On my way to a class, bumped on a kid whom class is the one I'm heading to.
"Excuse me, teacher. I'm just gonna 'hantaring' this book to Teacher J."
"Huh, what did you say? Hantaring? Bad English Daryl, bad English," while smiling to him.
....
Just as I was about to finish my Maths lesson in Daryl's class...
"Alright class, as usual... pack your things, put up your chair slowly. No noise. And 'baris' outside the classroom."
Baris?
Oh dear.
Bad English, teacher. Bad English.
PS: Daryl is superb in English Language. He just got too much influences from his (bad English) Maths teacher. Ouch!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
Monkey See Monkey Do
In an assembly, while the Headmaster is delivering his weekly message to the students (and teachers), some teachers busy chit-chatting at the back.
Then.
"What is it with them? So noisy!" *referring to the students at the assembly floor*
Sigh.
Leadership by example.
Who else can be the students role model other than....?
Sigh.
Sometimes, I do that too. Holding conversation while in formal meeting or assembly. But I am sure we all know our limit. And for one, we do not ask question when that question clearly spits on us back. Like asking why the kids can't shut their mouth while in the assembly or why can't they stop talking in class when we too, do the same thing while in assembly, meeting or talks.
There is always a role model to that.
Sigh.
Then.
"What is it with them? So noisy!" *referring to the students at the assembly floor*
Sigh.
Leadership by example.
Who else can be the students role model other than....?
Sigh.
Sometimes, I do that too. Holding conversation while in formal meeting or assembly. But I am sure we all know our limit. And for one, we do not ask question when that question clearly spits on us back. Like asking why the kids can't shut their mouth while in the assembly or why can't they stop talking in class when we too, do the same thing while in assembly, meeting or talks.
There is always a role model to that.
Sigh.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Berjalan
In a relief class...
Two prefects came knocking the door telling this particular relief class I was attending to was scheduled to visit the Book Exhibition at the school hall.
"Ok semua, ada pameran buku sedang berjalan di dewan sekarang ini...."
Before I could proceed, I heard one of the boys nonchalantly mocking after my words...
"Berjalan? Tu buku mana pandai berjalan..."
I bulged my eyes at him.
"I'm kind of sensitive today. You become loyar buruk again, you're gonna kena from me," my eyes sharp like an eagle, staring at him with great annoyance.
I know, not cool.
I don't usually take too hard on things like this...especially when they could be right. But ah well, this is one of those days I'd gladly say, "Monday blues sucks".
Two prefects came knocking the door telling this particular relief class I was attending to was scheduled to visit the Book Exhibition at the school hall.
"Ok semua, ada pameran buku sedang berjalan di dewan sekarang ini...."
Before I could proceed, I heard one of the boys nonchalantly mocking after my words...
"Berjalan? Tu buku mana pandai berjalan..."
I bulged my eyes at him.
"I'm kind of sensitive today. You become loyar buruk again, you're gonna kena from me," my eyes sharp like an eagle, staring at him with great annoyance.
I know, not cool.
I don't usually take too hard on things like this...especially when they could be right. But ah well, this is one of those days I'd gladly say, "Monday blues sucks".
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Soo-per-mak!
"Soo-per-mak!"
Silence.
"Soo-per-mak!"
Silence.
"Teacher! Soo-per-mak!"
"Apa yang soo-per-mak ni?"
"Teacher lah..macam soo-per-mak. Kan Kate Winslet*?"
Kate Winslet* smile in agreement.
"Apa tu soo-per-mak?"
"Soo-per-mak lah. Laju tu dia. Macam teacher."
"Yalah, apa barang tu? Orang kah? Binatang kah?"
"Orang lah teacher. Yang di TV3 tu bah."
Talking to her friends.
"Soo-per-mak laju kan? Pastu cantik lagi tu. Macam model."
Looking at me.
"Ah, macam teacher juga lah. Macam model. Ada style."
"Heh?"
Talking to her friend back.
"Yang tu soo-per-pa-chik pun buli tahan juga oh kan?"
Soo-per-pa-chik?
Soo-per-mak?
Heh?
Soo-per-mak as in Super Mak? Super Mom?
Heh?
So I googled.
Ini lah pula...
Macam-macam drama TV sekarang ye?
Well, at least I get a 'sincere' compliment again.
For being *cough* Nasha Aziz (far cry) look-a-like.
Ha ha ha ha!
Ah my kids.
One reason why I love my job very much.
You will always get to be an 'idol' to some of them while they are young and naive. Makes you feel a million times an Oscar winner. Or Miss Universe.
Thank you kids!
Till next post!
*hugs*
Silence.
"Soo-per-mak!"
Silence.
"Teacher! Soo-per-mak!"
"Apa yang soo-per-mak ni?"
"Teacher lah..macam soo-per-mak. Kan Kate Winslet*?"
Kate Winslet* smile in agreement.
"Apa tu soo-per-mak?"
"Soo-per-mak lah. Laju tu dia. Macam teacher."
"Yalah, apa barang tu? Orang kah? Binatang kah?"
"Orang lah teacher. Yang di TV3 tu bah."
Talking to her friends.
"Soo-per-mak laju kan? Pastu cantik lagi tu. Macam model."
Looking at me.
"Ah, macam teacher juga lah. Macam model. Ada style."
"Heh?"
Talking to her friend back.
"Yang tu soo-per-pa-chik pun buli tahan juga oh kan?"
Soo-per-pa-chik?
Soo-per-mak?
Heh?
Soo-per-mak as in Super Mak? Super Mom?
Heh?
So I googled.
Ini lah pula...
Macam-macam drama TV sekarang ye?
Well, at least I get a 'sincere' compliment again.
For being *cough* Nasha Aziz (far cry) look-a-like.
Ha ha ha ha!
Ah my kids.
One reason why I love my job very much.
You will always get to be an 'idol' to some of them while they are young and naive. Makes you feel a million times an Oscar winner. Or Miss Universe.
Thank you kids!
Till next post!
*hugs*
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Saya memang pintar
Month of May already? Wow! Time sure flies really fast. It will be our school's first semester exam next week. Kind of early but I think that's fine. With everything finish before the first semester break, I will be able to enjoy the final preparations of my youngest brother's wedding. Oh, I've talked about it on and off over my Personal Blog.
Yesterday, I was in my usual Year One Maths class. It's the average ability pupils in that said class. But all fun nonetheless despite sometimes creating headaches to me. Ha!
While I was blabbering about Place Value and Digit Value (Yes, it's in the Year One syllabus this year)...suddenly, a pupil, who has always been among the brightest in class but at the same time, a short tempered kid with less patience, shouted, "Teacher, dia tidak pandai tu buat tu. Tapi saya pandai."
Feeling the air of arrogance in his tone, I quickly told him not to say such negative mark to his friends. He quieted. But judging from the look of his face, he doesn't seem to realize that he is being one.
I continued yada, yada...
Then, came again the same voice of this same boy...
"Saya pintar bah teacher. Saya boleh buat tu exercise," he exclaimed while his chubby fingers holding the pencil, scribbling on answer for the exercise I gave to the class.
This (self-claimed smart) situation has been happening a few times and I just don't know what else to say to remind the boy that it is not quite nice to vocally self-praised himself while looking down on other people.
He is indeed a smart boy. But something in his tone when talking about him being smart and all shouts the need to have people think of him as the worthy one of all others. Well, the fact that kids are synonym to wanting attention is something that I perfectly aware of . Unfortunately, I am baffled with this particular boy. Does arrogant and proud come naturally in an individual and occur as young age as that? Or is it influenced by the people and the environment that surrounds the individual? And speaking of the latter, what kind of surroundings influenced this arrogant behavior? Having family that are too proud of themselves above others or probably family that actually just want the child to have self-confidence but somehow the good intention wasn't channeled properly?
How do you actually deal with arrogant young children?
Yesterday, I was in my usual Year One Maths class. It's the average ability pupils in that said class. But all fun nonetheless despite sometimes creating headaches to me. Ha!
While I was blabbering about Place Value and Digit Value (Yes, it's in the Year One syllabus this year)...suddenly, a pupil, who has always been among the brightest in class but at the same time, a short tempered kid with less patience, shouted, "Teacher, dia tidak pandai tu buat tu. Tapi saya pandai."
Feeling the air of arrogance in his tone, I quickly told him not to say such negative mark to his friends. He quieted. But judging from the look of his face, he doesn't seem to realize that he is being one.
I continued yada, yada...
Then, came again the same voice of this same boy...
"Saya pintar bah teacher. Saya boleh buat tu exercise," he exclaimed while his chubby fingers holding the pencil, scribbling on answer for the exercise I gave to the class.
This (self-claimed smart) situation has been happening a few times and I just don't know what else to say to remind the boy that it is not quite nice to vocally self-praised himself while looking down on other people.
He is indeed a smart boy. But something in his tone when talking about him being smart and all shouts the need to have people think of him as the worthy one of all others. Well, the fact that kids are synonym to wanting attention is something that I perfectly aware of . Unfortunately, I am baffled with this particular boy. Does arrogant and proud come naturally in an individual and occur as young age as that? Or is it influenced by the people and the environment that surrounds the individual? And speaking of the latter, what kind of surroundings influenced this arrogant behavior? Having family that are too proud of themselves above others or probably family that actually just want the child to have self-confidence but somehow the good intention wasn't channeled properly?
How do you actually deal with arrogant young children?
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Lazy teacher
The past few weeks have been pretty tight for me. In the midst of being busy and being just human who tend to err, I purposely let one class' homework not checked in the hope I could get the students to help me check their own books. It is not often that I do this so once in a while should be alright. And so I thought.
Before I distributed the workbooks back to the students, I was doing my rounds checking on their (other) previous homework. Just to make sure they did their homework during the one week plus CNY break. I caught a few that didn't complete their homework. Some acceptable excuses, some were just lame, same ol same ol excuses. However, them being one of my 'apples of my eye' classes, I did not get infuriate except for minor 'brushing' to some of them who clearly were lazy.
Then, I proceeded to do the book marking via help from the kids. You know, exchange your book with your friend, help check your friend's book then return the book back to your friend. You educators know this routine. Just when I wanted to start, a girl came to me and made a complaint.
"Teacher, you know what did B said to you? He said you are lazy," the girl muttered in her tiny rosy lip.
"Oh, why did he said that?" I inquired without actually paying attention to the name of the boy who got complained or even wanting to get angry.
"B said you are lazy because you ask us to check our own book," replied the girl again.
The minute I realized I was being complained because I just made my students my free 'slave', I felt like a blade had just sliced through my heart. My blood started to boil. When I realized the boy who made the remark was one of those who did not finish their homework, I could feel my blood boiling to the max and if my heart was anything like a chicken egg, it could have boiled to perfection already. I wasn't sure why I got ticked by this. Probably because a boy called me lazy when he, himself did not even finish his homework. Or maybe, I was angry at myself for not able to do my job properly and someone noticed.
I went up to him and asked him if he really did say the remark. He nodded his head. When asked why, he just stood there, with innocent eyes looking here and there, trying to avoid my stare. He did not say anything to defend himself. With that, I gave him a brief lecture on how he doesn't have the right to make such remark on me when he himself did not even finish his homework. Pot calling the kettle black.
When I was done with him and went back to my desk, I felt odd, unsettling feeling that what I did just then was not the wisest thing to do. I mean, I am an adult and that boy, well...just a 9 year old boy. He has all the right to made such remark because that was the fact he saw. That I was a lazy teacher because I did not do my job; check their homework. To compare myself with him not doing his homework, was not mature of me.
It took me a few minutes to think all these while my kids just sat in silence, looking at me. Then, after taking a deep breath and inhaled heavily, I spoke to them. Yes, to all of them. Not just the boy.
"I am very sorry that I did not check your homework. I did not mean to be lazy but I was just a bit busy that I could not finish my work. I promise that I will not do this again in the future."
Paused.
"But, I hope you promise me the same. That you will do your homework when asked and if you did not finish your homework and your excuse was because you were busy, I will only accept that if you have been helping your parents with house chores or other things more important than doing your homework."
"I will not call any of you lazy unless you really are lazy. And that's my promise."
The kids nod their head in unison, agreeing to what I have just said.
I am not sure whether I have really done the right thing or not. But what I do know, from then on... I do not leave my work desk without making sure all books are checked. And that particular boy...he does not have problem with not doing his homework anymore.
I guess, both me and that boy have learned our lesson in a different way.
Before I distributed the workbooks back to the students, I was doing my rounds checking on their (other) previous homework. Just to make sure they did their homework during the one week plus CNY break. I caught a few that didn't complete their homework. Some acceptable excuses, some were just lame, same ol same ol excuses. However, them being one of my 'apples of my eye' classes, I did not get infuriate except for minor 'brushing' to some of them who clearly were lazy.
Then, I proceeded to do the book marking via help from the kids. You know, exchange your book with your friend, help check your friend's book then return the book back to your friend. You educators know this routine. Just when I wanted to start, a girl came to me and made a complaint.
"Teacher, you know what did B said to you? He said you are lazy," the girl muttered in her tiny rosy lip.
"Oh, why did he said that?" I inquired without actually paying attention to the name of the boy who got complained or even wanting to get angry.
"B said you are lazy because you ask us to check our own book," replied the girl again.
The minute I realized I was being complained because I just made my students my free 'slave', I felt like a blade had just sliced through my heart. My blood started to boil. When I realized the boy who made the remark was one of those who did not finish their homework, I could feel my blood boiling to the max and if my heart was anything like a chicken egg, it could have boiled to perfection already. I wasn't sure why I got ticked by this. Probably because a boy called me lazy when he, himself did not even finish his homework. Or maybe, I was angry at myself for not able to do my job properly and someone noticed.
I went up to him and asked him if he really did say the remark. He nodded his head. When asked why, he just stood there, with innocent eyes looking here and there, trying to avoid my stare. He did not say anything to defend himself. With that, I gave him a brief lecture on how he doesn't have the right to make such remark on me when he himself did not even finish his homework. Pot calling the kettle black.
When I was done with him and went back to my desk, I felt odd, unsettling feeling that what I did just then was not the wisest thing to do. I mean, I am an adult and that boy, well...just a 9 year old boy. He has all the right to made such remark because that was the fact he saw. That I was a lazy teacher because I did not do my job; check their homework. To compare myself with him not doing his homework, was not mature of me.
It took me a few minutes to think all these while my kids just sat in silence, looking at me. Then, after taking a deep breath and inhaled heavily, I spoke to them. Yes, to all of them. Not just the boy.
"I am very sorry that I did not check your homework. I did not mean to be lazy but I was just a bit busy that I could not finish my work. I promise that I will not do this again in the future."
Paused.
"But, I hope you promise me the same. That you will do your homework when asked and if you did not finish your homework and your excuse was because you were busy, I will only accept that if you have been helping your parents with house chores or other things more important than doing your homework."
"I will not call any of you lazy unless you really are lazy. And that's my promise."
The kids nod their head in unison, agreeing to what I have just said.
I am not sure whether I have really done the right thing or not. But what I do know, from then on... I do not leave my work desk without making sure all books are checked. And that particular boy...he does not have problem with not doing his homework anymore.
I guess, both me and that boy have learned our lesson in a different way.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Good Morning Teacher!
Hello, hello!
It's been months since my last entry. I didn't even blog anything about the year end school. I have so many things to blog actually. In fact, I had drafted something about using teaching aids in classroom but somehow, the draft went up the sky and disappear. Ok, ok...I was only drafting it in my head. Procrastination made the entry published only in my head. Ha!
Anyways, week one of school went in a breeze. I was temporarily in-charge of managing one of the Year 1 classes. It was a tiring job - the administrative job as well as handling 40 rascals in a classroom. But, I somehow learned something from the little kiddos this one week. I am some what softened and if you can call it, patient. Fresh from baby-sitting my 8 and 10 niece and nephew during the holiday, I kind of know how to actually control my anger button. And I hope this last for a very long time cos I am gonna face kids 9 and under for the next one year. And it sure going to be tough i.e. teaching numbers up to 1000 when the child can only recognize several numbers up to 10(!)
Anyways, despite the much talked new KSSR thingy being a tough standard to implement and the fact that I have to teach KSSR Maths Year One this year, I am sure it's going to be a whole new and fun experience.
To all you teachers, happy teaching!
It's been months since my last entry. I didn't even blog anything about the year end school. I have so many things to blog actually. In fact, I had drafted something about using teaching aids in classroom but somehow, the draft went up the sky and disappear. Ok, ok...I was only drafting it in my head. Procrastination made the entry published only in my head. Ha!
Anyways, week one of school went in a breeze. I was temporarily in-charge of managing one of the Year 1 classes. It was a tiring job - the administrative job as well as handling 40 rascals in a classroom. But, I somehow learned something from the little kiddos this one week. I am some what softened and if you can call it, patient. Fresh from baby-sitting my 8 and 10 niece and nephew during the holiday, I kind of know how to actually control my anger button. And I hope this last for a very long time cos I am gonna face kids 9 and under for the next one year. And it sure going to be tough i.e. teaching numbers up to 1000 when the child can only recognize several numbers up to 10(!)
Anyways, despite the much talked new KSSR thingy being a tough standard to implement and the fact that I have to teach KSSR Maths Year One this year, I am sure it's going to be a whole new and fun experience.
To all you teachers, happy teaching!
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