Commiserating is fine, however. "If it gets another 5 degrees colder in here, I'll be able to see my breath!"

4. Start strong. I can't believe how many presenters forget this. Do not get up there and say, "Um, well, I guess we should probably get started." Instead, say, "Hi, I'm Jeff. It's really great to be here, and thank you so much for coming to my session. Today, we're going to talk about...." Make sure those are the absolute first words you say out loud. No need for a joke or an opening or any of that. Just start strong and confident.

5. End strong too. "...so that's why I like social software. I appreciate your attention today. Thank you." Then stand there and wait. Everyone will clap, because you just told them you were done. When they've finished, ask them if they have any questions. If nobody asks anything, break the uncomfortable silence with "Well, I guess I told you everything you need to know then. [heh heh] I'll be around after if you think of anything. Thanks again!" and start packing up your stuff.

6. Stand. Away from the podium. Out from behind the presenter table. Keep your hands out of your pockets. Take off your conference badge (the lights will catch it and be distracting). I pace a little bit around the stage, timed with my points, saying one thing from over here, and another from over there. But don't move too much.

7. Pause. When you say something important, leave a gap after it. Let it hang there for a few seconds. Try it when talking to your friends. "You know what I think? (pause...two...three...four...) I think Bush is bankrupting this country for the next twenty years. (pause...two...three...four...) Here's why..."