Who is that poor homeless child? He is one of our left behind students which is never ever care in this era of technology. When we are busy talking about technology we forget about him. Some might say that is not our concern, it’s the government who will do the job. How low our sensitivity and empathy towards our own people especially the children who left without proper education, care and love. Other also might argue, ‘ so, that’s our job to look after them? We are teachers. We just teach them who are willing to learn. If they don’t want, it’s not our fault.’ Do you think this children don’t want go to school, meeting his friends of his age, playing, learning together?

Being a teacher is not only merely teaching and lecturing. A teacher is an educator that educates students to be knowledgeable, skilful and high in moral value. We as a teacher should see students as a whole. Besides, we should not ignore the students who are problematic and introvert. Like the story that Prof posted in the forum, ‘Mrs. Thompson and Teddy’. We should always reflect on our teaching on how we can improve so that our students won’t feel bored and always try to listen to their problem. This is done by giving them a chance for them to speak and we just listen patiently to them.

‘Listening is crucial for assessment of learning (checking comprehension and appropriate challenge level), for collaboration between teachers and students (coaching instead of just judging), and for giving students a real sense of ownership of classroom activities as well as for allowing students to articulate and internalize the learning processes. Teachers who listen can turn around and provide very effective support structures to guide students on to the next level of challenge.’

(http://www.huntington.edu/education/lessonplanning/roles.html)

In addition it will give them the feel of being appreciated by other people especially teacher. It is because some of the children nowadays are less communicating with their parents because of the time limitation that their parent have for them. So, they will feel release when someone wants to hear their talk. On the other hand, we can use this way to get closer to them and gain their trust. Then, there will be no problem for them to listen to us. As a saying goes... what you give, you get back.

Water of our life..

Salam,

we all know that water covers 70% of our body and without water in one day will cause our body to dehydrate or worst it can cause death. here are some of the other symptoms of chronic dehydration:

13 Symptoms of Chronic Dehydration

Most people don't think they need to worry about dehydration.
To them, dehydration is something that happens to travelers in the
desert when they run out of water. But there is a chronic form of
dehydration that does not have the sudden and intense nature of
the acute form. Chronic dehydration is widespread in the present
day and affects everyone who is not drinking enough liquid.

This list of 13 symptoms will inspire you to go get a glass of
water, and then another, and another...

After each symptom we will show how lack of fluid affects the issue.

1. Fatigue, Energy Loss: Dehydration of the tissues causes
enzymatic activity to slow down.
2. Constipation: When chewed food enters the colon, it contains
too much liquid to allow stools to form properly, and the wall of
the colon reduces it. In chronic dehydration, the colon takes too
much water to give to other parts of the body.
3. Digestive Disorders: In chronic dehydration, the secretion
of digestive juices are less.
4. High and Low Blood Pressure: The body's blood volume is not
enough to completely fill the entire set of arteries, veins, and
capillaries.
5. Gastritis, Stomach Ulcers: To protect its mucous membranes
from being destroyed by the acidic digestive fluid it produces,
the stomach secretes a layer of mucus.
6. Respiratory Troubles: The mucous membranes of the
respiratory region are slightly moist to protect the respiratory
tract from substances that might be present in inhaled air.

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Restoring Vitality to You and the Planet!
http://www.life-enthusiast.com
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7. Acid-Alkaline Imbalance: Dehydration activates an enzymatic
slowdown producing acidification.
8. Excess Weight and Obesity: We may overeat because we crave
foods rich in water. Thirst is often confused with hunger.
9. Eczema: Your body needs enough moisture to sweat 20 to 24
ounces of water, the amount necessary to dilute toxins so they do
not irritate the skin.
10. Cholesterol: When dehydration causes too much liquid to be
drained from inside the cells, the body tries to stop this loss by
producing more cholesterol.
11. Cystitis, Urinary Infections: If toxins contained in urine
are insufficiently diluted, they attack the urinary mucous
membranes.
12. Rheumatism: Dehydration abnormally increases the
concentration of toxins in the blood and cellular fluids, and the
pains increase in proportion to the concentration of the
toxins.
13. Premature Aging: The body of a newborn child is composed of
80 percent liquid, but this percentage declines to no more than 70
percent in an adult and continues to decline with age.

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Life Enthusiast Radio Show:
http://lifeenthusiast.podomatic.com

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Turn Your dull Water into living clustered Water

Japanese research utilizing magnetic resonance imaging
demonstrated that cellular aging results from dehydration and from
significant changes in the structure of tissue water. In other
words, as the years go by, we not only lose water content, but the
intracellular water becomes bound to unwanted biological
macromolecules, resulting in a decrease in the beautiful water
clusters with which we began life.

Cell communication, nutrient delivery, detoxification,
diffusion and molecular movements all suffer with age.

Dr. Lee Lorenzen was bold enough to challenge the accepted
notion that this decline in metabolic efficiency was an inevitable
result of aging. He reasoned that the decline in water content and
the breakdown of water structure might not simply be an effect of
aging, but that it may also be a cause of aging.

He believed if he could create a way to replenish bodily fluids
with the proper structure of water, then metabolic efficiency and
signal transduction could be enhanced throughout the body. Dr.
Lorenzen has been proven to be correct.

These days we are able to create well structured water using
advanced technologies. Infused with light from a Geometric Laser,
Tymbak Tech Nano Water contains the vibratory imprint of 35
essential isotopes of elements which the body needs, in their
pre-metallic, unstable isotopic form, required for healthy
functioning of the body.

To learn more about Tymbak Tech Nano Water:

http://www.life-enthusiast.com/usa/tymbak-tech-nano-water-p-662.html

Exam Tips...

Exam tips:

Handling Test Anxiety

Many people are anxious and suffer from stress before and during an examination. They may even make simple errors that are not typical of their usual behavior. People who take licensing exams often experience greater stress due to a need to succeed because the results will determine whether or not they will be able to enter their chosen field. It is therefore important to prepare yourself emotionally to take your license exam.

Part of being prepared emotionally is for you to be able to recognize the symptoms of stress and anxiety. Stress is often strong enough to lead to incresed heart rate, shortness of breath, trembling hands, shaking legs, nausea, sweating, etc. Test anxiety and worry lead to a series of negative results including poor concentration, confusion, negative attitudes or moods, negative self-orientation, fear, anger, and even panic.

Often a person develops poor coping strategies such as becoming involved in negative self talk. A common psychological defense against these negative feelings and thoughts is giving up and becoming helpless or paralyzed during a test. The ability to perform well under pressure, however, is a skill that you can learn. Several strategies for overcoming test anxiety follow.

Adequate Preparation

The major factor involved in test anxiety is a lack of preparation. Most test-anxious people have poor study habits and have not prepared adequately for the test. They then attribute their poor performance to a lack of ability or capacity to perform.

Take an objective look at your approaches to studying. If you are lacking in good study habits, you may want to take a study skills training course. Set realistic study goals with ample time for quality learning and repetition. One rule of thumb is that for each hour of class time, study one or two hours at home.

Relaxation

Often the test situation, the examination room, the large number of candidates, and being watched by the person giving the exam intimidates candidates. It is important for you to feel confortable and relaxed in the testing situation.

Knowledge about taking exams helps people relax during the actual exam. Keep information about the date, time, and duration of the exam in mind.

For more information, please choose the appropriate Candidate Information Bulletin document for your desired license type, containing examination tips, study materials and sample test questions for the exam. Since these are Adobe PDF files, you can save the one that applies to you, after it opens in your browser, and then, at your convenience, print the document for reference.

The method of progressive relaxation involves tensing a muscle system and then relaxing it. Tensing a muscle will produce increased relaxation when the muscle is subsequently relaxed. Start at one end of the body and work to the other end. Practice every day for 10 to 15 minutes until you gain the increased ability to relax at will.

Alternately tense and stretch various muscles in your body. Concentrate on the difference in being tense and being relaxed. Tense your whole body, and then relax your whole body. Practice every day until you notice the gradual improvement in your ability to relax. This will give you confidence and the ability to relax when you take the exam.

Another method is to breathe deeply and slowly, letting your body go limp and allowing every muscle in your body to relax while you concentrate on your breathing. Start with your hands. Imagine them to be warn and heavy. Repeat to yourself "my hands are warm and heavy" several times. Maintain a slow, patterned breath rhythm. Progress to the arms, then the shoulders, and countinue until you relax your whole body. Do this 5-10 minutes a day. Look into other, different methods of relaxation. Many books about relaxation techniques are available.

Avoid Negative Thinking

Test-anxious people tend to be preoccupied with themselves. They concentrate on their negative thougths and feeling instead of concentrating on solving problems or answering test questions. The way to cope with this is to monitor your thinking. When you hear yourself talking negatively, be aware of it. Stop talking negatively and start positive self-talk.

curious George..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikscgEn2bzM
watch this video and think how will going to do if we have a pupils as curious as George?
happy watching and i bet you'll love adorable George.

soft skill

salam,

after 4 months in this course i think i started to develop those soft skills, Thanks Allah:
1. Communication- Obviously i can improve that skill as most of the assignments were in group and of course using technology has expand my communication. the interaction has benefit me lot to become an educator in this era of technology.
2. Critical thinking and problem solving- after all the assignments and reading i found myself more critical when trying to solve problem. it is because it requires discussion and brainstorming to understand the issues.
3. Team work- i also can find a that the group work task contribute to develop my team work spirit in me and group member. discussion among group also increase the skill.
5. Ethics and professional values- in order to be a good teacher, it requires me to learn to be professional and ethical and i can gain those skill in this course after all the learning and reading.
6. Life long learning- of course, i more realize that education is a life long learning. it won't stop when we finish this course only, especially in technology as it develop every day, every hour, every minutes and second.

yes, teacher...

Flowers are red-Harry Chapin

The little boy went first day of school

He got some crayons and started to draw

He put colors all over the paper

For colors was what he sawAnd the teacher said..

What you doin' young man

I'm paintin' flowers he said

She said... It's not the time for art young man

And anyway flowers are green and red

There's a time for everything young man

And a way it should be done

You've got to show concern for everyone else

For you're not the only oneAnd she said...

Flowers are red young man

Green leaves are green

There's no need to see flowers any other way

Than they way they always have been seen

But the little boy said...

There are so many colors in the rainbow

So many colors in the morning sun

So many colors in the flower and I see every one

Well the teacher said..

You're sassy

There's ways that things should be

And you'll paint flowers the way they are

So repeat after me.....

And she said...

Flowers are red young man

Green leaves are green

There's no need to see flowers any other way

Than they way they always have been seen

But the little boy said...

There are so many colors in the rainbow

So many colors in the morning sun

So many colors in the flower and I see every one

The teacher put him in a corner

She said.. It's for your own good..

And you won't come out 'til you get it right

And are responding like you should

Well finally he got lonely

Frightened thoughts filled his head

And he went up to the teacher

And this is what he said.. and he said

Flowers are red,

green leaves are green

There's no need to see flowers any other way

Than the way they always have been seen

Time went by like it always does

And they moved to another town

And the little boy went to another school

And this is what he found

The teacher there was smilin'

She said...

Painting should be fun

And there are so many colors in a flower

So let's use every one

But that little boy painted flowers

In neat rows of green and red

And when the teacher asked him why

This is what he said.. and he said

Flowers are red, green leaves are green

There's no need to see flowers any other way

Than the way they always have been seen.

But there still must be a way to have our children say . . .

There are so many colors in the rainbow

So many colors in the morning sun

So many colors in the flower and I see every one

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as a teacher we shouldn't limit our students imagination or thought. it is because at this age they are experiencing and exploring many new things in the world surround them. It is alright for them to view thing as they like. It would be as part of learning process..

fish philosophy...

Why fish?- a history...

On a visit to Seattle, Christensen (the pioneer) observed how animated and happy the employees at Seattle's Pike Place Fish Market were in their work. They filled orders by flinging fish to each other, inciting laughter from the customers and compliments about their throwing/catching abilities, or commiseration if they missed. Employees would often invite customers to join the fun. The Pike Place employees gave their complete attention to each of their customers and ensured each had an enjoyable visit.
Christensen realized that not only were the workers making a routine errand fun for themselves and their customers, they also were selling tons of fish. He constructed the FISH! Philosophy from his observations of Pike Place employees, arriving at four key concepts:
Play
Make Their Day
Be There [for Coworkers] (Often referred to as "Be Present" This is more to do with giving your full attention to a task or individual.)
Choose Your Attitude
The resulting FISH! film was translated into 17 languages and spawned a series of spin-off book titles, including Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results which has been translated into 34 languages.[1] Many companies and organizations have paid to introduce the FISH! Philosophy to their workplaces.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FISH!_philosophy)

Presentation...

salam,

the presentation on that day gave me some guidelines on how to improve my work...we can't simply using IWB if we can just use traditional method if it is more effective. as there are always reasons for doing things... so, i need to make sure that my work should met the objectives and appropriate to the intended pupils. besides, i also need to understand my pupils' interest and their need like the font use, the colour and the picture as well as the content. for example, the font use should be approprite to them which is not too big or not to small and it also shouldn't be times new roman font. in addition,the background of each slides should attractive but not distractive. too much animation may cause congestion in the slide. this may block the content that we are delivering for the lesson.

that day presentation had become an eye-opener for me to improve my work..thanks Prof and friends.

Working time..

salam,

Sorry for not updating my blog for a long time. Before Raya everything had been upside down..huhuhuhu.. My apology to you Prof for ignoring to update the blog.. it is because other subject required me to give extra attention than myself either...

however, the techno assignment did not make me tension as I really enjoy 'playing' with it. Enough time that prof provided for us gave me space to finish my work satisfactorily. No tension, no headache...Thank you very much, prof for the sympathy. bu, it doesn't mean i'm doing your work half-hearted. Actually a also put a great effoet to produce my work..hehehehe. Lots of things that i have learnt while producing the piece of work.. anyway, the most important thing is i found that using IWB will really attract and provide meaningful and useful learning to the pupils. i can't wait to use it in my future class...hope that my school can provide me with IWB...

weeks with IWB...

I can say it was an interesting experience exploring the smartboard features to make as teaching aids. The most important thing is it is interactive one where students can experience the learning process by themselves. It is important as according to Vygotsky theory of interaction, the children will acquire knowledge through interaction with the environment. This what smartboard software offered. In addition, for writing exercise, the students can try it on the board itself and correct themselves by clicking on the board to get the correct answer. Besides, using the board, the teacher and the students will not worry anymore about bad handwriting the students encounter. The board can help them to modify it. Isn’t interesting? There are soooo many other interesting things that you can discover through IWB(interactive white board). What we need just some time to explore or getting some courses on the use of IWB.
For me, the experience using IWB will help to design appealing activities for students. As a teacher, we maybe encounter problems to do physical activities in the class, so, as the alternatives so that the students will not feel boring, IWB is the solution. Using IWB, students will appeal to the animated cartoon, the games, videos that can be stored on the board. For academic learning, the students also will learn and have fun on the interactive video on science,maths , history and etc.

there are lots of other things that i can do with this IWB software. However, i also have to make sure the effectiveness and usefulness of preparing this materials to my students. there are may aspect that i need to consider in order to ensure the effectiveness of the use of IWB in my class and i should ask myself questions like:

1. How do I adopt this material for my teaching?
2.How do I adapt (modify) this material to meet the needs of my students and their learning styles? 4. How do I create my own lessons or materials based on the sample and make it more creative and innovative to attract my students?

After that, i can start to collect materials like pictures (animated pictures would be best), videos and decide on what to teach after find out the target group that i going to teach. when, planning on the activity, i should be able to go level by level so that the students will be able to learn meaningfully and can follow the lesson. the other factor such as font, pictures and colour of the presentation should be considered by me because it can help to attract the pupils to engage in the activity. the font should be large enough for them to see as children can hardly see small things and it will effect their attention span and unluckly it would demotivated them to pay attention. besides, the colour also should be attractive and children prefer bright colour as it is eye-catching. in addition animated pictures and interactive activity will motivate them to learn as it is fun and the students will love to have an experience with the IWB.

Salam and hi,

Nowadays after smart school we have smart board. That’s means everything should be smart even a board. I wonder if we have smart pen, smart book or smart desk too. A big question to us is whether we can produce smart students or not. Apart from all the technology invented to make things easier that is a question mark on the effectiveness of the usage. For example, is the use of IT in school. It is undeniable that many interesting and useful things that a teacher can create using the net to teach the pupils. But, the activities are just for their cognitive development and not really on their physical and social development. The pupils are just glued to sit and watch and then respond. I think the activities for the pupils should involve lots of physical movement so that to help their development. We need to produce a holistic person in them where they can be both active academically, socially and physically. Besides, the widespread of technology especially in urban area have contributed to negative impacts rather than positive impacts. The technology has been misuse by the children because of lack attention by their parents. The same situation now has slowly move to the rural area which the internet connection can be reached. Today, i think there is no more ‘kampung boy’ like the old day. I use to be a ‘kampung girl’. I grown up with nature which i have the opportunity to explore by myself every inch of my village and be friend to every fish in the river (hehehehe). I think those experience help me to appreciate the nature more and learn many things with nature and started to learn who am i. But, I’m sad to see my little sister do not have the valuable moment as I did. She has no time for that because of the school demand. I can say that she tend not to be very independent. However, though we can explore all parts of the world just clicking on the mouse, still we just can’t experience it. What we can do is just dreaming and imagining. So, in my opinion, as a teacher we can’t be too dependent on technology to shape our pupils. We should give them opportunity to explore the world around them by themselves. I think the best things are to give them opportunity to deal with the real things such as visiting and experimenting. We also should expose them to the nature as much as we can so that technology will not give a negative impact to them. There should be more interaction with the real human being and thing to build their social skill. In addition, there are some negative impacts on health because of technology. Like I’m experiencing now.. Waiting hours in front of computer to download or upload file make me suffer from a bad backache..huhuhuhu.. Besides, i also become one of the Panda’s sibling...wuuu.. Anyone who is in the same boat as i am? If you do..Welcome to the club, friends...

Theories into practices..

Assalamualaikum and hi,
we were given some input on the theory part on how to design the material using different kinds of media. We can use ASSURE model, ADDIE model or DICK and CAREY model to help us to design the materials using many kinds of other media apart of lecture and books. However, as a teacher we should know our students first before deciding to design the activities. It is important so that it would match with our students' need and ability so that we can deliver the content successfully. In addition, we should aware that every student in our class is different in terms of their characteristics, learning styles and background. Therefore, we need to consider all the factors before designing the activities.
Then, we need to state the objectives explicitly so that we know what we expect from the students performance. Besides, it also keeps us always on the track during the activities to ensure the learning process happen. After that, we can start to select the materials, method and media to be used in the classroom. The material should reflect the objectives that we plan earlier. In selecting the materials we must make sure that it is suitable and have the teaching points on it. If we need the materials is too high or too low for students' proficiency, we can modify and produce the new material from the original one. We can design it according to our creativity to suit our learners.
Before we used the material we have design, we should preview it to make sure that it alright and we can make adjustment to meet the students' need. Then, during the presentation stage, we should make sure that the students can participate in the activity to maximize the learning process among them. It is because they will learn best while interacting with their peer as their language continue to develop. At this stage they will try hard to learn by creatively make their own language and guessing to deliver and understanding messages. Besides, according to a psychologist, Lev Vygotsky, he stated that students construct their learning by interacting with their surrounding such as peers, teachers, parents and environment. Lastly, we need to evaluate the material used, do they met our learning objectives and do they students benefit from the activities. We can evaluate it during and after the activities. We can assess them while they are doing the activity by observing their development. After that, we need to make a reflection on our design material so that we can improve it later.
These theories help me to know the requirement of the activity that I’m going to design so that I will always be on the right track. It is also to make sure that I will not be too ambitious which I can't meet their proficiency or underestimate my students which will make them learn nothing. I can fall back on a theory by Stephen Krashen that said we should give them comprehensible input which goes a step beyond their current knowledge or what he called it as i+1. (Lightbown and Spada, 2001).

A journey starts with a first step..

salam,
Thanks God for this course..i think i will learn lots of thing that of course will benefit me as future teacher..God Willing.
that day i've learn how to edit a video using window movie maker. before that i already know about the window but, i dont think i will use it..hehehe
but, now i think i will try to explore the very basic one that i had overlooked.thanks, everyone.
for me, this is important because some of the videos we download from any web are not match with our students' level and sometimes it is too long that will not enough for only half an hour class. so, we need to edit and suit it our students' level of ability and proficiency.
then, for our first assignment we need to design our own video using the window movie maker or any window to make an interesting 3 minute presentation. in our group of 5 we discussed about our project..everyone were trying their best to give ideas about the presentation until we can't think anymore. luckily, Ms Ng also helped us in designing the activity..thank you for the cooperation, Ms Ng..besides, the video presentation during the class also give us come ideas to design the activity. then, we had come out with an idea to do the puppets presentation and to reduce the cost we think we can make the props of the puppet show using something like the super impose thing. however we do not have the knowledge on how to make it..huhuhu..so, we have to work hard to learn the knowledge...until then..bye..

next generation learning.

salam,

how techno is going to affect our students? a lots.. like there will be less depending on manual stuffs where the students will be exposed widely in the learning which lead to enjoyable and interesting way of learning.

in the past, students having a small scope of finding friends where they can share their thoughts and learn other culture and country. but, now they just can click to be friend with any other people in another country which will enhance their language and expand their social life and knowledge.

there also lots of other things like student who love to draw can put his drawing alive using animation..that's cool!

so, there a lots of work for us as a future teacher to learn in order to cater their needs..besides, it also benefits us in many way as well. then, don't worry for the tiring work await.huh..think positive(rite,liza..hehehe)

one day....

I felt very nervous after the first class. Why? As you all know, I’m not into technology very much. So, most of the latest technology stuffs are alien to me..huhuhu...
Therefore, i hope this course will give some new input for me to use in my teaching profession in future.
But, i think this course would be fun because i will learn lots of new stuffs with my wonderful friends and a brilliant lecturer..i will need your help along the way and i hope that you will not get bored and fed up with me. .hehehe..
for me technology plays an important role in teaching and learning process as a tool to capture students' interest and to make the teaching and learning process meaningful. i know all of you'll agree with me,rite?hehehe
so, as a teacher we need to be well-equipped with this techno stuff. besides, it will make our live easier because it lot to be explored!

that's for that day..see you soon..adios