Ashikin's - POST-REFLECTION

Though there are some lacking here and there during the camp, the extraordinary teamwork spirit shown made me feel relieved. Since it was my first time to work under protocol, I was very concern whether or not I was doing it right. So far, none of the problems involved facilitators and the organizer team. Only a few technical problems showed up but the facilitators manage to attend to it very well (yay to all of you!) However, teachers’ presence in the groups made the students even more shy and demotivated because they were afraid to make mistake (in grammar, I assume). This is because teachers have full authority towards students while facilitators will act more like brothers or sisters; hence the students were rather more comfortable with us.

I hope I helped them well throughout the camp and the camp can be considered as a great success since I can see some changes in the students’ confidence. I manage to take over the group after the ‘Tandem Writing’ activity and helped them out for the skit. (My group was the one with the fish headgear.) They were still struggling with the voice projection but I told them to just speak out whatever you understand and be confident. I guess that was what they did. I was more than happy to see them walked up front and acted out because they were very shy at first. Congratulations to all facilitators for their hard work!

Language Camp A: Maisarah’s Post-Reflection

Salam everyone! :)

As the saying goes,

“Hope for the best, prepare for the worst”.

In everything we do, yes we expect everything to be perfect. But, sometimes flaws come in and made us upset. There’s nothing to be worried about as we have prepare for the worst.

Same goes to this camp, I think we all have done our best right? Be POSITIVE, reflect ourselves and let’s make improvements over the flaws in the future. The most important thing is we are whole-heartedly to facilitate this camp and God knows our good intention.  Rewards are waiting for us, friends.

There’s nothing much to say as everything have ended successfully.

Good day mate! <3 

After Language Camp A

RELIEVED!

It was a nice feeling at the end of the program. The students were still hyperactive. Hahaha. But overall we felt like all the hours spent were worth it. The students seemed to have a great time and we did, too. 

I suppose if there was a camp commander, things would be a but more smoothly. And last minute meeting is not the way. Haha. 

Wan Zahidah's Post Language Camp A Reflection

After the language camp, there are many things that I realized. Some of them are I realized that primary students and secondary students have energy levels although they are both young. Secondary students might be active, but primary students are even more active. However, there are also students who prefer to remain passive although the facilitator has tried to engage them into the groups.

Apart from that, we also did a post-mortem during class. In the post-mortem, we discussed on the good and bad things that we found during the language camp. We also talked about the problems encountered and possible solutions to these problems.

Post-mortem is very important for  any activities or events held as this will help the organizer to identify the problems and this will help them improve the next event. 

After Language Camp B

There is no perfect thing in this world. The same applies to this language camp. There will always be some things that will not go according to the plan. From this camp, I can say that some of the students are quite passive when they need to do the discussion in English while I am watching them. They chose to stay quiet and did not want to start the discussion. This problem worries me the most because they themselves need to have the urge to step forward first before they can engage in the learning process. Of course it is very difficult to get the students to contribute to the discussion; but we have to bear in mind that it is our task as the future teacher to attract them to participate in this kind of activities. We as the facilitator should be more flexible while dealing with this type of students.

In addition, there are also other problems that we, the facilitators and committee members need to improve. There was an issue about the foods prepared which is it was very spicy (I can’t even finished it). For the next camp, the person in charge of the food should be more aware of these kinds of things. To add on, there some issues that involved the teachers among the participated schools. I really think that the idea of preparing another separate activity for the teachers to kill their boredom is vital to avoid any ‘unwanted’ incidents that can hinder the flow of our camp.

On the other hand, I am really happy to see all the facilitators and committee members helping each other both during the ups and downs. I would say that our teamwork is the best and I really hope that we can still work together in the future. I would also say that this camp is very meaningful in its own way and I hope there will be more opportunities like will be provided for us, TESL students to sharpen our fangs in teaching English.

As the conclusion, there are still a lot more space for the improvements. Treat this experience as one of the stepping stone towards a better future as well as to be a better teacher. 

REFLECTION ON LANGUAGE CAMP B ( AFTER) BY FATIN NUR ALIA

It was really a memorable experience for me as it was my first time joining this kind of camp. One of the things I adore them is that, they show their appreciation. Before leaving the hall to go back to their family, they came to me and shook my hand and said ‘thank you teacher’. It was so sweet of them to do that. We also had a photo session together. But yet I have to admit that the language game was quite a tiring event for me as it was a one day activity and the place was really hot that worsened the situation. I agreed that this language camp was a good alternative in enhancing the students’ proficiency level. The implementation of this type of camp will make the students learn English in a fun way and eventually attract their interest towards the language. However, there were still flaws in the camp that could be improved. After the language camp, we then discussed together on the experiences that we gained in the camp and several things that could be improved. In sum, the language camp succeed in changing the students’ perspective towards English.

 

Goodbye everyone 

Language Camp A: After all 'ave been said and done..

People learn new things each day and as we learn more we think back on what can we fix. Looking back at the Language camp A, there is only one thing that is lacking.

During the camp, there were lack of authoritative figure in conducting this camp. Facilitators were a bit at lost on who should we consult when unexpected thing happens. It is good to have one figure that conduct the flow of the camp. in addition, just the existence of the position could also boost morale for a leader can become the pillar of comfort to facilitators.

I think a knowledge of human resource management is quite vital in organizing this type of event. Despite this minor setback I had so much fun being a part of this fun event.

Alison's Post Reflection on Language Camp B

           Overall, the experience of joining a language camp had gave me a brand new thinking of thought in teaching. I realised that students’ interest in participation of learning is more important than only depending on the teachers’ knowledge. Yes, we are meant to be knowledgeable but yet, a successful English user does not guaranteed able to be a successful English teacher. This gave me an impact that those philosophies and approaches we learnt before are more useful and dependable than we thought.

            Same as the others mentioned, we had a post mortem session as well same with Camp A’s with Mr. Ghazali. By having the post mortem, it actually reminded me those dots and moments in the camp. How the students resisted at the beginning and how they achieved at the end. It actually showed a process and also the progress.

            During the post mortem, we did found out there were several problems during the program. In my opinion, the venue of the camp would be the most grievous one. To have an active teaching and learning, a comfy environment is a must. Students need comfortable environment for learning so do the teachers/ facilitators in order to give effective teaching and guiding. The saddening part was, I was informed that there is actually another hall with sufficient fans in the school but yet the school organiser provided the hall with insufficient number of fans.  

            However, the comments from the students gave me a huge encouragement of that they really enjoyed the camp and some of them even gave a suggestion of make it as a 3 days camp. Well, I used to resist having overnight camp but now why not? It is fun and most importantly, it is meaningful.

After Language Camp B by Stephanie Young

It was a wonderful and fruitful journey joining Language Camp B. Although I play a role as a facilitator in the camp, there is something I have learnt in the camp. I remembered I ask the students if is there anything they would like to learn from Hulk (the superhero of our group). “Hulk is strong and will not give up easily so I would like to be like him.” This is somehow a reminder for myself. Life is never meant to be easy. It is a constant struggle, with extreme lows and extreme highs but never let disappointments cripple you down.

Other than that, I discovered that the students actually have the potential to do more hands-on activities. I found out that one of the major problems faced by the students is the lack of motivation. The students do not want to speak in the target language because they have the passion and  feel the importance in speaking by using the target language. Sometimes, even the teachers themselves often do not use English in teaching English. If the teacher does not motivate the students to speak in English, the students will also try to avoid the language. There were students in my group who is shy especially using English. I encouraged them to try and never afraid of making mistakes. Students might afraid that the teacher might not like it and being teased by the other group mates. However, the group mates were really supportive and  bit by bit the students built up confidence in speaking and improved.

Besides that, I see how the committees work together with all the facilitators to conduct the language camp. The team working skills and the understanding between all committees help us to successfully carry out all the activities and at the same time enjoying every moment together. Other than that, the collaboration with the school teachers also makes the language camp successful.

I hope to join more language camp in the future. I believe that each and every time I will learn different things. As a teacher-to-be, it is a lifelong learning. Similarly, I can always learn something new from my students. :)  

Reflection (After the Language Camp A)

After the camp

On our way back to UTM, all of us started to discuss about the difficulties in handling primary school students because they are very active. They cannot stay sitting in the same position for a long time. They started to feel restless after few hours the camp started. Luckily we have some activities that include movement such as Charades and Skit presentation. During our Language Games class, we discussed about the positive things as well as the problems that we faced in the camp. Hence, we came out with few suggestions to make sure that the performance for the next Language Camp can be improved.

After Language Camp B by Yuanyi Tan

   I was truly exhausted after the camp. Hence a good excuse to skip a day’s work and just rest properly :P

 There are 10 things that I wish to say about the camp:

1. To the director, I understand that it is never easy to be a leader. Thus, I respect your willingness to take up the job and deliver it the best you can, despite the difficulties and hassles. I once heard from somewhere that we would only be regretful of what we have not done, but never of the things that we have, be it volunteered or being forced, chosen to do. I am pretty sure that every member in the team is proud of you =) So please be proud of yourself too. Thank you for the extra time and efforts spent.

2. To the girls who have been my forever assignment teammates (for this camp particularly, the game master mates). I am aware that I could be such a picky sore at times. I apologize. Deep down my heart, I only wished to get things done ASAP.  As unfriendly as I could be when I am anxious, I could have missed many beautiful sceneries along the road, but hopefully not the beautiful friendship we share. Thank you for having me.

3. To the ones who combined their groups with mine during the first two games, thank you for bearing with me and backing me up for the activities. I did a mistake to have forgotten to bring along my phone. The activities wouldn’t go as smooth without your generosity to let me use yours for time-recording, and I wouldn’t have memories with my group to keep if it wasn’t you who helped me take pictures. Sometimes, misfortune is a blessing in disguise. I was touched when one of you said every educator has a helpful heart per se. Maybe it’s also because of this belief I have with myself, despite all the mischief I have done lolol, that brought me this far to where I am today.

4. To everyone who has been the em-cees for this camp (even only for a short activity), truthfully-speaking, the first strength of the camp that came to my mind is you. You are so natural, attention-grabbing, not awkward, cheerful and just so impressive. I seldom enjoy listening to emcees, but I enjoyed listening to you. Your speaking grammar is almost flawless, that’s the thing I wish (struggle) to acquire most. I think because of you, UTM TESLians have generally left a good impression in outsiders’ eyes, in terms of language proficiency at least. Thank you for the great performance.

5. To every committee member who visited my group, cheered up the atmosphere and contributed ideas, thank you for the kind gestures that has made me and my group better and happier =)

6. To the girl who fetched us to D06, thank you for the kind offer & the comfortable ride :D

7 To every other in the group who has ever answered my qualms and doubts about the camp, who has chit-chatted with me over non-sense or sense-making things before and in between the camp, whom I have taken selfies with after the camp, thank you for the pure kindness and loveliness.

8. To Language Camp A members, the pioneer of this project, thank you for being so generous in sharing with us the things that we should look after, training documents for us to refer to, and so on. Quoting No.3 again, you are true educators (to-be).

9. To our lecturer, thank you for the one-of-a-kind sharing, guidance and understanding all the way.

10.Some said that imperfection is also a kind of beauty. I think our weaknesses are not rubbish, but rather meaningful footprints, of which includes the little defeats encountered in breakfast preparation, students’ discipline management, students’ confidence boosting during drama performance, technical problems, dinner give-way and global-warming (lol). Experience is the best teacher. I believe we can do better in coming good days =) 

AFTER THE LANGUAGE CAMP B

Finally, the final reflection of the camp. After the camp, the students had to answer the two sets of questionnaire given, they answered well. There were not many problems occurred during the answering session. They did asked questions when they did not understand some parts of the questionnaire. 

When the camp has officially ended, of course we had to clean up the hall and pick up all our stuffs and make sure nothing is left behind. We took some time to take photos.

What we have to do is that we have to come out with a report of the whole camp, reports for every game and reflections of the camp. The writers of the reports were assigned by Mr. Ghazali however everyone must write reflections on the camp they attended. 

During the next class, we had a postmortem with Mr. Ghazali which we had to state five good things and five not so good things about the camp in order to improve the upcoming language camps. 

Overall, from the camp, I gained a lot of experience especially on how to handle students. Attending language camps is one of the platforms to improve my teaching skills and how to handle students if I were to be a teacher in the future. To be honest, attending the language camp was very very tiring and challenging too but I had a lot of fun, alhamdulillah.

Here are some of the group photos we have taken:

After the Language Camp B... by Lim Pei Rong

From what I saw, I believe that all of the facilitators were totally tired and exhausted after the language camp (almost all of us were fall asleep on the bus during the journey of going back to UTM. Haha).

I felt relieved after the language camp as it can be considered as a successful camp even though there were some mistakes and a few problems occurred. Well, we are human beings, it’s ok for us to be incomplete, right?? Hehe

From the language camp, I noticed that I really need to improve my grammar and pronunciation. I should try to reduce my grammatical error and have correct pronunciation especially in speaking and giving instructions to the students. Furthermore, I agree with what Mr Ghazali said before, creative language games not only can attract students’ attention in the teaching and learning process, but also help students enjoying themselves in the process of acquiring language through fun and interesting process.Students will pay more attention and show their interest when we are trying to convey the knowledge through games. 

One more thing I wish to mention is the venue. The hall is EXTREMELY HOT!! It totally affects students’ learning mood and facilitators’ condition in conducting the activities. From that, I totally understand that learning environment influences students’ learning progress. The students in my group kept complaining of the hot environment and had no mood to continue the activity. Huhu.

Last but not least, I wish to thanks to all the facilitators in giving fully cooperation in the sake of making the language camp succeed. I really like the feel that we are like connected with each other. <3 <3 <3