Don't Be Trashy, Let's Change

Dear blog,

For the past few days, we have been carried out a design thinking project in our school. Our school is participating in I CAN School Challenge. 

Let's make a difference! start now. together we spread the good vibes. we had come up with interactive recycling bins to solve the rubbish issue in our school. with design thinking, the children can contribute from their hearts and with love. we should play our role in preserving a better school environment for all. Congrats everyone!

Now is the time. Change is possible. We have decided to be more efficient with our project and will ask our team members support specialists and other NGOs about ways to improve this project. We need to develop a software or apps that can alert or notify everyone about the responsibilities on keeping the school clean.

This project also based on the three principles :
1. Quick Impact
2. Be bold
3. Long lasting

Just a starter

Dear blog,

Assalamualaikum wbt.

Hello there. I've not been writing anything in here since last year. I've been busy the whole year. 

There are so many things to write and to share to be honest. Just that I don't have the right time to drop my thoughts here. 

Early this week, I made promise to myself to start writing again in this blog. SO today I try my best to open it and have myself writing. I don't really have anything in mind for now, just that I feel its time fro me to write something. 

I don't know where to begin. Writing is merely expressing thoughts into something. Whatever comes to my mind, I try to put it here nicely. 

Even 2018 has not come to an end yet, but I've gone thru so many wonderful and some quite awful things thru out the year. Each year I learned many different things and experience different feelings and met different kinds of people. I feel grateful and thankful I still have my family with me every minute of the day. What do I do without them. I learned a lot about myself. Knowing who I really was. Sometimes, I too do wrong things. But that doesn't mean I have to stop forgiving myself. Well, to live this life, I need to be brave and embrace all the difficulties in life. Insyaallah, Allah will always be there to guide me thru this world. 

I think I gotta stop now, enough with the warm up.

will write again soon with a lot of things to tell about.

I will miss you everyday

Dear blog, 

I think the purest of souls, those with the most fragile of hearts, must be meant for a short life. They can't be tethered or held in your palm forever.

I'm sorry I couldn't write here for so long. I have been very busy. Busy like a bee. So much has happened over the past few months and still I hardy find any time to write.

I was badly in fever by the recent weather after I got back from Sarawak. Alhamdulillah, I recovered very fast. 

On the end of November last year, I was shocked and saddened by the news of my beloved friend Amir had an accident and passed away on that day. It was supposed to be his last day of practical and we were hoping to see him on December.But it turned out the last day we see each other was on June. He was very dear to me as I'll always remember how much fun we had and all the other sweet things we did together. 

It was Friday. It had been a normal morning and the weather was fine. I was in the class. Not noticing that I was really agigated by the time as I couldn't wait that long to end the class. I never know this thing would happened. 

Death leaves us with a heartache that no one can heal, love leaves us with a memory that no one can steal.

Rest in peace Amir. Thank you for everything. Thank you for the friendship, love, help, ups and downs, good and bad times together.... thank you for beinf my friend when I was in need. You are a trully a friend indeed. 

Towards the End

Dear blog, 

The UPSR exam was over and finally I got the time to relax and have the time for myself. What a relief. Only that, I am busy with courses, LINUS, and preparing the exam papers for the upcoming final exam.
Meanwhile, I have just finished my EPSA the online courses yesterday. I'm done with all the 12 courses and got the certs already. These online courses are replacing the PTM and induction course which the KPM said that we the new gov servants don't have to attend anymore. 

Tution? well, I'm sick and tired with tuition! I've been teaching extra classes for two years and thinking of to quit doing it. I'm honestly tired! I m very grateful since I got to stop from teaching under IBS tuition centre and I had to go to the client's house to teach their children. I don't mind to teach and share my knowledge with them but unfortunately the parents were too proud to say thank you and had no manners! I don't mind though. The parents can sometimes be so forceful and thought that I was their servants. Now that I'm free from them and don't want to do home tutor anymore!
Some students came to my house for tuition and sometimes I don't feel like doing it. So I have decided to stop. Next year gonna be tough for me and so be it! I will try to focus more on the school and my job. Extra jobs are just killing me softly. I need the time to rest and be happy with my life. 

talk again sooner.

My Convocation Day

Dear blog,

I believe that convocation day means a lot to many people. It is one of the greatest moment in someone's life, right? so as it does to me. 

I was overjoyed with everything that comes to me during 2016. I cant thank you enough to Allah for everything I have now and then. Alhamdulillah. I have successfully completed my degree programme in 2015, and still I cant forget how wonderful the feeling was, when I finally got through the ups and downs before I got my degree in my hands.

I also believe that every cloud has a silver lining. I am grateful with my life. It wasn't easy since I had to go through a lot with life and I pity my mother had to work day and night to earn a living. I don't know how many times I had been crying and those experiences made me more stonger and determined towards my life now. For what ever reasons, I'd never leave my family. To me, this convocation day was not for me, but I was there for my family, who have been there all the time to support and back me up for all these years of life.

The convo was held at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang since IPGM don't have their own big hall, so there was it, our convo. Well at least we've got a place to be celebrated at right?? 

Two days earlier, I had to attend the rehearsal before the big day come. So I went there alone. stayed a couple of nights at my friend's. Something was going on at home and it saddened me that my father couldn't be there on my big day. It was sad really. On Tuesday morning I went there with my friend and I had to wait my sister and mother to come in the afternoon. I was really worried about them. By noon, the place was full of people. I can't describe how I felt that time looking at mak and sister came to see me on that day. How can I repay them...they were all the time for me, came all the way for me... and my heart felt so sad coz people always do their best for me... and what can I do for them in return? I pray to God that please grant me with good health so that I can work hard to make a living for them from now on. Let me ease their burden and let me take care of them. I am very lucky to have such wonderful family. May Allah reward them with jannah. Ameen..

There, I got to meet up with my colleagues and other friends from other IPGs too. Actually, we didnt get the chance to spend that much time together as everyone was busy with their families and other stuffs... running here and there... the time was limited for us to meet up. But thats okay, I also were rushing for photograph-takings with my family and waiting to get inside the hall. My mum and sister were not in the hall, they were just waited patiently and watched me through the screen at the lobby. I didnt want to trouble them as the event was too long. We went inside the hall around 2.30pm and finished at 5.45pm. Just imagine they have to arrange everything for 6 days in rows. 

When we had settled everything, we were rushing to go back home. I was really exhausted and pity my sister n her kids had to wait that long till the end. We went straight home after that. Along the way back home was the time I felt this weird feeling. The feeling was different than I thought it should be. No words could describe it. The feeling that was infused with many other kinds of feelings. Maybe because of I was really tired that time. We reached home around 8.30pm and had to prepare for school the next day. I was really lucky to get the posting before the convocation day. Alhamdulillah... 

Everything that happened to me happened with God's will. Once we believe and always being grateful and have patience in ourselves, things will come easy to us.

Reading is My Pleasure

Dear blog, 

Have you ever heard that reading makes a man? I'm sure that everyone of us has been told to read since we were young. The wisdom of it pounded into us by parents and teachers from young to adulthood. I started to make reading as my hobby since I was in secondary school. I am happy as I was surrounded by people who love  to read and reading has becoming the intergral part of our society then and now. Since then, I started to trot to the library and the bookshops. I pick out the books I think I should read. 

During the college years, my passion in reading has becoming greater. I develop some other skills especially on how to 'butch' a story and make a book review more in depth. I took children literature and English Literature as my subjects during the TEsl degree programme. Though I found it difficult at first, finally I got the hang of it.

I would go to the bookstores twice a month to browse though the book shelves to find new interesting titles that might be worth for my reading.
Sometimes I always have this question in mind, 'how do we know we have picked a good book for a good read?' To me, one way of making sure of a good read is to surf the web. I'd surf the web for reviews and critiques of the books I wanted to read. This will help me to decide the value of  the books. Some reviews might be biased but at least it will give you an idea of what the book is about.






Talk again soon.
Happy reading!

Zapin Dance Workshop

Dear blog,

It has been so long since I left this blog. I was too busy with my current life as a newly grad teacher. Alhamdulillah for His blessings and the gratitude He gives me. 

There are so many things I would like to share here but I still dont have the time to write.

Well, that's okay...

Today I want to start off by writing about my current dance lesson which I recently signed in.

I was too overwhelmed by the ads my friend shared with me last month. It was the free traditional Malaysian dance workshop 2017,conducted by the intern students of UPSI in collaboration with Damansara Performing Arts Centre (DPAC). It aims to create greater awareness of performing arts through the Community Outreach Programme so as to preserve and promote Malaysian Traditional Dance forms to next generation.

For years I had been looking forward to taking part in an official dancing lesson. I had signed up for the workshop a month ago with my friend Donald. About 12 people had already signed up by then. The workshop was held at the Damansara Performing Arts Centre (DPAC). The workshop is conducted every Saturdays, 10am to 12pm. 

My first lesson went well and I learned few basic steps such as, taksim, less, kopak and few more. The next week was a little bit hard for me since the variations of the dance were confusing me. It was hard at first, but with the help of the choreographers, I could catch up with the steps and finally I got the hang of it just fine.

We had so much fun together. The dance workshops were exhausting though it was combined with a good feeling of self-satisfaction and companionship. It was truly something memorable to me this year indeed.

See you in the next entry. Bye

Unplanned trip

Dear blog,

My friend Syam asked me to accompany him to see his mak angkat in Gerik on Tuesday last week. He told me that it will be a short while only, however it turned to be few days since we both agreed to spend the other two days in Kelantan after visiting his mak. So I couldn't say word, I said yes, and there we went to Kelantan unprepared. To tell you the truth, I have never been to Kelantan before, so I was really excited to know what Kelantan is all about. We started our journey at 4.30pm from Grik and arrived in Kota Bharu at 9pm. Since we didn't really eat along the way, we decided to have dinner at the Hayaki restaurant, the one is located opposite to the KB mall building. I ordered nasi kerabu freshly made by the Kelantanese people, and the banana shake, as well as the pulut mangga. I cant find those food everyday in my place, so I thought why not if I try them. They were great! My other friend came over to meet us at the restaurant. I was so glad to meet him. After dinner, we went out to find a place to stay. We managed to get a hotel for two nights for about 80rgt per night. We checked in and put our stuffs inside, then we went out again for a lil chit chat n looking for supper. I didn't know that in Kelantan, there is not quite a place for you to hang out, I mean like, bowling, movies, karaoke n stuffs like that, just that I do like it in KB, at night you will find many stalls and restaurants along the road and many people go there to enjoy their food and drinks. Interestingly, at 2am in the morning, there is this stall called 'Nasi Berlauk Kak Chik' sells rice and some lauk packed in small paper wrapper. The nasi n lauk were delicous. If you wanna know more about it, go an google. The price is cheap, only 2.50rgt.

The next day, we decided to go to the 'Nasi Ulam Cikgu' for lunch. We woke up a bit late. I asked my other friend to join us for lunch and agreed to meet him there. On that day, KB was full of people bcoz there was a 'MUktamar' held somewhere in KB. We meet Szwan at the famous Nasi Ulam restaurant. It was scorching hot, I couldn't bear with the heat. I enjoyed my lunch with great company and what made me happy was meeting an old friend and having lunch together. Haven't done that for quite some times. I missed my college days, where we used to hang out and do all stuffs together. Now all that have gone. Nvm tho. I'm happy. After we had lunch, we bid goodbyes to Szwan and hope to meet him again next time. It was hard to say goodbye, really. It saddened me to see my beloved friend walked off and leave me. I have to bear with reality, right?
Nevertheless, we went to the Muzium and snap some pics. I dont really find the muzium is interesting, but i just like it. That's evening we went to the Pantai Cahaya Bulan and had great time with each other. It was great to have friends to share stories. Oh ya. not to forget, I got the opportunity to go to the famous 'Wakaf Che' Yeh'. I found so many interesting things there from cool T-shirts, shoes, foods, cosmetics stuffs, and so many other stuffs. What I like the most is, the stuffs are cheap and you cant find price that low at any other place. LOL! I sound so batak right?! I was just enjoying myself tho. We headed back to Perak the next day and I was so happy for having great trip with my friend. Thank you Syam for taking me with you.

My Tesl Family

Dear blog,

I'm just doing a short post today. Just to reminisce my time with them.

I don't really know how long we have been parted. But I'm pretty sure I have started to miss them. Though with all the apps n techs nowadays, it doesn't change the fact that everyone of us is busy with works so is hardly to text each other.
Hope to see u guys soon on graduation day!

See ya...

Interactive English Corner Board

Dear blog,

I have come to my senses today to share with you about my interactive board that I did during my internship at Sk Balun last year. I came about to make the interactive board since my mentor asked me to decorate their worn out English corner board. So, I decided to make it more interactive to students. Basically, this board is aimed to make students participate in using English outside of the classroom. At least the students have the channel to use their 'learned  English' in class to outside context. On the board itself, I provided some cool information and some interesting games and quizzes. I noticed that, the students liked to jot their thoughts and tried the quizzes on the board. To me, it is one way to encourage students to learn English. As a matter of fact, students need our encouragements and motivation to learn. 

Here I provide some pictures for you to take a closer look.
The board may not be as interesting as what you thought it to be, but at least I did what I supposed to be doing to provide opportunities for students to take part in an authentic language learning.

There's nothing like maintaining the English environment in school...

little things that hopefully will go a long way!

SPP Interview

Dear blog,

Been a while since I posted the last post.

I'm very grateful for having successfully done with the SPP interview for the position 'Pegawai Perkhidmatan Pendidikan Gred DG41'. Thanks to Emak and Sis for the doa and the motivations you gave me all this while. I couldn't make it without both of you. 

It was really nice to be called for the interview last Wednesday at Jabatan Perdana Menteri, in Putrajaya, precisely on the 20th April. Alhamdulillah. The interview went well than I expected. My inteview team did a wonderful job and everyone gave each other support. My utmost thanks to my interview Whatsapp group for the early and last minute sharings before the interview begun. 

I had been under a lot of pressure since I got the interview call but in all honesty, I went through it just fine. Honestly, we've been waiting for this for so long. Granted, I prepared extra hard for the interview but that's absolutely fine. Do what you have to do to get good marks and impress the panels. I executed the session  so well especially at my introduction and answer part. The only part I could have been improved was during the answer session with the SPP panel. I should have answer the question a bit longer as I gave quite short answer. Nevertheless Tn HJ Jamaluddin was satisfied with the answer that I gave. Alhamdulillah. 

The preparation for the interview reminded me of myself preparing for examinations every semester. It also reminded me of the many study weeks I had to compel myself to be in my room with notes all over the place. Indeed there are many stories to tell. One that I remember vividly was that I isolated myself into an empty room. I settled my things there and made myself comfortable for two weeks long. I did went out of the room to meet my friends n to look for food, of course! Just that, I needed a time and space for doing my crazy revision. So, to be told, I spent most of the time in the room, reading and churning the notes and books. 

The feeling of being too overwhelmed and nervous for something, had made me who I am now. I always wanted to come prepared before hands. I will blame myself for the lack of preparation. Perhaps I could take things easier next time. Breath in....breath out.... PHEEWWWwww.....

In the mean time, It was especially great to meet some friends there. Always wonderful to learn that my friends are doing well. And there I was till late afternoon with Hamdan waiting for my other friend to finish his interview session. 

All in all, I hope that everything will turn up well and I wish that the results will be soon wonderful. May Allah grant my wishes to be able to enjoy the benefits of the teaching profession. Inshaallah...

Here, I would like to share some of my early intros and some questions given by the interview panels. Enjoy.

1. Introduce yourself and tell us why you want to become a teacher.

So, my answers were simple yet okay.. 

Basically its up to you how you want to introduce yourself..

.....

....

Assalamualaikum wbt, and a very good morning to Tn HJ Jamaluddin, Madam Aina, and my fellow friends. It’s good to meet you.

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Muhd Jabar Ainal Yakkin Bn yusuf.

I am 24 years old and I’m still single. I come from Slim River, Perak.

My father is a mechanic and my mother is a full time housewife.

I have two siblings. I am the youngest of the family. 

I completed my study in Teaching English as a Second Language from Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Ipoh. Prior to that, I graduated in 2015 with CGPA 3.71.

I enjoy reading and blogging during my free time.

Since graduation, I have been working at a tuition center as a teacher.

Having done school based experience, practicums, and internship at 8 different schools; I have had exposure to the teaching field and the working environment in a school.

During my study in IPG, I joined the Art and culture club, and the Speakers’ corner club.

In 2014, I became the Vice president of the Art and Culture bureau under the Jawatankuasa Perwakilan Pelajar IPG Kampus Ipoh.

I also had an opportunity to become the secretary of the ‘Whiz Kidz’ language camp held in Kuala Kangsar last year. 

I appreciate all the experiences I’ve gained so far, they’ve made me a responsible person towards my work.

I wanted to become a teacher to be able to teach and learning at the same time. It is valuable to me as a teacher to be able to stimulate the children to learn.

I’ve always been grateful to be in this education field, I feel I should contribute what I have learnt and experienced over the years.

I believe that education is the foundation of success. Insyaallah.

...

2. Berikan pandangan anda mengenai pencapaian PPPM setakat ini.

    

    This basically a KBKK question. If you are well aware of the PPPM, and the current success towards developing the education, then it shouldn't be a problem for you. Quite easy though.

3. In line with the MBMMBI, how can you strengthen the English language in the classroom. Describe a lesson.

The third question was posted by the major panel, Mdm Aina. 

My answer was something like this; 

The English language should be taught in authentic manner. Students shouldn't be learning the language in class per se and not for the sake of exam only. The students should be able to use it inside and outside the classroom, especially to apply it in their daily life.

For example, (here I come, explaining about a lesson) hehe

In listening and speaking lesson, students can be taught on how to ask and give directions.

According to year 2 syllabus, under the 'Where Am I' topic, students are taught to ask and give directions. Eg: turn left, turn right, go straight, etc. based on what I had done in class, I brought my students outside of the class, and the activity was conducted around the school compound. Students are expected to do a listening and speaking activity by asking and giving directions to their friends. Not only that, by doing so, the students not only learn the language, but they learn how the language is used in the real life. At home for instance, they might tell their brothers and sisters on how to give directions and what not. Therefore, by providing such lesson we are able to strengthen the English language in an authentic manner. 

4. Namakan timbalan menteri pelajaran.

    

    Luckily I’ve looked up for the names before went for the interview.

    Answer:   YB Dato' P. Kalamanathan  

   (I pronounced it wrongly at first and was corrected by the panel)

We entered the interview room at 10.am and went out exactly at 10.30am. It was a relief and I was smiling when it was finally over. Be confident, present your thoughts strongly and show your passion towards the job. Inshaallah..

#patientlywaitingfortheresult

Thats all there is from me, till next time...