A Challenge to Myself

Time for my second post after the resurrection of my blog on the 16th of September 2017. This new post would be the announcement of a challenge which I have set for myself, which is to write a 100-word short story a week. This all started during the Access English Teachers' course which I mentioned in my previous post, where we were told to write a 100-word essay. I found this activity quite interesting and I told myself that this would be a great way to challenge myself to think and write. Perhaps, it may also help those who stumble upon my writings and be inspired to write some 100-word essays for themselves. Oh well, just for fun, why not? Let's hope that I can keep up to the challenge, be disciplined and write around 20 stories for now.... If I succeed, I might even extend my challenge.... Oh ya, by the way, do please leave some comments in the box below... I will leave my essays untitled, so do please leave suggestions on what title you think they should be.... Enjoy....!

Here is the first piece...

Once gone, never to return. Joyce, Arifah, Shah, were never seen or to be heard again. Legend has it, Gregor, once sentenced to death by lethal injection, is still alive, lurking in the neighbourhood, in search of helpless maidens. Some said that he died and was buried but his remains were never to be found. Some also rumoured that he walks in the shadows, slithering like a snake in the dark of night, entrapping the hearts of his victims. Some even witnessed shadows chowing down what appeared to resemble the limbs of humans. Is he really alive? No one knows. 

Re-Alignment....

Just as promised, after a 3-year hiatus, I am finally back slowly into the blog sphere after being inspired during one of the camps that I attended during the recent holiday in Langkawi. It all happened during the Access English Teachers' Workshop which was organised by SMKA Rompin in collaboration with the United States of America Embassy. How it all started was my participation in the AE-Teacher course under the sponsorship of the Department of State. It was truly a great opportunity for learning as the course opened my eyes to the ample resources available online for English teachers to improve their pedagogical and professional practice in the classroom. The best part of this course was that it is an online course throughout a span of 8 weeks and conducted at our own pace. However, 'our own pace' means that we have a week to complete each module at our own time, convenience and commitment. First few weeks were great as I was able to complete every single assignment and quiz with ease and had no difficulty in finding time for it. It was after the first few weeks that it became heavier, especially with all the work commitment. Well, when there is a will, there is a way..... I pushed myself through each of the modules and eventually managed to complete all of them with an exceptionally high score! At one point, I even had to do in the wee hours during one of the CEFR Master Trainers' courses which I had to attend in KL. I managed to complete all of it and I am now one of the alumni of the AE Teacher programme.  We had a wonderful certificate presentation ceremony, and that was when I met Intan, a lovely lady from the US embassy. Very friendly and sporting I would add.

After the presentation, I received a text from Intan, asking whether I was interested in attending the Access English Teachers' workshop in Langkawi, which I mentioned earlier. I told her, I had to check my schedule before I could give her an answer, of which I eventually accepted the offer. Thanks
for giving me this wonderful opportunity.

I was Langkawi-bound on the 26th of August 2017, and was truly excited to see what lies ahead. It was not really a pleasant journey there as there was a huge hiccup but I was glad that I arrived there in one piece.

Throughout the 5-day 4-night workshop in Langkawi, I have gained a lot of insight regarding the world of English. I learned a lot about how to exploit newspapers in the classroom, employ 21st-century teaching methods in the classroom and testing and evaluation opportunities for learners to undertake to gauge and improve their English language proficiency, just to name a few.

Above all the knowledge shared and gained, I have met many wonderful individuals which inspired me and showed me how one's commitment could do wonders in the lives of others. Just to name a few, Intan herself, Farah Jasmine, Azyanti, Hani, Syahidah, Pravin (my brother from another mother), AB, Ezani and Mishkat. We had fun and laughter with each other and we even went around together. It was truly a great time of knowledge sharing and networking for me. Amazingly, I also discovered that we were very similar and some of us even had multiple mutual friends! It is indeed a small small world.

Here, I would like to express my gratitude to the organising committee for doing such a wonderful job in organising a wonderful workshop session which I truly believe had opened our eyes towards the opportunities which lie ahead of us in our strive to improve our students' English language ability and proficiency. Not only that, thanks for providing us with the opportunity to network with each other throughout the workshop and above all, thanks to Intan and the US Embassy of Kuala Lumpur for presenting me with this wonderful opportunity to meet such wonderful and amazing individuals which make me feel that I am not alone. I am truly looking forward to more workshops and courses in the future. Thank you and God bless!

Here are some photos of the AE-Teacher certificate presentation function and the Access English Teachers' workshop. Till then, cheerios....

For all those of you who are interested, there is a programme which will be starting at the end of this month for a span on 5 weeks entitled, Teaching English Communicatively. You can head to www.aeeteacher.org/MOOC to register for the course and I am sure it will benefit all of you. See you there!