Last year when I got posted in the middle of the year, I was just a teacher and my role was just to educate and in layman's term = teach! I was lucky that while some of my coursemates had posts that required them to busied themselves, I had none whatsoever and only had the responsibility to compel Form 3 and 5 students to pass PMR and SPM (actually come to think of it, it was pretty stressful :p)
With the new year, everything's changed. The country won't allow me to just teach, I had to get my hands on administrative and secretarial works and boy, lemme tell you that +teaching, everything's become such a mouthful!
The 1st week was the hardest because there were just sooooo much to learn for a greenhorn like me. All those new info, data, facts and figures and fresh knowledge were soooo much I'm surprised I didn't crash! When I look back, I thought I handled everything pretty well because I've always been an organized person and always list down everything I had to do and reminded myself to prioritize what was important first and get back on the least matters second BUT (and a BIG BUT) was that I have OCD and sometimes my OCD drags me down. My OCD always pesters me to do things in sequence even though the things are not in my priority list so I'm almost always constantly fighting in turmoil about what to do. Yes, its pretty shocking and it may look silly but I continuously control my OCD from getting out of hand. and don't tell me I'm being ridiculous, coz you wait till you have OCD! Grrr...
One of my 2010 post was a class teacher of 5 RAJIN. I remembered I was happy that I got a Form 5 class because I like the upper form better than the lower form but my face dropped when I found out that 5 Rajin was the second last class (and every form has 5 classes so my class was the 4th out of 5 classes). I know I'm being unfair, I don't even know the kids in that class yet but I'm being all bias but lemme tell you that dealing with the not-so-academically-inclined students have not been such a good experience for me (like I have that many experiences!). and who wouldn't want the good classes?
My suppositions turned out to be true as the majority of 5 Rajin (am going to start calling this class 5 Diligent) came out to be the opposite of their name! and I as the class teacher am annoyed! The majority of the pupils are Malay boys and all they do is talk boisterously about how 'otai' they are and showing off that they are super seniors of the school, huh! Well, I always talk em down on that and then they start to come to their senses! Hmph! There are only 3 Malay girls and they're okay except that they're slow learners! and these Malay students cannot even obtain a credit for their Form 4 BM paper and just merely pass, hmm...The Chinese boys and girls are lazy and the hardworking ones don't even understand a word of Malay let alone English! AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! On another note, the Indians' guys and gals are much better. Not only are they receptive but they are also interactive so sometimes I tend to ignore any of the noise-makers and just focus on the ones who want to learn!
However, my nature is that I CARE! Despite the students having -ve attributes, I still pull them aside after my lessons and give them pep talks or badger them in class in between my lessons! I like the pep talk part because I see that some students are beginning to change in terms of bucking up but I dislike the part where I have to nag and sound like an old hag, huhu.
I don't care or even mind that they don't like the English language what with lack of exposure and perhaps the realization that the language would probably be no use to them in the future BUT they have to acquire at least some basic stuffs about this foreign language and because the Powers To Be tell them to. Life is unfair I tell em and I wouldn't be teaching em English if I can help it, I might as well be teaching em more about life because my heart does go out to em~
Speaking of that, when I did the register whereby I needed to collect my students' details, I was overwhelmed at my students' background. The majority of them came from poor uneducated families and some of their parents earn around RM500-RM800 a month! I ain't kidding! I was so sad and try to empathize with my students and that's why I refused to let em rot away in class and do nothing except learn! They look scruffy and may not be prone to academics but they should at least be motivated in wanting to change their state of life! Nik Nur Madihah was even poorer than some of them but with Islam, Iman and the need to be someone and something in her life, she kept strong-minded to succeed and she did, Allah bless her :)
She has the same name as me and she's SO inspiring that I always talk about her to my students! If she can do it, why not any of us? She's an excellent example of a person who puts her religion first and from then on, she pushes the gas and smoothly drives to her destination! Wish I could meet her, is she reading this? hehe.
I have TONS of things to tell and I'm going to keep on writing because for my students and my readers, I have this story to go by:
There's a firm belief that each and everyone of us is here on earth to make a difference in the lives of those around us. No one is insignificant and no random act of kindness too small.
Early one morning as a Grandfather and his grandson were walking along the beach they came across a starfish that had washed up on the shore during high tide.
The grandson reached down and gently picked up the starfish, still moist and alive. "It's beautiful, Grandpa, what's going to happen to it?" the boy asked.
The grandfather replied that the starfish would eventually die. Sensing his grandson's sadness, he quickly explained it was okay because the starfish would become a source of food for other sea creatures. He told the boy that he should not be sad because it is all part of the cycle of life.
The boy replied, "You mean it's going to die, grandpa?"
A few minutes later, the grandfather sat down to read his newspaper and enjoy his morning coffee. After awhile, he noticed that his grandson had wandered down the beach. He called out, "Son, what are you doing?"
The young boy paused, looked up and replied, "Throwing the starfish back into the ocean."
"I can see that. I guess I should have asked, why are you throwing the starfish in the ocean?"
"The sun is up and the tide is going out. And if I don't throw them in they'll die."
"Oh, son, don't you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it. Not only on this beach, but thousands of beaches all around the world."
"You can't possibly make a difference!"
With childlike wisdom the grandson politely listened. Then he bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea, far past the breaking waves. The young boy said, "That is true, but ... I am making all the difference in the world to just this one."
Make a difference in just one person's life today with a big smile or a kind word or deed. Its call throwing starfish.
What's a starfish? It's an act of kindness, a courtesy. It is the gift of thoughtfulness or just being polite. It's a word of encouragement or an expression of appreciation.
No matter how small or insignificant it may be. Throw it. It will make all the difference in the world.
and even though I may not be able to transform ALL of my students' life but at least I could and would change 1 and that ONE person would be all it takes, InsyaAllah!
