Awesome Speakers in ICELT2011

I have so many stuff to share but so little time... I have been as busy as a bee for the past one month... Anyway, I am taking a break, so waste not, time to blog...

I was at a conference 3 weeks ago, organized by UPM in Damai Laut.... What amazed me was not only the flies (d b-e-a-utiful scenery must have attracted all the flies in Msia) but the AWESOME speakers (check out the clips below) I met... My jaw dropped and I enjoyed every single minute of it-they were simply amazing.. If I were to get teachers like them I would not have flunked my chemistry and biology...

The theme of the conference was 'Teaching English as a Performing Art' starring Jan Blake (superb storyteller, a big Jamaican lady with a BIG heart!), Adisa (Will Smith look-alike, as cool as his 'twin', good actor, good joker, but his poetry recital was magnificently impressive, I love his voice too), Paul Cookson was another fantastic poet but I couldn't find any video of him performing, I can still remember his 'Wateva' poem vividly... Adisa and Paul Cookson have changed my perceptions towards poems-they are not just lines which rhyme but embed meaningful underlying agendas... Finally, Carolyn Graham, the Jazz Chant Guru-don't know what Jazz Chant is, go check her out and in no time u'll be able to create your own chants, if you have musical bkgd, it's an added advantage...

I manage to figure out why they can be so popular and well-known in this teaching field.. They always get the audience to be involved in their 'show', it's never a one man show, unlike us, the teachers who yada yada n yada alone in front of a class...

-Jan Blake telling part of a story; not only her expression, gestures, movements tally and tie in with the story line but also her skills in getting the audience to be part of the story -

-Adisa, the tall handsome man; words can't describe how (allow me to use the word again) AWESOME he is.... he put up a power pack show, simply energetic...

-Adisa rapping a poem-

-the amazing Jazz Chant MahaGuru, Carolyn Graham; you may be able to create ur own chant if u can get the beat right.. though it suits children perfectly well n it may not work on my big buffaloes but it's worth a try-

There were a few more but these were the prominent ones.. I enjoyed the conference, I hope u will too-it's a must to check if u r teaching English...