Journal Reflections

The blog MUETIRSHADWAY has been in the net since April, 2014. Now I have published 36 posts and 48 links; mostly on current issues.
The journey...well, it is all about emotion, passion, frustration and devotion. There is a lot of effort being put in the setting up of the blog and maintaining it. I have had some experience setting up a few blogs for my pre-university unit since 2010 but this one is particularly academic--the former ones were just reports.

The Road Not Taken

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;         5 Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same,         10 And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.         15 I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.         20 the I have taken  road which spells hardship and frustration and hope that it turns out to be success and accomplishment. This blog is a legacy for Irshadians especially the sixth formers. I hope they would treasure what it has to offer or it will just be a heavenly piece of junk orbitting the net! __________________________________________________________________________ The Teacher and Unprescribed Duties 28 Jan 2015 Left my car at 7.07 in the morning and straight to the office, punched the card and switched on my lappy. The first duty was to check the 5S Organisation Chart, the 5S Guide Committee Chart, 5S Logo and the 5S objectives. And...there it went again, the printer was stuck again. Not a problem, Mr DIY is here. First, switch off the printer and then swith it on again. When the cartridge stops at the middle of the trough, then start the operation: Tadaa! The printer could be used now. Then, I have to make errands to several places to inform my subordinates for the 5S project--that would be a few hundred calories. No announcement, please! Phew! Finally got them all and just in time for my MUET class at 12.30 p.m. The class ended at 2.15 p.m. Knock! Knock! Knock! "There will be Academic Committee Meeting at 3.00 p.m. Attendance is compulsory! Let's reflect: 1. Punch the attendance card 2. Prepare the 5S Organization Chart 3. Repair the printer 4. Run errands 5. Attend class 6. Committee meeting Not bad for Mr Fantastic! Teaching takes just 1 out of 6 chores. Stupid question 1: a) Why don't you ask the technician to repair the printer? Stupid answers 1: a) That's your printer, you repair on your own, ma! b) I have better things to do, sir! Stupid question 2: a) Why not asking the office boy to do errands? Stupid answer 2: a) Sorry, sir. I have to deliver the relief slips to the teachers! b) Who's the boss? ________________________________________________________________________ The abstract for W.A.L.L. (Web-Assisted Language Learning) __________________________________________________________________________________ PRESENTATION OF RESEARCH PAPER, W.A.L.L by Mohd Rosli bin Saidin at Summit Hotel, KL 5 December 2014             Assalaamualaikum and a very good morning I bid to all present. What I am going to share with you today is just a very simple idea--it's about the internet and e-communication. But how do we harness the power of the net which is much simpler, much more practical and cheap?                     The web, yes the web ladies and gentlemen. I'll quote, an ex-college student from UK once said " Everything that I have learned in college is in Wikipedia". Well it must have hit the teaching and learning institution real bad! It's a reality. The internet is undeniably and extremely generous source of information, ladies and gentlemen! Do you agree if I say even among friends, you'll have some sessions of face-to face but later continue through sms or social network? In other words the relationship is further elaborated through e-communication. Even with friends, you would by any chance be talking about using google to find the location of say, Summit Hotel!                     It has become part of our daily routine--the internet is something that we could not afford to live a day without!! What if the teaching and learning institutions turn into an internet routine, just like ours? Even now, some of us are turning to the smart phone to access our what's apps for some information, right--while a paper is being presented!           Well, to certain extent, consulting the net has become part of our daily routine. It has become a trend in the US that teaching and learning happens actively through the net. Right here, in Malaysia? You and I will have to initiate it. __________________________________________________________________________ CONFERENCE/PRESENTATION OF RESEARCH PAPER AND POSTER FOR THE PRINCIPALS AND HEADMASTERS OF HIGH PERFORMING SCHOOLS, MALAYSIA. 5 DECEMBER 2014   Reflection:   Towards the end of the session, on the last day of the conference, I was expecting some discussion moderated by Dr Rohaya binti Hassan, the Deputy Director of Fully Residential and Excellent Schools Management Division. It did not happen. The following paragraph was what I had in mind to share with all the participants.   Dr  we are here for an event and it's done. Following this, I suggest would be a compilation of all the materials presented in detail, that is, a prospectus. I suggest that SBT should go a step further or should I say advertise ourselves that we are functioning as High Performing Schools in Malaysia.           My suggestions are:   A. have a website or a blog where we can:   i)   post our activities ii)  upload our research papers iii) set up relevant links iv) post newsletters   B. Produce our own newsletter which reports our activities to be shared by all schools         across  the nation. The contents could be:   i)    Events ii)   Research Papers iii)  Innovations iv)  opinions/suggestions by: Mohd Rosli bin Saidin Senior Assistant of Administration of Pre-University   ________________________________________________________________________________   PUSH HARD, REAL HARD!!!                                                          Push hard to head-start! by Mohd Rosli            Wondering how to head-start changing the climate of teaching and learning in the school? Pedagogy is a big boulder planted in the attitude domain of teaching and learning instructors which requires a lot of effort to move. Everybody in the school must understand that we have to apply a huge force in the same direction or else the boulder won't budge!           Likewise, we have to accept changes. Changes are usually painful and there are two types of pain; one which hurts you while the other changes you, for the better or the worse. But worse is better than worst! How do you know that it's going to be worse? Yet the worst is really the result of not willing to bear the pain of changes; no pain, no gain!           I understand that it isn't easy to accept changes. Changes come in tides and sometimes in waves. Waves will strike you flat if you don't start running. If you can't run ahead of the waves, then run with it. But if you kneel, you'll be washed away.           The choice is yours as the changes will come and greet or scare you. Sooner or later you will have to adapt to it. So, let's move; walk and then run--run for you life!   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------     Running around with potentially sound ideas without sound responses!!! by Mohd Rosli          You're shouting out loud but people still ignore you!!! What are the reasons for this? I have been blogging for about four years with materials involving English Language for Pre-University students and even those in the lower and upper secondary levels. Why are they not responding much? The Publicising is not done? I did that quite often. In fact I have advertised the blogs by sending links to 'What's Application Groups'. But they seem to ignore them. I only have a few colleagues responding to the blogs. Even students ignore the blogs. I told them that the blog is 'ALL UNDER ONE ROOF'! Perhaps I should include catchy lines or headlines to draw the audience's attention. Perhaps the blog doesn't contain enough sensational elements which are current or trendy. But I have to abide by my principal---remain educational. I have to be more patient handling this kind of blog.   The Power of A Blog by Jason Falls Why are blogs such a powerful communications tool in the arsenal of a company? There are lots of reasons, really. But the explanation I’ve used that normally gives those who don’t quite understand blogging have their “ah-ha” moment is a simple one. To understand the power of a blog you have to compare it to something familiar. Think about your company newsletter. If you’re not that hip to blogging yet, your company newsletter is probably still printed and circulated in everyone’s box in the mailroom. Or maybe it’s mailed to everyone’s house. But in some form or fashion, some printed piece of information is circulated monthly or bi-weekly to everyone in the company. There are pictures of new hires, company softball team news, maybe even some tips and tricks articles for the sales team and a list of birthdays. Image via Wikipedia The problem with that mechanism of communication is that the information has a limited life cycle and, due to costs, the publication has a limited circulation. Only a few people can access it. With a blog, even if just focused on internal news, everyone, in or out of the company, can access it. There’s less hard cost to produce and adding news or information doesn’t add cost to the project. And the information can be updated on a whim, giving it a forever life cycle. Not to mention, the content can be more easily found thanks to the ubiquitous power of search. Those reasons alone make a blog a much more powerful communications mechanism — internally or externally — than a company newsletter. Capitalizing on that same analogy, though, think about how many company newsletters you’ve read that were interesting enough to want to read again. It’s a comparable medium, but not the same. With more power, comes more responsibility. It’s time companies grasped that and made their new newsletter, in whatever form, worth reading About the Author Jason Falls Jason Falls is a leading thinker, speaker and strategist in the world of digital marketing and is co-author of two books, No Bullshit Social Media: The All-Business, No-Hype Guide To Social Media Marketing and The Rebel's Guide To Email Marketing. By day, he leads digital strategy for Elasticity, one of the world's most innovative digital marketing and public relations firms. Follow him on Twitter (@JasonFalls).