Prayer & Words of Encouragement

Hallelujah!!!! 

Finally, our 5 weeks course is over!  Geez, how time flies and it's unbelievable I managed to survive. 

Dear God, 
I wanna thank you from the bottom of my heart, especially for today.  Yesterday, I was so anxious and nearly burst to tears before the quiz, the presentations to come..and I've no idea being a two-year-old teacher, I still suffer from stage fright.  How I admire my coursemates  who  appeared so confident and eloquent on stage.  

Thank you dear Evelyn for burning the midnight oil with me last night to prepare the powerpoint slides...and praying together with me this morning before presentation. Yvonne just complimented me that I did a good job this morning, saying she was amazed 'Wow, is this Lucy?' hahahahhaha....okay, I can't remember what I presented this morning, nor did I remember I stood out away from the rostrum and my hands actually .... flew up and down?

It gotta be the God who helped me pouring out the words. lol... p/s thanks darling for your constructive feedback. As always, you did a wonderful job too, so natural in explaining all the Ivan Pavlov's Behaviourism theory, Thorndike's etc...how do you remember all that....? you're awesome!

Behaviourism:  Rewards & Punishment (Operant Conditioning)
                           Stimulus-Response (Classical Conditioning)

Introducing our Issues in Literature's group members:  Dinesh and Shiva :)

 These two men appear to take things easy, but no, when they present, they've so much talk about...the floor is literary theirs!  A reminder from them "Relax~" hahaha.....

Not forgetting to thank the man who love me most in the world: DADDY! Guess no matter how old we are, we'll always find comfort in our parents' loving encouragement.  Thanks to my mentor too, "Fake it until you make it." hahaha.

Went home last weekend to witness Cynthia's wedding. So happy for them!  and our dear Hui Yi is pregnant! Can't wait to see baby next March! 

Being posted so far away from home, and having this part time masters really make me doubt my decision at times. I really missed out A LOT, especially the quality time with my niece.  and nephew.  Parents are getting older, I really hope I'll get my transfer soon.  May your will be done, Lord. But one thing for sure, no matter where I am, there's always this lovely place called - HOME.

p/s Time to do our portfolio - teaching plans & material designs. Come back to you again, bloggie :)

Priorities

A fruitful night~  Feeling accomplished!

Our ever dedicated group leader just uploaded our 'Important Dates'. 

Seeing the dates and things-to-do, I feel like a superwoman.

Presentations, 3 Journal Reviews (Individual), Portfolio, Textbook Checklist, Quiz, Error Analysis, Blog, Online Forum, Final Exam, Behaviorism Presentation, 3 research-based article review, another final exam, Literature in ESL Presentation, Report on Literature Teaching Approaches, Quiz and another final exam.....All these (excluding the finals, which falls after CNY, and excluding our daily lectures), will be accomplished in 10 days time.

The good news is, I'm not alone on this ark :) That's why God created friends for us, they're like angels sent to protect me.  The sad thing is friends come and go.  It's a sad fact I've to accept.  An occasional 'How are you?' meant a lot to me.  Knowing someone out there still remembers me never fail to warm my heart.  Nonetheless, not everyone thinks alike. Your concern might not be returned with an expected warm response.  But that's okay.  It all boils down to priorities and how important you are to him/her. 

Good night world :)

p/s It's December! Merry Christmas in advance! Where will you be this Christmas? =)

Learning together.

Read from a study somewhere that women are better at multitasking than men.  Do you agree?

Am currently updating my blog while waiting for the journals to be printed out.

Today is the 6th day of our second semester.  Two presentations to go tomorrow and yes, we are really exhausted. 

For this semester (5 weeks), we are doing 4 subjects:

1) Grammar for English by Dr. Mazura @ Mastura Muhammad
2) Methods and Materials for ESL Teaching by Dr. Intan Safinas Mohd Ariff AlBakri
3) Issues in Teaching and Learning of Literature by Dr Lajman Janoory
4) Issues in Applied Linguistics by Dr. Wan Mazlini Othman

Just a little sharing and memory-jotting of my experience here at UPSI (University Putra Sultan Idris, Tanjung Malim, Perak)

I always find it a challenge to teach my students Grammar, especially the weaker students.  Dr Mazura totally changed my views on Grammar by making the lessons so lively!  Yes, we do have to revise all the terminologies, and more in-depth.  And yes, she cleared many of our doubts.  I especially fancy the ice breaking activity and group tasks.  Super 7 consists of young Dinesh, humble Bannecy and generous Azizi,  and I.

I love all these 4 lecturers.  Dr Intan is really a gem!  She makes the lesson appears stress-free yet at the same time, her in-depth knowledge of the subject matter, her soft spoken nature, her effective way of summarizing the heavy materials just make me admire more each day!  The way she encourages us and uses Krashen's theory to remind us of the importance of lowering down learner's affective filter so learning could take place effectively, is something I must apply in my classroom.

Would love to write more. But my shoulders are yelling for the bed.  Good night.

Learning, like friendship, gets more intriguing and meaningful when we plant the seed of love in it. - JY

 

 

7 minutes

What do you do if you know your time is limited here on Earth? say, 7 minutes left?

tick tock tick tock....

left with 5 minutes.

Many a times, I've spent too much time on wondering/ imagining/ fantasizing

Wondering, how would life be should I take up accounting instead of TESL 9 years ago.

Imagining how would our world be should there be no poverty, crimes, disappointments and pollution.

Fantasizing who my future members look like.

Great, one minute left~

Hello blog, I'll be back :)

11.11.2013

Life is so fragile.

Heartfelt sorrow for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan in The Philippines.

Congratulations to the recently married;
Congratulations to the newborns;
Congratulations to the fresh graduates;

And on the same day,

Condolences to the thousands of deaths and sufferings.

Superb September!

It has been months since I last blog here.

A little update of my life (as memory after my transfer out of Kapit) :P

Exactly one month to go before PMR and I'm beginning to feel the stress.  Started giving extra classes in the afternoon to my 3B students. Surprisingly, my 3J kids approached me and requested they wanted to have extra classes too. Successful teachers, how do you teach ESSAYS to students who don't even know 'rumput' is 'grass' or 'monyet' is 'monkey'....

The precious moments for my past 3 months =)

  

 

Today, 4th September 2013 is Tay's birthday! I'm going to miss you guys for sure!  All these monthly birthday celebrations...

 

 

This idea came from the Bengkel Teatre I attended in March.  Group 1 won the most creative arrangement of natural elements based on the votes in my FB :) Kudos, boys of 3B!

Different classes have different activities for this Poem: Leisure, but they all get the chance to work outside the classroom. Teaching them "the importance of taking time off to relax, not to be too busy with studies/work" is quite an irony here. Haha!

  

Happy birthday Tiing 26th Aug and MeiYun (28th Aug). I love you both a lot!

 

You're like my God-sent angel here...

One advantage of teaching in the morning session is that I get to enjoy my hiking in the evenings.  Sometimes I enjoy a company or two, at times I simply enjoy my solitude with Mother Nature.

 

Youth and Young Adult Day at Ka En Methodist Church. It's a blessing to serve in this church...

 

Post-finals dinner @ Hong Fu, Sibu! It has been quite some time since I last ate crabs :)  Another blessing to have the opportunity to further our studies with a group of friends, really!

 

Bengkel Teknik Menjawab: Prepared so much, yet so little time to present. I wonder how much did the students benefited from this 4 days program...Good luck PMR kids! Do your best!

One of us is getting married!! Hallelujah!! =)

Darling, do you love aunty? I miss you so much! The longer I'm here in Kapit, the more family time I missed....and that fact is starting to take its toll on me...

Visiting my mentor Mr Hanapi with my colleagues :)

  

Road trip to Semariang. Interesting name huh?

 

A reminder for teachers, our role in the world of education.....

 

Introducing my koko and Ida's DOTA! I'm a willing victim to let her bite my hands....dogs are...I played with her for a conly a couple of days during the holidays, and tears rolled down my eyes when I left for Kapit...geez, I'm a coward...having experience the grievous loss of my hamsters, I vowed never to rear pets anymore....

I. LOVE. YOU.

Blessed marriage!

  

Brother Xin Fu is going to leave Kapit soon....again, another separation.

Happy birthday Sam and Chan! How many more birthdays will we get to celebrate together?

  

We're in the papers!! woots!! Thanks JK!

Pretty and handsome?? =) It's my day! Our day - teacher's day @ 16 May!

 

Chinese New Year Dinner with my chinese colleagues....

  

Leyu's birthday!

  

I pray....for peace and love, for you and I.

Program Jalinan Kasih: SMK Katibas Sayang SMK Kapit

“Love Bonding Program: SMK Katibas Loves SMK Kapit”

“Teacher, this is my first time taking a long boat!...First time ‘mandi berkemban’ (wrapped in towels)”

“Teacher, I never eat using my hands. The food tastes good eaten this way….my first time”

“Oh my God, oh my God! A leech on my leg! Take a photo, quick!”

“I never jungle trek, teacher. This is fun!”

            We were welcomed by Katibas’ prefects at the main gate.  The weakest class in Form 4 painted a banner which stated ‘Selamat Datang ke SMK Katibas. Program Jalinan Kasih: SMK Katibas  & SMK Kapit”.  Our presence is really well received! By 4:50pm, our students were assigned to their hostels, the 6 girls to the girl’s dormitory while our 9 boys followed the school prefect, William to the boy’s dormitory.  Our kids have the honour to dine with the hostel’s kids at the school’s canteen.  It was a first time to Xin Yii to actually bath ‘berkemban’ (wrapped in sarung), a first time to most of my Chinese boys to bath by the river, and another first time for Zhi Xian to eat using his bare hands.  These are all the wonderful rural-Iban cultural memories that will be stored for life.

 

Did I age or what...hm..so serious.

Ice breaking, 14th June 2013 (Friday) night....

Bonded! Train..tut-tut...round the dewan makan.

Senamrobic. how fun! the whole school of SMK Katibas actually took part in this event!

My mentor Mr Jarod Yong & I. Thank you for making this program a reality! :)

Flo, the kind teacher who allows me to stay with her. super awesome lady!

I've no idea why I hardly sweat despite the vigorous exercise. different people have different sizes of sweat glands I guess.

SMK Kapit's English Language Society's President, Adarsh Philip sharing his experiences on PMR preparation to students of Katibas.

Zhi Xian and Pius happily sharing away their experiences too. Well done, boys!

Xin Yii, so genuine is sharing tips on how to score for PMR.

My Form 6 students tried their best in sharing how to prepare for SPM too..

The journey to the jungle trekking begins! :)

One of my favourite hike so far...a leisure hike, with streams and waterfall at the end.

Personal preference :P

Way to go guys!

The jumping and splashing begin!

More splashing and fun!

Program Jalinan Kasih: SMK Katibas Sayang SMK Kapit @ Waterfall.

Sweet Xin Yii and her idol teacher, Mr Yong.

Another last minute photo before going back to school..

Tada! on Siew Zhen's knee. How excited was he!

            On Saturday afternoon, together with nearly 25 prefects of SMK Katibas and my students, Mr Yong Jik Kam and three more Katibas teachers, we went for hike to a waterfall behind the school.  We have to take a long boat across the river as the current was quite strong.  It is another first time for Siew Zhen to experience a leech on his leg! I thought he was screaming out of fear but later, he confessed it was out of excitement.  As the saying goes, take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints.  Thanks to photographer cum co-organizer, Mr Yong for taking the memorable photos throughout the 3 hours hike. While the students jumped off the rocks into the deep pool at the waterfall, I kept praying non-stop for their safety. Bringing a group of students under your care is different from the personal experiences with friends, you have to shoulder the responsibility despite having their parents’ consent. Thankfully, the hike went well and the students really had the fun of their lives.

   

         That night, after a delicious local dinner, our students were entertained by the Cultural Club of SMK Katibas.  Their cultural dances, with bamboos, smokes, costumes, makeup and songs really moved our hearts. I was told this was the last batch of students coached under our current teacher, Mr Nicholas Vicky. Mr Nicholas had been a warden and a great leader in SMK Katibas since his first posting to SMK Katibas.  In fact, one of the reasons we chose SMK Katibas as the school to visit is due to its prestige of being one of the best hostel in Kapit zone.

   

         This program ended with an unforgettable group photo which had the natural greenery as the ‘backdrop’. My students were so reluctant to leave Katibas that we agreed to cancel the 9am boat and reschedule for them to leave at 12:30pm.  Students signed their names on the camp’s t-shirts, leaving behind names, phone numbers and FB contacts.  In short, the objective of exchanging cultures, sharing experiences, creating memories and bonding friendships were attained.  Heartiest thanks to SMK Kapit for giving me the green light to carry on with this program and SMK Katibas for being so co-operative and supportive throughout this 4 months’ preparation.  May the relationship between both schools remained and more schools will get to cultivate the educative habit of school visits. Afterall, we learn best from the looking at others’ strengths and minimizing our weaknesses.

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Love starts from Home

Just had lunch with my colleagues and we discussed about F-A-M-I-L-Y.

I understand not everyone is lucky to be born in a loving family. Many are from broken families, like my students. Some of their parents got married as early as 15, thus the alarming divorce rate. Children are either raised in single parent homes or stayed with their grandparents.

Is having a loving family so hard? Is it possible to be happy though not rich? We talked about the importance of money in starting a family. Is it acceptable to get married when the man has not own a house? Not forgetting the furnishings, wedding receptions, dowry...

And then there's the topic of having little ones. I naively pointed out having a baby will bring joy to the family and bring the members closer to each other. Simply because that is what I see in my family. The arrival of baby Xin Yu one and a half years ago did bring lots of happiness to my parents; same goes to baby Jian Liang. Oh, how I miss him now. Hope his Jaundice is gone by now...

Sadly, that's not the case to the others. A baby might potentially welcome more conflicts and quarrel between husband and wife and among the in-laws, especially when money is the concern.

(Note to future hubby: Should disagreements arise, it shall be dealt by sunset. Promise? As for $, hm...I believe we will do just fine :) )

Perhaps, I never know how difficult life would be without money. Like what he said, I'm lucky because my parents showered us with love since young. I'm TRULY grateful to be born in my family. We are far from rich, we have our little disagreements. In fact, just last weekend, I actually burst into tears when mom suggested to arrange me to sit with her colleagues during koko's wedding. How immature and embarrassing to recall I actually stormed out of home and walked all the way to Merdeka Plaza, dropping by St Thomas cathedral, and that is when my loving daddy called, 'We are at Merdeka Plaza dy, where are you?'

30 minutes of cooling down, once I met them at the lobby, things just fell back to normal. I saw my parents, walked up to them, shyly smiled and if not mistaken, we held hands and shopped. Geez, blaming the hormones? Anyway, the reason I burst into tears was I thought I was not important so they can simply chunk me into any empty tables. Ah....attention craver =.='''

What I want to point out is that, LOVE. If everyone loves the family, then they'll work hard to make it a happy place to be. Right? But people keep telling me it ain't that simple. I've come across rich families who are so unsettled and just they want more, and more. Is it really hard to start and have a happy family? What are you willing to sacrifice for it? It's such a big step into the uncertainties that lies ahead....

Turning 26 in a couple of days. I wish for a better Malaysia, and that every family will play their part to provide a loving environment for their children. Just read Kenny's blog, he has his worries whether he'll be a good husband and father, like his late father. I like how he showed his love for Ming, openly. I truly wish them both a blessed marriage =)

GE-13 is over. Many are saddened, angry and disappointed by the results. I shed three tears, dared not picture what lies ahead, fell back to sleep, alone, in the king size mattress at Kingwood Hotel.

May LOVE filled yours & my home daily.

God is good. Life is good. Reminder to all and myself, count your blessings. It can never go wrong. Merry May to all of you =)