Walking In NYC With SMPKV Indahpura

-

Recently, I took the students of a Malaysian secondary school on a video walk at Gantry Plaza State Park, one of my favorite parks in the city (mainly due to its inspiring view of the Manhattan city skyline). I posted the video on YouTube (for the teachers to show to their students on a big screen, as YouTube accepts more than double the video resolution of...) & Facebook (where a majority of my audience resides).

To think that it started 2 months ago with a simple Facebook message from Cikgu Zaidah, a PK at SM Pendidikan Khas Vokasional Indahpura. At first, I was very intrigued as I had never seen a school with that acronym before. I looked up the school on their website & found out that it's a secondary school providing vocational skills training to students with disabilities (deaf/blind/mute). Besides BM, BI, Math, & P. Islam/Moral, students are trained in either housekeeping, reflexology, culinary arts, cosmetology, & desktop publishing.

I found myself immediately thinking about the school also offering courses in computer engineering like what Kenzie Academy, which is co-founded & run by a Malaysian, is doing for the Rust Belt States in the USA. These students may have disabilities, but their mental faculties are just as sound as those without.


It's refreshing to find a PK who thinks of me & wants to help me save time & effort.

Check out the messages I received from Cikgu Zaidah who took the time to explain the school & the efforts of the teachers at her school to encourage their students to improve in English. Her positivity was contagious. Never once did she lament about her work/students. Students were described like any parent would gush about their children. Immediately, I got a sense that she genuinely cares about her students & wants to do something special to inspire them. As a teacher myself, how could I resist joining such a worthy cause? It must be such a joy to work at that SMPKVIP!

The teachers & students make videos to introduce their school to the world!
Check out the video & like/share it please!

I would occasionally get messages like these highlighting the achievements of the students.
It really made me feel like a part of the SMPKVIP family! I was so proud that Tabung Haji held an event at their restaurant.
Keep it up, SMPKVIP! Come back again, Tabung Haji!

Needless to say, the food looked amazing, especially, these empanadas. So proud of the students!
Also, I miss Malaysian food so so so much!

As you can see from the first message, I was given a lot of creative freedom. I could do as little as I wanted. Honestly, I got a sense that all they wanted was just my double-chin yapping away in front of a camera. Heck, I can do that anytime, anywhere. I'm in friggin' NEW YORK! Concrete jungle where dreams are made of! I had to do something with that! Thus, the idea of introducing the students to one of my favorite landmarks was born.

However, I was using an iPhone 6s which had a horrible battery life & an inadequate camera (for my standards). I actually went to the park 3 separate times for 3 different video shoots with 3 different sets of equipment. I didn't want to let the kids down, especially since the entire school will be viewing the video, so I purchased a used Pixel 2 (currently the best camera on a phone).

I have never used an Android before (as my only smartphone experience were with the iPhones 5 & 6s), but I was willing to take the plunge as I couldn't afford an iPhone, Samsung, or DSLR that rivals the Pixel 2's ability to take videos. Together with the phone, I also upgraded my audio equipment by purchasing a budget lavalier mic & wind muff. I noticed a lot of shake in the videos I took (as I was recording myself walking & talking with the camera in my hands) so I purchased a budget gimbal (ZhiYun Smooth 4) too. The gimbal has yet to arrive so I had to do without it in the video I made for the school.

All in all, I spent about $635 on equipment + countless hours researching the location/planning/shooting/reviewing/reshooting/reviewing/reshooting again/reviewing/learning how to edit/editing/publishing. It was a worthy investment as I will be using the equipment for the few years & also work on improving my vlogging skills. One day, I hope I get to be as good as my vlog idol, Cikgu Hailmi. Check out the video below...


Dear SMPKVIP, I hope you liked the video & found them useful. Please respond to the 3 questions I left for you. You can do so in writing (in the comments) or with a video response. I'd love to hear back from you! Finally, I would definitely love to visit your school one day, if you'll have me. Do give me a fabulous makeover when I visit so I can be the prettiest teacher out there. All the best & keep practicing your English!

Popular posts from this blog

What To Do When Your Unifi Service Suddenly Drops

-
Image
After finally putting my kid to sleep, I was about to settle into the couch with my wife & stream a movie, when my Unifi fiber optic internet connection suddenly dropped. When it didn't come back after 1 hour, I realized that I had to do something. Considering that I pay my bills promptly every month, it must be a technical issue. Here's what I did to fix the problem. It look me less than 20 minutes. 1. First, I checked my modem (the white machine). I checked the lights on the modem. When the modem is functioning properly, lights will be on for POWER, PON, LAN1 & TEL1. If the red light for LOS lights up, call 100 to resolve the issue. Also, I made sure that all the wire connections were tight. 2. Next, I checked my router (the black machine). Again, I checked the lights. When the router is functioning properly, lights will be on for POWER, GLOBE, WIFI, LAN1. My POWER light was blinking, so that means that there was no internet connection. Again, I made sure th
Open Full Post »

Understanding The New SPM (2021) English 1119 Paper Format

-
Image
This outline & those of other SPM language papers were made publicly available on the Lembaga Peperiksaan Malaysia (LPM) website . I'm sure you've seen the above being circulated on the internet. But, what does it mean? How does this paper compare to the current SPM paper for English? Do we have to change our testing practices in Form 4? At this moment, information is sparse despite great public interest. As the head of the English panel at my school, my Form 4 colleagues will come to me for what to do & parents will ask me what this is about. Until we have very specific instructions from the ministry, this is what I will be telling my colleagues & parents based on the limited amount of information available to me from my intimate experience with the current SPM paper & second-hand information about the PT3 English paper. Let me know if I got anything wrong or if you have more detailed information.
Open Full Post »

The Millennial Trains Project: A Transcontinental Conference On Tracks

-
Image
from millennialtrain.co Whoever designed this cabin is a genius!       I am very honored to announce that I will be one of the 50 millennials accepted into the very selective  Millennial Trains Project  (MTP). This year, there are 2 journeys with 25 participants each: Change & Unity . Basically, the MTP is a whole new way to conference. Participants take part in talks & workshops from distinguished mentors inside a metallic retro train slowly moving across the US. We'll be able to pick the best minds in the US. Furthermore, the train will also make several stops along the way where participants will get the chance to learn from local leaders/organisations as well as run a personal project during those stopovers. My project involves going to  Pittsburgh ,  Chicago ,  Albuquerque ,  Kansas City , &  Los Angeles : 1) Learn about efforts to bridge disparities in education with at-risk communities (low income, minority, refugee, immigrant, etc). I will visit ind
Open Full Post »

How To Fix Logitech Options Not Loading

-
Image
I use a Logitech K380 bluetooth keyboard at home & love it to bits. Very quiet & the tactile response is just perfect. Also, it's super small so easy to put away when I need to pile exam papers on my desk. Still, there's one small problem though... It is a compact keyboard so the multimedia buttons double as function keys. I use the function keys A LOT & it's really cumbersome for me to have to hold the "fn" button every time I want to use them. I.e., try pressing alt+fn+f4 with one hand. Thankfully, with the Logitech Options software, I can default to the function keys. A few months ago, I was chagrined to learn that my keyboard had spontaneously returned to factory settings. "No problem", I thought. "I'll just change the settings in Logitech Options." Only to find that the app wouldn't load on my Windows 10 machine, resulting in the blank window you see screen-captured above. "Let me try reinstalling." Uni
Open Full Post »

Salam Aidilfitri

-
Image
taken from nizam83.wordpress.com Eid ul-Fitr is Arabic for 'festivity for the breaking of fasting'. Those of you who have no idea should really click to read about it from Wikipedia . Any Malaysians who have no idea what I'm talking about should really go & jump from the tallest building you can find. Seriously. Shoutout to my IPBA-rian dudes & dudettes! Shoutout to my Kuching futsal kakis & buddies & buddettes! Shoutout to my fellow bloggers! Shoutout to all you Malayisans studying overseas! Finally, a shoutout to the Muslims in Malaysia! You guys, enjoy the festivities! Being the inspirational & influential & responsible & great teacher I am, I'll be here in the middle of nowhere watching over my wide-eyed & innocent students as they study for SPM & PMR. Sorry for not sending any SMSes, ya? No line mah! Can save money oso! hehehe~~ I'll be back at home on Monday evening & will be visiting my Muslim fr
Open Full Post »