D Fe@R BeG!Ns! Activate and Initiate!

Simulated teaching is the most fearful progress in the field of studies. This is where our personalities and confidence are tested. Nervousness is a must, no one can and ever escaped from the feeling of uneasiness of presenting and simulating the teaching in class. And I myself, too, experienced these for every simulated teaching we had. I chose the short play “The Ring Doesn’t Fit” by Tan Kee Aun for my simulated teaching. I felt very nervous to present in front of the class. Well, it was not the first time, but as always, “What if it doesn’t work?” and “Will I be able to speak, not stuttering?” questions kept ringing in my head. The set induction was the vital part to initiate students’ interest of the teaching, so I thought of showing a line of comic strip to the students. I took the wedding pictures from the Internet and arranged them in Powerpoint slides, making the pictures as a strip of events more like the play itself. It showed the bride feeling nervous of her wedding ceremony and ran away. Later the bride was being consoled by the minister and the bridegroom. Together with the comic strip were talk bubbles to show what the characters were talking and thinking about. The students were very excited to read the comic from the slides especially about the “marriage is just like choking a banana, it’s huge, but you still eat it.” The dialogue was unintentionally written, it was actually spontaneously thought, but the students thought there was something fishy about it. Then, I asked what the students had in opinion of the comic strip, and they hastened to answer. Well, that proves my set induction was a good idea. I also explained about what I would teach for the lesson-of-the-day to the students so they would have the gist and scheme for the topic. And since there will be pre-reading and while-reading stages after this, the comic strip is a good idea to teach sequence of events!