Our Classroom @__@

In this post, I would like to share my sentiments about our lecture lab, which I would like to call as our classroom. My reflection would be on the factors of the class, the members and of course; the attitude of the class.

I have to admit I am not one of the focused ones in the class, but I do have my own style of giving attention to the lecture. I listen to every words and I participate in our many group work. But let’s face it, not even 60% of the class is as attentive as the 40%.

The question we would need to ask is... why?

From my own personal, might-be-a-little-one-dimensional view, I think it has many to do with the existence of technology in the class itself. An irony as that is exactly what we are trying to learn. Technology has a power over us. And in this aspect, I think it’s the power to distract that has been infected the students.

If you try to sneak behind the class, you will see on the glass of monitor in front of those 60% no.. 90% of the students is the face of – Friendster, Youtube, YM’s, Chats, Forums, Blogs and all those wonderfully entertaining amusement available so to us.

Now, I am not trying to blame the fact that the faculty had tried their best to give us all the best of facilities - all those computers to help with our studies and all. We needed them, especially for our subject as we need to use them all the time. I would like to blame our attitude instead.

We were pampered with scolding to focus our attentions, and so un-pampered with that much freedom and availability to technology as before. What I meant to say is that, we were never so used to having computers and internet in our lap when we are in classroom before. I would not call it as awe-struck or anything like that. We had had use that techno for as long as we had lived. But not in a classroom, where some (i beg your pardon) might find as a dreary place. We tend to succumb to the allure of technology, to make use of them to entertain us.

As a university undergraduates (the best in the country for that matter), we should have acted like one. Different from our college before, we can no longer depend on the lecturer to make us attentive. “Nobody cares for no one in universities” as what my sister always said. We need to look out for ourselves. If you don’t focus, you won’t be getting anything, and you are the one who loses. No one cares, but you should. What I’m trying to say is, we need to have the attitude where we should know to focus without being told to. To leave the distractions without being scold at. To participate without being forced to. I would like to blame it as this is our first time in university ground, and I hope that you might understand and would see us differently in coming semester. Time will teach us to be a better students. I cannot guarantee, but I can try.

Doing the Ebook on my own

As I said before, I am happy to be able to do it on my own, and I did not regret it, at all. What I realise when we did the group work before is that my approach to the tasks are different with others. While some prefer to discuss and promptly take on a decided decision and work on it, my approach is to have the ‘thinking period’ where I would think hard on what and how to do it. I would plan each steps and try to imagine the outcome. I would disseminate and finally choose my best option; then would I start on the task and strive on it non-stop until I finish all.

The different is on the ‘brainstorming’ part. This is when I realise how important it is to have other people to work with you. Again, ‘two heads are better than one’. I had had some hard time generating as many ideas as I can, and many are one-sided opinions, coming form one simple mind. So how did I work this problem out?

As a solution, I did as many researches as I can. I went online and see the many topics and ideas that people have done on making an Ebook. I also try viewing some of them to give myself an idea on how to make an interesting and effective Ebook. The research helps a lot in giving me an open mind to what I can create and do in an Ebook. So I choose one topic that is in line with the necessary curriculum specifications and also interesting enough for young learners – Greeting (using cartoon animation).

We got the choice to do it individually?!

I cannot be happier when ma’am said that we can do the new task individually. Why? Isn’t working with other people means less work?

Of course working with ‘some’ people means less work. However, does the finished work always come to my expectation? I’m afraid not. The thing with working with other people is that you cannot always have what you want. In a sense, there are things that we saw, and we can imagine the end, but others cannot.

Of course I cannot say that working with other does not have their advantages. Working with others creates creativity, competitions and desire to keep up with each other’s expectations. However, working individually also has its own advantages. What is it? Let me list them to make it simpler:

1. I can challenge myself to do better than what I have done before
2. I have the opportunity to take risk, to achieve what I wanted with my own head laying under the axe.
3. I can do the task on my own schedule, without having to wait for anyone
4. I can do the task anywhere anytime
5. I can do the task at my own pace
6. I do not have to face the exasperation of having to find people of different race to be my partner (i am not being bias, but not all differing races live near each other or haven’t already had a partner)

However, I also realise that as a future teacher, I need to learn how to work in groups, because like it or not, I would need to work with other teachers too. More importantly, I need to teach my students how to work in groups. If I myself cannot do it, how am I suppposed to teach them to do the same thing?

Some poeple like to say "Those who can't, teach". I would like to change that opinion. I do not want those people to point to me and says those things. Thus, to be a better future teacher, I need to take up any opportunity to work in groups and expand my communication skills.

This is because although working individually has its good points, working in groups would provide me with even greater advantages. As others says "Two heads are better than one"

Pair Work – depends on who your partner is?

To begin with, I rather have a pair work assignment than a group assignment. It is true that the more heads you have, the more ideas you will gain. However, in my opinion, the more heads you have, the more work have to be done and the more dissatisfactions will happen. Why? We have been assigned with a group work before and I have already speaks my pleasure and dissatisfactions of the experience. Now I would like to talk about doing the assignments in pairs.

I think it all depends on who you paired up with. It is my luck to have such hardworking and dedicated student as my partner – Sukainah. She always set the standard works to be high (one of which I sometimes lacked as I tend to do things ‘as well as I can’. Sukainah puts the work to ‘acheive more than you can’. So she actually indirectly made me want to be just as good, just as hardworking as she is. The good thing that all this brings is that it created a sort of a competition between us. You can call us the ‘kiasu’ group and I would not be offended. Whenever we see that someone is ahead of us, we would strive even harder, and aims to finish the task faster and better than anyone else. I could not say that we achieve our goals; many of the finished works of the other pairs are just as good as ours. Nevertheless, I am glad to say that we manage to achieve the aim that we had set.

This is exactly why I said that it depends on the partner. I used to have another partner before. However, not only does the person is ‘laid back’ on the works, I can just say it plainly that we are the mirror of the other. She’s the same with me, in my thinking and my way of working. And because of that, there were no competition between us and there’s no desire to be the best.

What I can see from all of my reflection this time is that – how much I am easily affected by others. It is not good, I agree. I should have my own set of grounds, my own standard. I do have another principal that I haven’t been using for quite a long time – ‘be the person who leads, not follow’. Maybe its time I adjust both principals.