This module rocks!!!
Although it's a looooong 3-hour lesson, BUT, the tutor is really entertaining!!!
Take this week's lesson for example.
Haha, while the other side of the room were busy discussing about interaction and transaction communication, Tiff and I were just sitting back and 'enjoying' all the stupid questions that the tutor had to entertain. Literally.
Then, the question of whether listening to 4D results was transactional or interaction. Then she began to do the explanation and demonstration. Her demonstration was so hilarious! She even turned to the wall and did a short laughing at the wall. Haha. Dunnoe how to write this down, imagine it on your own ba. ahahaha....
The first week was kinda quiet. Clinical relationship between students and tutor. 2nd week started off with activities and presentation which leads to a more livelier atmosphere. Building of good atmosphere was in progress.
Third week (today) was in a full swing of madness!!! LOL.
Jokes were flying around. When we thought we couldnt take the long tutorial anymore, the tutor's humor never fail to entertain Tiff and I. So cool la. Hahaha. And as the whole class is more comfortable with the tutor, the other half always seem to be very rowdy. Eh, like a normal typical classroom situation when the teacher is shouting for attention. Which leads to the question.
What, normally, would you say to get your students' and the whole class' attention?
For me, back at NYGH, it was the woodblock that did the trick. And normally I'll shout, "Alright, girls, listen up." At HuaYi, I made the mistake of thinking I was in NYGH and I shouted something like, "Ok, Girls, listen up. Stop what you are doing." The whole class was in a HUGE uproar like "Cher, only girls ar?", "Cher, we not girls lez.", "Cher, very unfair lez, y only girls. Boys no need meh?" Sigh, huge headache over that incident. Hey, com'on la. I was in a girls' school for 10 weeks lez. Of course cant really change my speech so soon right? Haiz.
Anyways, when I was in HuaYi, without my woodblock, I'm totally helpless. Clapping wont do the trick. Shouting worse, just add on to the noise. So, what I did was play the music or video that I was going to show them. BUT! at the very very minimal volume. While they're attracted to the video, half of them will settle down immediately. 20% will be directed by their peers to sit down and watch. What about the rest who are still talking? Aha!!! Cos the volume is really low and basically most of them cant hear anything, they'll shout "Cher! Can louder?" I'll just say, "It's at the max volume already. The reason why you cant hear anything is either your ears are not working, or that you're just too noisy." Then my favourite part comes in. The shooing and shushing and "Wa lao, shuddap la. I want to hear le. Quiet la." will come in and do the trick. If there are still a few persistent ones that just wont sit down, I'll just pause the video at the climax. Then, just say, I'm not continuing until I see all butts on the chair. Hahaha. Well, you noe what happens next la. The point is: Instead of letting the teacher do all the attention seeking process, why not let the students exert peer pressure on their classmates and "help" you (in a way la) to get their attention.
But then, the better solution is that from Lesson 1 onwards, you tell the class what kind of behaviour you expect from them. For me, I tell them that I do the 20 sec waiting. When I need attention, I'll raise my hands and starting counting how long do they take to respond. If they're consistent and manage to quiet down withing 20 sec for that month, they'll get a treat from me. Well, it worked for 2-3 classes. Especially the NT classes. The rest, I just tell them that I am a very patient teacher and a very attention seeking one. I will not continue or start unless I get the attention level that I am satisfied. Well, starting it's kinda scary when you actually haf to look very cool and 'dao' and pretend that you dun care while doing the waiting time for them to settle down. Well, cos deep down i think we freak out ba cos we're really out of time to finish the lesson. But after a while, they automatically get the message that "hey, this teacher really means what she says" and then they'll back off a bit and not try any funny nonsense til their memory fails them. Should that happen, go back to square one so as to activate their memory skills that they do haf to give this very weird teacher their attention if not, haiz.. Boring lesson lez.. Hahahaha....
Well, for ACE-321, since there's no video or music involved, the tutor had no choice but to use the most primitive and traditional way of getting attention.
This is what you haf to do:
Step 1: Clench both fists.
Step 2: Stamp feet.
Step 3: Shout "CHILDREN!!! KEEP QUIET!!!"
Step 4: Be sure to do it in either a very cute/kawaii post or a hilarious way =)
Yup, this is what happened in a BA course of students all over 20. We're called 'Children' once again. Of course la, is refer to those talkative ppl la. The other half of the room, nah, we just sit there and watch how entertaining and funny the tutor is. Hahaaaa. Dun believe me? Ask Tiff. She'll agree with me...
*Smilez and Luffz*
PS: Whew, long post!!! Havent been writing such a lengthy post for a long long time.
*Waves, and rest fingers*
