cuti belajar - a risk worth taking?

cuti belajar or study leave is really a hot issue in every meeting chaired by the Dean. he has numerous times reminded all of us to make preparation for that purpose by end of June, so that those who want to further study can start in September this year. i am one of them. i've been teaching for 10 years. time flies and many of my colleagues have embarked on the journey, and many have returned with success. plus, students nowadays are much more advanced and most are very good, that being a mediocre teacher is not sufficient to teach them. thus, i need to upgrade and equip myself with new and more knowledge so i can become an excellent educator.

in the faculty meeting last month, the Dean has specifically mentioned my name, saying that he hoped i wouldn't withdraw my intention to further study this year. he also asked my husband (he mentioned his name) to support my decision to go. that statement implied that my husband wasn't supportive or probably i wasn't serious in this matter. in fact, dean has the right to say that, after all, he's the boss. it's my procrastination that is the main problem. i gave more priority to classes, students' assignments, proofreadings, translations, that i put aside this study leave process. Dean also reminded all language teachers to not to be so obsessed with part-time job & claims that made us forget about pursuing studies. he is also right about that. everytime we send in the claim form, we need to get his signature of endorsement. and he knows.

from that meeting, i slowly picked up things where i left in february. i've sent the application to further for PhD, and now am waiting for the offer letter. I've also sent some forms to the dean. this morning, kak siti, his PA, joked, 'salawati ada masalah disiplin, prof tak sign tau'. ouchh! that joke early in the morning nearly made me fainted! but at the same time she handed me the paper, with Prof's approval - 'dibenarkan untuk cuti belajar'. but i have this weird feeling. it's not happiness. but nervousness. i've started to feel uneasy. there is another form that Prof has to evaluate my preparation to further study. i will have to wait for that, maybe end of this week i will know what Prof has to say about me. uneasy. seriously.

there are lots of things that i need to sort out. i must start driving. i must not totally depend on my husband to drive me around. kids must start to be independent. and the list goes on...

Ya Allah, permudahkan urusanku...

taken from: http://bashar-igop.blogspot.com/2010/12/its-never-too-late.html

Hari 'Jalinan Kasih'

Tadika IMAN & PUJI held 'Hari Jalinan Kasih' at the place on Saturday, 18th June 2011. It was actually an 'open day' where parents were invited to school and had discussions about their children's academic performance with teachers. Both Adlina & Fathinah were excited about this. The night before the open day, they kept on telling me what they did at school, like colouring, cut & paste, recited doas, etc etc...

We went to Fathinah's PUJI first. Teacher Ita entertained us. She showed Fathinah's file of work. I browsed through and found that she did OK. Teacher Ita said, Fathinah learns following her mood. When she's in good mood, she would be able to read Peter and Jane till 10 pages! But, when she is not really into learning, she would be the quietest person in class, and just stares blankly at the teacher. When that happens, teacher Ita would not force Fathinah, because she knows Fathinah will catch up fast soon. At the moment, Fathinah is at book 3a of Peter and Jane, and Buku 'U' Bacalah Sayang. (Alhamdulillah, at 3-year-old, she has recognised the phonetics and alphabets, both ABC and Iqra' 2). I pray that Fathinah will continously excel in her academic journey.

Fathinah, Akmal, Ayah & Busu Amin - at school sports day

Adlina's turn next. We met Teacher N. Her response when I asked how Adlina fair at school was 'Alhamdulillah, Puan, Zawani tak ada masalah langsung dengan pelajaran dia, senang diajar, mudah dapat apa yang cikgu ajar, pandai'. I was flattered. When she showed me Adlina's file, I felt like weeping... is this my little baby, who now can write, read, calculate, reasoning?'. Teacher N continued that Adlina shows strong determination and very competitive, in particular, with Sofea and Fatimah. (i know where she gets those two qualities from - her DAD, of course!). At this point, Adlina has read halfway through Book 5a of Peter and Jane, Buku 7 of Bacalah Anakku, memorised 13 ayat of Yaasiin precisely, Iqra' 2, knows how to do wudhu', memorise bacaan dalam solat and a lot more. I too pray that Adlina will be excellent in everything she does.

Adlina - always looks forward to school

Next year will be Akmal's turn to go to school. Akmal will be 3 next year, and I don't want his early years wasted. I pray Akmal will be an excellent boy too, InsyaAllah...

my family with mak & papa - syawal 2010

(i slowly learn how my mom has been worrying about my academic and exams and how she felt when i was successful in those and i am yet to learn how proud she was, seeing me at school stages receiving rewards, and witnessing my graduations... and i know as her prayer never fails to mention me, so does my prayer to her (and my dad too) and to my children)...

Aquaria, KLCC (cubaan utk letak gambar tidak berjaya lagi.. got to learn from Jimmy!!)

** this post was supposed to be published last year, but due to my not knowing what to with this advanced technology, it was pended till today **

Since our trip to Aquaria, Adlina has been talking into us (mom&dad) to visit that place again. Her reasons being : 'nak tengok butterfly fish, nemo, turtle, shark, ikan pari-pari, etc etc.. again and again...'. And also now she likes to watch the animal planet & natgeo wild channels, which previously she used to watch spongebob, tom & jerry, and garfield. that's a good change. (ye lah, asik tengok katun je, bukan bawa faedah pun, e.g. spongebob's spokesperson pun cakap 'watch more nautical nonsense in the next sbsqpnts bla bla...'


Fathinah, bila nampak ikan2 kecil & comel, dia ok. Bila nampak ikan2 besar mulalah dia jerit 'nak mummy, nak mummy!'. takutlah tu. nak ambik gambar pun takmau. bila dah sampai rumah & tengok semula gambar2 dlm camera, dia sebok tanye, 'mana gambar adek, takde pun'. haaa.. tau takpe dek oii..

Akmal, as always, the coolest boy. relax je in his stroller. tak berdecit, tak berdecut. observing everything in his peaceful manner. tp dia start bersuara bila Fathinah usik dia. Towards the end of the journey, Fathinah dah penat, dah mintak susu. Dia mula tarik Akmal dari stroller. Dia kata, 'Akmal, bagi adek pulak duduk sini, adek penat jalan'. Of course Akmal tak bagi. and Akmal pun menangis lah bila kena sakat dengan budak montel itu.

Bila dah keluar, masuk pulak ke souvenir shop. Adlina berkenan kat ikan buntal getah yg bila diketuk keluar lampu. sebiji, rm8.90. Fathinah pun nak juga. Akmal tak kisah, tengok je kerenah kakak2 dia. Tapi belikan juga la bola, sebiji rm9.90. Hmm.. harapkan mahal je, tp ikan Adlina tu, sebelah malam, telah kempis. tak sampai 6 jam beli, dah sapan.

Bila semua dah settled, we went to a friend's house. Faizal. Kami berkenalan di Bristol. Faizal now works as petronas senior engineer, kat klcc tu lah. He invited us for dinner. Rumah dia di Platinum View, Danau Kota. (fuh, grand betul nama tempat tu.). Apartment, guarded, kena slide masa nak masuk entrance, teringat masa pergi rumah anggsaz & kak alina di Charles Street, Glasgow. Sebijik la style mcm tu. My husband, kalau dah jumpa dengan Faizal (he's 10 years younger than my husband), amboi bersembang tak ingat dunia. dari satu topik ke satu topik. Semuanya tentang batu, minyak, surface science, material, testing, instrument, raw data, bla bla bla... (diorang ni takde life yg lebih menarik ke ek?). So, i was entertained by Amy, Faizal's wife. actually, Amy lebih pay attention to my kids. Biasa lah, diorang just married, no baby yet, so layan especially si Fathinah the montel lah... Sembang punye sembang, dah dekat pukul 10 baru nak bertolak balik Johor. Sampai Air Hitam dalam pukul 2 pagi mcm tu la...

What Accent are you?

The past 2 days, I facilitated a group of new students taking Interpersonal Skills course, which is a part of the skills enhancement programme. The 2-day-session was conducted in English. And the participants must also use the language for communication. (though some of them flouted the rule!).
There were 16 people in my group, they come from all over (Malaysia, of course). Most of them hold a degree and some possess a diploma in various disciplines. As a normal practice (I believe) in every event like this, the first activity must be the ice-breaking session.

(fast forward the story)

At the end of the ice-breaking, a student asked me a question which went something like this:
 'Madam, majority of people from Kelantan and Trengganu cannot speak English properly. They use their Kelantan slang. Is that ok?'
I answered that question with a question.'Do you mean their 'accent'?
Everybody rhymed : 'Yeeeeeessssssssss'.
I continued: 'Do you understand them when they speak English with Kelantan or Trengganu accent?
They answered: 'Noooooooooo'.
I felt like I was in a primary school class, with this kind of answer. Or probably that was influenced by my question itself. (???)
I asked them: 'What do you think my accent is?'
One said: 'Selangor'. I replied: 'I am Johorean'.
A girl said: 'Javanese!'
and that answer made me LOL!!!

To sum up, I really enjoy the programme, all group members were cooperative, creative, and most importantly, they have managed to speak much more than before, and that they are not afraid to use English to communicate their views. Above all, the team WON the TALLEST & STRONGEST TOWER competition, leaving the other 9 groups envious of that. Well Done!