Yet Almost Another Year Gone By

This blog has been kinda quiet this year. But it's not for the lack of things to write. It's just that I've been preoccuppied..... with things, changes.... the mundane existence of life. I've been busy. Have kept myself busy too. Age is also slowly and surely catching up. The stamina takes a beating these days. Joints ache more. Tiredness sets in more easily too. And it's also a time for lots of reflection.
New work environment. Old challenges with a new face. Almost the same sets of problems too. I guess it shouldn't be surprising. After all, our lives are surrounded by people. One thing though, I try to maintain my old pace as much as I can. But bones are creaking and muscles protest quite readily these days.

Tonight I had a visit from a young lady I used to teach and mentor. She is a young lady now. I kinda miss those days when Son was schooling and I used to have kids over for lessons. They have all grown up now.... all in college and in a year or two, all of them will be graduating. Time flies. Those mad years! Yet I cherish such visits now... Young men and ladies they are now...

I still have kids over for lessons. I guess I'd probably do it for as long as I can. Working with kids... I discovered that I actually enjoy it. Each one of them is different, yet same at the same time too. It's always a nice feeling realizing that one can make a difference in another's life.

It's been a challenging year at work too. I finally got to teach history. For the first time since I started teaching, I actually got to teach it for the whole year. And it's been a learning experience for me. I have experimented with different approaches, trying to make kids understand a subject which they've not been able to make sense of the whole time they have been at school, either through the lack of interest or language. It remains that vernacular school kids continue to be at a noticeable disadvantage when it comes to language mastery. And that lack of mastery impedes learning and puts them at a disadvantage.

One nice thing though, when kids come back on their own accord for lessons.... It's one of those things I cherish. Somewhere, at some point of time, we connected. And history lessons have gone into ideological arguments of communism vs capitalism. How is that for a bunch of kids with no inkling or interest for history at the beginning of the year?

But while I have made some headway in some, in a few, the battle seems lost for some too. Sometimes all it takes is just the lack of presence to seal a kid's fate. The lack of presence can be due to so many reasons too, and some of our own making. Schools are not without blame too. Too much effort in window dressing often leads to the loss of such students.

The year has almost gone by... I thought I'd continue to try to keep this going too. More to come, I hope.... cos I have been up to quite a bit too...

Me and Technology in Education

I've had my share of involvement in the introduction and use of technology in education. In my early years of teaching, I had the good fortune of working under a visionary Principal. I was a young gungho rookie and he was looking for someone to carry out some new ideas that he had in mind. So with the support of the school's PIBG, we embarked on an ambitious programme to introduce new technology to the school.

I bought a digital projection panel for the school. It was the first in the district and many schools came to have a look how it was used. The panel is placed on a regular OHP and then hooked to the computer. That of course is 'primitive' by today's standards. But we could project anything from the computer to the screen. The only setback was it was only in 3 colours. However, it was a cheaper alternative than a projector. Projectors cost a bomb those days.

In the ensuing years we went on to create a network for the school. Routers were big and cumbersome those days and a colleague's daughter donated two old sets which she brought back from the US. We bought our own crimpers and did the wiring ourselves. By then, the Internet was already a source of information. We learned as we went along, from the technology itself.

Then I had the good fortune to be involved in the planning and design of computer labs at a time when computer labs were a rarity. With about 700k funding from one of the banks, we embarked on an ambitious project which included computerized Braille gadgets for the visually impaired students. It was at this time too I got involved in web development, using HTML. I spent a many hours working on content as well as the webpages, putting in 10-14 hours at work sometimes.

The lab project was my last foray before a break from all techie stuff for about a decade. It was a good break though, looking back as it gave me time to focus on my boy. However, I continued to keep abreast with the changing trends... Those were also days of PDAs - Sony Clie, HP Jornada, Palm Vx, Palm m500, Palm 505, Tungsten T... And through it all, I found great joy in reading from them. My world had always been a connected and mobile one, even right from those early days. My first Harry Porter book was read on a Palm.

Then a couple of years ago, I switched over to the world of Apple. It started of with a MacBook. Over the years, more Apple products entered our household... Actually, the first Apple product which we bought was an iPod Mini. Anyway, ours is now a household of Apple products - iPod Shuffle, iPod Touch, iPad, iPhone, iMac, MacBook (Pro)... The tablets have become part and parcel of our lives.

And this is where I find it most amazing, of how the tablets is transforming education. Recently, I brought my own Apple TV from home and hooked it up to the old projector at school. Other Half had to go searching round town for a HDMI-VGA converter to enable it to be hooked up to the VGA projector. I showed by Principal and asked him whether I could start one at school, He gave the okay and I've had the most enjoyable and liberating time teaching these past two weeks with the iPad.... minus the trailing wires or the need to be confined to a small space.

I believe that we need to bring the world into the classrooms. Many of our textbooks are archaic. They are static too. The world we live in is evolving at a dizzying pace. Many of our students are bored at school. We are losing many kids too to this along the way. Many laments that our graduates lack many skills required at the work place.

Learning should take on new dimensions. We should focus on skills like analytical and critical thinking. We should teach our students to fish and not wait to be given the fish. Our system spoon feeds them to a point of debilitating them. We should begin to focus on personalized learning. For that to work, we need to inspire. We also need technology to assist us in monitoring individual progress.

I've had the most amazing response so far. I am beginning to see sparks of interest in some of my students' eyes. I find it amazing that some of my most laid back students are now the first to come to the room where I carry out my lessons. I find it incredible that I can move from one display to another with minimal fuss. There are so many great apps which have enabled me to bring the world into my classes. And apps like Doceri which mimics the real life interactive white board with many added plusses have increased efficiency, added educational value and made lessons interesting. It glaringly overwhelms the chalkboard. And oh... minus the chalk dust too! 8)

I have seen how technology evolves, right from those days when my alma mater bought 10 sets of XT machines. Those computers came with monochrome monitors. I learned BASIC programming on them. Then when I was in uni, bro bought his computer, an AT 286 PC with a composite monitor...

I think many of us would have not imagine that we would one day be swiping and tapping screens with such ease on tablets such as the iPad. It has indeed been an amazing journey and I think it's going to get even more amazing...

Unintended Consequences ...by Stuart Woods

Finished this book a couple of weeks back. Haven't been reading novels this year. Too preoccupied with other things. Anyway, this is one of those feel good novels, where everything turns out well at the end of the story. It's the kind of novel which makes a good reading during a stress-filled period cos you don't get any added suspense which might sometimes leave the reader feeling 'unhappy.'

You have Stone Barrington, the super rich, handsome and available hot shot lawyer as the hero of the story. And since I have already mentioned that the novel has a happy ending, it is safe to assume that he survived every threat that hurled itself at him. And of course, in novels like this, there is always a pretty woman somewhere, only in his case, the beautiful woman is also a woman of substance, well able to stand on her own and packs her own punches.

The novel begins with the hero finding himself in Europe, having awaken from a drug induced state of unconsciousness and memory loss. His adventure begins as he tries to unravel the mystery surrounding his unusual circumstances. Business dealings from the rarefied world of the ultra wealthy and privileged, murders and involvement of the espionage agencies coupled with the shadowy underworld make the novel an intriguing read in its own way.

Suffice to say, I enjoyed this book. After all, I am a fan of happy ending where the hero (and heroine) can hold his (her) own against the enemies. I'd rate this a good read for those stressed periods. 8)

An Evening In Tanjung Dawai

Years gone by... My boy is already done with with his first year at uni. He's back on his break. And since mantis prawns is one of his favourite, my friend enthusiastically made the necessary calls to make this trip a success. These prawns are only available during certain time of the month only... something to do with the ebb and flow of tides. So, it's always best to call ahead. Anyway, I blogged about this place here after my first visit there 3 years ago. We've gone back there 2 or 3 times but did not manage to eat the mantis prawns.

So after lessons with the kids, we pushed off to Tanjung Dawai, 5 kids and 2 mothers - 4 juvenile and one soon-to-be adult, who can now drive. The journey took over an hour and when the first stop was the wharf to get the mantis prawns where they are kept in holding tanks.

The prawns are as fresh as you can get them, alive and swimming for us to choose. We took 8 of these huge flers. These set us back around RM150 @RM95 per kg. These were skill kicking when we passed it to the cook to be deep fried. You can also request for them to be baked.

We also took some crabs. 4 of these cost around RM20, which I felt was quite reasonable. We had it cooked sweet sour. The littlest of the kids who is a crab fan ended up saying that the mantis prawn tasted better than the crabs. I have this to say... at that size, they are as good as lobsters.

These we took to the old ramshackle restaurant by the jetty. Beyond the jetty is Pantai Merdeka. The shop was packed when we got there at around 5.00 p.m. Service was quite slow but everyone dug in as soon as the orders arrived. We also ordered some deep fried squids and another vegetable dish for good measure. Suffice to way, everything was wiped clean. Initially, I had thought that there might be mantis prawns left over for us to tapau home but it was not meant to be. We paid an additional RM70 at the restaurant for their service and the extra dishes.

An interesting observation though... Found the way this uncle make the drinks most interesting. Watching him prepare each drink conveys the feeling that every cup he makes is important to him. We noticed that every glass took quite a while to prepare. One can't help but feel that it's of great concern to him that every glass is well-prepared. He makes sure that the sugar or milk is well mixed into the drink by twisting this mini egg beater like thing in the glass. It's quite mesmerising watching him work. This uncle takes great pride in his work. I noticed too that he would wash his hands, utensils while he sets about preparing each drink.

I have not blogged about food for quite some time. But memories are made of these. The kids are growing. One of mine has 'semi-flown' the roost. In a short time, the other 4 kids (3 belong to my friend) will leave the nest too. On our way home, we stopped by the popular restaurant for Bedong's famous mantou. The mantou tasted better this time around too.
The trip was nice... And I didn't have to drive... 8)

MMI... Memelihara Masa Instruksional

The fact that we needed to come out with this one, I guess, in a way points to another failure in our school system. Apparently our instructional time is under siege. And I suspect the 'enemy' is from within. MMI goes to great lengths to spell out the need to protect the instructional time at school. So much so that we hear of all kinds of measures. And we also get circulars from the departments spelling out what can or cannot be done at school.

One program which fell victim was the Teacher's Day celebration. The school is no longer allowed to spend the day celebrating the Teacher's Day. Instead teachers had to go back to class and teach for half the day - on that one day set aside to appreciate teachers. Lol!

But on many other days, when it suits the school... and I am not blaming school administrators cos their hands are rather tied too. After all, we only have 24 hours a day..... other programs which affect the instructional time are carried out. For example, I remember one program, some Purple Walk event where students were taken out from school and had to waste the whole morning sitting around the stadium. There wasn't much educational benefit from that event... Yet when the orders came from above to find numbers to make up the crowd, the MMI was overlooked.

Our education system is not in the best of health now. But instead of treating it with the right medicine, we keep calling for unnecessary tests... hoping that those tests would show us a magical cure. I think everywhere in the world, the same problem plagues the educational system. We keep discarding the old because we feel that the new is better. But unfortunate for us, in this era where the sense of entitlement is high and the willingness to work hard is low, things continue to slide. Most of us see the slide but we seem so unable to stem it.

MMI... sadly one of those things that mean well but highlight even more our failures and shortcomings. And the result - a generation unable to seemingly think analytically or critically. For we often seem to keep trying to come up with slogans and acronyms without really looking inwardly to ourselves and see what ought to be rectified within first.

Listen, Listen and Listen

Five months into a new work place and I have discovered how little my students actually listen. I was shocked when I first entered my classes because what greeted me was not the typical type of classrooms which I was used to (I don't know whether location, race have anything to do with this) but that of students busy having their own conversations or doing their own things while the teacher is talking. It took weeks of constant reminders and great effort to make them sit and listen. And while I have seen some degree of silence, making it a point that these kids listen while lesson is ongoing is a continuous effort. And a noisy surrounding certainly does not help. A great way to learn about life and everything else in it... We think more too I feel, when we listen well...

Notice how people redirect a conversation to themselves or topics of their interests while are in the midst of telling them something? Or how they start giving their own opinions less than a couple of minutes into the conversation? They are many ways a conversation is redirected or hijacked.

The art of listening is a dying art. I always believed that listening is one of the dominant ways of learning. If we are not able to listen, we will not be able to learn. And by learning, I don't mean the kind of learning that requires you to regurgitate stuff lock, stock and barrel. When one listens, one is supposed to make meaning of the sounds he takes in. The brain then extracts meaning from those sounds. It's a great way of exercising our brain if we listen well.

I learned something these last few days by observing how the people around me communicate. And I discovered that by observing how they listen, I could identify their intent. I could infer the intent of the person doing listening by just observing the responses given. And much to my chagrin, I discovered that many people are poor listeners. And guess what? Poor listeners aren't really interested in other people. Most of the time, they were into themselves. And so, very much like many of my students who were so engrossed with themselves that they hardly listened, I found that it wasn't very much different everywhere.

Good listeners make good learners. Good listeners understand that listening helps us understand more about life. A good listener learns to think more because listening is a process that includes the need to extract, make sense and reflect on the materials taken in. Only in good listening will we be able to process further the understated and the subtle.

I teach History this year too. And in Form 5, the MOE has introduced a new paper which is an open book exam paper. The lack of ability of our 17 year olds to think shows very painfully in this paper. Despite having mostly better students, I found their ability to think sorely missing. Even in copying portions which have been prepared beforehand for the exam, I see the lack of ability to discern. Hence, typo errors were transferred unchanged into the exam scripts without even any thoughts. Just to illustrate... There is no BM word for 'dating' but for those of us familiar with the auto correct in MS Word, you know that the original word is 'datang'. Yet students did no processing of whatsoever. It's easy to conclude that they brain was hardly thinking when the hands were copying. These are kids who have lost the art of listening...

I think conscious listening is helps to create understanding. I mean, one can always claim that reading helps us understand too... But I think, it's by listening to our surrounding, the people around us that true understanding takes place. Cos listening is supposed to be two way. It shows us what we understand and don't understand. We have conversations but if listening doesn't take place, there will be no understanding. We become lonelier people, I should think. And in the world, if we don't listen, chaos will reign.

People don't listen for many reasons. There are too many distractions. We are too desensitized by so many things around us. Kids don't listen in class because they are lulled by the thought that their tuitions would see them thru. People around us don't listen because they are not interested in others. Whatever the reasons, the inability to listen brings about a lack of understanding.... of ourselves and the world around us. Not being able to listen actually dumbs us...

 

Fix Our Schools

Fix our schools... that's what I think we need to do, if we are to stand a chance of righting the wrongs of the last few decades. Fixing our schools would probably fix our society; our society which built on racial lines which divides than unite. We have so many different types of schools. Our students are divided along racial lines. Our education system has been watered and dumbed down. Yet our leaders keep hailing it as among the best, even when international assessments show us to be regressing.

Fix our our schools.... perhaps that would give our young a chance to grow up together, as Malaysians and not as Malays, Indians, Chinese and so on first. Instead of having so many types of schools, have one where people need not fear about their identity because we aim only to build one identity - to be Malaysians. Al schools should get equal funding. These days exclusivity of schools comes with other names too - cluster school, high performing schools and so on. Oh yes! I forgot the residential schools... And so those fortunate enough to get into such schools continue to benefit while those who end up in the lesser schools get less... Is this our new social reengineering?

Fix our schools... instead of dumbing down our exams. Set a standard and keep to it so that our young minds can be challenged and aim for the world. We do not lack brains or talents as many of our people have made it on the global stage. Instead of flip flopping on our education policies, dare make changes and embrace them so that we can stand tall among the best. Make teaching a career of choice for our best and brightest so that together we can inspire a new generation of Malaysians.

Fix our schools... so many things are not going well in our schools. Ensure that schools get heads with calibre. We have way too many mediocre heads. We also have way too many heads who ought not be leading schools. We have way too many heads who focus on too many wrong things. We are now paying the price for our skewed morality. Schools are very much like a political entity now. The wrong people get promoted because they have the right connections.

Fix our schools... our curriculum is slow in adapting to the changes in the world. We come out with bombastic sounding blueprints and they remain very much just that. We have grand sounding ideas and programs but very often they remain just that. This year, one that I have been hearing is Memelihara Masa Instruksional. An observation I have made is, these are readily sacrificed to achieve and maintain certain standings. And very often at the expense of students.

Fix our schools... Assessments. PBS, PMR (soon to be abolished), SPM and at pre-uni level, an unfair playing field where the field does not seem to be even... STPM, Matriculation, University foundation courses for those who vie for places in our public universities. PBS is a sham. Many teachers are already complaining of the huge amount of work. Assessments seem to be a sham. Many are wondering whether we will wake up to a bigger nightmare when these PBS kids get to their SPM. At pre-university, the segregation is telling and it is very racial.

Fix our schools... Perhaps when we start to truly fix our schools, we might finally begin to move forward as one bangsa Malaysia. But we need Change.... Will we see that change so that we can fix our schools?