Research and Professional Experience.

The two subjects that I am enrolled in this semester could not be more different. EER500 "Introduction to Educational Research" is all about reading academic literature, posing research questions, and designing research projects. In contrast, ETL507 "Professional Experience and Portfolio" incorporates a study visit, a professional placement, and the making of a professional portfolio.

One subject is all about thinking, the other all about doing!

I've made good progress with both subjects today.

For EER500, I'm looking at the role of the teacher librarian in facilitating the implementation of ICT into teaching and learning. Today I've read and summarised a research article:

Schibeci, R., MacCallum, J., Cumming-Potvin, W., Durrant, C., Kissane, B,, & Miller, E. (2008). Teachers’ journeys towards critical use of ICT. Learning, Media and Technology, 33(4), 313-327.

This artlcle is about a research project involving 200 teachers in 12 Australian primary schools. It followed the teachers' progress from anxiety to confidence as they learn how to make the technology work, how to create classroom lessons with ICT that work, evaluate the effectiveness of learning and teaching with ICT, and investigate broader curriculum reforms.

For ETL507, I've tentatively organised a professional placement (read 'work experience') at a TAFE library near my home. More paperwork and solidifying of dates to come, but it looks good! It will be a great place to experience working in a library, and interacting with students, without having to be in a school, dealing with classroom management and the like. I'm excited!

Take me Away!

I have spent most of the day searching the internet for a holiday venue for January next year. My sister and I are determined to take both our families on holidays together, so that we can share some quality recreation time.

What do you look for in a holiday venue? I have been looking for a caravan park that has two powered sites near one another, so that we can set up the caravan and camper trailer and holiday in reasonably priced splendour! Of course, it's important that the caravan park:

Has a super-dooper pool for the kids.

Has some other play activities for the kids, e.g. mini golf, playground, games room, volleyball/tennis/basketball.

Is situated in a town that has (at least) a few shops for getting groceries and somewhere to eat if we get too lazy to cook.

Is within a resonable distance of some other local attractions like a bigger shopping centre, indoor activities (e.g. movies) in case of rainy weather, and other "holidayish" pastimes like theme parks or nature parks.

Also, this will be the first time that we holiday as boat owners, so we want somewhere close to a boat ramp.

And all this in the peak holiday season for Australians!

Here is a sneak peek from the website of the caravan park that I've chosen.

Looks nice, doesn't it! I don't want to say any more for now, because the booking will not be confirmed until tomorrow. But come January, I could be caravanning by the water on a site like the one below.

I might be relaxing by the pool, while the kids ride go-karts, or play table tennis, or paddle a canoe!

What about you? Do you have any holidays planned? What do you like to do when you go away?

Towelhead by Alicia Erian

Towelhead by Alicia Erian.

Borrowed from my local public library.

*** "Disturbing"

From the back of the book: "It is August 1990. Saddam Hussein has just invaded Kuwait, and Jasira's mother has bought her daughter a one-way ticket to Texas to live with her strict Lebanese father. Living in a neat model home in Charming Gates, just outside of Houston, Jasira struggles with her father's rigid lifestyle and the racism of her classmates, who call her "towelhead". For the first time, the painful truth hits her: she's an Arab. Her aching loneliness and growing frustration with her parents' conflicting rules drive her to rebel in very dangerous ways. Most disturbingly, she becomes sexually obsessed with the bigoted army reservist next door, who alternately cares for, excites, and exploits her."

This book is heavy going, and I found it very upsetting to read. Jasira is an extremely real and believable character. She is thirteen years old, going through puberty, and starting to think about who she is. She's open, and trusting, and really wanting to have some trusted adults around that she can talk through her feelings and thoughts. But all around her the adults let her down in big ways and small, refusing to talk about difficult issues like body image, sexuality and race identity. All the while, they also starve her of love, affection and loving, appropriate touch. You've heard the saying "looking for love in all the wrong places"? Well that's Jasira to a tee.

Towards the end of the book, we see some hope for Jasira, but I fear that by then she is already suffering significant damage that may well be life-long. I really struggled to get through this book, in which Jasira suffers parental neglect, physical and sexual abuse. I think that, having my own daughter that is at a similar age to Jasira, I found it doubly hard to take. It made me want to put my arms around Alana, and tell her how beautiful, and special, and precious she is.

This book is well-written, and very effective in creating strong characters and heart-breakingly real situations. But it's not for the faint-hearted.

Bargain Shopping

Last winter, Chris really wanted a sports jacket. You know what I mean; a suit jacket that isn't quite a suit jacket, it can go casual or dressy. Well, he never got one because (a) he couldn't decide which one he liked (b) they were quite expensive and (c) he never really gets the time to go shopping for himself.

Anyway, with Autumn upon us, I decided to visit my local Rivers Clearance Store, just to see what they had. I didn't see any clothing for myself, but I did find a fabulous black sports jacket for Chris! Check out these casual outfits I have put together.

T-shirt, jeans and sports jacket.

Grandpa collar long-sleeve T, jeans and sports jacket.

Striped shirt, jeans and sports jacket.

Hahaha, I think I might be a frustrated stylist! Sorry about the amateurish photos, it's my first time styling a fashion shoot!

And the best bit! The price $189.95 $29.95!

Keeping up in the Blogosphere

One thing that I love about blogging is the wonderful community of bloggers that support one another, exchange ideas, and have a laugh with one another. I try to keep up with my blogging buddies by visiting their blogs, leaving comments, linking to blogs when I want to highlight a particular post, and participating in challenges and memes.

On Tuesdays, I've begun to participate in Shannon's Table Topics Tuesdays. Shannon has three (!) blogs, Welcome to the NutHouse, worth a thousand words and Reviews from the NutHouse. (Actually, while finding the url's for these blogs, I've discovered that she also writes at SUSSING OUT LOST.)

Today's topic:

what is the last thing that you cried about?

Sorry Shannon (and everyone), I'm not participating in this one. I just don't feel like talking about it.

This year, I'm doing DelGal's Buck-a-Book Challenge. It's easy! All you do is set aside a dollar for every book that you read this year. At the end of the year, go and buy yourself something nice! See, I told you it was easy!

To join in, head to DelGal's Book Reviews. If you check out my sidebar, you'll see that I'm keeping a list of all the books that I read this year, and I'm already up to $14. Yay!

the Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

the Summoning by Kelley Armstrong.

Borrowed from my local public library.

*** "Scary!"

From the inside cover: "My name is Chloe Saunders and my life will never be the same again. All I wanted was to make friends, meet boys, and keep on being ordinary. I don't even know what that means anymore. It all started on the day that I saw my first ghost - and the ghost saw me. Now there are ghosts everywhere and they won't leave me alone. To top it all off, I somehow got myself locked up in Lyle House, a "special home" for troubled teens. Yet the home isn't wat it seems. Don't tell anyone, but I think there might be more to my housemates than meets the eye. The question is, whose side are they on? It's up to me to figure out the dangerous secrets behind Lyle House...before its skeletons come back to haunt me."

Sometimes I just browse the shelves at the library, hoping that something will "jump out at me". The cover art and blurb appealed to me, so I thought I'd give this one a go. It was published under the harperteen imprint, but was shelved in adult fiction (not young adult fiction), so I wasn't sure whether I'd like it, or find it a bit young. Not that I'm that mature (!); I do read books that are aimed at children/young adults rather than adults (Harry Potter, Twilight). I enjoyed this book, but have decided not to continue reading the trilogy (the Awakening and the Reckoning follow), but instead seek out some of Armstrong's adult titles. Click here to check out Armstrong's website.

A word to the wise if you or a young adult you know are going to read this book: IT'S SCARY! I've read and watched other things covering similar subject matter (ghosts, supernatural beings/powers, death), but I found this scarier than most. While my daughter Alana looooves the Twilight saga, I know she'd never make it through this.

I also felt that Armstrong rushed through the introduction of Chloe and her experiences in this book. As the reader, I had no trouble connecting the dots, but felt that Chloe took great leaps in attitude and behaviour that did not seem believable. To me it seemed as though Armstrong was just a little too eager to get to the meat of her storyline, without giving her main character time to develop. I was, however, carried along by the plot, and I do feel a little bit sad that I've decided not to find out what happens next.

Certainly an enjoyable read if you like the supernatural teen genre.

Badminton with the Interns

Had a badminton session with the local interns from Bosch on Monday... after few weeks due to our busy schedule, finally it's confirmed and put into actions. Haha. Booked the court at Thomson CC, which is the nearest court apart from Bishan CC and YCK stadium...


The interns, (anti-clockwise) myself, Jilun, Clarice, Amanda, Ivy, Anderson and Haoyi.

We seriously need more events like this to spice up our boring Monday blues man. Yea .. =)