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Attending Seminars

I am now at the second day of a research seminar in Hotel Beverly, Kota Kinabalu. It has a title that looks dry..Seminar Penyelidikan Dan Inovasi Pendidikan Kebitaraan Bahasa Peringkat Kebangsaan 2009... but the 'kebitaraan' made me look for a dictionary and the papers presented so far has made me view the seminar title in multicolour instead of drab black and white :)

I always look forward to attending such seminars.... and this particular seminar is turning out to be one of the more memorable ones. For me, anyway.

I met old friends from so many different phases of my life.

I got to make new friends! From schools, teaching institutes, universities...

I learned new strategies to use in class, such as dialogue journals (action research by Izyan Shazwani). This is a variation on journals and an excellent alternative to e-journals for schools and communities with limited access to the Internet.

I found Jacinta Juin's presentation on learner autonomy using drama-based activities heartening because in my experience, too many teachers shy away from drama.... which is a pity because it is one of those activities that put 'power' in students' hands and which mean a lot of fun for them.

I got to refresh research knowledge, remembering the finer points of Cronbach's alfa, t-tests and One Way ANOVA.

I learned NEW things, such as 10-point Likert scales! I wouldn't like to be a respondent for one of these questionnaires!

I get to network and renew connections ;)

I wish I could go for more of these seminars...
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