The Dawn of September 2015

September 2015 is finally here.

That is not an expression of fulfilled anticipation.

Much has been said about this month this year, and many have speculated that this will be a month of crises - financially (China's yuan, Malaysia's ringgit, US dollar) , politically (America, Israel, Iran, North Korea, Singapore, China), and socially (Thailand's recent bombing).

It is not my inclination to be a doomsayer, though I have to admit that the future doesn't look too bright to me. I sincerely hope that this is just a pessimistic streak and that nothing major will happen.

Here's hoping!

Article Submission to a Canadian Online Magazine

As the title states, I recently had the opportunity to submit an article to a Canadian-based online magazine run by the Canadian Institute of Management (CIM).

My article was titled "Leading as an Introvert", in accordance to their theme of leadership. Hopefully, they will accept the article and this will be my first published article for an online magazine.

Here's to good news!

Feedback (from The Introvert Teacher)

As teachers, one of our roles is to provide feedback to our learners so they know where they can improve. We may do this through test scores, examination results or pep talks. 

We constantly remind our learners to improve themselves and their abilities so we need to practise what we preach.

In order to improve ourselves, we need not only the desire to do so, but to get feedback from the right people for the right reasons.

A Weekend, A Market, A Learning Experience

Never having done anything related to retail before, I spent the weekend at a market - as a vendor.

Based on my photo albums, you may guess that I sold something related to something that I love - and you'd be right: gemstones.

It was a great experience and I learned a lot, saw things in new perspectives, and had a new appreciation for trading, economics, and human behaviour.

The main learning point had to do with the great disparity in foot traffic. There are times of intense activity as well as periods of dull lull. This spoke to me of the need to understand human motivations - why certain times brought certain people or their lack.

From this I started to understand the temptation of immersing yourself in your smartphone and simply serving the most interested people who started asking questions while ignoring those who casually browsed or glanced over. It was so easy to do this that I had to mentally remind myself over and over again to treat every browser as a potential customer.

Not everyone bought something, of course - economics at work here - but I was glad of the opportunity to share what I knew with my browsers. To see their smiles, receive their thanks, and hear their appreciation at learning something new  as they left inevitably reminded me of appreciative learners that I have had in schools.

All in all, it was a fantastic learning experience. The amount of insight I gained cannot possibly have been gotten elsewhere. I'd do it all over again.