am i doing the right thing?

it makes me wonder..

am i doing the right thing?

feels like talking no one..

what type of world are we living in now?

• babies being found at dumpsites, in the river
• father and sons charged for raping disabled daughter and sisters
• kid killed after house full with crackers exploded
• father slaughtered son

Astaghafirullah hal azim.. Nauzubillahi min zalik..

Kudos dear students!

The results of UPS 1 (mid semester exam) for matriculation students was announced yesterday.

Alhamdulillah, 6 out of 10 students from my mentor mentee class achieved 4.00 GPA, while the rest got 3.5 and above.

As a result, the class is awarded with the honour of "Kelas Berprestasi Tinggi" by the college.

Congratulations, dear students!

Thank you for all the lecturers who have worked very hard to teach all the students.

Jazakallahu Khairan Kathira.

Don't be too happy, work hard and work smart, score better. The journey is still winding and long.

p/s: Even the girl whom i mentioned that afraid to speak in English managed to get 4.00! I need to add on my approach to help improve her English or else it will be a waste for her.

O ALLAH, my lord, give me strength

it's already night of 12th ramadhan 1431H.

it's saturday evening.

alhamdulillah, i've completed 11 days of fasting,

performed solat sunat tarawih every night without fail..

although i was very tired from work and study..

and this ramadhan is quite different

it is more meaningful,

i just learned that we pray to ALLAH not because He does not know what we want,

in fact He has given us more than we prayed for

but we pray to Him,

because we are His servants,

i have a little time but so many things to complete:

assignments, workloads, wedding preparation, housechores..

and

ALLAH,

i pray to you

to give me more strength of Iman and faith,

for me to complete all these things under Your Rahmah and blessings, amin

"we love you, miss jaja"

the sentence was written on the blackboard in class 6C, Sek keb Pedu, a remote school.

It is located about 1 hour drive from Alor Star.

We: Me, k.nurul and k.tia are assigned to teach English to standard 6 students there as a social service activity by our college. We have started the programme since June. We go there every Wednesday.

The students come from various family background.

They are Malay and Siamese students, a new environment for us the college lecturers.

Their English language competency is also varies.

Some are advanced, some are just at the intermediate level.

they are afraid to speak in English, but they do not even speak standard Bahasa Melayu, they speak very thick Kedah dialect..

During the first class there, I told my colleagues that I was not fit to teach primary students, they were just so naughty and noisy.. they could not sit still after 5 minutes.. they would walk around and make noise..

Week by week, i've started to understand them better..

I introduce rules such as they need to be quiet when i'm teaching, speak when i ask them to do so, finish up the work, speak English, and if it is very difficult, use standard BM, not Kedah dialect.

One thing that i like about these students is that they respect the teacher.

Although they are quite naughty, when you instruct them to do something, they will do it.

They are also very excited to to the exercise. they will finish up the work as fast as they can, and they will compete who is going to finish up first and show it to me.

I start to feel at ease with them..

Today, is our first meeting after quite long holidays; school break, matrix break, awal Ramadhan public holiday.

and this is what i saw when i walked in the class this afternoon:

"We love you, miss jaja"

i love you too, students.. perhaps my short duration class and my lack of experience and knowledge in teaching UPSR students, will just help you a little, but i hope it will be very meaningful ..

one more meeting, and the class will end.. school will go on holiday, matrix will have Raya break, and after that UPSR is waiting..

tico, sayo tok pehe kecek inglish

teacher, i do not understand English

this is my 3rd batch of matriculation students.

i have taught

previously, i had very great students. coming from good background of English..

and even some of them were not very good, they still managed to speak in English although broken ones, or wrote an essay with a number of grammatical errors but with great ideas, at least they could write in English,,

for the first time, i have student who come into my class with "E" in English subject SPM.

she is second intake student.

and i asked her to introduce herself in class.

she just stared at me.

i asked "what is your name"

she said, "tico, sayo tok pehe kecek inglish"

then i asked "your name? nama?"

only after that, she replied with very slow voice

in another class, we had a discussion on quality of today's teachers.

i later asked the class to write about it.

i gave them subtopics to talk about.

only 3 subtopics.

i asked them whether they understand my instruction and know how to do it.

all of them said fine

when time was up.

i collected all the essays.

but she looked at me and said that she did not know how to do it.

she looked like as if she wanted to cry

then i asked her to write only points.

she came out with 3 points.

i asked her to write about herself,

she can write.

i believe it's her own work.

i want to have faith in her.

she failed her listening quiz, leaving blanks for the answer spaces..

she failed her reading quiz, she answered based on her instincts.

now, i have just finished marking her standardised test, for essay question, she wrote one paragraph which was the question.

what am i going to do with her?

He who knows everything

you have something linger in your mind

good or bad intention

no one knows

but Allah knows

you see someone

you start to think about that person

no one knows

but Allah knows

you sleep late

watch movie or drama

wake up late

miss the Subuh prayer

no one knows

but Allah knows

it's Ramadhan

fasting month

you do not eat, do not drink

but you talk bad about others

not everyone knows

but Allah knows

before it is too late

one of the favourite authors suggested by my colleagues (who are also ex-coursemates in UiTM) is Mitch Albom. I've heard his name before, or perhaps glanced through it in the newspapers. But i haven't had the chance to read any of his works. I know that one of his best-seller novels, The Five People You Met in Heaven has gone on the movie.

i'm a person who love to read rather than watch movie, so i am looking forward to read any of his novels after all nice and wonderful comments on his works and words. And i'm so fortunate to have K.Tia and Manja who lent me his novels.

I first read For One More Day, borrowed from K.Tia. It was about a guy who did everything to please and get attention as well as affection from his father who in turn did not give him any. while trying hard to please the dad, he hurt his mother. a lot. his life turned upside down along the way.

he only realised that it was his mother that he should care about when his mother passed away a day after her birthday dinner party which he refused to wait till the end to go and meet his father who had abandoned the family since he was kid. he was not by his mother's side when she died. later he started to think, if only he had one more day to be with his mother..

It was so touching especially when i read the parts "Times that My Mother Stood for Me" and "Times that I Did Not Stand for My Mother". I know that i did that to my mother too, sometimes. I was so ego, full with pride.. Reading this is like a wake-up call for me. I've listened to many true stories on this. sometimes, however, i forgot.

It is mother who we should obey and respect the most after Allah and His messengers.

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is reported to have mentioned that.

A man came to the Prophet and said, ‘O Messenger of God! Who among the people is the most worthy of my good companionship? The Prophet said: Your mother. The man said, ‘Then who?' The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man further asked, ‘Then who?' The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man asked again, ‘Then who?' The Prophet said: Then your father. (Bukhari, Muslim) taken from SoundVision

Moreover, our beloved Prophet Muhammad said, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him: Your Heaven lies under the feet of your mother (Ahmad, Nasai) taken from SoundVision

We may be succeed in life but we are not happy, if it is without her blessings. I know that as i have experienced that. Now, whenever i feel so angry if i think that i'm right whenever i have argument with my mother, i'll try to remember that. i'll be more polite and pay more respect to her.

Understand this nasheed by heart:

My mother by Yusoff Islam

Who should I give my love to? My respect and my honour to? Who should I pay good mind to After Allahand Rasul-Allah ? Comes your mother Who next? Your mother Who next? Your mother And then your father Cause who used to hold you And clean you and clothe you? Who used to feed you And always be with you? When you were sick Stay up all night Holding you tight? That right no other My mother Who should I take good care of Giving all my love? Who should I think the most of After Allah and Rasul-Allah ? Comes your mother Who next? Your mother Who next? Your mother And then your father Cause who used to hear you Before you could talk? Who used to hold you Before you could walk? And when you fell Who’d pick you up? Clear your cut? No one but Your mother My mother Who should I stay right close to? Listen most to? Never say no to After Allah and Rasul-Allah ? Comes your mother Who next? Your mother Who next? Your mother And then your father Cause who used to hug you And buy you new clothes? Comb your hair and blow your nose? And when you cries who wiped your tears? Knows your fears? Who really cares? My mother Say Alhamdulillah Thank you Allah Thank you Allah For my mother

are teachers good enough to teach?

i posted this question to my students today.

it is based on a letter - to - editor found in TheStar.

i asked students to voice out their opinion on a paper.

they are provided with three items to be discussed on:

1. public opinions on today's teachers
2. their own experience with teachers during primary and secondary schools, it can be good or bad
3. characteristics of their dream teacher

i asked them not to write their names, as i don't want to be judgemental

tonight i'm going to read all the responses

lukewarm

it has been ages since i last wrote here.. over exaggerate. ;)

lukewarm..

today, one of my students (new batch of 2010/2011) asked me the meaning of lukewarm..

the word is found in the reading passage on the lure of credit card ..

i gave my dictionary ( i always bring one to class) to another student and asked her to find the meaning and later to explain it to the class...

while waiting for the definition-searching, i asked the class to try guessing the meaning of the word..

at least they should know the meaning of "warm"

i gave them clue by asking them meaning of "hot",

so they managed to guess the meaning

they said "suam"

the definition searcher later proudly announced to the class the meaning of it, "suam-suam kuku"

when i asked her to explain in English (as the dictionary has definition in English and Malay), she said slightly hot..

so, what am i trying to say here is not related to the lesson but about the word lukewarm itself..

perhaps it is just me..

who sometimes so excited about thing, and after that getting passion-less..

it is hard to forget..

it happened about 3 months ago..

but i still remember it..

i try to forget, but it keeps coming back..

what should i do?

integrity

i learnt new things today:
1. the secret of education is respecting the students
2. do good deeds to others using your head, heart, hand and tongue

head: give out the best thought to assist others
heart: love others as you love yourself
hand: do what you can to help
tongue: your good and meaningful speech will perhaps change someone's life