Released At Last!

-
4.30pm, Monday, 6th of November, was the time of great release...
The red sea of Trimester 2 was parted and the slaves were taken from slavery & captivity in the Egypt of chasing assignment deadlines & stupying for exams to freedom in the promise land of the well deserved holidays!

Before my release, I had...

1. Exam

Our first & last exam was at 9.30am on Monday, 30 October.
2 hr torture of "LING221: Sociolinguistics"

During the 2hrs...
I SPENT 30 mins of it in the toilet having relieving myself on the throne!
DANK!
therefore, i did nt have the time to properly elaborate on my answers...
hoping for a B at least...

found out later that i cud actually ask for an aggregate pass or sumtin like that...
bt nah...
i think i will do better than a pass despite the circumstances!
=)

Nesa looking more relieved after handing in the paper
than i looked when i came out of the toilet!
=)


We crawled out of the lecture hall...

We werent alone...

2. School Experience

For two weeks, from 23 October to 10 November, we were posted to New Zealand Primary Schools for observation of teaching & school admin.

Except for Karori Normal School, where all 25 of us invaded at the same time, we were divided into groups of 4 to 6 ppl going into different schools.

Our first school was Karori Normal School
where we had a feel of wad a good New Zealand Primary School was like...
In this school, one teacher takes care of the one class for the whole year.

Then, i headed to Newlands Intermediate School...
Instead of being in the same classroom & waiting for the teacher to arrive (like Malaysia)
or having only one teacher (like Karori Normal)
The students here change classrooms & teachers for different subjects.
This is the class that i was assigned to...
They are heavily influenced by wreslting & r very very disruptive in class...
Very entertaining! =)

Clyde Quay School was my last school...
This school has got one teacher for each class for the whole year (like Karori Normal).

This is my kind of school!
The kids here play football all the time!

Of course i cudnt resist joining them...

I actually played football with students in ALL THREE schools i visited!
Although they were all amateur players...
I HAD AN AWESOME EXPERIENCE!!!=)

How can i escape for work?
There was a 10 page portfolio to complete at the end of the school experience...

Our final debriefing was on Monday, 13 of November, where we did some discussion of wad we observed & comparing it to wad is in Malaysia & wad do we do wif wad we hav learnt.

Loved the kids...
Loved the football...
Splendid... Just splendid...

3. Catch-Up Task

On Friday, 3 November, i met my lecturer, John Macalister, to come up with a catch-up task for the one & only workshop that i missed...
I was at the verge of failing my "ALIN202: Language Curriculum Design" paper just because of ONE missed workshop... a course requirement is attendance of ALL workshops...

It wud b a really bad waste of money & hardwork as i put in a lot of effort in the paper & i expected nothing less than an A for that paper...

Therefore, I wrote a 4 full page report on curriculum design similarity & difference between the schools i visited & handed it in at 4.30pm Monday, 6 November...
RELEASE!!!

---------------------
Summer Plans

So... wad will i b up to in da holidays?

1. Work
I wana fill up my free time with money making...
since my work permit doesnt allow me to start my own business...
I shall work to prosper another person's business!

2. Holiday in Auzzie
This is definately something im looking forward to...
ONE MONTH IN AUSTRALIA!!!
14 December to 16 Jan
Visiting Bribane > Sydney > Melbourne!

3. Finding Apartment
I need to look for a place to stay for the whole of next year...
Any1 know any 3 bedroom apartments available?

4. 5-a-side Football Tournament: Twilight Soccer
As some may know, im playing for the 8-man strong orange Wellington Malaysian Student Organisation team in a 5 on 5 football tournament happening every Thursday, 5.30pm.

5. Jogging
I picked up a NZ$300 Asics running shoe so i better be using it...
Running every morning...
JOIN ME!!!
im desperate for company...



----------------------------------------------------------
Keep me in ur prayers...
Even one short prayer will really make a difference!

Thanks in advance!
=)

GBU!!!

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 »

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 »

A Review of Mosquito Coils In The Market

-
Image
Mosquito coils = The first line of defence against savage jungle mosquitoes. Remember when there was completely no electricity at my school ? It happened during the dry season so the nights were really really warm & hard to sleep with the windows closed. Why close the windows you ask? Because if you don't close the windows, the savages from the jungle will climb in & suck your blood! Literally! I'm talking about swarms of mosquitoes gang-banging your skin & leaving you with clusters of chickenpox-like bumps on your skin in the morning! These guys even bite through clothing!! The itchiness that ensues will practically ensure that you never have a good night sleep. In order to keep those monsters at bay, I had to go really low-tech. I eventually experimented with mosquito coils. There are so many in the market & I thought that all of them worked the same since they had the same basic ingredients. I was wrong. They had different effects on the mosquitoes &am
Open Full Post »

Exotic Fruit: Buah Isu

-
Image
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
Open Full Post »