Restart Blogging Again

This blog title might sound familiar to you who are still following my blogs after months and years of neglection. In fact, I think ‘neglection’ is not a right word. Perhaps, avoidance?


My heart for blogging is still pretty strong and each year in my new year resolution, my hope is that I can start the passion of blogging again – just like how I did it from year 2009-2011. And then, the hope gets repeated, and repeated and repeated with (uhmm..) sadly no further action. Sigh….

So today, I told myself, “Why not you sign in to your blogger account and write something? You will start your busy work life again after today’s MC. Go and do something meaningful, for a quick one rather than sleeping all day”. Before anyone misunderstood the MC part, let me explain. I was feeling not well on last weekend and the doctor prescribed me with some medicines and 3 days MC which will end by today. I was advised (closed to warn) to stay home, rest and not to travel for more than 10 minutes journey. I had been sleeping for 2 days in a row and I think, this is one of the longest sleep I have had this year!


Hence, here I am.

I am also happy to say that I have found a little motivation to begin with when I googled search for ‘restarting blogging for blogger’ (ya… I actually googled for ideas to come back blog about this…) and I found a blog post that speak to me! The title itself is already attracting me to read ‘How I’d Start (Restart) a Blog If I Were To Begin Today’ by John Saddington.


The suggestions are straightforward and casually original too which closed to my liking. One of the key messages that I receive is to ‘keep away all form of distractions and start writing!’. He begins his point with 'Remove Technology ASAP’ which instantly ring a bell. My life now is connected to smartphone that most of my free-time I see myself replying emails, whatsapp messages (work and personal purposes), scrolling down Facebook updates brainlessly, reading Elite Daily whenever a topic interest me, play apps games (now: Criminal Investigation and Angry Bird too), instagram-ing and nothing else.

And then, I told myself… “I am so busy and I don’t have time to blog!”
Not even on the weekend because I want to rest, run errands, re-organize my stuff, meet friends or travel back to the hometown.

So on and forth that I failed to make myself to blog….
Another point that is raised up by John which I do agree with is ‘to write imperfectly’. It is pretty natural for me that I must do thing perfectly. So, when it comes to blogging, I will put high pressure on myself:

1. Must use the right choice of words
2. Blog design must represent me
3. Photo(s) must be nice
4. Look for good social networking sites to share my blog update
5. The list go on….

Besides wanting to blog perfectly, I do have fear and concern if what I post today will backfire me in the future. It started from my Counseling Ethic and Profession class when we (the students) were reminded not to post too personal stories on the internet or it will affect our professionalism. Then, when I joined the education line as a teacher, I was worried if my students will read my blog, misbehaved or attacked me in the class. Now that I join Teach For Malaysia as a teacher coach, I am worried if my team members (teachers) will see me unprofessionally? Then, what if I have children in future? Will my kids loss their respect for what I post?


Well, not that I had posted any big, juicy embarrassing story of myself (em…. as far as I remember la..). Just, a concern. There are too many examples around that I admit worried me which then, I feel tired of being a worrywarts.

I guess, this kills the joy of blogging as I spend more times of worrying or correcting what I thought is imperfect more than writing per se.

Now that I realize, I have lost 4 years worth of memory (if I continue blogging). Why don’t I blog? Sob….

Anyway, I know that this is a good call and I am grateful to be able to write my thoughts out today. Oh, and thanks to Cheesie who posted her personal experiences with blogging in her latest post. It has motivated me too to start typing again

To really think of the bright side, this blog has become a valuable platform where I have met many wonderful people, be friends in real life and still in contact with each other. Not to forget that this is also a place where Calv learn more about me and now…. we are married!


So many beautiful incidents had happened and why stop?

Photo taken at Marina Bay, Singapore on 30th Aug 2015

By the way, here is a latest photo of me in case you forget how I look. Lol... 

The Awaiting Enlightment In Siem Reap

 

About 10 days ago, I had decided to purchase flight tickets to Siem Reap, Cambodia where my friends are planning for another round of back packing experiences. It was a sudden plan when my inner self is craving for a new adventure for self-exploration and learning in a different environment, while also to accomplish my early age dream to visit Angkor Watt #oneday.

 

I am glad to made this decision as I enjoy myself in this mysterious town with a bunch of wonderful companies. I had never known that I am capable of riding on the motorbike all by myself from the airport till the backpacker homestay. It was a 20 minutes journey where we both with a hand luggage secured by his legs passing by hectares of quiet lands.

 

I did not know that I could make friend easily with other backpackers from Taiwan, Japan, Spain, China and Korea where we met in different places either in the homestay, temples, night market or restaurant.

 

I did not know that I could journal my experiences almost instantly through notebook, photos, instagram, facebook and blog. I thought, I will leave a peaceful life without technology and internet at least a week.

 

I did not know that I could be empathetic and having high sense of curiosity over the life of the local people in Cambodia. I have heard a lot of stories about life of local people in Cambodia and now, having my personal experiences has formed a richer and clearer pictures.

 

I can even connect with myself better when I am stepping into each area in Siem Reap – not just in the Angkor Watt Heritage Centre but the housing area as well.

 

And, I find peace and enlighten in Angkor Watt and I really appreciate my experiences so far. Everyday, is like a new chapter awaiting me to explore and discover more so that I can complete and collect the very chapter at the end of the day.

 

 

May these peacefulness and mindfulness in me stay longer…….

“Everyone Is A Genius, Including The Fish That Tries to Climb A Tree.

“Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid” – Albert Einstein.

 

During in my childhood, I often think that I am stupid. One of the reasons is because I hardly understood what was taught by the teachers in all subjects except Art, Music and Science. Often, I received low grades and as a result, I was streamed into back classes which were known as the C, D, E, F, G or H class.

 

There were 10 classes all together and I am glad that I was located somewhere between the 3^rd – 5^th class. Well, I was the only one who is grateful with my academic performance back then because, often academic results were being compared with my other relatives whom at similar age.

 

It was not a good experience to share because after each conversation that involved academic achievement, I will end up feeling stupid, sad and disappointed with myself. Sometimes, I will even feel hopeless with myself because I know I have been trying very hard yet, the result was not promising enough to reach the community’s expectation, especially my parents’.

 

I remembered those days when I became very desperate to succeed and asked my parents to send me to tuition classes, just like my other ‘bright’ friends. I observed and interviewed their success stories with the hope that the same story can apply on me. I hate to be left behind because that kind of feeling is really torturing and unbearable.

 

I know I wasn’t as bright as my friends, but I also know that I am not stupid because I could actually understood the content of any subject taught by my teachers. However, I had an extremely hard time to express my understanding into words during exam. This frustrated me the most.

 

I still remember how I excelled in creating the best mind-map in Kajian Tempatan subject. I still remember my ‘Mini Botanic’ project (herbs and mini plants are planted in a used plastic bottle) won the first place during school’s Science week.

 

I still remember my team members and I won the best English scrapbook because of the creative content. I still remember, my artwork was selected in a local magazine competition and won a consolation prize with my school name on the magazine page. My name was being called by the teacher in duty during school assembly to receive the rewards and being complimented for making the school proud. I still remember the name of the magazine – Tunas Sains and Rakan Sains!

 

Despite of my other achievement, I still feel that I was not bright enough to belong in the ‘smart group’ because according to the school’s test score, I was just an average person. I guess, God heard my desperation and grant me a chance to excel in studies. The year following that, I was sent to Penang to continue my standard 6.

 

My lifestyle had changed and I received more attention and opportunity at school because the number of student throughout standard 6 was only 32. Besides, I had learnt study skills from various resources such as books, role models, teachers, friends and etc. Here is my turning point where everything changed from worse to good, good to better.

 

I began to excel in examination from UPSR, PMR, SPM to STPM. Although the result was not as impressive as other top scholars, still I am thankful and grateful with what I have today because seriously, it’s not easy. For someone who is a visual and audio learner, it is challenging to express ourselves through the typical school test and examination.

 

The only way to succeed is through memorization, repetition and constant practices. These are my secret to succeed which then, granted me a chance to enter University of Malaya for Bachelor of Counseling. Since then, I am happy to call myself a passionate life-long learner because finally, I have understood the meaning and joy of learning after being a typical student for more than 20 years.

 

I do not have to memorize anymore because I have found a way to understand and connecting facts.

I do not have to bore myself to death repeating the standard answer given by people from other century (sounds like alien here uh?)

I do not have to force myself to be what I am not to please people who do not understand the principal of ‘no one size fits all’ pedagogy – just like what Albert Einstein says:

 

 

“Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid” – Albert Einstein.

 

 

Well, I lie. I am still doing it right now (though in minimal quantity). If you have been reading this whole post till here, you should know that this is actually a quarter of my assignment on Assessment and Technology Pedagogy Integration course with UUM. I could do what I like (which is to draw my thoughts and make them into video clip with special sound effect!). I am doing my assignment and that is why I have not updated my blog for few days. Well, I am applying the 4th Habit from Stephen Covey – First Thing First. Assignment is more important than blogging because it will take 25% of my coursework.

 

So, is it true that everyone is a genius?
If a fish is being forced to climb a tree or there is no possibility for survival, will it at least try? If it succeeds, will the same cycle happen to other fishes? 

 

I am the fish.

Dream Big As We Only Live Once

The theme of this post itself has already inspired me to Do More Than Dream.

Yes. The moment when I visualize and plan for the topic I want to include in each alphabet (I am still thinking about X-Y-Z as they seem to be the hardest!), instantly I could think of the theme for D.

I want to blog not just about my dream, but about my friends, my blog readers’ and my students’ dreams, and I made it! *cheerfully typing out more words on keyboard*. However, due to time issue, I will just focus in my students’ dreams.

Here is a story about what happened yesterday in the classroom:

Yesterday, I had a class with 1SP3 and was very mad with them for not finishing homework although second chance has been given. Hence, consequence was given by asking them to stand till they complete their homework. While discussing homework, some of them still showed misbehavior in the classroom which we agreed that it is an act of disrespect to the teacher and classmates, and not giving their best. Hence, action was immediately implemented where some of them had to stay back till they complete their work.

Seriously, I was real unhappy. I am thinking to myself, is this what I signed up for as a Teach For Malaysia fellow. Am I going to waste my 2 years for fellowship and receive such work from them? Will they grow and become a respected person in future that can contribute to the society? The answer is no.

 

I drove home completely exhausted after staying back for 15 minutes. Teaching is not an easy job and I realize this since last year however, I keep my faith that this 2 years of journey is going to be worth it in term of helping other individuals to grow and be a better leader for themselves. Well, I know I grow so much too in these several months.

 

I go back home feeling so restless till this morning, I decided to make a short blog about the ‘Dreams’. As I am looking at all the pictures which I had taken yesterday, a sense of happiness is formed and inspire to live my new day ambitiously.

 

Here are the photos that I meant. They were told about the Blogging A-Z Challenge and I asked if they are interested to participate because I want to feature them in my blog with the dreams they have. Most of them have low mastery in English (even numeracy too) but they told me that they want to try to write it in English. I am so touched by their effort seriously. I don’t even have the courage to try when I was at their age T.T

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I lam touched by his dream: He dreams that one day, he can confidently use English as a form of communication and enter UKM (one of the university in Malaysia).

    

 

Looking at their dreams, they have made me understand what they want and value most in their life. I am grateful to read that some of their dreams are about taking care of their parents, bringing them for holiday and live a happy family. This is something that I am looking forward too besides just a merely career ambition. They took quite long moment to think, write and decorate their paper because Ms. Kai Lee (me) told them that what they wrote will come true so they have to be really careful and serious with their dreams. Well, according to psychology, it is true. What you think will result in action.

Are their dreams big enough to be considered as Dream Big? Well, I think they are plus.. they are all beautiful dreams.. <3

What about mine?
They are seriously a lot! - to have a happy and loving marriage, have kids, write educational books, go Japan and Paris…… and they go on and on and on…


And now, as a teacher for over 400+ students, I dream that in 10-20 years time, I will see all of them living their dreams.

Because of The Determination.

Because of the determination,

 

1) I have changed my blog banner within 2.5 hours. Or probably 3.. or probably 4. Well, quoted from Sharon this morning, she said that when we are indulged in something we like, we will not be aware of the time. Yes, I truly agree with her especially when it comes to blog related stuff. I took a good long hours to adjust and resize my blog banner so that it fits the way I want.

 

For a person who has been away from the blogosphere for years, I need time to pick up with what I have left behind. Because of the determination, I succeed and make us a new look for curryegg! Yay~

 

Original photo taken by Mamak at KLCC. I love this!

 

2) I attend PGDE (Postgraduate Diploma in Education) classes in UUM KL since Monday. Most of the teachers across the country are enjoying their 1 week holiday with family and friends. However, the TFM fellows (including me) must woke up as early as 6am to fight with the KL traffic so that we can reach the building on time. Because of the determination, I pull myself hard enough to attend holiday classes… *sleep… I want sleep..* T.T

 

One of my fellow friends, Ken who was enjoying his drink while watching the KL scenery.

 

3) I captured an inspiring scene of a Form 3 student who was helping her mum in running the ‘pisang goreng’ business while a Maths book was placed clumsily on the stool with a pencil, and a scientific calculator on it. The scene was spotted when my friends and I were looking for lunch and so happened, we came across with a stall, located in between of the old buildings. There was a young girl who was sitting on the stool with an earplug attached to one of her ears, doing Maths attentively while her mum was frying banana.

 

 

I was curious with this young lady and managed to initiate a short conversation. Then, I found out that this 15 year old girl has a strong will to succeed in the coming PMR and in the meantime, she wants to help her family. Hence, she was there helping her mum while stealing opportunity to work on her studies. I was touched immediately by her boldness and secretly hoping that my students can learn from her.

Because of the determination, I found an inspiring story besides the busy road.

 

4) I have finished my assignment according to the set timeline and daily goal.  Before this, I was bad with time management and my tasks were mostly undone, hence procrastinated.  Being an adult and a teacher of 400+ students, responsibility has of course increased. There is no any reason to not show excellence when my main goal now is to educate future generation to be an accountable individual. Because of the determination, I have achieved my goals ;)

Photos from my instagram.

Food Talk @ Kuchai Lama.

With the presence of great company, drink and food.

Yeah!
These are such a great news and I am inspired to be more determined in the coming days to achieve something that can enlighten my days. Looking forward for a longer list to come so that in the end of the year, I can review my own achievement and be super duper proud with myself.

Because of the determination, I have blogged and published this post with pure joy and happiness *wink*

Inspired By FB For Making A 2012 Review

I had written my 2012 Review for almost a week in Facebook and I think it is best that I just CTLR+C and CTRL+V here. It is the beautiful memories that I wanted to share with even if you are not in my Facebook ;)

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2012 has been an amazing year. Never had I thought that it will end so quickly! What had happened yesterday was like a dream, so beautiful and meaningful.

There are so many 'first times' I encountered throughout the year 2012:

- First time having my own room
- First time being a teacher
- First time helping Calv in house moving
- First time being a DSLR user
- First time receiving salary
- First time treating my parents on expensive restaurant
- First time making doodle notes
- First time cooking for Calv Seet
- First time owning a Bamboo device!!!
- First time being crazy over Instagram (Follow me @curryegg !)
- First time having an iphone as present
- First time meeting a long-lost childhood n NS friend
- First time squeezing out all my creative juice for creative assignment.
- First time seeing my students’ drastic achievement in academic and attitude
- First time buying 24 books in a month!
- First time paying for my passport.
- First time having birdies photography session
- First time flying to oversea with Calv

Me and my TFM collabs in our traditional attire.

One of the activities that my students enjoyed the most ;)

My DSLR and I!

Sorry. Not Halal. By the way, this picture was ‘stole’ from his photo album =P

That is the exact reaction when I unwrap the present and saw the word, “BAMBOO!”

Birdies + Baby panda!

My pancake at Samed Island, Thailand~

Of course, there are other down 'First time' such as:

- First time crying in front of the students
- First time being so lost and down
- First time not blogging for 100 days!


Well, I am thankful that my good 'First times' are higher than the opposite one ;)

Of course, not to forget my highlighted first time:
- Being *cheated by a bunch of friends and relatives because of Calv.
- Being proposed under such an unpredicted circumstances
- Being hold by a ring
- Owning a custom-made diamond ring
- Having face so red and warm throughout the week!

 

Oopss.. Ok. Pretend that you have not read and seen this picture so that I can tell you more in details by continuing my Love Story Part 3.

Oh... and first time receiving so many blessing and like from you guys in FB! Thank you.

2012 was indeed an adventurous and eventful year that i will never ever forgotten. Thank you for the year and I am ready to jump on my new 2013 chapter. I know that it will be my legendary year and I shall reveal the reason day by day, till I do my another end of year reflection again.


Happy New Year and let's turn our 2013 as our canvas and be an artist to paint the way we want it to be!

***

Special thanks to:
My parents, Calv's family, my best buddies, TFM friends, LDOs, principles, teachers, students, students' parents, blog readers and you. You guys have played an important role in my life. Of course, you.. my dear Calvin. Love you all ♥

What the FROG?

I have never taken frog seriously until lately, I am paying more attention to this creature – since Thursday.

 

I am serious! Like yesterday, when I was walking in the mall to do my long-time-no-do window shopping (ever since become a teacher, I am even conscious of my own spending. So, window shopping is what I did. No different when I was a student =.= ), my eyes keep spotting Frog items such as frog mug, frog soft toy, frog bottle, frog slipper, frog handphone bag, frog keychain and frog, frog froogg.. >.<

 

Before this, my focus is more on Panda because it is my casual jokes on Calv – because his eyes really like panda when he didn’t sleep well.

 

But now.. the focus is on the green creature because lately, Teach For Malaysia fellows were being invited to attend training organized by Frog in KL to explore the possibilities for future collaboration using technology in our classrooms. Here are the badges I received from their freebies. Yay! =D

 

 
Free cute badges I received from Frog *happy* ;)

 

Doesn’t it just sound 21st Century type of workshop? If you are wondering why is FROG being mentioned frequently, I shall clear your curiosity *tune in to deep, professional voice*. Frog or known as

 

“The Frog Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) is a web-based learning system that replicates real-world learning by integrating virtual equivalents of conventional concepts of education. For example, teachers can assign lessons, tests, and marks virtually, while students can submit homework and view their marks through the VLE. Parents can view school news and important documents while school administrators can organize their school calendars and disseminate school notices via the Internet”. (Ctl C + V)

 

For more information, visit their website here.

 

And guess what? Frog is working together with Teach For Malaysia in all selected 17 schools in KL, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan. It is awesome!  Imagine the possibility of using use technology for virtual learning in the classroom. Students are engaged, their achievement improved and you become happier teacher =)

 

A random photo of our #TFM LDOs – Sarah, Giles, Sawittri and Shannon.

 

If you can’t imagine how technology is used in the typical non-conditioning classroom in Malaysia, the photo below are good examples. They were taken during Teach For Malaysia Week when Datin Kathleen visited my school at SMK Jalan Reko with the Frog team. They brought 30+ chrome books (or known as netbook), projector and own internet 4G connection from Yes.

 

It was really cool! I can imagine myself learning with teacher who use chrome book, projector and fast speed wireless in the classroom tho I will never get the chance to taste it like a student… =(

   

Behind the scene team. My students were nervous and excited at the same time with all the attention given on them. Lol…

 

We are currently at the brainstorming stage to explore, discover and work on every possibility that we think will success and helpful for both the teacher and students. The only concern I have now is, will this sophisticated idea help the students to succeed in academic? Will the teacher save more time in teaching when implementing this method? Will all these prepare the students to be a better learner? I don’t know and I would like to find out.

 

For me, I will just need a projector, a speaker and a laptop if I want to implement this virtual classroom concept. I did it before in my Form 1 Civic class and received full engagement and participants from my students.

 

 

They even came out with creative ideas that I have never thought of. Well, technology can truly enrich the experience for both teachers and students.
But why my teachers never did that on me geh? =(

 

Well, back to my 2 days training at Jalan Sentul, KL with the passionate frog teams. The experience was really fun, enriching, inspiring and touching with all the efforts given by both Frog and Teach For Malaysia teams. Our goals are aligned, and no matter how far the discussion been brought to, the end product will still FTK – For The Kids.

 

Besides FTK, there is still FUA – For Us All.. =P

 

Our breakfast, tea time and lunch were attended warmly by the team.

See. So nice their cinnamon buns with topping.

 

I have never eaten something as nice as this. They even got the best scorn in town! I wonder why they have such a great taste? I thought they just eat flies and bugs?Impressive! =D

 

In the end of the day, we did group discussions between TFM and Frog teams. We used mahjong paper to brainstorm and our final products received recognition from the Frog! We managed to make it through for Frog’s Wall Of Fame! Famous~~ * proud for no reason*

 

This is my team’s product. Everyone brainstormed and came out with idea while I wrote and drew on the paper using marker pen. I pretty like how it turned out, especially with the frog. Now I know! Must be the cute mascot of Frog that made me having a crush on the real green creature (which I never really liked before because of the mucus and it jumps!).

 

The training was so awesome that I didn’t get the chance to do my ‘eggie’s-fashionable-note-taking’. OMG! The way they presented their material using Prezie were too attractive while the presenter showed infectious  persona. As a result, my concentration was fully on them and hardly on my purple sketchbook.

 

  I leave a large space with the hope that I could doodle what I had learned in the past two days. Now I am in day 2 after the training and it still remains empty. Lol..

 

Dunno how Captain America came into the mind when the presenter gave an example of a scene. And shit! I don’t know is Captain America real name is Steve?

 

Anyway, ya.. That's all about Frog. FROG! *jump jump*

 

P/s: Should I fund raising for a projector so that my students can benefit from it? If yes, where and how can I start it?

 

P/s/s: I won a first prize for winning the highest vote for my Frog site design (not too sure what does it call =.=!) so I got a Yes 4G top up credit from Frog. Awesome! I received a dongle from Datin Kathleen during TFMweek. Now, I can have some free credit and try it out at school. Thank you Frog and Yes! Yes! =D

 

*update*
I changed the blog post title from Frog to What The Frog. Feel cuter and unique. Lol.. what the frog =P