Oxymoron In The Tropics

One of the easiest ways to reach your English students is to bring real life into the classroom. If you teach them to write a letter, why not write a real letter to a real person? The same goes for writing essays. TESL ppl, I offer you.. or rather The Royal Commonwealth Society offers you the PERFECT opportunity to implement process-writing. The Commonwealth Essay Competition ( http://www.rcsint.org/essay/ ) is an international education project open to all young Commonwealth citizens under the age of 18. It has four different age bands, 'Classes'. Each Class offers five topics, plus the Commonwealth Question. Competition deadline is 1st March 2008 CLASS A - Born 1989-1991 1 500-2000 words All questions can be answered by writing an essay or a story which explores the topic in an interesting and relevant way. Tell us about your favourite book OR your favourite place and what it means to you. Why decorate? Is the world becoming tribal or global? EITHER Let me tel...

Here's a lesson plan that won't be used in my class. Set Induction : 3D Picture of a Glock Question : What do you see here? What's a really hot issue about guns in schools nowadays? (Possible answers: Columbine, Virginia Tech, the inclusion of weapons in national service training...) Take the discussion where it may go but keep it within ethical/moral boundaries. Like I said, this is a lesson plan that WON'T be used in my class. Pre-Listening Activity : 1. Teacher hands out worksheet 2. Students brainstorm and fill in the blanks (one column - what's good about guns and another column - what's bad about guns) While-Listening Activity : 1. Listen to the song. 2. Note down ONE lyric or image that grabs your attention. After-Listening Activity : 1. Explain why the lyric or image is so fascinating to you. Give reasons. Homework : Write an essay that answers the question "Should Young People Learn About Guns?" Looks good, huh? ...

There are days when you want to zoom down the road, foot heavy on the gas and acoustic mayhem blasting on the cd player. I've got Offspring screaming out 'Original Prankster' and the wind whistling by...ah, what bliss...

Looking for SPM and STPM exam tips and trial papers? It may be a bit late in the day but well, we've got two more weeks for the final sprint! Check out this URL http://www.malaysia-students.com/2007/08/upsr-pmr-spm-and-stpm-tips-2007.html

The 2008 School Calendar is now available at http://www.moe.gov.my/tayang.php?laman=kalendar_sekolah&unit=utama&info=&bhs=my&mod= Thanks to Ho from PPK for this info.

My aunt Joan has been in and out of hospital and she is due for surgery tomorrow morning. She was actually supposed to have that surgery earlier but the blood bank was bankrupt.  Fresh out.  Well, it WAS. Two days ago, a doctor appealed to us to find blood donors for O+ blood type.  Otherwise my aunt would not be able to go through the surgery.  So I told my sister and did some sms sending.  Audrey went a step better (after finishing all the credit in her phone) and put up a bulletin in Friendster. Since then, the response has been amazing.  She's had total strangers calling her up to ask her who to donate for (as they needed to complete the form at the blood bank!). Today, when Suzie Labadin went to donate at 5 pm, she was informed that she was the 10th person to do so for Joan Casius.  Today alone.  Yesterday, we know there were at least three.  We know that some people have already planned to donate tomorrow.  I doubt that my aunt...

Okay, okay... don't drag the lawyers out.  It's not Facebook that's driving me nuts.  It's my wonderful friends and family who wanna do things to me.  Oh for crying out loud, I've got : - 8 superpoke! friend requests - 1 what are you wearing invitation - 1 new wall post request - 2 zombies invitations - 1 oktoberfest invitation - 2 my aquarium requests - 2 werewolves requests - 2 top friends friend requests - 1 get superlatives invitation - 1 my room invitation - 3 vampires invitations - 1 wishabi request - 1 hottest friend request - 1 tattoos invitation - 1 describe me request - 2 slayers invitations - 1 likeness quiz request - 1 my kids invitation - 1 my cause invitation .... and a partridge in a pear tree?  Not. Just looking at the list is tiring.  What more delving deep into these requests and invitations... Unlike the Indian man in the Astro advert, I AIN'T GOT TIME! I dread to find out how many zombies I'm gonna get tomorrow.

I've found a pretty good ebook seller on the Internet.  Books On Board' s ebook prices seem to be the cheapest on the net.  That's in US Dollars.  And when you convert them dollars to puny Malaysian ringgit, it makes a big difference. I just bought a book for USD5.94 (RM19.99) which cost about RM32 at the local bookstores.  Hefty savings.... But there's a downside to this.  I'm saving money, I tell myself... so I buy more.  In the end, I don't really save.  But I do have more books to read...

Today, I'm going to visit a colleague in the hospital.  Last Saturday, he was admitted because his heart was only functioning at 52%.  It's incredible because he is an active sportsman and seems to be doing all the right things like eating right, going for regular exercise... It must've been a tremendous shock to his family when he collapsed last Saturday. It's frightening in a way because it made me realize that I'm in the 'zone'... I'm now in the age bracket where health problems begin to emerge.  Scary scary scary... P/S M looked okay..his wife n kids were with him. The docs are hunting for the suspected blockage in his heart. :(

Once upon a time, I tried to search for something missing in my life.  I KNEW it was missing but I didn't know what it was.  But I would know it if I found it because I'd feel whole inside.  I'd feel peace. My favourite place to search for it were places like Shenanigans and Something Al's (changed name three times as far I know and is now known as Blue Note).  The music was loud enough to fill up all the empty spaces in my ears, heart and mind.  The drinks were just as great and when you hit a certain level of intoxication, the whole world was beautiful and no problem seemed insurmountable.  Best of all, you were surrounded by happy people ... and they were all my friends.  Even if I didn't know their surnames. But after a few years, it all palled.  The music was always the same... and when it changed to trance music, it wasn't to my liking.  I liked music by GunsnRoses, Queen and Joan Jett.  And as I got older,...

Had a talk with a friend recently. She was upbeat about her life...although things could be better.  Later I heard from others that she was seeing a married man.  At first I thought,"Why would such a winner of a lady 'sabotage' her life in such a way?"  I mean, what can that man offer her?  A few stolen hours?  Some happiness... but not much and most definitely temporary?  Cue Whitney Houston's song 'Saving All My Love For You". But I begin to see that it's all about finding love and acceptance.  That's what all of us want anyway.  It's just that some of us find it within ourselves, within our families and our friends.  Others seem to need to find it elsewhere.  Perhaps 'elsewhere' is more fun, more interesting... I wouldn't know.  Different strokes for different folks. One friend said to me,"Hah, wait till it happens to you."  I may sound arrogant but I say it w...

When I was in university, calling home was a major undertaking.  I had to make sure I had dinner before setting out in search of a phone booth.  My pockets jingled with coins and I dragged friends along (who knows if the queueing got too long and one had to go to a toilet).  Without a friend, one could easily lose a place in a line.  Then once we made the call, we had to talk super fast cos the coins were jingling super fast into the bottomless maw of the telecommunications company.  Keeping in touch with friends meant letters, movies and treks out to a meeting place.  And if one lost touch with a friend, one prayed some miracle or twist of fate connected friends again. But now... NOW.. the Internet has turned the world of social networking onto its head.  When I learned about emailing, I thought "Wow.." but I had to know people's email addresses.  It had to be correct right down to each dot.  Then my sister badgered me to try o...