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Very
interesting, motivational and inspiring. Content very relevant and effective.
Very well presented and all concepts were explained fully. Funny, energetic and
exciting.
An excellent course presented by a vibrant presenter. Wonderful sense of humour!
An action packed course that modelled great teaching techniques. Thorough
training, with relevant repetition and reinforcement. Congratulations on your
creation. What a legacy you will leave for the correct teaching of English.
Thanks for sharing your intellect, talent and creativity with the “mere
mortals”!
An outstanding workshop. Exceeded all expectations!
The best workshop I have ever attended, where every minute mattered and was full
of fun and learning. Excellent content and resource materials but, of course,
high volume for two days. If there was more time allowed, it would be nice to
have some of the activities in breakout groups to ensure everyone mastered the
skills involved. The organisation was excellent and valuable resources to take
away. Thanks Alan, you bring new life into the teaching practice of every
teacher!
One of, if not the best course I’ve been on. Presentation and content excellent.
Impossible in two days to cover everything in detail, but maybe something more
could have been said about using THRASS with different grades and thus ‘entry
points’.
Necessary! I needed a new focus after 35 years of teaching and it all made much
sense. The manner of presentation made the acquisition of new skills so
enjoyable.
Everyone needs to do this course – twice! It has all come together for me and I
feel so much better equipped to teach THRASS. Thank you for the enormous amount
of energy, effort, knowledge, wisdom and skill you have invested in my life.
Fabulous. I wish I had done this earlier in my teaching career. Certainly can’t
wait to implement.
A very informative, well presented and enjoyable course. We are going back to
our schools with a rap and a tap and joy in our hearts to change the terrible
situation where our pupils cannot spell and write. I’m sure that the problem
will now be solved and we are looking forward to making a real difference in our
learners lives!
This course gave me the answers to questions that I wasn’t even sure how to ask!
The THRASS course will ensure that our learners see and experience the fun side
of literacy and language. Thank you for a brilliant presentation, it was an
experience that I will never forget.
Outstanding. Learnt a lot. Will have to throw Letterland goodies away. Thanks
for two brilliant days.
An excellent course and I thank you for putting so much effort into it. I really
admire how positive you are and I will certainly use the positive phrases you
used to motivate my learners. I will recommend to the Principal that THRASS be
implemented, especially in foundation phase. I feel very privileged to have
attended this course.
An eye opener and the most wonderful learning experience. I learnt a lot which I
can take back to my learners.
A well-organised course. I enjoyed every minute. I am inspired to teach again.
Yeah! for THRASS!
An eye opener and Alan was very interesting – he kept us on our toes. Thanks to
all the parties involved, including NAPTOSA, for making this such a success.
As a person without foundation phase background, teaching grade threes, I found
this workshop to be a blessing in disguise. I was always challenged to teach
reading and spelling skills, but I can confidently say my learners are going to
benefit a lot. I have been empowered on how to help learners with reading and
spelling problems. I normally turn-off when the facilitator is an amateur. Alan
is a very experienced facilitator who knows how to send the message across and
keep us interested and involved at all times.
Great course. Learnt a lot. Excited to implement at school.
Really fascinating. If it had lasted the whole week we would go home as English
graduates!
A very exciting course that has opened my mind. It is going to help me teach
phonics. It made me aware that other words are not pronounced in the same way
because we are a diverse country and I must get used to monophthong (with the
tongue still) and diphthong (with the tongue moving). It was really exciting. I
would like all the educators of South Africa to be given the chance on this
course – it was excellent.
Wow! Great course. Interesting, stimulating, motivational. Can’t wait to apply
this fantastic methodology at school.
I absolutely enjoyed every minute of this course. I am now excited to implement
it in my classroom. Everything makes better sense now. I can’t wait for Monday
morning!
Thoroughly enjoyed the course. Well done to Alan and the THRASS team. Keep up
the good work.
Well presented. Absolutely stimulating. Alan had a good sense of humour. I
learnt a lot of new stuff. I would recommend that people working with children
attend this course. I enjoyed it very much.
Excellent. Alan presented the course brilliantly. He was enthusiastic, fun and I
definitely learnt a lot. Before attending, I had my doubts about THRASS but am
now definitely convinced it is a worthwhile programme. Thank you for your hard
work and enthusiasm. It has definitely made a positive impact on me and how I
intend teaching my children and the children I teach.
Brilliant. I am so glad that I attended. It has really been inspiring and has
renewed my enthusiasm for teaching. Can’t wait to start THRASSING with my grade
2’s!
Outstanding! Very inspiring! The pace was very quick. I’d love to go through all
this in more detail.
Very important for every educator to attend. Brilliantly presented. Well planned
and organised.
Fantastic. It brings fun back into learning something that my otherwise be
boring and uninteresting. The grouping of sounds is a good idea and gives
children a reason for learning phonemes and graphemes. Well organised, well
presented and thoroughly enjoyed. I loved every minute.
Presenter was excellent – very dynamic and very knowledgeable. Presentation was
clear. Too much info given. Should have been three days. Enthusiastic about
implementing it.
Brilliant. Excellent presentation. Well worth coming. THRASS is an excellent
technique and will make life very easy for my English second language learners.
Very interesting. A whole new approach to teaching English as English must be
taught. Presented with such enthusiasm and love of what the English language is,
that is, complex yet exciting and achievable. I am going to try to change my
perspective on teaching English!
Quite informative and helpful. I learnt a lot. The resource materials are quite
good and learners can enjoy using these since there are so many vowel sounds in
English. I suggest in future we devote more time to articulating these properly
in order to teach the right thing to our learners from the outset. I hope you
will make a follow up at our schools to see how THRASS is being used in schools.
Most interesting and educational. Very happy that I came on it. I have learnt so
much and I am looking forward to using it in class.
Interesting and informative. I think it has merit and should be implemented in
every school in South Africa. Maybe we could have a follow-up course regarding
time allocation of THRASS per day?
It has to be more than two days. There is so much information to take in.
English is my second language so all of these concepts are new. The programme
was presented a 100%. I learnt a lot!
Very interesting. I benefited from the course and wish this system could be
implemented into the South African Education system. Alan did a wonderful job.
For the first time in over 20 years of teaching I understood why it is not
necessary to say we have five vowels and the rest are consonants. I gained a lot
of experience in using the terminology. The only worry is, I was the only one
who attended from school and my grade 3 learners might get lost in grade 4
because we are going to be talking about phonemes and graphemes. I am hoping
that Absa will adopt our school so that we can fight the literacy problem that
has engulfed our country.
Excellent. A good start to future intention of becoming a reading specialist. As
a high school teacher (FET phase), I’ve finally realized why my learners keep
spelling certain words incorrectly, even though they have written them out a
number of times. Much time has been wasted in the past.
Fascinating – learned a lot. Look forward to getting involved further. Teachers
would benefit from a longer course that unpacks each concept more fully.
I loved the course. It was great to see the background to teaching handwriting,
reading and spelling, because so often as a speech therapist we get the children
after they have been taught and when problems begin. It made me think about how
I was taught to facilitate aspects of speech and language and then compare it to
the teachers’ facilitation. It also made me “think out of the box” when looking
at the resources and how I could use THRASS in my therapy for semantics, syntax,
auditory processing, speech and aural rehabilitation. I loved it.
It was presented excellently and was very informative. Practical examples were
given which was relevant to the topics discussed.
A new way of teaching learners a different approach which is user friendly. It’s
a hands on approach that I believe my learners will benefit from. An eye opener
on teaching phonics as I’ve been using the old approach of sounding letters.
Alan is a wonderful presenter, motivator and he is enthusiastic. Hoping our
school will invite you for a whole school presentation. A big thank you.
Very interesting course, relevant, up to date ideas to educate learners from all
races. Presenter was very enthusiastic, which made us educators fell like “There
is hope!” As a young educator, I am so glad I was able to attend and will use
all I have learnt from THRASS.
Amazing. Such energy! Wow! Really enjoyed all the material and the ease of use.
I have a better understanding of THRASS and can integrate it into speech therapy
sessions to extend what is being done by the teacher.
A wonderful course. Learnt so much. Great to be able to use the resources in my
classroom better. Have a much clearer understanding of THRASS. A wonderful
expenditure of my time.
Bravo on an excellent presentation and so much humour and energy. Your passion
for what you have developed comes through. I started at school this year having
never been exposed to THRASS and initially thought “What a load of….” Now I am
so excited and can’t wait to try it out.
An amazing learning experience. I have to now ‘re-wire’ my brain to teach sounds
and letters, phonics, the THRASS way. It’s a challenge I am very excited about.
I loved the enthusiasm and sense of humour Alan used to demonstrate the thinking
behind THRASS. I can’t wait to see the results live in my classroom. I’m also so
proud to be South African after watching Janine Plunkett perform her songs for
us.
An excellent course. The best I’ve ever been on. Can’t wait to implement
everything I have learnt here. My only concern is where one finds times to
implement all aspects of THRASS in your daily routine of teaching. Still, loved
the course.
Excellent presentation. Any misunderstanding of concepts in the programme is now
very clear. My dyslexic pupils will benefit even more now after I have been on
this course. By taking the children from a class where THRASS is used they will
benefit from the individual attention as I have some resources to aid me in my
teaching. Thank you for your enthusiastic, humorous presentation as this appeals
to my sense of humour. The Sing-A-Long session was also excellent and most
enjoyable.
Excellent. I’m now convinced that reading can be taught without using letter
sounds or Letterland, instead learners can be taught that letters have different
jobs. Your sense of humour added spice in the workshop. Thanks for explaining
the difference between consonant blends and digraphs!
What a wonderful course and an eye-opener to teaching reading, spelling and
hand-writing. I am concerned that we have learnt so much in such a short time,
that I won’t be able to implement it properly. I hope that I won’t ‘run out of
steam’ i.e. I think we need refresher courses regularly. I will do my best to
implement what I’ve learned.
Really fantastic! Enjoyed the experience thoroughly. Looking forward to sharing
it with my children.
It was a pleasure to be part of the group. I did enjoy and learnt a lot. The
presenter, in a short time, made things easier to understand. I have a clear
idea what to do while teaching the children.
Most inspiring and motivational course I have ever attended. Alan made it all
worthwhile. Enjoyed the humour! Fantastic, fabulous, outstanding, incredible.
Thanks for sharing your ideas and knowledge.
Wonderful. Excellent – motivating. Presentation – perfect. Thanks for making it
clear.
Absolutely fabulous. Things shown make so much sense and are easy to implement
in a fun way. If we were taught in this way, we would not have a literacy
problem in our schools.
Incredible, so very well presented. Everything clearly explained. Thank you for
your time and effort. Keep giving us your wonderful knowledge.
Lovely. Extremely well presented. Loved the humour and learnt a lot.
I thoroughly enjoyed the course. Alan really motivated me. I wish you had taught
my child. Would like to see a demonstration lesson.
Excellent. We are only implementing in grade 2 in 2009 but excited to try it out
already with my current class. Now have a much better idea on how to correct
spelling problems with my learners.
Very interesting and informative. Interesting approach. Most entertaining
presentation.
Fantastic. I feel so motivated and cannot wait to get started with my grade
ones. It was so well presented – and so much fun. It all makes so much sense.
I’m sure I will improve my own spelling. I will be rapping out my sounds.
You kept us focussed as well as entertained. We are looking forward to
implementing THRASS at our school. It is certainly going to be a challenge
changing the way we have taught in the past. Do you have a Help Line? I’m sure
we will have many questions as we go along.
Alan is a dynamic presenter and made what could have been very dreary into a
vibrant, lively, learning experience. Aside from the THRASS programme, I feel
enthusiasm to go back to my class and jump around a lot more – and play the CD!
I thoroughly enjoyed the course. It was brilliantly presented and although a lot
was covered, it was thorough and easy to follow. What a gift to be able to talk
for that length of time and keep everyone captivated. I feel inspired to
re-teach my ‘babies’ (all African and most of them can’t speak, read and write
properly). This is going to change their lives.
A super dynamic course. Thoroughly enjoyable. Certainly a varied approach to
teaching phonics. Brought some organisation to the English language. Loved the
Sing-A-Long. Would love to try this approach in our school. I would especially
like to see if it makes a difference to the poor spellers that I encounter every
year.
What an enjoyable course, with lots of hands on information. A whole new way of
teaching phonics that makes a lot of sense. Loved the way of teaching phonics
with music and movement. A lovely two days.
What a gripping paradigm-shift. The presentation plus content makes complicated
barriers much more approachable. My mind has grown!
Great! I have never been to any course where I did not feel that, at some stage,
I was going to fall asleep, but there is a first time for everything! You had me
captivated every moment!
Excellent. Can’t wait to get started.
I enjoy the humour. It was fun. I never once wanted to fall asleep out of
boredom. I go back to school far more positive and with more knowledge. Thanks
for a great course on a precious Saturday.
Wow! Excellent. I really enjoyed it. Very informative. I’ve learnt a lot. Time
well spent.
Absolutely professional. Great fun and extremely interesting. Thanks for this
fantastic experience, furthering our teaching ability and skills. I know that my
new found knowledge will have a great impact on the kids that I teach. Can’t
wait for Monday!
Excellent course which presented life long skills. Skills not only to teach, but
to apply in your own every day life. It was an enjoyable experience that was
professionally presented. It is a hands on and very visual course. It is very
practical and kids will love English when they are introduced to this life long
program.
Dynamic, enthusiastic presentation, humorous, participation, active involvement
of group to reinforce explanation. Simple yet thorough explanation of THRASS
concept using known experiences within classroom so for easy identification and
explanation of the aspects of THRASS taught with classroom and learners. Most
enjoyable and inspiring, eager to use THRASS within classroom.
Enjoyed it very much. I have learned so much and am very excited about making a
difference in my classroom regarding language. Excellent.
Fascinating. An eye opener. The enthusiasm is contagious. A big ‘Thank you’ for
the time and effort.
This course and the presenter has inspired and given a new look – that makes
sense and is do-able - to a teacher who has become a little stale in his
teaching methods.
Enjoyed every bit. Looking forward to using THRASS. Presentation was excellent.
Hoping to use THRASS to help learners with reading and writing problems.
This workshop should turn the world of education! Brilliant! It changed my ideas
about the English language. Most of all, I am so glad, as a parent, that my
child is going to benefit from THRASS. It is however going to be a challenge to
change the conventional idea of teaching English reading and spelling to our
therapists at school. I think they missed out on the most important part of
their training as therapists!
Mind blowing! Alan was awesome. Very entertaining and kept the interest of mere
mortals!
Very stimulating course, challenging pre-conceptions and entrenched ideas. It
made a lot of sense and concretised what one has instinctively known should be
done. A great two days.
A professional and informative course. Presenter was excellent and content
exciting. Can’t wait to put it into action in various ways. Well worth the time
and money.
Positive, enthusiastic approach of presenters. Clear guidance with supporting
resources. I’m looking forward to implementing THRASS into my teaching. Alan’s
energy is contagious. Thanks for an amazing learning experience.
A very enjoyable, exciting and worthwhile course. Very well presented, never a
dull moment. I really feel that through fun, learning is much easier. I really
look forward to using THRASS with my class.
Well presented. The aids were clear and easy to follow. The examples given were
helpful and simple. The hands on approach made it interesting and relevant. An
outstanding course, worth every cent. Loved the lecturer and the music. Can’t
wait to get started.
Brilliant. Exquisite. We definitely have to implement THRASS. Alan did a good
job and explained things very well. Even the teachers can now get the correct
phoneme with the correct grapheme!
I really loved this course. I learnt a lot and Mr Davies really made it
interesting and exciting. He also explained everything really well. My school is
already implementing THRASS and now that I’ve done the course I realise the
relevance and importance of it. I think that all university education students
should be taught this course.
Very informative. Really interesting. Fantastic idea. I really enjoyed the
course, made more sense than using the current systems in our school.
Really enjoyable - very interesting and useful. Alan was engaging and made the
course enjoyable. It’s great to have a presenter who understands the challenges
and difficulties (and joys) of teaching.
Really enjoyable! It was hands on and practical. It made me feel passionate
about teaching again. I am looking forward to implementing it in my classroom
ASAP. Enjoyed your humour!
Thoroughly enjoyed it! Day 2 was a bit long, could have been shortened. Great
though. Loved your enthusiasm. Look forward to teaching it at school.
Very enjoyable. Alan was vibrant. The course made learning fun and, most of all,
real. Easy to understand. Created a lot of awareness on why children struggle
with reading. Loved the course.
I thoroughly enjoyed this two day course. It was extremely interesting and a
valuable learning experience. It was a wonderful, new approach to teaching
English. This was an inspiration for teachers to teach in a different way. Alan
is an excellent, entertaining presenter!
Fantastic, inspiring and inspirational for application.
The most valuable investment of my teaching career. Thanks for making phonics so
clear in such an amazing, interesting and thoughtful way. I would like all our
schools in South Africa to implement THRASS if possible. I’d like an annual
follow-up workshop, please!
With much enthusiasm I say - I enjoyed this course. Thanks for a wonderful
presentation of the material and I enjoyed the Sing-A-Long. It will definitely
enhance my teaching career, because I am going to do my best to implement this
in my class.
I thoroughly enjoyed the course and learnt a great deal as well as having fun. I
feel a great deal more confident about using THRASS and promoting it at my
school. Your lecture was informative, educationally sound and fun!
A very inspiring course. Thanks so much for introducing it to SA. Always goods
for us educators to have new ideas and methods of teaching. Thanks for making it
such fun.
Very informative and enjoyable. I love to entertain children and feel that
THRASS is an incredible way of teaching children.
Awesome! Great presentation. Fabulous information. Excellent visual and auditory
integration and representation. Has shown lots of fun with learning. Video
footage shows that THRASS can be used in rural schools with African learners and
that it is successful.
Well done but please don’t use a Saturday for training – they are precious for
teachers to do other things with family (and children etc). Please liaise with
the GDE to provide uniformity with all schools in all provinces. Ensure there is
infrastructure in place in schools to accommodate the system – laptops,
greenboards, DVD players etc. Good Luck.
Excellent course! It was an honour to have Alan himself present it. I learnt a
lot and really enjoyed it. The material that has been provided will be really
beneficial.
Very interesting – was unsure of how you teach Grade 1 THRASS – and now feel
ready to change the way I was teaching phonics and to implement it. Had a lot of
questions to ask Alan but withdrew them after the first session! Outstanding
programme which I think our schools must use so that we have a nation which is
able to read and spell correctly.
Certainly gave us a very different view of teaching phonics. Created an
eagerness to shift from an old method to a very vibrant way of including some of
the teaching practices that we are well aware of yet have forgotten to
integrate. Thank you for your enthusiasm and vibrance. You lived up to all
expectations. Together we will Sing-A-Long and THRASS it!
The whole picture of both whole picture and keyword phonics was phenomenal. This
is very much effective and eliminates lots of poor spellings and less vocabulary
in classrooms. Less of boredom and monotonous environment. Learners would enjoy
school and classroom environment. Each learner would feel special and enjoy the
lessons. The new concepts and pronunciation of words. This would make them to
explore their knowledge to their family, friends and community. This can be used
even in churches at Sunday school classes.
“A quarrel will end, but words once spoken will never die” (Shakespeare). Thus,
your words Mr Davies, your course, you as a person will be stuck in my “teaching
with style”. You have inspired me to reach new heights! And with every child
that will be touched by your unique brilliance – I am proud to be part of!
Become a South African – we need people like you! To teach is to touch a life
forever!
Enjoyable. Entertaining and informative.
THRASS is a very logical way to teach literacy and an excellent approach in
general. Course content and resources given excellent. Very well presented and
very practical.
Wow! I have learnt so much. The course was an eye opener and I am truly
motivated both as a mother and teacher. A brilliant course.
A very entertaining, informative course. Suddenly I understand things that were
previously very unclear. Thanks for the fun.
Outstanding course presented by someone who was very hands-on and practical.
What an honour and privilege to be in the audience – in the presence of a
dynamic team of genius creators of a system with a million possibilities to
empower people. You have renewed my enthusiasm to teach English to 2nd and 3rd
language speakers.
Wonderful. Changed the way I want to and am going to teach phonics. I enjoyed
the delivery as well – lots of fun and upbeat – kept me motivated an inspired
throughout. Lots of information was shared and I look forward to really engaging
with the material.
Excellent. As an Afrikaans speaking person who needs to teach English (and is
struggling) - a whole new world of phonics opened up for me. It all makes sense
now. Brilliant presentation. Hands on.
The energy is inspiring. I feel so motivated again (after over 30 years of
teaching!). My grandchildren are going to be THRASSed too!
An eye opening course. It was more informative and corrective to me as a black
English teacher. I thought I could speak English but just realised that I’ve
been doing injustice to the language. Anybody can be able to speak, read and
write English through THRASS regardless of who they are.
I have learnt a lot and had so much fun doing so. I am appreciative of the
resources. I can’t wait to use the Phoneme Machine. Alan – thanks for the
laughs. Your passion and enthusiasm is very evident. You have inspired all of
us. It was the best training I have ever been involved in. Very hands on and
interactive.
Very well organised, run and presented. Captivating, full of fun and humour.
Practical and hands on. Revolutionary and exciting. Good resources. Inspiring –
can’t wait to implement THRASS.
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