Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts

IN THE MIDST OF CHAOS ... there is peace and serenity




 Salam and good day,

Here I am again, ready to begin another semester. Seems like just yesterday I finished teaching the third semester. 

This semester, instead of online teaching, (which I have sort of gotten used to by now), the university wants us to do hybrid lesson. Hybrid, meaning, a combination of online and face to face lesson., ie: 50% of each. Sounds simple enough. Well, it is anything but simple. 

The 50% face to face and online only applies to students' learning time, 

For the lecturers, its actually 100% face to face, but in the face to face class, only 50% of the students will be physically present and the remaining will have it as an online lesson. That's one scenario. I know. It's complicated.

Anyway, the hybrid lesson consists of six different scenarios based to the actual number of students who are physically on campus and those who are not. Therefore, if I have six sections to teach, and unluckily, have six different scenarios, well... chaos would be an understatement. I'm literally heading into a storm. 

The bright side is this coming semester would be my second last before I'm off to my retirement. Sooo looking forward to it. I'm  just too old for this mode of teaching.

Speaking of storm, it's October now, and we can expect a visit from our dear friend, the North East monsoon in a few weeks. Yes, Mr Monsoon will come with abundance of rain, leaving a trail of destruction in its path. That gives me an idea for a November poem. Hopefully, I will have the time to think about it, you know, with all the chaos.

But, for now, I need something soothing... here it is...


Despite, the title, My Melancholy Blues, This song is not at all depressing. It is the most peaceful and serene song ever.


related post : death-on-two-legs-dedicated-to.

3MT - SLIDE ... dos and don'ts


We had a workshop for our 3 minute thesis participants yesterday. My slot was on how to come up with a single static slide for the presentation. I'm putting my notes here for safekeeping... LOL 

DO NOT ...

  1. use text and complicated graphics
  2. rely 100% on your slide to convey your message
  3. use bullet points
DO ...


  1. use a single readable sentence that the audience can refer to if they get a bit lost
  2. choose one 'hero' image or diagram
  3. add some personal touches
  4. use visuals that appeal to our senses 
  •  The title can be in the form of a question or the actual title of your research.
  • Try to use a metaphor or an analogy that can help explain your research
  • your slide should create a deeper understanding of what you are talking about.
  • keep it simple - your slide should be CLEAR, LEGIBLE, CONCISE.  in other words ... 
LESS IS MORE 

EVER BEAT ANYBODY WITH YOUR BARE HANDS?

Salam and good day.                                          

 EVER BEAT ANYBODY WITH YOUR BARE HANDS? 

 many times.... I wish.                                        
 I say... I wish because I view myself as being evolved and civilized. As someone who is able to put her primal reaction under control and put into action her reflective reaction.                                                                
 But... Sometimes I find my reflective reactions quite unsatisfactory. I would like to think that it is because... Deep inside me lies a warrior... A warrior who craves the physical satisfaction of a primal reaction.     

To quote Candice Bergen in ' Boston Legal'    ' I certainly believe in evolution.                        Who here among us while watching the presidential debate could deny that we all come from monkeys.' Haha... Spoken like a true lawyer.                  

 Today... I shall try to satisfy the warrior inside me.... Without any pain.          

the patung says... I AM A GURU BAHASA

Salam and good day.

We meet again. this month is a bit hectic... even though it is our three months semester break... most of us Guru Bahasa (Language Teachers)... not lecturers... big difference there... anyway... Guru Bahasa have to teach semester 0... which started as soon as the term ended. so... no break for us...

On top of that... most of us are also involved in developing the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) module, Get Into Grammar programme etc. why is it always the same bunch of people ie; language teachers that are asked to do all the work... where are the lecturers? They have 3 months of free time since they do not have to teach semester 0... so... what are they doing? why aren't they involved in all the programmes? why is it always us Language Teachers.

Is it because they are lecturers and I am a Guru Bahasa? Lecturers do not teach diploma students because their qualifications are higher than a guru bahasa? seriously?  I can accept that, if all lecturers are Phd holders, but most of them are not... the have a masters degree... well ... so do I... the only difference is that they are lecturers... they have less teaching hours to give room for them to do research... so they say... therefore... less teaching hours and more pay... whereas a guru bahasa gets more ( a lot more) teaching hours... and still they want us to do reasearch...  most guru bahasa have around 14 - 20 teaching hours per semester... and we are also subject coordinators, we have to handle projects like... Reading Circle Programme, GIG Programme and a few others which I cant remember. If all these are done by Guru Bahasa... why do we need to have lecturers? They don't do anything anyway.

I dont mind the teaching load... I am a Guru Bahasa after all... we are supposed to have more teaching time than lecturers... and more teaching hours means less time to do research. which is fair... because.. I love teaching... but I do not like to do research.... and doing research for the sake of fulfilling our KPI? ... no quality?... just quantity?

Hence,  now... ... there is really no difference between a Guru Bahasa and a lecturer... we are forced to do research, have publications, become subject coordinators, project leaders... whereas some lecturers are not even subject coordinators... not involved in research... still they have less teaching hours and more pay.

Like I said, I love teaching... that is why I became a language teacher. If I wanted to do research, I would have become a researcher instead. So there!

ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE ... play the game

17.12.09
place: Mini Theatre Pusat Bahasa
event: Bengkel MPK dan FM
bersama semua staff akademik Pusat Bahasa


turn saya untuk present. saya ok je....

saya ke depan...senyum...present
buka untuk Q&amd;A...mostly...saya suruh boss jawab...LOL
senyum lagi...ended the presentation...

piece of cake...

balik ke tempat duduk...
kawan2  komen...

#1 wah...kak mala...relax je masa present...tak nervous ke?

nervous?...ala...semua orang je kat dalam tu
kalau ada harimau mungkin saya nervous kot...

#2...kak mala...masa present...muka ilmiah gila...
muka ilmiah?....hmm....




All the world's a stage, babe...

Salam Maal Hijrah untuk semua. :-)

UMP - konvokesyen ke 4 - 04.10.2009

Majlis Konvokesyen Komemoratif UMP... SULTAN PAHANG dapat ijazah kedoktoran Civil Engineering...

Saya cuma terlibat dalam perarakan akademik saja...tapi tengok gambar, macam saya yang grad...kan?
dengan Mei Ling (guru bahasa Mandarin)

menunggu di library

Gee dan Sarah (guru bahasa Inggeris)

jejaka2 Pusat Bahasa Moden dan Sains Kemanusiaan

.event ni lebih kurang macam raya la...setahun hanya sekali...tahniah buat semua graduan.

ICONHCD ... anyway the wind blows

esok...i mean hari akan bermula lah International Conference on Human Capital Development (ICONHCD) anjuran Centre for Modern Languages and Human Sciences...(saya punya department la tu)...UMP....bertempat di Swiss Garden Resort and Spa, Kuantan....

tak jauh dari rumah saya...UMP lagi jauh. maknanya, dari pukul 8 hingga pukul 5 saya perlu berada di sana, selama 3 hari... 

Saya, originally, dibawah committee special task...dengan en Baihaki, en Musab dan en Adnan (boss). Kami ni, konon2nya macam SWAT la... 

tapi, tiba2 saya ditarik ke bahagian registration, sebab mereka tak cukup orang...huhuhu...kena duduk di front desk, dan berdepan dengan participants dan presenters dari berbagai negara...dan perlu senyum selalu... actually, that's not a big problem... 

Masalahnya, esok (hari ni) front desk perlu pakai batik.

...erk...batik? mana saya ada baju kurung batik...kata saya... 

ala, kalau gitu you pakai je kain batik ala2 sofea jane dalam perempuan, isteri... tu...sure havoc...kata mereka...

huh...tak pernah mati kah dia orang ni....minda saya mencelah. 

Bukan saya tak ada baju batik, tapi bau batik saya adalah baju kebaya...agak sexy by my standard...
so,...saya akan pakai baju kurung bercorak batik, tapi bukan batik..boss sure tak perasan nya. 

oh...and malam esok ada dinner plus perasmian...rasanya, saya nak skip saja dinner tu. 
majlis2 rasmi dan berprotokol ni sangat tidak sesuai dengan jiwa saya yang bohemian.
.bohemian?...apa tu...:-D...
ala...lupa nak gosok baju...


anyway the wind blows, babe....

MERCURY RISING.


selasa: 28. 04. 09

ok...I'm off to N9...meninggalkan bumi Darul Makmur tercinta...menuju ke arah marahari tenggelam...huhuhu...

sambil dengar lagu matahariku...

dengarlah matahariku... suara tangisanku
ku bersedih...kerna panah cinta menusuk jantungku

ucapkan matahariku...puisi tentang hidupku
tentang ku yang tak mampu...menaklukkan waktu...

alamak...emo pulak...

ok la...nak memecut di lebuhraya....stress level tahap 1 and rising fast..

jangan rindui aku... :-)

kerna terpaksa?...you bet...

isnin: 27. 04. 09

esok aku terpaksa ke N9 bersama warga Pusat Bahasa Moden dan Sains Kemanusiaan, UMP, untuk program

KURSUS KECEMERLANGAN DALAM PEMBINAAN PASUKAN KERJA (EXCEL TRAINING RESORT LENGGENG NEGERI 9) 28 - 30 April 2009

terpaksa pergi, walau aku tak mahu, kerana aku gagal memberi alasan yang rasional kenapa aku tak boleh pergi...

i guess, the fact that my 3 children will be home alone...and i mean alone...just the three of them at home...thats not rational enough,...also the fact that I'm the one who sends them to school every day...seems to be totally irrelevent...

ok...to be fair...sebab sebenarnya ialah aku memang tak berminat untuk pergi, sebab tempatnya terlalu jauh...yang lain2 tu cuma alasan semata2...

anak2 aku ok je tinggal bertiga kat rumah...mereka semua memang tabah dan independent...aku je yang agak kurang tabah...huhuhu...and Lily boleh hantar adik2nya ke sekolah sewaktu aku tak ada...tak hendak seribu dalih...kan?

aku dah bahagikan tugas2 mereka...

Lily is in charge of food and transportation...ie: pastikan ada makanan di rumah...kalau malas masak, beli, dan hantar adik2 kesekolah pada sebelah pagi.

Jamee is in charge of housekeeping...dia memang suka kemas2 rumah ni...

Izat is in charge of the garden...ie:...siram pokok bunga...hehehe


so...esok aku akan tinggalkan anak2 ku di tangan takdir...aku yakin, takdir tak akan berlaku kejam terhadap mereka...dan aku tahu, kau juga sedang memerhatikan mereka...kau akan jaga mereka kan?

aku...guardian angel don't fail me now...


kita hanya merancang...

Out goes the lecturer - kalau aku?

this is from an email i received...


A UNIVERSITI Sains Islam Malaysia lecturer who passed only four out of 157 of her law students claims she was forced to resign so that the university could protect its reputation, Kosmo! reported.

Nor (not her real name) said the reason she left was because she could not stand the pressure from the university management on her to give “sympathy marks.”

“How am I to give extra marks if the marks they got is what they should be getting?” she said, adding that her downfall started when she received a show-cause letter on why so many students had failed.

She was then criticised by her superiors, who also wanted her to add marks based on attendance so as to reduce the number of failures.

“I stood my ground. How could I give them marks for that when it is their responsibility to show up for classes?” she added.

The university declined to comment.

aku...bukti kecemerlangan pendidikan???...you go girl!!!

TER 'BEST' DAN TER 'CUTE'

Best...saya dapat chocolate...student  yang beri...Najiha namanya...student electrical and electronics...thank you love...
katanya sebab madam lecturer ter 'best' dan
ter 'cute'....hehehe...ter 'best' tu ok lagi...ter 'cute?"...erk...
tapi, perempuan di UMP memang semua cute...

LAST WEEKEND

Last thursday, saya dapat sms dari Life is a journey...

katanya  i akan pergi ump esok, untuk debat NC...kalau u terlibat, boleh la jumpa... 

saya reply... memang I terpaksa terlibat... 

dia reply semula...  kata u tulis your own destiny...etc...etc.. 

saya balas.. .ala...u tu, kata kuantan dah jadi dunia asing..etc...etc...
 
ada la lagi dua tiga sms bidas membidas lepas tu... biasa la...pendebat...

dari kiri...Mr Final, Notasi, Shahrul adzuan, Life is a Journey (berdiri) dan Law.

anyway, inilah aktiviti saya last weekend...menjadi hakim untuk Debat NC UMP...ok la...seronok juga ...sebab dah setahun saya meninggalkan dunia debat...dan seronok dapat jumpa semula sahabat2 lama  eg: life is a journey, hanya sebuah notasi dan coretan seorang putera (semua nama blog). 

Mereka semua adalah alumni debat ump...datang untuk jadi hakim ...plus...Shahrul adzuan, alumni debat UUM...(dia memang budak kuantan...dan skrg kerja di kuantan), serta Fuad...alumni debat USM...budak Penang, skrg kerja di HTAA Kuantan....

semuanya saya dah lama kenal...oh lupa pula  Mr Final (juga nama blog)...tahun ni dia pun jadi hakim...hehehe...last year, dia urusetia...kerana debat NC hanya untuk pendebat2 junior atau yang bukan pendebat sahaja... the year before that, dia peserta...next year....???

Notasi, Shahrul Adzuan, Life is a journey
Nadiah (programme Manager) dan Mr Final aku, Q, Cactus, Organik

Saya just beritahu the winning team je la...tu...yang bergambar dengan saya diatas adalah  pasukan debat yang mewakili Kelab Kebudayaan dan kesenian UMP...di anggotai oleh...Alif Ba Ta (takde dalam gambar), Hidupku suku Organik, the cactus dan Q (tak tahu nama blog dia)...oh lupa...the Remedy sebagai pengurus pasukan...

talking about Einstein


thursday...05.02.09
8.00 - 10.00am
blok V, Bk 39.
section E05
uhl 2322: technical writing

kelas yang agak membosankan...sorry, bukan kelas yang membosankan, pengajaran hari ini yang membosankan...input tentang final assessment project...aku beritahu mereka tentang all the reports they would have to hand in between now (wk 5) and wk 15...ie: proposal, progress report, project report plus presentation...by the time aku mention progress report, dia orang dah mula stress...not good...tapi, dia orang tak tahu, aku pun stress jugak sebab kena mark all their reports...huhuhu

first, aku perlu ajar mereka format untuk proposal...aku suruh buka module, page 35...we studied the format, aku terangkan apa yang mereka tak faham...aku tanya...is there anything else you want me to explain...atau secara simplenya 'do you have any question'...mereka dengan muka bosan menjawab 'no'...apa lagi aku nak buat ni...aku sendiri pun tak suka mengajar unit ni...terlalu membosankan...kalau aku rasa unit ni membosankan, students...tak perlu tanya la...

aku suruh mereka tengok contoh proposal yang diberi, sambil berbincang tentang inventions and innovation...which is the basis of their project. under this unit, aku terjumpa gambar Einstein...dan aku teringat satu joke...

aku tunjukkan gambar Einstein dan berkata...hey...you guys know who this is?...rhetoric question...kata minda aku

Einstein...jawab mereka dengan ekspressi muka yang mengatakan...even my cat can answer that one...

have you heard the joke about einstein?
no...they said...i knew that

want to hear it?...another rhetoric question...
yes ...

ok...aku senyum memandang mereka...pausing for effect la kononnya...hehehe
madam...cepat la...kata mereka...got their attention at last...

right...you know what Einstein looks like don't you?...stupid question because his picture was right there in the module...but, i had to ask ...for emphasis...

tak handsome langsung kan? kata aku...they agreed...

one day, Einstein was talking to a bimbo...
some of them did not know what a bimbo was...so i had to explain...beautiful but dumb...ok...they got the idea...

apparently, the bimbo, was trying to get Einstein to marry her...but Einstein refused...She could not understand why he did not want to marry her...she is after all beautiful...

so, she told Einstein...ok look, imagine we get married and have a daughter...with my looks and your brain...she could get anything she wants...

well...replied Einstein...that is correct...but......... WHAT IF SHE HAS MY LOOKS AND YOUR BRAIN?????

huh?!!!???...and then they laughed...at last, they are all awake...now i can get on with the lesson...

aku...kadang2 kena jadi stand up comic...

talking about einstein, here'a a poem I got from the boys in my critical thinking through literature class...

Einstein's Brother

Albert Einstein had a brother.
He was unlike any other.
He was not so very bright,
yet he was an awesome sight.

He was big and strong, you see.
He'd open doors without a key!
If there was no doorway there,
he'd make one darn near anywhere!

He wore great big clunky shoes,
a style no one but he would choose
He wore a suit without a tie,
not real cool, but he got by.

He never had a lot to say,
and mostly people stayed away.
He loved spinach, turned him green,
but he was nice, not ever mean.

He used to roam the streets at night.
It gave some folks an awful fright.
He'd just come in off the street,
looking for some food to eat.

They finally ran him out of town.
They didn't want his kind around.
It didn't matter what he did
or that at heart was just a kid.

He lived alone until he died,
with no friends, although he tried.
He was no rocket scientist.
How sad that he would not be missed.

Albert Einstein gained much fame,
giving glory to their name.
He didn't mean to so outshine
his younger brother, Frank Einstein.

Copyright; Albert Van HoogmoedEmail: vanh6@aol.com
aku...if you dont get it...sebut nama Frank Einstein dalam satu nafas...got it???

if anything can go wrong...

Pernah tak rasa sometimes macam semua benda berpakat to make your life hell…hari yang semua benda tak berjalan seperti yang kita rancang.

Semalam, aku ada kelas Technical Writing, dengan section C16. kelas di Blok V…dan blok V ni agak tidak condusive untuk PnP…maka everytime aku ada kelas kat situ, ie: Monday and Thursday, aku kena buat extra preparation.

aku ke kelas hari Isnin, 9am. Biasa la, ada students yang dah sampai, ada yang berjalan macam bersiar2 kat beach, bila nampak kereta aku baru nak berlari …konon2 nak sampai sebelum aku sampai…hehehe…aku saja je malas nak lumba 100meter dengan dia orang, bagi chance…Monday morning kan…so…aku keluar dari kereta dan berjalan dengan santainya ke bilik kuliah 38…aku sampai sama dengan mereka yang berlari tu…mereka dengan termengah2 dan tersengih2 ucap…morning madam…aku jawab…morning gentlemen…

aku planned nak tunjukkan beberapa sample multimedia presentation sebagai contoh untuk mereka, sebab mereka pun kena buat something similar untuk assessment mereka. Aku tahu, bilik kuliah tu tak de speaker, so awal2 aku dah pinjam speaker dari bahagian technical pusat bahasa…

aku terus on kan computer, sambungkan speaker, etc…everything was working just fine except for the computer screen…terpaksa la some of the boys tengok2 what was wrong…

Typical…kata aku dalam hati…

murphy’s law…tambah minda aku

what law…madam?...tanya salah seorang students …

Boink!!! You heard that?..kata aku

Yup…jawab mereka sambil tersenyum….

thinking aloud ya madam…kata mereka lagi…pagi2 buta dah nak kenakan aku…

yea…kata aku…I do think sometimes you know…

hahaha…ketawa mereka…at least they’re awake

ok…Murphy’s law…kata aku…

aku yakin mereka tak pernah dengar pasal hukum Murphy ni…so dengan confidentnya aku bertanya...You do know what Murphy’s Law is, don’t you?

Nope…jawab mereka…

No kidding!!! Kata aku…buat2 terkejut…

Maka aku pun explain kepada mereka tentang Murphy’s Law…

’if anything can go wrong, it will…’

you know…like…the day you forgot to bring your notes would be the day your lecturer wants to check the notes…or the day I lambat pergi kelas , masa tu la I will bump into my boss kat hallway…huhuu…yea…I think they got my meaning…

By that time, the boys pun dah berjaya fixed the screen…I continued the lesson, nanti tak tercapai pulak objectivenya…no doubt, the students akan guna alasan Murphy’s Law ni untuk every screw-ups they will ever do in the future…makhluk perosak rupanya aku ni…

aku cuma nak share some info tentang Murphy’s Law ni…


Origin…
It was named after Capt. Edward A. Murphy, an engineer working on Air Force Project MX981, (a project) designed to see how much sudden deceleration a person can stand in a crash.


One day, after finding that a transducer was wired wrong, he cursed the technician responsible and said,
"If there is any way to do it wrong, he'll find it."
The contractor's project manager kept a list of "laws" and added this one, which he called Murphy's Law.

Actually…if anything can go wrong, it will…bukanlah sesuatu yang baru…ia hukum alam yang dah lama ada, Cuma sebelum ni tak de nama je…dan selalunya ia akan berlaku pada waktu yang kita paling tak perlukannya...kan????

More murphy’s laws for you…

If anything can go wrong, it will
At the most inopportune time
Extension: it will be all your fault, and everyone will know it.

If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong
Extreme version:If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the FIRST to go wrong

If anything just cannot go wrong, it will anyway

If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something

Whenever you set out to do something, something else must be done first.

You will always find something in the last place you look.

If your looking for more than one thing, you'll find the most important one last.

It is never in the last place you look.
It is in the first place you look, but never discovered on the first attempt.

When a broken appliance is demonstrated for the repairman, it will work perfectly.

Whether things can go wrong or not, it depends on your frame of reference.
Regardless of your frame of reference, things will go wrong anyway.

When you see light at the end of the tunnel, the tunnel will cave in.
another version The light at the end of the tunnel is a train

Traffic is inversely proportional to how late you are, or are going to be.

Two heads are better than one, even if one is a sheep head.

Behind every little problem there's a larger problem, waiting for the little problem to get out of the way.

Nature always sides with the hidden flaw
The hidden flaw never stays hidden for long.

Murphy's Law of Thermodynamics
Things get worse under pressure.

The Murphy Philosophy
Smile . . . tomorrow will be worse.

Murphy's golden rule:
whoever has the gold makes the rules.

Don't worry about Murphy's Law, you know it's gonna happen anyway, so just get on with it and get it over with!

The humor of Murphy's Law leaves you laughing at the end of the day.
If you make it through a Murphy Day...you win!

adapted from: http://www.murphys-laws.com/murphy/murphy-laws.html

A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME ... tuberose

  Salam and good day.  It's the end of July/ early August, and my tuberose is blooming. Go figure. Despite its name, tuberose is not act...