Of homework and teachers

Two interesting ideas/comments that came out of a teachers meeting some time ago; I thought I'll post it up here for you to read, ponder as well as comment and for me to return to one day to write about it or to make a study and then act on it. Here it goes:

1. Purpose of homework:

• preparation for what's coming
• practice for what's been taught
• provocation for creative ideas/solutions

2. Teachers look after the

• lost
• least
• last

(so forget about wanting good students to teach . . .)

Balance for Success

According to Mahatma Gandhi, the seven things that will destroy us are

1. wealth without work
2. pleasure without conscience
3. knowledge without character
4. commerce without morality
5. science without humanity
6. worship without sacrifice and
7. politics without principle

Balance IS important and Gandhi hit it on the head with his observations. Good on you Gandhi and to the rest of us, make sure you have both of each. Success!

(This information came from Tessie Lim in her article "Tale of seven desires" published in Sunday People, New Sunday Times)

Successful Seminar

On the 20th of September I was given an opportunity to speak to over 200 students from Universiti Teknologi Mara, Office Management and Technology Faculty, Kuching, at the Grand Continental Hotel.

Organized by the Grandeur group (Part 4 students), the seminar entitled “Journey to a Successful Life” provided me with an excellent opportunity to present a module I’ve prepared and used in the past. The two hour talk went smoothly as the students were motivated to listen and I was excited to share.

In short, the students learnt that in order to live a successful life they had to:

a. Desire to live and to live successfully
b. Know the rules of success
c. Have instructors (mentors) to guide them on the journey
d. Experience many tests – some to fail them, some to help them move up
e. Continuously practice – create habits of success

Everyone involved were very helpful and courteous, well dressed and well mannered. I am thankful for the gifts given and even the chance to break fast with all the participants – the food was delicious.

At this seminar, I also introduced my latest book “Dapatkan Semua Yang Anda Mahu” and many of the students were happy to fork out the RM2.50 needed to get hold of another book that will help them along the journey to a successful life.

My latest book - email me to get a copy or help me distribute it

Alls well when its in the open

I went clean with my students (of the last posting) and was surprised to hear that most of the 'fault' did not lie with me. Instead it was the subject, the time and the condition of the students.

Even so, I could have made things better if I improved in the following areas:

• change of goal - from giving information to know in order to pass exams to information to discover and improve general knowledge
• lessen amount of me talking and increase more ops for students to talk
• use of multi-media

It's good to correct my wrong thinking - instead of blaming myself to finding what I can change to improve and then doing it. May this class be better next year with the changes I will be making - for my sake and sanity!

A desire too far to be achieved?

I am once again in the pit of despair, all huffing and puffing about a condition I am so terribly upset about – the open rejection and apathy of some students.

I have come to my end in being patient with them, in believing the best of them, in giving them a zillion chances.

I trudge on every week, trying to get their attention and participation but its all in vain. I have given up . . .

I feel so discouraged and angry – this is the first time where I have been rejected, humiliated and disrespected by a collective group of students. I feel such a failure and am so angry with myself for not being able to get the interest and attention of the class, what more to help them learn some interesting and helpful information.

I am also concerned and saddened at the level of apathy shown by the students. It is indeed the world of the handphone, the ipod and the internet. Their whole world rotates these items, creating a make-believe world – the world of the internet, the world of music and the world of hedonistic debauchery. And if these are the leaders of tomorrow . . .

My only prayer is that the world (the real world) will come down hard on them soonest, awakening these students from their tranquilized state to the issues and important things of life so that they can be truly great and good. May they have the qualities of the great men and women of the past, worthy of awe and respect for truly great reasons and not because of the song and dance they can do, the cool parties they can hold or the useless victories from cyber games they constantly play.

(The contents of this post have been changed to meet a request from someone whom I respect and am under authority to . . .)

A lesson on fear

The day I dreaded finally arrived by no choice of mine. The last tooth on my upper left jaw finally decided to leave – it began to wobble and the gums surrounding it became sore; not to mention the pain it produced that travelled through every tooth.

I picked up all the courage I had, waited patiently for my turn to see the doctor (3 hours) and finally got the tooth extracted.

Why all the fuss? In one word – PAIN or better still the fear of imagined pain.

And that was what surprised me in the end – it wasn’t anywhere as painful as I had imagined and made it to be.

First the gum area surrounding the rogue tooth was sprayed with an ice cold burst of something from a small can which looked something like a mini mosquito spray can. I assumed this was to numb my gums. Then the dreaded long needle appeared. As I braced myself for searing pain from the stabs made with the needle, I felt a one second sharp bite sensation and that was it – the doctor had jabbed me several times but I felt almost nothing. After waiting for several minutes, the famous metal pliers appeared. “Raise your hand if you feel any pain” the doctor instructed as she grasped my tooth. I waited for the pain, the tugging and pulling, the grunts from the doctor as she struggles to dislodge my tooth. Instead there was nothing and a few seconds later I hear her say: “OK, it’s done.” And that was it.

This is definitely a classic example of what fear really is – a false perception of an expected evil based on past experiences that are no longer valid. My childhood experiences of painful tooth extractions were no longer real and dentistry has progressed so much since I was in that school dental clinic in Terengganu. I guess I have to update my information and paint better scenarios in the future. I’ll need it because I know this will not be my last visit to the dentist.

I Spoke . . .

In the last few weeks I have had two great opportunities to speak.

The first was on Sunday, May 25, 2008 at 3:00pm at bing! coffee in Kuching at an informal event named Words-Worth! It is a spoken word event, organised to showcase the creative talent of wordsmiths in and from Kuching. I was one of the few feature performers (the others were Robert Raymer, Azreen Zahira, Victor Lim, Georgette Tan). I had the opportunity to read aloud a few pages from my latest book (to be published My Monkey Year). It was nerve wrecking (my first time) but was a learning experience and an eye opener. Click here to read a brief write-up of the event.

Then I was in Kuala Lumpur from the 6th - 8th of June for a Youth Cocert/Seminar where I was the key speaker for the two nights and I also conducted two workshops on Saturday (Dealing With Peer Pressure and Purity In A Boy-Girl Relationship).

From the comments of two bloggers (click here and here to read their blogs) it seemed to have been well received. The organisers also verbally expressed their pleasure. I'm thankful God has helped me speak well and bless many.