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

Posting: More on JPN Briefing

   After spending 3 days at school, I am back. At home. Yes. Yes!

   Anyway, to continue the news on posting, I thought I'd write with more details on the JPN briefin. you people who hope to be posted to Kelantan may want to take note since the procedure and all might just be the same.

   The briefing was held at Dewan Bestari. Pink building. Next to an orange building. Ground floor. We signed our names before going into the hall. They did not ask for any documents. My friends Shima, Ipah and I wore blazers, just in case, but it wasn't really necessary. Parents were allowed to go into the hall, so my Mum sat with other parents at the back of the hall.

   The briefing started off with a long introductory speech from some important person. He spoke of thigs like how important our job was, how lucky we were to be placed in Kelantan since it's  so hard to get in, you get the idea. He also put a lot of emphasis on how ENGLISH teachers were placed in ONLY RURAL AREAS since we were needed there. He mentioned it a few times. In fact, pretty much everybody who spoke in front mentioned this little interesting fact. The first place they filled up with new teachers was the 'jajahan' (district) I was sent to. GUA MUSANG. Yeahhhhhh. Yay for me (coughs).

   The second speaker also spoke about similar things, after which he officiated  the ceremony. We were like, what??? Baru nak rasmi? Bila nak bagitau dapat sekolah mana ni? The secondary school people already knew where they were posted to, since the name of the school was listed beside their name when they registered. W primary school people fidgeted an sat on the edge of our seats, giggling nervously.  Thank goodness nobody went hysterical.

   Finally, they started calling our names. We went to the front, received our placement letters and our fates were sealed. From the 9 TESL girls from my training institute, 2 were placed in Gua Musang (guess who one of them was. I'll give you some sweeties if you get it right), 1 in Jeli and the other 6 in Kuala  Krai.

   After that, they called out the names of the schools and the Heads of each school came out to meet their new family member(s). Two of my friends were posted to the same school! Lucky them. My Head didn't come (okay that sentence makes me wanna crack up), but the PK HEM (Senior Assistant Teacher for Student Affairs) did, and he was (and is) a very, very nice man. He's in his fifties, and is going to  retire in about 3 years, I think. Mr L. Mum came and sat with us, and he kept telling her not to worry, that SKST (my school) was the safest, most comfortable school there is. He said, "Oghe2 situ jughus2 blako." (The people there are nice people). Did I mention that Mr. L is Chinese? And that he speaks using the Kelantanese accent when he speaks in Malay? Yeah.

   There was also a short briefing on Badan Ehsan or Ihsan, but I couldn't hear much because the hall was so noisy, with everybody being excited on getting their new schools. What I did hear was that new teachers should register, because they have some sort of donation(?) for new teachers who are posted to places like Gua Musang and need money and stuff. I'm not sure if I heard  about this correctly. I will try  to find out more and share with  you.

   One more briefing was on the Plan Pembangunan Guru Baru. This was some new programme they came up with in order to get new teachers oriented to their school, as well as to monitor them to make sure we're doing our job. I still don't know much about it, but when I do, I will tell you more about it.

   That's it for now. TTFN!

Posting: JPN Briefing

   I'm tired, so I'll only write a bit. In short:

   -Kelantan received 74 new teachers today

   -the Heads or their representatives were there to welcome the new member(s) of each school

   - the new English teachers were all posted to either one of these 3 districts: Kuala Krai, Gua Musang or Jeli

   - we received our memo/placement letter (surat penempatan). The offer letter (surat tawaran kerja) will only be ready after 2 weeks

   What? You want know where I've been sent to?

   Gua Musang. Hehe.