OPS SIKAP & PMR & SPM

Bismillah, Assalamualaikum

What is the connection between OPS SIKAP, PMR and SPM?

I insist readers to read this article first:

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/11/12/nation/19434563&sec=nation

On the latest news on OPS SIKAP dated 27th September 2009;

16 more dead, fatalities up to 238.

It seems that OPS SIKAP have not really improved but enforcement operations still double-up their efforts in reducing fatalities. Motorists still like to speed, disobey road rules and regulations, make other road users mad but the authorities still grit their teeth in trying to prevent accidents and deaths.

And that's what the teachers do in conjunction with the upcoming examinations, PMR and SPM. Teachers worry, run around, work their butt-off just to see that desired results in their students who are sitting for these major examinations, sometimes even not for the students but rather for themselves - for their own peace of mind or so that they won't be questioned later on by the big people.

Regardless, teachers do care! and it really pisses me off that some students just don't care!

It's really motivating to read about some teachers' efforts that paid off but those stories are not all blooming roses. I could see the thorny roads leading to those success and the thorns prick you until you bleed. and I, for one, hate the pain!

In spite of some students being all pain in the neck, I as the teacher do not mind going the extra mile just a bit and make sacrifices so that even though my students achieved a little, I would still like to look back on what I did to make that insignificant change in my students. At the end of the day, these minor changes could turn into something whoa!

I think that it's not really a good thing to be a teacher and have a tendency to worry about students but that's life for you

GOOD LUCK to my students and whoever who are sitting for their PMR and next is SPM!

Happy Eid Mubarak 1430H

Bismillah, Assalamualaikum







I would like to ask for forgiveness to everyone I know for all my wrongdoings, please forgive and forget and let's move on in life hand in hand :)


This raya dedication is especially for my 3 siblings overseas, Along, Mai and Hilmi because raya is all about family and times like these make me miss all of em dearly.


This raya is also about not having to spend it with my coursemates of 6 years. After 6 years celebrating together, now that we're all separated with so many stories about respective schools to share, it's hard not to miss those times of cracking jokes, poking fun, exchanging kuih raya, going to your house and my house and lecturer's house and just being together. Even though 6 years have been enough but please do remember the good times ^_^


This raya is also about cutting down on food and soft drinks! because next year is too important if I keep on forgetting that, hoho!


This raya I did not received many cute raya messages, just ordinary ones with sayings and words which I find a tad boring although its meant to be meaningful but I do appreciate all that I received, hehe, thanks friends!


This raya, I'll be celebrating 2 weeks at a new place, I wonder how that would be. It shouldn't be any different because I did always seem to celebrate raya at somewhere else for the rest of 2 weeks of raya or so hence mcm biasa.


Speaking of mcm biasa, sometimes I do feel everything about this festive season is mcm biasa but then again, its not and its up to me and you to make it different, unique and stand out because life is meant to be live to the very fullest!


Enjoy your Raya and don't forget to fast for 6 days of Syawal =)

Secrets from the School Crypt

Bismillah, Assalamualaikum



1. I CANNOT fail the students in the top class! and I failed 4 of my students! and what's worse is that the top student in the Form 3 achieved 7A1B and the B is English!! I'm just as horrified as the student and his face pops up constantly haunting me, sob..

The thing is, I gave him too much already on his subjective paper and it was his objective that he received low marks but then again, I still feel culpable :(

I hate the exam-oriented system for doing this to me..


2. Teachers may adjust students' marks. Students that achieved 35 marks meaning that they fail can be increased to a pass of 40 marks, tadaa!! and students that attained 75 marks with the grade B may get an A as teachers may add 5 more marks to get that desired 80 marks.

I didn't do this because I thought I was honest, really I did..

I wasn't even aware that I was wrong..


3. The Powers To Be have invested a lot on teaching English so they expect good results, no excuses! They will be hot on my heels as I am currently the only English teacher in the school and I should have good answers on the percentage for the PMR Trial. Teaching students undergoing major examinations are already mounting pressures, now this?


4. Never underestimate a scruffy looking student!

I'm guilty of this but wait till you hear my description of him:

He doesn't tuck in his shirt.
His eyes are always looking sleepy.
He mumbles when he talks.
I always wonder whether he's paying attention or just staring into space.
He understands little Malay.
He can't really speak English though he can write a bit well in the language.
His writing tests my patience.
and
and


He was the 5th top student in the whole of Form 3 according to the PMR Trial!
but he only deserved a B for his English, sorry dude.


My perceptions have changed completely and actually not because of his achievement overall in the PMR Trial but because I enjoyed reading his directed writing. and when I called my students one by one for their Paper 2 consultation, and as I gave him his paper, he BEAMED and said thank you teacher loud and clear! and his whole demeanor turned awfully cute! I am not kidding! but then, when I was giving an announcement to the class, he was reading a newspaper and I grimly said CJL, you are cute today you know that? and the whole class turned to him and laughed and I smiled and he smiled and got embarrassed and push the newspaper aside. So I continued with my announcement that students may submit their corrections next week and not tomorrow. and the next day, early in the morning, there was only 1 exercise book on my table. from CJL and it was written so fine I wish I could go hack the system just to give him an A.


Surprises like that brightens my day anytime ;D


5. I as the teacher eat wayyy too much!

Ramadhan 1 Week Hols

Bismillah, Assalamualaikum

Everyone says that the best thing about being a teacher is that teachers get loooong hols. Well, that is a little bit correct but as much as teachers like to rejoice on that statement, another statement gets in the way bashing teachers' hope to bask in loooong hols, that is;

Holidays or breaks are a privilege and not an entitlement!


Teachers are not really entitled to a time off, but as we do geddit, then we should be able to enjoy it. confusing noh? I say, a holiday is a holiday, if you call us for courses or seminars or whatever and we realize we hafta go, we'll go, if not, talk to the hand! =p


Anyway, no complains to getting a week of pleasure at home in Ramadhan and a week for Eid in spite of having to mark PMR Trials and after this, SPM Trials. I do feel down and blue though when marking because it dawns on me that majority of these students' English has fossilized and that I only have so little time to make that desirable change and not all students are manageable, siggghh~


Another thing is that I realize that a lot of students are not really into English and it struck me that why should they? Perhaps they are wise and hated this foreign language because the Englishmen did take over our country in the past so why must they uphold this language of the omputih? There are a zillion reasons that I could give on the benefits of learning English but students still fail to see and I'm not about to list em all here anyway, siggggh again!


I could go on and on sighing and it won't be of any use because students have to realize that even if they look back on the past or they foresee the future whereby they might not used the English language but in reality, my students and I live in a modern fast-paced world whereby the world is borderless and everything is at the tip of the fingers and in this modernization and civilization, we have to accept that learning English is the way to go! English is the INTERNATIONAL language!


So with that, I wish my students and all Malaysian, Happy Independence Day and a Blessed Ramadhan :)

Journal Alert! [LIGHTBULB PLEASE!]

Bismillah, Assalamualaikum



Calling all English Teachers
especially my coursemates, the awesome COHORT 2,
English Teachers wannabes,
English Language Enthusiasts,
TESL Educationists,
YOU! whose opinions I and many others value,


I have an idea!


I know I'm new in the teaching profession, and because my passion has still not wane, therefore I wanna start a project...


I find myself constantly asking questions about teaching and learning to teach and many more and it really bugs me that no one and nothing can give me an answer. Then I realize that perhaps I am not looking for a CORRECT answer, just that I wanted and needed guidance and always want and need for myself to move ahead, forward and change for the better!


Hence, I think a journal would be a GREAT way for networking so that I and others out there can reach out simply by reading and responding. In my Uni days, I had to always go through international journals and I find that these journals were really cool and helpful especially when I was doing my project paper on Readers Theatre. Malaysia was still new to the concept of students reading aloud from a modified script and for that reason, there were insufficient articles on the subject matter. Even as I read more and more, I found that journals like The Reading Teacher were beneficial in scaffolding educators to explore and excite students and this would indirectly make us become better teachers.


The downside to this is that I am aware that not many teachers read! Yes, as shocking as this sounds but as I asked around, I reiterate that not many teachers read. Teachers do read but as teachers are constantly bogged down with not just teaching but also secretarial work, as a result, teachers read only their students' homework rather than for recreational. But for those teachers who do read and love reading and frequently reads then this journal may be able to get hold of these teachers.


My hopes would be that I am the shaker and the mover for this project and that I have to be extra hardworking in making it happen. InsyaAllah with this project, it is hoped that I and fellow contributors would be able to bring a desirable change not just for us but especially to our students.


So what needs to be done is that I would like to pull anyone in to write anything whether its an article, lesson plan, reflection, stories, literary works, anything at all. and I would come out with a title for the journal or does anyone have any idea? Apart from that, I hope to rope in educators who I think has made a difference in education in English or maybe someone who should put in his or her 2 cents worth in the journal. Another thing is that I hope to spread the word on this journal starting with my coursemates first who are teaching around the whole Malaysia and then the whole of Shah Alam and moving on to Facebook and lastly ZOOM MALAYSIA.
BIG DREAMS are needed indeed~


I target that by the end of this year, I'll be able to make it on at least glossy paper be it black or white or perhaps, if I could get a sponsor, to make the pages colourful. Moreover, I aim for the pages to at least be 20. I dream BIG but I think I'll start small, for now.


Effort (and a lot of it!) + Prayers (sprinkle with rezeki) = Tawakkal.

InsyaAllah


So please email me with anything at all -

wanderfulmadnificent@gmail.com

I'm old and I just got my 1st Paycheck and its Ramadhan!

Bismillah, Assalamualaikum

This year's birthday started out pretty ordinary..


teaching Form 5 and preparing students for their Trials after the hols by giving them another set of SPM papers like they couldn't get enough. and then when both teacher and students were discussing something I couldn't remember, one of my student asked me, Teacher, you look like a chill. I was like, wwwhhhaaattt?? [and this is coming from the top class of the Form 5]. chill, chill, or izzit he said, chilli? I couldn't comprehend and after deciphering what he was trying to say, it turned out that he wanted to say I looked like a child, LOL :p


I joked, maybe you wanted to say I'm cute, hehe and then they chortled. so I said to myself what the heck and commented, well, I have just gotten old so maybe after tomorrow I won't look like a child anymore!


*Blank faces and starry-eyed surprise*


-sigh-


You don't geddit do you? Never mind.


A Hermoine-like-raise-hand-shot-in-the-sky, Teacher, your birthday meh?


=]


yeah *maluuuu la plak, nyesal cakap :p*


and then I turned around to write something on the board and wanted to resume the discussion because I was like a bit embaressed, huhu


Yi, Er, San...


Happy Birthday Song


Wah, thank you all of you :D


But I resolve never to do that again! hahaha! It was just that my students ask something that coincides so I thought...nah, fuhgeddit!


I even did tuition with the Form 5 students from 4pm-6pm that day and they were fighting to get my attention for once, huhu, dunno if it was a ploy :p


That night I was attacked by prickly heaty itchy rashes all over my body and nearly spreading on my hands and my face and then Kaswina called and asked me where I was. I said I'm at home and before I knew it, she was shouting OPEN THE DOOR BECAUSE I'M OUTSIDE YOUR HOUSE!


I was soooo taken aback and shocked and surprised!!! She drove 10 mins from her place dragging a company just to treat me to a petite Peanut Butter Vanilla Cake, aaaaawwww, THANK YOU SO MUCH KASWINA! From an ordinary day, it became extraordinary because of a FRIEND like you!



I'll never forget that night~

You made me smile =) =) =)

Graduation, Friends Forever, Family Never Ever Apart

Bismillah, Assalamulaikum



On Tuesday, 11th August 2009 at 8.45am, in a local institution of higher learning in Malaysia, I graduated with Honours, Alhamdulillah ^_^



and I dedicate my Degree to my parents!

Thank You Abah & Mama =)


Masters is coming up!


and those 6 years will never be forgotten~

Teaching is Love

Bismillah, Assalamualaikum

I dunno why but I have a thing for modifying scripts, novels, short stories, poetry and song lyrics! Could be a hobby or something that strucks my fancy and inspiration!


This statement is scary but whenever I hear the song She is Love by Parachute, I think of teaching and how my heart has to be pure in order for the knowledge to pass to my students and how if my passion fades away, even if I try my hardest to teach but it will all be in vain as there won't be any drive to teach anymore thus I wouldn't want that to happen would I...

So perhaps there needs to be love...


"Ive been beaten down
Ive been kicked around
And the teaching takes its toll on me
And I lost my faith
In my darkest days
But my students make me want to believe


They call teaching love, love, love, love, love
Teaching is supposed to be passion
And I need to believe that teaching is all I need though I doubt this
And students need to take heed


Well I had my ways
They were all in vain
And the teaching and learning process waited patiently
It was all the same
All my pride and shame
sometimes put me on my feet


They call teaching love, love, love, love, love


And when the world slows down deep
And when those stars burn out here
And when I see my students there with wide eyes
And the thirst for knowledge
How could I resist

They call teaching love, love, love, love, love"

On a similar note, Ramadhan is slowly drawing nearer to us and we have to remember that there also needs to be LOVE for the holy month as when there is no devotion hence;


Citing the words of the Prophet Muhammad,
"Many are the people who fast, but who gain nothing from their fast except hunger and thirst; and many are those who stand praying all night but who gain nothing except sleeplessness".

A reminder to me and others, Wallahualam~

If Parents were Teachers, Teachers not need be Teachers

Bismillah, Assalamualaikum



A friend of a friend of mine blasts a parent at school as the parent said that why expel or suspend a student, it would only crush the students' motivation for schooling and no wonder that particular student never did well in school. It's all the teacher's fault because the teacher never gave that student a chance.


I heard and I was angry! As a teacher, who wouldn't?


and because I am, and another reason would be that I kept giving my students compositions to do as they are so weak in that certain area therefore I would like to make my own piece of essay.


To whom it may concern,


You know, you wouldn't have needed teachers if you were superhuman but you're not, so there. You have to understand that teachers are here and there and everywhere for a reason. If you have taught all that there is about life and everything that comes with it, teachers wouldn't have to do it for you.


Teachers are like second parents yet some of you are just so caught up with your own lives, you forget that you hand in your children to teachers to teach, nurture, to build character and all that just for your student to become holistic. If nothing satisfies you, perhaps you heard of home schooling? Yeah, home school has produce few famous geniuses.


You think you're so perfect but you're not and you say that no one is. Well, doesn't that apply to teachers too? Have you forgotten about teachers? Have you forgotten that the teacher standing in front of you and your child is imperfect?


Do you even know how hard it is to teach? and can you see why some teachers prefer the top classes? If your child is in the bottom class, do you know why? Do you even care? Have you try asking?


When your child makes mistakes, have you tried interrogating your child? or did you leave all those grillings to the discipline teacher? and if you do, are you satisfied? If not, why? What else could you possibly want?


Did teachers ever really crush a student's motivation? How? and why would teachers do that? Do they really? Must be some bad apples then. Could your child possibly be rotten too? Could you see pass that and investigate?


Do you know the meaning of expel and suspend? Get a dictionary or ask a language teacher to help. You look at your child and see a halo, well, that's not what the teacher saw, go figure.

If you gave your child chances, perhaps teachers would have done the same too...


How many points for this continuous piece of writing? maybe not much because there's too many questions. Could you have answer then?

Why some students just don't geddit and I don't either..

Bismillah, Assalamualaikum



My students, even the best ones in the top class grapple and struggle with the English Language and I don't blame em.


Some of em just don't seem all that interested in the subject.
Some of em are beyond passive about learning as they just plain resist it.
If students don't think they can learn, they often resist efforts that seek to make them learn.
Some can't see the reason they're learning such foreign language and I tell em they can just go to Japan then!
Some students are just afraid as they like doing what they already know. Why make life harder than it already is right?


and I as the teacher grapple and struggle too, because I and them are like magnets, opposing forces and we try so hard to stick, but alas~


These students have missing motivation and I am left with the tall order to find it for them!


and I'm human, what if I wanna move on? Would you let me?