to be garang or not to be garang

Bismillah, Assalamualaikum :)

Is it true that when you first enter a class, you have to put on a stern face so that students know you mean business and that you can’t be messed with?!

Well, it’s what everybody says but I wonder of the truth in that statement…

I did tried to put on my best don’t – you – dare – mess – with – me – face but seeing the innocent and wide – eyed students made my heart melt and I surrendered as I smiled, huhu

I can’t help it, I have to admit it, I can’t be angry at my students, in spite of knowing that I HAVE TO BE STERN!

It bugs me, it really does and the only things I could do were warn them while looking (hopefully) angry:

‘Don’t make me angry because I’ll just throw you out!’

‘Do you want me to call the discipline teacher?’

‘If you don’t do your work, then I’ll have to ask the discipline teacher to help you, do you want that?’

‘I’ll just ignore you if you refuse to listen to what I say!’

[Don’t worry, I don’t think I’ll really do the first one and that I can’t possibly throw a student out when I having I’m practicum]

A student said to me, Teacher tak garang pun, asyik senyum je! And I retorted; nak Teacher garang ke?

Huh! Kids!

2nd week and surviving!

Bismillah, Assalamualaikum :)

It’s been a week and Alhamdulillah I am surviving this teaching ordeal BUT I am grappling and struggling because I find it hard and challenging though I know this is life and there’s no shortcut to success and that Allah wants to test me and this is just the beginning~

The first week itself was DAUNTING!
On Sunday, it was Report Card Day whereby parents came to see the teacher for their children’s progress at school therefore there were no classes but the students’ were intrigued at Nani and I as they could sense we were strangers. After that Sunday, it was a week fill with tests so my job was just to invigilate the test done in the class that I will be teaching for the whole 3 months namely the form 2.

There are 5 classes of form 2. I got the second and third class whereas Nani got the first and fourth class. I have already fallen in love with the third class although their level of English is below average. This is because, not only are they mostly cute but they’re so eager to learn! They probably don’t understand the instructions I gave them in front of the class but afterwards they would attack me with questions! They probably don’t speak English but at least, they do the work that I tell them to do. And they probably don’t realize that I saw that a few of them wrote love letters for me because they tried to insert it inside my book but when I turned to looked at them, they snatched it back but I already caught a glimpse of teacher, nak no phone teacher, teacher comel :p

The second class was noisy or hingaq! In an annoyingly way and I’m sorry to have to say this but even though they are smarter than the third class but their level of English is still pretty weak yet they make lawak kering in front of me hence making me lose patience!

I am not the chengir (garang or strict in Kedah slang, when the teacher advice me not to be chengir, I was like, what?! Then Nani explain, huhu) type of teacher but I realize I had to be one time or another but my heart remains a softie.

You have no idea that I get tired and eat a lot after teaching lately and this is just my second week and I am still so afraid! It’s still about obtaining an A but MOST OF ALL, I just want MY STUDENTS to learn something and it’s not just them that’s finding it hard to understand English but really, when they speak really fast in that Kedah slang, I am already lost, hehe

Pray for me people~

There’s one cyber café here but sometimes the phone lines are unstable, huhu

survey b4 practicum

Bismillah, Assalamualaikum :)

After 5 years (and still going strong), my laptop finally succumbed to a virus that couldn’t be obliterate and so I had to take action because assignments were piling up and practicum is around the corner.

I am so used to my laptop and everything inside it for 5 years that when it was finally clean, I struggled to get used to it and my OCD finds it disturbing. This is because I have always checked thoroughly through everything inside my laptop no matter how outdated the software was that when the new updated software were installed, I find it intrusive, but then again, that’s just me trying to cope…weird huh…but I’m fine now and I’m glad I did the reformatting because my laptop seem lighter and nicer, hehe

I want to update my blog but I was also lazy to do so. Now I’m in Sungai Petani, Kedah for my preparation to go for practicum (which is practical training but practicum is a teacher’s term) and the internet connection is pretty slow.

For practicum, I got SMK Labu Besar in Kulim which is half an hour drive from the Kulim town and the Sungai Petani town. Apparently I didn’t get to choose my practicum partner but that’s okay since it turned out I got someone that I have chemistry working with which will be a lot of fun. Moreover, my supervisor is a new guy lecturer who seems fun and has lots of experience teaching rural schools who will come to check on my partner and me 5 times for the whole of 12 weeks of practicum.

I had already surveyed the school and the road to go there was long and winding. I was actually sleepy since we went with my friends’ mom who was driving after class but when the car went inside the oil palm plantation, I started to perk up. I was like, okayyy…why does the road seem never-ending?! Why haven’t we reached the school yet?! Why are we entering a road full of oil palms?! Why are there farm animals like sheep?! Why does it seem so rural?! Why is there only 1 petrol pump in a really small petrol station with a tiny Petronas logo?! How come there’s only 1 sundry shop?! Where is the school?!

And then finally, there was the school, smacked in the middle of the oil palm plantation. There was only 1 building 4 storey high and the other buildings were all single – storey. The kids were everywhere since it was Wednesday, their co – curricular activities was on until 2pm. I walked around just to get a feel of the school and to get to know the school surroundings better.

I found out that the students there were friendly and they smiled and greeted me when they pass me by. Apart from the students, the teachers and folks there were also very welcoming and made me in high spirits but at the same time, I was very anxious since the school’s atmosphere looked very much daunting. I also found out that only 46% of the students there passed their English PMR and that the students there were not academically inclined ESPECIALLY in a foreign subject such as the English language.

I have to confessed, I had thought about appealing for another school but I knew that would be impossible and that the lecturers would not entertain such request. And I have to admit that I am nervous and NOW I keep on thinking about that school and how am I supposed to teach and ESPECIALLY reach out to my students. That’s all I’m thinking about now…

I don’t know whether I can go back for my dearest senior, Kak Sarah’s Seth grand wedding…

And welcome home to MAI SIS!!! She gave me a ‘teacherly’ posh bag especially for me to teach and so I ditched my colourful bag for a more mature ‘teacherly’ bag.

Pray for me~

Nay seek (Allah's) help with patient perseverance and prayer: it is indeed hard, except to those who are humble.
Al-Baqara [2:45]