my last *********battle*********

this is what i want!!! freedom!! i feel freeeeeee............. free after finishing all my three stages of simulated teaching this morning. could you imagine, we sat in the hall from 8 am until 12.45 pm. it was terrible, but luckily, we all have done done it except for Syazwan. he was not feeling well. how the story goes??

overall, it was okay. the night before, i slept a bit late to prepare my teaching aid. luckily my friend, Ziham helped me cutting the extracts. i really wanted to do my best for it. i planned my lesson and activities very well so that they were connected to each other. however, there was limitation for me. i only have one extract in the book "Now Read On". thus, i have to really make use of it. i chose the topic on how the point of view developed the character in the play. i designed the activity based on the extract to make it real and it worked! hahah. my teaching, huh! not really good i supposed. i have problems in speaking and grammar. it was normal i thought but it was a crime for TESL student. i will improve it in future, as well as my teaching skills. i followed exactly my procedure but one thing i left behind - i forgot to ask students how the could arrange the paragraphs (pre reading). what elements they consider in doing that activity. after all, it worked well i supposed.

this was my last battle for this semester. now, i'll be busy preparing myself for final. this monday...the sudden death....

blogging - through myself and confession

“How now…what art thou??” I’ve come to the end of this course. How I wish I could learn more about drama with Dr. Edwin next time. I gained lot of knowledge while studying and learning this course (EDU 3217) with our respectful lecturer, Dr. Edwin. 4 months seem so short to me. I promise to myself, I will continue to read as much plays as I could afterwards, so that I could learn more about the world of theatre. For one thing, I hope my visit to London next year, especially to Shakespeare house and the Globe Theatre will inspire me to be a play writer in the future. Hahahha!!! That’s funny.

Throughout this course, we are required to involve in web blog by writing our reflections on what we have learned. It was quite interesting as we could write everything we want after we learned something new without any limits to it. We could express our own feelings and opinions towards it, and anybody should not say whether it is right or wrong.

Through the weekly reflections, I have become aware of what I’ve learned in class or outside the class. I prefer to write my own reflections through the blogs rather than write it on the paper. Sometimes I felt like, I’m forcing myself to write something that I should not write. However, posting my own blogs gives me freedom to say things freely, like any other bloggers do. I own my own world – I am the master of my own homepage. This is real world of communication. Besides that, I could exchange my ideas with my friends by visiting their blog pages and give my comment for it. It was very interesting indeed you know!!! I hope I could continuously post my own opinions in future. I do not want to stop here and forget all my experience in learning drama. I want it to come back to my memory lane so that I could remind myself of being a part of world of theatre.

Finally, I’ve to been to live theatre in Istana Budaya Kuala Lumpur, but it was a Malay Theatre. I was stunted by the setting on the stage. It was real!! The props were amazing, the cast were absolutely great and the musical was unchallenged. It was fantastic to be sitting there and watching that theatre for three hours. The aura from the stage and the act made the theatre became live to the audience. After all, it was just a Malay Theatre, not an English theatre as required by Dr. Edwin.

Since last three months, we have been looking for an English Theatre in KL PAC, but we only managed to get the chance to watch an English theatre next weekend. We’re sorry Dr. Edwin. However, we will make sure it would be the most meaningful theatre we ever watched.

Live English ! Live Literature! closely with Kee Thuan Chye

Many Malaysians has ignored the existence of out English Malaysian writers indeed. Thus, the presence of Kee Thuan Chye to UPM was something great and meaningful to me as a TESL student.

There were about three classes sat together in the lecture hall and listened to Kee Thuan Chye’s speech. At the first glance, he looked so cool and professional. He deserved to get respect as one of the successful English Malaysian writers.

The way he talked yesterday about his backgrounds, career and Malaysian’s current politic resembled himself as well known English Malaysian writer. The thing that really awakened me was his background. He was not so clever during school time like any other excellent students. Yet, he managed to build his confidence to write in English. The first play he watched had inspired him to read the play itself hence encouraged him to make up his own play. Since that, he started to write stories and plays.

Most of his plays were about Malaysian’s history. He really got himself into the current politics which he applied them into his plays. One of his plays was; The Swordfish, Then the Concubine, but it was not published. We learned this play this semester. Kee Thuan Chye asked for our comments about this play; do we like this play and why? Some of us gave good comments and he said that he would revise it again to suit the current situation. He worked for this play for ten years – it was a very long time!!! This is a real play writer who never satisfied with his own job and kept revising it to be the best play for his readers.

At the end of the conference with Kee Thuan Chye, I could feel the aura of English Malaysian writer in him. I regretted that I have been ignored about writing a piece of English work until I learned this course. If only I was inspired when I was nine, then only I could start writing my own writing since that, by now, I should have numerous pieces of English works which I dreamed on. Ahahah! I told myself, if I want o be successful like him, I should started early as I could. Yes, I should start now!!! Do not wait any longer Nelly!!!

Elizabethan Drama vs Greek tragedy???

The idea of watching plays or movies of Elizabethan drama was meaningful indeed. I got the clearer ideas about the theatre especially for Greek tragedy and Elizabethan drama. Watching these plays kept me alive of Ancient Greek as if I was there and I could see all the conflict and how it turns to be in the end.

The films we watched all related to our learning about plays and theatres – Elizabeth the Golden Age, Macbeth, King Lear, Oedipus Rex. One thing in common for all the plays, the title is the name of the main character in the play and the most powerful person in their kingdom. I wonder why the author named their plays based on the main character. Is it a tradition in their society to honour the main character or is it symbolizes something?? I will find it out one day.

Learning about drama this semester is really interesting. The world of drama is quite new for me. At least, it gives me more chances to know about various types of plays in Greek tragedy in general, and Shakespeare plays in specific. Overall, I love drama, especially the films part!!!!

Hail the KING!! Hail the KING of BRITAIN!!

Hail the King! Hail the King of Britain! Hail King Lear! The king who should be the people’s hearts is no longer there.

I love this play soooooooo mmmmuuuuucchhh!! For me, this is the greatest tragedy play by William Shakespeare I ever read. The elements of natural, unnatural, self ignorance and public perception become the common issues discussed in Elizabethan plays. The play King Lear has its own effects upon the mind. It touches me when I first read it. Even though I know it was because of King Lear’s blindness that cause he to be tragic, but his two daughters were too cruel to him.

This time, I could understand Shakespearean language. Few years back, I thought it was really difficult and I couldn’t understand every single line. I’m so gratefully to get the chance to read King Lear’s play. It teaches me not to say what I should to say, but what I feel – this I quote from Edgar’s last speech in the play which the most powerful speech by the most powerful character at the end of the play.

Honesty is important in our life, like Cordelia did. She did not flatter the love for her father, yet she said the truth. The love cannot be described by words in fact. However, she should pay for her honesty – her father disowned her by falling down her price and no dowry. In return, she was the one who came and saved her father instead of her two sisters.

I learned something from this play, no matter how difficult situation you were in, be honest although you have to pay for it. Am I right???

in the name of LOVE~~~

I know it will be nonsense if I’m asking myself – why should I do all these simulated teaching? For all and for now, I have to accept myself as future teacher. This simulated teaching will help me to be prepared as English teacher.

In preparing this simulated teaching, I have to do mini research on the play that I selected to be taught o my students. When I chose it – In The Name of Love by Ramli Ibrahim, I started reading it and did some surveys. I looked at the play closely, asked myself few questions. Is it will be difficult to my students? Can my students understand the entire play as the read it? All these questions were properly answered when I looked at its historical context. It is all about traditional dance which the Malaysian students are familiar with.

It should have not been any problems but the problems came in my preparation. I found it difficult to get the right activity for my set induction. I wanted to download the video clips about the traditional dance and modern dance to let them differentiate between those two dances. Because of the technical problems, I failed to get it. Thus, I changed my ideas. I only showed pictures of different types of traditional dances to my students with several questions to guide them into the topic. Fortunately, I did it and my students get the idea what they are going to learn.

I felt quite satisfied with my work but not too satisfied because it was quite the same with one of my classmates. Till now, I felt quite regret, why I couldn’t get any better ideas??????? Or geniuses always think alike??