[0.06]- Starting the class by saying "Hello guys!" and asking "How are you"

[20.26]- Saying "bye" together with the students.

In this video, the teacher is portrayed starting the class by saying "Hye", then she proceeds by asking "how are you". This method helps the students to learn how to greet people. Then, the teacher dances with her students as a warm up activity that also teaches the students phrases such as "I'm fine" and "I'm good". 

This method is not quite relevant in a Malaysian context. A Malaysian ESL classroom will start with a greeting from students such as "Good morning teacher" or "Good afternoon teacher" while standing up to show respect for their teacher. This is not only to teach them how to greet, but also how to respect their teachers. 

The teacher ends the classroom with a singing activity that explains the preposition “on, in, under, by” . Then, she casually said farewell saying “bye” which was then followed by the students.

This is also not relevant in the context of Malaysian classrooms. Just like the greetings, students will stand up and say “Thank you teacher” to appreciate the teacher’s knowledge and hardwork in educating them. Standing up is also a gesture of respect to the teacher. Teacher then would reply with “You’re welcome class” to bless the knowledge delivered to the students.

My samples :

For the start of the class, I will start by greeting the students with "Good morning" and let them reply while standing up to show respect. Then, will ask "How is everyone today" to ensure everyone is as fit as a fiddle. Before I start the lesson, I will ask a question related to the topic, then I will state the lesson content for that day and my aim of achievement for the class. I will also gain the students prior knowledge that is related to the topic.

As for the end, I would conclude the lesson briefly by stating what have we learnt and asking the students questions and feedback. Lastly, I would tell them the expectations for the next lesson. Before I let them off, I would say "Thank you class" for them to reply with "Thank you teacher" so they know how to appreciate the knowledge delivered and hardwork of their teacher.

Analysis :

The transitions in this video could clearly be seen done by the teacher by having the students to sing and dance to the song "head and shoulder" right after they are exposed to the vocabularies of color. After they had done singing and dancing, the teacher proceeds with revising the colors vocabulary before assessing the students.

This is relevant in a Malaysian context because the Malaysian students loves doing physical activities. Not only it is fun and engaging, it will also avoids the students from being sleep due to the boredom of the lesson. In addition, the students are also able to re-focus to the next part of the lesson because they have shifted temporarily to physical activities.

My sample :

In order to transition, the teacher would give the students some time to settle down and finish their business before moving on to the next lesson. Teacher would remind them the time they had left so that they are alert of the transition. Then, teacher would ask if everyone is ready to move forward by using a clapping pattern so that they would re-shift their focus on the teacher.

Analysis :

The teacher has asked the students politely to take out their own mini blackboard. She said "guys take out your board". When the students are still clueless, she has shown a gesture by drawing a rectangle on air to symbolise the shape of the blackboard and waive her hand up to symbolise "take out your boards". The teacher then took a board from one of the students to show the rest what she actually wants. The students the understood and took it out and put on their tables.

This is applicable in Malaysian context because the Malaysian students might not understand English very well as it is their second language. Hence, teacher would take the initiative to show gestures and help students understand the instructions. For example, students might not understand if the teacher ask them to write. Instead, if the teacher visualise the action by holding and imaginary pen and scribble in the air, the students might be able to imagine and understand what the teacher wants.

My sample :

Before the teacher start giving an instruction, the teacher has to draw the attention of the students first. This could be done by calling them and ask them to focus. Then the teacher use simple language that could easily understood by the students. Instructions are given one at a time so students would not get overwhelmed. If the students are still clueless, teacher should use gestures and visual aids to help with students' comprehension. Chances would be given for the students to ask questions so they would not get left behind.

Analysis :

In this video, the teacher has explained initially by using a simple language that she will teach the students 3 new words. Then she proceeds to ask the students to look at her as she make the actions of the words. She says "I am walking" while stomping her feet to the ground so that the students can understand that the phrase she says is the action she is doing. This marks that the teacher understands that her students are visual learners and learnt better if they see the actions visually. She then proceeds by asking the students to form 3 lines and follow her actions. This portrays the application of total physical response that could improve the students' engagement of the lesson because the learn the words through actions.

This is relevant in Malaysian primary school context because the students are with different level of proficiencies. Hence, it is best that they learn through visuals. Furthermore, it helps to convey the messages and content of learning more clearly to the students. Simplifying the content also makes it easier for the students to grasp the knowledge as they remember the actions that came along with the new words they have learnt.

However, the teachers could only ask the students to stand in their respective seats as the space in a Malaysian classrooms are usually limited and small. In addition, teacher has limited time to do physical activities as the English syllabus for primary school is very packed and time consuming.

My sample :

The teacher briefly explain the contents and expectations of the students. Then, teacher adapts their learning activities according to the students learning style such as visual or kinesthetics. The lesson contents are ought to be simplified so the students will not get overwhelmed by it. Moreover, teacher could also shift and opt for a fun learning experience to deliver the contents by making students compete and work in groups. Lastly, give student the opportunity to raise their hands of they do not understand the lesson.

[0.32] - Teacher assigned a task for the students which is to play a game called "Back to the Board".

In this video, it clearly shows how the teacher instruct the students to play a game called "Back to the Board" intended for vocabularies enhancement.

At first, the teacher explain the first step verbally which is splitting the students into two teams. She also added the gestures "two" with her fingers to help students understand [0.39]. Then she further uses her arms to split the students and says "Team A" and "Team B" to minimize students confusion [0.44]. Later on, she uses directed specific instructions when she mentions "Team A put your hands up" to make sure students acknowledge which group they belong to and did the same with Team B [0.46].

She then chooses two students from each group by applying individual instructions and calling out their names "Sabrina, sit down. Vanessa, sit down" [1.03]. By calling out names, the teacher is able ensure the smoothness of game flow without waiting for volunteers. After the first round, the teacher then instructed them to swap players [2.10]. This shows that the instructions are done one at a time so the students are not overwhelmed and confused.

This method is congruent in the context of Malaysian classroom as the students learns English as a second language. Hence, the instructions must be delivered step by step, using simple language as well as gestures so they could figure out the what the teacher meant. Teachers also have to always re-check the students understanding of the instructions by saying "do you understand" or "repeat what I've just said" to make sure that they actually do understand. Additionally, individual instructions is done by pointing at the students and talking to them, while whole class instruction is done by talking loudly and looking at everyone to guarantee the students know who the instructions are intended for.

My sample :

The teacher verbally explains the instructions by using simple language that could be easily understood with the help of gestures so the students could comprehend them. For individual instructions, the teacher could call out names, point at the students and speak closer to them so they are aware that the instructions is specifically for them. For instance, teacher will say "Ali, you will be the leader for your team" while pointing at him. Therefore Ali would be aware that the role as leader is specifically given to him only. Other than that, to give a whole class instructions, teacher could stand in front of the classroom while looking at everyone, and use a louder voice to speak. For example, teacher will look at everyone and use bigger gestures such as waiving up hand while saying "Everyone stand up" so that the students acknowledge the instructions is for the whole class.

• Planning effective questions

  
  

  The teacher ask questions related to the topics to expand the students vocabularies. She asked the students to look at the picture cards and answer her [0.33]. The teacher asked has planned effective questions that could build the students' mastery of the topic starting from asking the vocabularies of emotions such as tired, hungry and more. She started by asking simple questions like "Is he bored?" so the students will answer "Yes, he is or No he isn't" [0.43]. Later, she upgraded the level of questions by providing a situation and let the students determine what is the suitable emotion [2.16].

  
  

  This planning of questions is applicable for Malaysian primary students as it could build the students mastery of the topic. Teacher start off with easy questions that requires simple answers to build the students' confidence in answering the questions. Then, when they are exposed to enough vocabularies, the teacher could ask harder questions that requires more critical thinking from the students. This is very helpful in differentiated learning for students in Malaysia as the low proficiency would be able to answer easy questions while the higher proficiency answer harder questions.

• Structuring the question

  The questions that are asked in the video is closed ended questions that requires limited answer such as Yes or No. For instance, the teacher asked "Is he worried?" which then answered by the students "No, he isn't"[0.44].This is also relevant for Malaysian primary students because they are learning English as a second language and are still learning a structured way to answer questions. Thus, closed ended questions allows the students to be confident and answer it with the phrases that they have learnt. For instance, when the teacher asks "Is he hungry?" , the students could simply answer "Yes, they are" because they learn how to answer questions with structured answer.

• Wait time

  Wait time is given for the students to think deeply before they provide answers. In the video, the teacher is seen giving a little bit of wait time for the students before allowing them to raise their hands up. She counted 1,2,3 and choose the fastest students [0.56]. She also warned the students to not rush by saying "Oh, don't rush superfast".

  This is also relevant for Malaysian primary students as they are naturally competitive with each other hence making them rush to be the fastest to raise their hands and answer. Applying wait time in class would not only provide the students more time think their answers carefully, reflect and develop a deeper understanding, but to also encourage introverts to answer the questions by allocating enough time to gather their courage.

  
  

  
  

My sample :

First and foremost, the teacher would prepare set of questions before the lesson. This helps the teacher to plan the effective questions that could help the students in achieving the goal for the lesson. The teacher need to improve the level of questions as the students get deeper into the lesson to enhance their understanding and mastery of the topic.

Then, instead of just using closed ended questions, teacher could also ask several open ended questions to stimulate the students critical thinking skills. For instance, teacher could ask "Why do you think your parents are angry when you failed to finish your homework?". This could engage the students and help them relate the lesson to real-life situations. They would recall their memories and find the answer based on their own reasoning and feelings.

Lastly, teacher has to provide wait time. Creating a silent moment for the students to think could create a better atmosphere to stimulate the students ideas and creativity in providing the answer. Teacher can create a signal to ensure the students are silent during the wait time such as putting their index finger on their mouth. The students can think without distractions and influence from their peers. The answers they provide will solely produced by their thoughts.

• Procedural

  According to the article, procedural questions are questions that involves with classroom management. It does not related in students engagement and comprehension of the lesson. It is mainly focused to keep the flow of the lesson smooth and to control students behaviour. Examples of procedural questions are "Did you bring you books?" and "Is everyone present here today?".

  
  

  Procedural questions is relevant in Malaysian primary school context as of their age, they are very energetic and chaotic. Hence, procedural questions are compulsory in ensuring that the teacher could carry out the lesson. For instance, the teacher could prevent the students from delaying to complete their task by asking "Have you done your work?" so that the students would immediately continue to complete the task.

• Convergent

  Convergent are simple questions that only requires simple and limited answers. It does not involve deep and critical thinking to figure out the answer. Usually, the answers for convergent questions are "Yes" or "No". It is also implemented in classroom to allow teacher to keep track of the students understanding and enhance student involvement and engagement in the lesson.

  
  

  This type of question is highly relevant for the students in the Malaysian primary context as the students are learning English as their second language. Thus, their ability to answer a question is limited to the structured answer their teacher has taught them. Therefore, asking simple questions that requires simple answer from the students allow them to be involved in the lesson despite their limited abilities in producing the language. This help students gain confidence as they manage to answer more questions from the teacher despite the levels are easy. For instance, teacher could ask them "Do you have a pet?" and the students may answer with "Yes, I do" or "No, I don't".

• Divergent

  Meanwhile, divergent questions requires are more complex and longer answer from the students. The students need to think critically and deeply before answering the question. They could not rely solely on their prior knowledge to figure out the answer, since they need to produce new information through evaluations and thoughts made by the student.

  
  

  Divergent questions are also relevant for Malaysian primary school students as the government encourages critical thinking skills starting from primary school. This is done by enforcing Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) questions into students' workbooks. Aside from applying critical thinking skills, students could also be open minded of their peers questions that could be different from their answers. As an illustration, teacher could ask "What do you think would happen if pets could talk?". This stimulates the students to think outside of the box and enhance their imagination.

  
  

My sample :

Before the lesson start, teacher should ask some procedural questions such as "Is everyone present" or "Are you ready?" to ensure that the students are prepared to learn. Then, teacher could also manage the classrooms with procedural question like "Is everyone done with their task?" before moving on to the next task.

Teacher should also ask convergent questions along the lesson to ensure the students engagement and involvement in the lesson. This could be in terms of refreshing the students knowledge of what they have learnt earlier before moving on to the next part of the lesson. For instance, teacher could ask "Is cat a pet?". Then, the students would provide the expected answer which is "Yes, It is".

Divergent questions are also necessary to stimulate the students thinking. By the end of the lesson, teacher could ask the students opinion and thoughts about things that are related to the lesson. For instance, teacher could question " Why do you think pets exist?". This does not only make the lesson interesting, but to also enable students speak their mind.

Analysis :

Classroom routines are intended for students to understand what they are expected to do in a specific way for specific time. This helps in facilitating learning, saves time and teaches the student discipline by adhering to the rules. In this article, there are 4 routines that the students are ought to do upon arriving their classroom until the end of learning session. The first one is arriving in the morning routine. It includes the students knowing where to place their belonging such as bag pack and coat. Then, attendance is taken to identify the absence through a display. Next, students know what to do during transitions of class and lastly some end of the day routine that involves tidying up class.

Several classroom routines stated are not quite relevant for Malaysian primary school students. This is due to the fact that the students rarely has specific place to keep their belongings. Lockers and shelves are usually not provided for them. Thus, they could keep their belongings at their respective seats or in their drawer. Furthermore, attendance taking are usually done by the school teacher. The students does not bear the responsibility to take the attendance, thus it is not included in classroom routine. In addition, Malaysian primary students stays in one classroom until the end of school session. Thus, they do not have to be signaled by the teacher during class transitions as they will stay in the same place. Lastly, the students are not obligated to do the cleaning by the end of the session. The cleaners will clean the classrooms afterwards. Normally, the students go out straight away right after the bell rings.

Sample :

To establish classroom routine, teacher should prepare a schedule that would help students know what to expect from the beginning of school sessions until the end. For instance, teacher could state that from 6.30 a.m. -7.00 a.m. is the school's assembly. Thus students can directly walk to the hall without the need of being instructed. Then, teacher should also encourages students to go for toilet breaks in the recess or during transitions of the lesson. Same goes for other activities such as sharpening the pencil and throwing their rubbish to avoid disruptions during the content deliveries by the teacher. Lastly, teacher ensure that students know how to tidy up before going home like tucking their chairs into the table and check their belongings. These routines need to be done repetitive until the students manage to follow them independently.

The teacher focuses on setting up the rules and routine in the first place so the students understand what are expected of them and acknowledge how to behave accordingly in a certain situations [2.40]. The teacher also stated that she has to model all positive behaviours so the students can practice the positive attitude together with the teacher [3.55]. This is because the students can see visually how to act in certain situation just like "New Pencil Procedure" [4.47]. Additionally, teacher also teaches students on how to be responsible of their belongings by numbering the pencils [5.47]. This allows the teacher to find out the students misbehaved and take further actions. Lastly, the teacher also states that pointing out the students positives works way better than the negatives [8.41]. She points out what the students did right so that the other friends would listen and follow.

Some of the reinforcements might now applicable in the Malaysian primary school context. In Malaysia, students has to prepare their own school materials like pencils. Thus, it is not possible to apply "The Pencil Procedure". Additionally, some students did not label their name on their belongings making it hard for the teacher to instill students sense of responsibility as they are able to get away with breaking unlabeled pencils and other belongings.

However, Malaysian teachers also set up rules for students to follow. This includes no eating and drinking and asking permission for toilet break. Moreover, positive reinforcements also works well as the students loves being praised and being pointed out for doing things right. This motivates them to keep on following the rules. Also, the peers would try to follow the positives that are being pointed out so they are seen as good students as well.

My Sample :

To reinforce positive attitude, the teacher has to set up a set of rules that benefits both the students and the teacher so the students will abide them. Then, upon agreement, display the rules in front of the classroom so the students can always see and refer to it. Whenever a mishap happens, teacher or students could easily point out what are in the wrong. The rules that are being set up must be explicit and understandable for the students. Likewise, teacher has to be a role model for the students in behaving positively so the students could see and follow in the teacher's footsteps. Along with that, pointing out positives from the students would motivate them to keep on behaving positively so that the teacher would notice and praise them in front of the classroom. Impactfully, other peers would learn and imitate the positive actions to be praised as well.

This article what are the do's and don'ts of addressing disrupting behaviour. Firstly, the teacher has to provide clear outlines the productive and disruptive behaviour so that the students are exposed to what are expected of them. Then, the teacher would explain the consequences of misbehaving so the students would not attempt to do so. If a disruptions did occur, teacher has to acknowledge the students feeling, and address it individually and avoid making it a class issue so the students will not be ashamed of it. If the student is persistent, teacher may remove the student temporarily for time-out session. The teacher must remember to not touch the students including pinching and slapping them which will result in physical abuse. Arguments and ridiculing the students should be avoided as well, as it will bring shame and unsatisfaction for the student towards the teacher. Lastly the teacher are ought not to blame the whole class for one person wrong doings. This is to ensure the misbehaved students are not being hated by other classmates.

This method of managing disruptive behaviours are highly relevant in Malaysian primary school context as Malaysia's law has stated that any form of physical punishment by the teacher are not allowed and will be considered as physical abuse. This act will allow the parents to sue the school and the teacher and turn this into a bigger issue. The teacher has to make sure the students are clear of the misbehaviours they need to avoid. To intervene disruptions, teacher could have a deep talkwith the student' and finding out the root cause of their misbehaviours. This would allow the teachers to build rapport with the students and solve the issue without hatred which is more effective and impactful. Additionally, students will have trust the teacher as a safe place and eventually respect them and stop misbehaving.

Sample :

To manage disruptive behaviours of the students , teacher has to provide a clear outline of do's and don't and class such as respecting the teacher, ask permission for toilet breaks and no eating. If disruption did persist, the teacher could give individualised and direct warning for the students by saying "Josh, please do not eat in the class". If the student is obedurate, the teacher could call him out and find the root cause. In this situation, teacher are should not judge and be empathic with the student's situation. Then, teacher could offer suggestions such as eating early in the morning or bringing extra pocket money for breakfast. As a result, the student would feel they are being understood by the teacher and avoid causing any more disruptions.

The feedback provided by the teacher is oral feedback that focuses on the content. He firstly modify and expanded the students answer by giving suggestions on how it is supposed to be written which is to include the title of the book [0.28]. In the meantime, he acknowledged the students ability of writing a good intro by saying "Nice job" [0.41]. Additionally, he also praised the students conclusion by stating "Awesome conclusion" [1.42]. The teacher also portrays the use of descriptive and focused feedback where he mentions specifically what are the strengths and weaknesses of the student by stating the reason why he liked it.

This method is totally suitable for Malaysian primary ESL classroom as the students need as much scaffold as they could to improve themselves. By providing a descriptive feedback, students get to acknowledge and identify the modifications they could make to better improve the quality of their work. On the other hand, students are also need to be praised for the things they did right so they would be motivated to keep on improving their work quality.

My sample :

To provide oral feedback, teachers should use a gentle voice to correct the students' mistakes. This is so the students are not afraid to try and make more mistakes on their way to achieve perfection of work. Teacher should also be descriptive in giving feedback so that the students could identify their weaknesses and make immediate modifications and changes to improve the quality of their future task. If mistakes are done repetitively, then the teachers could modify and expand the students answer by scaffolding them. For instance, teacher could provide suggestions of phrases with higher vocabularies to use in writing essay. Lastly, teacher should always acknowledge the students ability to correct and improve si they would not feel their efforts are wasted.

According to this article, written feedback must be ,understandable, specific, timely and non-judgmental. Written feedback is an alternative to oral feedback as the time in class is very limited to correct each one the students. Thus, written feedback could cater the needs by just writing down the comments on the students book, mark correct answer and circling the wrong ones.

Written feedback is suitable for Malaysian primary schools students because the allocated time for teaching and learning session does not make giving feedback orally possible all the time. The teachers has to rush in delivering the lesson contents, doing activities to keep learners engaged that marking the students work had to be done outside of the classroom session most of the time. Therefore, written feedback could cater the needs of teacher correcting students mistakes by writing it down. Impactfully, students could read the feedback on their own and they could always refer to it to make improvements on the next exercise.

My Sample :

In order to provide students with written feedback, teacher has to ensure the feedback given are simple and concise for the students. This is to ensure the students are not confused with the feedback. Then, the feedback has to be provided on time so that the students would not be making the same mistakes over and over again. Immediate feedbacks from the teacher would enable immediate corrections from the students. Lastly, written feedbacks has to be filled with encouraging phrases as it is easy to be frustrated when making mistakes. Thus, positive phrases would help students to get through the disappointment by motivating them to not stop trying.