Teachers' Day 2012

On the eve of Teachers' Day, I rented out the DVD Dangerous Minds but I only got to watch it just now.

I've watched it before but it was years back. Now that I'm a teacher, the movie struck a deeper chord in me.

When Louanne decides to quit, she had this conversation with her colleague:

Louanne: I feel so bad about leaving I can hardly breathe.

Hal Griffith: I know, but-Oh, what the hell. You're right. You gotta be crazy to stay here and teach these programme classes. There is no money. It's killer work.

Louanne: Why do you stay?

Hal Griffith: Why do I smoke? I'm crazy.

Teaching is hard and those who do it are superheroes. Yes, I'm masuk-bakul-angkat-sendiri (blowing own trumpet) but it's Teachers' Day so I can get away with it :p

Effective teachers have superpowers because as Donald D. Quin so eloquently explains:

‎"If a doctor, lawyer, or dentist had 40 people in his office at one time, all of whom had different needs, and some of whom didn't want to be there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer, or dentist, without assistance, had to treat them all with professional excellence for nine months, then he might have some conception of the classroom teacher's job"

So why do people choose to be a teacher and STAY in the profession?

One of my best friends, Ainur, sent me an SMS which reads: [Teaching is] experiencing the highest of highs and the lowest of lows".

How true.

For me one of the highs of being a teacher is seeing my kids' bright smiles every day. Of course, not everybody smiles; some sulk, some look the other way, some are indifferent... But those who do smile & wave & greet you with such joy, - they make you feel that you're not such a bad teacher/person after all.

Another high is getting the students rapt in attention in your lessons. This does not happen often (at least not in my case!) but when it does, it's pure magic. In such moments, you feel like you can impart anything and it will stay with them for a long time (instead of in one ear and out the other). And when you impart to them these life lessons and see some of them nodding their heads imperceptibly, you feel like one of the wisest sages to walk the earth. Haha.

Further, when your kids appreciate what you're doing, it means A LOT. There was this one time when a lesson went very well and when it ended, a student came up to me and said; "Thank you Teacher. I've really learnt a lot today".

Those few words really made my day :')

If you look at the literature, there are many qualities that a great teacher should possess (e.g. creativity, flexibility, sense of humour, passion, etc) but I think, as in life, the two most important characteristics are PATIENCE and PERSEVERANCE.

So, hang in there if you're going through a particularly tough time right now... Remember, after hardship, comes ease :)

Oh, I forgot to mention another definite high of being a teacher: You get presents on Teachers' Day! Yippee!

P.S. If my kids are reading this, I want you to know how much I love you guys!

Wowed

I meant to write this sooner but hadn't had the time to do so...

Weeks ago, as grammar practice, I had my class write 3 sentences using the past tense to describe a famous personality. Even though I told them that their famous personality can be anyone; a politician/an athlete/an author/a historical figure/etc, most of them chose to describe their favourite celebrities.

Thus, when they were writing their sentences/clues on the board, I felt like I was the host of E! News because I was reading tidbits of one celebrity after another. I came to know when the celebrities were born, what expensive things they got for their birthdays, how they got their big break, whom they used to date, etc.

I was pretty down by the end of the lesson. The exercise really reveals what preoccupies the students' minds and it's sad to know that they're so engrossed with such trivial stuff. [And can you blame them? They're only consuming what gets aired on TV...]

A few weeks later, we had an activity which overturned my previously negative impression of Generation Z. After viewing the documentary 'The Cove', the students had to (in groups) present about an activist that they admire. They tested my patience somewhat when they kept asking for the presentation to be postponed ("We're not ready yet Teacher!"). I was bewildered; Why are they taking such a long time? Everything is readily available on Wikipedia after all...

On the day of presentation, I finally knew why. Several groups did an exceptional job and I was completely wowed.

Instead of just "dumping" all the information that they had gathered on mahjung papers, they arranged it to produce a well-scripted performance that's engaging, spirited & humorous. Phrases/pictures/drawings that are significant to their stories were pasted on the board bit by bit so that the board was gradually filled up.

The pieces of papers were done so beautifully (I could imagine the painstaking work that went into producing them) and together, they formed a stunning collage. Their polished performances also indicated that they had spent a lot of time perfecting their routines. I was just wowed by their effort+creativity+enthusiasm.

The cherry on top was when Joy delivered this inspiring speech about the youth not being the leaders of tomorrow; but are the leaders of TODAY and her call to action for all youths to stand up and be counted. She delivered her speech with such conviction and confidence that her classmates voted her the "Best Presenter".

My heart just swelled with pride after that lesson :')

Conclusion: It is possible to get the kids to talk about Aung San Suu Kyi, Rachel Corrie & Mohamed Bouazizi in place of Kim Kardashian, Justin Bieber & Barney Stinson.
Kids are by nature inquisitive and full of energy. It is up to us teachers to harness/redirect these qualities towards more beneficial endeavours.

Productive Muslim Seminar Malaysia

I think I started subscribing to the Productive Muslim newsletter during Ramadan last year. Being productive when you're tired, hungry and thirsty might seem impossible to many. Thus the PM team shared tips on how to make the most out of the blessed month of Ramadan through their newsletters and videos. I benefited greatly from the input and thus had no hesitation signing up for the seminar when I got to know about it.

The seminar was held on 25 & 26 Feb 2012 at the main hall of the ICT faculty of IIUM. Around 500 people attended the seminar with some coming all the way from Indonesia, Singapore and even India! The main speaker was Mohammed Faris a.k.a Abu Productive, the founder & CEO of Productive Muslim.

Throughout the 2-day course, I had 2 major questions that I wanted answered. The first question was: How can you be productive in all facets of your life? I mean I think I'm quite productive at work, working long hours & sometimes even bringing home work. But because I over-exert myself at the workplace, I become so unproductive once I reach home. I only want to unwind, relax and sleep. Thus, I'm not doing my fair share of the housework. So, how do one become productive round the clock? Is it even possible?

My second question was: How do you strike a balance between not 'biting off more than you can chew' and not doing too little that you're not contributing much to the society? (Because sometimes we start off with all these good intentions & we sign up for a lot of things. But later we discover that we cannot be consistent & end up disappointing people when we can't commit.)

My first question was answered when the speaker talked about the 'minimum performance level' concept. What's a minimum performance level you say? Well, imagine a simple bar chart that has 5-7 bars indicating the roles that you play (e.g. a Muslim, daughter, wife, mother, sister, employee, neighbour, etc). Now, the length of these bars indicates your performance level. Ideally, all bars should be above the minimum level but most often than not, we have some bars lingering below the critical threshold.

So what should we do to address the imbalance? The answer is simple enough: We scale back on the things we are over-performing in to give due attention to the areas we've been neglecting. But the answer's easier said than done because we live in a society where achievements at the workplace is the ultimate barometer of success. We look up to millionaires and people with important positions, not those who lead balanced lives and have great relationships with their families & friends. So we may not be willing to cut down on work because of the recognition that comes with it plus the validation that we derive from it.

However, as Muslims, we have to remember that our parents, children, siblings, friends and neighbours have rights over us & that we are accountable for our actions (or the lack thereof).

This particular input was a wake-up call for me. Much as I love my parents, I do take them for granted at times. Parents are the people most forbearing of your faults & shortcomings. Therefore, you tend to "slip" in your filial duties, knowing that they'll love you regardless.

It's high time that we stop taking the people in our lives for granted and be more conscientious in discharging our responsibilities. Let's keep all our "bars" at or above the minimum level!

I didn't get to ask my second question but there was a whole session on being socially engaged. Maybe I'll write about it in my next entry (or you can subscribe to the newsletter and follow the ongoing series on social productivity). The second option is highly-recommended ;)

If all the input from the 2-day seminar can be condensed in one phrase, it would be: Have sincere intentions & work hard. For more "gems" or bite-sized wisdom, do read the tweets from the event #ProMMalaysia.

Celebrate Mercy 4

I signed up for Celebrate Mercy after viewing the above poster. With such an illustrious speaker lineup, I can't help but register for it even though I knew little about webcasts and how the whole thing will work.

So on Feb 18, I turned on my computer to view my scheduled webcast. A private link was sent to me via email with which I can access the broadcast. It was supposed to run for 2 hours but mine ran for a little over 3 (not that anyone was complaining).

In that 3 hours, we viewed pre-recorded videos from the various speakers and performers mentioned in the poster. Each speaker spoke for 4 to 8 minutes, but though their lectures were short, the stories they told were very profound. I'd like to share my favourite lessons here but I don't want to spoil the surprise for you :)

Suffice to say my favourite speakers were: Dr. Amr Khaled, Safaa Zarzour, Abdel-Rahman Murphy & Habib Ali Al-Jifri. Actually, all the speaker were amazing but these four told stories about the Prophet SAW that particularly touched me.

The theme of Celebrate Mercy 4 is Love & the Beloved; Muhammad SAW: Lessons from His Married Life. So, we got to hear beautiful stories about his relationship with his wives. Each of the vignettes told reinforces what an amazing man he was. He truly was the Quran personified and a mercy sent to the 'Alamin.

To encourage interaction and to allow people with slower internet connection to catch up, the talks were interspersed with polls, chats and brief ads by the sponsors. The mood was also lighten by performances by Dawud Wharsnby Ali, Junaid Jamshed, Raef [of It's Jumuah fame (a song that gives a fresh twist to Rebecca Black's Friday)] & Mona Haydar.

So, do register for the webcast if you haven't already. There are 5 more showtimes to sign up for and it only costs USD5 (equivalent to MYR15.50). An advice: a fast internet connection is essential in order to keep up with proceedings and to enjoy the experience.

Besides the wonderful talks, it was great being a part of the online gathering of people from all over the world. It's amazing to comprehend that all of us (from vastly different backgrounds and geographical locations) came together for the sole purpose of celebrating our beloved Prophet SAW :)

How I wished I had attended Celebrate Mercy 1, 2 & 3...

Weird Day

The topmost floor of Block D has been without electricity since last Friday. And when you have 40 students in a class in a 30 degree Celsius weather..., well that's just recipe for disaster.

Today, even when it's quite early in the morning (7.30am), 3H asked to go to the library (where there's air-conditioning). But I managed to placate them by promising to bring them to the library later this week.

But it was already 10.10am when I entered 3I and the air had warmed up considerably. All the students were busy fanning themselves with whatever material they happened to have at hand and they all looked agitated.

As anticipated, they assailed me with requests to go to the library as soon as I walked into the class.

"Let me think about it", I replied while thinking of a brand new lesson plan to be carried out at the library.

Some of the naughtier boys started chanting "Library, Library, Library" in the hopes of influencing my decision.

I ignored it at first but the chanting grew louder. Now the other boys have joined in the "Library, Library, Library" chant.

Then something weird happened. Two boys started dancing to the beat of the chorus. It looked like a cross between zapin and an ancient tribal dance. Is the heat making my students unstable?

Noticing my perplexed and amused face, now the girls joined in the chants "LIBRARY, LIBRARY, LIBRARY".

My resolve was finally broken when a student said something hilarious while fanning his underarms for effect.

I burst out laughing and said the magic words, "Okay 3I, I'll see you guys at the library". This was met by loud cheers. It was as if I had said tomorrow was a public holiday...

I hope the fans will be working tomorrow as I don't think I can face the tribal chants and dance again...

For The Love of Poetry

Poetry is hard to get. Some people are really into it but I think most people just don't get it.

I've always loved literature. But even when I was a student, I only gravitated toward the short stories and novels. I felt that poetry is a bit "phony".

I only started to think differently when I attended the International Conference on English Language Teaching (ICELT) last year. The conference's theme was 'Teaching English as a Performing Art'.

Paul Cookson, a poet, was one of the speakers there. He related how one day his daughter asked him to read a poem she had written. He flatly refused.

"Now you may think I'm a heartless father" he said. But he went on to explain that poetry is not meant to be read (silently). It has to be recited out loud. So he asked his daughter to recite her poem and he gave her feedback afterwards.

That was a light-bulb moment for me. So that's how you appreciate poetry!; you have to read it out loud and infuse it with appropriate emotions and some theatrics.

Besides Cookson, Adisa was another poet at the conference. And after attending his session and workshop, I was beginning to like poetry. *gasp*

This new development means that I no longer dread teaching poetry. Below is a lesson that I did recently. It combines the teaching of poetry with a listening activity.

[An aside: We English teachers are trained to teach the 4 skills: Reading, Writing, Listening & Speaking. All 4 skills are supposedly equal (in importance) but for the longest time our education system only tests or focuses on the R & W skills. Speaking skills are only starting to get more attention with the introduction of PLBS & ULBS (school-based oral assessment). But listening skills continue to be neglected.]



I was introduced to Boona Mohammed at the Twins of Faith Conference. I bought his album and thought that 'For The Love' is the perfect poem to share with my students.

The poem's opening stanza really captures their attention:

You should only say "I love you" when it is completely obvious,
And does not actually need to be said.
So I pray to God that I love her,
Until my very last breath.

Once they're hooked, you can teach them about rhyming words, simile, metaphor, personification, etc. Another possibility is to do a vocabulary exercise with the weaker students.

All these, however, are supplementary activities because my main objective is to get them to appreciate poetry; to realise that poetry can be engaging; that it is meant to be performed, not read.

So hopefully, after this, my students will be more excited when learning the poems in their literature component and will give a more lively recitation when asked to read the poems aloud.

Worry

I'm one of those people who worry too much. I worry about work, about my finances, the future, etc.

At the beginning of the year, when I got to know that I have to be in-charge of hockey, I worried myself sick.

In my school, the boys who enter hockey are the most problematic hard-to-manage kids.

I shouldn't say kids though because the majority of the boys are big and burly (they look more like rugby than hockey players). Any female teacher would be dwarfed in their presence.

Anyway, I was imagining all sorts of horrible situations. The boys would do as they please; skipping classes in order to "train", disregarding my commands, creating a ruckus at the district-level tournament, etc.

I pitied myself and asked why? why me?

To further compound my misery, the district-level tournament (MSSD) was held in the 3rd week of January.

Somehow or other, I had to build a team and get them ready for MSSD in a week's time.

And what a week it was!

Despite being incredibly tired running around attending the training sessions, getting all the darn forms ready, procuring the jerseys, 1st aid kit, drinking water, etc, I was pleasantly surprised by the boys' cooperation.

They were not so hard to manage after all. In fact, I was impressed by their commitment. They came on time for practice, did everything their captain told them to and lo and behold, they actually LISTENED to my instructions!

Admittedly, the notorious boys from last year had left school and I was spared from much grief.

But still, the ones in the team are what you would call "challenging" if they were in your classrooms.

Somehow, they are different on the field. They exhibit traits like dedication, commitment, respect for authority, etc that you didn't know they had it in them.

What I'm getting at is this: We should learn to be more positive and worry less. I bet most of the things we worry about don't even come to pass.

But even if they do, "worrying does not empty tomorrow of its troubles; it empties today of its strength".

Love in a Headscarf

"At the age of thirteen, I knew that I was destined to marry John Travolta. One day he would arrive on my North London doorstep, fall madly in love with me and ask me to marry him. Then he would convert to Islam and become a devoted Muslim."

When I read the hilarious excerpt above, I knew that I had to buy the book. After a long search, I finally bought it at Kinokuniya KLCC on New Year's Day. It was my first purchase for 2012!

Though the book's main narration is about the author's journey to finding Mr. Right, there are also vignettes on what it means and how it feels to be a modern Muslim woman.

For example, Muslims are told to look beyond physical attributes and 'chemistry' when assessing potential life partners. We are told to give more emphasis on that person's religious commitment.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said in a famous hadeeth: Women may be married for four things: their wealth, their lineage, their beauty and their faith (religious commitment). Choose the one who is religiously-committed, may your hands be rubbed with dust (i.e. may you prosper).

But of course, knowing something doesn't necessarily mean we practise it. Thus we find people nowadays over-emphasising beauty and wealth while neglecting the most important component of all.

The author also shares her experiences after the September 11 and July 7 tragedies. Her headscarf singled her out from the crowd and inadvertently labeled her a terrorist. She recounted how that date marked "the very first time that [she] felt subhuman in Britain, and the first day [she] felt scared to live in [her] own country".

The headscarf plays a major role in the book. Not only is it featured in the title, it has a whole chapter dedicated to it. The author answers frequently-asked questions about her headscarf (the most popular being: "What's it like under there?") with a healthy dose of humour. Her eloquent answers also reject claims that the headscarf is oppressing Muslim women.

I also love stories about Khadijah, Safura, Aasiya, Maryam and Hagar inserted in intervals throughout the book. We should draw inspiration from their remarkable life-stories on how to be strong, brave and independent.

The book ends with the author finally finding 'the one'. After many misadventures and disappointments, the right guy finally shows up. And he was worth the wait, she professes. She counsels those still looking to be patient and to find Allah first, to love Allah and to trust Him.

"Perhaps he wasn't ready for us yet and still needed life to polish him up. Or maybe it was us that life needed to polish before we were ready for the one".

Twins of Faith Malaysia 2011

What are the twins of Faith? If you look at the above logo carefully, they are 'ilm and 'amal (knowledge & action). Interestingly, to further underscore their strong correlation to one another, both words are formed from the same 3 letters; lam, 'ain and mim. Throughout the whole 2-day conference, the importance of both was reiterated, again and again. You simply cannot act without knowledge and what is the use of knowledge if we don't put it into practice?

Though the concept is simple enough, not many of us do seek knowledge, do we? I mean, we were born Muslims so we think we have all religious rituals down pat. We probably do but that's exactly the problem; we view them as rituals - elements so intertwined with our culture that we think they are what Islam is all about: praying, fasting, Eid and the Hadj. We don't go out of our way to learn more about our beautiful religion. Islam has become a set of rituals instead of a way of life.

Alhamdulillah, I was very fortunate to be able to attend the Twins of Faith Family Festival in Putrajaya last weekend (Dec 24 & 25, 2011). The event was packed with talks, workshops and performances from 10am until 10pm on both days.

Below are some of the input that made an impact on me:

1) Sheikh Alaa Elsayed quoted a line from Lion King when he reminded us to "remember who [we] are". We are the best of nations as mentioned in the Quran:

You are the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind; you enjoin Al-Ma'ruf and forbid Al-Munkar, and you believe in Allah (Surah Al-'Imran, Verse 110).

Another speaker, Sheikh Tawfique Chowdhury, expounded on this point when he chastised Muslims who think so lowly of themselves:
"Why the defeatist attitude?" he had asked.
"How dare you think so small"
"How dare you think that Allah will not help you".

2) In the women-empowerment workshop by Dr. Harlina Halizah Siraj, maternal health care was discussed. It was sad to learn that countries like Afghanistan, Niger, Yemen, Mali and Sudan (which are predominantly Muslim countries) are considered the worst places to be a mother. Why is this so? Well, according to Save The Children report it all boils down to poverty and the (lack of) quality of life:

"...in Afghanistan, a typical woman has fewer than five years of education and will not live to be 45. Less than 16 percent of women are using modern contraception, and 1 child in 5 dies before reaching age 5. At this rate, every mother in Afghanistan is likely to suffer the loss of a child."

Referring to the "You are the best of peoples..." verse above, how can this be happening? Obviously we haven't been enjoining Al-Ma'ruf and forbidding Al-Munkar, and we've turned our backs to Allah. It is often said that the beauty of Islam is being covered by ugly Muslims and I think the report is a clear example of that.

3) One of the speakers shared a very interesting finding from a research: apparently, we are the amalgamation of the 5 people whom we are closest to. We commonly hear that our friends are our mirrors. This finding seems to corroborate that. It made me think of the 5 people closest to me and in what ways are they influencing my life?

We should all take stock of the company we are keeping and make necessary adjustments for we wouldn't want to be influenced negatively. One of the criteria of a good friend is: when you see them, you will think of Allah (SWT). So let's surround ourselves with such friends (and become one ourselves).

4) The session that left the biggest impact on me has got to be the fund-raising. Mercy Mission Malaysia is raising funds to build a KL Madinah. In the sirah, the Muhajirin (people who were persecuted in Makkah) sought refuge in Madinah. The people of Madinah, called the Ansar, willingly took in the Muhajirin and treated them compassionately.

Similarly, KL Madinah aims to provide shelter to those most in need such as new Muslims who may have had to leave their families, homes and possessions when they embraced Islam. A question was posed by such a revert in a video: "Where are our Ansars? Who will help us?"

It was head-spinning to witness people pledging RM100K, 50K, 25K, 10K and 5K without hesitation. Subhanallah, these are the people who are not attached to their wealth; who (figuratively) have the world their in hands but Allah in their hearts.

(It was announced that approximately RM1.9 million was raised in total! Allahu Akbar!)

5) The entertainment slots were equally thought-provoking as the talks. In fact, they were called 'Halal edutainment' to convey their intention to educate as well as entertain. My favourite performer was Boonaa Mohammed, followed closely by Muslim Belal. Both of them are spoken-word artists and their slam-poetry lyrics provide much food for thought.



Overall, it was a very well-organised event. There was a minor problem with crowd-control on the first day, but it was sorted out and the second day went much smoother. PICC was the perfect venue: the plenary hall was spacious and beautiful, the washrooms clean, and the view is just unparalleled. I liked the fact that the opening and closing ceremonies were kept short. No interminable VIP speeches that are synonymous with events in Malaysia. Most of all, I love the atmosphere exuded. It truly was a family festival. It was heartwarming to see whole families coming together to seek knowledge and to see the youth forming the majority of the crowd.

I'm thankful to Allah that I was able to attend the festival with beloved friends. Friends who came all the way from other states to gain something beneficial. In the end I believe all of us gained so much more than what we had set out to do.

Can't wait for Twins of Faith 2012! :)

Activists

I saw 2 documentaries recently which woke me up from my slactivism stupor.

The Cove



The Cove tells of an elite group of filmmakers, freedivers and activists that went on a secret mission to expose the dolphin slaughter in Taijin, Japan.

In the documentary, an interviewee from Greenpeace said (quoting from Margaret Mead); "Never depend on institutions or government to solve any problem. All social movements are founded by, guided by, motivated by and seen through by the passion of individuals."

However, it must be stressed that, passion should always be followed by actions. Ric O'Barry, the central figure in The Cove, drove the point home when he said; "You're either an activist or an inactivist, and I wanted to be active."

Gaza We Are Coming



Prior to the infamous Gaza Freedom Flotilla mission in 2010 (in which 9 Turkish activists were killed on board Mavi Marmara), there was an earlier attempt to break the Israeli naval siege on Gaza. 44 human-rights activists from 17 countries all over the world boarded 2 boats and successfully reached the Gaza shore on 23 August 2008.

Like the team from The Cove, these disparate individuals, united by a common cause, came together to successfully pull-off a highly-dangerous mission.

Watching these 2 documentaries was akin to watching espionage films. Indeed, one reviewer described The Cove as "The Bourne Identity meets Flipper". These amazing individuals overcame great odds and obstacles to achieve their objectives.

What made them stick out their necks like that?

According to one activist, it was because; "Every time I shave in the mirror, I look at myself and think I have done very little. I haven't done anything and that's the truth. And I think we should all do more."

I think that while it is good that we sign online petitions, 'like' certain pages, update our statuses and share articles to spread the awareness on various issues, it's high time we go beyond these measures and start to put in concrete actions.

Start small and see how it goes from there :)

May Allah give us the strength to make meaningful contributions...