Good Morning Sir !

2008-09-28T10:53:00.000-07:00

The Cameraman

Even as a teacher, I could not escape co-curicular activities which I dreaded since my primary school. I could not comprehend the concept of wasting time to do something which does not bring any benefit to me. (I was not tempted to build my character or my leadership skills)

Each teacher has to get incharged of an activity and I was not spared. I knew about this during the first day at school. The principal was trying to think of a suitable job for me. I guess he could not find any for me judging from my looks (I do not have the looks of a sportsman nor do I look like a man with leadership skills). After awhile of thinking, he finally told me to take photographs during events.

I took many photos of that school. And during my stay which was somewhere between January to July, I have gone to almost all of the events of the school as most of the events are usually held in the first half of the year so that tbey do not clash with the year end's examination.

2008-05-07T21:19:00.000-07:00

Its PJ time

The kids there go wild when they noe its PJ. And me? I hope it RAIN!!! I hate PJ. Even from the beginning of schooling, I dislike the idea of changing shirt and pants in the classroom for everyone to watch. And then, when I was a teacher, I hate PJ too. The reason is simple. I fail at crowd control... big time! Imagine 30 adolescents going berserk each time the bell rang. And on top of that I have to take 3 classes for PJ each week =( This is the greatest demotivation ever.

Besides the crowd control problem here is a list of 'other' problems which plagued me
1) Students asking me to play along with them!
2) Its either football or sepak takraw! (Girls will play badminton)
3) Games usually ended with a fight
4) Students do not want to go back to class
5) Some seniors or tai koh will join in the game and create havoc
6) Few wants to put the balls back to the store room (I have to do all the work whereas the students just run for recess =( )
7) Atmosphere in class after PJ is worse than New York Stock exchange

Like any other lists, I would say I can continue on but then I ran out of idea. This would definitely make me some kind of person with a huge experience and personality. But honestly, I ran out of idea.

2008-05-06T09:28:00.000-07:00

Food For Thought

Just as I was a student, I looked forward for breaktime everyday I go to school. The process is like this. Wake up at 6.30am, look at schedule, fight the urge of skipping school, if urge not strong enough, wash face, wear uniform then off to school. The only motivation I manage to find each day is breaktime because in my alma mater, there are a whooping 10 different stores to choose from. Note.... stores, not dishes. Anyway, I digress. The fact is that the process of going to school still remains the same except that i wake up a little later... at 7am. I still look forward for the breaktime, although now there was only a store selling. The reason is simple. The malay dishes there are simply delicious. It was to die for.

I recall the first time I made the attempt to enter the canteen. I think it was the second day of work. I was shy and didn't explore the school much. Anyways, people working in this school is accustomed to free meal. Once every 2 weeks someone from the office will 'buy the canteen' out and the teachers there eat for free. I was lucky. It happened on the 2nd day and thus begins the love story of a teacher with the food.

One teacher, Mr Thandapani told me that anyone who work there is guaranteed good food for their entire years. I couldn't agree more. Who can forget the Ayam Rendang, Daging masak pedas and kari ikan there?

2008-04-23T23:15:00.000-07:00

A Failure?

The sight of him puffing still haunts me even after a few weeks have passed. I failed as a teacher. I could give myself some consolation though. I was young and I'm no motivator. I also did not go through any teaching lessons. What I taught was through my experience of being a student for the past 14 years. So does that mean my teachers fail?

So many thoughts racing and corrupting my mind each day. Help me Lord. Why did I fail as his Civic Lesson Teacher. I told them not to smoke. I explained to them the dangers of smoking. I even demonstrated the effects of smoking to them through pictures and newspapers articles. What did I do wrong?

Nobody is perfect. Nobody will be perfect. I know that. But why? Why him? Why me to receive this blow? Did God put me into this for a reason? i guess.... Only time will tell. But until it is explained, I remain a failure....

2008-04-23T07:01:00.000-07:00

The Smoking Top Boy

Actually, the real reason for me to start blogging again is because of 'him'. Honestly, I couldn't remember his name and I do not want to create one for his sake. (Not a trait of a teacher huh? Well, not a trait of a future Doctor either)
Well, this boy was alright in his english. Defitinion of 'alright' here refers to the ability to construct a sentence with less than 2 errors. And with this 'alright' status, he was entitled to a score of (if I'm not mistaken) 70 over for his English Test.
He was form 1 when I taught him and I thought he would be a great achiever in the future. To be honest, those thoughts were 2 years ago.
I saw him again a few weeks back when I was driving around that school. I saw him riding a bicycle with his friend. I wanted to talk to him as I was eager to know how is he now. I made an U turn and headed for him. He was wearing a sports T shirt, a sign that the Sukan Something is coming up and he was there for some compulsary practice thing.
I was about to stop the car when I saw him stop his bicycle and started puffing. Enough said.

2008-04-22T02:50:00.000-07:00

The Prodigal Sir

After 2 years, I'm surprised this blog still exists. The reason why I stopped writing this blog was because I was LAZY. Many things and events happened during my days as the young sir. I took them for granted you see. I thought it is just a waste of time to write them down when none of my friends will be reading it.

How wrong was I. The experience I learnt when I was in that school was really amazing. It is applicable in my uni life. It is applicable in Nasi Kandar. And it is even applicable in the TOILET! Of course, there are so many mini stories worth telling. I promise I will go slowly. Each as detail as my memory takes me.

Next blog ---> The Smoking Top Boy

2006-02-22T05:26:00.000-08:00

Day 8 : Sit Down Class ! – Part 2 (21/2/2006)

Today’s timetable is quite challenging because I have to teach on the first periods. Unlike yesterday, which was too easy. The first lesson I had was Civic. (not again) And to add to my misery, the class I had to teach was the worst class in Form 1 . Furthermore, I failed to prepare for today’s lesson because I was extremely busy yesterday night. But anyway, the lesson was not good at all. I ran out of ideas to teach after 30 minutes and I had another 50 minutes to go before lesson ends. So eventually I came up with an impromptu exercise and asked the students to do it. I think I have gone from a bad teacher to a worse teacher. I am totally not motivated to teach today.
Another thing worth mentioning was that I was given an EPF form. Later, I learnt that , I had to open an EPF account because the government is kind enough to give me EPF.

Day 9 : Sit Down Class ! – Part 3 (22/2/2006)

A boy was caned today in the staff room by the discipline teachers. It was weird though, because this is the second time I actually eyewitness a caning ‘ceremony’. I think I didn’t mention it before but on the first day when I arrived to this school, 2 schoolboys was caned because they smoked . The whole caning incident happened in the staff room too. I am beginning to wonder if repetitive caning students will bring any effect into the mentality and growth of those teenagers. Will they use brute force to solve their problems later on in life? Who knows?
I was out of the school’s compound during recess. I had to go to the EPF’s office to open an account. Nevertheless, the experience of getting out if the office was great =)

2006-02-21T05:43:00.000-08:00

Day 5 : Sit Down Class ! – Part 1 (20/2/2006)

Its Monday, the day which pupils hate. Why? PERHIMPUNAN !!! (Assembly) But now that I am a teacher, I have the privilege to sit during assembly. This school’s assembly is an eye opener to me. Other that the usual ‘talk’ by all the teachers-with-post, this school requires students to perform a drama or ‘lakonan’ on stage. This Monday, an unlucky class which was picked last week, had to perform for the whole school . It was an ultra meaningless drama, with only three characters and badly spoken English. I forced a weak smile throughout the whole torture.
Today’s timetable is another weird one. I have no class until 10.45 am… ( the assembly finished at around 8.30 am ) 2 hours and 15 minutes of free time or so what I thought. I WAS WRONG! At around 9.20am, the school’s clerk came to me and asked me to sign a paper which stated that I have to relieve a class at 9.45 am. Unwillingly, I signed the paper. When she was gone, I had a thorough scan on the piece of paper. There was a mistake. I had to relieve the class until 11.00 am. , which was an impossible task for any human, since no one teacher can look after two classes , situated 100 meters apart at any moment .
Immediately, I set to find the Assistant Principle. He was free, luckily. I told him the problem and he quickly apologized to me. He told me to go back and he will send a another paper later…. But it turned out he didn’t… which was good…

2006-02-20T03:56:00.000-08:00

Day 1 : Good Morning Sir ! – Part 1 (14/2/2006 – Valentine’s Day)

I must admit. I do not know this school well other than where it is situated =) . I drove there in my old Proton Wira. I made my way to the proncipal’s office as soon as I reached the school’s compound. The principal greeted me with a hand shake. ( A handshake with the principal? I must have grown up !! ) He told me the school is in need of a Form 1 English teacher as the school has been make do without a Form 1 English teacher for the past 2 months…
After some hoola – boola with the registration and administration process, I am assigned to an empty table in the class room and a timetable. I had a total of 23 periods of teaching which is ok I guess… Well, I guess I am lucky after all, today is exam day !! So is tomorrow… I am not insane u know, I dislike exam as much as any student would be but behold I am now an English teacher and I don’t have to start teaching yet!

Day 2 : Good Morning Sir ! – Part 2 (15/2/2006)

I will not be late , I said to myself. The first class starts at 7.40 am but the school is only a 5 minutes drive my house so I took the easy way out. Woke up at 7.00 and drove to school at 7.25 am. Boy, was I unlucky.. the school has a morning assembly system whereby every morning the students have to gather and listen to the day’s announcements. And the assembly starts at 7.30 am. Ha ha… I am late the first day of my Job…
But anyway , today is still exam day so I still have to look after the class. Looking after classes during exam is no fun at all. Not to mention its boring too. The hardest part is that one has to close an eye for students to cheat. Not that I want them to but I have no choice… you would understand wouldn’t you. =)
One particular incident worth mentioning is the cancellation of the Civic exam papers. It was the third paper that day to be tested but due to the unavailability of the papers, it is cancelled… Wow , imagine no exam just because of this reason. I am really afraid if the students will take it tooooo well and starts making noice during my class. This is because I have yet to prepared any lesson for them thinking everything has gone according to plan. To my surprise the students are not happy but they are not sad either when I broke the news to them. It seems like they are just… just? Anyways the paper after Civic was Arts… I had a tough time managing the class because Arts as we well know, is a very subjective subject . Students were gathering in groups to share colour pencils and water colours… WATER COLOURS ???!! Crap…. The floors are wet with water colours… well, what I did was I take unwanted newspaper and asked the students to soak the waters away. Thankfully it was done effectively.

Day 3 : Good Morning Sir ! – Part 3 (16/2/2006)

My first day teaching was not good at all… It is not because I did not prepare. I did prepare, in fact so much that it took the whole night of yesterday. The main problem with me is that I am a perfectionist. Any job given to me must be done is the best way possible.
Well, I can explain my problem better using the Theory of Normal Distribution. In this theory, it is stated that the level of intelligence is distributed among humans in the range that there will be people who are extremely clever ( Einstein ) and also people who are extremely ….mentally retarded? Anyways, these two groups of extremes are rare in nature and their numbers are lesser and lesser by the increase of the magnitude of intelligence.
In any class for an instance, there are students who are extremely good and students who are extremely bad. Well , in my case , I am unlucky enough to get all the ‘not so good’ classes. I think it is a form of bullying by the school =( .
When I teach, I actually want all of my students to listen and understand me fully. ( Fully here means they have no more doubt in that particular topic ) . The world is not perfect. Not only have I failed to make all the students understand what I taught, I did not get most of the students attention. The first 20 minutes was good. But after that, I am sweating all over, just hoping and wishing the students will give me chance by keeping quiet.
Luckily, they were quiet but I am beginning to wonder, will they continue to be quiet for the next 2 months? This thought kept me worried and occupied throughout the day.

Day 4 : Good Morning Sir ! – Part 4 (17/2/2006)

Its Friday !!!!! And i am thankful to God because he gave me strength to carry on even though I was extremely not motivated by the students yesterday. Enough said! Today’s class is very very simple…. I only have two periods of English classes , then , I am FREE !!
Weird isn’t it? I have to spend like 3 hours in the staff room doing nothing… Ha ha… guess its just the life of a teacher…
Today’s classes were oknia . I discussed their test papers today. Many students were not paying attention to me , but I am starting to let it go… Because of yesterday’s incident, I realized that even the best teacher in the world will not be able to get anything through to a student if that student does not want to take the initiative to learn. So, why bother?

2006-02-16T00:32:00.000-08:00

Day 1 : Good Morning Sir ! – Part 1 (14/2/2006 – Valentine’s Day)

The system has changed. Nowadays, applying for the temporary teacher post requires one to attend an interview in the Pejabat Pendidikan Daerah ( District Education Office ? ) . I was called for the interview on the 13/2/2006 ( Day 0 ) and gladly accepted the offer. When I arrived at PPD ( that’s what teachers call it anyway ) at 7.56 am, there was already an Indian girl waiting. I assumed she was just another person waiting to finish her urusan ( business ) with PPD but later, I found out that she was called for the interview too , like me.
But anyway, the interview was not easy. I was interviewed by some big shot with the title of Ketua Pendidikan Bahagian Bahasa . Contrary from what I believe, his English was superb, not to mention he spoke in some deep accent. Here are the questions : 1) Do you have any nasty (he pronounced it as nas – tea and not nest tea)
experience with any of your teachers?
2) Do you think what your teacher did was right?
3) Humiliation is a very subjective thing, can you tell me what is the limit to humiliation in the caning process?
4) Yes, what I meant was , at which level do you think it is not right to cane a student anymore? Standard 2 ? Form 4?
5) So you say Form 4. Does that mean its alright to cane a Form 3 student?
6) Do you take tuition? Name them and why?
7) So now lets talk about the emergence of tuition centers and tutors. Why do you think this phenomenon occur?
8) Does that mean that government school is not effective anymore?
9) Why do you think it is not effective anymore?
10) Have you heard of the voluntary fire brigade service?
11) Why do you think this service ? Is it necessary?
12) Let say there is this imaginary area… Supposedly, the government build a fire station to cover this area and the fire station fail to cover everything. Does that mean it is ineffective?
13) Is it not the same as government school? Schools fail to cater to every student’s needs thus tuition centers are built . Does that mean government schools are ineffective?

I think this interview is hard because one has to take into consideration who is asking this question. He is the big shot who is incharged of PPD. Remember?
After the interview, I was called to see another big shot who is incharged of teacher allocation process. He told me I passed the interview and asked me to hand me a letter signed by him.
“Cut your hair,” the big shot fellow said to me… I must admit, my hair was long. Imagine keeping your hair ‘uncut’ for 3 full months. Luckily no one was beside him or else I would be quite embarrassed.
The he continued , “You start work today, 14/2 until 14/4. 2 months is enough for you.”
When I am on my way to the car, I read the letter. It is a letter for the school’s principal. Which school again? What !! SMK BBR?? And what subject? ENGLISH !!! Dear God, why did I ever think of getting this job?

TB continue