Day #70 – 22 June 2012

I was expecting a boring class with 1 Best today. And frankly, I have to admit that I am quite biased against 1 Best already. After four days of shouting at them and getting upset, I really didn’t feel like entering their class again today.

Still, I thought I would just keep it simple and finish up the third PBS evaluation for Band 1. A few pairs had already come forward to present their dialogues, and they were quite good. So, 10+ pairs to go. Should be alright now, wouldn’t it?

Managed to finish up the rest of the pairs. Some did very well, with very good intonation. Some had their strengths in their clarity. I always feel that if you speak just a liiiiiittle slower, not rushed, you are always clearer with your words. You don’t swallow your words as much. Which is good 🙂

For those I was not very satisfied with, I made them try again and also gave them some advice on how to do better. Hopefully, they’ll remember these things and apply them in real life. (But somehow, I doubt it. Maybe I am just too skeptical about the effectiveness of this entire PBS thing >.<)

Only Fathi and Nash were a little too playful. They kept giggling and laughing at the front that I was beginning to get annoyed. Why is everything a joke to them? :/Anyway, I made them do it over and over until they got it right. And honestly, they weren’t too bad, really. They just need to set their mind to it and focus, and take it seriously. Sigh. These kids. =.=

Anyway, I didn’t really expect to finish all the pairs with almost 45 minutes to spare! @.@

Thankfully, I had initially planned to teach them a song today. So I had the lyrics all photocopied and ready for them, and I already had the song file in my computer.

So I excused myself to get my laptop and borrow Sun’s speakers, just for a few minutes. I practically ran because I was afraid to leave my class unattended, even if it was a few minutes. But I made sure to give a stern warning that whoever leaves the class in my absence would be sent to Mr. Zaidi, the PK HEM.

Made it back to the classroom with no mishaps occurring while I was away. Phew! 😛

I chose Missing Piece by David Choi because it was a song that had a very simple melody and even simple lyrics, which would make it easy for the students to understand 🙂 Besides, this song was one of the songs in the soundtrack for the video My Generasi that I showed the class some time back. So it would be something they have heard a little bit of 🙂

I did a listen-and-fill-in-the-blanks exercise with them. I gave them lyrics with missing words and asked them to listen to the song carefully so they could fill them in as they hear the words.

Surprisingly, they seemed to enjoy the activity! They asked me to repeat the song so they could have another chance at filling in whatever words they couldn’t catch. In the end, I played the song 3 times for them 🙂

They were quite good, some of them. Managed to catch all but maybe one or two words 😛 And even before then, I had already noticed a few of them singing along to the music. These kids can catch melodies really fast! 😀 Even Nash, surprisingly, was good 😛 I even heard Fadhli, one of the weakest in the class, singing a line or two. I teased him, saying he could really sing, and he got so shy it was so adorable! xD

Then we discussed the lyrics, I explained some vocabulary and the meaning of the song as well 🙂 Then we sang the song together for a few more times! 😀

They really enjoyed the song, and I enjoyed singing with them 😀

I am really grateful for today. After almost a week of scolding them, I feel like I’ve found a good place with them once again. I don’t want to hope too much, but I really do hope that this will continue for my final two weeks with them. I want to leave happy, and satisfied. And I hope that they would be sad to see me go. Cos wouldn’t that mean that I’ve impacted their young lives in some way or other? 🙂

Thank you, God, for a good day today. May the next couple of weeks be filled with good days like this one!

 

 

p.s: I woke up with a swollen eye today (I think some stupid insect bit me! >.<) so I wore shades to class because I didn’t want the students to see me with my swollen left eye and no eyeliner =.= haha~ Of course, I got laughed at by 1 Buck, and teased in 1 Best. But they said I looked kinda cool, so that’s cool 😉

Day #70 – 22 June 2012

Today would be my first Friday where I have four periods with my two classes—back-to-back @.@

Previously, I only had 1 Buck during the last two periods on Fridays. Now, I’ll have 1 Buck after recess, then 1 Best for the last two periods instead.

However, today, the Muslim students had a program for Israk and Mikraj. All of them had to assemble at the hall. We were already informed about it yesterday, and that the program would go on the entire morning. So classes would only resume after recess. Which is perfect for me, seeing as my four periods are all after recess 🙂

So it was pretty quiet in the staff room this morning. The few non-Muslim teachers were just hanging out in the staff room, doing our work and sharing tidbits 😉

Anyway, I took the chance to work on my thesis (well, actually, it’s academic exercise, but thesis is much shorter to say, and to type =.=). I was done with all my corrections; now I’m doing a careful final once-through to edit my work and clean up any loose ends. Hope everything goes well and I can be done by next week! *fingers crossed*

Well, unfortunately, when 9.35 am came along, students were still not back from the hall yet! I was getting a little antsy, because it was 1 Buck’s period, and they were quite far behind 1 Best in terms of the PBS evaluations. Losing 1 Buck’s time would push them further back! I didn’t want that, because I was hoping that, now their lessons are synchronized (both classes on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays) I would be able to teach them at the same pace. Easier for me lar, haha~

But the students only came back at 10.00 am! Oh, dear. So I could only enter at 10.15 am, meaning that I lost one entire period with 1 Buck 😦 How are they gonna catch up, now? T.T

Anyway, I immediately started them on the Introduce Yourself PBS evaluation. But after the explanation and everything, we didn’t really manage to get everyone to complete the task. There wasn’t enough time. >.<

This is the lesson where, they would introduce their name and where they’re from. Very simple. But it was too simple….and kind boring. So I added the “draw lots” element, where they would draw lots to see what “style” they would be doing their introduction in—just to make things interesting. 😉 For example, if they got “Crazy”, then they’d have to introduce themselves in a CRAZY manner! xD Only 1 of the 12 lots is “Normal” 😛

Actually, due to the lack of time, I was considering removing the “draw lots” element completely. Just make them come in front, say their name and where they’re from, and that’s it. It would certainly take up less time, and I would most probably be able to finish this task with them much much faster. Then we could move on and possibly catch up with 1 Best.

However, I felt it would be a shame for them to miss out on this activity. 1 Best seemed to enjoy it, although they got a little too restless for me to handle. But if I removed that part of the activity, then it would be just too boring, wouldn’t it? I would be bored, and the students would be bored.

So, in the end, at the risk of 1 Buck being wayyyyy behind 1 Best when I finish my practicum and pass them over to their respective teachers, I decided to stick with my initial lesson plan. I just hoped that they would find it enjoyable and that I didn’t make the wrong choice.

Well, I did think to myself, “Why the rush?” It seems like I’m trying to rush through Bands 1 and 2 (cause I think that’s all the time that I would have for). But I wonder, why do I need to rush through it? What’s the point, if students don’t learn much, or don’t get to enjoy much?

Maybe I should take my time. Don’t worry so much if I can’t finish doing the evaluations for a task in one lesson. Just allow them to take their time, and allow myself to slow down. Maybe then, both myself and the students can learn something from one another 🙂

Plus, I’m leaving soon. I don’t want to RUSH through my last few weeks. I want to enjoy myself too 😀

1 Buck was cooperative, and they were laughing out loud when some of their friends got “Old Man” and “Sick”. But it is certainly taking up more time, though, since it involves some “acting” skills as well Still, I know we have some rather talented “actors” in the class, so this should be fun 😛

I’ll have to continue this next week, unfortunately. Hopefully, it won’t lose its appeal too quickly

 

p.s: I woke up with a swollen eye today (I think some stupid insect bit me! >.<) so I wore shades to class because I didn’t want the students to see me with my swollen left eye and no eyeliner =.= haha~ Of course, I got laughed at by 1 Buck, and teased in 1 Best. But they said I looked kinda cool, so that’s cool