Tuesday, May 26, 2009

updates

Exam week

My school is currently having its mid-year examination. Yeay!
It occurred to me how students fret during exams and teachers relax. Why? Well, the school is way quieter for a start. And we don't have to do lesson plans + reflections throughout the exam period. And it's kind of satisfying to see the students gelabah... hahaha (I'm sounding a bit sadistic aren't I?)

It was my turn to do the exam paper for English. I had to compile the questions, hand it over for riso, staple the pages together (525 sets!) and wrap them all nicely according to classes. Thank God it's all over and done with!


Now the fun is about to end. While the students enjoy their school holidays, the teachers will be stuck with marking their exam papers. The previous 2 monthly tests weren't so bad since they only involved Paper 1 (i.e. objective questions). This time round, I have to mark 200+ exam scripts. Based on my preliminary readings, I might lose my sanity due to the:
1) repetitious stories
2) incomprehensible writing AND handwriting
3) (unintentional) humour contained in the students' work

So watch this space to see whether I'll make it through the hols in one piece ;-)

Graduating ceremony

meet Rupert

This Saturday (30-5-09) will be my graduating ceremony. Apparently, it's not called a graduation ceremony since most of us have technically graduated. Not many of us attended our actual graduation at our respective unis, so this event on Saturday will be a ceremony to mark that occasion.

I can't wait to see my hard-earned degree on paper. The one which cost me many sleepless nights, anxieties, panic attacks, self-doubt, etc.
Ah... student's life seems such a long time ago, isn't it?


Can't wait also to see my friends, many of whom I haven't seen since Dec 6, 2008. I can bet you that there will be a lot of hugging, kissing, squealing involved when we meet each other for the rehearsal this Friday.

2-week school break


Although I'll probably spend most of my time marking papers, I'll no doubt set aside time to meet with fellow teachers: Fa from Pitas, Nada from Cyberjaya, Dayah from SEGAR, and other IPBA teachers who'll be in KL.

Morning session

After the semester break, I'll be teaching in the morning session (again). When I first reported to the school, I was assigned three Form 3 classes. I taught them for 3 weeks before being transferred to the afternoon session. The Form 3 students are taking the PMR so I guess they needed somebody with more experience to teach the students.

Since Feb 2 until now (for 4 months), I've been teaching the Form One and Two students. Now, I'm being moved again. I'm replacing another teacher who will be on leave from June until December.

At first, I was a bit despondent by the news. I mean, I've gotten to know my students, built some kind of a rapport with them. Now, I have to start all over again.

But my sister said, "Bukan tiap2 tahun, Adik akan tukar students ke?" (read: it's unreasonable to be too attached to them)

betul jugak.

So, now that I'm resigned to the fact that I'll be changing my schedule+desk+students +colleagues again, I'm actually looking forward to it due to these reasons:
-sesi pagi taklah panas sangat.
-I'm forced to wake up early, so no more late sleep-in for me
-Older students are probably less boisterous/hyperactive. I'm not saying they are not challenging to deal with but they certainly have less features of ADHD - meaning that I don't have to strain my voice so much now. I'm saved from permanent damage to my vocal chords!

A slight digression: This one class, 1T, reduced me to tears, not once, but twice! Punya la bising. I held the boys back after class to reprimand them but quickly let them off because I could sense that I was tearing up.

On both occasion, on the next day, the boy who sits in front would ask, "Cikgu menangis ye semalam?"

And of course, I would reply with all the bravado that I could muster, "Mana ada"

Hahaha

I wonder why the students are not terrified of me. I mean my class would keep quiet when certain teachers just walk past the class. But with me, they would be noisy even when it's exam time! Hish *tak puas hati* I just have the most atrocious classroom management skills!

When I broke the news of my transfer to my students, I received a lot of funny reactions.

One boy said with all solemnity, "Saya akan merindui Cikgu".

Because he was so serious, I had to suppress my laughter/smile.

Another conteng his answer sheet in the just-concluded English exam:
----------------------------------------------------------------

By the way, I have the perfect mug to drink from once I start working in the morning session:

the mug says it all, doesn't it?

5 comments:

NFA said...

panjang nye entry syada and im laughing like org gilaakk ni kat mcd airport kk sorg2. hehe.
cant wait to see u. take cre.

F

Madam Afifah said...

syada...
i feel the same way too. they are noisy even during exam. i had to switch my class with other teacher so dat they'll pay do their best during the exam.

sometimes class management is one factor which makes me want to quit this profession. however, sometimes these kids are soo adorable that i rethink about leaving teaching profession.(eg: when i'm in the class they won't listen to me, but they'll be angry with me if i didn't go into their class for the whole week.. haha..)

nway, looking fwd to see u syada

me said...

syada, count me in. i want to meet all of you too!!!! :)

"Older students are probably less boisterous/hyperactive. I'm not saying they are not challenging to deal with but they certainly have less features of ADHD - meaning that I don't have to strain my voice so much now. I'm saved from permanent damage to my vocal chords!" -- definitely not in my school. hahaha

good luck with teaching the upper secondary.

Jarod Yong said...

wow~~
You have a golden heart Rosyada~~
I'm sure your students are doing great under your care!
=)

mimisyamimi said...

Syada,i'm teaching two Form 3 classes (kelas belakang ye) Both classes are soooooo noisy, the students are naughty, they are not afraid of me either, they even walk when i'm teaching in front.there was one time where the discipline teacher asked this one boy "Kenape berdiri kat pintu ni. Tak de cikgu ke?" Masalahnya, I WAS IN THE CLASS!! Malu giler~ It seemed like i couldn't control the class (actually, budak tu mmg ade masalah ADHD..tak leh duk diam walau 2 minit)So challenging. I know how u feel. See ya in IPBA~