Jarod Yong

When I look back upon the year, I'd stay that beyond my duties as a chief warden, I played a very large part in shaping this year's PMR students. Close inspection of my methods reveals my underlying beliefs in developing these students to face high-stakes examinations. Méthode #1:  Year-long Brainwashing Need I say more? Many administrators & teachers think that one hit wonders like Motivation Camps or Guru Pakar Lectures are good enough to motivate or push students to do better. These programmes are great & they do provide a short-term injection of enthusiasm. However, I do feel like an ongoing programme throughout the year would be more effective . It's human nature to procrastinate & this is especially rampant in today's microwave generation .  Humans need reminders & constant engagement to stay focused . With so many subjects & so much to cover, the preparation should actually begin from Day 1, if not earlier. That is what I d...

STPM 2013 Semester 1 exams were over last week & now the STPM 2012 exams are coming up next week. Basically, the new STPM students (with their first intake this year) will have 1 STPM exam every semester. Previously, under the old STPM (which will run for the last time this year) had students sit for 1 heavy exam at the end of 3 semesters. As a Head Invigilator, I had to instruct my invigilators on what to do & what to say. All of this is really high stakes & protocol heavy as any slip up might end up in complaints or complications. Instead of just yapping & yapping away at my invigilators, I decided to come up with a guide & a step-by-step script of what to say. I developed a guide by compiling key points taken from a Head Invigilator's meeting I attended in Miri recently, the 2 guide books I was given & my prior experiences invigilating PMR & SPM. I piloted this during the STPM 2013 Semester 1 exams last week & improved on it. I wi...

Tuan/Puan, Dengan segala hormatnya, perkara di atas dirujuk. Tujuan surat ini bukanlah untuk bercerita tentang keinginan saya untuk menjaga orang-orang tua saya ataupun mengikut jejak isteri dan anak saya. Saya tidak akan berkongsi tentang kesukaran yang saya hadapi di sekolah pedalaman dan betapa lama saya telah berkhidmat di sana. Semua itu adalah sebahagian daripada cabaran saya sebagai seorang pendidik. 2.  Bagi pengetahuan tuan/puan, saya merupakan seorang guru opsyen Bahasa Inggeris yang boleh ditempatkan dimana-mana sekolah. Maka, saya mengharapkan bantuan daripada pihak tuan/puan, seorang pemimpin dalam JPN yang nampak gambaran besar untuk mengurniakan  saya  cabaran yang baharu. 3.  Saya hanya meminta untuk diberikan satu matlamat di mana-mana sekolah negeri ini, dan sokongan penuh dari pihak tuan/puan untuk melaksanakan misi ini. Saya hanya berharap untuk berkhidmat dibawah seorang pemimpin yang berwibawa. Saya ingin berjasa untuk ibu pertiwiku dan sa...

I have always had a heart for at-risk students. I have many friends who were at-risk students at school &, sadly, they were often misunderstood or falsely accused thanks to preconceived notions. The more that they were falsely labelled, the more that they stopped bothering to prove otherwise. In the end, they embraced & labelled themselves as they have been labelled by a harsh & restrictive education system. That's why so many of them became tough nuts to crack & they lashed out at people trying to 'help' them. At my school, the students are so malleable & respectful of teachers. Still, there are students who have less than desirable behaviours. Instead of punishing them all the time or expelling them from school, I decided to put myself out there & experiment with a new way to reach out to them. I'm no expert, but I think some fundamentals in human behaviour are: - guys socialise via activity. we cant sit down & talk all day like wom...