Day 1: The Introduction

Assalamualaikum

Yes. Finally. I am blogging, again. This time around, no more procrastination. I was thinking to blog and straight away switched the laptop on and started rambling. :)

Anyway, Today was my first day of working. I just had my Commencement Day last week and alhamdulillah I was offered to be a temporary teacher for 2 months plus. Why is it temporary? Another post to discuss another matter. Soon, In sya Allah.

So,how was my first day, you may ask. Which school you attend? It is a secondary school in Kuala Lumpur. A girl school to be exact. I had several experiences of teaching before. I first started to teach after my Matriculation studies (back in 2009), then I did my practical teaching in Taiping, Perak last October and I also did tutor (home tuition) for quite some times. So, this time around, I prepared myself both physically and emotionally to execute this job because I have first emancipated several possibilities. What sorts of possibilities? Extra relief classes, extra additional works and off course, students' antics. That is why I could still smile tho my first day was hectic enough. HAHA.

Okay, I had such an interesting first day. Early in the morning, once I stepped my feet into the office to punch my card, most of teachers there were smiling happily. I know why! Because the 'savior' had just arrived to save their world. You still don't get it, do you? LOL. Because of the lacking of teachers, most of the teachers there have to do extra works. Abundance of class relief, teaching for extra hours etc. So,when this innocent girl entered the school, off course they were happy. Man, this scares me, literally. But, relax chill lah, I need to have faith in me that I can endure this. Don't look down on my small body. jyeahhhh. In sya Allah. *praying*

So, the next thing  I had to do was to enter a Form 2 class. Oh, I forgot to mention. I am taking over four classes of Bahasa Malaysia; 2A, 2B, 3D and 3E. Today I only entered both 2A and 3E. When I first entered 2A, all the students were taken aback to see me. They stopped for a while when rythmically wished me good morning.

"Selamat pagi, ....."

The Class Monitor then whispered to me "Cikgu, apa nama cikgu?"

I then explained to them my 3 simple rules. Whenever I enter their class, I would command them three times. When I say ONE, they have to check for their class cleanliness which means they have to quickly make sure the class is perfectly cleaned. When I say TWO, they have to get all books needed and stationery on their tables and when I say THREE, they will reply 'AWESOME!' indicating that they are ready for the class.

Well, I did expect that they will be like "what are you trying to do, teacher? This is ridiculous!" But hey, they were very happy and even asked me to rehearse several times. Such a cute bunch of students. :) Today I taught them Ringkasan Bahasa Melayu. Alhamdulillah, my Bahasa skills were still there to assist me. Thank you to my school teachers who had been devotedly teaching me when I was in school. *blessed*

Then after recess time I entered 3E to give them Latih Tubi PMR since their PMR is commencing soon. Dealing with 15 years old students is never easy when you start to boss around because these children obviously are growing up and they don't like teachers who love to act like teachers, you know what I mean? They don't prefer teachers who enter class and start to direct them to do things without acknowledging their interests. So, before I began the class, I asked for their condition, and opened up a space for them to ask me ANYTHING. I restricted 5 questions only to be asked and there you go, they really asked ANYTHING.

"Cikgu ni artis ke? Cantiklah cikgu"

"Cikgu single? Kenapa tak kahwin lagi? Bila nak kahwin?"

"Umur cikgu berapa?"

All questions asked were personal ones. EXPECTED.

This one student asked me:

"Cikgu, apakah impian cikgu?" WOW. good one at the right time.

Confidently I answered "Impian saya ialah mempunyai pelajar-pelajar comel yang menjaga perangai mereka di dalam kelas, menyiapkan tugasan yang diberi serta tidak membuatkan saya tertekan dengan kerenah mereka". The whole class were hushed by that. The girls at the back nodded their heads and said "In Sya Allah, cikgu" YEAHHH..you have to! "Ini impian saya tau, IMPIAN. Maka, awak semua kena tolong realisasikan. I can be a good friend but a very bad enemy". Done scaring them. :D

During the answer checking after the students were done answering the exercises given, some Malay students were laughing at two Chinese students for answering wrongly. Even though they meant no insult, I did not like what they did and went saying

"Cuba saya hantar awak pergi sekolah cina, awak rasa awak boleh cepat pandai cakap Bahasa Cina macam mana pelajar-pelajar Cina ni boleh cepat belajar cakap Bahasa Melayu?"

They became silent.

"Ha..sebab tu lah, awak kenalah saling membantu, awak gelakkan buat apa, tak baik macam tu. Okay?"

They nodded and apologized. Good.

I also had to relief a Form 4 class today. Mrs. A, my colleague had first warned me that the students from the class are notorious ones so she advised me to be extra patient. I nodded and quickly climbed up the staircase to the class. When I reached the class, no one was in the class tho I arrived few minutes early. I glanced on my right and I saw a group of students were walking towards the staircases to go back home. I shouted: "Awak semua ni kelas mana? 4KP?", With faces like scalded cats, they nodded and I said: "Oh, berani ye nak balik rumah? Masuk kelas sekarang!" while pointing my fingers to their class. All of them dragged their feet and murmured to class. HAHA. I got you!

Since they did not look ready for the class (it was 12.30 pm where students' energy level usually fluctuates), I decided to teach them not based on their book. It was an English class so I  grabbed the chance to teach them pronunciation (distinctions between American and British pronunciations) and motivate them about the pertinence of English Language. Well, the students especially a group of Chinese students were not intrigued by it at first. I still remember a student who sat like a 'taiko' at the back of the class with a look of a famished lion. She started to speak in Mandarin whenever I was done saying something. Their reactions started to change when I motivated them about the pertinence of English Language. The facts I shared about myself being so dumb in English back in school, that I am not from a wealthy family, that I used to hate the subject before, that was when they started to listen attentively and almost forgot it was the time for them to go back home. The students who first sat like a taiko asked me:


"Teacher, you got go to special English class, meh?"

"No, dear."

"My father said English class out there is ELEGANT worrr"

"WHAT? Elegant? What do you mean by that?"

"Haiya, I don't know la teacher. My father said one worr, very ELEGANT. One year have to pay like RM10,000 worr"

"Oh, you mean, EXPENSIVE? MAHAL?"

(smiling shyly) "HA..ya lor. That one"

The fact that she tried to speak with me is enough to make me smile. These kids are a group of curious students. They would love to discover the world but they probably have a very limited chance and space. It is where the teacher has to come into action and supply them with that chances. Honestly, I am still learning to be such a devoted teacher.

At the end of the class when other students had left the class, the Chinese girl and her friend approached me.

"Teacher, how to be good with pro..pro...pronunsesyen?"

"Pronunciation"

"Ha..yeah. I like to listen to you worr. How meh to say like that?"

"Okay, next time, you can bring your dictionary and find me in Bilik Guru, I will teach you how to read transcriptions in dictionary. they teach you how to pronounce words correctly"

(smiling wildly) "Okay, teacher. Monday I bring and see you, you teach me how"

"Sure thing, no problem!"

She then happily left the class when I wished her "zai jian" which means goodbye in Mandarin.

Colorful first day, eh?

I pray to Allah that my service here would end good and that I could inspire students to excel and appreciate hardships their parents have to go through to send them to school. I know this is not an easy task since students' interest to learn fluctuates according to their atmospheres, but I know even better that it is never impossible. in Sya Allah.

Pheww.. I need a good weekend. Shall spend my time in the park tomorrow morning for a healthy Saturday.  A teacher has to be fit too! Let's join me!