Took some time to craft this email. Think I deserve some sats for my hard work.
I had quick chats with X and Y so that I might gather different perspectives. I tried to synergise their insights with my lived experiences.
My questions are as follows:
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In schools that have many students who do not reach the minimum 80% attendance requirement and attend school 2-4 times per week, how can they maintain the coherence of an literacy instructional programme that takes into account the need to build on the proficiency of students who attend school often, yet not alienate those who don’t?
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Many schools organise events like English Week and Spelling Bee, in which games and other fun-filled activities are conducted to arouse students' interest in English. What, in your opinion, makes for a successful English-oriented event?
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Children and teenagers love games, and gamification is increasingly used as a tool by teachers to conduct lessons, be it face-to-face or online. How can we put in place structures and processes so that students do not get overly engrossed in their desire to win and neglect to acquire the learning objectives?
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Many school teachers work hard to inculcate a love of reading in their charges. However, subscribing to magazines and rolling out recommended reading lists can turn off teenagers, who perceive them as a top-down approach. How could we encourage students to read more of their own accord? Similarly, if we are to employ positive peer influence, how can we groom student librarians and leaders who will then encourage their peers to pick up a book?
In addition, I think it’s super important for me to ensure that my weakest students are familiar with words with ter. They don’t quite know how to read words like later/water/better/yesterday yet.
The reason why I’m sharing this is that I think we have to consider our students’ learning backgrounds. Some of them speak their mother tongue primarily at home. So, as English teachers, we would do well to consider their knowledge of Malay and Chinese. Perhaps an instructional programme for dyslexics would be more effective when we synergise their background knowledge of their mother tongue. Just an unorthodox idea.