mon: 1630: ;leadership matters...

hi there people! happy Merdeka Day! yahoo... so, regarding the language camp, wasn't that a 'merdeka' too for all of us? we enjoyed what ever we did there: the activities, beach and the food, jellyfish and blah blah blah. we had the whole lot of a time to relax and stay away from the assignments. that was good. however, speaking about the leader out there, i mean the language camp leaders, they did a great job actually. they were very attentive all day though they did not have enough sleep. bravo and congrats for the good job. you earned your respect well and did your job greatly. thank to ila who know what to do and when to do. i hope that i was a good leader in the group too. i was with ken directing the 'ale ale' group. it was great actually. anyway, i bet we all had a good time and learnt more about what leadership is all about.

Good Idea Gina!

As I read through Gina's postings, I am quite impress with her wonderful idea.We can create bigger impact to undergrads in UTM.That is true,but...yes there is a but my dear Gina....I can say that we are still new to this kind of camp.We need supports and encouragements from the people like what we had(HEP,UNIPEN).I think we need to work harder and we might burn our asses(opps..did i wrote that) to get approval,sponsorships and management.Yes, we can manage the program but I think it is best to work the whole thing together.Our obligations were reduced by the UNIPEN and our beloved lecturers; they helped us to deal with people from the "higher place"(is that phrase correct?).But, I really like Gina's idea and I am 100% agree with her. We need to reach out to more people and make it as a fun camp and not a camp where the participants are oblige to attend.Anyway, all I would like to say is that the camp has helped us to learn how to manage and organise big stuff..(apart from TESL Night)
p/s:hey...how about our TESL Night this year?don't have meh?too bad...

The change of strategy

I just wanna propose a change of strategy in organizing language camp in the future. Many of the participants that came for the language camp never regretted for coming to the camp. Many of them liked the camp and enjoyed the activities in the camp. I was just wondering instead of forcing the people to come to the camp (by sending them letter making it compulsory for them to come), why don't in the future we make the camp a non-compulsory one. We can advertise the camp around campus and open to all utm students to join. We want the people to come with a willing heart, with the desire to learn English. We don't want them to feel compelled to come for the camp. In this way, we will have participants who really want to learn the language right from the first day of the camp and thus we may yield better results. Furthermore, by doing marketing drive to promote language camp in campus, we will be able to establish the reputation of language camp and bring the camp to a professional level.

The difference that makes a difference

I can't help but amazed at our classmates' talents and abilitites demonstrated during the language camp. Our classmates are really a bunch of unique people. And it is the difference in us that makes a difference in the language camp. Believe me, many participants felt that the camp was not like any other ordinary camp, it was different, in fact very different. The difference was not only in terms of the content, but also the way the facis led the whole camp. We have portrayed a very confident and progressive image in the camp. Every faci is outstanding and influential. The participants looked up to us not only because we can speak the language better than them, but also because of our character and attitude. So, Fcis, give yourself a pat on the shoulder! Continue to be an influential person to people around u!!!

The influence of the camp

It was indeed a great experience in the language camp. When we look at the impact we had made on the participants, we should really be proud of ourselves. Some of us bumped into the participants in campus after the camp, we were glad to see they were still 'on fire' to use English in their conversation with friends. Some of them their spirit was still 'lifted high having the desire to learn English. I personnal bumped into one of my group members and she told me she was very motivated to learn English and she tried to use the language whenever there was an opportunity. I believe none of use ever thuoght that the camp would have such a big influence on the lives of the participants, all we know is that we wanted to give our best to this camp, and the results.... are unbelieavable great.

Sekakap!!!(do the thai thingy..)

Hi ya everyone!I can't wait to pour out everything about the camp in Sekakap last week!!It was superb!I would say it was one of the best camp I have been to.Okay, where should I start..he..he..To begin with;there were so many hilarious and so unbelieveable incidents that happen.And all the incidents were sure-real man!! Well, at first I thought the camp would be gloomy and dark as the previous campers managed to convince us with rare incident and paranorm phenomenons..But, as soon as the bus stop(I was fast asleep with Dinie in the bus);it was sunny and so peaceful.And...the rooms was so-next-door..he..he..the girls even complained that they heard some of the boys were snoring all night..he..he..(ACTUALLY GIRLS,all of us snore!!)The program went smoothly and I as the person who in charge of briefing manage to scare the kids about the toilet visit thingy and the jelly fish and wild boars.Wicked!!Anyway, we (the facis) were so mad and the kids love it!!!I was enjoying myself and have the opportunity to work with everyone and those who were so long ago away from me..I really missed the camp and the way we worked things out!It was as if when we were in our first year...we start all over again and be playful with each other.Especially the boys...we have been very "far away" from each other these three years, but the camp has brought us closer like when we were still 1SPL:( I was however, so grateful to go to the last camp and manage to drag a few victims to swim a long with me..including our beloved MR. G.It was so funny because I was the one who warned everybody to stay away from the beach during the first day when I did the the briefing.But, deep in my soul;I was screaming like mad the moment I step down from the bus..It was so serene and cool.So, there we were(me,Affa,Dinie,Syah,Syam) floating around and did some crazy backflips!!It was mad and Mr. G was so attracted with the fun that he somehow forgot that he was actually swimming along with us...I was the culprit behind this and I love it!!!he..he..All the participants are great and the small amount of them made the camp easier to handle.They are all big kids and we do not have to worry about them.All the activities were fun. The best one would be "spot and bomb"..the participants took the chance to scream madly like us.The sand castle was good too,I was one of the judges.It was cool.I felt great..with the ocean breeze and endless photo poses with Farrah my partner..she was as mad as me!!!Illa was so cool and maintained her calmness throughout the camp.Affa, Elle, Sue and Dinie was my favourite bunch to have meal with!They are so chatty and the meal time would be a period for us to gossip.Dihah,Gina,Zati, Eddy,Megat and Izati were so cool and I even saw them on a few occasions comforting and motivating the participants.Way the go guys!Kenneth was so funny with his hat,Uppu Tangeche(caroline) was having fun with her "ale-ale" team..he..he..and Syam was sick because I chaste a curse on him..not!!!He did not sleep the night before we depart to the camp, that is why he is sick.I wonder what he had been up to?Syah and Linda were also great and I had a brief "so-called affair" with Linda..thanx to Affa!!And the most unbelieveable thing when Affa did some sound effect from a distance away.some participants were amazed by his innate ability..and not to mentioned me and Farrah..Farrah laughed until she almost fell from her chair that night..sorry Affa..I told Farrah about it, I can't resist.It was so dead funny.But, I really like you around the camp.You manage to give me smiles and laughters!!!So, I guess the camp may be or may be not if not any better than the prebious camps. But all I can say is, do the best you can and never...do not just hope things will be good but you yourself have to cut the strings and have fun as you work.Don't blame it to the beavers..But, I am proud to say that all the facis in the last camp did not dissappoint themselves as well as others, each one of us have the opportunity to stand in front and still manage to look great at the same time.But, I think the best voice over would be Izati.She sounded great and cool as she talks,don't you think that way guys!Anyway, we were so sad when time flies and it was time to go home..and the worst thing is.. the bus for facis do not have air condition.So, all of them (facis) scrambled to the two buses and leave 7 of us behind with the last bus(me,kent,gina,dihah,megat,pinah and zati were in that bus..thank God the rain stopped and we can open the emergency windows on top of the bus...Everyone was fast asleep throughout the journey.Last but not least, I say the camp has helped us to reflect our true abilities..We learn to see, listen,watch and get along with others as we helped others...I believe we can be the best English teachers around!!!!ok,chow da mow!!!

more tragic than a titanic, older than dinasours and more complicate than a pokemon!!! (lang camp entry, for sure)

i have made a comeback! first of all, i wanna give all the love in the world to Kenneth for his kind words to me. dude, now, i feel much much better. if one day, i made it to be the most kind-hearted person in the world, then the first lesson i learnt was coming from you! :P. i guess, my last posting was so full with emotions. enough for that heart breaking heart talk! for this time, i would like to talk about positive side of things that i have done in the Sekakap Camp A. I was in-charged of becoming MC for the presentation slot. well, as a whole, it was a smooth flow of an event. it is safe to say that i have done my job well even though i was dead-nervous at the fisrt place due to some problems that almost let me down. DId i appear spontanoues on the stage guys? well, thanx for all the hidden nervous symptoms and a script that i never let go in my hand. he he he! just trying my best to imitate RYAN SEA CREST! :P. guys, i am telling u, i have this great passion on being on stage, a little bit of an exhibitionist i am, my cup of tea too. so, that's all about it. i was the MC yeaaaaa!!!!!

ouh yeah, almost forgot, this is the most crucial detail to be enclosed here, i was performing during the talent night! an unchained melody was on air! want to get a big shout....yeaaahhh!. i hope i didnt make a fool out of myself, or what you call it "syok sendiri". so how many stars you would like to give me?
i ever thought of it that if i would want to venture in this teaching profession, i would go along the music line, a music teacher!!!!!!!plus an English teacher of course. but, it sort of a dream that will never be realized. is it 100 words already? or it should be 50, isnt? nobody like to hear people so indulgingly talking about himself. well as for all of you guys, i know we are all fun-loving people. so much of a hillarious, over-acting (Ups!), loud, hot, spontaneous, going physical, out-of-the-ordinary attitude, sweet and big mouth (mebbe some of the characteristics dont apply) when we are all getting together and u know what? we could just bringing down the house. we are a great group of people. who could disagree with we on this? we are brilliant, fabulos (not fabuloso, the detergent) and last but not least, charming. we are so complicate than a pokemon. The camp was so memorable to me. The day i realize the true capability of me. dont dare to say that i dont want to go to the camp anymore. sign me up for the first person!!!! i just looove all of u guys.

NATIONAL DAY+LANGUAGE GAMES IN THE CLASSROOM...

HAPPY MERDEKA DAY MALAYSIA!
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY-it's our 46th NATIONAL DAY!!

finally we come to the 2nd last class for our beloved subject-language games in the classroom ( i somehow can't recall the code!) we'll only have one last class during the last study week...personally... i really enjoy taking this subject with all of u guys...what actually that i want to say here? (diyah is wondering! he..he..)

seems like everybody been talking/discussing about the post mortem, so i think enough for me to write about the camps post mortem, right? we are fortunate enough for having opportunities to develop our own abilities b4 we going out as a teacher...yeah, we have 2 times for practical session, but in my opinion that still not enough..we need to expose ourselves to the various environment of language learning...for the facis that have gone through a lot of LC..we can feel the difference, i mean when we facilitate school children, it is different compared when u facilitate those people in their first year- just imagine they are all about our age..

being a faci for school children, physically you really exhausted...u need to conduct the kids for almost every single things+time..u need to create their cheers..performances..so on and so forth..

but as for u students..let me recall my first expereince handling this U students..it started when JKM KTC invited some of us to be the facis for their English Survival Camp..to tell the truth i really scared and i feel like i was not prepared enough to be their faci! just imagine i brought along my thick-mcmillan dictionary along with me at that time just to be prepared and i can be their "reliable source" (in my opinion)..thanks god, that the camp has really made a good impression for me of handling U students and at other side it open my small eyes to the bigger view..i mean, they are different from these school children..they can cope with the things that we taught in just a short time..that's what i love about handling U students ( but still, it not happens to all of the partcipants!)


and as 4 my situation, i considered myself to be lucky because i have the chance to be with these two different groups..thanks a lot to our lecturers, seniors and most important to all of u guys..without your support i don't think that i manage to conduct the "Simon Says" session+Sand Castle..i am too afraid to talk in front of the crowd..i'm shaking at that time if some of u realize.

just wanna ask u guys 1 question : don't we have any final year programme for our beloved course?

see ya!

Sun: 1525: it was fun

hi there people! basically i think i want to share something with all you people. it's about the dedication towards the camp. i believe that each and everyone of us did enjoy the camp very much yp to the maximum. the most importantly was the dedication that we all poured into the camp. i personally believe that without the dedication, the camp will not be a successful one. even if it wwas to be a successful one without dedication, the whole camp would be an enjoyable one. therefore, i have seen all the hard work into a whole enjoyable and exciting camp. i believe that to be successful eachers, we need to be dedicated too. all the best in your future undertakings, guys!!

Sat: 2355: the camp was cool

hi there people. finally i think i have some space to write something about our most experiencial camp. the camp was very, very cool. i seriously learny a lot from the camp. for, example, i really agree now with the proverb that sounds something like 'you will know a person better while play rather than a year's conversation.' basically, in my humble opinion, i think co-operation is main key point here. without co-operation, nothing can ever be achieved. i believe that everyone who have gone for the camp do agree with me especially at this major point. thanks to everyone especially to those who actively engaged in the last camp. it was all fun, fun and fun. bravo!!

Wow!

I didn't know you felt that way syaharil! I am really sorry! I think you were great at Kaizen and too bad i did not have the honour to work with you at sekakap...but let me say something if i may...you are a great person!!! you are! and i am not saying it because i felt sorry about what happened to you...as a friend i honestly felt that you had overcame many obstacles and that you are more mature than most people i know...you never stike me as childish...you have the Charisma and the charm to ease your way through many thigs...dont let setback like these to ruin you hope and visison and most of all your pride...hold it up high and be proud of who you are...coz brother, if they got problem with you...they can kiss your attitude goodbye! Actually i like the assertiveness "thingy"...to be politically correct...being in command without imposing and a pain in the "you-know-where!"...that is how i see it...hehehehe...let you out on a secret...you cant be a good teacher without "assertiveness"...the students are gonna walk all over you!

Another day in paradise!

well! that sounds appealing, isn't it? well, an entry about the language camp? erm.....here goes. i would like to talk about the last class on what are the qualities that facie should possess? before that, thank you very much for putting my suggestion to be among the unpopular trait! Actually, what i mean by being assertive is not the one like stern, strict, hot-tempered, fuming mad or something. In bahasa we call it "berpendirian teguh". you are holding on firmly on what you think is true. You being assertive until nobody can shake you. i say assertive because that was what happened to me in the Sekakap camp A. because of a lot of uncertainties i was trapped in an insecure condition that i hardly make an appropriate decision that ended up showing my ineffciency and what i call it as poor,pity and sooo...unprofessional! I was not better but a weak and vulnerable than a weak and vulnerable jelly fish stranded that you can find on the sea-shore. I was in-charge of the Sembahyang and imam for the camp which i assertively say i was succesfully proved that i failed to fulfill my obligation. :P. You see i was not the leader of the prayer and it would be your wonderful dream to see the participants pray together in the mosque. Don't you think there's something wrong there. well you dont have to look very far. it's me i was in the limelight!!!!!

i was trying to get an attention like a small kid to get a chance to voice my position during the camp, during the post-mortem and during the last class. but you see, the constant failure hit me like the raging waves on the sekakap beach. The positive side of me had been striked by the thunder to death! To tell you the truth, going to the camp had plunged me to the sea of my weaknesses, i was nearly drown. but thank god, my supportive friend were there, i could always reach them for a lifesaver! (since i was deeply trenched in this sad moment, i have created a story for this, i'll post it later! :P). well. i have to thank god for it, at least, now i can confidently tell what i am good at, when i will become weak and vulnerable than a weak and a vulnerbale jellyfish you can find on the sea-shore (sorry, mr. jellyfish-this is just an analogy). Assertive is the word here, being assertive means having a confidence and faith to stand on what you believe is good and true for you. My story about going to the language camp is not lcompletely ike a fairy tale but it is still sort of ending in quite happy condition. but that's a whole different story. i'll post it later. mmmmuuuaaaahhhhhh!

5 Post (4. Post Mortem)

All the post mortem has been done. I think if we have future camps we can make it more better than the previous one. Everyone spoke about the positive and negatives things that we've made. One thing for sure is that we still have the traditional culture attitude where if we don't like the persons attitude we just keep it in our heart and then we start to talk behind the person's back. Every post mortem during or after the camp was nice. We gathered around and talked about how can we improve the camp for the next day or for the future camp. We can see that there is an improvement for each camp. Good job everyone! and thanks for the feedbacks from the HEP, UNIPEN, Mr. Ghazali, Cik Fatimah, Mr. Faruk and Dr. Norazman. Thanks a lot to you guys too! :)

Kem Kaizen & Sekakap, which one is better?

Good day to all of the readers...

I just want to ask for your opinions on the camp that we organized in Kaizen and Sekakap... Which one do you think better? As for me, I think that the participants of Kaizen are more energetic and eager to participate in all the activities. However, Sekakap is a nice place ~ the foods, the air-cond rooms and the beach... If not because of the jellyfish, I will 'wible-wable' in the sea and ignore the participants... hehehehehe... I am truly blessed because I was given a chance to actually join Language Camps. Before this, I thought that there's nothing interesting on joining such camp. However, through the experiences that I had gained, it's a satisfaction actually to see the participants are brave enough to speak in English... What do you guys feel?
Ok... That's all for now... I want to continue doing my CALL assignment...

P/S ~ Thank you Daniel for letting me to use your PC :-)

Attention! Kekekekekeke!

Heee! Hi! PSM is due 2nd of Sept, so how? Ok? As for me i'm still hanging on thanks to Pn Norzarina who has been really supportive and patient, so i hope i don't disappoint her! Regarding the post-mortem the other day...i must say i was very satisfied! There was no pointing of fingers and the discussion flowed openly and positively...i think most of us would agree that as compared to Kaizen, we were not that stressed out and did our job in a very flexiable manner while at Sekakap...at Kaizen we we expected to conform to certain rules and criticism and being brought into late at night we were very tired...im not saying its bad but it could have been done in a better way like how we did in class as oppose to poniting fingers to particular faci...lastly i would like to say, should we like to make comments on others and troubled ourselves with other peoples' resposiblities maybe we should look at ourselves first...thats is by far the best lesson i had learned..."others may reflect us just as we reflect others'...get it? and lastly..."respect earned is sweeter than respect demanded!"...hehehe! Cheers! and hip hip hoooray!!!!!!

Sekakap In Memories...

Assalamualaikum and a very good day to all of you...

First of all, congratulations to all the facis for Camp A and Camp B. You guys had gone a good job in motivating the students. Let us focus on the positive side of the camp, not only the negative ones... OK? Actually, I'm crying right now, alone, in front of Kenneth's computer... Suddenly, my mind recalled on the day we had our Talent Night. We were actually having a great time together with the participants ~ singing with them...

I think that Language Camp has actually make us closer together. We laugh at each others' face, share problems and managed to overcome the problems together... I'll cherish the memories...

Congratulations to Nate for being such a great director... COOL! To Nonie, thanks for being a motivating partner and faci for Melody Mockers... To Shued, Daniel, Abang Shah, Kak Linda, NoZ, Tinie, Adam, Papa Kama, Syaril, Syarul, Amiruel, Evette and Wille, raise your left hand, put it on your right shoulder, pat a few times and say ~ GOOOOD JOOOOB....!

BYe for now... Have a nice day!

4th Posting - Splendid Camp!!!

Dear readers,

Hello everyone! Hopefully you're good 'ya. For this time, I would like to talk about the last camp that I went to. Last camp for this semester, I guess... English Language Camp in Sekakap, Mersing. To all facilitators and participants who were there from 22 August 2003 till 24 August 2003, thank you very much for the unforgettable memories and to all my fellow faciliators, I believe we have done a good job, guys. To the director, Miss Nor Adila thanks a lot for the patience of putting up with us. I believe you did a wonderful job as the director. You were a good one too and it has been my pleasure working with you.

To start with, we arrived at Sekakap in the afternoon and the registration in the evening went on smoothly. However, we had only about 70 participants all together. During the night, we had a briefing session by Damien who was doing a very good job for as a first-time facilitator. After that, we had the ice-breaking session whereby we played a simple but enjoyable game called Merry Go Round or some of us called it Merry Go Brown. During that first night, 8 more participants arrived at the camp. After that, participants were asked to come out with their own group cheer and they also presented the cheer. After going through the night, I have come to one conclusion about the participants, they were quite good with the language.

On the next day, I was incharged of conducting the activity for the morning where we played three games, Add One More, Snap and Alphabet Game. As for my group, Elle and I managed to play all games with the participants. After that, we did the action plan and in the afternoon, we played another three games, Charade, Win, Lose or Draw and Bingo. The participants in my group, HAVOC gave good responds and comments about all the games that we had played. During the evening, it was raining heavily. However, we managed to play Spot and Bomb and Simon Says and later, when the rain has stopped, they had the Sand Castle building competition which the group TWINKLE, had won. At night, we had played Build A Tower and after the barbeque, we had the Talent Night. In overall, I would say that all activities on second day went on smoothly without any big problems.

On the last day, we had the Treasure Hunt, which I had to be at the 9th check point. The participants had to go through 10 obstacle courses with the last check point located by the beach. There was no serious injury during the treasure hunt and participants seemed to enjoy themselves. I also noticed all groups' cooperation during the treasure hunt and how they were being so supportive to each other. It was something wonderful to be able to see that. Later on, they had the drama presentation and the last event was the closing and prize giving ceremony.

As a conclusion, I believe that the previous camp in Sekakap was very splendid, wonderful and exciting. Maybe it's beause of the location itself, which is by the beach and provides a very good environment for the participants to learn and practice using the language. Several participants did say that they could also release their tension going to the camp because of the nice, peaceful and serene environment there. Before I end this, I would like to express my gratitude to all the lecturers who have always been there to guide and support us. To Mr. G, Miss Fatimah, Dr. Norazaman and Mr. Faruk, THANK YOU VERY MUCH for everything. We really appreciate everything that you have done for us. To my fellow TESLIANS, we could work really well with each other when we have that toleration and cooperation which undoubtedly, are the most important ingredient to make every organization works effectively. Till then, thanks again everyone and it's me Madihah, signing off. Bye!!!

POST MORTEM

Our last post mortem was about 'facilitator should be...'. emmm..for me what we had listed on the whiteboard all can be accepted. all of us have at least one from the list. all people cannot have same category. it is nature that each person has their own 'bonus'. where we can see some of us are loud, some are sporting or flexible and so on. with this kind of combination our life becomes more meaningful and colourful. when each of us has different 'bonus' so each of us play a different role. we have our own role where it come from inside of ourself. which these different roles among us, we try to combine it and become a colourful teslian.
then we tried to colour the camps with our own colour and combine it and all the participants really enjoyed 'the colour' that we made for them. as a result, we were able to throw away the participants negative thought about english language camp.

WE HAD DONE A GOOD JOB IN THE WHOLE WORLD!!

a'kum n hi...
congratulation because we had conduct both camps successfully!!
all of us had done really a hard and good job since the first camp. all of us managed to create a good games that can be played for the camps. all of us also had tried our best to changed any weaknesses in a few of the games to make it more fun and interesting.
we had attend camp A and camp B meetings. all of us also had attend workshops for both camps. thank you for ken because willing to buy 'nasi ayam' and drinks for us whether it was not enough. i and zati had to share one 'nasi ayam' and a tea. we don't mind because the 'nasi ayam' was enough for our stomatch.hi,hi.
it also fun doing workshop at nate's house. we managed to finish making snap and alphabet materials in just a few hours. thanks to mr.g because willing to come to nate's house and brought us some food and drink.nyum,nyum
all of us had tried our best to become a good faci during the camp. whether i'm the quiet one among us, i was also tried my best to contribute some 'energy' for the meeting, workshop and camp. it is because i know i lack of contributing 'voice' among us. i just prefer to be silent and listen but that doesn't mean i do not do any work.
ok guy, this camp is my first camp and it is really fun to have you all around as facilitators. all of you a good faci!!bye,bye

Entry 4: Post mortem

what did we discuss on class during post mortem session?Oh,yeah.......about what a faci should be, right? the post mortem actually opened my eyes, you see, because then I realized that all of us have that "faci" deep in our heart, it's just a matter of realizing it or denying the plain fact.

I believe that qualities such as motivating, punctual, responsible, flexible are all in us, whether we are already there or just begin to act like one. however, it's kinda hard for me to be daring, loud and not to mention but i'm going to mention it anyway, assertive. i don't mean to say that i can't accept daring, loud and assertive facis, but i want to be a faci that i could be. oooh....does this confuse you? ok, let's see....i'm quiet, i like to listen what people say, i talk when i should talk, doesn't mean i don't have anything on mind, right? so when i became a faci, i tried to motivate people which required me to talk for most of the time, a thing that i am usually not involved in.

sometimes, i wonder why can't i be daring, loud?....it's not my nature. hey hey...i'm not giving lame excuse but you see, some people are born loud while others are not..not..not so loud hehehe so when we work together a balancing act exists here. imagine what will happen if everybody is loud? the camp would be loud of course, but we need to calm ourselves. remember, differences are strength. well i hope nobody will feel offended by my opinion, i just want to share my thought okay?chow!!