Should I say Ben Bradshaw has created a phenomenon?

Ben Bradshaw@Gigi Putih

Ben The Gigi Putih:

I would say Ben Bradshaw has attracted lots of fans who are impressed upon his ability to speak Bahasa Melayu. I can't deny this. I was impressed too when I first watching his first video. He has attracted 35,199 people so far to his Facebook fan page. I think our students should take example the way he showed  how fun language learning is. Now I'm thinking will this type of person included in the government's native speaker teachers package (as highlighted in Budget 2011)? If so, I would welcome them with the warmest welcome.

How English (as a second language) should be taught?:
Ben has produced some videos which according to him are for the teaching of English purpose. Many many years ago during my training I was taught (and even now I think) not to teach English by using students' first language. English language teachers should avoid using direct-translation method as possible as they can. However, Ben's way of introducing English vocabulary and pronunciation somehow develops a 'rethinking' thought in me. Should I use the way Ben is using? It looks nice though. Somehow, I don't think it is suitable because it looks nice for Ben only since he is an 'Orang Putih' who speaks Malay. That's what I think.

P/s: I like the way he pronounces 'Tak De' 

Ben's first video

Ben is teaching pronunciation of some words

The Pandemic halts educational institutions...

I received this message from a friend of mine while I was just started my car engine for the town..

" Dear friends, according to IPS, UPSI is closed from 29.7.2009 until 9.8.2009 due to the pandemic.."

When I arrived at the town, it was crowded with UPSI's students who were hurrying for the latest bus that they could get to go back to their hometown. I managed to snap some photos as below...

At the Tanjong Malim Bus Station

Making calls to everybody

Ready for home...

The sixth sense or The sense of escapism?

There's a girl at my school who is now quite reluctant to attend school session due to what she saw at the school entrance. According to the girl, she saw two entities standing at the school gate during the peak hour where students and teachers hurried to school. After several interviews made, she described what she saw in sketches... below are the sketches..

The 'Mama'

The 'Daughter'

Scouts could be given 'smodnoc'

This foreign news report questions me whether this is the purpose of education in modern days? Getting students involve in co-curricular activities is to help them to build up their discipline and moral, but by providing them with 'smodnoc' is totally out of objectives and what is the teachers' role in this situation? as facilitators I guest.. I also don't think that when Baden-Powell first established his scout movement he had this in his mind too. Perhaps this action is a kind of providing sex education that is needed for teenagers, however providing 'smodnoc' is not the best way towards implementing sex education. Instead of doing that why don't we integrate religious or moral teachings for the students (scouts) to know what is good and what is bad and to help them to have self resistance on sex before marriage.

You can read more of the report here...

p/s: to get the meaning read the word 'smodnoc' from right to left.

Losing the passion

"You can say anything about teachers, blame them for their inefficiency, scold them when their students don't like them, accuse them of being lazy when they just had their chance to sit for five minutes teaching relief or anything that you all can describe and picture the teachers as worst thing that the world ever have. The only result that you all can get is, you will get a teacher with no enthusiasm and a passion-lost teacher." - ME

Do my words sound upset? Actually I just read an article about teachers lost their enthusiasm, for I thought that it is common Malaysia's teacher is facing. However it's world's teachers problem... You don't believe? Read this...

The unexpected response...

Being a teacher is not as easy as non-teacher thought. A teacher has to deal with many things; the most important is his/her patience. Teachers’ ability to control emotion is beyond any instructional theories. It is easy to say about controlling emotion theoretically, but sometimes it is harder than what we thought. 

Today, in class I didn’t know why I couldn’t control my emotion. I felt being ignored by my students even though what I shared with them was really important and related to the examination which is just around the corner. The pictures below speak what had happened in the class. 

(click on the picture for bigger view so that you all can read what is written there)

My students are sexy, aren't they?

A BIG GULP...

It's quite a long time I have not buy daily newspaper, perhaps it is my way to clear up myself from hectic and tiring political issues and disputes. I just have my internet connection as my source to the news updates and other personal purposes... but I could not help my eyes from dragging themselves to this particular headline 'Sexy Uniforms' in Malaysia Yahoo! website...

Oo oh... never make early judgment on me please... I am not a pervert and not a pornographic addict either... It's the issue that gave me a punch... Dusyumm!!!... "Hey! Wake up teacher! Don't you realise you have sexy students around! Come on, help yourself with such pleasure!..."

Ha ha... my goodness, for so long I have been a teacher, only this time some people out of the classroom have had their eyes on my students 'boobs' and claimed they are sexy... How come this people can see but I cannot see... I think something is wrong with my eyes that requires me to go for a check up... or.... something is wrong with those people?

THE NEWS:

KUALA LUMPUR, May 21, 2008 (AFP) - A Malaysian Islamic group on Wednesday condemned the uniform worn by girls at government schools, saying it encouraged rape and pre-marital sex. "The white blouse is too transparent for girls and it becomes a source of attraction," National Islamic Students Association of Malaysia vice-president Munirah Bahari said in a statement. "It becomes a distraction to men, who are drawn to it, whether or not they like looking at it," she said, calling for a review of uniform policy so that it did not violate Islamic ideals. In multicultural Malaysia, home to majority-Muslim Malays as well as ethnic Chinese and Indians, female students at government schools have a choice of wearing a white blouse with a knee-length skirt or pinafore. They may also wear a "baju kurung" which is a traditional long top and skirt, and a headscarf is optional for Malay students. (Read more...)

p/s: Marina Mahathir also has something to say about this issue here

Source:
http://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080521/
tap-malaysia-religion-islam-education-0193655.html

Ooops... Teacher did it again...

Since I entered the teaching profession, I found that teachers were the most unfortunate creature in Malaysia. Teachers’ conducts are always under the spotlight. The worse thing is media loves to create wonderful story from any mistakes that teachers did. Media speaks people’s mind (I heard this from someone, perhaps a politician). So, it can be concluded that Malaysians has no more respect on teachers (who cares about teachers, even Mufti’s Fatwa nobody wants to follow).

Last few weeks, teachers were reported as cruel entity that whacked their subjects without mercy. Slap, cane, soak, hit, slam, kick, whack were among the famous verbs used in media. Teachers were given barbaric image. The most interesting story and most published was the ‘Pond Squat’ case of Sarawak.

THE STORY: TEACHER WEE, THE PONDY SQUATTY TEACHER

Wee Yim Pien, an English teacher and a hostel warden had gained a bad reputation from her effort to enforce discipline on his ‘anak didik’. She wanted them to live in a hygienic environment but the students reacted negatively towards the rules that she and the school authority set.

The students were punished for their failure of following the rules set. Some of the students failed to understand that sanitary pad is a solid object that is able to stop water flow. They simply threw it into toilet bowl after it was used. Warnings after warnings did not seem to work or to teach them any lesson. Teacher Wee’s patience came to its threshold. The students were soaked in a fish pond after it happened again. This was because there was nobody admitted the offence.

THE EXAGGERATIONS: MEDIA’S FAVOURITE
Media loves to exaggerate. It was reported that the students were soaked in the fish pond during a heavy rain. Teacher Wee denied this statement. She said that the situation was only drizzling and last only for a short period.

The pond was described dirty and contains waste from the nearby canteen. Wee denied this statement and said “We often draw water from the pond for washing. The school has also conducted obstacle courses there.”

SOMETHING TO LOOK ON…

Question:
What are the benefits if Teacher Wee managed to educate the students to throw the sanitary pads into appropriate disposal container?

Answer:
Malaysians will get hygienic environment, pipe leakage can be avoided and can save millions of RM for maintenance cost. The money spent for the maintenance cost can be channelled to any other beneficial matters (such as bonus for civil servants perhaps.. he heh) To get a better idea, read the newspaper extract below,

KUALA LUMPUR: Improper maintenance has resulted in plants and rubbish clogging water outlets, causing water seepage from the roof of the Parliament building, Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said. He said the ministry was not going to blame anyone for the situation and that the Government had approved RM12mil for an initial study and immediate repairs to the building...

…..Samy Vellu said the ministry would submit a paper to the Treasury, seeking an allocation to undertake the repairs as well as waterproofing. On the leak from the ceiling of the Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital cafeteria, the fifth such incident since the hospital started operations in December last year, he said the ministry would liaise with the Health Ministry on the possibility of putting sanitation boxes in the ladies’ toilets. Hospital director Dr Hariff Fadzilah Che Hashim had blamed the leak on pipes clogged with sanitary pads and disposable napkins. (Source: The Star Online > Nation>Wednesday July 25, 2007)

MY CONCLUSION:
It is very simple and Malaysian. Teachers are the engineers of ‘Modal Insan’. Thank You. Ilalliqa, Ma a’ssalama.

Photo: Teacher Wee, source:The Star Online> Nation>Wednesday July 25,2007.

Never ever shake a baby: Protecting the 'Modal Insan'

A baby is the raw source of the 'modal insan' (Human Capital). In the PIPP (Pelan Induk Pembangunan Pendidikan 2006-2010), In chapter 5, it is mentioned that "Development of human capital is the determination for increasing the competitiveness and the productivity of the country" . So never ever shake a baby! But you can baby a shake.. hah.. hah.. hah. This video tells about never shake a baby thing...



p/s:

• PIPP, some people make a joke on it, they change it to -"Pelan Ini Perempuan Punya". An escapism from Malaysian male teachers to let their female colleagues to do all the implementations. LOL
  
• Teachers who have not gone for their interview yet, should read and understand the PIPP.

Cikgu Farish: I posted this just for a relief from all of the stressful afternoon session matters. (Never ask me what...)

Should we or shouldn't we?

THE GOOD NEWS
I think the news below is a kind of good news to us and we can use it as one reason to avoid wearing necktie. (For those who don't like only). Now I realized that not only certain teachers are reluctant of wearing necktie. I think in our tropical climate; it is quite weird to wear that hanging thing plus blazer. But... but... sometimes it makes a man has that 'handsome and professional appearance' isn't it? Hmm... this shows I am in dilemma.

KNOWLEDGE BITE
The necktie (or tie) is a long piece cloth, either woven or knitted, worn around the neck, under the shirt collar, and knotted at the throat, with its blades resting on the shirt front, covering the buttons.... (read more)

-------------------------

Malaysia doctors say neckties are a health hazard

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian doctors have declared neckties a health hazard and called on the heath ministry to stop insisting that physicians wear them.

Citing studies that show ties are unhygienic and can spread infection, the Malaysian Medical Association says they are not often washed and carry germs that can cause pneumonia and blood infections, the Star newspaper said on Tuesday.

"And when doctors are doing their clinical rounds, they dangle all over the place," the paper quoted association president Dr Teoh Siang Chin as saying.

But the Star quoted a ministry official as saying it needed more proof that neckties were a danger before it relaxed the dress code for doctors in hospitals.

News Source:http://asia.news.yahoo.com/070501/3/3156a.html

The teacher-student ratio issue

Today's newspaper reported that cluster schools demand teacher-student ratio at 1:20. I would like to say that this demand is not new. I still remember that I had fill in a set of questionnaires when I was still teaching at school in 1999. One of the questions asked teacher-student ratio that we prefer. I had chosen 1:20.That was few years ago but until now I do not know what action has been taken based on the action research. May be MOE has its own reason for the large teacher-student ratio. Whatever it is, this problem need to be solved to make our learning session become more effective.

Students aren't guinea pigs

A GUINEA-PIG BUSINESS
NUTP has raised out their disagreement on the suggestion to extend English language learning sessions for Year 1 students. (as reported by a local newspaper) (perhaps to enhance students' proficiency) NUTP refuses to back MOE's action because they are not consulted before. To show their concern on students affair, NUTP's secretary-general says that our students should not be treated like guines pigs. In addition she says Science and mathematics classes has turned out into language lessons nowadays.

I agree with NUTP's views. We should not gamble our students' fate with projects which the success is uncertain. About the ETEMS, it is true that we cannot see its result in few seconds. It takes time but what I know so far the problems are more on the subject teachers (Sc & M3). Now they have to sit for some sort of special English competency test. If they failed they have to go to Teachers Institute for a course. Isn't that look... ( I do not know what to say). It is not to say that I against ETEMS but I do not feel the implementation is good enough. Something has to be done. May be we should hear the teachers' voices.

ANOTHER BURDEN?
On the same day NUTP's response was reported, in local TV news there was a suggestion to introduce an anti-corruption subject as single separated subject in school. Teachers will be trained in one of local higher institutions in Perak. Oh.. come on... hasn't our 'nilai-nilai murni' and 'Pendidikan Islam' good enough to cater this corruption matters?

SOME FACTS TO CONSIDER:
Year 1 English Language Lesson hours per week:
Previously: 8 hours/week... New suggested hours: 18 hours

Guinea Pig:
Scientific name: Cavia porcellus, Family: Rodents, Popular for: being experimental subject.
(more info...)

How will our pupils learn Science or Mathematics if their lessons are turned into English classes?« - LOK YIM PHENG, NUTP SECRETARY GENERAL as cited in The Star