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Excellent. Opened a whole new world to me about English phonics. It explains so
many problems I’ve been experiencing. Alan, I’ve learned so much about THRASS,
but also about teaching skills. I think you are an excellent teacher. Hope to
see you back in Namibia very soon.
Very
interesting and fruitful. If we implement the THRASS knowledge and skills we
will completely eradicate literacy problems in Namibia. Keep up the good work
Alan, this was really wonderful.
Really promising method of teaching.
This
programme is very educative and interesting. By implementing THRASS in our
schools we will reduce the high rate of reading, spelling and handwriting
problems. THRASS will help me a lot on appropriate pronunciation of words and
names. I wish it had lasted for almost a week. I learnt a lot.
Interesting. I learnt a lot of things about how to teach learners to read, write
and spell. I enjoyed it.
The
idea behind THRASS is excellent. It is a lot of information to absorb within
such a short time. THRASS definitely changes the traditional methods of teaching
literacy. If Namibian teachers will practise and use this method in schools, I
am quite sure we will be able to change the level of literacy in our country. I
will definitely try to explain and practise a little of THRASS with my student
teachers. This method seems to be efficient and definitely enjoyable.
Every
bit of information made sense. Thanks for the lively way you presented this
workshop – sometimes a bit too fast, but we could catch up. I hope that we would
get the opportunity to use this in all our schools. Will be good to first have
pilot schools to make sure that this really works.
The
workshop was productive and I am sure we are going to deliver the fruitful
product from the workshop. I believe this programme will enhance chances for our
young ones to improve the literacy skills in Namibia at large. Good luck Alan
and your team.
This
was wonderful. If we could have more time we could be experts in teaching
THRASS, but I am going to try my level best to introduce this in my region.
It
was really interesting, but I think time was too short. It is absolutely a new
style of teaching letters, the alphabet and spelling. I’m looking forward to
working through the teaching guides.
A
very motivating course. I learnt a lot from it which I plan to use with
teachers. I wish to have another workshop of this kind, because the time was too
short and one needs to learn a lot.
The
THRASS course was an eye-opener in terms of the two concepts Phonemes and
Graphemes. This could help if the consultants could come to our regions to do
the course with all our teachers, to get the first hand information. Well done
Alan, although it was for two days, it could be done for three weeks. Overall
facilitation was excellent.
Very
helpful and interesting. We have experienced difficulty on how to teach reading,
writing and spelling phonics. I plan to go back home and share the learned
information about THRASS with my colleagues. The CD and DVD will help me with my
training. Thanks to NIED for organizing THRASS.
It
was a fruitful workshop. It has just come at the right time. I learnt the
differences between phonemes and graphemes. I realise why our children have a
problem with spelling. However the time was not enough, we needed more time to
practise.
Very
different, yet relevant and useful.
Very
interesting. Helpful and learners will benefit from it. I enjoyed the course
and learnt a lot.
The
workshop was very much fruitful. It was an eye-opener to me. I never heard about
phoneme and grapheme, graph, digraph and trigraph. I really learnt a lot in this
workshop. The information and skills I gained will add more and support me a lot
in my job as an advisory teacher. Thank God that he granted me the opportunity
to come and attend this workshop. God bless you.
Thank
you for sharing with us what wisdom you have received from God. I feel
privileged.
The
THRASS is the best course that opened my eyes, ears and mind to phonemes and
graphemes. Please come often so that the reading skills of our learners could be
improved to a level that is required. Thank you Alan and team, you are such a
blessing in our country.
Very
good and effective. I have learned that a letter has more than one sound and
digraphs and trigraphs can have same sound. Letter names are important as we
have taught only letter sounds.
THRASS gave me my first opportunity to learn phonics. This was a fantastic
course that opened our eyes of how we could start the high order thinking skills
at an early age. It also helped me distinguish between phonemes and graphemes. I
always struggle with these concepts, including semantics, morphemes etc. The CDs
and DVDs will assist me improve my phonics.
The
presentation was done very well. I could see the relevance of the programme. The
only problem I have is that some schools in our region might not have the
electronic equipment or computers etc. I do hope that the CDs could help
teachers and learners with pronunciation of words.
Well
done. I need a chalkboard and video to use it in my class. It will be so
interesting to my beloved learners. If I can have it in my mother tongue, I will
stay in education for years and years.
The
workshop was nice in teaching reading, handwriting and spelling. The system is
very good, because the learners start right away with graph, digraph, trigraph
and quadgraph. The system also emphasises spelling using letter names. The
duration of the workshop was too short.
Quite
interesting. This build-up again my interest in education! It should be more
easy. Alan should get chance to visit our regions. I’m happy to receive this
fruit and deal out for my colleagues.
The
two day training was dynamic because how letters are used in a speech sound and
in a spelling choice. The holistic approach of knowing sound and spelling choice
at the same time is appreciated. Also, the use of the Picturechart to supplement
the phonemes and graphemes. I learned that there are different ways we use
letters as graph, digraph, trigraph and quadgraph. It will help me to assist
teachers on how we can develop THRASS skills into our home language.
THRASS seems to be a good programme and was very impressive. Presentation was
excellent. Information was too much for the 2 days, wish we could have a longer
workshop. Thanks for the opportunity. Will try my utmost best to implement
THRASS in my region.
This
was so amazing and I hope that there will be changes once our teachers implement
THRASS. We will need more training and funds to buy other materials. Mr Alan,
you had a good facilitation!
The
THRASS course was presented in a very interesting way. It opened my mind and
convinced me that there is another approach to teaching spelling and reading.
The unbelievable wonderful teaching materials is too good to be true. We will
have to find sponsors to implement the programme in all schools in the country
(uniformity). The idea of setting up training centres in various parts of the
county will solve many problems. God Bless you and your team.
Two
days were not enough, we need more training. We enjoyed the presentation, it was
excellent.
Very
fruitful training. I gained a lot of knowledge about digraphs, trigraphs and
quadgraphs. It will be difficult to translate it into my language. Alan, job
well done but sometimes too fast. Keep it up.
I
learned many things that help me to help other teachers to teach younger
learners. The most important things that I learned are phoneme, grapheme,
grapheme catch-all and non phonographic spelling. This has to help learners
spell words correctly. I wish the workshop could be for a week. Please try to
come back so that we can all learn the THRASS very well.
THRASS is the best way of teaching children how to read. The old restricting
method has been replaced by the one that will give children a good opportunity
to learn the spelling choices and where to locate the word. THRASS is more
interesting than the old method, which was boring. If teachers will be more
positive and put more effort to understand this, there will be a significant
change in years to come. Reading and writing will improve in Namibia.
A
very informative and eye-opening course, with a lot of skills to apply to
different age groups, starting with pre-school and then to adults learning a
second language. It is so powerful that while it seems like playing, the THRASS
programme opens avenues for further learning, not only for learners but for
professionals too. I recommend it highly for Teacher-Education programmes.
Needs
more group activities.
Enjoyable – especially the phonics and the location of the words in the charts.
It
would help us in Namibia to pronounce English correctly and to get uniformity.
This is an easier way of learning how to read and spell. Programme will improve
reading speed.
A
very good and excellent job well done! I really learnt a lot – and gain so much
knowledge! Keep up the good work. Hope to see you in Namibia again soon.
This
was a wonderful, fruitful and enriching workshop. This needs more time. I wish
all schools in Namibia can use the programme. I learnt how to pronounce words,
how to write them and how to use them. The course is very important especially
for the Foundation Phase (5-12) – and all the other phases. We need to support
the teachers and parents so that they can be part & parcel of the education of
their children. We should train those in senior management positions (e.g.
Ministers, Directors, Inspectors and Principals) because then they can release
the money for our schools. Keep up the good work. Marvellous. Come back again to
Namibia.
A
very interesting, informative, and well organised workshop. It was an
“eye-opener” to me, because now I understand why some learners are experiencing
problems, especially with spelling. I now know how to work on these problems.
Thanks for a job well done.
Very
interesting. Learned how to teach phonics in stages and gained knowledge about
speech sounds and spellings (phonemes and graphemes). I learned how to teach
different sounds. Learned that there are 20 vowel sounds. I was knowing only 5
vowels.
A
very great program with lot of activities, especially for the Lower Primary
phase. I would like to recommend that you should look into the Namibian
languages, as you have done for South Africa.
Brilliant. Good experience, especially that most was completely new to me. I
have learnt a lot but I should have learned more if this course was done for one
or two weeks. I hope we will get funds to call Alan back to Namibia to help our
teachers implement THRASS in the classrooms. It would make a big difference in
handwriting, reading, spelling, pronunciation and writing in Namibia.
Quite
enlightening. It seems that it may solve reading problems amongst Namibian
learners (if it is well implemented). The involvement of learners in their own
learning is quite impressive, which I think will encourage learners from this
country to take responsibility in their own education. Even though we covered a
lot in this course, the period was too short. I therefore hope that we will get
further support in implementing THRASS in our schools.
I am
impressed with the way that THRASS will fit in with the new implementation of
the LP curriculum in the thematic approach. Learner centred education is catered
for with the participation of the learners being actively involved. There is
positive motivation to “show” learners – they made the wrong choice! Alan
inspired me to encourage my students to research this method in depth.
I am
amazed at the well-thought through method and activities to help learners master
English in a very enjoyable and exciting way. There is structure and strong
guidance and assessment requirements that should ensure successful
implementation. All teaching aids and methods were clearly explained. I am
impressed and wish to implement this.
I
learnt a lot. I usually teach the learner the vowels and consonants without
explaining that letters have one name and different roles to play. I also learnt
a lot of new things e.g. graph, digraph, phoneme, grapheme but after the two day
workshop it is clear how to help learners to help themselves. Two days is not
enough. Valuable information is squeezed into the two days.
Outstanding. It was informative, interesting and lively.
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