*SwEeT MemOriE$*~ =): My First Year of Teaching

*Me and my AWESOME collab :D*

*copied from my FB status; modified just a little bit :)*

17 of November 2013 marks the end of my first year of teaching! Alhamdulillah, and HOORAAY! :D
Thanks to all who have given me support, advice and encouragement throughout the year! Especially to Him, my family, friends and Definitely my AMAZING collab Farihah :) Couldn't have done it without you! Thank you for listening to my ranting especially when some kids demands a slap from us haha Thank God we didn't! XD

Time really flies sooo quickly, even though within the year we did felt like it was FOREVER (aaahh cepatlah weekend. But then, weekend ni ade PGDE. Ade LADAP. Ade extra class. Ade.. I WANT TO SLEEP) But then again, when we had our celebratory dinner, we felt like wow, the year is over already! :) (and we made it, somehow. haha XD)

What I felt when I started the year teaching English and Sejarah form 4 was anxiety, excitement, nervousness, optimism and so many more emotions bundled up together! I completely had no clue on how to teach Sejarah (History) because it was my LEAST favourite subject in school. Andd thenn I realized that teaching language is no easy task either; you may be able to speak a language fluently, but teaching it is a whole new level!

I honestly felt like we were being given a dagger, and maybe a biscuit-tin's lid as a shield and being thrown into a battlefield hearing the leader saying 'Okay go fight the ENEMIES! Goodbye now!' WHAT WHAT WAIT!!! XD

It's definitely a DO or DIE situation (well not that dramatic perhaps). With a dagger and a biscuit-tin's lid as a shield, you learn to fight by upgrading your weaponry, and constantly adapting to the environment. Learning the moves of your opponent. Learning how to create new weapons and shields to increase your offense and defense.

That, is what a teacher does.

Well, that is what a passionate and dedicated teacher does. (silalah terasa bahaha) Teaching is NEVER the same, and you constantly change the way you teach, what you teach, and it even differs between classes, within A DAY! Everyday is a new battle, a new strategy. In a day, your success and failures, your emotions are constantly on a roller-coaster ride. You might feel like 'I pulled it off just now! Alhamdulillah :)' in one class, and then when you walk into another class you go 'WHY U KIDS NO LISTEN??'

Going into teaching, my respect for my school teacher sky-rocketed. Teachers are definitely UNDERRATED! With so many things aside from teaching the wonderful-sometimes-horrible kids that the teachers have to do, they even have time to go back home, cook EVERYDAY for their children, send them to school, take care of them when they are sick, etc. I don't even have a family yet and I couldn't even find some time for myself!
Thank you so much for teaching me for all those years, my dear teachers :)

Long and behold, I noticed that Sejarah was actually easier to teach compared to English because it was content-based. Anddd I am still almost absolutely CLUELESS on how to teach English effectively! (well, time to do research over these few weeks! XD)

I could go on and on about all the experiences I have gained throughout the year, but there are definitely a few ups and downs during the year;

DOWNS:
- There are still a few kids who skips classes, who seldom comes to school. And because of that they are behind their studies.
- I have yet to be able to completely control my roudy-naughty class or kids.
- A fight did break out in one of my classes which I could have prevented had I been more attentive.
- There are a WHOLE bunch of kids who are absolutely compliant, they do all their work, they do not cause any ruckus or disruption in class, but still could not pass their exams :'( *heart-broken*
- Then there are these other bunch of kids who are smart and capable of so much more. Because they skip classes, do not come to school often, they could not do as well as they should in exams or even in class :(
- Still getting empty papers for History exam. T_T (though not many, but still..)
- Watching a few intelligent kids start to laze around because of his friends. Wasting his true potential and perhaps his future :'(

UPS:
- Other teachers in school are very supportive, and shares SO MANY valuable experiences and strategies I could use for my classes :)
- It might have been tough, but kids are starting to speak in English regardless of the funny mistakes XD
- Kids laugh at me when they hear me say certain things in English which sounded funny to them. And theennn they start to say it too. ISH! :P
- I am taken completely by surprise when kids start to tell me: cikgu ajar Sejarah best! Senang faham! (it's fun when YOU teach History! We understand well :D) -WHAT SORCERY HAVE I DONE?? (but still, Alhamdulillah XD)
- There is a quite reprimanding and pessimistic culture within the kids, where if they were rooting for their friends in a sports competition, they would reprimand the other team to bring their morale down. But when my collab and I started shouting positive encouragement to OUR team, the kids start to follow almost INSTANTLY. *One or two person could make all the difference :)*
- On one of those days when I have COMPLETELY lost my voice, and I still came to school to teach (using body language alone to teach, btw), I stepped into my most roudy History class which had a lot of boys. Anticipating a complete failure and a out-of-control class because I did not have my voice, I still started teaching.
To my surprise, the ROUDY and LOUD boys KNEW all the class procedures and how I would usually teach, and STILL participated even without the presence of my voice: I wrote down the questions on board (I usually just ask with my VOICE :P) and they write the answer on the mini whiteboards. After the count of ten, they lift the answers up. If they get it right, their group gets a point. Most of them are in their seats, answering questions. And to my surprise, one of the most roudy kids (who sometimes walk around in class WHILE I TEACH) came up front and even helped me to read out the questions, knowing that I lost my voice :') This boy even helped me throughout the class to get the class's attention when they sometimes start to lose their focus.
*Teacher WIN with student's help :')*

*Happily playing BEFORE an exam. XD*

- Some students who usually sleeps through the exam, or did not do the English essays because it is too hard for them stays awake throughout exams, tries to write as much as possible. Kids start to tell me that they had ideas, but was only able to write a paragraph because there was not enough time or they had a hard time translating. Even then, they are starting to TRY and not just throw the paper away and give up. :')

*ahh silly little kids. Me love you anyways :D*

- Remember that kid who walks around while I teach History? He did not do well in his History end of year exam, but to my surprise, ALL his answers (even though incorrect) were still IN CONTEXT. Compared to his peers who wrote nonsense like BN and PAS for pengaruh politik di dalam piagam Madinah, his answers were still logical and within the History scope! *There's still hope :')*
- Kids from my English classes still wants me to teach them next year (because there's a possibility that we might not get the same bunch of kids *cries*) despite me being CLUELESS in their classes :P
- Those kids who are very quiet and complacent students in class, actually told me that 'cikgu kalau cikgu tak ajar tahun depan kita mogok, rebel, tunjuk perasaan!' Another very SWEET student told me that she would write a letter to the principal or the MOE department if I do not teach her next year. *WHAT HAVE I DONE? XD*

*Sweet 4S3 girls :D*

Nurain, Zarifah, Maisarah, Haniza, Adilah, Nadiah, Anis and Aina!

- Kids sighing or started to panic when I said I might not teach them next year. Some even said 'Humph klu camtu CONFIRM FAIL' ahhh you silly little kids. I still love you though XD
- Some kids in 4K1 class (which is one of the back classes) actually scored BETTER in kids in the upper classes! GOOD JOB KIDS! :D

*They passed Sejarah! HOORAYY!! XD*

- Witnessed a 10-25 marks increase in History for one of my classes when they compared their marks to their mid-year exam. Happy teacher is happy :')

*They got keychains from LONDON due to their increase! :D*

All in all, I am still LEARNING and improving my offense and defense :) Teaching is also a learning process in itself.
I am honestly excited and looking forward to my second year of teaching! There is so much room for improvement, and so many more things to explore and knowledge to gain :) Insya-Allah, I will do my best for the upcoming year.

Thank you kids for this wonderful year :')