My Moroccan experience

I just came back from Marrakesh 2 weeks ago. It was for an International Workshop of Optics and Photonics (IWOP) 2010 organised by the Optical Society of America (OSA). It was my first trip alone to foreign country. Before this, there were always somebody travelling with me when I was at conferences at different parts of the world. I wasn't quite confident initially but finally decided to go on with the trip and presented my poster there.

Let me share my trip with you. First was my 6 hrs flight with Emirates to Dubai, followed by an 8 hour trip to Casablanca. Dubai airport was marvelous..it was a shopping heaven..! With the ringgit going strong against the USD, I managed to spend my 3 hrs transit time shopping. I came up the flight to Casa with a bottle of Pleasure Bloom and a set of Lancome eyeshadow. Everything went well until I reached Casablanca where I needed to take a train to Marrakesh. So here began my journey of communicating with the locals, who actually speak the two languages that I did not...Arab and French, or a mixture of both (like our Manglish lah..!) Most of them did not speak English, but somehow I managed to put on my charms and get some men to help me carry my luggage and buy me a train ticket to L'Oasis, and then another train to Marrakesh.

The train trip was an interesting one. I have to go down in LÓasis to take the train to Marrakesh. Sitting at the station, I befriended a girl (about Kamar's age) who could speak English quite well and informed me that that announcement that we just heard (which was in French) was to inform us that the train will be delayed for about 1/2 an hour. So I sat at the station for 1/2hr (more actually)..enjoying the sensation of the cool Casablanca breeze flowing through my face.

In the train, I sat with 3 Moroccan ladies who looked suspiciously at me. Sitting down next to one of them, I clutched my luggage tightly , not knowing what to do with it. I was looking around and trying to figure out where I could put them when one lady sensed my discomfort and suggested that I put it at the shelf above us. Upon hearing her, an elderly man immediately came to me, took my luggage and put it on the shelf (the same man volunteered to bring down the luggage just before we reached Marrakech..!). About the ladies, after a few minutes of sitting, smiling and staring at each other, they decided to start a conversation. One of them asked me if I'm from the Philipines. I replied that I'm from Malaysia which triggered the next question. Muslim? Yes, I answered...so begin the excitement of meeting a sister in islam. However, the excitement was short lived when we realised that both parties did not understand each other. So..even thinking about it now make reminds me of how tiring it was to understand each other via sign languages and speaking to one other using different languages that neither of the other party could understand . Somehow, with my very limited Arabic, I managed to find out that one of them is getting down at the same station as me, but to different destination.

I reached Marrakech at about 7pm, lost and wandering..not sure of what I should do next. With the help of more courteous Marrakesh men, I somehow managed to get a taxi to the hotel. So I finally reached my destination..the Club de Vacances CNSS. I breathed a sigh of relief when I was greeted by my friends and other fellow physic educators. So thank you Khalid and the organizing committee for the invitation, warm welcome & definitely the grant..:)

New semester..new life

The new semester is starting soon..next week to be exact. Actually, it was 3 weeks of holiday for us at the Teaching Institute..which is an extra 1 week from the normal school holidays. So having 'rested' for 2 weeks, I wonder if I should have cleaned up the house, prepare good meals for the children, tidy up the wardrobe etc..etc..which actually did not happen.

Two of the kids will be leaving the house soon. One to London & the other one to UiTM Penang. So the holidays is filled up with a jumble of activities of preparing them for their new life journey. First week is a hassle of shopping for 2 sets of everything; bedsheets, shoes, clothes etc. which needed to be done as quickly as possible so that we won't miss the mid year sale. So we have trips after trips of shopping at Sogo, Pavilion, Sunway Piramid, Mid Valley Megamall and of course..the uptowns.

Second week is the hassle of preparing paperworks and application for UK visa for the girl..not an easy job..fixed deposits, passport size photos with white background (usually blue), translated birth certificate (needs to be done at the high court) etc..etc..Finally,I managed to pack the troop and headed back to JB by the end of the 2nd week.

So this is the last week of the holidays..and I'm counting the days..Monday, medical checkup for the boy, Giant and Sunway Pyramid for their last minute shopping. Tuesday, finally managed to do some work for the book..but have to go and shop again (Tesco this time). Tomorrow..? Kak Izan (a colleague) called to arrange for a short meeting in the morning for next sem's course, after that to the bank and jalan TAR (to shop again). Thursday..hopefully I will get to spent some time at home ( if the kids did not realise they have forgotten to buy something..again). Friday..trip to Penang to send son; Sat..his registration day. Sunday is last day of the holidays..hope I will manage to do something for the house then...

To my kids..farewell & welcome to a new life journey.

Learn physics? But we're teaching primary science...

Why is the sky blue? Why do I move forward when the bus stops? Why are my legs shorter in water? Why? Why? Why? As parents,we answered questions after questions to quench our child's thirst for knowledge. As they grow older and reach the primary level, more questions come into their minds that need to be answered. By who, but not us teachers..?

I have students asking me why they have to do physics when they're only going to teach primary science..My answer is..but if you did not do physics, how could you understand enough to teach these phenomena to your pupils? How would you select the best teaching strategies/approaches/aids? For example; pulleys make it easier to lift objects. But how does they make it easier? Of course you won't be talking about MA or IMA when explaining it to your pupils, but your knowledges of these will give you enough confidence that you will be able to explain their functions and how increasing the numbers make us require less force to pull the object up.

Remember that to teach a physics topic, you need to have the relevant knowledges; the content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK).Content knowledges give you enough background information on the topic that you're going to teach, so that you will able to provide information, answer their questions or prepare relevant summatif assessments for your pupils. PCK on the other hand helps out when you're teaching as you will be able to identify problematic concepts, probable misconceptions and teach the topic according to your pupils' levels.

So students, to be an good teacher..know your physics concepts. Teaching primary science is not an excuse not to learn physics.