Friday, April 25, 2014

How In Malaysia Did This Happen?

I've been sooooo busy the past few days. But since it's Friday, I'm hoping to rest a bit. I've got a heap of laundry to do, but mehhh.... that can wait. Blogging didahulukan, hehe... Sbb cerita ni blog-worthy (in the scheme of things in me simple life, at least), that's why tulis la jg.


I have always wanted a class full of students passionately involved, discussing a few interesting points amongst themselves, in fluent English, and with me as a mere moderator to keep things going. This is the norm in the UK, and I guess in the States too kalo tgk movie2 diorg yg ada scene kat high school or college.  I didn't think I was ever going to experience that, bcoz, let's face it, our students are very ermmm... modest (lah sgt) and shy. Or just simply disconnected. Bkn nak put down sgt, but I think it's cultural, we've been brought up to never really question things, so when they get to Uni stage, students just got so accustomed to accepting everything at face value je. Kalo ada group persent kat depan, after presentation, bunyi aircond je yg tinggal. Punya la semua org x de soalan nak tanya. So yg present tu monotonous je berucap kat dpn for 15-boring-minutes, and org lain yg dah present or belum present tu satu hapah tu x de kesah.


But today, my class wasn't the typical Malaysian class room scene. Hands shot up in the air, students interacting, questions were asked by the audience, which were reciprocated confidently by the presenters. As a matter of fact audience berebut2 nak tanya soalan, seriously they were like, 'Pick us! Pick us! We've got a question' and those yg present kat dpn pun sama2 berebut nak jawab soalan2 yg dilontarkan.


How in Malaysia was that ever possible?


No... I'm not dreaming. 


With a lot of schemeing and planning, it was possible. Read on.


You see, I told my students that utk pembentangan yg ni, they can get a total mark of 45. Pecahannya:


10 marks utk report. 
10 marks utk Q&A. 
5 marks utk slides and presentation.
5 marks Peer Questioning
5 marks utk Peer Assesment

Yg report tu jelas lah written work. Which I still have to read, dang it.


Yg slide and presentation tu pun jelas jgk kot maksudnya. Slides diorg menarik ke x, and presentation skills whether they were confident or not.


Yg Peer Assesment, becoz it was group work, I want to make sure everyone pulled the same weight, so I ask setiap sorg ahli mark ahli kumpulan mereka yg lain. So kalo ada team member yg pemalas hampas, masa ni la org lain nk balas setimpalnya. Bg assesment mark yg rendah pada individu tersebut sbb x bekerjasama (tp mesti sebutkan reason why)


What's left is the real recipe to a very eager and interactive discussion.


Q&A and Peer Question.


'What are they, and how do they work?' you asked.


You see, mana2 kelas pun after presentation ada Q&A. Tapi I made clear yg setiap sorg drpd team member yg 8 org tu kena jawab satu soalan (meaning altogether ada 8 soalan yg akan kena jawab). Kalau dah jawab sekali, they cannot answer again. Q&A marks will be given based on their answers.


Tp Q&A ni selalunya x de sambutan or hangat2 tahi ayam, or last2 lecturer yg kena come up with the questions bcoz students drpd kumpulan lain dah tune out. That's where I use my last trick - Peer Questioning.


In order to get this mark, each group must come up with 2 questions (td altogether ada 5 groups, so when 1 group present kat dpn, 4 lagi jd Pendengar). So these 4 groups of Pendengar must come up with 2 questions each, giving a total of 8 questions yg perlu dijawab oleh group yg Penyampai (tukang present), yg sememangnya ada 8 org pun satu kumpulan. 


Tapi syarat tambahan ada lg, soalan x bole di recycle, and kalau kumpulan Pendengar lain dah soal, soalan yg sama x bole dilontarkan lagi. X cukup 2 soalan, tolak markah Peer Questioning.


So nak x nak, group2 Pendengar yg lain mesti pay attention pada penyampaian oleh Penyampai, dan bersiap2 dgn soalan. Sbb tu once Q&A sesi dibuka, berkobar2 setiap group Pendengar ni bertanya , sbb diaorg x nak soalan yg diorg dah nak tanya tu, diguna pakai oleh group lain terlebih dahulu. 


Yg group Penyampai kat depan pun, sama2 semangat (dan berebut2 ok) nak jawab, sbb, syaratnya ialah kalau dah jawab sekali x leh jawab lg. Kalau diorg dgr soalan yg agak2 mudah ditanya oleh mana2 Pendengar, terus la mereka berebut nak jawab. Bkn apa, khuatir kalo2 tinggal soalan2 yg susah aje nanti, affect markah diorg.


Maka jadilah adegan berkobar tanya, dan berebut jawab. Gitu.


Tapi part paling best is, they spoke in really good English, which surprised me. Dalam kelas waktu aku ngajar x la pulak nak communicate in English sbb x de marks agaknya. Bole pun rupanya korg converse quite sensibly.


And I think they were very into their presentation sbb this assignment asked them to go and conduct their own field trip at different audio and video studios. They thorougly enjoyed it, and so did I. They learnt a lot. And the result shows immediately.


Teaching is so time-consuming. Teaching with 110% is bordering murder. 


But I think I'll sleep smiling tonight. 













Kalau student sampai dah melompat mcm ni dpn studio tu, I think the assignment was a hit with the students. Boleh x perasan sendirian? hehe..



Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Kadang-kadang, Rindu Itu Datang...

Couldn't pin point a specific reason, but I was feeling rather melancholic today. I'd put it down to  low sugar level as I was fasting (first day ganti posa uols!), but it wasn't until later in the day that I realised that today is the 22 April. Which means that Umi has left us for 8 months now today. It still doesn't feel real, sometimes. Since I was fasting, of coz that made me think of Eid this year, and how different it will be without my Mom around, so urmm... yeah... that just put me in a downward spiral all afternoon   :(


A friend who'd lost her Mom had once told me - 'Nanti tiap2 kali tarikh tu dtg, akan rasa down and sedih x pasal2, walaupun kita x teringat langsung pun tarikh tu dah berulang untuk bulan2 seterusnya'. Mula2 mcm x brp percaya sgt, tp rupanya betul. Oh how so true!


Don't get me wrong. I'm not wallowing. Air mata pun x keluar (sengaja sekat) tp, kata org Kelantan, mlm2 rasa kesik jg. Just, kdg2, rindu itu datang...


I miss u Umi. Al-fatihah........




Monday, April 21, 2014

Study Time

Hidup kat Msia ni terasa masa teramat pantas berlalu. Work expectancy mmg giler, ditambah dgn unnecessary things like jam, sekolah anak yg jauhnya berbatu2, catuan air dsb nya, maka dah x heran lg kalo sampai rumah everyday pun pkl 8 mlm. Mcm langit dgn bumi dibandingkan dgn life kat UK dulu hmmm...


Anyway, what little time we have together at night, I try to squeeze some light studying time. This is, of course, didorong oleh academic expentancy yg equally gile di Msia, where Standard 1 students are asked to sit for an entrance exam, or at least a placement test before they start their elementary education. Membaca, menulis, mengira, mengaji, BM, English, Arabic, Jawi dah mmg sekolah2 aim suh pandai dah by the time, so what's a Mom to do?


I try to rotate lah aktiviti for different nights, and although I sound like a Tiger Mom, TBH I think Aisyah is receiving it very lightly from me. Tgk la dlm gmbr ni, dia nak buat number tracing je (something she has already mastered), but considering that she had spent the whole NINE hours already at school and day care during the day, I entertain je lah apa2 yg dia nak. Sometimes dia nak mewarna je, and seeing that she's not even six yet, biarlah dia bahagia dan berkreativiti. Addition (maths) can come another day. I think I am very lax here, don;t know if that's a good thing or not. Maybe I'm just lazy?! But I'd like to think that I am a chill Mom, and learning comes gently (without force).



Because kalo minat, mmg cpt. Mcm Zayd. Minat betul nak join Kakak dia study. Mmg cpt aje tgn nya capai apa2, papp masuk mulut. Riuh la Kakak dia me'report' salah laku adik pada Mummy. Study time kat rumah kami mmg havoc, hehe....






PS: We really do need a proper study desk for Kakak. Bila la nak refurbish rumah ni huhu...

 

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Together, Minus One



Hari ni my Dad, my two brothers and myself congregated together.


It would have otherwise seemed like such a nice gathering. But only if you knew...


Hari ni weols berkumpul ke Pejabat Tanah. Utk uruskan peninggalan arwah Umi. A sad day, especially soalan2 Tuan Hakim yg very detailed, kena relive it all over again.


Terkejut jg, because I'd thought it was going to be some simple signing off thing, but it was a very formal occasion la jgk. Kena tutup fon, angkat sumpah, declare everything blah blah yada yada ya. One case at a time masuk Bilik Perbicaraan tu. So that was an experience, although not a happy one, at least it wasn't an unpleasant one. The wait pon x lama, bcoz they gave you a time and date to appear before them. Bkn walk-in. So that's that lah.


Oh just in case anyone thinks I am a few RM richer, no lahhh... I am the only female daughter, so by Fara'id, it's almost nothing. Plus my mom was a full time homemaker. She didn't earn money. Posessions pun x de. Semua yg hakim tu tanya, 'kereta? motor? saham?' Semua yilek. Alhamdulillah for this. At least she will not be accountable of any mismanagement of her wage di Akhirat nanti, for she had none masa di dunia. Thus it was very simple process. Xde hutang, x byk peninggalan. Makes me wonder about my own life. Can I say the same? More like byk hutang (rumah, PTPTN, SLAB, bond UPM), x byk peninggalan, huhu.... (so far lah)... mudah2an cpt terlangsai semuanya before masa dah x de...


 

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Hang On, I Have A Blog?

Apparently I do. Nyaris lupa dah. Almaklumlah, last entry bertarikh 26 February. Dkt 2 bulan tuh. Tsk...


I even missed an entry utk Zayd's 1 year old birthday! *gasp*


I am getting crappier at posting entries. It's not me, it's my jobs. Yes jobs. Between mothering, teaching, research, supervising, reviewing, reading, marking, note making, yada yada yaaa.... just didn't have much energy left for blogging. Seriously, by the end of each day, I am sapped out completely.


Anyway just a quick one to spark the old 'flame' back. Let's hope I get my blogging mojo back.


Cos to be honest, I miss blogging.



Even Hubs misses my writing *double gasp* 

He's actually mentioned that it would be a nice thing to document Zayd's progress like I had with Aisyah. This coming from a man who'd always sindir2 'Eii... tekunnya dia tulis tesis' whenever he saw me buat entry.

Wellll... dah laki minta wajiblah turut, kan...? Taat la katakan hehehe...

Anyway, testing the waters dulu. Insya Allah nak istiqamah pas ni.

Ok nak tido. Maybe I should write smaller chuncks, but update daily. Hmm...

Toodles!

Oh, I almost forgot. One exciting piece of news to share: Zayd is mobile. Vertically.

Yup, my little man has started walking. At 13.5 months, he can confidently walk around the house and out). 13 months is roughly the age that his sister started walking too.

Alhamdulillah!



Zayd and Aisyah. Chummy brother and sister. Zayd is seen hairstyling his big sister's wet hair. Both fresh from the bath at 8 a.m. last Sunday morning. Too early, kids!!!!