A job truly exposes one to an infinite number of experience one could not ever possibly imagine. Being a teacher it allows me to see the life in school from a completely different prospective. Previously I grew up as a student and living in secondary school was really pleasant and full with joy. It was so far the best thing that has happened in my life but I would not deny that are moments I despise about being a student. I hated some of the disciplinary measures and rules taken by the school, whether it is directed under the ministry or not, and I hated co-curriculum activities - all of them - and I detest the number of workload, the humid hot weather at certain time of the year that makes the classroom stuffy and the day uncomfortable, the lecture for the whole morning and the listlessness I felt for the whole day due to extreme tiredness and lack of time to rest. I hated a lot of things but overall all of them is easily ignored due to the incredibly amount of joy I had experienced in schools and all the fun I had with my friends.
Right now being a teacher I know how it feels like to be a teacher and how the different society in a school co-mingle with another society to make the school an interesting population. Being teacher is actually busy and just as tiring as students. 70% of the work a teacher does, I dare say, is paperwork irrelevant to the students. Writing teaching plans even though we know it's useless but only because it is the directive of the ministry. Preparing paperwork for the students' activities in which they have no authority or autonomy to write yet. Finding the most economical way to assist the students in finding the best trainers for co-curriculum, keying in students data in websites required by government but inaccessible to the students, understanding how the marking scheme works and what it requires to help students who are largely disinterested in knowing them because they have yet to understand the severity of the ground, learning to teach a subject one is not trained to teach, trying to control a class of recalcitrant and rebellious students while rushing to finish syllabus in time....lots more.
There is something worth looking at. Teachers, being as busy as students, too love the students to give space and cooperate for the lessons to go smoothly. Students, being tired, too would often hope the teachers stop teaching at certain points and allow the students to rest and sleep whenever possible. I was there, I know listening teachers teaching the entire morning is downright tiring. But teachers have a work to do, they have responsibilities to shoulder and they have people to answer to if they are deemed to have failed their responsibilities. And therefore it is impossible for a teacher to satisfy all the students' wish. But, as Newton's third law rightly states, every action has a reaction. It is also impossible for students to meet the teachers requirements due to a multitude of complicated reasons.
It is in my observation that often a teacher crosses path with a student at the most busy and stressful time in a day, and vice versa. Often heated conversation and conflict arises because a teacher and a student could not cooperate and reach a consensus to allow a lesson to go on smoothly. It is true a student ought to listen to the teacher, but in my book in some occasion a teacher could give space and tolerate with the students. I understand what the teacher fails - we do not know the students, we do not know whether he has the independence and maturity to understand the severity of the consequences if he does not pay attention and do his homework, and therefore for the student's best interest we assume he does not and we begin to lecture them that they have to work hard and give them telling that it is time for them to study.
But being a student, there simply are times they need a break. After all they have lots of subjects to study and all the subjects and knowledge are new to them and it takes time to digest. Perhaps in the previous lesson he has been thrown a complicated question and that while fathoming it he got so tired he simply could no longer listen the next lesson. Exacerbated by the fact that there are lots of co-curriculum activities and perhaps house chores to deal with at home, there are many things to balance and many things to be done. It is in my opinion that a teacher could at times understand the students' position to employ the best approach to assist them.
Likewise a student ought to put themselves in a teacher's shoes sometimes. Sometimes a teacher simply has too many paperwork to do that they got so busy they forgot a lot of things. Sometimes they are frustrated and support the students in many instances but are often silenced or fear to voice as being a worker under the school and the government, there really is not much room for voice to be spoken or be heard. Often a teacher has to control and suppress a few students for the best interest of those who wish to have a peaceful lesson. There are way too many things to be considered and to be taken care of.
Being a teacher and in the past, a student allows me to see a lot of things from the positions of both students and teachers. I think it is time for both parties to attempt to put themselves in each other's shoes and try a different solution to a similar event. Of course I do not agree that being a student, being recalcitrant is a nature. If a student behaves badly, it is the duty of the teachers to educate. Teachers are humans and therefore fallible, and there are times a teacher could be wrong and it is best that students do not get too arrogant in handling disciplinary issues. If a student is embroiled in fighting, take disciplinary issues sternly and strictly but at the same times, trying to understand the very root of the problem is helpful too. Telling them to only control their anger and not repeat the action is only a short term solution. I understand it is not easy to change someone as I have seen first hand, but to continue to suppress and ignore isn't a bright choice either.
Teachers and students, complicated living beings to live.
Sunday, 1 February 2015
Wednesday, 28 January 2015
Post-STPM Q&A
*The Q&A below are as of 2014. The procedural process and certain facts below may not be up to date and it is advised you get the further updates and information from your school counsellor.
These are the common questions encountered for students who graduated from STPM.
1): If I opt for Ulangan 3, would we get a result slip?
Yes, you would, but only by the end of April.
2): If I opt for Ulangan 3, does it mean I only get my full result at the end of April?
Whether you opt for Ulangan 3 or not, you will get your full result based on term 3 result (pre-Ulangan 3 result) in March. The only difference is that those who do not opt for Ulangan 3 get a result slip, while those who do can only check their results online.
If you intend to apply for IPTS/overseas universities, you can print out the full result online and submit it together with all other relevant documents. Once accepted you will be given a conditional offer. The admission process varies between universities so it is best you check the respective universities you wish to apply for, but generally they accept printed result for conditional offer.
3): Which result do they take? The latest or the best?
MPM will choose the best result of two. If your term 1 result is B+ but your ulangan result is F, the former will be selected.
4) Could those who opt for Ulangan 3 apply for UPU, or would they have to wait until their final result is released?
Whether or not you opt for Ulangan 3, you MUST apply for UPU courses before the application closes. You are able to apply for your desired courses and universities based on your full result which is based on term 3 result.
At the end of april, when your final result which is based on Ulangan 3 result is released, UPU will allow the applicants to make amendments, but only for NON-CRITICAL courses. Courses like Medicine, Pharmacy and Law which required interviews are not allowed to be selected anymore.
5) How do they calculate the final grade?
According to an unofficial source, the final grades of each subjects are calculated based on the marks of each papers, and not GPA of each paper. Therefore you cannot calculate your final grade based on the four papers you obtained.
The marks are not disclosed to the candidates, hence it is impossible for one to calculate their final grade. We are only informed of our grade. We are told we get an A but we are never told we get either a 95% or 80% for that paper.
For the same combination of grades, it is possible that there are various different final grades. For example, I have seen people who get A B+ A- A (according to paper sequence, and thus equal weightage) for Chemistry, one got a final grade of A and another one got a final grade of A-.
For PA, I have a friend who got B+ C+ A A but at the end he managed to get an A. If you say the final grade is calculated by the papers GPA, mathematically it is impossible he would obtain an A.
Anyway there are overwhelming evidence that the final grade is not the average of four papers GPA. The unofficial source is reliable and the only explanation to various discrepancies observed.
6) How to apply UPU?
You key in your data online. You are not required to submit your result as the officials will get your results from MPM.
USM and UM (rumour says) have independent system which required separate application.
7) How many offers could we get from UPU?
Maximum one from UPU, one from USM and one from UM (if UM does have autonomy in selection).
If your result is satisfactory, it is highly likely you will get a course you apply for, provided it is not extremely competitive like medicine.
If your result is not satisfactory, you'll get the choices you list below, or, if your result is really bad and you fail to meet the requirements of all the courses you apply for, you will be given a course they deem suitable for you.
If your result is appalling, you will not get an offer at all. (those whose CGPA are below 2.0 are highly likely to have their application rejected).
However, rayuan is allowed. Rayuan is, as of 2014, only exclusively for applications who failed to get any offer at all. You cannot make rayuan for the courses they have given you or for the universities you are given, unless you make attempt to contact the universities then it might be considered on a case-by-case basis but statistics suggests it is not worth the effort.
8) When would we know our UPU result?
As for 2014, you will only know your UPU result by mid-August.
Please feel free to ask more questions and I'll answer them if I know the answer. However, please note that I am simply a senior who went through the process in the year of 2014 and procedural process may have undergone changes since then and thus my answers may not be up to date. You are best advised to seek answers from school counsellors who know best in this field.
These are the common questions encountered for students who graduated from STPM.
1): If I opt for Ulangan 3, would we get a result slip?
Yes, you would, but only by the end of April.
2): If I opt for Ulangan 3, does it mean I only get my full result at the end of April?
Whether you opt for Ulangan 3 or not, you will get your full result based on term 3 result (pre-Ulangan 3 result) in March. The only difference is that those who do not opt for Ulangan 3 get a result slip, while those who do can only check their results online.
If you intend to apply for IPTS/overseas universities, you can print out the full result online and submit it together with all other relevant documents. Once accepted you will be given a conditional offer. The admission process varies between universities so it is best you check the respective universities you wish to apply for, but generally they accept printed result for conditional offer.
3): Which result do they take? The latest or the best?
MPM will choose the best result of two. If your term 1 result is B+ but your ulangan result is F, the former will be selected.
4) Could those who opt for Ulangan 3 apply for UPU, or would they have to wait until their final result is released?
Whether or not you opt for Ulangan 3, you MUST apply for UPU courses before the application closes. You are able to apply for your desired courses and universities based on your full result which is based on term 3 result.
At the end of april, when your final result which is based on Ulangan 3 result is released, UPU will allow the applicants to make amendments, but only for NON-CRITICAL courses. Courses like Medicine, Pharmacy and Law which required interviews are not allowed to be selected anymore.
5) How do they calculate the final grade?
According to an unofficial source, the final grades of each subjects are calculated based on the marks of each papers, and not GPA of each paper. Therefore you cannot calculate your final grade based on the four papers you obtained.
The marks are not disclosed to the candidates, hence it is impossible for one to calculate their final grade. We are only informed of our grade. We are told we get an A but we are never told we get either a 95% or 80% for that paper.
For the same combination of grades, it is possible that there are various different final grades. For example, I have seen people who get A B+ A- A (according to paper sequence, and thus equal weightage) for Chemistry, one got a final grade of A and another one got a final grade of A-.
For PA, I have a friend who got B+ C+ A A but at the end he managed to get an A. If you say the final grade is calculated by the papers GPA, mathematically it is impossible he would obtain an A.
Anyway there are overwhelming evidence that the final grade is not the average of four papers GPA. The unofficial source is reliable and the only explanation to various discrepancies observed.
6) How to apply UPU?
You key in your data online. You are not required to submit your result as the officials will get your results from MPM.
USM and UM (rumour says) have independent system which required separate application.
7) How many offers could we get from UPU?
Maximum one from UPU, one from USM and one from UM (if UM does have autonomy in selection).
If your result is satisfactory, it is highly likely you will get a course you apply for, provided it is not extremely competitive like medicine.
If your result is not satisfactory, you'll get the choices you list below, or, if your result is really bad and you fail to meet the requirements of all the courses you apply for, you will be given a course they deem suitable for you.
If your result is appalling, you will not get an offer at all. (those whose CGPA are below 2.0 are highly likely to have their application rejected).
However, rayuan is allowed. Rayuan is, as of 2014, only exclusively for applications who failed to get any offer at all. You cannot make rayuan for the courses they have given you or for the universities you are given, unless you make attempt to contact the universities then it might be considered on a case-by-case basis but statistics suggests it is not worth the effort.
8) When would we know our UPU result?
As for 2014, you will only know your UPU result by mid-August.
Please feel free to ask more questions and I'll answer them if I know the answer. However, please note that I am simply a senior who went through the process in the year of 2014 and procedural process may have undergone changes since then and thus my answers may not be up to date. You are best advised to seek answers from school counsellors who know best in this field.
Saturday, 24 January 2015
Settlement
You know, I have never thought this would occur to me at this moment, but it has.
I am an extremely lazy person who is so lazy I refuse to catch a dropping key and instead let it falls and pick it up once it hits the ground. I am lazy and also non-responsive if I deem the incident is not critical to warrant an immediate attention.
Hence when I have settled down in an environment, I refuse, and resist, any sort of changes that means I have to re-adapt a new environment. No matter how unpleasant, uncomfortable, despicable, demeaning, depressing or diabolical is the situation, once I have survived the adaptation and have adapted to it, got comfortable to it, I refuse to change, and choose instead to settle down for long and just live with it.
And this is what has happened to me. Prior to entering university I worked as a temporary teacher for almost half a year, and then I went on to become a student for 3 and a half month, and now, to gain some income, I return to the profitable job of becoming a temporary teacher. This, mathematically, effectively means I have been working as a temporary teacher much longer than being a student, and I have much made myself comfortable with my work that the notion of returning to study seems a bit repelling and alien at the moment.
While I won't see myself as a teacher for a long term, I cannot deny I am now comfortable doing it.
The only thing that concerns me is that because of my inexperience, I may not be able to help my students as best as I could. I have been incoherent, stutter at delivering teachings, and often fail to realise what my students fail to grasp, what basics they have to build. I am actually a failed teacher.
But anyway, I will try my best. Teaching has sort of become a part of my life, a part of my life I now am more comfortable living than to be a university student again.
I am an extremely lazy person who is so lazy I refuse to catch a dropping key and instead let it falls and pick it up once it hits the ground. I am lazy and also non-responsive if I deem the incident is not critical to warrant an immediate attention.
Hence when I have settled down in an environment, I refuse, and resist, any sort of changes that means I have to re-adapt a new environment. No matter how unpleasant, uncomfortable, despicable, demeaning, depressing or diabolical is the situation, once I have survived the adaptation and have adapted to it, got comfortable to it, I refuse to change, and choose instead to settle down for long and just live with it.
And this is what has happened to me. Prior to entering university I worked as a temporary teacher for almost half a year, and then I went on to become a student for 3 and a half month, and now, to gain some income, I return to the profitable job of becoming a temporary teacher. This, mathematically, effectively means I have been working as a temporary teacher much longer than being a student, and I have much made myself comfortable with my work that the notion of returning to study seems a bit repelling and alien at the moment.
While I won't see myself as a teacher for a long term, I cannot deny I am now comfortable doing it.
The only thing that concerns me is that because of my inexperience, I may not be able to help my students as best as I could. I have been incoherent, stutter at delivering teachings, and often fail to realise what my students fail to grasp, what basics they have to build. I am actually a failed teacher.
But anyway, I will try my best. Teaching has sort of become a part of my life, a part of my life I now am more comfortable living than to be a university student again.
Monday, 19 January 2015
The Vamps - Somebody To You
If this song is heard at the right moment at the right place, it is the single most powerful song to bring out all great memories I have in a place, all great memories I have with all my friends in that place.
Love this song, even though I don't even know who the singers are.
Sunday, 18 January 2015
Back To Teaching
I have now resumed the life of a teacher. Semester break is too long and the idea of frolicking around for the whole 3 months just doesn't go well with me and hence I searched for a part-time job and ended up becoming a temporary teacher again.
This year I was initially informed to teach F4 and F5 Physics, but was last minute told to instead teach F3 and F4 Maths, which I do not prefer over the former. But anyway I still accepted it. At least I am now teaching a subject I actually am conversant with. Last year I taught BM, it was a subject I was the weakest at (or second weakest, after BC, can't really rank them) and therefore teaching it was extremely stressful, and teaching a bunch of incredibly rebellious and recalcitrant students certainly doesn't make my life an envious one to live.
Being in the morning makes me suddenly relive the life of my form 6 days. Till now I wouldn't lie and dare say I still miss my form 6 life, to a very great extent. It is just too beautiful to be forgotten at the moment. But anyway teaching F3 and F4 is a different experience as students are obviously much more mature, and are capable of being independent.
I am the kind of person who prefers to work than to play around when there are opportunities because I like the notion of having something to focus on or an aim to work for. Some people might find me stupid and claim that once I officially start a job in the future, I wouldn't have any sort and any form of opportunity to travel around and relax anymore. But then if playing around right now is not something I enjoy, I fail to see why I need to do so simply because people say I wouldn't have the chance in the future.
I'm a weirdo, and I admit it.
At least I am happy living a weird life. =)
This year I was initially informed to teach F4 and F5 Physics, but was last minute told to instead teach F3 and F4 Maths, which I do not prefer over the former. But anyway I still accepted it. At least I am now teaching a subject I actually am conversant with. Last year I taught BM, it was a subject I was the weakest at (or second weakest, after BC, can't really rank them) and therefore teaching it was extremely stressful, and teaching a bunch of incredibly rebellious and recalcitrant students certainly doesn't make my life an envious one to live.
Being in the morning makes me suddenly relive the life of my form 6 days. Till now I wouldn't lie and dare say I still miss my form 6 life, to a very great extent. It is just too beautiful to be forgotten at the moment. But anyway teaching F3 and F4 is a different experience as students are obviously much more mature, and are capable of being independent.
I am the kind of person who prefers to work than to play around when there are opportunities because I like the notion of having something to focus on or an aim to work for. Some people might find me stupid and claim that once I officially start a job in the future, I wouldn't have any sort and any form of opportunity to travel around and relax anymore. But then if playing around right now is not something I enjoy, I fail to see why I need to do so simply because people say I wouldn't have the chance in the future.
I'm a weirdo, and I admit it.
At least I am happy living a weird life. =)
Thursday, 15 January 2015
Avicii - The Days
I don't know why, but I am just deeply in love with this song.
The song brings out some incredible and unexplainable emotions in me. I feel a mixture of emotions that somehow makes me reflect my past lives, and I just uncontrollably dance to the song.
I don't know why, I just love the song, and find it mesmerising and emotionally evoking.
Sunday, 11 January 2015
How Does The Future Look Like?
Reading Sunday Star (I should mention I think I would die if I don't read newspapers a day - and I mean a printed newspapers) makes me realise we all have one common curiosity that does not surface easily, but is often mentioned by those who have walked the Earth a long time. Often we are curious about how our future would look like, but there are nothing to trigger or prompt us to ponder this and therefore we don't mention it. When asked to make a decision that likely impact our future in a significant way, we would often hope how each decision would turn out before we finally hesitated to make one.
In newspapers I read columnists who said back in the 1990s and 1980s they have their own visualisation of how 2015 would appear to be, and several movies have portrayed 2015 to be a year of massive development and modern technology, but it turns out to be disappointing as the year 2015, so far, does not signal anything that likely agrees with the movies and whatever the producer envisions do not seem to be able to materialise any time soon, yet.
I can't help but putting myself in the columnists' shoes. For once, I ponder how year 2035 would look like. For starters, I would be 41 years old - if I survive the twenty years between. Do I have a successful life? Do I have a wife and kids? Would my parents still be around? Would Malaysia be a much more developed state, with obvious improvement in technology and to regain its once glory on international level? Would racial tension in Malaysia finally disappear and all races actually integrate in the society well and peacefully? Would the world finally gain peace and terrorists eliminated, or would the world deteriorated to one full with chaos and turmoil to such a point the blood has replaced the water in the river? Would the environment return to its lush green again or would all mountains be replaced by high rise buildings to feed the ever growing population that is already threatening to wipe out the ecology? Would Earth still be sustainable and habitable considering the current damage done to the Earth right now is far from acceptable and imaginable? Would a second Earth that is habitable be found and humans be transported there by that time?
I won't deny so far Earth has seen drastic deterioration. Humans are killing humans and simultaneously are depriving Earth of its nature. We take things for granted and we do not appreciate what mother nature has bestowed upon us. So in 2035, would Earth be a better place to live, or would it be inhabitable?
That is certainly one issue worth jotting down and there too is one answer worth waiting for.
In newspapers I read columnists who said back in the 1990s and 1980s they have their own visualisation of how 2015 would appear to be, and several movies have portrayed 2015 to be a year of massive development and modern technology, but it turns out to be disappointing as the year 2015, so far, does not signal anything that likely agrees with the movies and whatever the producer envisions do not seem to be able to materialise any time soon, yet.
I can't help but putting myself in the columnists' shoes. For once, I ponder how year 2035 would look like. For starters, I would be 41 years old - if I survive the twenty years between. Do I have a successful life? Do I have a wife and kids? Would my parents still be around? Would Malaysia be a much more developed state, with obvious improvement in technology and to regain its once glory on international level? Would racial tension in Malaysia finally disappear and all races actually integrate in the society well and peacefully? Would the world finally gain peace and terrorists eliminated, or would the world deteriorated to one full with chaos and turmoil to such a point the blood has replaced the water in the river? Would the environment return to its lush green again or would all mountains be replaced by high rise buildings to feed the ever growing population that is already threatening to wipe out the ecology? Would Earth still be sustainable and habitable considering the current damage done to the Earth right now is far from acceptable and imaginable? Would a second Earth that is habitable be found and humans be transported there by that time?
I won't deny so far Earth has seen drastic deterioration. Humans are killing humans and simultaneously are depriving Earth of its nature. We take things for granted and we do not appreciate what mother nature has bestowed upon us. So in 2035, would Earth be a better place to live, or would it be inhabitable?
That is certainly one issue worth jotting down and there too is one answer worth waiting for.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)