Teachers

Today I read a post on my friend's FB about teachers, where there is this one lady who quit her job in the corporate world to become a teacher and she is teaching the difficult, problematic kids and from what I read, she is one tough cookie. She is promoting the teaching malaysia program, i think. (Not really sure what that is, need to google more after this!). From what I understand, she is trying to get more people to teach as there are a LOT of kids that really need help and there are various issues that need to be addressed and vastly improved in our education system. For example, in her article she explained that some kids in Form Four still can't read and most of them don't really know how to process what they have learned. I think most of them do not know the importance of education, and even if they do, some of them are in such surroundings that are not conducive in nurturing their thirst of learning, may it be the lack of help from school or lack of family support or financial difficulties. There are so many things that can be done to overcome the problems and improved our education system. And I know the government is taking some steps in the right direction. And we, as a community, need to help in anyway we can. For example, too many times I have heard the statement" oh! He/She is just a teacher!" Or "I do not have a glamorous job, I am just a teacher". Why the word "just" have to be in the same sentence as "teacher"?, may I ask? I think most of it has to be the fact that teachers, compared to other "glamorous" professions, earn peanuts. So teachers are often seen as the lower middle class, in my opinion. So that kind of mentality is surprisingly not very helpful in promoting people to become teachers or the already existing teachers to be a much more greater educator. I admit that there are many, many teachers that are doing this not solely for money and of course, as the jaded saying goes, money is not everything but I am pretty sure teachers could do with a higher pay. The structure and state of some schools are so bad that I think I wouldn't want to be coming to the school everyday too, much less coming to teach the kids who are problematic. Some teachers are sent to schools with really bad cases and with the headache and heartache they have to face each day dealing with troubling kids, it would take a very, very dedicated teacher to march on, and the rest would march out of the school. So, maybe if the schools look nicer amd more inviting, it could lift the spirits of the teachers, and also the students! People can say that your surroundings doesn't matter if you really love your job but happy place does produce happy people, I believe! More importantly, kids with problematic behaviour need to be dealt by specially trained teachers (counselling, psychology) and not just by someone that they think are strict enough to deal with these kids. Maybe this has been done, as I have not done any research whatsoever on this, and if it has, kudos to them! Long story short, teachers are the gems of the community and while we do celebrate them by having a day dedicated especially for them, we need to change our way of thinking about teachers and also have to help them in every way we can, to help them educate our future generation.

Berlari-larian

After admiting to myself that I have indeed gained weight, have made the effort to draaagggggg myself to the gym. So for the past three weeks, treadmill had been my new best friend. Trying to go at least four times a week, 30 mins per session. Lari plus jalan and kayuh basikal sikit..so far so good, still dalam mood rajin. Hari ni lari lama sikit, 40 mins..fuh!! Bangga jap...(oklah, ada selit jalan sikit, letih wei). well, for me, that is great achievement, considering I am such a couch potato at times. And yesterday, the treadmills at the gym had some updated software, so now can watch tv or music videos!! Yeay!!! Today was extra excited to go and try the new software, and song selection is good, maybe that is why today I ran longer..some songs can definitely make you run, like stronger by kelly clarkson, that fire song by adele and hhmmm...malu nak cakap..and one direction song!!( I blame my daughter for this hahaha!!). Thought of running at the park but then, makin gelap pulak nanti..heheh..never mind, gym first..thiking of entering a race, no, not marathon or even half marathon, maybe a fun run or 5K..In syaa Allah. Since my son is in a running club, we can run together. Speaking of together, last week, my husband was telling me to wait for him so that we could walk togeder-geder. My daughter yang first time dengar that word, found it to be funny and fascinating so now that is her new favourite word! Ok, back to my exercise and gaining weight, was trying on some clothes because next week have an event at a friend's house and we can't wear jeans. So tried on some slacks...arghh!!!! Tak muat!!! My perut so buncit now!!! Wwaaaaaaa!!!!!! This one particular pants used to be so loose, I had to cerut the tali..yeah! The operative word here is USED!!!! Hhmmm... i know it is the lack of exercise but can I blame it on aging as well? Metabolism rate decreases as you age right? Anyway, after feeling so frustated coz seluar tak muat, went to the kitchen and found the kids eating tiramisu and cheesecake, ishh..sedap la pulak..had a few spoonfuls (small spoon, I have to say) while the image of me in that pants still lingering. Oh well, kelly clarkson can help me burn off those calories..:)) (hopefully!!!).

Winter is finally gone...:)))))

After having two weeks of winter-like weather in spring, finally the real spring weather is here and I do hope it is here to stay. In fact, for the past three days, it was above normal, dah macam summer la pulak...no complains there, as long as I don't have to deal with sub zero temperature and punishing winds, I am a happy woman. But spring/ summer come with a new set of problems i.e no more can I hide my bulges sana sini with winter jackets! And no more excuses to hibernate at home, to be in front of the tv munching away food, with the reason to warm myself up!! So kena la exercise..argh!!!! Kalau nak lari-lari kat park, kena pegi awal coz the sun is so blazing cruel! The ray or whatever it is called is so menghitamkan kulit, for me lah! I know Malaysia panas but takdela my kulit jadi hangus tapi over here, it does. But then , come to think of it, kat Malaysia, naik kereta turun kereta, kat sini, I walk almost everywhere so maybe that is the case kut..hahaha...while writing this, it all makes sense to me. So, should I wear hat or bring an umbrella? Mesti la mat2 saleh kata I pelik, orang nak sun, kita nak lari from it..jadi macam makcik korea or jepun la macam ni..hahahaha..oklah, umbrella no, but hat yes! And lots of sunscreen. Anyway, back to exercising, so instead of running at the park, I started to go to the gym, yes, bangunan ada gym but boleh kira dengan jari how many times I have been there. Oh and also, I have started juicing..kale juice to be exact. Had it with different types of fruits, the taste is not that bad and I read it is good for the process of detoxifying the body. Plus the OCM that I have mentioned before, one would think I am heading in the right direction with this healthy living thing but then, once in while I do "need" that doughnut or cupcake.. Life is too short to be fussy...

Dont know what to do with myself

I am having more and more days of feeling so lazy and not wanting to do anything..unmotivated and feeling that nothing I do will do any good for myself..so malas!!!! Argh!!!! Hate feeling like this and trust me, am trying to fight it but as I said, not just "feeling" it! I am the typr of person that wants to see the end result straight away so patience is definitely not one of my virtues. And another thing is I keep on comparing myself with other people and always, always find myself way below par..why is that? No self confidence most of the time, all the while I am trying to instill all the important values in life in my kids..be yourself, be confident, dont think about what people would think and strive for the best and love yourself no matter what. Maybe I should be talking to myself in the mirror....

Media frenzy

Last week, something pretty crazy happened at the kids's school...it was on Friday when I ( and nearly half of the school's parents) went to a meeting. The day before, we received a rather cryptic email from the school asking the parents of 4th and 5th graders to attend the meeting. But no other information was given. I was really clueless of what was going on but decided to go and find out. Upon entering the school, a mom asked me whether my daughter got the homework yesterday. I said of course she got homework, they have homework all the time. Weird question, I thought. And then she said that this thing has been blown out of proportion. Ok, me, still being clueless, just agreed with her..duh!!! Maybe parents complaining too much homework? Because sometimes they do get waaayyy too much homework, even on weekends and holidays. Anyway, met another friend and she explained to me what happened. Ok, this is the story..it was about homework but it was a much bigger issue than having too much of it. Apparently, one teacher asked some of her students to make up some math questions based on what they have learned in social studies and the subject matter was slavery. So some kids came up with questions that included the words like whipped and killed. The questions went back in the kids' backpacks and none of the parents complained. Why? Because they knew that their kids ( my kids are not in the class involved, hence explaining my cluelessness) have been learning in depth about slavery and the children understood the subject matter. A few weeks later, another teacher wanted to use the same questions and asked her assistant, a student teacher we call it, to make photocopy. Now, that was when the whole trouble started. The student teacher, whom I will call A, was shocked by the questions and decided to show them to her mentor. And then, this mentor decided to go to the press!!! Not to the principal (which I think what A should have done in the first place) but straight to the press. So, the media frenzy began! A tv crew came to the school on Thursday, tried to interview parents, managed to get one parent and one caregiver to say something and they were against the teacher, saying that it was wrong. That was on tv Friday morning and on the same morning, as we were sending off the kids, more tv crews were there, with cameras and these tall poles for transmission or something like that. So, during the meeting, the principal explained what happened (and apparently, I wasn't the only one who was clueless so takder la rasa blur sangat kan?). The parents (I would say 99% of us) were in support of the teacher. later that day, during pick up, there were more reporters asking parents for comments. And it was all over the news that night and kat internet, tak payah cakap lah, macam macam cerita and yang ditokok tambah and twisted version pun banyak. Anyway, things seemed to have mellowed down over the weekend so things were back to normal and the teacher so far doesn't face any disciplinary actions, so far so good. Saw the teacher a few days after that, she seemed ok, knew from a friend that she wasnt in such good shape on the day that happened. Pity her.Imagine you are being in the middle of this craziness and your intention was just to teach the kids about history and math but your intention got twisted and misjudged and questioned. And it was all because one not very smart person decided not to investigate or ask somebody else but rather assumed the worst and reported it to the wrong party. Not sure what is happening to A now but she better be smart and not show her face at our school again, ada yang kena pelangkung nanti.

Was down and out

Demam!!!! Selsema!!!! Was sick since Saturday.. Now better, Alhamdulillah, cuma demam still on and off. Now it is the flu season, and me being so malas, didn't get the flu shot, so now paying the price for it. The kids got their jabs so Alhamdulillah, they are doing fine so far. So the weekend, duk rumah, can't do anything, well, it was too cold to go out anyway but had to miss out on a lunch invitation by a Malaysian friend of ours. I was looking forward to such gathering because we can meet up and catch up and the kids would always have fun playing sesama Malaysians (they are the only Malaysians in their school, so sekali sekala jumpa geng sekampung, mestilah happy) plus the food is always good and delicious! Oh well, what to do. But on Monday night, had to fight the sickness to go out jugak because we have bought tickets to see the Harlem Globe Trotters at Madison Square Garden..rugi ooo kalau tak pergi, so I had to pull out all the strength that I had, or rather what is left, in my body to go. Once we were there, rasa macam ok, ye la, excited punya pasal, siap jerit2 and once, we got up and danced..hmm... Bila balik, I just realised that I was still sick. The next day I was back again, lying on the couch with tissues in my hand and feeling like a zombie with all the medication. Hubby dearest took over in the kitchen for three days...:). Thank you darling! The kids supposed to be on their mid winter break for a week, but kena ganti three days of school because of Hurricane Sandy where they were off for a week. Nope, they are definitely not happy about it. Well...what to do....ok, time for my meds again...

Super duper lazy week

This week has been so unproductive..been feeling ssssoooo lazy to do anything, cook, exercise, clean the house, write or even go out to the shops! Well, I still cooked and cleaned the house..no choice in those department but the exerise was non-existent for this week..unless you can count five minutes of so-called sit ups, exercise. The excuses..well, "best-friend" time of the month plus migraine. Plus I have been missing home so much..feels like going home right now..blaming it on the cold weather and also am really hoping we can go back for good this year. It is not that I am not grateful getting the opportunity to stay in the big apple but three years are enough, to me, it is time we head home. But there is no news whatsoever yet, not knowing is so agonizing! So, that explains my non-productive week..hopefully next week would be better, In syas Allah. Better start exercising again, my jeans are 'shrinking'!!!!!!. A blizzard coming tonight, expecting at least 8 inches of snow..have stocked up on some basic essentials, hoping everything will be fine, In syaa Allah. The kids are complaining about the cold and missing the sun back home. And missing the food too..:( Trying to stay positive is not easy but I guess somebody has to do it!