My Duties at SKST

   Assalamualaikum and hello,  everyone! I'm sorry that I have neglected this blog for so long. I've been meaning to post about so many things, but these days I don't go online much, and if i log on to Blogger I only manage to look at the list of recent posts by the blogs that I follow. I usually spend what time I have resting... hehe.

   Anyway, since I can't spend a lot of time here, I thought I'd share a list of my duties and responsibilities at SKST:

1. Teaching English to Primary 2D, 3Z and 5Z
   - Teaching 2D means following the latest syllabus which is KSSR. I'll be honest and say I still have not much of an idea of what to do
   - 3Z is a good class, but only a third or even a quarter are proficient enough to follow instructions in English.
   - 5Z is also a good class, and since they'e going to face UPSR next year, I have to really prep them up for it.

2. Class teacher for 5Z
   - recording the class attendance everyday
   - updating their personal files, which is quite a lot of work.

3. Supervising teacher for English Language Society
   - I have to help plan activities for this year. Help!

4. Supervising teacher for Pergerakan Puteri Islam Malaysia
   - also have to plan activities for this.

5. Netball coach (gulp)
   - So far there has only been 1 meeting, ,and apparently this school has never really had any achievements in netball- they're more into hockey

6. Penyelaras LDP (Latihan Dalam Perkhidmatan)
   - I was appointed by the Head a few weeks ago, but so far I haven't had to do anything. I'm supposed to be taking this task from another teacher, who said he'll explain what I have to do

7. Setiausaha Unit Keselamatan
   - I have to make a 'Buku Pengurusan' for the unit.


   There's more, which I'll add later. TTFN.

Plan Pembangunan Guru Baru

   Last week, I found myself at Pejabat Pendidikan Daerah (PPD) Gua Musang for a briefing on PPGB that I'd already attended on 16th January. It's a long story, but basically the briefing was ssupposed to be for KPLI teachers who were posted in October last year, and somehow missed being briefed about the programme.

   However, it was a good thing that I was there as I managed to gather some more input on what to do. When I was at the JPN briefing, I didn't hear much because the hall was buzzing with noise and excitement.

   Another good thing about the briefing was that I had the chance to meet up with a good friend (my IPG-IIUM classmate for 6 years!), B, who was also posted to a school in GM. It was fun listening to her describe what she's going through (her school is further in than mine- in fact she has to take a boat to get there, which takes about an hour o so!). I'm sure Allah will reward her for her work and patience. It's no easy matter, surviving in the place where she is now. She also happens to be the only female teacher at her small school i feel for her, and I hope we get to meet again soon since we're the only 2 from my class who go posted to GM.

   Back to PPGB. Apparently, PPGB (Plan Pembangunan Guru Baru) is a new programme which the developed to observe and keep track of the new teachers. There have been stories where new teachers had not written in his record book for 6 months or so, arrived at school late, and much more. The pilot programme was conducted in 2010, and was found to be successful, so they decided to launch it in 2011.

   The briefing was small, there were about 28 (I think) KPLI teachers and 3 'sesat, newly-posted-on-January-16th-and-not-supposed-to-be-there-because-they'd already-gone-to-the-briefing' teachers- me, B and her colleague from school, a preschool teacher.

   This is a brief account of what I gathered from the briefing:
 
1. You can find out more about PPGB by downloading the PPGB module from the link below. I couldn't connect to the link given to us during the briefing, so I did a search online and found these links at PPD Jeli's site. It's the same thing for all new teachers, so you can use the links to download the module:

PPD JELI: Plan Pembangunan Guru Baharu

DOWNLOAD LINK: MODULE CONTENTS

DOWNLOAD LINK: PPGB MODULE

   The documents are in Bahasa Melayu. You can right click on the 'DOWNLOAD LINKS' and click on 'save as' to straight away download the documents.


2. Basically, new teachers have to go through PPGB for 1 year. It's an important requirement for getting your post confirmed (syarat pengesahan jawatan). People from each PPD will observe the teachers in the schools within their district. I took this to mean that they'll start dropping surprise visits sometime soon. Scary! What's important is that you need to always be prepared.

3. New teachers have to prepare a portfolio. A thick-practicum-in-likeliness portfolio. Our office-in-charge En. Z who is from the Unit Latihan at JPN Kelantan took the liberty of taking photos of one of the (almost) best folio from last year, so that we'd have a good idea of what we're supposed to put in our folios. I think it's a valiant effort and most certainly helpful for us! You have to compile all the documents in a ring file, and that's your portfolio. Tada! Easy. Uh-huh.

4. Each new teacher must have a mentor of his or her own. The mentor must be a senior teacher- and senior here means that the teacher has been teaching for several years. New teachers, albeit ones who have only been in service for one or two years cannot be mentors. The mentor will be responsible for doing most of the observations on your teaching, as well guiding you throughout the year.

You MUST ask the school to prepare an APPOINTMENT LETTER for your mentor, and a copy of the letter must be faxed to the officer-in-charge as well as included in your portfolio. A sample of the letter required is included in the attachments section (bahagian lampiran di belakang) in the module.

5. Schools are advised to appoint a New Teachers Committee to make sure the programme runs smoothly. I need to find out more about this. I will get back to it when I have.

6. You have to be observed during teaching (dicerap), and it's advised that the observation is done at least once a month. The observation will probably be carried out by your mentor, but you can actually ask any senior teachers, including the PKs and the GB to do it.

7. You must keep your portfolios with you at all times (or anyway, make sure you bring it to school). You're not supposed to leave it at your PPD o JPN or school when PPGb is over. This is what the officer told us. This is because if people (as in BPG officers, I suppose) come and ask to see it, you can show it to them. You do have to hand it in to your GB at the end of the programme, so that he/she can evaluate it. The GB has to produce a written statement (in simple words: a letter) which states whether he/she is satisfied with your work and whether it is satisfactory for your post as a teacher to be confirmed.

8. You have to fill some form online. Here's the link:

LINK to E-PELAPORAN PPGB

   And that's it! Whew. I'm sorry for any odd sentences, I was struggling to find the best way to explain things. I hope it helps you somehow.

   Have a good weekend. I only have one day off tomorrow- Saturday's a school day to make up for the CNY holidays. Take care and be happy, whatever happens! :)

My Pupils - 2D

   I enter smiling.

   I leave ten years older.

   2D. Everyday after leaving their class, I'd sit back and stare into the air, thinking of how and what i could possibly do to manage them. They are a handful. No, I take that back. They are a hundred handfuls! (If that makes sense). I'm too tired to write a detailed story on them, but here's a few details tat might help you picture what they're like:

   1. They walk on the desks. Yes. When I'm in class. I can't chase them around in case they trip and fall. They're nimble too. They run around on the desks as if it's what they do everyday. Wait. They do do it everyday.

   2. One boy (WMDA) treats me like... well, like I'm not his teacher. He hangs on to my hands as if they're branches. He just will NOT listen to what I say. He likes to pretend that he's sick and exaggerates and puts on acts all the time. Sometimes it's funny. At times.... arrrggghh!!!! His books are clean as slates. He has done any work at all. He cheeks me.

   3. One girl (H) is a bit strange. Some teachers call her 'special'. Well, some of the special things she's been doing in my class:
- going through my stuff without asking for permission
- walking on the desks, and running away from me (nimbly too!) when I try to catch her. I'm just afraid that she'll fall and hurt herself.
- following me around after class, and when I tell her to go back to class, she sticks her tongue out at me
- these few days, she's been dabbing paint on her hands and going around trying to dab paint on everyone else. One day I caught her going around the class, intending to dab blobs of paint on every desk. I caught her before she managed to complete this interesting ritual. Every time she dabs paint on her hand, I have to drag her to the toilet and help her clean them off, because she also puts them on her lips and I'm afraid she'd swallow them. She gets paint on her clothes, tudung, kain. She seems to enjoy the ritual of dabbing paint on her hands and having me to take her to the toilet to help her wash them. Every time we go to the toilet, half the class would tag along. This morning, I ended up singing "This is the way we wash our hands, wash our hands, wash our hands" with them. At the girl's toilet.
- She hasn't quite developed... well, any embarrassment. She lifts her kain, showing her (thankfully) shorts underneath. Thank goodness for her shorts. She keeps pulling off her tudung too.
- For the most part of my classes, I run after her. During the last fifteen minutes or so, after I've manged to 'catch' her, I'd make her read or write or do something, and she does them all surprisingly well.

4. As soon as they see me come in, they'd either ignore me or start running around. They shout, kick each other, jump on the table at the back of the class, play with the brooms, and they find it fun to kick just about everything they can get their hands on. Crushed tin cans (new ones everyone I enter), bottle caps, erasers, even crumpled up paper.

5. There's no table for the teacher in their class. instead, there's this trolley with a vase on it. Today, they climbed up ad began pushing each other around.

6. While I'm teaching or looking at some pupil's work in front, half the class is either running around at the back or running in and our of the class.

7. I've tried the Silent Treatment. Only worked for a few minutes. I've tried shouting, scolding. They're not afraid of me. I try coaxing, bu I have to do it pupil by pupil. It works, but while I do it, they others kick up chaos around the class.

8. Nearly everyday, at least one kid will cry. They don't cry silently. It's usually an all-out, I-want-everybody-to-know-that-I've-been-wronged sort of crying.

   And yet, even with all that, I still want  to find a way to make them interested to learn. I've found some to be such sweethearts, and in the two weeks  that I've been with them, most have started doing their work. They still run around and fight, but at least I go back with books filled with some written work. At least I know that a few can read. They're just kids, most come from difficult family backgrounds. They need my help.

   I didn't write all of this with the intention of complaining. I just want you to know that being a teacher, especially when you're just starting out, is not easy. If you're going through difficulties in managing your class, know that you'e not alone. Know that other teachers face problems too. Know that you will one day work them out, though you may have to work (really, really) hard to do it.

   I have such a long way to go. I don't know how I'll manage to cope with 2D but for now I won't stop trying. I want people to stop saying, "2D? Ahh... they've always been like that." "Unmanageable." "Hard to get through to." And the lot.

   2D.

   *collapses in exhaustion

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Thanks for letting me use it, Lela! ;)