Monday, July 27, 2009

on Yasmin Ahmad

Go to http://yasminthestoryteller.blogspot.com/

Rest in Peace Yasmin Ahmad

It just came to my attention that Yasmin Ahmad has passed away. How sad that a wonderful human being has left us. I admired her work. Remember those Petronas commercials...those were the one thing on local TV that I looked forward to. She captured emotions of harmony, peace, friendship, love and togetherness that is so lacking on TV commercials these days.
This is definitely a loss for the nation. Her commercials reminded me so much of my primary school days. Ahhhhhhh...

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Awakening

Einstein said that 'the supreme art of the teacher is to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge'.
But everyone knows well that most times we teachers do nothing to awaken anything. We teach our students to pass exams and score the As. I tried something today in a class. I instructed my learners to write-in-role (a Process Drama technique). We used 'The Phantom of the Opera' and students wrote a journal entry as Erik, the Phantom. I made the students close their eyes and listen to expressions Erik must have heard over and over again..."Monster! Ugly! Abomination! Cover your face! I don't want to touch you! I hate you! Don't come near me! Hideous! Murderer!" (I think you get the picture.)
I told my class to write what they felt hearing those terrible remarks. I told them to cover their faces as if shielding the scarred face from unfeeling eyes.
THEY WROTE!
These wonderful children actually wrote and wrote!
For a brief moment I saw how much I have undermined these children. Today in class, these darlings taught me a thing or two (actually much more!) about the emotions Erik lives through.
At the end of writing, one sweetheart told me she was overcome and exhausted. Another said he would never ever call anyone ugly.
And I felt Einstein would have been proud of me! (okay, maybe not too much....a little perhaps?)
The moral of this narrative: Never underestimate these kids! Let your students teach you! Allow them the space to imagine and create!
Next week ...the boys are Raouls and the girls will be the opera darling, Christine.
With my students' permissions, I will post a few of their creative masterpieces.
One last thing.....Dr Anthony Manna, THANK YOU!

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Numbness of the brain

Hi everyone. This is my first posting. I have thought long on what I should say but my brain is numb. Not so much because I have thought long and hard but more because of total inactivity. Sometimes it hurts to think about where the future of English to leading to amongst young learners. People say..."Hey Teach, don't think about it - just teach!" But really, how can one teach words not thought of. I know many English teachers tend to get demotivated. Who really cares about punctuating correctly, writing grammatically accurate sentences or even speaking coherently?
My question to all of you is this..."How can an English teacher afford to be demotivated? How can we rise up and tell our children at school that English is so much fun? How can we convince them that speaking English will not erode their cultural heritage?"
I know I sound distraught and fallen. I know....
I am going to sleep with those questions pounding mercilessly in my mind. Perhaps my muse will appear and inspire...perhaps not. But how can I give up on myself...uh?