it has been a daily routine, where at 1.30pm when the bell rings,
students (and teachers) rush out of the classrooms.
students will either make their way to the canteen or the school bus bay, and teachers will glide their way to the staff room to meet long lost colleagues that they havent met for the past two hours.

and the thought-sharing session starts.

herman and i teach the same primary 4 class.
he teaches maths and english while i teach malay.
so we tell each other stories on the same batch of students.

a few days back, the primary 4 and 5 classes had their camp briefing in the hall.
they were elated over the camp - sleepovers, night walks and of course, the campfire night.

have you guys been on a camp?
where there'll be a big campfire in the middle and campers start to hold hand and sing camp songs?

for those who havent, here's a rough idea of how a campfire is supposed to look like:



yes, big BIIIIGGGGGGG fire.
during the briefing, the kiddos were reminded that it will not be some small-barbeque-by-the-beach-fire where you can panggang your sausages and prawns.

and then this kid, called ramdhan, asked herman an interesting question.



"mr herman ah? i can bring my own marshmallows or not?"



i can visualise herman putting ramdhan through a stick like the picture aforementioned.

and i feel like squeezing ramdhan until his jucies come out. so cute la he.

18 May 2009

Index No: 61

Nur Amira Aminnudin
Blk _____
Jurong West Street 73
Singapore __________

NRIC No: S880________

This is to inform you that you have met the minimum requirements of the Malay Entrance Proficiency Test conducted by the RELC Examinations Bureau in full, you have passed the EPT. Validity of results: 4 years











ternyata Bahasa Melayu saya belum karat lagi (:

my student's dad passed away this morning.
he was only 37, the sole breadwinner of the family,
and left behind a caring wife and two young kids.

i dont know why i was tearing,
and i dont know why i was affected so much by the news.

maybe it's because, my student is only 9.

To: all_corporation_pri@moe.edu.sg

Dear all,

Attached is the itinerary for the Batam trip and the list of the things which you have to bring. I have attached a staff list beside the attendance book which you have to indicate if you are taking the transport from CPS to Harbourfront on 30 May 2009 at 7.30am. If you are not taking the transport, please be punctual and reach Harbourfront by 8am sharp. Thank you.

Regards,
Ms Siah & SWC (2009)

then dlm hati i was thinking, "wah! ni dh mcm school camp dulu! got list of things to bring!"

so i excitedly opened the attachment.

Corporation Primary School
Batam Trip
30 May 2009- 31 May 2009

Things to Bring:
•Thermometer
•Personal Medication
•Passport

Thank you.

By,
SWC (2009)

yek eleh! i thought they were gonna ask us to bring two packs of disposable underwear, or maybe a black shirt or something, just in case there'll be water bomb games.

and this is where we'll be staying.
and me being a singaporean, i actually googled for reviews on the hotel.



golden view hotel: "a four-star hotel with six-star service!"

it'd better be good. i've paid $30 for the trip okay!
the itinerary was attached together.
sounds and looks really promising.
being the spendthrift that i am (sadly!), im not sure whether 711,542.80 IDR is enough.
hakimbo, i need your help on this?

i've not had a proper outing for the longest time, in my humble opinion.
i even have nightmares about school and my students nowadays.
with parent-teacher meeting scheduled this week, and the report book-handling due next monday,
i just wish that my observation would end soon, and then the beginning teachers from NIE are able to take over my classes.

like really, i dont mind doing relief for teachers who are FREQUENTLY absent.
tsk. not only is the absenteeism rate for students is high. same goes for the teachers too.
remind me not to be posted back to this school ever again. but its too early to even say anything, heh.

i'll end off with this:

"cikgu, seluar dalam dgn pampers kata seerti tk?"

the perks of being a teacher keeps me going.

today i gave my primary threes groupwork activities.
in groups of 9, they're supposed to come up with as many pairs of antonyms within fifteen minutes.
no copying, no questions to be asked.

so while i was "doing my rounds", this small boy, almost skin-and-bones, i think, came up to me enthusiastically (kumpulan yang menang akan mendapat pelekat bintang tau!).

"cikgu, aircon dengan kipas kata berlawan tk?"
(teacher, are aircon and fan antonyms?)

i gave him a glare and he sighed.

"nmpk sah tk. penat seh saya fikir!"
(obviously not. im exhausted thinking abt it!)

few minutes after that,
he came up to me again.

"cikgu! telinga dgn telinga gajah kata berlawan tk?"
(teacher, are ears and elephant ears antonyms?)

i gave him the glare again, but this time, it was his groupmates who answered him,
"jgn jadi bodoh la! sejak bila cikgu ajar kita telinga dgn telinga gajah!"
(dont be stupid la! since when did teacher teach us that!)

finally one minute before i ended the activity,
"CIKGU! jam dgn ban kata berlawan tk!" and he dashed his question with a cheeky grin.

aku campak jamban nanti aru kau tau eh, budak kecik.

i sprang out of bed, greeted the chirping of the birds with a positive note.
my face still carved a subtle smile although i had to literally drag my big bag of exam papers, with almost 2kg of weight to boot.

i walked to school even though i was perspiring my ass off.

i was excited - for my 9 and 10-year olds,
who were anticipating their exam results today.

a bit of background information:
this batch of kids im teaching, never had a solid foundation in malay.
speaking was never a problem, but writing proved to be a living challenge.

and this, i have to admit, was (and still is) a culture shock to me.

i made it through my primary and secondary school days surrounded with friends with powerful grasps of the mother tongue language (read: swissies, jypians).
everything was a competition. one mark less than the partner sitting next to you would mean two periods of staring at each other's papers - as if staring can change anything.

but it's the competition that bonded us together and made us succeed in the language.
true, no?

for my kids, getting a 25/50 for the main component of the paper deserved a big pat on the back.
initially i was angry - angry that they aimed so low to be happy about their minimal results.

but humans err.
as i spent more time with my students, i realised their problems and their easily-contented attitude.

i learn from them, as much as they learn from what i teach.

okay, i've digressed. back to the topic!

this morning, i stood in front of the class, studying each and every one of their faces while i announced their results.
quite a few improved and the glee on their faces were apparent.
this particular student of mine (name withheld as he's minor) got a 26/50 for the main paper.
the paper was average, not too difficult nor too easy.

he couldnt stop smiling the whole time i was in class.
i was curious so i walked over to his vandalised (kurang asam btol!) desk and asked,

"awak suka dapat 26? ni pertama kali awak lulus?"
(are you happy with your results? is this the first time you passed?)

he nodded his head profusely and shone me his glistening smile.

"cikgu, ni first time dlm hidup saya, saya pass subject. thank you."

i smiled and turned behind. i was tearing. kental ah mira sikit2 nk nangis.
and thank god, the bell rang.
i sped out of class with tears streaming down my fat cheeks.

no, not that i wanna claim credit for my students' success or anything,
but i never knew someone who took 26/50 to be a milestone in their academic life.

this, convinced me to stay as a teacher.
eh no. an educator.

the primary five kids were asked to write a narrative story on "rojak" during the may day weekend.

im not even teaching them but i was asked to mark the compositions?
(this one i'll mengadu nasib next time!)

anyway, marking their compositions cracked me up totally.
this kid, classic!
he wrote about going to Geylang to shop with the family, eat rojak together (all the boring details), tummyache, sent to hospital because of food poisoning, last paragraph.....

....."saya sedih kerana dijangkiti flu babi."

pe kena mengena flu babi ngan rojak ni?

this girl, she started her composition promisingly, armed with powerful vocabulary and what-nots,
sekali...

... rojak yang zalim.

so out of the blue! jahat btol rojak tu agaknye!

okay done. students sitting for exams but i feel lethargic.
best, sleep yok!

movie: $16



aimless window-shopping: $0



dinner: $17.80



time spent: priceless



love love.