And So It Begins...

Look, I'm a teacher!!

What I have been anxiously anticipating has finally arrived: Student Teaching! For the past few days (8/26 and 8/27) I have been taking part in real "teacher stuff" at Leslie Middle School. In preparation for school's beginning on September 2, I have been attending professional development meetings, staff meetings, and setting up my classroom. My favorite part has been meeting the staff members and planning with my team of teachers. It is so helpful and exciting to sit down and talk with seasoned teachers. I am really doing what all my schooling has prepared me for!

In general, the staff at LMS is AMAZING. Every time I walk into the school I am greeted with a "Good Morning, how are you?" From the first day of meetings and PD, I felt like they saw me as a teacher, not a student. I have been included in everything, my opinion has been asked, and I feel an overwhelming sense of care and welcoming coming my way. Wow, I think I may be getting spoiled.

More specific news to come, but for now take a look at my classroom!!

My Desk!

Mrs. Fenger's Desk

The view when you walk in the door!

Sorry For Dropping Off

Whoa, I really faded off the map for a bit, didn't I?

For those who were wondering... I made it back home to MI safely. The flight back here was SO much better than the one there. I think it has to do with the fact I knew what to expect. We flew from Kuala Lumpur to Seoul, Korea. That flight was 7 hours. From Seoul, we flew back into the US, landing in Chicago. That was the serious flight: 12 1/2 hours. Wow. The final flight from Chicago to Lansing was the LONGEST hour I have ever been on a plane; I was so ready to be home and see my family.

Funny story though: I had called home a few days before departing to double check everything for my arrival. Good thing I did! My parents totally had planned on picking me up on August 15, one day LATER than I was scheduled to arrive. Whew. And wow. What kind of parents don't know when their daughter who has been gone 2 months comes home?!? All in all, things went smoothly.

Even as I am so happy to be home, there are a few things I am missing from Malaysia:
1. My host family.
2. Rice.
3. Spicy food.
4. Mountains in the background
5. Rambutan and other assorted fruits
6. Cheap prices
7. Beautiful, brightly colored clothing

To sum it up, all I can say is AMAZING. Words cannot describe what a wonderful, enlightening experience being abroad was. But really, there is no place like home.

Study Abroad Malaysia is Officially Closed! - Friday, August 8th

So for my MSU class, I had to write a detailed event journal on the closing ceremony on Friday. So instead of getting a play-by-play of today's events, I'll just post what I had to turn in. Yes, it only covers the closing ceremony, but I am tired. Give me a break, okay? :)

Friday, 8/8/08 was a momentous day not only for the students of MSU, but also for the world. What a coincidence it was that the Olympics opening ceremony should take place on the same day as our closing ceremony at UPSI. It seems fitting our official time in Tanjung Malim is coming to an end on such a memorable day. In order to celebrate our time spent in the schools, with members of UPSI, and as members of the first pre-internship program in Malaysia there was a semi-formal ceremony held at UPSI. At 3:00pm, all of the MSU students and their families, as well as the teachers from our host schools were invited to come to the Chancellery building. Inside there were tables set up, chairs with slipcovers and place tags, and of course food. What would a ceremony at UPSI be without video cameras and photographers as well? Again, many of us felt like celebrities but this time we were prepared for the attention.

The ceremony began in Malaysian style by welcoming all who were invited and signing the national anthem. Speeches were then given by some of the most important people in the room; Kurnia gave her closing speech first. Much of her presentation was done in Bahasa Melayu. Our time spent here was not long enough to understand the whole of her speech, but catching a few words here and there allowed us to grasp the general theme. In true Malaysian style, she as well as the following presenters gave credit to every single person or group of people involved with the success of the program. Following Kurnia’s speech came a bit of a surprise. Renee and Samantha went forward to represent all of our MSU students but shockingly, Renee opted to give her speech in Bahasa Melayu! After she had begun, all of the audience members gave a short applause to encourage her and show their appreciation. While it was read slowly and with a clear American accent, Renee delivered a heartfelt speech in her practiced Malay. Having asked for a translation by Yong, one of the host mothers, she had successfully pulled off giving her first speech in the Malaysian language. After Renee had finished, Samantha reread the speech in English. The presentation shared our sincere thanks and appreciation to UPSI staff and students, our host schools and mentor teachers, and specifically our host families. Renee and Samantha made a special effort to thank both Kurnia and Sri for all of their hard work, patience, and flexibility. Before they finished Renee read three pantuns, Malaysian sayings in poem form. A copy of them can be found at the end of this account. Overall, all of the Spartans were proud and thankful for Renee’s bravery and Samantha’s ability to relate our deepest thanks.

Members of UPSI also made additional speeches; Associate Professor Dr. Rajendran Nagappan was the next to present. Like the others before him, he read mostly in Melayu but graciously translated parts of his speech to English as well. His words also expressed thanks to all involved, but also congratulated both Michigan State and UPSI on an overall successful study abroad program. Most of us would agree this experience was more than a success; it was a memorable affair that will be cherished for the rest of our lives. Rajendran also finished his speech with a traditional thoughtful pantun. The vice chancellor of UPSI had been invited and had planned on attending the closing ceremony but was unable to be present due to other engagements. In her place the Honorable Professor Dr. Zakaria Kasa gave the final speech of the day. He firstly congratulated Renee on her language skills and speech; he said her ability to do so shows our intense desire to truly take in all aspects of the Malaysian culture. His speech was short, sweet, and to the point. He ended by saying, “I officially declare the pre-internship study abroad now closed.” Hearing those words prompted mixed feelings for us. Mostly, we were happy to have finished what we set out to do by coming to a country on the other side of the world. But upon hearing it was really the end, many of us realized how near we were to having to leave Tanjung Malim and our wonderful host families. Bittersweet is the only word to describe it.

A final presentation, a bit impromptu, was given by 5 of the MSU girls. Courtney, Carrie, Sam, Meredith, and Katie K performed a traditional dance for the audience. The dance was not necessarily performed to their best ability since they had only practiced it two or three times since learning it on Tuesday. Despite this, it seemed to be well received by the Malaysians in attendance and also showed our appreciation and deeper learning of another aspect of the culture. The dance was mostly successful due only to Sri. Without her sitting on the sidelines, guiding us with hand motions as to the next dance move, the dance may have been a complete disaster. Luckily the girls worked through their embarrassment and lack of experience to perform, if nothing else, an entertaining traditional dance. A student representative of UPSI made the final presentation, gifts to each Michigan State student. Inside bags with the UPSI logo were small batik cloths and huge coffee mugs. Again, all of us felt so grateful to UPSI and the people who made this experience possible.

In due form, all of the official speeches and presentations of gifts were followed by, surprise, food! Everyone was served curry puffs (a favorite of most everybody), roti jala with yellow curry sauce, fresh fruit, and a fabulous blueberry cheesecake. We had tea (pre-sugared of course!) and water to drink. As always, everything tasted delicious! Before actually leaving the Chancellory Foyer, everyone who had been invited congregated outside for both official and informal photos. Many “thank you’s,” “good-byes,” and “I’ll miss you’s” were said between the present host teachers, Sasi and Ley, and the Spartans. It was almost surreal; it was hard to believe out time in Tanjung Malim was coming to end. We only hoped the last few hours with our host families would be as memorable as the closing ceremony.

HARI INI MENANAM JAGUNG
(Today we are planting corn)
HARI ESOK MENANAM SERAI
(Tomorrow we are planting lemon grass)
HARI INI KITA BERKAMPUNG
(Today we are together)
HARI ESOK KITA BERCERAI
(But tomorrow we will be apart)


TUAI PADI ANTARA MASAK
(Harvest the paddy while its ripe)
ESOK JANGAN LAYU-LAYUAN
(Lest tomorrow it will wilt)
INTAI KAMI ANTARA NAMPAK
(Watch us while we are here)
ESOK JANGAN RINDU-RINDUAN
(Lest tomorrow, you will miss us)

KALAU ADA JARUM YANG PATAH
(If there’s a broken needle)
JANGAN DISIMPAN DI DALAM PETI
(Don’t keep it in the box)
KALAU ADA SILAP DAN SALAH
(If there’s any wrongdoings)
JANGAN DISIMPAN DI DALAM HATI
(Please don’t keep it in your heart – forgive us)

School's Out For Summer! (Kinda)

Where did the time go? Have I really been gone for almost 2 months? As I was sitting on the cement bench, waiting for my host mom so we could go home after school today I began to get choked up. Our last day at the school today was entirely bittersweet. As happy as I am to be done planning, teaching, and struggling to communicate in the students' second language, I can't believe our time is over in Tanjung Malim.

Tuesday night Sam, Renee, and I had a sleepover (on a school night!) at Courtney's house so we could make American desserts to bring to all the teachers at SKTM. They also helped me plan my math lesson for Wednesday. Good thing they helped because the math lesson I had taught the previous day went so poorly. I felt awful about my teaching performance but realized that challenging days like Tuesday can only make me more aware of the things I can work on to be a better teacher. Luckily, today's lesson went much better and, phew, because I was being videotaped by UPSI. Anyways, the staff at the school loved our No-Bakes, Scotcheroos, and Puppy Chow. Yum, right? And the students and teachers were so wonderful. In my last class of the day, all of the students performed the Salam goodbye to me. The Salam is when the students hold your hand and touch their foreheads to the back of your hands. It was the most adorable and touching experience. I regret not being able to spend more time with them and get to know them individually. It was hard for me to I would not be able to learn their names. Really, it killed me. I find knowing your students names and personalities is so important. It is one thing I really look forward to in the beginning of next year.

Before leaving school, many students (some I didn't even know) brought me gifts and asked for my email address. The teachers even gave me a small gift. We spent about 15 minutes taking pictures with each of the teachers at the school. The headmaster of the school even wrote us letters of recommendation on their school letterhead! Wahoo, that will help me get a job! It was a little chaotic, but really drove home the Malaysian hospitality. I can never say "Thank You" enough to the school and my mentor teachers for taking the time to share their lives and classrooms with me. What an awesome experience. I wish I knew how to put into words what I feel so I could share it with you, but there are none adequate enough.

More news on my final days in Malaysia to come. Until then, know I am missing my family and friends and truly look forward to being back in Michigan!

I Have a Malaysian Family

There isn't much to report from today. Busy day at school leads to busy day at MSU meetings at UPSI. In my English class, I had the students write penpal letters to my future 6th graders for next year. I really hope I have a chance to get responses back to them; they were so excited to think they'd have an American friend! Other than that, nothing special dominated the day.

Instead of giving a blow-by-blow update, I thought I'd just share a part of what I experience everyday at home with my host family. After watching this video, I think you'll understnad why I love being there!

(Katie plays with Airel. Adorable.)

Monday, August 4, 2008

Today was very much a regular day at school: assembly, teach English, spend time working on lesson plans in the teacher lounge. After schools things got interesting.
Here are the highlights of my day:

*Batik Artwork at the secondary school
Batik is a form of art that first uses hot wax to draw out basic lines and patterns. This can be done on paper, cloth, or canvas. After the hot wax dries in the desired design, you paint the open areas. Malaysian batik is known for its bright colors and the shading and mixing of colors. Since I am not too artsy, mine wasn’t quite up to par with the others. Fortunately my host sister came and she is an AMAZING artist. She made a gorgeous canvas batik for me to take home. I was truly awed at her talent. This would be a really cool art project for students to try at home; I hope I can find the materials to do a project like that once I am back in MI.

*Learning to make chicken curry
My host mom, Yong, and the maid, Naton, taught me how to make another of my favorite dishes. I was surprised at how easy it really is to make curry. The hard part may be finding the ingredients. I really hope I can make it the same to share with my friends and family. Seriously, the food is to die for. I am in no way getting sick of eating in Malaysia.



*Realizing I only have 10 days left in Malaysia
Of course I am have the experience of a lifetime in Malaysia and at the primary school but knowing I have less than 2 weeks left abroad I was so excited! 10 days seems like nothing in the scheme of being gone 2 months. I already am planning for my return; I’ve asked for specific things to be ready when I return. At the top of the list are a Diet Coke, my cell phone, and a cheeseburger. I also cannot wait to see my family at the airport. I realized there is one thing I haven’t had since Suzie left (about a month ago): a HUG. Arriving at the airport with my family waiting will be one of the best things I’ve experienced in a long time.

I do have to say though, starting today I really am happy and fully comfortable at school and at home. I think enough time has passed and the being polite stage has worn off. I am starting to feel apprehensive about leaving my host family… they truly have been my home away from home and I am eternally grateful for their open arms. Leaving Tanjung Malim will be a bittersweet moment. I only hope that I can express my true thanks to everyone who has made this journey memorable and enjoyable. I feel like it will not and cannot be enough.

Weekend Trip to Penang: 7/31 - 8/3

I apologize for the length, but it was a busy weekend! :)

Our weekend started on Thursday this week; have to love the 4-day weekends! We left from UPSI at 9am and headed up the western coast of Malaysia en route to the island of Penang. On our way we stopped at Bukit Merah Orangutan Sanctuary. The cool thing about the sanctuary is that all visitors must take a short ferry ride to the island they live on. The entire island the orangutans live on is meant to be a natural habitat for them and they are free to roam anywhere on the small island. Of course, since the staff is trying to keep their habitat as natural as possible, there were 2 layers of cages we had to look through. Until we came to the young orangutans, it was hard to take pictures. The little ones were SO cute. I wanted to steal one and bring it home. Think one of those would fit in my suitcase? In addition to the sanctuary area, the island also houses a hospital and ICU. The ICU area had glass windows and we could see the babies inside. The trip was really cool but I also learned orangutans only bear 1 child every 8 years and in Southeast Asia, they are being killed when land developers come in and “slash and burn.” Slash and burn is a technique used to quickly cut trees and clear land regardless of wildlife.

(Look at the little ones play!)

From the orangutan adventure we drove the rest of the way to the ferry launch so we could continue onto the island of Penang. This island is also called Georgetown as the British once settled it. The ferry from the mainland to the island took only about 25 minutes but since the tour bus was too large to freight across on the ferry, we had to wait for the bus to come across the bridge. Interestingly I had just seen on the news that morning one lane was closed for construction. Apparently there is so much traffic flow across the bridge there are plans to widen the bridge by another lane.

Our hotel/apartment was called Bayu Emas Resort and as we found out in the first 5 minutes of being there was home to live monkeys! A whole family was running along a fence by the pool and then climbing up the palm trees nearby. While the Malaysians took little notice of their existence, most of us were making a huge fuss and fumbling for our cameras. Unfortunately I miss the photo opp but it was cool to see them skittering around while we enjoyed the sunshine. After we arrived we had a few hours to relax and get unpacked before we headed out to dinner at a nice (an actual, with menus) Chinese restaurant. At dinner I had a chance to really get into a conversation about the 3 dominant cultures in Malaysia: the Malays, Indians, and Chinese. I was asked to honestly give my observations about the mixed cultures at school and at home. People who know me understand when I am asked to honestly share anything, I do not sugar coat any aspect. Flat out, I shared with Kurnia and Sri even though there seems to be an overall acceptance of each other certain differences make themselves apparent. In what I have seen, Malays (especially men and boys) dominate in school and are the most prevalent in Tanjung Malim. I feel that Chinese boys are picked on the post and either I cannot identify or there are few Indian boys that I have seen at school. I rarely see Indian girls included with Malay girls while the Chinese and Malay girls are friendly amongst each other. I also mentioned how often I noticed custodial staffs (both at school and at UPSI) are mostly Indian women. After sharing this, both Kurnia and Sri were able to put into perspective this type of separation. They explained that since Tanjung Malim is a smaller town, this separation can be more visible but in larger towns and cities (like Kuala Lumpur) it is rare to see racial and cultural divides. This seems similar to the US; certain places and cities are more likely to be more or less accepting of racial differences. Both seemed so proud of the advances that have been made in this direction since Malaysia’s independence just over 50 years ago. When Britain invaded Malaysia to take over the land, the Brits used a tactical method called “divide and conquer.” In this, Britain purposely pitted each of the 3 major ethnicities against each other.

From this conversation stemmed another topic that really made me think and again, reevaluate what it means to be a white American, the majority in my home. Sri and Kurnia both shared instances when they were verbally harassed and grouped into awful stereotype sometimes associated with Muslims. I was shocked at the things that were said to them, embarrassed for the ignorance that takes root in some Americans. I don’t know why I was so surprised though; am I just as ignorant to think such personal attacks are not made in East Lansing? This was not what really got to me though. Sri told us at the table about she has to have a conversation with her children about how to react when they are questioned or teased about being Muslim. Unfortunately, the suicide bombers, people like Osama bin Laden, and extremist have become the face of what many people believe Muslims to be. So Sri has to prepare her children to deal with this type of belief. I cannot imagine having to teach my children how to handle such thing; in actuality I probably will never have to. But this privilege comes with being white. Not thinking about such things comes with being white. It killed me to hear such a story but it really shed new light on how I think about my role as a future educator. White as I am, I pray that my learning will someday be shared with others and help even one more person consider the way they treat and think about others.

Friday we left the hotel at 9am to get breakfast and fulfill our long list of places to visit or the day. First we went to Kek Lok Si Temple. The roads to get to the temple were so narrow and clogged with street vendors we had to walk a bit to get there. The temple was built in 1890 and took 20 years to complete. It is said to be one of the largest and most beautiful Buddhist temple complex in South-east Asia. In order to reach the temple, we had to climb an endless number of steps.

A market-like canopy covered the entire path and there were vendors selling everything you can think of. It was a bit claustrophobic at time with so many tourists on such a narrow, closed path. About halfway up the climb we stopped to take a look at a huge turtle pond. There were tons of turtles all over the place, definitely the most turtles I’ve ever seen in one place. The temple itself really did resemble typical Chinese style and surprisingly there were swastikas all over the monuments, the walls, and even on the tile floors. It was a bit overwhelming to look at since we have been taught to associate the symbol with the Nazis and the horrible events that took place during World War II. I learned though, the symbol itself means strength and power. No wonder the Nazi’s decided to adopt it. But for the Chinese, the symbol is meant to be relationship to the soul and with a higher power.

From here we were supposed to go to Penang Hill, the highest point on the island only reachable by cable cars traveling up the steep mountain. Bummer though, the cable lift was broken and no visitors were being allowed up the hill until next week. Secretly, many of us were okay with not visiting this site. While the views would have been amazing, it was so hot and humid and most of us were pretty tired from the week. Instead our group headed to our last tourist destination of the day: Wat Chayamangkalaram. This was a Buddhist temple of Thai architecture that holds a 33-metre gold-plated reclining Buddha. It is said to be the third largest in the world. Visiting here really reminded me of the time I spent in Thailand as we spent a lot of time visiting Buddhist temples and learning about their beliefs. Behind the reclining Buddha were Buddha statues relating to the Chinese astrological symbols. With each sign (I was born the year of the ox) was a short description of the characteristics displayed by each sign.

(The Reclining Buddha - had to take it in 2 pieces!)

The rest of the afternoon was heavenly. We returned to the hotel after eating a quick lunch (I won’t lie, we stopped at McDonald’s) with the intent of spending the rest of the day at the beach. The day was perfectly beautiful for sunbathing. Everyone walked to the beach, just a few minutes form our room. The sand was SO hot and the water was really warm. After about an hour in the scorching sun on the beach, there was a unanimous vote to take the sunbathing back to our hotel pool where there was shade and cool water. This type of relaxation is what we all wished our weekend trips were. All of us were truly happy to have downtime in order to unwind and enjoy our summer vacation. For dinner we went back downtown to a strip along the water, Gurney Drive, which was filled with about a hundred different food stalls, drink stations, and fruit tables. I opted for satay, the kebob like meat sticks. I don’t think I could ever eat too much of the peanut sauce they put on the meat. And after dinner some of the others wanted to go back to the night market for more shopping but I, along with 2 other girls, headed back to the hotel to relax and watch one of the cheap movies I bought the previous night.

Saturday came early to me. I am getting used to waking up early for school so around 6am everyday I am rearing to go. I got up early and prepared all of my stuff to go to the fishing traditional fishing village, Pulau Aman.

Our bus had to take us to Butterworth in order to catch at short jetty ride across to the small island. We arrived at the fishing village around 12:30 and like most of this trip the surprises began to pop up. Firstly we were welcomed to the village by children holding traditional umbrella like objects. They led the way to their community center. Children playing drums followed the entire walk. When we arrived at their community center, we had to go through a semi-formal welcome ceremony where we were introduced to our, what, oh yes, host parent for the weekend!

While all of us were aware we were doing a home stay, we assumed it would be with another of the MSU students. Wrong. We were all separated into host homes around the small village. Want to hear the best part? As we were gathering our things to go to our houses, Kurnia says, “I guess you’ll just have to use sign language!” That’s right, none of the families spoke more than a few words of English. Despite all this the island was actually very beautiful and I could see the ocean from the kitchen window of my house. I had my own beautiful bedroom and the house was very much a traditional home, raised off the ground. Of course I was served an enormous lunch and I uncomfortably and unsuccessfully tried to communicate with my host mother for about an hour before we were supposed to meet back up with the group.

The rest of the afternoon was organized for us. The children of the village showed us some of their traditional games and toys. We were also taken on a long walk around the coast of about ½ the island. It was so hot and humid, I was becoming lethargic and a bit cranky. It was almost a tease to be so near the water and not be able to go swimming. The water near the homes was so dirty; here they often throw leftover food and unneeded items into the water. It was pretty filthy despite being a beautiful blue further out. Luckily we were given some time to shower (cold showers are fabulous at these times) and rest before dinner. The dinner was going to be held in the community center and this also turned out to be a bit of a surprise. Apparently it was more formal than we had known about because my host mother brought a baju karong into my room and through hand motions I figured out I was supposed to wear this to dinner instead of my light, airy t-shirt. To refuse would be completely disrespectful so I graciously accepted and began sweating profusely. In addition to wearing a used baju karong, I was also given a headscarf to put on. This was the first time I had been expected to wear the scarf and I at this point, was really not too happy. I cannot understand how women live in this climate and wear scarves everyday. It was unbearably hot being covered from head to toe.

To their benefit, the islanders know how to prepare meals and the dinner served to us was really tasty. The people of the town put on a dance and singing show for us while we were eating dinner. We finally went to bed around 11pm. I was so exhausted and overheated that I slept right away.

The following morning I was woken up by the sound of roosters crowing at 6am. There must have been more than one right outside the house because they were so loud and kept continuously crowing. Luckily I was able to fall back asleep until 8:30am (sleeping in, I know!) and then had breakfast prepared for me by my weekend host mother. After I had been stuffed to the brim, she said “Come” and motioned for me to follow her. She took me down the path along the water and then into a rocky part of the beach. She sat down and with a tool she had brought began digging in the sand, under the rocks. At first I was confused to what we were supposed to be doing, but when she dug out 2 or 3 greenish shells I realized we were gathering clams! It was so cool to see where they come from. She then gave me the scraping tool that resembles a garden hoe so I could also dig up the clams. The experience is something I could never get at home; I was really pleased to have seen and done something new and very traditional to their village life. Their ability to gather their own food makes me consider how much money we spend at home on groceries rather than self-sustaining ourselves. Really, their life is so much simpler and I loved that morning out by the ocean.

Our group met to leave at 10am in the community center. Of course, we couldn’t just leave; we had to have a closing ceremony where our host parents presented us with small gifts. I was given a beautiful sarong and a small hand-made basket. When we were ready to go, we found out that the boat to jetty us back was stranded in out in the water because the tide had not yet come in. While we were waiting, it began to downpour. It was the hardest, fastest rain I had ever seen. All of us were really glad for the rain though since it was so incredibly hot and humid. Finally, we ended up leaving the island around 12pm and headed back to our real host home in Tanjung Malim!

This is What I'm Talking About

I ran across these videos first in a Teacher Ed class but forgot about them until recently. The videos bear so much truth. I hope you enjoy them, share them, and use them to better understand how students feel at school. This is what aim to change in my future career as an educator...

A Vision of Students Today by mwesch on YouTube

A Vision of K-12 Students Today by bjnesbitt on YouTube

"What's Wrong With Your Skin?" - Wednesday, July 31

For the 5th or 6th time since I have been in Tanjung Malim, I was asked again, “What is wrong with your skin?” While the person (a teacher nonetheless) was referring to my freckles, it awes me every time this topic comes up. Instead of getting frustrated I try to take the opportunity to explain that Americans all have different skin types and because I am a fair-skinned redhead my skin has freckles. It is kind of a strange conversation because at first they assume I have a sickness. I let the teacher touch my arm to show her the freckles are not bumps but just part of my skin tone. I also showed her my legs; I have them everywhere!

During school today I taught a math lesson I had prepared myself. Because the Year 2 class was finishing up their unit on money I did a quick review of exchanging, adding, and spent a bit more time on subtraction since it was fairly new. I then gave them a worksheet with problems dealing with these types of math problems. I told the students the answers of the worksheet would then be used for a game. Knowing the class gets a bit chatty and off task at times, I wrote the letters G-A-M-E on the board. Each time the class got a bit loud or students were unnecessarily out of their seats, I erased a letter. The students realized if they didn’t work quietly they would forfeit their chance to play the game. WOW, did this work well! I was really impressed with how well the students caught on and worked hard to complete their work. I wonder whether their changed work ethic had to do with the fact they had a lot of problems to solve or because they knew there was a benefit for all of their hard work? I rarely see any positive reinforcement given to the students for doing their assigned activities. I feel this is such an important aspect to keep students motivated.

Also at school today I got to take part in a rare event. One of the students in my host mom’s class was moving out of the district so she held a party, including food, drinks, and sweets for the moving student. All of the students brought in something to share and the overall feel of the class was a positive atmosphere. My host mom explained to me while we were eating though, parties such as these are not actually allowed at the school. For some reason the government from that state discourages such events saying they take away from student class time and allows the students to see the teacher in a position other than authority. When I asked what would happen if she was found out she replied with this answer: “Let them reprimand me. I don’t care. I like to do parties like this for special events and at the end of the semesters. It is good for us.” While I know at home there are some restrictions on when and what the classroom parties can be for, but for the most part they are allowed and encouraged. Apparently, the school administration is not too concerned about the consequences of their teachers doing so; Puan Catherine, the vice principal entered the classroom and took part in the festivities.

This evening at home I got to be an active participant in the kitchen. Between Naton, the maid, and my host mom, I was taught how to make fried chicken with red chili paste called “sembal.” I was so excited to see exactly how to make this dish since it is one of my favorites since I have been here. Plus, I really enjoy spending time in the kitchen because it gives me a chance to personally connect with the some of the family members. Mostly, it makes me feel at home and reminds me of my mom. More than anything I have noticed memories and feelings of “home” are a universal language. There are the unexpected learning experiences I did not realize I would be able to take part in but am truly appreciating. And good news, dinner turned out great! I cannot wait to share my new kitchen skills with my friends and family at home. I hope they like spicy food!

Just For Fun

As I was going through my pictures and videos, I found one that made me laugh. It really has little to do with anything Malaysian, but I found it entertaining.

SO... for your viewing pleasure, one of Sarah's friends will perform an American song for you. :)
(I'd like to mention we were at a busy park when he said, "I'd like to sing a song for you.")

'Katie is Serenaded by a Malaysian Boy'

Tuesday, July 29, 2008 - School, school, school

Just another day at the office. Today I taught English (the same students as yesterday). Many of our activities came from their workbook; I try to stick to what they know as well as varying my instruction. The class was learning about the “sh” sound and “ea” sound. I was really proud and a bit surprised at how many English words they could come up with that contain these sounds. One problem I keep running into though is sometimes I cannot understand what the students are saying due to their accent. After asking once to repeat themselves, I found that giving them the whiteboard maker and having them write what they are saying works fairly well. Plus, it gets them out of their seats and encourages class involvement. As a reward for their hard work (and a sneaky way to do a unit review) I taught them how to play Bingo. In their boxes they wrote food and drink words they had been practicing for the past week and a half. They really loved this game, but I had to have Puan Anis translate the directions before we could actually play. Once they realized I was giving bookmarks or pencils to the winners, they really tuned in and listened quietly. There is nothing more amusing than hearing “Bingo!” yelled in a child’s voice with a Malaysian accent!

In addition to English, I also was involved in teaching Science to year 3 students today. I really, really enjoy spending time in this science class. Puan Chong the teacher is a newer teacher and uses lots of the techniques we are taught at MSU. Plus, she is only 25 so we get along great. This science class most resembles American classes I have been in; daily Puan Chong uses group work, lots of drawing and coloring, and many hands on activities. Observing and spending time in the science room here only enhances my love for teaching science. Even though our lesson was pair taught, it was fun to see the students get their hands dirty, so to speak. The students were testing the absorbency of typical materials such as towel, coin, stone, toilet paper, etc. I was also able to play Hangman with the class for the last 15 minutes of class. The kids are so good at this game; I had to keep making the difficulty level harder and harder! I love that students’ levels of simple achievement can still impress me. I hope I never lose this insight. Next week I get to conduct an experiment all on my own. I am so excited!

Our class time at UPSI today was very unique. As tired as many of us were (getting up early daily really wears you out!) it was a very useful session. Our MSU group was able to do some microteaching with some of the UPSI students. Both of our groups showed how we would teach both telling time and how we’d teach with a children’s book. Like what I have observed in the school, the Malaysian students were very straightforward, direct, and taught as if they were using a textbook. Our group, of course, took an unconventional approach and taught a time telling game. After an hour and a half of discussing our teaching practices for both lessons, I got the feeling the Malaysian students and staff saw our teaching style as lacking structure and purpose. But while we do not teach every single lesson with a direct lecture format, I feel the way I have learned to teach does actually include a lot of structure. And without a purpose or object for the lesson, it would be useless. So contrary to their beliefs, I see American teachers to be very structured, just more flexible and creative in the way the material is taught.

Monday, July 28, 2008

The day started out in a bit of a panic. The copy machine at school was broke and I needed 40 copies of a crossword puzzle for my lesson at 10am. This especially stressed me out since today I was to be observed by my teachers and academic advisor. I think that was one of those times when you go into “teacher panic, I need something new mode.” Luckily and by the skin of my teeth, one of the other teachers was leaving school to make copies for her class as well. PHEW. Just in time for class I had my crossword puzzle.

I had to teach English today. For the lesson I had planned to read the book, “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” by Laura Joffe Numeroff. As I went through the book beforehand, I noticed a lot of words the year 2 students most likely would not understand. To combat this, I made an English to Bahasa Melayu chart so we could practice the vocabulary words before reading the story. After I had introduced the English words to the students, I then had them teach me how to pronounce the words in Malay. This turned out to be such a useful tool; as I was reading the story, I could see the children glance up at the word chart when I came to the specified words.

Without observing other English classes first, I may have not thought to do this but after seeing Puan Anis teach I was able to pick up on her method of breaking things down to an understandable level. I think this experience, especially time spent in the English classroom will help me better understand how to handle ESL students or even to adapt lessons to students who are struggling. As for the book and the pictures, the students loved it! I found out they are rarely or never read to by their teachers. WOW. That was my favorite part of school when I was young. I am glad I was able to switch things up a bit.

After reading the book and asking a few questions about their favorite pages, I had them complete the crossword puzzle I had made for them. I was a little surprised at how fast they flew through this. I overestimated the time it would take them to complete the activity and I was left with about 25 minutes of class time to fill. Whoops. Luckily, one of the other girls had mentioned earlier playing Hangman with their vocabulary words and I ran with that idea. For about 15 minutes I played Hangman with the students, using the words from the book as well as the food words they have been learning and practicing. Even with this though, there was about 15 minutes left in the hour-long class. Luckily, Puan Anis jumped in to help me improvise and fill the time until class was over. Timing and planning are two things I have to work on in my future teaching. Overall though, I felt really proud of the lesson. I enjoyed teaching it and I feel like the students enjoyed listening to the book. Their behavior was great until we started to run out of things to do. This says to me the students are only antsy and chatty when they lose interest and feel a lack of connection to what is being taught. Something to consider based on my previous observations of some classes as SKTM.

In the evening, my host family took me to meet and visit with Yong’s brother. He lives about 5 miles away from their home. I learned that his home is right next door to their childhood home. It made me wonder if staying and living near your childhood town or home was typical and I found out it is fairly typical for adults to live near or in their same neighborhood. Her brother and his wife, plus some of their children (older than me!) came to visit and meet me as well. And as usual, they brought out tea and food for me to enjoy. Thank you Malaysia. I know I keep being told if you are plump that means you are well taken care of, but as of now I’d skip that cultural benefit.

Weekend Trip to Malacca: July 25-27, 2008

Our group left the UPSI library Friday morning at 10am to head down south to Malacca. Malacca is a historical and touristy city on the southwestern coast of Malaysia. It once was the center port for the Portuguese. The bus ride there took a total of about 3 ½ hours but that is partly my fault. On the way south we had to stop in Kuala Lumpur (KL) to quickly pick up my computer. When the bus reached KL, Kurnia and I had to quickly jump off the bus, run into the KLCC (Twin Towers mall), and make a mad dash for the computer store. Since the towers are in one of the busiest places downtown, the bus couldn’t park. Instead it had to drive around the block. So in order to make it up to the 3rd floor in the mall, get my computer, and be back down again, I pretty much made a spectacle of myself running through the fancy mall in Malaysia. Kurnia and I must have looked like crazies. Bu good news: My computer is in working condition and was covered fully under warranty! Wahoo! We made a mad dash back down to the main floor, flew out the doors and ran down the sidewalk, waiting for the bus to circle back around.

We made it safely back onto the bus and drove the rest of the way to Malacca with only a short stop for lunch at a rest area. When the bus pulled into our hotel, Everly Resort Hotel we were
all stunned. This place was 4-star, on the beach, with a pool, and glass windows lining the entire lobby.

Our rooms were just as nice. 6 people per room stayed in an apartment like room with an overlooking view of the pool and the Straits of Malacca. Seriously, why couldn’t we stay here for the rest of the trip? The first thing most of us did was head down to the pool! I wanted to swim in the ocean but the beach we were on had really dirty black looking water and there were dead fish floating just a few feet out. I opted for the chlorinated water instead. That evening we went out to dinner around 7:30pm, in the downtown area. Instead of just a typical restaurant, we went to a famous food court that had many types of food. I sat with Courtney and Katie L. as all three of us had chosen to eat Chinese inspired satay. Satay is like small kebobs grilled in peanut sauce. I had both chicken and squid. Yummy! After dinner we were given time to explore some of the local shops and peruse the more upscale stores in the mall. Really, the shopping never gets old. At 10pm our bus took us back to our luxurious rooms where we watched TV, relaxed, and enjoyed the hot, HOT, showers. (I won’t lie; I probably stood in the scalding hot water for 20 minutes before I even considered getting out.) It was the first real hot shower I’d had since Renee and I had been in KL.

The following day, we left the hotel at 9am in search of a breakfast stall selling nasi lemak. This is a typical Malaysian breakfast of rice, a really spicy chili paste, and usually a fired egg on top. That with a strong cup of the dark Malaysian coffee makes for a fantastic wake-up call. From breakfast we were invited to another education university in the area. Insitut Perguran Perempuan Melayu (IPPM) an all women’s college that focuses specifically on education. It is also the oldest teacher training college in Malaysia, having opened in 1935. All of the student here are Malay women of the Muslim faith. In normal Malaysian hospitality, we were warmly welcomed, taken on a tour of the campus, and fed lunch with some of the students from IPPM.

Upon leaving the university, we then headed to the historical part of town where there were remnants of the Portuguese. The town square was exploding with tourists, small shops, and rickshaws ready to whisk you away.

We walked about 5 minutes to get to a replica of a sultan’s home that had been destroyed when the Portuguese came. The house was made completely out of beautiful dark wood and hosted a museum inside showcasing the history of Malacca and traditional dress outfits of each Malaysian state. We also climbed about 200 steps to reach the remnants of a fortress at the top of a hill. From here you could see all the way out to the ocean. No matter how many times I see an ocean, I can’t help but feel so small. The view was incredible, but the weather was so hot and many of us were becoming very tired. To get back to the bus, Kurnia had 7 rickshaws ordered to drive us through the crowds and back to our starting place.

At this point in the day I was craving a nap and some time at the pool, but unfortunately were not done with our touring. Instead of going back to our hotel like many of us really were hoping for, the bus drove us to a place called Mini- Malaysia. This is an outdoor cultural center where we saw a traditional dance. Here, we were also able to see traditional Malaysian homes from each of the 14 states in Malaysia. It was very cool to go inside the replicas at first, but by the 5th or 6th house you could tell our group was losing steam. Finally, right before 6pm, we headed back to our hotel to relax and shower before dinner at 8:00pm.

Dinner turned out to be a decently sized food stall next to the ocean. While it was wonderful to sit near the shore with the breeze blowing in, dinner itself turned out to be the last straw for some people, me included. While I know I am in Malaysia and things are not the typical comfortable, clean-freak American way, I really was craving a sense of home. All the frustrations from the long day of walking around in the hot sun when we really wanted to spend some time relaxing after a stressful week hit a tee with me at dinner. For whatever reason, the service was incredibly slow, many of us received the wrong order, and our drinks were served only halfway through the meal. Ordering was a nightmare in itself as there are not usually menus for everyone to look at; you just have to “know” what you want. Mercifully I was able to keep most of my complaints under my breath but I was not alone in the feeling of frustration. In order to wind down when we got back to the hotel, I stood in the hot shower again, for a wasteful amount of time.

(Group shot at the wedding)

Sunday, our entire group was invited to a wedding of one of the host families. The wedding was 3 hours out of our way but we had accepted the invitation to go. Weddings in Malaysia are so unlike those at home. Here, whole towns come to see the couple get married, eat all day, and celebrate. Everyone brought his or her traditional Malaysian outfits (baju karongs and baju kabayas) to change into on the bus. We arrived around 12:45pm and it was so hot in that afternoon. But like all other times we have been guests, we were treated like royalty with tables prepared just for us and a bottomless-plate lunch was served. When it came time for the ceremony, the groom was walked toward the house with a parade of men playing drums. The bride then emerged from the “women’s house” to meet her husband. Before they entered the house to be photographed and blessed with rose water, they sat in chairs side-by-side and members of their family performed celebratory dances for them.

The bride then went into the house first and the groom had to make his way through the crowd to get to her. In order to show his desire to reach his bride, the groom traditionally hands out money to those blocking his way. Lucky me, I scored a ringgit! Unlike a home, there is no formal marriage ceremony in a church, just this joining of families for celebration. We left shortly after this took place since the drive back was estimated to take about 6 hours. Getting on the bus never felt so good; all of us had sweat through our dress outfits and were thankful to feel the icy AC.

We arrived back at UPSI in Tanjung Malim around 9pm (rather than 6pm like we had told our host parents) and I was really glad to be done traveling for the weekend. As much fun as I had learning about the history and culture of southern Malaysia, I had hoped this weekend away would have provided me with some relaxation. Oh well, just another week ahead. And as the Malaysian saying goes, “To visit Malacca is to visit Malaysia.” And luckily, this coming week is only 3 days long as we leave on Thursday for Penang!

A Glimpse Into Daily Life

I know, I know, I am missing about 2 weeks worth of details. Due to the fact that my computer decided to inconviently die out there has been few updates. I wsih I could go back and give you every juicy detail of my past days but I am way too busy (and lazy) to do so. Instead I thought I would post my short weekly observations I have to turn into my MSU professor. Hope this gives you glimpse into what I have been experiencing! This is from the week of July 21 – July 25, 2008. Enjoy!

Monday

Like last week, this week at school began with the school wide assembly. The agenda was repeating itself until the emcee teacher changed her tone and began speaking in English. In a berating tone, the speaker harshly reminded the students they needed to have their long hair pulled back and fingernails must be clean and cut short. Some of the students, I noticed, began to self-consciously look at their hands and stick them in their pockets or behind their back. I was really curious as to what significance this had. Later I was able to ask my host mother the reason for such reprimand. Apparently the school has strict rules about student hygiene; girls with hair longer than their shoulder must pull it back in a ponytail and all students have to have clean nails. I also learned there could be consequences for not fulfilling these requirements. What these consequences are, I am still unsure.
In terms of school for today, I was able to co-teach the Year 2 English class. The teacher, Puan Anis, and I did a wrap-up review of the garden unit they had been working on. For the lesson, I had the students volunteer to come out of their seats (WHOA, I know!) and come to the board. They then were able to move pictures of insects and plants I had made to make a class garden on the board. The lesson, followed by a writing and drawing activity, went fairly smoothly. I was fairly pleased with myself until Puan Anis said, “Did you use permanent marker on the whiteboard?” I was so embarrassed and had to spend the remainder of the class trying to erase my mistake.
After school my host mom took Sam, Courtney, and I to a grocery store. The plan was on Wednesday we would make an American dinner for our families. It was really interesting seeing the similarities and differences from their grocery stores to ours. One strange thing: in order to use a cart you had to trade in a ringgit for a token to release a cart from the chained holding area. I was planning to make macaroni and cheese but for some reason cheddar cheese was impossible to find. The other girls also found some of their ingredients were missing from the store, simple things we expect to be in a grocery store. And one thing I really find strange is milk comes in boxes, not refrigerated until they opened at home. I would also like to mention this does not taste like real milk either. Overall though, most products were much, much cheaper compared to the price they would be at home. My host mom mentioned though, compared to monthly incomes of my Malaysian families, grocery shopping could be a costly event.

Tuesday
Today in English class the students began a food unit. For their final activity they wrote out and brought ingredients to make sardine sandwiches. They had to follow the simple directions written in English to actually make the sandwich. Since they were making their typical lunchtime sandwich, I brought ingredients to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Surprisingly, the students were wary to try the American version of a typical sandwich. Those who did try though, really enjoyed them. I was able to parallel their ingredients and directions for making the sandwich on the board, adding to their English learning.
Science class today started out with Puan Yong showing me how she had planned the lesson for the day, the book and textbook their were working out of, and the directions to a simple group activity they would be doing at the end of class. This was really helpful for me to see how she had planned and laid out the lesson since this is an area in teaching I struggle with. The class took an interesting turn about half way through; one of the girls in class threw up at her table. I attempted not to laugh when the teacher said, “I think she isn’t feeling well.” It is comforting to know simple class disruptions like such happen everywhere in the world. The way in which it was handled though shocked me a bit. After the student was taken out of the class with her classmate, the teacher then had to handle the situation herself. She took out her “hand phone” (cell) from her bag, walked to the back of the class and proceeded to call the girl’s parents herself. About 5 minutes later, her phone rang and she proceeded to answer it directly in front of the class. This would never happen at home. Teachers using their cell phones in the middle of teaching would be absolutely not accepted. It was interesting to see this take place, but it also made me wonder what type of emergency action plans or first aid training the teachers in Malaysia have.
For our extracurricular outing at UPSI, we learned to play one of the sports played by Malaysian women, netball. While this game is reserved for females, it was interesting to see the one male on our trip, Eric, get into his element and dominate on the court! This game is very similar to basketball without any backboards, physical contact, and no dribbling is involved. It was a bit complicated at first. I played defense and the girl I was supposed to be covering was pretty much an expert at this game. Also, it should be mentioned I typically have little athletic ability when it comes to games requiring lots of coordination. While it was challenging to play against the Malay girls, I actually enjoyed myself and marked down another cultural experience in my mental notebook.

Wednesday
Today was a fairly typical day at school with little happening in the way of me teaching. I did get to spend about 35 minutes planning with the math teacher I work with. Sitting down and talking out what needed to be covered in the next two days was really helpful for me. I liked to see how she thinks out the day’s activities and writes the actual lesson plans. The format so strikingly similar to the way we write formal plans at homes. The headings we used were objective, outcomes, and activities. While I think these are really good things to include in lesson planning, I pretty much copied this directly from the teacher guidebook. I asked if this is typically how she plans lessons and she replied to the affirmative. This frustrates me a bit because all the book does is provide a guide how to teach from the text and assign problems from the workbook. There is little to no variation to these plans. I cannot understand how the students, or even the teachers, can function without extreme boredom in this type of a situation.

The highlight of this day was the American dinner prepared by Courtney, Sam, Renee, Meredith, and I. We started cooking in my house around 4:30pm. It was so exciting and comforting to feel like I was doing something to thank my family and the others for hosting us. Everyone there tried all that was made and really loved all the food. At one point I was sitting in the kitchen talking with my host mom and some of the other guests and I just felt so at home. I had that overwhelming feeling of content and it was a pleasant moment. I had been feeling a bit homesick and this truly made me feel right at home.

Aidil and Aira perform a song before everyone goes home! (Country Roads by John Denver)

Thursday

Slight disaster would be a good way to describe school today. I was all set to pair teach the Year 2 students; I had prepared half of the lesson, my mentor teacher the other half. Since the class today was an hour and a half long, there had to be a lot of content and activities accomplished to fill the time appropriately. Unbeknownst to me the teacher had let school early since she is very pregnant and has been feeling ill. So instead of having 90 minutes worth of lesson, I had 45. Plus, there was no teacher to help me translate to Malay the words and directions the students most likely would not understand. Needless to say, this class did not go well. At first the 40 students were fairly well behaved, but when I began teaching and assigning the agreed upon work from their workbooks classroom management became practically impossible. I felt like I was in a horrible subbing position. I struggled through the examples, having the students answer me in their broken English, and helping them with their work. When I decided to hand out bookmarks to the students who were working quietly at their seats for a reward, the students barely held it together. My reward plan backfired and the students began yelling, “I didn’t get one!” Typically when a teacher is gone, a fellow teacher will be the relief. Unfortunately there was not a teacher scheduled to come for relief until 12pm, one hour after I had struggled through the class alone. I walked out of the class with a headache and a feeling of failure. I take it very personal when lessons do not go well and I feel like the students struggled with the material. This was not only frustrating to me but I was physically drained from the experience.
The afternoon at home was more pleasant, and as usual made me feel more relaxed and comfortable. After taking a short nap, I went for a walk with Ainol. Every time I walk down the street I am stared down. It makes me wonder if it is because I am clearly a white American or if it because women typically do not leave their homes without a male escort. While Ainol is male, he is only eight. I also spent a fair amount of time talking with my host mom and sister about religion. They told me a lot about Islam and their basic belief system. I was also able to share a lot about my views on Christianity and religion in general. Having these types of eye-opening and informational chats are something I looked forward to before coming here. I appreciate learning about others ways of life and what drives them to behave in the ways that they do. The more I learn about Islam, I am learning many aspects of it correspond with Christianity. Findings like that bring me to the question: If religions are so alike, why is it that is usually the underlying reason for war in the world?

Friday
At UPSI today we had a group/class discussion on how our experiences at school are going. It was nice to share daily events, hear what is working/not working for others and gain perspective on how I can improve my teaching techniques here in this unique environment. Kurnia and Sri gave us many things to think about; using classroom management styles that use little or no words, drawing pictures to go with directions, playing games that allow each student to have a turn rather than losing control of the whole group. I really enjoy hearing and learning new teaching strategies from other teachers. Plus, these sessions allow me time to share challenges, triumphs, and lessons learned to better equip me in Malaysia as well as at home.

Back in Business! Finally...more from Malaysia

And we're back! I finally have my computer back from Kuala Lumpur and now am able to keep you updated on what has been happening over the past two weeks. At the time I do not have a lot of free time to keep up with a daily journal, but I'm hoping this post will shed some light on my experiences at Sekolah Tanjung Malim.

This is an assignment I had to do for MSU, but I think it really shows a lot about my observations and experiences in the school. I apologize for the dryness... it was a required writing.


After spending a week in a Malaysian primary school (SK Tanjung Malim) and observing both the teachers and students it is easy to see many differences compared to schools in Michigan. Likewise, I also was able to observe a few similarities between the two schools.
One of the first things I noticed about the SKTM was the way teachers are greeted when they enter the room. As soon as the teacher comes into the classroom and says “Good morning class,” the students immediately respond with “Good morning teacher.” When they say this, all students are standing and do not sit until the teacher allows them to. This is a tradition not employed by schools in Michigan. If this were required of students at home, I believe the initial reactions to such a change would not go over well. While I believe the Malaysians do this to show respect to their teachers (I feel it is demanded from the teachers), in Michigan the respect is earned. I cannot say which is a better way to start lessons, with demanded respect or the kind that is fostered through interaction, but it definitely is a big difference between Malaysia and Michigan.

Another difference that is clearly different from home is the way teachers move from class to class. Instead of having their own classrooms, teachers in SKTM move from class to class when it is time to teach their specific subject. It seems like this would be an annoyance and a waste of time. As soon as the Malaysian teachers enter the classroom they have to spend at least two or three minutes getting their materials set up. In Michigan teachers are able to move fluidly from one subject to another, from one lesson to the next with minimal down time. It makes me wonder if this is why (even despite the large class sizes) the teachers feel like the students are unruly at times.

One other difference I noticed throughout all classes at SKTM was most materials were taught through rote memorization. Especially in an English class I sat in on, the teacher was constantly saying, “Say this word,” “Spell this word,” “Read this sentence,” and “Repeat it again.” After a whole week of observing, only in one class (science) did I see the teachers using group work, peer-to-peer assistance, or creative lesson plans. At home, and especially from my education at MSU, I have learned this type of rote teaching is not only boring and lacks engagement, very few students truly learn materials in this way. It makes me question whether students are learning meanings and underlying big ideas or just memorizing for moment.

Amidst all of these differing practices used in the classroom, I was also able to notice some similarities. Many of the teachers give students certain time limits to work on their assignments before moving on to another activity. For example a teacher would say, “You will have five minutes to finish your sentences.” She then gave another warning when the students had one minute remaining. Teachers also do this at home; it gives the students a fair advantage and allows them to monitor their own learning. And because I spent a lot of my time in lower levels (year two and three) the teachers also gave reminders about working quietly and independently. This is a typical, everyday practice used by teachers in Michigan as well. Overall, many classroom management skills have been the same.

Going hand-in-hand with the topic of classroom management is the way in which teachers and students interact. The teacher-student relationship is very much like a parent-child relationship. The teachers are caring but I feel they demand respect from the students and expect them to follow their directions immediately.

In addition to making observations in the classroom, I was able to spend some time studying the teachers of SKTM outside of a teaching situation. From my time spent in the staff room as well as in the canteen at the teacher tables, I saw that many teachers are very close friends. Rarely did I notice teachers working as colleagues in the staff room. Rather, they were playing music, showing family photos, or working independently on lessons at their desk. Just from a week’s worth watching and note taking I feel like the teachers are more like friends who are very open with each other. While it was nice to feel camaraderie amongst the staff, at home it seems teachers are stick closer to a colleague role at school, friends outside of school. I was also surprised to see little compilation of resources, ideas, or time spent on lessons even though many of the teachers teach the same subject. This can be both similar and dissimilar to teachers at home. I really feel that lesson planning with fellow employees not only improves lessons but it also creates a more uniform way of getting through the curriculum in a fair way and effective way.

The last relationship I noticed was between students. Overall, the students seem to be friends like students at home. Similarly, there are groups of friends, class clowns, and students who often picked on. Slightly different though is that the segregation between sexes seems to be greater than at home. Boys mostly play with boys, the girls chat with their female friends. Also like students at home, boys seem to express themselves through physical aggression while the girls are quiet and spend a lot of time giggling. One main relationship dynamic I have noticed though, there seems to be a slight separation of friends amongst the Malay students, Chinese, and Indians. Each ethnic group often keeps to themselves. I can see this more in the girls than the boys but that may be due to the fact female students are slightly more culturally identifiable. I rarely see the Muslim girls playing or talking with Chinese or Indian girls. It often seems too, Chinese boys are picked on more often than other boys.

In addition to observing the people at the school, I also made notes about the classrooms and school itself. In general all the classrooms are very bare; there is a lack of student work on the walls, classroom rules, or bright colored and encouraging posters. The student desks are arranged in rows all facing the front. There are no bookcases, student workspaces, or comfortable chairs to be utilized by either teacher or student. Even the teacher must bring their own whiteboard markers and materials since there is not a class set. This lack of ownership for space, objects, or room usage makes school seem a very uninviting place to be. The classrooms and even the school as a whole lack a lot of learning materials that schools in the US often have. For example, my year 2 students were beginning a new unit learning about money. Typically when American students are taught this topic, there is play money available for the students to manipulate. When I asked if there was something like this at SKTM, my mentor looked at me as if I was out of my mind. She said, “No, we don’t have anything like that here. I think if we did there would not be enough for all the students in the class. In general, I feel the Malaysian schools rely strictly on their texts and workbooks for learning. With the exception of science, I have not seen any class provided with materials used specifically for learning.

Don't Worry, I'm Alive

I wish I had more time to update this, but I am still lacking my computer. :( Supposedly I will get it back tomorrow (Wed) afternoon. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

And as an update... a girl threw up in class today while I was teaching. Nice to know that happens all over the world, huh?

Hopefully you'll be updated soon on my wonderful journeys. And truly, I am missing my family and friends. Know you are on my mind often.

See you in 23 days!

A Little Bad News

Just in case anyone is wondering why this blog has been put on hold, I have some bad news to share.

My computer won't turn on. Not at all. Not a little bit. As of now it is Kuala Lumpur being looked at by a technician at an Apple store at the mall. :( It is so strange not to have my computer. Supposedly I will get it back Wednesday of next week. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Until then, I miss my friends and family. Thanks for all of your support. I'll be home in less than a month!

I live in Malaysia! July 12, 2008

Today is the day I have been waiting for since I knew I would be coming to Malaysia; I got to move in with my host family! Before they came to UPSI to pick us up though, we had breakfast at 8am, and then had to finish packing. At 10am there was a short but official ceremony welcoming our host families to the school and thanking them for choosing to host an American student. During one of the speeches made this morning, Sri asked our host families to forgive us if we did something inappropriate, rude, or against their culture. She said, “Please forgive them in advance if they do something offensive.” I thought was funny but such a true statement and I thank her for making it. From my family, Yong (the mother), Mohd (the father) Aiman (13), Ainol (8), and Airel (15 months) came to greet me.
Once the ceremony was over the students and their families had a coffee break. Around 11:30am I actually got to leave the UPSI campus with my family and go to their home just in the outskirts of Tanjung Malim. It only took about 5 minutes to drive from the campus to their home but we had to stop at the bus station to pick up the eldest Sarah since she had just come home from her university. Katie and Meredith also came with my family for the afternoon, since their host families were away for the day. When we got to their house (beautiful!) all of the family greeted me and the other girls; we were served food again! I guess I shouldn’t be surprised but I really can’t get over how many times a day the Malaysians eat. I spent about an hour in their sitting room just talking, asking about their family, and their daily life. The anxiousness that I had felt earlier dissipated and I really felt at ease, at home. We ate a lunch of clams (that I helped prepare!), fish, and rice with soup. Undoubtedly it was fantastic. I also spent a lot of time playing games with Ainol. He kept asking, “Want to play?” He pulled out some Pokemon cards and a Malaysian form of Monopoly. Like any 8-year-old he made up the rules as he went and I played along. It makes me happy to have young ones around again!
Katie and Meredith left around 5:30pm with their host families. Sarah and Aira (the nickname for younger Sarah) wanted to take me to see the night market in town so I took a quick shower to cool off and then we left. Side note: Most Malaysian families don’t have hot water, they think it is unnecessary due to the heat; I actually enjoy the cool showers because they cool me off and wake me up. Even though it was pouring in the evening, I really enjoyed seeing all the hustle and bustle of the downtown area. There were people everywhere, buying almost anything you can think of. There were street vendors with clothing, make-up, shoes, watches, videos, and an endless amount of things. There also was an area set up specifically for food. In this part of the market there was everything from rice with chicken to pizza to different flavored drinks. And of course we went into a few of the shops filled with shoes and clothing. How can I resist?
Just a little after 7pm we headed back to the house. Apparently it is normal for the kids to have to be home around 7pm. After 7pm is meant for dinner and family time. I’m not sure how I would have responded to this as an American teenager but I like the idea of it now. We had dinner just around 8pm, fish caught by Aidil, leftover soup from lunch, and a cabbage soup/salad. After dinner everyone sat down in the living room to watch TV and play with the baby. It was nice to see the whole family spending time together on a Saturday night. What a rarity compared to home. I went to bed around 11:45pm but it was nice to know that I would be able to sleep in the next morning! I better soak it up while I can because from here on out it’s early mornings and late evenings of homework. The life of a teacher I suppose…


Sarah (20 years old, attends a music university) (kak or kakak)
Aidil (18 years old) (Abang)
Sarah (16 years old) (Aira or kak dik)
Aiman (13 years old, attends a boarding school 1 in Ipoh) (Dik Man)
Ainol (8 years old) (Dik Nol)
Airel (15 months old) (Adik or dik Ayil)