Mona Lisa Smile =) =) =)

Wow! What a relief to watch a movie again! This is so good that I feel very relaxed in classroom =) This time, we watch a movie entitled Mona Lisa Smile stars by Julia Roberts. This movie is about a teacher who is posted to a girl’s college in Massachusetts, named Wellesley.  Julia Roberts as Katherine Watson in this movie at first startled with the brilliant students in the college. Next, she designs a lesson beyond the expectation of the students whereby she tries to gain the students’ trust. Along the story, there are conflicts faced by the girls and she tries to help them. Previously, Katherine Watson finds her students are very conservative. Thus, she tries to inculcate the ideology of freedom and stand by your own feet. She wants her students to realize their rights and ignore the society’s expectation. Later on, the students are closer to her until one day she has to leave them for another school. It is really a touching moment and the students seem reluctant to let her go. Overall, this movie brings the message of women’s rights and women must be taught to stand firm with their decisions.     

      

Leaders and Speech Power…

Leaders are usually persons that have ability to talk openly and very persuasive. Same like these two leaders, Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler during the era of World War II. These two significant figures are idols for their followers due to their persuasion skill that they governed.

Sir Winston Churchill is the former president of United States. In his memorable speech, ‘Let us fight in the beaches’ tells us how powerful his speech is. In the speech, the choice of words Churchill used represents the power of his leadership and the skill of the speech. He uses ‘I’ and ‘We’ in addressing different occasions. ‘I’ is used to depict his power as the President while ‘We’ is used to show the togetherness between the Government and the citizens.

Same goes to Adolf Hitler, a fearless leader of Germany during the era of World War II. Hitler succeeds to influence his followers by boldly express his opinions. He uses ‘I’ to refer to himself and uses ‘We’ to attract the nations that they are united as one. 

In conclusion, it is proven that these two leaders have succeeded using their speech to gain the nations’ trust and attention. The choice of words and rhetoric skills are important when delivering speeches. 

Great Songs for the World…

Hi guys! I’m back to share my precious experience with u all! Well, the lesson this time is very, very refreshing and cool! Listening to songs during class hour is so much revitalizing. Dr. Jaya with his three angels plays us several songs that convey messages about the World. The issues such as equal rights, human crisis, and discrimination are written as songs. Through these songs, awareness on things happen around the World is infused in us.

Later on, we are assigned to work in groups and we must choose a song that has message about the issues discussed above. Husna, Kumutha, Fonyi, Guhan and I choose the song Black or White by Michael Jackson. The reason we choose this song is because it brings the message of equality in every human being no matter you are an Indian, a Malay, a Chinese, or a Spanish. The video clip is attractive and the rhythm is captivating. Micahel Jackson in this song stresses on human equality and we must avoid discrimination.

Thus, this song Black or White is very suitable to be utilized in classroom s as students will realize that there are many other people with different colours, races, languages and cultures in the World. Therefore, they will learn to respect each other and they will try to understand the culture of other citizens of the World.

Animalism is on the rise!

Have you ever heard the word animalism? To me, I have never heard such word until I was introduced to the story Animal Farm by George Orwell. This story is very much interesting as animals are given chances to be the significant characters to liven up the plot of the story. In my opinion, the animals in the story symbolize the human beings and how they react to certain situations. Human are just like the animals in the story if they act foolishly.

The story Animal Farm is about animals that rebel against their master the farm that they live. The master who is a human being does not treat the animals equally and neglects their needs. Thus, the animals in the farm fight the human beings to take over ruling the farm.  This theory however comes from the senior pig, Major who wants to see justice in the animals’ community.  The animals succeed to eliminate human beings from the farm. The most powerful pigs, Snowball and Napoleon take charge to become the leader for all the animals in the farm. Along the way, greed overpowers Napoleon. Thus, he plans to abolish Snowball from the farm so that he can be the leader. Everything has changed after Napoleon takes over the farm. The Seven Commandments instilled by Snowball are forgotten gradually. The motto ‘Two legs good, four legs bad’ is no longer practiced in the farm. Napoleon has become a dictator and other animals are treated badly. This situation derives dissatisfaction in certain animals. Towards the end of the story, Napoleon greediness has lead to collaboration between human and animals in business and trading. The original objective to get rid of human being is now a history. Lastly, other dissatisfied animals rebel against Napoleon and other human during a meeting.

As a whole, this story brings the issue of leadership and ideology. The dictatorship shown in the story tells us how the leader is always right, like Napoleon and how the community suffers. The ideology like animalism as portrays in the story, socialism, communism and many others do not promise equality as demanded by the community. There will be no justice and equality as long as people do not tolerate each other. Greed is very dangerous as people will do anything to get what they wish without considering others.

Abortion???...Think thrice, not twice!!!

Hi all! This time we are going to discuss on the hot issue happens in our society.  It is the issue of abortion.  In every religion, abortion is a sinful act that is very controversial. Why is it so? It is because abortion means killing a life, an innocent soul!

Actually, this topic is in relation with the stories ‘The Great Injustice’ and ‘The Merry Maid’. These two stories tell us about two women who have to make a big decision about a soul each of them carries in their womb. First of all, Ah Nya, the main character in the story ‘The Great Injustice’ finds herself pregnant, resulting from having sex with her unmarried partner, Steven.  As a consequence, the society around her neighbourhood starts badmouthing her and her family. Anyway, Ah Nya’s mother tries to support her and influences her not to abort the child even though Ah Nya’s father blames her for the consequence.  Ah Nya agrees to not abort the child. Thus, from that day, Ah Nya’s live is painful and the torture that society place on her gives her a spark to think back on the decision that she has made.  Steven who refuses to take the responsibility is one of the factors other than the society that forces Ah Nya to decide to abort the child.

However, in the story ‘The Merry Maid’, Lakhsmi, the protagonist of the story decides not to abort the illegal that child he carries in her womb. Lakshmi runs away from her family in order for her to save the child’s life and live happily with her partner, Shanmugam. Lakhsmi abandon her child in front of a house owned by Indian-look couple. She does not know that they are Muslims. Therefore, when the child whose name is Sakinah (Lakshmi names her Savitri) is an adolescent now, Lakhsmi plans to get back the child. Thus, she applies to work as a maid in the couple’s house. She is very delightful to see her child is now a grown up and employs good behavior. Only, the child is now a Muslim, no more a Hindu like her. Seeing that couple treats Sakinah (Savitri) equally as their other children, Lakhsmi cancels her plan to abduct the child, but keep accompanies her right in front of her eyes. She decides not to reveal her true identity to the child.

Therefore, when we compare these two stories, we can see that Lakshmi is more contented with her life rather than Ah Nya who has lost the child. The message here, abortion is not the only way to solve the problem. There are many other ways that can be taken to save the children’s lives without killing them. So, people think thrice, not twice when making decisions!

Need somebody to lean on? LEAN ON ME!

Last Monday, we had our great time watching a movie entitled Lean On Me. The title sounded interesting, but what about the storyline? The answer was superb! This movie provided a very remarkable storyline and very inspiring one especially for teachers. Let us read further to know what the story is about!

1) What do you think of the movie in term of entertainment value?
The movie Lean On Me portrays its entertainment value through its storyline and the cast. Mr.Joe Clark who is the main actor presents his characters very well that resembles an enthusiastic teacher. The way he acts and reacts allows audience to interpret the story acceptably. It is amusing to look at him as a teacher and later on a principal in a school he taught previously. The excellent school has turned into a horrible school with horrible students because of ineffective administration and inefficient teachers. Thus, Mr.Clark's service as dedicated teacher is needed to control the students' attitude and brings back excellence to the school. Throughout the story, Mr.Clark encounters many obstacles including from teachers and parents. These obstacles and the way Mr.Clark reacts to them are the entertainment value that this movie highlighted.

2) How does it affect you as you are taking B.Ed TESL course now?
This movie affects me very much as I am a future teacher. This movie is so inspiring and motivating. It gives me an idea that a teacher can change not only the students but also the school as whole. A teacher must know his/her school and students well enough. Other than that, a teacher must be a wise decision maker and firm with his/her choice. I also learn that a teacher must not only teach but be a friend to his/her student, try to listen to their problems and be a good manager.


 3) How does it affect you if you relate the story in the movie to the teachers whom you know in the pass?
As for now, I never met such an enthusiastic teacher and dedicated teacher as Mr.Joe Clark. Not to say that all teachers whom I know are poor but not as determined as Mr.Joe Clark. There are several teachers whom I know are very devoted to their profession.


4) What kind of practical/theoretical lesson that you learned after viewing this movie?
Like I said before, a teacher must have skills to tackle their students and manage the school evidently. The knowledge that teacher wants to transfer is not the utmost important but the skill.

All about dowry & arranged marriage

Hello! Last week, people in my class busy talking about dowry and arranged marriage. Sound serious, right? Hmm, were they start planning to get married? Whoa, seemed like it's not time yet..hehe..

Actually, we were discussing two stories that brought about dowry and arranged marriage in Indian tradition as the highlighted issues. A Question of Dowry and Everything's Arranged were stories that we had to attend to in order to come out with a viewpoint that those stories tried to convey. We had to support our viewpoint with the evidences found in the two stories. It was like writing a position paper or participating in debate. We worked in groups of five. By the way, my group members were Guhan, Kumutha, Fonyi and Husna. My group harmoniously labeled as 1 Malaysia as all races were there.

Each group came out with different viewpoints based on how they perceived the issues. My group agreed that society expectation on Indian arranged marriage and its implication was the subject that matter in the two stories. In the story A question of Dowry, Sivasothie, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ramachandran did not have any right to voice out her opinion regarding her marriage. Both her parents did the talking about the arrangement of the marriage even on dowry. The future husband of Sivasothie, Thiruchelvam was so demanding that he asked for pricey dowry. Mrs. Ramachandran who was very concerned about society's view agreed with Thiruchelvam and wanted to continue the marriage. However, Mr. Ramachandran had told Thiruchelvam about the soggy land that they wished to be the dowry caused Thiruchelvam to call off the marriage.

In the story Everything's Arranged, it dealt with face value. Rukumani's mother who really concerned about society's view had destroyed her own daughter happiness. She wanted Rukumani to be married to her chosen future son-in-law, Deva, but she later found out that Rukumani had going out with the boy before the marriage. Therefore, Deva's mother asked for an unreasonable dowry so that Rukumani could not afford to provide the dowry. In order to save their family's face value, high valued dowry became an obstacle for the marriage.

Thus, from the stories we could see that many fixation were to derive. For example, the choice was not in the bride's and the bridegroom's hands, there was no love affair allowed before marriage and the importance of dowry in Indian tradition.

Film Review-Akeelah and the Bee

Watching the movie Akeelah and the Bee really motivates me as this movie infuses determination and interest especially in the main character, Akeelah. At first, when I look at the title of the movie, I know roughly that there will be scenes about spelling words but I do not have any idea whether the movie is about a competition or just about a situation in a classroom as a whole. Later on, I discover that this movie is actually focuses on special Akeelah who has talent in spelling vocabularies correctly. Wow! What a wonderful girl this Akeelah! Also, this movie reminds me about Spell-it-Right (SIR) competition organized by The New Straits Time in Malaysia. Anyway, let us unveil this movie further through several questions below.

1) What do you think of the movie in term of entertainment value?
Every single movie has its entertainment value or else the story would not be interesting. As for this movie, Akeelah and the Bee, its entertainment value is conveyed through the portrayal of the characters involved. Akeelah, the main protagonist is a brilliant girl but humble as she does not show off her ability. Javier, a friend that she meets during the first level of Spelling Bee competition shows his loyalty to their friendship. His action is encouraging, and at the final competition he touches audience's heart by delay his turn artfully in order to help Akeelah as that moment she is having problem with her mother. On the other hand, Dylan the boy whose father is a Chinese acts snobbishly at first but later on befriended Akeelah. The element of suspense, love, and determination give colours to the movie.

2) How does it affect you as you are taking B. Ed TESL course now?

Well, it affects me in terms of language proficiency. Vocabularies are vital in order to speak or write in any language. Anyway, we do not need to have a wide range of vocabularies to be a competent language user, but I admit that it is an advantage for us if we have wide range of words at our fngertips. It helps you to be creative especially when you are fond of writing. Also, knowing more words helps us to advance our general knowledge not only in our field but also other field such as science, chemistry, religion and agriculture. Therefore, I think it is essential for me to read more and more and acquire as much new words as possible.

3) How does it affect you if you relate the story in the movie to the teachers whom you know 

in the pass?

When I watch this movie, I remember my former Form 5 English teacher, Pn. Hjh. Nik Ishah as she was the one who exposed me to Spelling Bee. At that point of time, I was a member of English Language Society in my school. One day, she organized Spelling Bee Competition during our weekly meeting. From that day onwards, it makes me realize that referring words to dictionary is important.

4) What kind of practical/theoretical lesson that you learned after viewing this movie?
This movie teaches me that teachers must have skills to teach students. Teachers should know each student's ability and approach them accordingly. Teachers should encourage students and try to maintain their interests so that they are able to achieve their ambitions. Not to forget, parents play a vital role in their children's development. Parents' support are crucial as it provides motivation for them.            

My childhood story Cinderella

Hello guys! Well, looked back to our childhood memories, all of us definitely had at least 1 story that we remembered most. Stories such as Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White were very familiar to us those days. As for me, I loved Cinderella the most.

1) The reason(s) I choose the story
The reason I choose Cinderella as my favourite story because of the elements the athor infuses to the story like magic element and fantasy. Cinderella is a story that captures my interests as beautiful princess and her prince charming really brings me into another world. The fairy godmother that has the power to change everything like she easily turns Cinderella to become a princess beautifully dressed with gown and a pair of glass shoes makes me enjoys reading. Other than that, the lesson that i get after reading the story teaches me not to treat others badly and not to look down upon others. When we respect others, they will respect us in turn.

2) What element(s) in the story that make you think that the story is interesting?
The elements of magic, suspense and fantasy are the major aspects that makes the story interesting. As we all know, children are attracted to magic and fantasy. When I read this story, the elements mentioned above encourage me to read this story more and more. The part when the clock strucks at 12 where the magic spell loses its power makes my heart beats so fast, curious what will happen to Cinderella and what is the consequence if the prince finds Cinderella wearing old clothes? Moreover, the story ends with happy ending makes me feel relieved.

3) The portrayal of characters in the story.
The protagonist of the story who is Cinderella is portrayed as pretty, soft, hardworking and kind-hearted. These traits gives the chance to readers to love Cinderella and feel pity for her. However, Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters are portrayed as disrespectful, lazy, nasty and not good looking. The readers will dislike these characters, thus, these traits brings the idea that we should not act like one. The prince is only a minor character but is portrayed as having good quality such as good looking and kind.

4) The plot of the story
The plot of the story follows traditional plot sequence. It starts with the exposition where the stepmother and the stepsisters are excited with the ballroom dance invitation from the palace. The climax comes when the clock strucks at 12 and the king finds one of Cinderella's glass shoes. The resolution is when the story ends with Cinderella happily married to the prince.

5) The suitability of the story as children story
The story Cinderella is very suitable to be categorized as children story as the moral values found in the story help children to develop their characters in real life. They learn to respect others and always be kind. Furthermore, the magic and fantasy elements can attract children to enjoy reading.

The Gruffalo-A Review

Now, here is another story that will capture your interest!

The Gruffalo is a children story where a tiny, little mouse protects itself from being eaten by his predator with his intelligence. The story begins with the little mouse wandering alone in the jungle. At first, the mouse encounters a fox. Knowing that the fox wants to eat him, the mouse starts creating a trick by inventing a story about an animal called gruffalo. The mouse described the gruffalo as big animal having scary look and sharp teeth, and likes to eat fox. Frightened by the mouse's anecdote, the fox runs away hastily. Then, the mouse bumps into an owl and later on comes across a snake. The mouse also frighten those two animals with the gruffalo story. However, when the mouse continue walking, suddenly, the gruffalo really appear! The smart, little mouse then tells the gruffalo that all animals in the jungle are afraid of him. The gruffalo does not believe the mouse, thus the mouse asks the gruffalo to follow him. Like the mouse has said, all the animals that they come across dashes away when  they see the mouse. The gruffalo is surprised by the situation, but he does not know that all the animals are afraid of him, not the mouse.

From this story, we learn that size does not matter. The underlying message that this story wants the reader to grab is small does not mean that we are weak but we can be even stronger if we act smartly. This kind of story will motivate your kids and burst their confidence. Moreover, the colourful and beautiful pictures which is artistically done makes the story more attractive for children. Furthermore, words that rhyme in the story enable children to enjoy reading it. So, be a story teller tonight by telling this story to your little toddlers!    

Edwina the Emu- A Review

Edwina the Emu is a children story by Sheena Knowles that will capture your child's interest! Believe me! By the way, some points below will explain further the reason why parents, teachers, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunties, and grandpa and grandma should bring in this story to your sweet toddlers.
But, before that, Edwina the Emu is a story about an Emu named Edwina. Edwina has just laid her eggs, thus, she decides her Emu husband to take good care of the eggs while she looks for a job in the town. Well, the husband agrees and she starts her journey searching for the job. Unfortunately, Edwina encounters several circumstances during the job searching. At last, when she tries her luck as a waitress in a restaurant, she is so shocked that a customer orders Emu eggs as his meal. Immediately, Edwina thinks of her Eggs at home. Now, she realizes that her role is not to be a breadwinner for the family but to be at home with her little Emu.
As I mentioned earlier, parents, teachers and anyone should introduce this story to their kids. First, definitely the story Edwina the Emu is interesting, with colourful illustration. Second, this story actually infuses sex education indirectly and in a very delicate way. Of course, this story can be a medium for adults to give some clear picture for kids of how a baby is formed, for instance, without lying to your child. Third, this story also provides view about gender roles. For example, a mother should raise up children while a father work.
Therefore, Edwina the Emu is a right choice as bedtime story to your kids!