One Malaysia in the Classroom

In Malaysia, we celebrate our Independence Day on August 31 annually. And this year marks the 52 anniversary of our sovereignty. Since the celebration is just around the corner, it is appropriate for me to touch on this issue through a perspective of a teacher. One of the differences that really caught my attention this year is the theme/ motto of the celebration itself- ‘One Malaysia’.
One Malaysia is a concept brought up by our very own Prime Minister, Y.B. Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak . Living in a multiracial country like Malaysia is vital to ensure that there is unity among the people. It is time for us to focus on the similarities and accept the differences of each race. It is time for us to come together as one nation and one voice.
As for me, I’m fortunate because this concept is not something strange to me. In fact, it has been something that really close to my heart. I am a mixed race (Indian, Chinese and Siamese) yet I was brought up in a small Malay’s village. Then, I was posted to East Malaysia in a town where I have met friends from different ethnicity, they are Ibanese, Melanau and Bidayuh. Therefore, I have this privilege to understand the cultures of each race in Malaysia.
So when I meet up with any new individuals, their races are not something that significant to me. We are all the same, we are Malaysian. Likewise, as a teacher we shouldn’t categorize or label our students according to their background or family status. Every student should have the same image in our mind and deserve the same attention. That’s why in school we practice uniformity among the students.
On the whole, with this spirit of One Malaysia let us start to treat our students equally and avoid discrimination in the classroom. Let it also be One Malaysia in the Classroom. Happy Independence Day & Selamat Menyambut Hari Kemerdekaan ke-52.

Friendship in Teaching

Generally, I believe that teachers are supposed to have a strong bonding with each other. I still remember in my early years of teaching I was blessed with a lot of good friends and colleagues that helped in my personal development. Some of the mentoring and counseling from the senior teachers has laid the crucial foundation to my teaching style today. I will always treasure the discussion and advices that I have often received from them.

The friendship and cheerful moments I have with my colleagues have really lightened up my days. The badminton games that we have every weekend really help me to reduce the stress I have in the classroom. One of the wonderful moments that I love is hanging out with my colleagues for lunch. Our lunch time is always filled with laughter and teasing

The friendship amongst the non-academic staff in my school (SMK Dalat) has also made teaching here a pleasant job. I am blessed with lab assistants that always help me to prepare functioning scientific apparatus(sometimes in short noticed). The computer technician that always helps me to troubleshoot my electronic or computer equipment is a great help to me. For the clerical and documentation work, I am indebted to my school’s clerks and general workers.

In brief, all teachers need help to become better teachers. That includes me, you, and everyone. Where do teachers go and how do we find help? For me the answer is through “friendship in teaching”

Patience in Teaching

Last week, I wrote about delay gratification and being patient as the key to cope with such delay. But I always believe that as a teacher, patience is the most important element in teaching.
Educators are challenged with so many circumstances where our patience is tested. Teaching itself is a task that requires us to be patient. In the classroom, a teacher must undergo a process of explaining to students with different level and pace. As a sports coach we need to train our students with various stages of practical skills. Teaching is like nurturing a plant. It needs time and space to grow. So, it is an accepted fact that every teacher should be persevere in educating.
Furthermore, as teachers it is important that we understand that patient and respect are the keys in touching the heart of our students. If we are persistence in teaching, our students can feel it. This means that we should not give up easily when we face difficulties in explaining a concept or any lesson in class. What we should do is try a different approach, change the way of explaining or maybe use some interesting teaching aids. The key is to try, try and try again until our students get it.
Of course, as a teacher there will be a time when we lose our temper and reacts with anger. Yet, we need to remind ourselves that we are a living example to our students. How we react and handle certain situation will be observed by our students. I feel that it is necessary that we (educators) illustrate patient behavior in whatever circumstances.
Perhaps some teachers may disagree with me and maybe it is easier said than done. But I believe if we keep on encouraging and reminding each other there is nothing that can’t be done. As for me, the keywords are “Teaching is a patient process and requires a patient teacher”

Delay Gratification

Last Monday I was awarded as the excellent teacher of the month. In my school, there is this monthly recognition for the most outstanding teacher and student. To be honest, I have been longing for this award since my first year in this school. Yet, as time passed by, I had stopped thinking about it. So this reward came as  a surprise to me and when I have not expected it.
Then I realize there are some valuable lessons I've learned throughout this process that I would like to share in this blog entry. In the two years at this school, I personally thought that my efforts have gone unnoticed. There are times when I feel discouraged and upset when I didn’t receive any appreciation for my works.
This circumstance had taught me a lot about being patient. Delay gratification serves as an opportunity for us to learn more about patience. Today we are so used to immediate gratification and we can hardly wait for anything in our life. We tend to feel frustrated when some acknowledgement is delayed. Then we lose our commitment and passion in teaching. We are no more the dedicated teacher we used to be. For me, impatient is the serial killer for all the good and potential teachers.
Yes, we may feel frustrated and sad when we don’t receive enough credit for all the hard works and efforts (I had experienced it too). But, if we understand that sometimes God delays gratification and appreciation to prepare us for something better ahead, then we will never lose heart in everything we do.
So, keep on being patient and believe that if we continue to serve sincerely and give our best, someday the appreciation and promotion will come. Let us not just hoping for acknowledgement but let us focus on the satisfaction we get when we change the lives of our students.

Far away from home

As a teacher in Malaysia, sometimes we are required to serve in different states that are far from our home. And one of the most feared was the East Malaysia postings. This is because, it is far away from Peninsular Malaysia and there are possibilities to be posted to a rural and remote area.

My first posting was in Dalat, Sarawak (East Malaysia). Honestly, when I received my first posting letter, I had mixed feelings about it. Serving far away from hometown, meeting people with different languages and cultures are some of the questions that kept on playing on my mind. Yet, I believe God composes the symphony of life. He seems to know what is best for us. My stayed at Sarawak had revealed a lot of new lessons and help me grow as a teacher. I was blessed to be in a small town like Dalat where teachers are highly respected by the communities and the relationship among teachers are so close. This scenario really helps a lot in developing my character as a teacher.

In fact, teaching in a school far away from town means that I have bigger responsibilities in moulding and shaping the students. With limited facilities and no private tuition classes, the students depend 100% on the teaching in the classroom. Knowing that my students depend totally on me, this prompted me to deliver my best in the classroom. A part from that, what I really enjoy is the fellowship and companionship I have with my students. Being in a small village means that everywhere I go I’ll meet up with my students and the greetings I received from them really make up my day.

Of course, I have this longing to serve at my hometown, close to home and in a place where I am more familiar. Yet, a small and peaceful village by the river like Dalat is a good training ground to prepare me for the challenges ahead. So, even though I am far away from home, it is worth it.

Teaching and blogging

Blogging is something that is still new in Malaysia. In fact, bloggers do not have good reputation in this country. A blogger is always considered as someone that is unethical and rebellious. Bad highlights and misused of blogs for political platforms have really worsen the situation.
One of the questions that I would like to answer in my weblog is “Can a teacher become a blogger?” For me, blogging is not something that is totally strange to us as educators. As a teacher we are encouraged to keep records and journals of our daily teaching experiences. In our daily lesson plan itself, we are required to make a reflection of every lesson we taught. This instrument is vital in evaluating the effectiveness of each lesson.
Being reflective of our daily teaching experience is crucial because it will benefit us in the future. As a baby blogger, I always believe that my blog entries are precious journals that will help to encourage me in difficult time to come. Every success and failure in the classroom should be recorded so that it can become a source of reference in the future.
To make it clear, I am not suggesting that every teacher should become a blogger. We have our own ways of keeping record, such as writing diary, audio and video recording. As long as it can be a medium that helps you to reflect back to your lessons in class than you are doing the right thing. My personal experience has taught me that if we teachers do not take time to post-mortem our works in the class then we will not improve.
In a nutshell, teaching and blogging are two components that complement each other. Blogging can be a powerful tool that helps us to be a better teacher if we use it in the right way. So, the answer is YES, a teacher can also be a blogger. I’m proud to be a blogger myself.

My reflection

Today, my school becomes the organizer of Cooking Competition for the state level. For the whole week my colleagues and I have been busy preparing for this special event. Each of us was assigned with specific tasks such technical, documentation, venue preparation, and other duties.

Being in charged of public address (PA) system really prompted me to channel all my energy and time to make sure everything goes on well. However when I reflect back I can say that I spent too much time focusing on this duty, thus leaving me less time and energy to focus on my core business of teaching.

And for me this is one of the major challenges faced by all the teachers nowadays. There are constant calls for teachers to fill in the job as clerks, technicians, gardeners, landscapers, sports coach and other responsibilities. The larger question is do teachers work hard at the right things? Are we focusing more to these secondary calling and rob us from our primary business? This is the question that keeps bordering me every time I was called to handle this secondary task.

Of course, through this multitasking and duties I have really learned a lot of new things and experiences that can really help me in my professional progress. However, I still feel guilty if I need to compromise the quality times with my students.

Perhaps the solution to this problem is time management. This is something we as a teacher needs to master and learn in these challenging days. Employing more clerks, gardeners and technicians per school may also solve this problem.

At the end of the day, there will always be a lot of tasks, responsibilities and expectation given to a teacher. We can’t change that .But what we can do is keep ourselves focus on our core business in whatever situation (I am reminding myself too) and work through these secondary duties.

The Power of Words

As the teacher on duty this week I was bombarded with a lot of disciplines cases. Maybe mid semester is the time when these students start to show their true colours. However, handling one of the students’ fighting cases really makes me realize that words can carry great power. The fight started when these students exchanged words and teased at each other.
This incident really reminded me of how much words can affect the scenario in class. There are times in my class that I really need to inject a lot of encouragement and motivation to keep my students’ hope alive through my words. I will always praise every little efforts and improvement made by my students. In my questions & answers session itself, the vocabularies that I used were “Good”, “Nice Try" and “Brilliant”. Teenagers today are used to immediate gratification and our compliments can really encourage them.
Of course, as a teacher sometimes we are so used to shouting and raising our voice at students. There are days and times when I reflect at it and feel regret for the choices of words that I had used to scold my students. Yet I will always remind myself to focus more on giving encouragement and motivation.
As a teacher, our tongue is a powerful weapon. We have the power both to build up and tear down our students. So, how are you using your power?

The Joy of Teaching

Nowadays, teachers are challenged with so many hurdles and obstacles that sometimes can discourage us. There are a lot of bad issues reported about education’s world today. Teacher’s competency, education policies and problematic youths are some of the highlight in the press.

With so many challenges around, sometimes as a teacher we feel discouraged and frustrated. As for me, the only thing that encourages me to stay in this education line is the ‘the joy of teaching’ itself. I am attracted to the teacher’s role where I watch my students’ progress and grow everyday. The satisfaction of knowing that I have made a contribution in changing their lives really motivates me to stay in this job.

Teaching is special because it offers us a lot of unforgettable moments that really make a difference in our lives. I will always remember the face of my students when they say “I get it” or “Ooh”. These are the moments that I treasure the most and for me it is something magical. Plus, it is only exclusive for those who are playing the role as a teacher.

In general, teaching is a job that is challenging, exhausting and full of disappointments.Yet if we really take time to recall the magical moments when our small and significant efforts have brought a huge impact to our students, then maybe you will realize that teaching is a wonderful calling.

My Teacher, My Hero

In my early years as a teenager and student I always have some one that I look up to and admire. Most of the time, my teachers are the characters that influence me and secretly become someone that I admire. Maybe that is the reason why I ended up a teacher now.
I still remember how I always feel excited in my Genetics class because of the way Mr. Nazalan (USM) introduced every lesson which bring us beyond the four walls of the classroom. Mr. Jayamohan (SMKPS) passion in Biology really makes me feel interested in this subject. Mr. Chan (SMKPS) taught me to love numbers and calculation. Mr. Eng Hui (SMKPS) patience in explaining every value in Moral Studies really proves that he is someone that practice what he preaches.
Honestly, I think a teacher is an extraordinary individual. This is because we are doing an extraordinary jobs everyday. We inspire and guide students to learn, grow and succeed. We lift our pupils up by giving them hope. In the classroom itself, when we teach we get the attention of a full room from the students. That’s why we become a role model to our students.
So when we consider that huge impact that teachers have on their students, we can simply conclude that each and every one of us (teachers) is somebody's hero. As for me, I’ve been blessed with many wonderful and dedicated teachers from my early years that will always be my heroes. I hope that my students now feel that way about me too.

Is it all about Grades?

How we measure our students is an important question that needs to be clarified by every teacher. Nowadays, the school system is about grades and marks. Are marks and grades really reflecting the potential of our students?

For me, the process and effort is far more important than the result itself. Whether a student receives an “A” or and “F” in the classroom, that grade does not literally show the true potential of the student. I am more interested in how much efforts have been put on and how much progress has been made.

Exams and tests are just a tool to monitor our students’ achievements. They may not have done quite well in school’s exam. As long as they learn from their mistakes and work hard, surely they will improve in their next exams.

But what is really bothering me is the way students are labeled according to their academics achievement. I am concerned about people who put academics result and achievement as the most important aspect in educating. Just because a student failed in his exam that does not mean that he has no chance to excel in the future.

Of course, as a teacher we would like every student in our class to excel in their major exams (SPM or PMR). But if it does not happen, it doesn’t mean that we have failed in our efforts to teach our students. This is because our main focus and purpose is to change lives and not just to get good results and grades.

Our school, Our beginning

A visit to my ex-secondary school (SMK Pokok Sena) brings back lot of memories. Some of the memories are unforgettable experiences; some make me laugh, some bring back a sad memory.

Then I realize that I am what I am because of these wonderful experiences. My student life experiences really molded me and bring me to the next stage of my life. I am blessed with great teachers and friends that guided and helped me in building up my character.

Sadly, students nowadays do not fully appreciate their school days. They are attracted to outside world more than school. They are prone to skip classes and playing truant. Students are bombarded with the ideas that school is a boring place and all about tests and exams.

But actually school is about more than academics. School is about sharing a common experience when we grow into young adults, learn about the world we live in, handling friendship, and for the really lucky, maybe fall in love. Secondary school also is a place to learn about leadership skill, interpersonal skill, public speaking and discover our unique personalities and talents.

Unfortunately, not all students participate in everything a school can offer. For some, they only treat school as part of their routine task and confine to classrooms.
I really hope that all my students would realize that school is a place where we prepared ourselves for living and there is lot of fun in school.

Think back to your own school days, and then you’ll realize everything started there. This is because our school is our beginning.

Learning To Teach vs Teaching To Learn

In Malaysia, there are a variety of reasons why people choose to become teachers. Some are by choice, some are accidentally push into Education Field. But for me, no matter what are the reasons. Those who are teachers now, are those who are called by God to carry a very important task. That's why every teacher (including me) should appreciate this calling and let us improve ourselves to become a teacher that can change the world through our small classroom.

The question now is whether all the training we received from our respected institutions are enough to prepare us. For me, teaching is a rather unique profession. After enrolling for training to qualify as teachers, actually the real lesson start at the classroom itself. This is the place where we learn new lessons & new experiences everyday.

Some of these lessons will make you laugh, stress, angry or even cry. Classroom teaching is something that will make you a better teacher by experience. So, for those who are still new in this Education line, don't be afraid to experiment new methods, new skill, new strategy and improvise it to suit your teaching style. Teaching is a unique business. My methods of teaching may not be applicable to others. Each of us have our own way of educating. That's why I'll never question other teachers ways of teaching as long as it serve the purpose of education.

In a nutshell, graduating with degree or diploma in Education marks not the end but the beginning of the task of becoming a better teacher. So let us "unlearn" and "relearn" to become an effective teacher.

Preface (Class 101)

There are many similarities and differences among teachers around the world. Generally in every part of the world, a teacher is a person who educates others. But nowadays a teacher's role is more to a facilitator or tutor.
But personally I feel that a teacher should be more than that. For me a teacher is a faithful friend, listener, counselor and disciplinarian. Being in this education field, I am bless with many extraordinary experiences that turn on my life everyday. There are a lot of magical moments that I have with my students. That's why I decided to pen my thought and opinion and share some of these special moments with everyone.

Welcome to my Weblog. This site is dedicated to all teachers and students.