passion for teaching

I love the photo below as it's a visual metaphor of a creative teacher.... apple = symbol of teacher carved apple butterfly = creativity butterfly = freedom to create beauty; flying off for all to admire & enjoy I've enjoyed using my creativity to create new publicity powerpoints for Sri Pelita as well as e-newsletters!!

I'm so pleased to see my History students putting much effort into their History of Warfare projects. One group painted the inside of a photocopy box shades of blue, with navy blue at the bottom to indicate depth.   A cardboard cut out of the Lusitania sat on the top of the box so it's a multi dimensional representation of the ship on the surface of the Atlantic Ocean with a submarine beneath. There are even 2 torpedoes fired by the sub toward the Lusitania!! The diorama/model making project certainly is: fun = PLAY something is produced = CREATE teamwork + ideas & knowledge = SHARE

Anne O'Brien's response to Module 4 "...make the distinction between imparting knowledge and imparting a thirst for knowledge . There is as you know a big difference" This brings the following quote to mind:

In my module 5 posting on collegiate support (encouraging fellow teachers) where I shared: 1. positive attitude jar to recalibrate negative thinking 2. encouragement wall in the pantry 3. CBT workshop & irrational beliefs I was very touched by Anne O'Brien's response: "...there are some great ideas above which I am sure many readers will copy I particularly liked the glass jar with the positive quotations in it . What a great idea You come across as having very inspirational leadership qualities ..."

Great to see Cindy searching for information on hibiscus & organising students to create posters for the Malaysia Merdeka display. The F4 Art students & Cindy enjoyed the art session during my Geography period. Was very encouraged to see Wai Pheng & Vee stringing up Malaysia & Penang flags coloured by primary students last week. The Smart Club kids also had a good session colouring flags& multiracial posters. They loved the smiley face pencils they received as motivators ;-) Even Mary Joeshua managed to get her F2 students to produce a poster with free verse, with a colourful hibiscus border made from wrapping paper. Unfortunately, she didn't check so there's a grammatical mistake which I told her to rectify! Amazing to see teachers working together in different classes/subjects as the result of a detailed memo I emailed. Waiting for Christina's drama students' presentation!!

Hooray! I've successfully completed the ICEP Teaching & Learning with New Tewchnologies course. Submitted ideas for forums for % modules & wrote a reflective journal. Also created a powerpoint of the 2011 Horizon Report which the course moderator, Kieran, uploaded to the course blog! Shared 2 weblinks - Kathy Schrock's Rubrics webpage and www.starfall.com Enjoyed Sir Ken Robinson's Learning Revolution so I shared a Youtube RSAnimate of his talk as well as a transcript. The transcript was useful in writing the Module 5 forum entry.

I love the naive art of this poster, and the quotation boggles the mind as it reiterates the importance of having a passion for teaching...the future is in my hands!!!

Willing to put in effort to create Reading Tree wall displays & maintaining a rock garden...signs that I enjoy working in Sri Pelita...it's no longer a job but a vocation!

Jesus is the candle that gives light & He is the mirror that reflects God. A teacher should also be a candle as well as a mirror....be an example through personal character as well as reflect the light/wisdom of Jesus.

A visual metaphor for a teacher's mission - I love the heart-shaped fingers cupping the small green plant....a teacher nurtures the vital life, heart, mind & soul of a child. A visual metaphor for a parent giving a child into a teacher's care....or a teacher working with a colleague to nurture the child...a teacher gently handing a child to another teacher as the child progresses

So happy that I managed to submit to assignments today...happier still that I got very good rating from course tutor. Did not realise that Assistive Technology was a module in this course but God must have led me to sign up for this course as I getting lots of information even as Fong Hwa's remaining sight is blurring.

Helped to facilitate Lee Lay Wah's USM funded Behaviour Mgt training module - pilot testing in Sri Pelita - Sat 30 & Sun 31 July.

Praise God that I still love teaching after 21 years...how can I enthuse my colleagues at Sri Pelita?

Created a WordPress blog for the Teaching With Technologies course. Isn't the name very apt? From a Teacher to a Technology Explorer = Teacher2Explorer !! Decided to use a very visual approach i.e. each post has an image as focal point, and a short thought/idea from me. Over the moon when my tutor, Kieran, congratulated me "fantastic blog...enjoyed the open entries...looking forward to more"

Managed to plan & word process D&T programme so that Stella & Mary Jo can take over the running of the programme. Gardening theme can be continued & must get Chye Seng or Father Gerrard to identify plants for students to label. So happy to be able to buy wooden craft kits from China from Rhythm. The students can also design & create an environment for their wooden creature - will make good displays! May have to borrow shelves from classrooms to display them. Merdeka & Malaysia theme - can buy state & national flags for display. Students create cards/posters about each state. Wall display along outside corridors to maximise space & use the empty bulletin boards.

I'm so proud of the trees I designed & constructed in the primary & secondary foyers! Twisted brown paper to make trunks & branches, flowers from yellow & pink plastic bags (resemble peonies!). Genre posters between the branches, supplemented by I LOVE READING & READ WITH ME POSTERS. Downloaded the primary genre posters but had to modify some secondary genre posters. Loved designing the Reading posters....such lovely children, handsome young men & pretty young ladies. Really felt great when I saw the finished product I collected the posters from the photocopy shop. Must take some photos & upload to this blog. All the teachers were full of praise; Danny said "Good job!'. The primary kids were saying "Wah...so beautiful". Definitely worth all the effort :-) Also downloaded some creative book review sheets & prepared Reading Programme rules for display as well as to paste in primary communication books. So glad that I asked the F1-3 ...

Very excited...found materials for History classes online from: 1. EdHelper 2. Connect the Dots - US$197 for 15 courses (History, Civics & Reading programmes) I must download video clips on WARFARE & plan interactive activities for students.

Enjoying this online ICEPE course but finding it deja vu like as I recall my audacity to present a paper about such technology at the International Confererence on Information 9. Module 2 is great as I finally learn to use Google suite of online tools: "The essential thing to remember is that these new tools are incredibly easy to use and are mostly free' This is very encouraging & inspiring. Project: Set up online continuing professional education for PACP & Sri Pelita & Psychiatry via Google/Moodle technology?

Downloaded videos for History of Medicine ....this will add some 'oomph' to the lessons as well as activate more multiple intelligences. Decided to focus on History of Warfare as next topic as there are links to History of Medicine. Good forum to teach war & suffering, how fragile and precious peace is, importance of conflict management. Found some History of Warfare videos & copied the URLs for future downloading. The best speed is after 11pm at home!

Here is another metaphor....just as constant, disciplined practice makes fingers fly across the keyboard making lovely melody, practice makes better teaching. So...EXCELLENCE is a HABIT!

The ballerinas wearing these ballet shoes make dancing on pointe so simple & effortless...yet they bear testimony to years of dedication, perseverance & diligence. In the same way, teaching matures & improves through time & I'd proud & touched that Sri Pelita teachers remembered & celebrated my 21st anniversary ofteaching on 1st July :-)

Wow...can't believe it...found my presentation in Aug 2009 at the International Conference on Information hosted by OUM mentioned in someone's blog post!!! Author is Victor from HELP Klang. Can't seem to copy & paste his post into this blog so saved it as Word doc in 'Conferences' folder in computer. Found a copy of my paper in a pen drive....how on earth did I compose such a title?!! Utilising the Multi-Dimensional Nature of the Internet to Develop Effective E-teaching & E-learning Tasks that Engage Students in Higher Order Learning Skills

Very happy that I remembered this article so I could quote it when I posted my first comment in Module 1's interactive forum: Has our education system begun to step into the 21st century? I realised that I was ahead of my time in Malaysia & Ireland when I presented paper on Web 2.0 tools at OUM conference. Am I gifted or what? :-) Am so excited that I can finally learn to use Web 2.0 tools & Cloud Computing with proper guidance thru the ICEP course. Thank God for leading me to find it online. Also looking forward to Assistive Tech for Special Needs in Module 4 - must share with Silviane.

9 July Sat = Penang Gov's birthday Also Sunday School Carnival at HCC. Very proud of Nathan who played victim - bucket of water drenched him everytime a ball hit the target :-D Managed to study ICEP Teaching with Tech course module 1. Delighted to learn how to use MS Word's Comment function so that I can insert comments as I read the notes which I copy & pasted in a Word doc.

Spent time searching & downloading BBC articles on UK farming & climate change. Lots of interesting news articles. I shall give them to students to: 1. act out scenes 2. write responses - letter to editor, diary entry 3. compare 2 articles - write summary of similarities vs differences 4, act out news broadcast

We are what we repeatedly do; Excellence then is not an act, but a habit . Aristotle Having fun creating motivational quote posters ...planning to send for printing! Can I sell these at conferences?

Got the F4 EFL group to illustrate 52 prepositions by drawing 7 prepositions! Chantal said she likes my English classes cos fun :-) Praised F5 for focusing on answering exam questions. Helped Eric study Business. Jirawat has also taken ESL in May so will work on Science PYQs during English. Rewarded all the students with gifts - pen or highlighter.

Feel a good sense of achievement after sorting & filing IGCSE exam papers for: English as First Language English as Second Language Geography Business Studies Also keeping records of completed student work so that I can 'chase' laggards!

Name of blog: PASSION FOR TEACHING URL: http://love-teaching-penang.blogspot.com

Decided to start a blog to record my thoughts & ideas about teaching, especially since I'm pursiung the online ICEP Europe courses on Behaviour Management & Using Technology in Teaching. Who knows....this may be a start to writing a book one day :-)