1st year anniversary as an "official" teacher in a public school.
Reflections for the past one year...
How do you feel after 1 year of teaching?
I feel like... I keep forgetting that I am a grown up. When you have to keep going to school every day, sometimes it makes you forget that you are an adult.
You'll still think about, "Should I cut class at 10:45 am?"
You still ask yourself, "Can I not go to school today?"
You still wonder, "Hmmm, what should I have in the canteen afterwards..."
It's like high school never ends!
What do you like about teaching life?
Well... You get to be king most of the time.
You get to think about what you want to do after school. And zoom off to do it as soon as the bell rings!
What do you dislike about teaching life?
Having to go to the bottom classes after 10:45 pm. That's when the monkeys have had their glucose boost.
What do you fear most about teaching life?
That I will get bored of it one day. I think I am getting bored about it already! I'm getting bored of Math... *gasp!*
What is your biggest achievement so far?
I think I've come up with a really good way to explain intersection and union. You remember the topic about Sets, where you see the (A ∩ B) and (A U B) stuff?
The "∩" in (A ∩ B) means gunshot.
Imagine you had a gun with only one bullet. The bullet can penetrate anything. Where do you shoot so that A and B will get hit in one shot?
The "U" in (A U B) means bombshell.
Imagine you have a bomb. You want to blow up A and B. You just blacken off A and B. The whole thing. No need to think so much. Just blacken the whole thing. A and B. That's right.
It works every time.
How would you describe the pinnacle of your career?
Hmmm...
After doing some soul searching...
I can't believe it...
I realized...
My childhood dream is still there!
I still want to be...
Headmaster of Penang Free School.
The SOS (save our school) syndrome is still there. Hidden inside of me.
Maybe I'm still naive enough to believe that it is possible by merit alone.
Or, maybe it's true... That I haven't really grown up :)
10 comments:
go for it
-sf
Have to take Masters in Public Admin in the end, huh? :)
hmmm, is free school a mission school? but then it's a cluster school now... does that supercede mission school status?
'cos for schools in the mcsc (malayan christian schools' council) i think they have some say in who gets to be head... of course, they want to choose christians.
so maybe u can't become head by merit alone, but hopefully u can rise high enough on merit to qualify for that kind of selection.
possible?
Happy Ulang Tahun! Congrats!
Sieh Jin: PFS is a cluster school now. Meaning, it's taken over by the government. They have arabic words written on the wall beside the front gate.
It's no longer a mission school. It's also no longer a premier school.
Andrew: Just got "confirmation letter" from SPP today.
So, that means I'm confirmed already?
Nope.
Now, I must wait for Kursus Induksi.
So, after that, I'm confirmed already?
Nope. After that, if I pass the Kursus Induksi (yes, there is still an "if"), I have to wait for the "confirmation package".
Imagine how much tax-payer's money I would have guzzled if I keep failing my Kursus Induksi. Or, what if I take my own sweet time to remain in limbo land. Then resign after 10 years.
Hah... if only maths teacher also thought of the Set idea earlier. that one has never been my favourite chapter.
i think the dream to be PFS HM is still a great one and make a change in your own way. now that's a true Free spirit!
Free School for the brave and for the true. you really live up to it! LOL!
Chao: I saw a circular on the pejabat's notice board yesterday. It's some sort of 12-month kursus that you can apply for if you wanna be pegawai pentadbir.
One of the prerequisites... Pengalaman mengajar selama 7 tahun.
Hmmm... 6 years to go...
What's your brother been up to? (I'm assuming you're the correct Chao and the correct sibling) :)
i suppose 6 years will be in a wink if you really aim for it! maybe work your way in your capability to change what you can change now and along the way...
Haha, yes.. it's the correct sibling you're referring to. my bro... still with computers and gaming. probably didnt change much in interest-wise. only new thing perhaps with a gf 2 years dii :p and perhaps bigger waistline?
Chao: Change what I can change now?
Hmmm...
Can start with clearing up a contradicting policy. The Ministry's aim is "0% keciciran". But if a student does not come to school for 30 days, he will kena buang sekolah.
Dunno how they can come up with such brilliant policies. It does not even say "membanteras keciciran" or "mengurangkan keciciran". It is bold enough to say "0% keciciran". But yet, you have to buang sekolah if you don't come to school for 30 days.
So, what do you do when a student does not come for 30 days?
Buang sekolah, and you won't get "0% keciciran." Bad government servant. Not following orders.
Don't buang sekolah, the boy will think he is king. He can come as he wishes, he can go as he wishes. He won't pay school fees. And you have to pay for him by the end of the year if he doesn't. Bad form teacher. Can't even do simple things like keeping your students under control and collecting fees.
Imagine if you are the form teacher of a class full of pseudo indegenious nincompoops.
I say, buang sekolah them anyway. "0% keciciran" should be rephrased as "0% keciciran bagi pelajar yang dibuktikan mahu belajar dan mampu belajar."
School fees should be paid up front by their parents before the first day of school every year. Excellent way to meet up with the parents. Excellent way to weed out the real students.
Policies should be pragmatic. Not idealistic.
Every Friday, I stay back an hour to fill up Surat Amarans. In triplicates for each student. Upon the third Surat Amaran, out he goes.
Sent out 13 two weeks ago. Sent 7 last week. That's 60 letters in total.
More to come this Friday.
The way of the N'Sync: Bye bye bye! Might sound crazy but it ain't no lie...
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