SIGHT SEEING IN JOHOR BAHRU

I had one-day trip in Johor Bahru last weekend. I have been to several places and it was so much fun!

First, I have visited the Legoland Malaysia which located at Nusajaya, Johor. It was crowded that day but we managed to get in before 11am.




Then, we went to Aeon Bukit Indah for dinner.




I enjoyed the moments I have spent with my family today.

A Mystery Day of Molly

Molly was walking home from school one day. It was a bright sunny day and Molly, a tall clever girl from Manchester, was relaxed and she was thinking about the weekend.

Before Molly turned into her street, a cat suddenly appeared in front of her. It was a beautiful black cat.

Molly looked at the car and read the name on its collar. Yes, it was Toby! The cat that belonged to her when she was six years old. Her old phone number was on the collar.

Suddenly, Molly started to run. She was scared. Toby can't be here! No, because Toby is dead. He died 10 years ago.

SEEING THE SIGHTS IN TANJUNG PIAI

Tanjung Piai National Park is one of the places which I wish to visit in my bucket list.

I have visited this place 2 days before the Movement Control Order started in Malaysia on 18 March 2020. There were no other visitors except both of us. 

While walking along the park, you can see lots of plants and animals around you. The weather was hot that day but it's suitable for a visit like this. The globe statue marked the southernmost area of Malaysia.

Pay a visit if you have free time during the weekend. It's around 1 hour drive from Skudai to Tanjung Piai.
Operation Hour: Daily (8am-5pm)
Address: Taman Negara Johor Tanjung Piai Mukim, 82030 Kukup, Johor

Entrance Fee: FREE

Why Finland is First in Education

Learn Why Students in Finland are Ranked So High

Feb 16, 2009 Barbara Pytel

While the U.S. may be attempting to enact No Child Left Behind, Finland has already accomplished this goal. What can the U.S. learn from Finland?

The U.S. could learn from other nations that have already overcome poor educational outcomes. Finland is one of them. Finnish students begin studying algebra, geometry and statistics in the first grade.

Finland’s Top-Ranked World Educational System
Finland was not always an education leader. In the 1960s, parents were moving children to private schools to receive a good education. It was predicted that this massive move from public to private would leave only 25% of students left in the public school system by 1972. Finland’s version of the U.S. No Child Left Behind was passed in the Parliament in 1968 and was labeled as Stalinistic.

For thirty years Finland has been tweaking the educational system until results were stellar. In spite of placing top in the world for education, the system is constantly being evaluated and improved. What does Finland do that other nations do not do?

Lofty Finnish Educational Standards

Finland has set education as a national priority and believes that future generations do not have prospects for a healthy lifestyle if the population is not well educated. Finland’s priorities for maintaining a healthy educational system are:

• Establishing a single, straightforward curriculum for all schools.
• Expecting good results from all students and providing extra teaching resources to get those results.
• Giving well-trained teachers respect and freedom to teach.

The citizens of Finland now believe that educating its children is a top priority and are willing to support it financially.

Teaching Profession is Honored in Finland
In the United States, teaching is seemingly not honored. The low salaries teachers earn compared to other fields requiring Bachelor and Master’s degrees support this fact. Leaders in the United States verbally support education but do not prioritize funding for education. Finland does.

In Finland, only one in ten applicants applying for a degree in education will actually be accepted. And, once accepted, students understand they will need to earn a Master’s in Education before being allowed to teach in a classroom.

Finland’s Common Curriculum
Finland stands firm on many concepts.

While many school districts in the United States want to maintain local autonomy, Finland has a common curriculum that is strictly followed.

In spite of downturns in the economy, Finland maintains top funding for education knowing that math and science are key to maintaining its knowledge-based economy.

Finland also emphasizes creative problem-solving skills. After concepts are taught, students are assisted in finding skills and logic to prepare for lifelong learning.

Students having problems learning are assigned tutors and remedial specialists from the first day they are evaluated until the day they graduate.

The most money and time is spent on students in grades 7 through 9 because this is where most of the struggling occurs.

Finland also changed the structure of the educational system. In the past, students were divided into technical tracks and academic tracks at the end of 6th grade. This changed in 1985. All students continue to take the same curriculum until the end of 9th grade.

Criticisms of Finland’s Education System
While Finland’s system has many advantages, some would like to see improvements.

More time spent with gifted children.

14% of males drop out before completing 10th through 12th grades.

70% of students accepted to college are female.

While no system is perfect, Finland has certainly achieved great success to be ranked highest in the world. Even the lowest 10% of students in Finland beat peers anywhere in the world.

Source: Jim Landers, The Dallas Morning News, "Texas school reformers try to learn lessons from Finland", February 8, 2009.

Tony Buzan Study Skills

Well, it has been last year story when I thought my beloved students Science. Tomorrow will be the very first day of school for them in year 2014. As a starting and warming up, I have decided to touch on several simple but important study skills before a long and boring lecture time. Tony Buzan mind mapping method is one of the skills that I have came across and it is very effective indeed. I have used it during my undergraduate study. Although it might takes up some of our time to construct a good mind map at first, but trust me, it will become more and more easy after you have get along well with this skill. Hope that all of you can learn better in this year ahead. Woohoo!!