No Comments// Posted in exam, SPM, STPM, student, writing by Nor Fadzleen Sa don on 11.04.12.
I’d like to share some tips with all of the SPM candidates out there. I am sure everyone by now is armed to the teeth, perhaps even experiencing what I call as ‘information overload’! Too much info to absorb yet so little time. I don’t believe in memorising essays but again, it may be applicable for weaker student at the elementary stage. Fret not on anticipating spot questions for 1119 or any paper. I believe it’s the right format and techniques in answering questions which is more vital in preparing oneself for an important examination.
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| For directed writing, using the correct format is essential. Don’t waste your time doing wordcount for directed writing. One and a half page would suffice. As long each point is well elaborated and justified, you’ll do just fine. |
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| Please spare some time to proof read your essay. Many students forsaken this part as they are too engrossed with writing lengthy essay. Quality is more important than quantity! Use Sentence Connectors and Linking phrases to ensure a cohesive flow of ideas. Please ensure you are using the correct tenses too. |
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| Capitalize on all the senses to guide you in writing more descriptively. I‘d like to share Kleiser’s 15000 Useful Phrases. I think it’s a must-have list for all English enthusiast, educator or a learner. A loooong list but worth reading 🙂 |
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| Use appropriate idioms, proverbs and saying to enhance your writing flair. Remember to use it sparingly. A good website you can find a great pool of idioms is http://idiomconnection.com |
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| Embedding quotes, maxim and inspirational thoughts of great leaders, the movers and the shakers of the world would definitely garner extra marks and merit from the examiners. I suggest memorizing some quotes that you find inspirational and can be generally applicable in any essay. Some of the famous quotes I like : “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” – Confucius, “You must be the change that you want to see in the world.” – Ghandi and “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” – Steve Jobs. |
Good luck to all the SPM & STPM candidates, may you sail through the examination without any hitch or glitch. All the best!
4 Comments// Posted in english, SPM, writing by Nor Fadzleen Sa don on 10.31.12.
A common problem for most students is insufficient vocabulary when writing essays. The tendency to use ‘safe words’ such as nice/good/bad/cool results to the lack of oomph in their writing. When I started teaching in 2001, I’ve encountered such issue with students as they tend to struggle with using the correct expressions in their composition. So, I’ve come up with ‘VOCAB VITAMIN’ programme where the main objective is to enrich the students’ vocabulary via posters, songs and other computer-mediated learning tools. Personally, the secret of acquiring good vocabulary is non other than reading. Be it newspaper, magazines, comics, journals, online forums or E-books, teachers should fully utilise reading materials (linear/non-linear) to facilitate vocabulary enrichment. I’d like to share this poster which illustrates various words to describe various situations. The secret behind well-written essays is using vivid descriptive words that would encapsulate the right description that one desires. Click the photo for clearer resolution. Do check it out!
No Comments// Posted in conference, IMETC by Nor Fadzleen Sa don on 10.28.12.
In an hour’s time, I will be driving off to KL to attend the 6th International Malaysian Educational Technology Convention (IMETC) 2012. Alhamdulillah, I have been chosen as a keynote speaker for this spectacular event and to be honest, it has been so unexpected.
When Prof. Rozhan Idrus, the Chair of IMETC offered me to be a keynote speaker, I was tad shocked. From what I know, most of the past keyspeakers have been professors,reknowned academicians and the movers and shakers in edu tech domain. I am just a humble teacher/post graduate student. I feel jitters all right! Gradually, I perceive it as an opportunity, a platform to voice out the reality, enigma and possibilities of e-learning in Malaysian schools. I am flattered and humbled that a Malaysian teacher’s view is deemed worthy to represent the Malaysian edutech academias.
Honestly, this is a milestone in my career and I see it as a golden opportunity for me to share my views and experience as a teacher with other professionals. The topic of my keynote speech is ‘Reframing Education System: Current Trends & Paradigm Shift’. I hope by sharing my projects, my colleagues’ views and students’ expectations, we can come up with more pragmatic ways to optimize e-learning in Malaysian school. I would like to thank my lecturers at UTM for giving me the green light to be away for the convention. Wish me luck in my presentation!
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No Comments// Posted in english, exam, SPM by Nor Fadzleen Sa don on 10.15.12.
Hi everyone, Here’s the answer keys for Paper 2 that I’ve shared a few days ago. I am in the midst of developing another set of SPM 1119 exam set and I’ll share with everyone soon. Usually the issue with developing your own assessment is to find relevant authentic materials and generate questions that fulfill the equilbrium of JSI requirements. Although I’ve been developing items for Utusan Malaysia on weekly basis and in the midst of publishing a workbook with Oxford Fajar, I do think generating good items on current topics can be quite a challenge! Oh well, I’ll try my best and hope I could help those preparing for the exam 🙂 Trial Spm 2012 Paper 2- Answer Scheme
2 Comments// Posted in exam, johor, SPM, trial exam by Nor Fadzleen Sa don on 10.12.12.
For those looking for SPM 1119 trial examination items, enclosed are the trial exam set prepared by yours truly for SMK Tasek Utara. This year, each school in Johor is required to prepare their own set of trial examination. I do hope it would help any teacher or student who would like to revise and reinforce their preparation for the upcoming SPM. For all the PMR candidates out there, good luck. For the SPM candidates, do your best 🙂
Trial Exam SPM Paper 1 Trial Exam SPM Paper 2
