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Showing posts from January, 2010

Exotic Fruit: Buah Isu

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I've been teaching in the Iban motherland for more than 1 year now & I have tasted many exotic fruits exclusively available only within these quiet secluded timber forests. Now, don't you smirk at me! You perverted baskets I call friends are thinking about a different 'fruit'! There are no innuendos here. The exotic fruits that I'm talking about are REAL fruits. First, let me introduce you to the cousin of the king of fruits... Buah Isu Buah Isu resembles it's cousin, the Durian , but I was told that it is NOT in the Durian family. The spikes are longer & they are sharper. They are also very much smaller than the Durians. It's about the size of a man's palm. It has a pleasantly sweet fragrance which is not pungent like the Durian's. Because of it's size, it is easily opened with a cleaver. After opening my first Isu, I couldn't help but bounce off the walls in gay laughter. It was all too amusing to me! I though

Action Research In Malaysian Schools

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taken from  jarinefl.wordpress.com At one stage of your teaching career, you will come across a type of research called "Action Research". It is currently the buzz in the Malaysian Education system &, for several states in Malaysia, there is actually a circular or 'pekeliling' which dictates that each teacher has to conduct at least 1 action research per year. If you happen to be serving in one of those states or if you're curious why administrators are taking it so seriously, let me answer an important question first: What actually is action research? Action re- what? If I understand it correctly, action research in Malaysian schools is a personal yet professional documentation of actions taken to address a problem or explore a question. Personal because the person carrying it out can decide how deep he wants to get into it. Professional because it has purpose & relevance. Teachers are not rigid or narrow minded, they are reflective &

To Teachers Unhappy About Being Posted At A Rural School

I was snooping around the Ministry of Education website wondering if there was a new SP & HSP to go with the new literature component (and boy was it hard! Nope, there aren't any new ones but the SP & HSPs were impossible to find via website navigation. I had to use google! If you're reading this MOE, plz make your website easier to navigate!) when I found this: MOE response to "Unhappy Over Rural Posting" 5 January 2010 Ministry of Education (MOE) would like to refer to an article by Disgruntled Teacher, Batu Pahat, published in The Star dated 30th December 2009 on the issue of Unhappy Over Rural Posting. When you signed up to become a teacher, it was to serve the needs of the children of the nation. Whatever their colour or creed and wherever the children need you. It was certainly not for you to serve in a school at the doorstep of your home. I feel saddened by your words: “It snuffed out my passion to teach!” My simple answer to you is “you are in the

That Feeling You Get Before Returning To School

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You know the feeling you get as the holiday draws to an end? When you think about returning to school in a short time... When you think about how school was before.. Oh, I feel it. What is the feeling? For those of you who are not teachers, I'm sure that you were students before. How did you feel when your long summer or year end holiday was coming to an end? Yup, that's what I'm feeling now... dread. I dread the amount of paperwork & weight I will have to carry during the year. I dread the naughty students that I have to discipline every time I step into the classroom. I dread the snobby or backstabbing teachers I will have to work with or see every day. I dread living in the jungle without Internet & cellphone coverage. But I go anyway... I wake up earlier than the rooster to take the early morning flight. So that I'll arrive in time for the early morning express boat. Then, I take the connecting boat ride to school. At school, I see stude