If you don't have a destination, for certain, you won't arrive

04:07 Sabriza Hassan Assa'ari

If you are a teacher, for sure you will know what a learning outcome is.
For those non-teachers out there, learning outcome is something that teachers wrote before entering his/her class. It is sort of like their goal for a certain Teaching and Learning session (T&L session) in their Buku Rekod (the big book that teachers carry everywhere). This is something that is compulsory for teachers (on daily basis) as we have to begin with an end in mind.

Writing a learning outcome is fairly easy. It should begin with the following sentence (i.e something along this line):
At the end of this lesson, the students should be able to:

Being an experienced teacher (cough) I kind of applying things that I do at work everyday in my not-related-to-work, daily life activities too. You know, like how mathematicians like to sum up (multiply, divide, or goodness in heaven, integrate) the plat number of the car that is in front of him/her in a traffic jam?

As I were saying, I applied the 'Writing a Learning Outcome' method for my off-day one day, and boy, did the day turned out to be one of the most useful day that ever passed.

I simply sat at my work station and started to plan ahead my off-day when suddenly, I did an (external) monologue with myself.  "At the end of today, I should be able to ............", I chanted to myself. (p/s: Fill in the blank with the correct answer). (Oh and p/s #2: exaggeration on my part. My work station is really consisted of only a desk, a not so comfortable chair, a calendar and a pen holder that actually belong to my cats).

Did I achieve my 'learning' outcome? I sure did!

Apparently, it is true that if we have a destination, the chances are we will reach it.

Go on. Write your own 'learning'outcome for the day. But, remember! Make it SMART.
(S = specific, M = measurable, A = achievable, R = realistic, T = time-bound).

Happy writing!

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I Can't Believe Cats Did That!

15:02 Sabriza Hassan Assa'ari
Went to Maybank and had to queue for hours (it did not really take that long, but it sure felt like it). So, I killed the time by reading my latest catch: Chicken Soup for the Soul, I Can't Believe My Cat Did That! And boy, it was apparent that the book was a good conversation starter. No less than three Maybank officers asked me about my cats and I even had the privilege of seeing one of the officers' cats' photos.

It's good to know that I'm not alone in this maddening Cats Love Boat.

And it's fun to know that Maybank Jalan Bukit Ubi has such loving officers working there. I am confident in leaving my money to you now, Maybank.

P/S: Some would say that I'm taking it too far, but would you rather trust a person who kicked a cat to keep your money? Or cook for you? Or teach your kids? Or worse, someone that you'll marry? I thought not.
But then again, the choice is yours! ;)
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A Review: Iklan CNY PETRONAS

05:51 Sabriza Hassan Assa'ari

After years of mediocre commercials, PETRONAS finally nailed it again. The commercial took us through a journey of love, growing and blossoming over bowls and bowls of Tau Fu Fah. It is more or less a short drama with romance and family as its theme. The viewers are taken for an emotional ride, joyful, happy to tears, difficulties and gratefulness.

The commercial sort of reminds me of the movie 'Up' especially concerning its characters and its plots. And, I do love 'Up' so profoundly :)
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A Review: Tuesdays with Morrie

23:39 Sabriza Hassan Assa'ari

It got me a while to actually start reading the book. As I finished it, I wonder why. It is really only a 192-pages book with approximately 16 chapters.

Deep inside, I know. I don't want to be reminded of death; of my own timing and of dead persons who were once (and still are) dear to me.

I chose to live in ignorant and immersed myself in the hectic pace that I called life.

Not anymore, I don't.

Now, I don't enjoy my career but I enjoy teaching my students.
I don't love my car is but I love the practicallity that it provides so that I can commute to and fro to my hometown. I appreciate my parents even more, I realised and acted on the fact that my family is irreplaceable. My passion for teaching intensified.

Life is about giving, and Morrie pointed it out in a very realistic way.

He was a religious man, and the book made me feel all the more excited about reading the Quran.

I cried, once or twice (or more), as the dying professor's disease, reminded me of my dear, late aunt. Of how I was too little back then to understand her suffering. It reminded me of my dear, late grandmother, whose funeral I couldn't attend because of the thousand miles distance. But, as Morrie put it, you live on. People can die without really going away. All the love you created will be there, the memories. You live on- in the hearts of everyone you have touched and nurtured while living.

We need people at the beginning of our lives, and nearing the end of it. But as Morrie pointed it out, we too, need people, in the middle of it.

An excerpt from the book:
"There's a big confusion in this country over what we want versus what we need. You need food, you want chocolate sundae. You have to be honest with yourself".

Morrie Schwartz, the greatest dying professor ever living.
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A Review on Prof Muhammad Kamil Ibrahim and drugs by Lance Armstrong

23:38 Sabriza Hassan Assa'ari

I have to admit, it has been a productive weekend for me despite not being able to go back to Kuantan. Praise be to Allah and His unique way of conveying messages.

I just watched Oprah's interview with Lance Armstrong and I gotta say, it is a real blow for me. Lance Armstrong has always been someone that I looked up to, someone whose words I hang on to and whose advice I listen to and practice on. It broke my heart to see him admitting to drug-doping and all. Somehow, the invincible Mr. Armstrong is not that invincible, after all.

Thinking back, maybe he did not deserved that much of the attention, to begin with. He pleaded guilty, he admitted his wrongdoings and he moves on. Life has never been simpler than that. This proves that celebrities have it hard. They are the public properties. No better word has been put together about this other than Oprah's. She said, "Fame magnifies the person we are. If you are a jerk, you'll be a bigger jerk. If you are a humanitarian, you'll be a better humanitarian". The dramatic aspect of their stardom is not something that I will envy.

Been reading 'Kehidupan Ringkas Tetapi Signifikan', a blog written by Prof MKI. You should check out his blog. He wrote number of books, telling us in more ways than one on how to live our temporary life. My favourite is, 'Bersyukur Saat Diuji'. 'Bersyukur Saat Diuji' encourages me to perform Dhuha prayer, something that I neglected for quarter a century. Surprisingly, I still do not know the advantages of Dhuha prayer. I do it just because. It is just that performing Dhuha prayer sounds simple enough and does not take more than 5 minutes of my precious 24 hours, as Prof. MKI pointed out. Putting it that way, Dhuha prayer, dear readers. Why not?

Prof MKI is one of my favourite Malay authors because of his realistic yet simple approach to life problems.
e.g.
"Bagaimana mahu menghadapi ujian suka atau ujian duka? 
Dengan solat dan sabar". -Prof. MKI

Sounds do-able! :)
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