littledinosaur

Hey Guys...,

I guess it was never too late for me to pen down something in this 'makeover' blog of mine. Thanks to my friend - 'AJ' who spend endless time in capturing the new template. It has been quite a awhile, nearly one semester that I did not visit de blog. The operation that I undergo had somehow slow down things a bit (although I still managed with the class).

Anyway, I do hope that all of you had gained something from the Business Policy, Strategic Marketing or Marketing 100 unit.

Despite de slow movement - I think I have learned a lot from our session. Sharing of new information especially with the 'Industry Insight' session. Eventhough, I was a bit hard at times..., but at the end all of you proof that it was worth trying.

I hope that all of you will continue to explore new things especially when you are out there in the real working environment. As for me, I will continue my journey in my quest to be better in my teaching if not the 'best'. 'Did my students enjoy my class?; did they learn anything at all?; Are my expectations too high?. All these questions will always trigger my mind. As a teacher, I believe the lessons must not only be understood but also enjoyed.

I do hope that all of you have enjoyed the one semester sessions as much as I enjoyed teaching all of you, eventhough sometimes I can't help but feeling disappointed due to the lack of two way communication.

Do drop me a line and share with me your learning experience. If you are de bloggers yourself, do keep in touch...

All the best in your semester 22006 final examination. Have faith in whatever you do.

I rest my case...Sifu a.k.a littledinosour

Posted by Sifu at 5:47 AM | Permalink | Comments

It has been quite a while since I last did the posting. I guess, it must have been the same for all of you - 'the bloogers'. It's this time of the year again - doing all your assigments; finishing up projects, not to mention, some of you are going to sit for your take home exam (not easy dude - you may have tonnes of books in front but it's all in your mind the answer!!!)

Whatever it is, let me take this opportunity again to THANK ALL of you for being such a 'fun' group (not to mention hardworking)to teach. (Martin - I may say the same thing every end of the semester to all my students - ya!!! but each and everyone of you have your own style and that's why all of you touches my heart in a different way)

But the poems that I wrote (thanks to me for my love to music that I managed to patch words into a poems) was the first that I did for my students...and here again I pen down the Patches of Words to all of you out there...

I am beautiful no matter what they say,
Words can't bring me down,
I am beautiful in every single way,
Yes, words can't bring me down,
So don't you bring me down today...

You are beautiful no matter what they say,
Words can't bring you down,
You are beautiful in every single way,
Yes, words can't bring you down,

You are what you are...

So..go out and hit the road,
Do it RIGHT - do it your way not the Nike way,
Grab every opportunities that comes your way,
Make the best of your stay here...
Because...

A moment like this...
Some people wait a lifetime,
So...believe in yourself,
You're simply the best, better than all the rest...

I rest my case.
Sifu

Good Luck in your final exam - smile as tee smile will put the positive energy into your mind (but make sure you are all prepared)...All the best.

Posted by Sifu at 6:20 PM | Permalink | Comments

Hi all my VIPS,

I hope despite the 'pressure'(weather nowadays is very unpredictable - it may rain heavily in the morning and sunny after that)all of you are up and going. Must be pretty tough; well that's is what life is all about. Have faith in what you are doing and things will be a bit better. After all - education is the most expensive investment - sometimes it takes all you have to achieve the best but I believed if you do it the smart way and the right way; it will be more meaningful at the end...

Three more weeks - all of you will be done with this semester; the experience, be it good or bad is meant to be evaluated for the betterment of your learning process. Share with me what you have learned from classroom, your friends, the unit involved and all in all what your teachers (Sifu) has shared with you during your learning process.

Obviously, I am more interested in knowing how my Chinese learner/s has learned especially all the new things. Do you find that now, you not only searched for the information but how you used the information to relate to the real business situation. Do you find it difficult when you have to reason out(remember my tagline- 'so what')or analyze the information. If so, why do you think it is so difficult and how do you overcome this difficulties.

And do you think that learning is about knowing the facts, memorizing it and then pour it out in the final exam (your're lucky if your brain is like a photocopy machine) or it is something that you need to do in the future (life long learning).

Well, I think I am asking too much here, but share your thoughts with me and in the mean time...your engine are all well service at the moment, so used to the limit but make sure you give your engine a rest when it need one...

Don't forget, show your appreciation to your mum who have given you all the love on Mother's day - doesn't have to be expensive present but an sms will keep you connected (use Nokia handphone - Connecting to People) and also your appreciation to all your teachers on "Teacher's Day".

I rest my case
Sifu..
"The best and most important part of our education is that which we give ourselves".

Posted by Sifu at 7:01 PM | Permalink | Comments

Hi all VIPs,

Hopefully the three days break did bring back the 'energizer' to move ahead. Guess, at this point, everybody is busy finalizing all the assignments to be hand in at the end of the month.

It is so fast nowadays that we're all almost to the end of the semester. Yeap, it's three weeks from now - the semester is going to be over and the final exam will take place. I guess, that has been the routine and one may say what a boring life to lead..well- things never gonna change if we don't impart new things. If one had tried something new this semester (study technique, classroom management, group project discussion or even group study), I think somehow they would feel that life is a bit different than it is used to be. I am not saying a 360 degree from last semester but a little bit different would make a difference.

By the way, what do you guys think of the Strategic Marketing 310 or Business Policy 320?(depending on the units that you are enrolled). These two units demand that students must have the analytical thinking skills as one of the survival tools. Do you find any difficulties in understanding the subject matter? Did you see any improvement in terms of your thinking skills ( for example - problem solving skills, ability to analyze the information and also applying the facts into the real business context).

Share with me your thoughts here...in the mean time - stay focus and hope all of you will make through smoothly this semester.

Sifu...

Posted by Sifu at 4:41 PM | Permalink | Comments

Hi all my VIPs,

Guess all of you are still enjoying your week free and not to mention some of you are engross in doing your assignments. What ever it is, do make sure you make use of your time smartly.In this episode, I would like to share with you my journey of sharing d knowledge with the school kids. Despite my busy schedule with teaching, administrative work and my study, I took the effort to see for myself how this people are taking the advantage of the knowledge world.

My first time ever, running a teambuilding workshop in the 'house of balloons'. Thanks to my pals (A and HN) who have come forward with the ideas, and also the team of CVs that helped me throughout the 5 sessions. It was something different for all of us (not just the kids) but then, I told myself and the rest of the team that unless we tried we never know the different. Using my tag line - 'What's the moral of the story ?. For a short session and where the participants have other things in their mind besides the house of balloons - it's kind of difficult to get them to the root of the teamwork. But, you can see as they walked into the house...they were wondering - why?? and what?? Not expecting too much from the participants, some of them did 'wonders' - they did show their creativity in the "I'll be your eyes" game. Well, I hope to apply this concept in my teambuilding session in the future.

Sunday morning, I left for Kapit to meet with the School students. This session was arranged by the Recruitment Department. Took me a second to say yes to the offer of going to Kapit as this is an opportunity. We left (M and D followed as well)for Kapit by taking the express - it was an interesting journey ...you could see all 'greens' and long houses along the way. Another 3 sessions at the School - some are very motivated...they know what they want...but keeping all of them motivated all the time is a tough job for the School teachers but I think if 'you have the passion for teaching' - you can actually wake up a sleeping kid - as they see the energy in their teachers...This again was another experience for me - I do gain a lot of things from this trip.

So long all my VIPs...I hope you enjoy reading my journey of experience and to all of you, stay cool...keep yourself focus...you still have a long way to go and Just Do it Right...(Do it the Nike way...)

I rest my case
Lil'dino a.k.a Sifu

Posted by Sifu at 4:48 PM | Permalink | Comments

Dear all BP's and SM VIPs,

We're almost done with the 4th week of the semester. Things are getting more 'interesting' as you moved ahead...more informations and obviously everyone would agree with me that it's getting tougher. Well, if you do have this feelings than you are on the right track. As you travel through your journey, you will definitely see different things - some might be easy and also there are things that's too difficult to understand. I am sure with all your determination, you will reach your destination (provided you know where you are going).

Anyway, share with me your thoughts; What do you think of working as a group or group study ? Does these techniques helps in your study and improve your thinking skills ?

Posted by Sifu at 10:10 PM | Permalink | Comments

Hi all,

In this learning journal 3, I will divide the discussions into BP's and SM's column. Before that, let me make some notes on the past comments. Firstly, many thanks to all of you who have spent some of your time visiting my blog. I hope you do it, not because of me promoting d blog (anyway, I take that as one of the reasons) but because you choose to share your views with me and also the rest. I am happy that the comments does say something about what you think of your learning process and I hope it will be something meaningful and treasured for the rest of your life.

For BP's VIPs - our first case discussion went well, thanks to the team who have enlightened the discussion. So, what do you think of the case study presentation and the discussion ? Does it help to improve your analytical skills ? Do you think what you have learned during lecture and discussion of current issues does help in understanding the concept better. Hope all of you have a clearer picture on the Porter's model. (Not to mention, the case of MAS and Air Asia which helps us alot).

For SM's VIPs - 1st secondary data presentation went quite well, most of the group are on the right track while few are still struggling between the industry, client's and the SBU. Anyway, I hope my role as the 'devil advocates' does help. The weekly pesentation maybe a bit 'tight' as you have to be on your feet all the time. I think this is a good practice - 'time waits for no one' and if you keep on telling yourself - you don't have time, then there won't be any. Anyway - share with me your thoughts on this weekly secondary data presentation: how does it helps you in understanding the process of formulating the marketing strategy ?Does it help to improve your understanding about the theories (what you have learned during lecture) and will you be able to analyse the data regarding the client's of your choice ?

Guess, I have asked too many questions...anyway happy reading and don't forget to leave a line...

Posted by Sifu at 3:42 PM | Permalink | Comments