All in a day's work

 My blog had been in such a sorry state as I was frantically trying to cope with various obligations at one go. It has been a great test of patience and endurance and I thank Allah for giving me the strength to go through the manic ordeal. 

 First, it was English week and I count my blessings that I have good English teachers who gave their best to make it a success. The motto of our English Week is 'Keep Calm and Speak English.' The opening ceremony was officiated by the principal, Pn. Hjh. Zainab Ali and graced by a choral speaking performance from 1 KAA1. Sushmita from 3KRK1 serenaded the audience with her rendition of I Have a Dream. For the rest of the week, students had the opportunities to take part in Morning Speeches, Spell It Right competition, Explorace and the coveted event, Tasek Talentime. I believe that by initiating fun yet educating activities, students would be motivated to utilise English in their daily lives. Next month, our English Language Panel will initiate our 1st English Mini Carnival (EMC) where we will invite neighbouring schools to take part in scintillating workshops with engaging English Language games and activities. I'm so excited that I've managed to rope in the help of the American English Teaching Assistants (ETA). My students are all psyched up for this!

In the midst of English Week frenzy, I rushed to 5 schools in JB to conduct the inspection of the ULBS Assessment. The KPs were very cooperative and it was an eye opener to see various working ethos and filing systems. The next day, I had to rush to Bahagian Teknologi Pendidikan (BTP) for an assessment project affliated with the Johor Education Department. Oh, did I mention I have to rush to Port Dickson on the same day for my HLP briefing? Yeah, it was manic all right...

The esteemed speakers. Dr. Maimunah Ali, Dr. Ibrahim, Dr. Kamaruddin & Dr. Latip. One day, I hope I can be as successful as them, Insya Allah.

Despite having to rush here and there, I was relieved that I managed to reach PD safe and sound. Alhamdulillah, I  am selected as one of the recipients of  the Hadiah Latihan Persekutuan (HLP) scholarship this year. Regardless of the shortcomings that I faced, I've survived the rigorous interview and I've been granted 2 years study leave. Not forgetting full pay leave with additional allowance and perks, alhamdulillah. It wasn't an easy journey. The competition was stiff. According to Bahagian Tajaan Pelajaran (BTP) at Ministry of Education, out of 800 people being interviewed, only 120 people are selected. The briefing for the HLP Scholarship recipients were held at Avilion Admiral Cove, Port Dickson and it was jam-packed with brilliant learning nuggets that would assist us in prepping ourselves for the upcoming studies. It was such a humbling experience meeting 119 other recipients who are enthusiastic and optimistic on upgrading themselves. I see this as an opportunity to be a better learner and improve myself as a greater educator. I've planned to further my studies at UTM in September and hopefully, everything will be smooth sailing.

I also managed the school chess club alongside Syura and we had sent 12 participants to take part in the MSSD Chess Tournament at SMK Tun Syed Nasir Ismail last Monday & Tuesday. I am thrilled that Derrick Ng managed to be in the top 8 players and the rest had given their best in the competition. Despite the fact I am often not at school due to official duties, I believe that as long you learn to delegate and assign tasks to your students, it is manageable. I've also learned that it is hard to please everyone but the most important thing is to never neglect your core business, teaching that is. Facebook has been my saviour and I use it as a platform to communicate and teach my students amidst my absence in school. Not sure if work would slow down but hopefully, I'll be given the strength to overcome any trial or tribulation.

Latest Update on Standardised Examinations 2012

For students and teachers in Johor, please take note of the latest information from the Johor Education Department.

• Only one standardised examination will be conducted for each form in 2012.
• For Year 6 (UPSR) , Form 3 (PMR) and Form 5 (SPM), the standardised exam will be the Midyear Examination.
• For Year 3,4,5 (Primary School) and Form 1,2 and 4 (Secondary School), the standardised exam will be the Final Year Examination.
• Standardised examination will no longer be carried out in 2013.

Enclosed is the letter issued by the Johor Education Department for further reference.

The Curse, Catch Us If You Can & Step by Wicked Step

Based from my blog stats, I've discovered that there are quite a number of visitors who were looking for materials on the Form 5's novels ( The Curse, Catch Us If You Can and Step by Wicked Step). Although I blogged more on The Curse as that is the novel that I am teaching in my school, I thought it would be good to jot down a blog entry on all the three novels for easy reference. Enclosed are materials on all of the aforementioned novels. They are provided by the Curriculum Development Division (CDD), MOE and I've shared them on my Scribd as well. I hope that would assist any student or teacher who is in need of extra reading material.

Step by Wicked Step Catch us if you can The Curse

State SLB Establishment Workshop 2012 & my 100th post!

Date           : 18th Feb 2012
Venue         : SMK Tasek Utara
Organizer   : Johor Student Leaders Council
Participant  : 30 Secondary schools from various districts in Johor

The committee members worked around the clock to make the event a success. I smiled when someone asked me "How come there're not many teachers facilitating the workshop?" Basically, when it comes to event management, we believe that the student leaders should play pivotal role in delegating the jobs and executing their roles effectively albeit minimal facilitation from the teacher advisor. During the 1st JSL International Conference last year, there were only 5 adults supervising the event whereas the rest were managed almost 80% by the JSLs. It's high time we give some trust to our students to take charge and believe me, with guidance and time, they'll improve their leadership qualities by leaps and bounds.

Poster presentations by SIGS and SMK Dato Penggawa Timur's SLBs. Thanks for sharing your project with the others. Awesome job everyone!

Group presentations. The student leaders were attentive and exuded confidence and I believe with a wee bit of polishing, they have high potentials to be good leaders. Who knows one of them might be the next JSL ? :)

The JSLC team. Madam Rosliza is the Head of International Affairs/Head Coach for JSLC and I'm officially appointed to be the Coach for the JSLC by the Johor Education Department. JSLC is close to my heart as I've been with them since day 1, from drafting the SLB Constitution, supervising the JSLC Camps, International trainings and so forth. Been doing all that for the past 2 and a half year. This is pure voluntary work and some might gush on how lucky I am that I managed to go here and there but believe me, JSLC is not just about travelling but it requires a lot of sacrifice, tenacity and optimism. Most of the JSLs conduct their activities during the weekends or school holidays so, that means we don't get much rest. There are times I have to rush here and there and spend sleepless nights planning and conducting various projects pertaining to JSLC, the thing is I don't flaunt it to everyone ! I was amused when some people thought I was hogging the limelight by going to almost all international excursions with JSLC and not giving others the chance. FYI, I went there on the ticket of being the JSL Coach and not simply currying favour with the JED officers. If they decide to send others, I'm okay with it. After all, it's purely based on their decision, not mine.  Oh well, at the end of the day, you know your intention in doing things and whatever it is, I'll take it with a pinch of salt and work harder to improve myself  :) On a positive note, I'm glad that we have more teacher volunteers such as Rosita Manas and some other teachers who attended the workshop. Navinder from SIGS is very well-experienced in managing leadership programme in school and I definitely learn a lot from her. I felt happy talking to Mr. Segar who expressed his interest in helping out with SLB and JSL activities. Isn't that great? If you are interested to help us out, let me know and we'll be happy to consider you :)

My beloved SLB. I am proud of them as they worked hard to assist the JSLs in running the event. SLB is one of the most popular societies in my school and frankly, so many students approached me to join SLB due to the activities organised by my students. There's always room for improvement and I trust all of you to learn from your experience and perhaps that would help you be better leaders. I am lucky that I have colleague like Ali and Diana who are diligent and resourceful. Ali is a distinguished debater and I respect him for his verbal prowess. Diana offered to assist but I felt as she was swarmed with MUET schedules, I let her take a breather. She has been an awesome friend and honestly, she inspires me to be a better person. One thing I've learned from my experience working with JSLC is that we can't enjoy the rainbow if we can't endure the rain. It's not easy to establish a new society like SLB but alhamdulillah, with great work from the teacher advisors and students, the SLB in my school is gradually growing from strength to strength. Leadership is an ongoing thing and I believe the workshop would help the other schools to establish their own Student Leaders Board in school.

I Wonder & Heir Conditioning

For Form 2 students and teachers who are looking for PowerPoint materials on Jeannie Kirby's I Wonder and M. Shanmugalingam's Heir Conditioning, I would like to share the materials I've received from the Johor Bahru's English Language Officer. For more English Lit materials, do check out my Slideshare's site.

I Wonder - Jeannie Kirby

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Heir Conditioning

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Around The World in 80 Days

For those looking for materials to teach Jules Verne's Around The World in 80 Days, enclosed is the material provided by the Johor Bahru Education Office during the Johor Bahru's F3 English Literature Workshop recently. Thanks to Ms. Ruzana for the materials. Sharing is caring :)

Around The World In 80 Days

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English Teaching Assistants (ETA) Official School Visit

Date      : 30 th Jan 2012
Venue    : Sri Tasek Hall, SMK Tasek Utara, Johor Bahru, Johor.

Howdy folks! Few weeks ago, my school welcomed 17 English Teaching Assistants (ETA) alongside their mentors and officers from the Ministry of Education, Johor Education Department and Johor Bahru Education Office. The ETAs are from USA and they are Fullbright Scholars. Basically, Fullbright Programme is the U.S. government's flagship international educational exchange program which have been successfully carried out for 6 years in Malaysia. The ETAs come from various universities in the US and represent a wide variety of major fields. They would be placed in various primary and secondary schools in Johor for 10 months and assist the school in improving the English Language proficiency among the students. Way cool huh? The Johor ETAs visited two schools that day. For primary school, they went to SK Bandar Baru Uda 2 and few hours later, they went to SMK Tasek Utara!

Albeit the lack of time in preparing for the visit, I count my blessing that I could bank on my Student Leaders Board & MPPU to assist me in preparing for the official visit. They took charge of the programme from A-Z, with minimal facilitation from the teachers. My principal, Pn. Hajah Zainab assured us that we can pull this off smoothly and alhamdulillah, we did. My English Language teachers are amazing too as they gave their best in making sure the programme is a success. The delegation were welcomed by the principal, Pn. Hjh. Zainab Ali and later on, I briefed them on the English Language programmes conducted in my school. They were informed on the internationalisation programmes, excursions and projects carried out by the Student Leaders Board & MPPU too. Next, Francis, Mujahid and Ambrose gave their speeches on their experiences being student leaders in SMKTU. Good job boys :) The ETAs went to several classes to check out the English Language lessons conducted by the teachers. They went to Kak Izlin's, Kak Nida's, Hanim's and Wani's and based on the feedbacks, they felt that the lessons were well-executed and the students were attentive...hmm ;)  Gosh, all the hard work paid off!

Before they went back to their hotel, some of the ETAs were given the honour to plant a tree in front of the counselling room. Thanks Ali for his effort in finding the seedling ! We felt this is an apt ceremony as it symbolises the nurturing of friendship and goodwill between two countries. As we inculcate the love towards nature and green living among our students, we believe that the tree would be a good reminder on how we should give back to others, be it via education, social works or environmental conservation.

The Johor's ETAs delegation with SMKTU's reps. I sincerely hope that all of you would enjoy your stay in Johor and have fun in teaching the Malaysian students. Seize the opportunity to visit all the magnificent places in Johor and try out the local delicacies ;) Thank you for putting smiles on my students' face. They really enjoy your visit albeit a brief encounter. Thank you to Mr. Shan, Mr. Rozlan, Ms. Ruzana and Mr. Vijayan for coming to our humble school too. We gave our best and we hope that the ETA programme would be a success, Insya Allah :)

Johor-Victoria Student Leadership Programme: A Photo Essay

 15 Johor Student Leaders  flew to Melbourne, Australia for the Johor-Victoria Student Leadership Programme starting from 12 to 25th December 2011. It is a collaborative effort with the Victoria Education Department, in order to expose the JSLs to global leadership and cultural diversity. They were accompanied by Mr. Md. Noor B. A. Ghani, Director of Johor Education Department (JED), his wife, Pn. Asiah Mori, Mr. Kamarudzaman Mubin, Assistant Director at JED, Ms. Azura Abdullah, the JSLC Physical Trainer and yours truly, as the Coach for JSLC. We were warmly welcomed by Mark Reeves, the Principal of Alpine School of Students' Leadership along with the other teaching personnels. Each of the JSL was given an Aussie room mate so they would be able to learn more about each other's culture and lifestyle. The Victorian schools involved were Wallan Secondary College, Maffra Secondary College, Rosebud Secondary College and Bandalla Secondary College.

The teachers at Snowy River Campus, Australia. They are perpetually buzzing with enthusiasm, optimism and very friendly too. I've learned and shared so many things with them and it helped to open my mind on various learning paradigms that I can venture to make my lessons engaging and meaningful. From them, I learn to give myself a break and not to sweat on the small stuff. As a teacher, it is important to establish good rapport with students yet stay grounded with our roles as a facilitator and an educator. Thank you Mark, Robyn, Tim, Francis, Tiwana, Emma, Danni, Bryan, Sarah and Sam for your friendship!

The leadership module was based on the integration of survival skills, team building and connection with Mother Nature. The students hiked into the forest every afternoon to reach the majestic sand dunes for a session they called Spirit Spot. The view was simply breathtaking. They went kayakking, mountain biking, beach exploration for 5 km and I am proud of myself that I did all of the aforementioned activities too :)

Debbie Gray, an awesome motivation coach gave a heart warming talk on her experience overcoming the impossibles. She lost her arms due to an illness and she had never see her disabilities as a setback from achieving her goals. She skydived, raced in a rally, conducted charity projects and raised her daughter single-handedly! Whoah, hats off Deb! Lots of the things she said left vivid impressions on my mind. Don't be afraid of new possibilities, she said. You don't do things to impress others as venturing new ideas and trying new things will open up various possibilities to be a better individual. Life is not all about winning but it's about seizing the opportunities to make your life more meaningful. Don't let negative thoughts, bad vibes, toxic people and setbacks stop you from moving forth. She definitely inspired me to be a better person. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Surf's up! I would never imagine that I would go surfing in Australia one day, I am so glad I braved myself and did it! We were given training by a surfing instructor.  I think this is one of the highlights of our programme and all of the participants enjoyed the experience thoroughly.

Cultural Night. The JSL mingled around with their Aussie counterparts and everyone was having a ball. I had the chance to meet Mr. Lynn who is the City Council member of Marlo. He gushed how much he loves Malaysia and he had even climbed Mount Kinabalu last year! The students performed some songs. The JSLs performed a choral performance, Lean On Me and Kenangan Terindah. As it was the last night we'd be spending at Snowy River, we could see the sadness on some of the students' faces yet they tried to make use of the time by having heart-to-heart talk to their friends. I also had the chance to meet Daphnee, the officer from the Victoria Education Department who corresponded with me on the previous international conference. She is a Singaporean who has been living for 10 years in Melbourne. It was certainly wonderful to finally meet you, Daphnee! I Definitely it would be a beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Due to some technical glitch, our flight was delayed and we were put up at Tullamarine Mantra Hotel for the day. Honestly, the JSLs saw this as a golden opportunity to check out Melbourne better as we didn't have much time to go sightseeing due to our tight schedules. Hence, we counted our blessings for the opportunity to be here and decided to be adventurous and explored the city on our own! We explored the National Gallery of Victoria which is so fascinating. Then, we walked to the Square and visited Crowne Shopping Mall which is just  opposite the Melbourne Aquarium. It was blazing hot and the city was jam-packed with so many people as it was Christmas Eve. I did some shopping and managed to get some souvenirs for my family, friends and colleagues back home.

Our big family :) We keep in touch constantly by setting up a Facebook group. It helps the JSLs to maintain the camaraderie and at the same time, update one another on leadership activities from both countries. As the JSLC would be organising the International Student Leaders Conference in June this year, we hope to see more student leaders participating and hopefully, some of the Aussie students would take part in the conference as well.

We were featured on Utusan Malaysia, 16th January 2012 :)

English Language Programmes for Schools in Johor 2012

Enclosed is the letter issued by the Johor Education Department pertaining to the execution of English Language programmes in 2012. For the secondary schools, the programmes are:

• English Literature Component
• EW 20
• LET ( Learn English Together)
• English Language Module
• An Essay a Month
• English Zone
• Plad JB
• JOSAS ( Johor Spelling Assessment Standard )

Program Bahasa Inggeris Sekolah-Sekolah Negeri Johor 2012

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012!

It's time to put our noses to the grindstone, folks! I know it has been a long hiatus as I was tied up with work during the school break. Alhamdulillah, 2011 had given me various opportunities to improve myself as a teacher, a learner and an individual. I've tried my hands at writing for local newspaper (E-Lab, Utusan Malaysia), working with BPK, writing an academic paper on the use of Web 2.0. in English Language teaching for a book, targetted at international ELT practitioners ( under the tutelage of AP Dr. Kamarul Kabilan, USM), working with intelligent and wonderful students leaders (JSLC), presenting my papers at two international conferences (MELTA and ICELT), receiving awards for my work (PPDJB and JPNJ), shortlisted for Hadiah Latihan Persekutuan (HLP) scholarship and the cherry on the top was spending almost 2 weeks at Snowy River School of Leadership in Melbourne, Australia two weeks ago. Honestly, I could not have achieved all that without stellar support from my family, my friends and my colleagues. Apart from that, it has been a bittersweet year for me. Thinking how I struggled with the pain of recovering patella, overcoming the trauma from a robbery, painful accusations and my own shortcomings, I believe sometimes God gives you the adversity for you to be more resilient, to press on and to move forth. When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.

This year, I would still be heading my English Language panel and alhamdulillah, we managed to get 100% percentage for English Language in PMR exam this year! That's something I am proud of because this is the first time we managed to do that after so many years. I know my colleagues worked so hard to achieve our target. It is definitely a collaborative effort and I am glad that I have the opportunity to work with diligent and talented teachers. Of course, there's always room for improvement and I'm determined to strive harder to achieve my goals. For those looking for the English Language's Scheme of Works, PLAN J, PLAD JB and Panel Filing System, do check my Scribd page where I've uploaded them along with other essential docs needed to manage your panel smoothly.

To those who send me emails, thank you so much and I am glad that this humble blog have assisted you in any way possible. The main reason why I write is not for self-glorification but because I believe by jotting down my experience, thoughts and teaching practices, I could reflect on ways I could improve myself as a teacher. For me, it is important for us to stay grounded despite the recognitions one received as it will pave an avenue to learn better. I would definitely love to share my experience in Melbourne, Australia as I believe it was the turning point of my life this year but that would be an entry on itself as I was there for 12 days. There's so much to share and I believe the experience I've gained would helped me to teach more efficiently, to inspire instead of preaching and to serve instead of receiving.

I do hope this new year will usher wonderful opportunities and perpetual happiness, Insya Allah. Happy New Year everyone!