Friday, April 25, 2008
Final Thoughts and Reflections
Developing this e-portfolio is definitely a paradigm shift for me. Only one semester ago, the idea of having my own website was out of reached. I do realize now that I have to keep abreast with time. This is because the world around us changes quickly. I had to learn a lot from my students when it comes to techno features. I am a language teacher and I believe that if I learn what they know, then maybe some kind of connection can be made. Knowledge comes in many forms and this is one of them – the ability to create an e-portfolio (no matter how humble it is). Thank you to my lecturer, Dr. Edwin who has introduced us to this world of ‘blogging’ which was once alien to me. There are still a lot to learn and I can sense that one of the reasons to pursue professional development is to acquire new knowledge and skills. It helps me to keep excited about my work and combat negativity in my teaching. As today is going to be my final exam, I want to congratulate my lecturer again for providing us insights into pursuing our professional development. I hope to practise what I have learned and continue with lifelong learning.
Frustration Again...
How can I be so careless….After spending almost two hours, uploading some materials into my e-portfolio, I suddenly realized that my internet connection was disconnected! I did the most undesirable thing at this point of time – I didn’t save my work at all. Hem…what am I going to do now....Take a deep breath yati...This is the third time it happened to me and God…please have mercy on me. Probably I was too engrossed in my work that I didn’t do the most important thing. I suppose all my course mates are having sleepless nights finishing our assignments and revising for the final exam. For an incident of this kind to occur…I really need to pull myself together and take it as easy as I can (I’m trying okay..). It is almost impossible to keep everything on time. My students’ assessments came in when we are one week away from our final exams. The scripts are argumentative essay-form (where citation forms are crucial elements) plus two short paragraphs answers. Can you imagine how I felt as I was marking the papers? On top of that, I had to travel to Gombak for validation of marks and etc!!!. Why am I recording this incident? It serves as a reminder to me, not to proceed with my PhD (if ever!) while I am still working. There is no joy of learning when you have very limited time to explore the knowledge and not being able to let it ‘sinks’ in long-term memory. Yes, I love the lectures…but gosh…please do it full-time for the second time around. I am drumming negative thoughts am I? Stop it yati! At least what you can do is go to sleep. It’s almost 2 a.m. Pleasant thoughts now...No more regrets. Just go with the flow... Life is just great when you know where you are heading…be calm and everything will be over soon..
Saturday, April 5, 2008
The Making of my e-portfolio..Help! I am almost drowning...
Oh dear..I forgot that part of the reason why I'm keeping this blog is to share my experiences in developing my e-portfolio that is on www.freewebs.com/norhayatimohdrasip. I am required to post entries on thoughts and reflections on designing, developing and maintaining this e-portfolio. Let me begin with my selection of website for hosting my e-portfolio. At first I went to a different website address (http://www.freeweb.com/ - without the -s) and accidently register myself to a website for models! I believed I did that because I saw images or silhouettes of sexy figures in all the templates! For someone who is not techno savy like me, it caused me two hours of browsing and attempting to head somewhere and finally realized that I had chosen the wrong website (just because I forgot the letter -s!). This assignment is really testing my level of ambiguity tolerence as I am not keen to spend hours in front of the computer just to figure things out! I would rather read a good book or go swimming than attempting to upload (or is it download?) my photos, not knowing whether it will turn-out in my web. So viewers, what you actually see on my e-portfolio is definitely my own tortoise work, designed and developed by me without any professional help. The first few photos that I managed to upload caused an uproar of joy and happiness that you would not have imagined..
Sunday, March 23, 2008
22nd March 2008.
End of Class.
Last week was the last week meeting my beloved students for this semester. I taught two subjects; English for Academic and Occupational Purposes. My students come from different schools or what they call ‘Kulliyyah’ at our university. The thing which I admire about them is their hardwork and determination in accomplishing their assignments. Of course there are a few who still practice the ‘last minute’ submission but overall they are committed to their work. However, I hope they won’t just be any typical dedicated person who goes to class with the mere attention of getting A’s. Life is not just about getting A’s. Yes, the A’s ARE IMPORTANT but there are OTHER IMPORTANT SKILLS that they should acquire in life. I have seen a lot of successful people having these powerful skills which among others are communication and inter-personal skills. They maneuver life as if nothing can stop them from achieving their dreams. Their pure perseverance and commitment towards their goals are derived from classes, seminars, talks, meetings attended after the formal education setting takes place. The courage to change, accompanied with good attitude help these individuals to discover their true potential as human beings. Yes, we are indeed special my dear students, and if you are reading this, I believe we are born to be winners, to achieve great things in life and be successful. Therefore, I’m going to include the definition of success here, so that it can be a guidance to all of us. I believe I agree with this view of what real success is.
Success
To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
End of Class.
Last week was the last week meeting my beloved students for this semester. I taught two subjects; English for Academic and Occupational Purposes. My students come from different schools or what they call ‘Kulliyyah’ at our university. The thing which I admire about them is their hardwork and determination in accomplishing their assignments. Of course there are a few who still practice the ‘last minute’ submission but overall they are committed to their work. However, I hope they won’t just be any typical dedicated person who goes to class with the mere attention of getting A’s. Life is not just about getting A’s. Yes, the A’s ARE IMPORTANT but there are OTHER IMPORTANT SKILLS that they should acquire in life. I have seen a lot of successful people having these powerful skills which among others are communication and inter-personal skills. They maneuver life as if nothing can stop them from achieving their dreams. Their pure perseverance and commitment towards their goals are derived from classes, seminars, talks, meetings attended after the formal education setting takes place. The courage to change, accompanied with good attitude help these individuals to discover their true potential as human beings. Yes, we are indeed special my dear students, and if you are reading this, I believe we are born to be winners, to achieve great things in life and be successful. Therefore, I’m going to include the definition of success here, so that it can be a guidance to all of us. I believe I agree with this view of what real success is.
Success
To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
2nd March 2008.
End of Class.
Last week was the last week meeting my beloved students for this semester. I taught two subjects; English for Academic and Occupational Purposes. My students come from different faculty or what they call ‘Kulliyyah’ at our university. The thing which I admire about them is their hardwork and determination in accomplishing their assignments. Of course there are a few who still practice the ‘last minute’ studying but overall they are committed to their work. However, I hope they won’t just be any typical dedicated person who goes to class with the mere attention of getting A’s. Life is not just about getting A’s. Yes, the A’s ARE IMPORTANT but there are OTHER IMPORTANT SKILLS that they should also have with them once they graduated from university. I have seen a lot successful people having these powerful skills which among others are communication and interpersonal skills. They maneuver life as if nothing can stop them from achieving their dreams. Their pure perseverance and in commitment towards their goals are derived from classes, seminars, talks, meetings attended after the formal education setting takes place. The courage to change and accompanied with good attitude help these individuals to discover their true potential as human being. Yes, we are indeed special my dear students.. and if you are reading this, I believe we are born to be winners..to achieve great things in life and be successful. Therefore, I’m going to include the definition of success so that it can be a guidance to all of you. I believe I agree with this view…
Success
To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
End of Class.
Last week was the last week meeting my beloved students for this semester. I taught two subjects; English for Academic and Occupational Purposes. My students come from different faculty or what they call ‘Kulliyyah’ at our university. The thing which I admire about them is their hardwork and determination in accomplishing their assignments. Of course there are a few who still practice the ‘last minute’ studying but overall they are committed to their work. However, I hope they won’t just be any typical dedicated person who goes to class with the mere attention of getting A’s. Life is not just about getting A’s. Yes, the A’s ARE IMPORTANT but there are OTHER IMPORTANT SKILLS that they should also have with them once they graduated from university. I have seen a lot successful people having these powerful skills which among others are communication and interpersonal skills. They maneuver life as if nothing can stop them from achieving their dreams. Their pure perseverance and in commitment towards their goals are derived from classes, seminars, talks, meetings attended after the formal education setting takes place. The courage to change and accompanied with good attitude help these individuals to discover their true potential as human being. Yes, we are indeed special my dear students.. and if you are reading this, I believe we are born to be winners..to achieve great things in life and be successful. Therefore, I’m going to include the definition of success so that it can be a guidance to all of you. I believe I agree with this view…
Success
To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Special Retreat
Hem..
We are now at MS Garden Hotel Kuantan, finishing our assignments. By the way, today is the General Election and here we are performing our duties towards our studies. There are five of us; Marina,Mona,Mahani,Shafinas and I. Marina actually traveled all the way from Rompin! 3 group assignments need to be completed by the time we check-out of this hotel tomorrow. I am putting this in my blog as a memory to our dedication towards professional development hahaha!
We are now at MS Garden Hotel Kuantan, finishing our assignments. By the way, today is the General Election and here we are performing our duties towards our studies. There are five of us; Marina,Mona,Mahani,Shafinas and I. Marina actually traveled all the way from Rompin! 3 group assignments need to be completed by the time we check-out of this hotel tomorrow. I am putting this in my blog as a memory to our dedication towards professional development hahaha!
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Its a New Beginning..
27th February 2008
1.50 a.m.
3rd and final semester.
EDU 5256 Professional Development in Language Education.
M.Ed (TESL) UPM.
1st Entry
It’s kind of weird starting my journal entry at this hour. I have just returned from my night class and later watched `American Idol’ Season 6 (Repeat). It is definitely NOT easy to study at this hour, especially when your mind and body are totally exhausted. However, at the spur of the moment, I forced myself to switch on my computer in my attempt to combat my `dreadful’ disease – PROCASTINATION. So, here it goes..
I’m an English teacher who is currently teaching at a University in my state. My formal teaching hours is 24 plus 10 extra hours teaching public courses conducted under the same university. Yes, I do feel this is too much for me. There are days when I feel like I’m `slaughtering’ myself; wondering why did I ever get myself into this kind of monotonous and unprofitable career. In the midst of looking for answers, I accidentally embark myself in a postgraduate study under University Putra Malaysia in TESL. I remember it was the last day for registration and my good friend Mona was there to witness how reluctant I was to join a programme which I had no interest in. As I had expected, I was doomed with endless assignments, quizzes and exams which must have contributed to the number of grey hairs and my children getting thinner.
But boy I was wrong. I realized that it wasn’t just another piece of degree to add to my collection. I began to reflect on so many things in life through the lectures which I attended during the weekends. If I had taken these lectures solely for the purpose of exams, I wouldn’t be sending my 4 year old daughter (then) to an English medium pre-school which is situated 16km away from my house. There is something about the critical period hypothesis which bothers and makes sense to me as a teacher and mother. I am not criticizing the previous pre-school that she went to. I just wanted her to be familiar with another language which is English. It was such a shame that even as an English teacher, I hardly spoke in English to my children! What an irony…
1.50 a.m.
3rd and final semester.
EDU 5256 Professional Development in Language Education.
M.Ed (TESL) UPM.
1st Entry
It’s kind of weird starting my journal entry at this hour. I have just returned from my night class and later watched `American Idol’ Season 6 (Repeat). It is definitely NOT easy to study at this hour, especially when your mind and body are totally exhausted. However, at the spur of the moment, I forced myself to switch on my computer in my attempt to combat my `dreadful’ disease – PROCASTINATION. So, here it goes..
I’m an English teacher who is currently teaching at a University in my state. My formal teaching hours is 24 plus 10 extra hours teaching public courses conducted under the same university. Yes, I do feel this is too much for me. There are days when I feel like I’m `slaughtering’ myself; wondering why did I ever get myself into this kind of monotonous and unprofitable career. In the midst of looking for answers, I accidentally embark myself in a postgraduate study under University Putra Malaysia in TESL. I remember it was the last day for registration and my good friend Mona was there to witness how reluctant I was to join a programme which I had no interest in. As I had expected, I was doomed with endless assignments, quizzes and exams which must have contributed to the number of grey hairs and my children getting thinner.
But boy I was wrong. I realized that it wasn’t just another piece of degree to add to my collection. I began to reflect on so many things in life through the lectures which I attended during the weekends. If I had taken these lectures solely for the purpose of exams, I wouldn’t be sending my 4 year old daughter (then) to an English medium pre-school which is situated 16km away from my house. There is something about the critical period hypothesis which bothers and makes sense to me as a teacher and mother. I am not criticizing the previous pre-school that she went to. I just wanted her to be familiar with another language which is English. It was such a shame that even as an English teacher, I hardly spoke in English to my children! What an irony…
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