Tag: Mikaella Koster

Five More Minutes: #AgEd2Malaysia Reflections of Mikaella Koster, Iowa State Pre-Service Candidate

mlk491Post-Trip Thoughts

Our trip has ended.  We have flown home.  We have made some great relationships, friendships, and connections.  I think its safe to say that none of us are going to forget anything about this trip anytime soon. When we first arrived in Malaysia, we were asked to sit with a UTM student on the bus ride back to the hotel.  I sat with Nina.  We had a simple fast get to know you conversation on the way to Scholars Inn at UTM.  I learned a lot about her but not as much as I would in the weeks to fallow.  After we got checked into the hotel, we mostly went our separate ways for the night.  This was the beginning of a relationship we didn’t even know was going to become what it was. 

After we had our first day of structured adventures, we had a few hours of free time during the evening.  It wasn’t going to get dark for several more hours so some of us went on a bike ride with some of the other students.  We had no idea where we were going.  Some of us also learned to ride a bike, cough Thomas cough.  We rode the bikes around campus for those hours before dark and then walked back.  Those who went bike riding got to know each other pretty well but there was still so much that we were going to learn about each other in the day and weeks that were yet to come. 

Each trip has a moment that stands out to someone for some reason.  For me this was when we spontaneously went to a waterfall that was about an hour or so away from the UTM campus in JB.  This waterfall was beautiful.  Several of our Malaysian students could not swim and nether could Thomas.  There was a waterslide that was built into this area around the waterfall.  Everyone took a trip down this slide at least once, including everyone who couldn’t swim.  This trip was probably the most memorable to me because of the fact everyone there literally turreted us with their lives.  We also formed a train of everyone and attempted to go down the slide.  Really that was just a hot mess and worked nowhere close to how anyone imagined or pictured.  We all made it down the slide eventually, some just faster than others.  After spending a few hours at the waterfall we headed back to campus.  We also had the brilliant idea to get some pizza on the way home for super.  We had Huzaimi order us 10 pizzas, five of those being cheese.  We made it back to Scholars Inn with all of the pizzas, moved some furniture between rooms so there was room for everyone to sit and then opened the pizzas.  Opening the boxes we quickly discovered that there were not five cheese pizzas.  But all of them had cheese!  We all happily ate the pizzas even though there was not cheese pizza.  We also spent several hours just talking about this trip and getting to know each other.  Not only did we bond over food but we also did with music and dancing.  We taught the Malaysian students how to do Cotton Eyed Joe and a few other dances and they taught us some killer dance moves.  Full credit goes to Hanif.

Though this trip there were so many great bonding moments and each persons had their won that really stuck out to them.  I am forever going to remember so many details from this trip and all of the people.  I cannot thank anyone enough for this trip and I also cannot thank our Malaysian friends enough for being there for us.  This whole trip went so fast and it was a great experience.  I think we will always be asking for five more minutes with everyone that was there during this trip.

 

Mikaella Koster (@MikaellaKoster) is a pre-service agricultural teacher candidate attending Iowa State University.

THE National Curriculum – Learning Day 20!

mlk491In-Country Sharing

We have been in Malaysia for 20 days or so.  Even though our time here is almost up we are only just beginning our adventures back home and personally. 

Lots of things have changed on this trip for all of us.  Personal perspectives have changed as well as education as an entirety.  We have learned a lot about the Malaysian education system compared to the US education system.  For example, secondary teachers in Malaysia do not get the chance to choose where they get to teach, they are placed.  Not only are they placed in a school but they are also unable to leave their job if they decide they do not want to teach anymore.  Malaysia also has a national curriculum that they teach from.  Comparing this to the US you are probably thinking that that is so different and maybe even what you would classify as weird.

As we continued our trips through the different SMK schools [Public secondary education in Malaysia is provided by National Secondary Schools (Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan, SMK)], we have started to understand how the national curriculum works.  We realized that when they said national curriculum, they really meant national uniformity.  We have observed two different schools both doing the same hydroponic lab.  In the demonstration performed by the students, they both used “Solutions A” and “Solution B” as the nutrients that they added to the water.  there were also two different aquaponic systems that we had taught at previous schools about. 

As a pre-service ag teacher, I really don’t understand the stress that I may or may not be getting myself into as a future teacher, but I am willing to find out and try.  I will probably wonder what it is like to have a national curriculum that you have to follow.  I also wonder what it is going to be like to create my own curriculum.

Here is to a future of teaching!

Mikaella Koster (@MikaellaKoster) pre-service teacher candidate
Iowa State University (@AgEds__IAStateU).

Ag Day Prep… And Then Some! Day 8

mlk491Culture

When this adventure began, we knew that we were coming for a focused professional development purpose.  We knew that we would be engage in teaching opportunities (or episodes) two to three times while in-country.  Our second teaching episode would have a different context of a large group; similar to what we might know as an “Ag Day”.  

Our first teaching episode was in a traditional classroom context and on the topic of Aquaponics!  Did I know anything about aquaponics?  No, I certainly did not.  Don’t worry, all I made it though that lesson just fine thanks to our UTM students help.   Though this entire adventure the UTM students have helped us in more ways than we can really even mention.  They help us with social activities, planning our lessons, teaching our lessons, and even the most simple tasks like communicating.  I just want to take a second and say, THANK YOU UTM STUDENTS!!!!!

As we began preparation for our second teaching episode “Ag Day”, critical information was dropped on us.  Once again, we were teaching aquaponics.  This time we were teaching as a group and we were teaching more students.  The school would also have flexibility on the standards that we had to meet.  Each of us split into our groups and we concord planning each of our group lessons. 

A great part of planning? They also got us pizza for lunch!  Fun fact:  There is tuna on pizza in Malaysia.

As the afternoon came, we had a few hours of unscheduled free time.  Some of us decided to go to a local mall, some went to downtown Johor Bahru, and others stayed back at the hotel to catch up on some sleep and get some other work done.  I ventured to the mall.  This excursion was a lot of wondering around just checking stuff out and comparing this mall to an American mall.  There are some similarities and also some differences, just like you would find in any other mall. 

One major difference that is noticed everywhere is the toilet situation.  Pretty much every stall that you will enter has a bidet in it.  Some stalls do not even offer any sort of toilet paper.  You have to provide your own or just go without.  Finally, the main focus, the toilet.  Sometimes they aren’t even there!  Talk about a surprise when you enter that stall.  I refer to these as squatty potty.

Our final activity for the day was a musical instrument lesson.  We learned what each instrument was, its tone, and the purpose that it served.  We practiced and tried out some instruments.  Finally, it was our turn to play.  I wouldn’t say that we did too shabby for a crash course.  I will just say that Clover is now an expert.  Also, thank you Ali for taking the time and having the patience to teach me.  

 

Here is to more adventures and another day in Malaysia!

 

 

 

Mikaella Koster (@MikaellaKoster) is a pre-service agricultural education student at
Iowa State University.

There are Sick Days, Even in Malaysia

mlk491In-Country Sharing

When you are going on a great study abroad opportunity no one ever plans on being sick or really even thinks about it, at least I didn’t.

Today was our second day in Malaysia and the adventure is just beginning. This was also one of our more busy days in our itinerary. I was pretty excited because I knew that we were going to be touring an agriculture facility. This was one of the most anticipated things to do while in the country. There were also several of our US team members that were presenting as well as several of the UTM students.

When I woke up this morning, I could tell that I was feeling a little iffy. I continued to get ready and thought that I would be able to pull myself together throughout the day. I was a little wrong. Gradually I felt worse and eventually made the decision to go back to our hotel. I felt awful for leaving when we had such a busy day planned with a bunch of great learning opportunities. In the end, this decision turned out to be the best one.

After I got back to the hotel I tried to pull myself back together and little by little I did. I also took this opportunity to talk with some family and friends back home. This made me feel better all on its own. After the conversations from back home wrapped up, I decided sleeping would be a great remedy. I slept most of the day and decided to start my adventures here in Malaysia again tomorrow.

Mikaella Koster (@MikaellaKoster) is a pre-service agricutlural education teacher candidate attending Iowa State University.