SALAM EIDILFITRI AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS

It's a few days towards Eidilfitri. It'd be my third celebration of the Eid, God willing.
Therefore, I'd like to take the opportunity to wish all our Muslim friends and readers a blessed Eidilfitri, maaf zahir & batin. Also to all tesolians, regardless of race and religion, please forgive me if there's any words or deeds done intentionally or unintentionally which have caused hurt or anger throughout our 3 years' course. To err is human, to forgive divine.
Have a great time with your family and friends. Enjoy makan-makan.
Sorry Reggie, no Raya open-house this year. I'm still staying in the 'pigeon hole' and still looking for better accommodation. Also still under medication for my 'sakit puan' laa.. God willing, will have a grand open-house next year, just for tesolians, hehehee..
See you all after the festive break!
Till then take care.. drive carefully..cheerio :))

REGGIE ONLINE

Reggie said...
Thanks Boon Yew! I feel much better coz u did the same thing oso... haha...Now who's notty, huh? To Meena, kesian la the boy. You know wat, maybe the boy has kleptomania (is a complex disorder characterized by repeated, failed attempts to stop stealing). Must take him to see doctor first before expelled him from school...
Calvin, ISA stands for Ikut Suka Aku... I think we have to be extra careful when we send our comments in this blog... Silap hari masuk jail...hahaha... Erm... did i say anything wrong???
Aliya, I oso want to get away from school... Any courses pun jadila. As long as i dont stay in the school...heheBtw, to all my Muslim friends, I want to wish all of you 'Selamat Hari Raya, Kepada Saudara serta saudari... setahun hanya sekali..merayakan hari yang mulia ini... selamat Hari raya......"
Ermm... takda rumah terbuka ke?

2009 SCHOOL SESSION

Hi everyone!
Just found out that school session 2009 starts on January 4th for Kedah, Kelantan & Trengganu while for other states, it's on 5th January.
Here's the news:

SESSI PERSEKOLAHAN TAHUN 2009
KUALA LUMPUR 24 Sept. — Sesi persekolahan untuk tahun depan bagi negeri Kedah, Kelantan dan Terengganu akan bermula pada 4 Jan manakala bagi negeri-negeri lain adalah pada hari berikutnya.Menurut kenyataan

Kementerian Pelajaran mengenai kalendar persekolahan tahun depan, penggal pertama bagi sekolah-sekolah di Kedah, Kelantan dan Terengganu ialah dari 13 Mac hingga 21 Mac,
cuti pertengahan tahun dari 29 Mei hingga 13 Jun,
cuti penggal kedua 21 Ogos hingga 29 Ogos, dan
cuti akhir tahun dari 20 Nov hingga 2 Jan 2010.

Bagi negeri-negeri lain,
cuti penggal pertama bermula 14 Mac hingga 22 Mac;
pertengahan tahun 30 Mei hingga 14 Jun;
penggal kedua 22 Ogos hingga 30 Ogos, dan
cuti akhir tahun dari 21 Nov hingga 3 Jan 2010.

Menurut kementerian itu, jumlah hari persekolahan termasuk cuti am tahun depan ialah sebanyak 208 hari.— BERNAMA
Source from http://www.utusan.com.my/ 24/9/2008

So friends, what are you waiting for?
Time to plan your 2009 vacation, your wedding, also your next pregnancy & delivery date, hehehe :))

SUPPRESSION?

Boon Yew said...
Aliya dear, this is no promotion but suppresion!!!All english classes are dominated by senior teachers in my school so much so that I've to teach KH.There is tendency of these teacher to sideline newcomers. They raises a wall between themselves and other 'outsiders'. Psychological pressure does not merely come from students but from this group of teachers too. They are the ones who will get first hand news, decide among themselves then announce. Their clout over the HM is rather impressive too.These are my laments...I tahan.... tahan.... tahan....

Aliya: Wahh so teruk ahh? Lucky thing my Big Boss and 2nd Boss are fair, no pilih2 kasih. All teachers can approach them anytime to talk, ask for help, complain etc, hehehee. If it's your option, you'd get a class to teach. So far so good la here, no clique among teachers - maybe coz we have many good ustaz & ustazah here to check & balance. Staff meeting also must end within 1 hour (2-3pm). How about the rest? School like mine or like Boon Yew's?

Reggie said...
This is the culture in most schools in Malaysia. The seniors always have the power to voice their opinions and to make any decision they want. Whether you are 30 or 40 or 50, if you are new to that school, you are always a junior and you have to wait for your turn. We always have to start from an egg then turn into chick. After that, into a chicken. Next, into an old chicken. hehe... siapala kita???Btw, few weeks ago i did a terrible thing. I helped my students to keep their mobile phones during spot check in school (But i did tell them it's my first and last and I won't help them anymore). The HM and PKs knew about it later on and they did mention about this case during the staff meeting. (They didn't mention my name). They said i'd against my etiquette as a teacher... sigh... So, to all my Tesolian friends.Do you think i am so so wrong? Actually those students are from last class and they come to school just to kill their time... They dun study and they can't study oso... but they are more naive and innocent than those students from the elite classes. These students work to earn some money to buy something for themselves. Each day i get to know them and be friend with them. They are not bad students. They just need attention. I prefer to teach them rather than other students who think they are so good and so perfect.... So, tell me...someone, somebody... am i a bad teacher??????????? sigh...
Wednesday, 24 September, 2008

Boon Yew said...
Hmmm... Hmmm... Hmmm... Reggie, you notty notty teacher...But, I've done this too. hehehehehe... Even when I was a discipline teacher. There are a few conditions to this kind of cases, though.First, I will keep for them if they surrender the phone to me the first thing in the morning before school starts. This would mean that they will only get to use it after school has finished and they will not misuse and abuse our kindness.Second, I do not keep for those students who have bad track of discipline records. If these kind of students want me to help, they will have to help the school first, i.e. they have to be helpful to everyone in the class and in the school, if possible. And they have to come with proofs that they have been good. Hehehehehehehe... none have ever agreed to this till now.Third, never allow them to use us as saviours at the last moments. Let them feel the pinch from the discipline board one a while. We may do some kindness sometimes but they must pay back somehow, either in the form of completing our homework promptly for the next few weeks or whatever form of positive reinforcement that you feel you want to give. Last week, I kept a fantastically new Motorola, donno whch model, for a naughty boy in the school. Ha! Kenalah. He promised me to be a good booy with no troubles for his teachers and friends until the end of the semester, he will tuck his shirt smartly all the time and he will greet all teachers. Hehehehe... he's enjoying still now. So I kept it for him and he was so lucky for his class was checked after he passed the phone to me, after recess. He gave it to me during recess.I do tricks like this to keep everyone in the school happy. It's a form of corruption but for me if it can make someone learn something good, why not?Till later...
Wednesday, 24 September, 2008

Calvin Teoh said...
You are a fantastic teacher! Our nation needs more people like you. Unfortunately those people will end up like Raja Petra ISA! Ha ha ha!
Thursday, 25 September, 2008

fishqueen said...
Hie guys! After a long time I am back here to say HELLO! Just for your information, the boy who attempted to steal my hp has been expelled from the school. Isn't that shocking? Well, I was shocked to hear that from the discipline teacher the very next day itself but I just had no time to update you guys on it... Anyway, cheer up guys as Raya is around the corner, Deepavali is around the corner and the best of all, our one and a half month holiday is around the corner... So, CHEER UP GUYS AND GALS!!! THAT'S THE BEST PART OF BEING A TEACHER!I take this opportunity to wish all my MUSLIM FRIENDS 'SELAMAT HARI RAYA' and 'MAAF ZAHIR BATIN' guys and gals if I had done done, said or gestured anything wrongly towards any of you PKPG Tesolians immaterial of your religion... A BIG THANK YOU to Aliya too, for creating this blog as we not only exchange our views, oppinions and a place to let out our frustration but also to wish our friends on any happy occasions...
Thursday, 25 September, 2008

Calvin Teoh said...
Wow! Fishqueen can talk. Merepek saje but Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri to all my human Muslim friends. As long as you are not any sea creature... :-)
Thursday, 25 September, 2008

fishqueen said...
For your info friends, Cal and I are at school for a Multimedia course... Of all the people us, but maybe Cal needs it... So, you can guess lah what we ended up doing during the course... He he he! And the facilitator was none other than our Super Duper Senior from USM... Ennada kodumai ithe! (Something in Tamil meaning WHAT A TORTURE?)

CHIT CHAT

Faizal said...
Hi everyone...It seems that everybody has their own stories to tell. Mainly about discipline problems. Wah Chuah, you're so tough. I think I cannot be as tough as you are because I cannot control my anger. Once I started losing my patience it will be hard for me to cool down. I am afraid I cannot stop beating the students. hehehe...or the students cannot stop beating me! heheh... Until now, I do not have any serious disciplinary problems at my school. Only that I have been given a lot of responsibilities such as to prepare my ICT lab for a pioneer project known as IES from MOE. Only 150 schools selected for this 'Projek Rintis'(throughout Malaysia..). It's an honour actually, but when I think about the work that I have to do...gosh! It's only 2 and a half months since our graduation day but the work loads keep piling higher and higher. I hope somebody out there can share their happy stories with us in this blog. I'm not whining okay...only want to share my story with you guys. Maybe we can make our own 'My Story' like what we did in MPTB. Cheerio....

Boon Yew said...
Hehehehe... Faizal, this is a good place for us to let our steam out and learn from one another.All credits go to Aliya. Kudos!!!Err... Speaking of duties and responsibilities... Hmmmppphhhh... You know what?? I have been identified to be a KH teacher for next year!!!Apalah nasib.... Pergi belajar nak ajar bahsa orang putih, balik pii sekolah jadi enjinir pulak!!!!i should have gone for an engineering degree la!!!!!
So unfair. Mati-mati dengan literature and methodology and syntax and semantics and I can now see Dr Munir, Dr Salasiah, Dr Alias, Dr Azelena, Dr Suzannah... Ohh.... how my heart laments.... Alas....Now, an engineer pula. When will my ordeal end?? From music to english and now to KH!!!! Don't nanti later I end up as a Pengetua pula booo hooo hooo hooo :-((I talk later... Pergi ajar tuition now. Tata...

ALIYA :
Hahahaa.. congrats Faizal, awal-awal dah naik pangkat, cikgu IT...
Congrats BoonYew, wahh, Kh teacher next year? Can upah u to come repair any broken stuff at home la, hehehee.
Yeah, don't we all miss Dr Munir, Dr SalasYeah, Dr Alias, Dr Azlena, Dr Suzannah etc, don't we, don't we?? :P
Me? Ahh, my English head already hinting that Imight have to teach SPM classes next year, uhuk3.. meaning no more relaxing and going home at 2pm like nowadays.. and most probably being the class teacher also, urgghhh.. am trying to keep a low profile at school but cannot laaa..
Chat with you all later, wanna have my beauty sleep.. Take care!

MORE FROM BOONYEW

In reply to Kalas's comment:

Thanks for your SMS, Kalas but sorry that I didn't reply immediately.In reply to Kalas's reaction towards her students, I feel that more than that could be done.

In both my past postings I told of how I mistreated my students. But do note that these are individual cases which I consider isolated.I feel that in order for us to save ourselves, we must understand why these students become rebellious and retaliate the school system. It is imminent that we diagnose our children from the root.Try to find out from them why they become so.

You may say that you are a female (or soft, for our dear Tan Eng Choung) teacher, but I think we are capable of reaching their depth if we sit with them to get to know them.Do remember that these students do not come under us for only a year. They will be with us till the end or their school life or our school life, whichever is earlier. We will deal with them directly till either party leaves the school.Therefore, we must learn to survive.To do so, we need to help them to help ourselves. When we give goodness, we beget goodness.This is what I do with my students. Hehehehe... this time the good part :-D

Take some time off teaching. When we get students who are rebellious or who find us boring, there must be a reason for this to happen.Don't teach for the sake of just to teach and finish the syllabus. These type of students do not need to finish the syllabus. They just need enough to survive in the real world outside. What is to them when we feed them with Life's Brief Candle or If or Si Tenggang?? They do not need these to survive later.
Take time off from teaching. Get to know them from inside. Ask questions that will sound as if you're concern about their well-being. Make them feel that they are important to you and that you are there to give them a helping hand. let them know that you are not to teach them to become professors but just to survive in the real world when they leave school.

A very important part that I have learnt about these type of students is that we must try to know their family background. Once we know the type of life they live at home, we try to adjust ourselves to meet their sufferings.
I have said before that there are several standard questions that I will ask on the very first day I go into the classes. They are,their names (eminently important!), where they live and what their parents do.My students are mostly from the lower rung in the society where books are not the utmost important element in life but money.I have tried my level best to shift their contemporary perspective. They must be made to understand that knowledge will deter them from being cheated when they grow up later. Especially when legal aspects are concerned.

Tell them that they need to be able to understand basic language to avoid being cheated.Then, because language is a problem for them, we have to learn to use their language too. Teens today don't talk the way we do. We have evolved away from our teenage years but they are just there now. Update ourselves with the latest teen trends. Watch KungFu Panda (my nickname in school now. Hehehehehe...).
Live with the nicknames that they give you. Be appreciative that they give you one. Turn their insult into a gift and these kids will be confused and will start to accept you. Don't get angry over these names because it can become a weapon that kills you. Just like a knife, it depends on which end we hold, it can become a friend or a foe.Yes, we can tell them once or twice but they won't listen. But once or twice are not enough. Already their brains are as hard as granites so that they can't even absorb lessons, I think we need to repeat our nags to pound good moral values into their heads.I will ask every student to tuck in their shirt each time I see one hanging out. I repeat this to everyone of them. Now that it's 2.55 months, they know it automatically that when they see me they'll check their shirt ends.
Another of my nagging is foul language. To my 2E class, they have promised me to cut down on using these flowery languages and each time any of them utter a foul word, they will be told. Now, they are very alert of my being around or near them. They check their vocabs :-).
Those who are in Form 5 and some in Form 4 who had tasted my medicine still remember and they are extremely polite whenever they meet me.But remember too that we tell them with mild tones. Just like how our mothers talk to us when we are sick. No one likes to be shouted at so flare out your patience to them as much as possible until you run out of it then hehehehe... manhandle them :-DAll the above examples use a lot of 'I' and 'me' pronouns.
But I believe if all of us work together in the same rhythm, our students will learn to grow up being better beings in the society. They don't need books more than they need morality. Buddha did not emphasise on every human reading his sutras, nor did Jesus wanted us all to read his bible, in fact he did not even write a single word in the bible. As well, Nabi Muhammad did not force all Muslims to memorise the Quran.Final words are, get to them bottom of our students' problem, take time off from teaching to know them, speak their language, be part of them in order to mould them from the most basic, teach them to survive the real world.
One question: Why do we need to do this?
Answer: It is for the safety of our own children. If we don't prepare our students to be good citizens, our own children will later live in a violent environment, or some of us may even start to think if we need to have children to suffer in their later life.Till later...

REGGIE'S SOLUTION

reggie said...
Now when my students see me they call me 'teacher' or 'lao si'(in chinese means teacher oso). heheMiracle le... The trick is i have to feel what they feel and be in their position. Students nowadays are totally different from the students in those time (70s-90s). I did ask a few teachers in my school and they oso told me students have been changing days by days... Naughtier and nastier... Subha, u r right!We cannot run away from problems. Just learn to numb yourselves, learn to tolerate more and love your students...heheAfter all they are human like us. Why they are naughty? Ask their parents lo? hehe Always look from the source. Am i right?To Boon Yew....u look sam seng woh...

kalas said...
hi kalas here.. my MBS students also the same.very agrressive...n u'll know la. terrible especially the form 3. but i dun care.. our job is teaching... so just carry out our job. u can tell / advise them once or twice. if they dun listen just ignore and carry on with our job.

BOON YEW CONTINUES..

Boon Yew said...

My story cont...
This morning I naik berang in another class again :-)
It is 1E now.
An Indian boy, Shanmugam, who has got two elder brothers in school was beaten up by me.This boy is a total contrast from his two brothers.
I taught his eldest brother before I went for studies and now he is in Form4. His second brother is in my 2E class. Both these elder brothers are angels and reliable, though not the brightest in the las class. But Shanmugam, being in the last class did not make him an angel like his two brothers.
It happened that I went in for relief at 1230 just now. When I reached the class they were already rather restless and were talking loudly. I commanded those on duty to clean the class before school ended at 1310. This Shanmugam tried to be a hero by speaking for his fren that that fren had already swept the floor in the morning and told his fren to ignore my order. I kept pressing the other boy to sweep and ignored Shanmugam. The boy gave in and went to sweep. Then this Shanmugam continued muttering in Tamil and said to his fren that he was stupid to listen to "this pundek Chinese"!!! I understood what he said with my smattering Tamil. I confronted him in my meagre Tamil and gave him a stern warning not to continue his instigation.
He cooled down, for a while. Then busied myself with the boys who were sweeping the floor to waste my time away in the class. I didn't want to teach because they were too anxious to go home then.
Out of a sudden, I heard a chair being dragged and looked up to see that this 'angel' Shanmugam was ready to throw a chair at another fren!!! I shouted at him to stop. He stopped but only not to throw the chair; he chased his fren around the classroom. Again I told them to stop but he ignored my warning and continued as if I was not there.When he ran past me, I caught hold of his arm, but he twisted himself free from me. I then caught up with him and slapped my palm onto his back so hard that he stumbled two steps forward. He turn to face me his face as angry as a bull, with his nostrils all opened up and puffing away (he is actually an inch taller than I). I faced him and added another two slaps on his chest and that pushed him back a few steps. After that I ordered him to sit but he refused. He stood up against me. I so angry then that I put my fist up and told him that if he doesn't sit right then, I'll shatter his face. That got him very frighten. He was shivering by then.
I turned back and wrote the borang Demerit. After a few minutes, seeing that he had cooled down, I went to tell him that I hit him for the sake of his parents and his brothers. I slao said that he has shamed his whole family today. He turned his face away from me when I talked to him. I left him to himself.
After the bell rang, I told him to follow me to the staff room but he turned his back to me and walked off saying that he's father is already waiting. I went off the other way. No point chasing after him.Five minutes later this 'angel' came climbing into the staff room and looked for me and apologised. I don't know what got into him, but he just came back. He made a verbal promise that today will be the last time he misbehaves in school.
I don't know how true those words are but I will watch him carefully.
More later....

SHUB'S STORY

shub2dk said...
hallo fellow tesolians!!u have not seen me for quite some time as i was tied down with school work n not to mention handling my chaotic students.so tht explains y i am always so tired at the end of the day n thus, can t find the time to touch the keyboard of my lappy.i have read all yer stories so far abt yer students' havoc in school n let me tell u, w, the new teachers are not the only ones. recently went 4 a course and met so many senoir teachers n they seem to have the same prob as us too despite the numerous years handling these teenagers. what i have summed up from the 2 days of intense chatting with these teachers, i learnt that, students these days mostly if not all have the same screwed up attitude.(excuse the lg,but it s the result of disappointment n fury).it s just tht the generation today seem to give a ****about teachers.a lot of things annoy me such as not greeting teachers, not asking for permission when drinking water, not adressing us as"teacher" when they talk but prefer using "you","awak" instead,sleeping during classes, having their private discussions in grps even though teacher's teaching in front, using foul lgs in their mother tongue n the list goes on and on....and this makes me really sit down n think whether this is all worth becoming a teacher.it s suppose to be a very rewarding career where they seem to say that students will appreaciate you one day.maybe 3 months is too early to see the results, but i don t even see the sign of appreciation coming anywhere in the near future.i know i have crapped a lot but in a nutshell, what am actually trying to say is....u r not alone.like it or not we have to face these students n teachers, it s not yer fault that they r like that, so quit blaming yourselves.everyday i try new things out with my students n from there i know what to adjust to get them to just sit in the class during eng. have got a long way more to get them to do anything independently in eng.so don t give up as we have so many years more to go(unless u wanna take optional retirement but then again u ll loose all the privileges).things may improve or deteriorate but make sure yer students know who s the boss.take good care of yourselves...cheers!!!

(Aliya: Ah, Shub, don't worry. Stick around longer and you'll soon learn all their tricks, hahahaa.. Whatever you do or feel, remember that your life, future and happiness are more important than those a%&$#@*! Keep your wits about you and see the humour in everything.)

BOON YEW'S STORY

Dear frens,
After 2.5 months, I think all of us have come down to the real world. Your experiences are just part of what could be worse. On the second week of my returning to my 'alma mater', I almost killed a boy.
In a Remove class, I tried to teach them BM when I went for relief. I wrote answers on the board and asked them to copy from the board. One boy took his friend's book to copy from it. I got annoyed and took his friend's book away and asked him to copy from the board (I don't think my writing is that bad at all!). As I turned around he shouted in Hokkien, "I don't know what the COCK WRITING you're writing!"
I turned back and gave him a tight slap across his face but he stupidly turned his nose to my palm and I slammed his nose making it bloody. That quietened the whole class :-). Until today, no more nonsense with me everytime I went in for relief.
I went to see the boy after his nose had dried and consolled him. Talked to him till he cried out of guilt. Two days later, his mother met me and I told his mother of the duty of the school and a teacher to help parents educate their chilkdren to prepare them to face the society and a whole lot of BS till the boy's mother too brokedown and cried.
Hmmmpphh... Satisfied. Managed to make both mother and child cried out of guilt. My PK Ko-K was shocked that they both ended up crying instead of like other parents going home angry.

Incident 2
Yesterday, 12 Sept 2008, I was walking down the stairs to the staff room to get home when a boy walked along side me and said that one gang of students are waiting for him in a lane behind some houses outside of the school gate because he was attacked and faught with another classmate earlier and had reported to the HM and had caused his attacker to be sacked from school this coming week. He's just 15, thin, quiet, mild, and at times jovial (from the last class of form 2 and academically not promising at all but with pleasant manners). Another boy were actually escorting him to the place of rendevous. It was just like in CSI! Tha boy that the other boys sent to escort this boy was a huge boy almost the size of Faizal with the height of Daniel!

What to do? I asked this small boy to go into the staff room with the pretext that he's being reprimanded. I then asked the huge boy to follow me to the office to give me a hand. Confronted the huge boy in front of the Disp Head and told him to get off not to meddle in it or he'll be expelled as well (he's been twice suspended, a third will get him out). I went back to the small kid and had no choice but to escort him home. He on his bicycle and I on my C70. Oh, this small boy lives above my apartment.
This is my 'alma mater'. A temporary juvenile prison.
More gory stories to come. Of teachers, students and administrators...

7 TO 9 YEARS BEFORE DG44

Today my boss called for a meeting. We were given a taklimat about the kenaikan from DG41 to DG44 for those who were previously DG29 and DG32. Yes, it's confirmed. we have to wait at least 7 years before we can naik pangkat to DG44.
Those teaching less than 6 years as DG29, your 3-5 years' service in SK is counted as a year in DG41.
Those between 6-8 years, you'd get 2 years bonus+ 8 years as DG41 before you can get time-based to DG44.
Those teaching 9 years and above, you'd get 3 bonus + 7 years as DG41 before you can jump to DG44 under time-based promotion.
Check the circular by asking your school clerk or principal.
Apart from that, you'd need to pass PTK with aras 3, good laporan prestasi for 3 years berturut2..among other things.
Good luck.

BOOOMMM!!!

seems that Raya is really around the corner. can really feel it in the (school's)air. everyday, "BOOM!!" goes the firecracker in the school's compound. almost always me and my Form 1 students would jump up sekaki into the air. was teaching my 1A during 5th period (upper Form's recess) when all of a sudden "KABOOM!!" a few minutes later, saw three Form 4 students running towards the school gate with a few prefects in hot pursuit. two of them got caught and was taken to the discipline room, the busiest room in the school. heh heh.. one jumped the grilled gate flawlessly and ran off towards some apartment blocks. too bad he didn't take part representing M'sia in the recent Olympics, or he would have gotten gold easily.

(Aliya: hahahaa... same thing happens in my school since the 2nd day of Ramadhan..and the "kaboom-ing" happens almost everyday during recess :P Those daring to do it are usually the F4 & F5 heroes.. and the best part is, they know if they get caught they's get a 2-week holiday - kena gantung sekolah! Then they can have a good excuse for not attending school. We sure produce students yang berketrampilan..in bad ways, huhuhuu.

OUT! OUT! OUT!!

"Keluar!"
I raised my voice despite the fact that it was puasa time, and Muslims were supposed to be patient. Well, patience is one thing, being irritated on purpose is another thing. And friends, you know how loud I can be, right? I mean really really LOUD!
I was teaching Sejarah Form 4..FYI, starting 2004 almost 3/4 is about sejarah Islam.. and I was going thru' the answers for the Penilaian paper with the class.. coz they did quite badly.
There're about 10 Indians in the class, including an Indian girl. Disliking Sejarah is fine but when they're talking loudly in Tamil and disrupting the lesson, I couldn't take it anymore. You may pelempang little kids if they misbehave but 8 Indian lads taller than you? Despite repeated warnings and instructions to keep quiet or talk softly, they continued their loud chatter in Tamil while I was trying to explain the concepts of Perjanjian Hudaibiyah etc to the others who were listening. (I'm getting good in Sejarah Islam, hehehee).
Finally I walked over to them, told them to get out of the class if they don't want to study. They became quiet but nobody moved a muscle. One had the nerve to snigger nervously. I was challenged and I was ready for battle.
"Out!" I thundered. Nobody moved.
I grabbed a school bag and took it to the door, put it on the floor outside the classroom. That did the magic. One by one, the whole group stood up and left the classroom in a huff. They didn't stand outside the classroom but walked off to the staircase. Someone in the class clapped.
The whole class had a peaceful time for the remaining 10 minutes of the lesson. FYI it was not the first time the group disrupted the class during Sejarah lessons, just because they don't like it. Previously their behaviours were tolerated but I guess there'll be a time you say enough is enough. There are a few Indian students who did not join the group and were follwing the lesson closely so you can't say this is a racial thing. They had bullied the former teacher whose class I took over but I'm not gonna let their bad behaviours continue.
I took down the names of those who walked out (2 stubbornly stayed away from class until I left) and reported to the principal. The new PK HEM took it seriously and there're gonna be further action until we wipe out this type of disciplinary problems in school. Disrespect toward the teachers. Disrupting lessons. Indiscipline. Refusal to do written work in class. That should be about 15 demerit marks.
This morning the cuplrits were extra polite in class. They must have been 'cloroxed' by the Big Boss and PKs in school.
I dont touch them. I dont even scold them. I just grab their bags coz that's the only thing I know that they care about.

THE ALMOST-STOLEN HANDPHONE

Meena reporting from home:
Hie everyone! What happened people? Where is everyone? Before convo was all the huha and noise making and now no more noise also...Anyway, wanted to share this experience with everyone...
On Wednesday, I nearly lost my hp in school... How it happened? I put my hp into my handbag and entered 1M, the last class... Since the class was noisy, without giving any instructions I started giving them some grammar exercises on the blackboard... And since I was facing my back at them, could not see what was happening behind my back... And since I did not give any instructions, the students knew I was angry because they were noisy, and quickly started copying the exercises into their text books quietly... Amidst all these one boy quickly opened my handbag and took out my hp... I always refer to the time in my hp as it follows my school time accurately... Then, I started to look for my hp in my handbag as I wanted to see the time...
What a shock! My hp is not there... Then I ask the class students, did anyone see my hp and they reply no... Ok, continue with your work and I'll be back... So, I quickly rush down to my table in the staff room just to make sure that I did not leave it there... And alas, it is not there either...
Helen who is sitting behind me asks me what are you searching for Meena... and I tell her "my hp is missinglah Helen and I remember damn well putting it into my handbag before entering 1M but where can it be now"
Helen then calls my hp just to make sure that it is nowhere at my table... It is ringing but no one is answering...
"It is ok Helen, I am going back to the class"
The moment I enter the class, the monitor comes rushing to me, "Teacher, your hp was in the dustbinlah"
HUH?! I was so shocked and was wondering who the hell could have done that... Like God sent, the discipline teacher Mr. Tan walks down the staircase near this class... I go out and call him, "Mr Tan can you please help me?" and I relate the whole scenerio to him...
"Don't worry Meena I will investigate ok"
So, I just left. Then, I saw the boys of 1M were called in groups by Mr Tan. After some time, I saw one 1M boy standing with his head down and one lady sitting across Mr Tan talking to him...Just before I went back at 6.05pm, I managed to catch Mr Tan and when I asked him, "was that the boy who took my hp?", he said "yes" and the boy has been suspended for 2 weeks... I was shocked again and kind of felt bad but I think Mr Tan did what was necessary as it should be a lesson for the rest of the students...
Well, that's my story... And I'm taking the trouble to share with all of you this story because Calvin, myself and another teacher Henry came up with a lot of moral values of the story, that day itself...
No. 1: never silence your hp even when you enter the class because if I had silenced my hp, then the students would have not heard it ringing when Helen called...
No. 2: teachers should not buy expensive hps (Henry's moral value)
No. 3: leave it with Calvin or Henry (Calvin and Henry's moral value)So, friends take which ever you want and keep it in mind everytime you enter classes for your lessons...
TC dudes! and don't keep silent ok...
CONTINUE WITH YOUR COMMENTSLAH!!!

(aliya: Fuhh!!! Glad that you got back your hp, Meena. Next time put your handbag on a chair beside the board for better safety.)

Faizal said...
Glad to hear that you get your handphone back. IF I'm in your shoes at that time, I would run amok in the class. I will use the best method that I learnt in the uni, lempanglogy ( we learnt that, don't we?, no ha?) heheh...Yeah, Calvin and his idea...of course la, he sells handphone! hahahah...really miss the day when we huha huha in and out the class. I'll email the photos later k. Its's really slow to upload in this lab. How's the rest pkpg's doing ha?P.S: Since I'm 'hibernating' or staying most of my time in the lab, if you guys have anything to ask about formatting, or about pc, let me know okay!

reggie said...
Hi!i was so busy after the convo and i guess i am still busy till now. I have to mark English trail exam papers (Form3).These 2 weeks we have cuti raya replacement. Then, exam after raya...Then, food fair, then i am 'Penyelaras Sijil Berhenti Sekolah and Sijil Kedatangan Penuh'... and i'm form teacher oso...Last Saturday i went to Gua Kandu and eco-farm with 33 science students (although i'm not a Science teacher). My cousin asked me to go so i went la. Very interesting, challenging and superb (I mean the cave). Dont compare with Mulu cave or other 'canggih-canggih caves' ok. heheMeena, your student really 'tabik' la... so daring!!! Mau kena pelempang la this student... teacher's handphone oso wanted to steal... dah la we still get half salary... gaji sikit...But my school almost the same... curi pens... sob...sek... coz i guess they dont have a chance to steal handphone. hehe...p/s Faizal, i cant imagine when u run amok... sure cute! hehe