My Ninth Week Teaching in SMK Secret (Week 10)

Attention Gameplan readers,

In this entry, I want to share with you on my activity in the weekends. Some weekends, I always spend my time cycling with some of the teachers from SMK Secret. Before this, I always cycling with them started from Taman Mutiara Rini, using off road to go to Gelang Patah, and then using another off road route to go to Lima Kedai and using on road to stop at the spot that we started earlier. It was 25 to 30 km trip which takes 4 hours for us to finish the course.

However, this week we will use new course at Kg. Melayu area. I also do not recognise the routes, however it was exciting for us to use new off road routes and cycling while enjoying the nature. Although it was tiring, for me it was a valuable lesson and experience as I never cycling off road before I enters this school. For me, I will use this activity to strengthen our relationship although we will not teach in this school anymore.

My 8th week Teaching in SMK Secret (Week 9)

Hello Gameplan readers,

This week is an examination week for SMK Secret, and this is a huge task for me. Although we are practical teacher, we still need to take care of classes and prevents students from discussing with other students while the examination was held. It is easy for me as I used my experience as students to prevents the students from copying or discussing with others. 

It was easy for me as I also seek for answers by using signals when it is examination week. It is easy for me to know when is the perfect time for the students to copy in exams. The tactics that these students used was similar as what I did in my exams. So, it was not too hard for me to identify who was copying and who wasn't. This week has taught me of how the teacher need to observe their students so that they are worthy to get the marks or results that they have in the future.

My Wonderful Moment at SMK Secret (Week 11)

Hi everyone..

Basically, this week is just the same as other weeks before. I don't have much to say for students. But I do want to share with you a little bit on a disciplinary case that occurred on Thursday. During recess time, there was a fight between two students, an Indian and Chinese students. At my first glance, it looked like the Chinese boy was the one who is guilty because he was the one who punched the Indian student at the face. But, as thee discipline teacher started to investigate, things got weird when the Indian boy talked nonsense, what he said was not the same as other witnesses. Lastly, I was really shocked to know that the Indian boy was the one who is guilty. He stole a laptop from a student and they ended up fighting when other students got to know he was the one who did the wrong. From this case, I learnt that don't judge a book by it's cover. Things can get very different in the end.

My Seventh Week Teaching in SMK Secret (Week 8)

Dear readers,

For this entry, I only want to share about my preparation on PBS next week. All of the students are required to take PBS. The format is just like an exam like we did in KBSM. This week I did not focus on any topics, I just asked them to prepare for their upcoming PBS. 

It is a little bit tough tohelp the students as they have low level of English fluency. They cannot speak in English and sometimes they cannot understand anything written in English. So I just spill the beans, not whole of the beans, only some clues so that the students can answer the questions just enough for them to pass the exam. 

Teaching in SMK Secret. (Week 7)

Hello readers,

For this entry, I only want to share about my experience going camping with my fellow friends in Unit Disiplin Sekolah. We need to pack things early as we will go to Mersing after school recess around 3.30 pm. We were actually left the school early. We promised to start our journey around 4.30 pm. However, with some unexpected problems, our journey was delayed until 5.30 pm.

At the beginning of the journey, I was asked by Cikgu Poyo to drive his car. When at certain destination we will change our position. We arrive at Mersing around 9 to 9.30 pm, and we had our dinner there. That night, we only need to watch the students doing their activities. That same night, we were asked by the teachers from Unit Disiplin Sekolah to join them for karaoke. We just joined them and sings with them that night. The day after that, we also doing nothing but some chores in preparing for tonight's BBQ. After finishing the chores, we heads home with Cikgu Poyo. This is because, he said to us "If we came with him, we will go back home with him. "

My Wonderful Moment at SMK Secret (Week 10)

Hi everyone..

This week, I would like to share with you about my activity during the weekend. This weekend, I spend my time as school. Actually, one of my classes wants to change the color of their class. They planned to paint the class on weekend. The students asked me whether to join them and I said ok. Well, on Friday, we started at 9.00 a.m. We started off by remove the old paint and painted first layer using the white color. We did this on shift. Some of the students who were not on the list at that time can go and play anything at Dewan Terbuka. We continued doing this at ended at 4.00 p.m. On the next day, we continued by painting the actual color of the class which is pink. We did this the same as the day before and we ended about 4.00 p.m. Since there were a lot of dirt in class, we decided to clean it up first and it took us almost two hours to finish. Nevertheless, this is a wonderful experience for me to know my students better..

Fifth Week Teaching in SMK Secret.. (Week 6)

Hello dear readers,
For the fifth week, I still have problems with some of the students. It is not about handling them, but the discipline in school. Most of them, they like to ignore the rules, simple rules that they can follow but they choose to ignore it. One of the rules is tuck in their shirt. There were a lot of students that have low merit points because of this rules. As a teacher in the school, I always try to asks them nicely to tuck in their shirt.

However, some of the students they only tuck it in when I am in front of the guys. Some of the students, they lose their respect to the teachers that are scolding them for not tuck in their shirt. I thought that I want to find a way so that students can follow the instruction, but they still respect the teachers. For me, I have planned that if they do not want to tuck in their shirt, I will do that for them. Some students, I will asks them to come near to me and I will ask them, "Do you want to tuck in your shirt yourself, or did you want me to do it for you?"

Fourth Week Teaching in SMK Secret (Week 5)

Hello readers,
For this week, I managed to control my class. I always entertain them. I found out that they love to watch videos and singing. Sometimes, when I entered the class bringing my laptop and the projector, they expected that they will watch a movie or a funny video. However, I always turn them down because the time is not enough or suitable to play any videos.
Sometimes, when the lesson that I conducted ends earlier, I will show them a cartoon video or a funny video as a reward for them. Some students they started to like me and started to hangs with me. The story about my method spread quickly like a disease. All of the students asked me when I want to enter their class and shows them a cartoon video. I only can answer them truthfully, "I am not your English teacher, you need to try and asked your teacher to use this method. If I am your English teacher, I will definitely use the method in your class."

My Wonderful Moment at SMK Secret (Week 9)

Hi there..

This week is an examination week. So, teachers just need to teach on Sunday while on the other days, there are specific times that are determined by the school for the teachers to teach. As for me, I just have class on Sunday. This week, I have faced many situations during examination period. There are some of the students who like to look around while answering questions, some of them like to give signals and some of them even speaks. The problem with me is that I was not sure why they did that. They didn't look like to do something bad but it made others including me uncomfortable. But, I managed to take care of the class and there is no major problem for me. Overall, this week is little relax for me and I enjoyed being in class watching students answering questions which sometimes can make me smile.

My Wonderful Moment at SMK Secret (Week 8)

Hi there..

I have a good feeling right now as everything finally goes the way it should be. It's been about 5 weeks I have trouble on the schedule. Luckily, this week the school decided to have a change in the timetable at it really pleased me very much because the English teacher for my classes is changed. The new appointed English teaching asked me to fully take care of the classes and it made me very happy since I can plan my lesson better and I do not have to rush anymore.

Since next week is PBS, basically I just did revision sessions with my students and I helped them understanding the topics they have learnt.

The other exciting thing for me this week is to be able to watch how disciplinary action took place at my school. That was a very beneficial lesson to me as a teacher-to-be. For this week, I watched how a discipline teacher handled a case involving form 2 and form 1 students who brought liquor to school. The discipline teacher was very precised in what he was investigating and lastly he managed to solve the case with the best decision.

My Wonderful Moment at SMK Secret (Week 7)

Hi everyone..

For this week, nothing has really changed and I went to school just the way I did the last 6 weeks. Everything is good and I have a good time teaching. For this entry, I just want to share a little bit on the camping program held by the Unit Disiplin. The camping is actually for prefect from Form 2 - Form 5 students. My friend and I were invited by the other teachers to join and maybe can help them running the activity.

We started our journey on Thursday at 5.30 p.m. Since the camping was held at Mersing, it took us about 2 and a half hours to reach at the campsite. It has a good view since it is near to the beach. When we arrived there, the students have already set up their camps. So, we just help some of them who were struggling. At night, students have an LDK. Since the school party has already hired the facilitators to run the activity, basically the teachers do not have much work to do. They just made sure that all of the students participate and the rest will be done by the facilitators.

On Friday morning, my friend and I helped the teachers to do some chores since at night they are going to have a BBQ. After finishing our work, my friend and I went back to our hostel together with Mr. Friendly who is also on his way back.

My Wonderful Moment at SMK Secret (Week 6)

Hi...

For this week, I would like to share a little bit about the students in my school. These students are very kind to me although some of them are very naughty and like to play in class. But still I own their respect. But what interests me is the difference that can actually be seen from my perspective as a student. From what I have seen through this whole time, the level of respect that a student should give to the teacher is not the same as when I was a secondary school student. I still remembered that when I was at my school, my friends and I never missed to greet our teachers with salam as muslims. But now, I notice that the approach has fade away from the life of these students. Some of them just ignore the teachers when they meet outside the class. Some of them may avoid the teachers and it really hurts my eyes watching this kind of attitude. They also don't feel shame using bad words while talking to their friends although they can see the teacher is right in front of them. This shocked me very much and I felt a little disappointing with today's situation. Up until now, I'm still wondering what has happened that actually changed these values.

My Wonderful Moment at SMK Secret (Week 5)

Hi everyone..

This is a very confusing moment to me as I have to face a situation that is very hard to me to handle as a new teacher who's still learning. Being a new teacher is not easy since some seniors don't feel comfortable giving up their classes for me to take care and it's not their fault. This week, I have faced some sudden changes that give me slide headache. On Monday, the actual English class teacher came to me and told that she wanted to enter the class and I will take care of the other class. I accepted that and I started preparing the lesson plans solely for the other class. Then, on Wednesday, she came to me again and told me that I was going to enter the class she has taken because she has some works to do. This is the real problem for me. This is because I still have to plan my lesson for the class and being a new teacher, I am not used to this sudden changes. It makes me feel blur and don't know what topic should  I teach and of course it ruins my lesson plan book. The lesson is not in order and sometimes I have to teach first and complete the lesson plan later. I feel a little depressed by this matter. When I submit my lesson plan book to my mentor, I asked him what should I do and he helped me with this matter. He helped me and told me what to do. He also faced a small dilemma in providing me with solution since she is a very senior teacher and they are in different session. But still I managed to get something and hoping that I can do what I need to next week.

My Wonderful Moment at SMK Secret (Week 4)

Hi..

Did I mention to you that up until this week, I still don't have my mentor? Well, that is something that really bothers me. This happened due to insufficient English evening session's teachers in my school. Since I don't have mentor, it is quite difficult for me to improve myself since no one to access me and I don't know to whom I should ask things that bother me throughout my teaching session. Luckily, I managed to meet my mentor on Thursday. I was so lucky since he is a very kind, and very considerate person. I should call him 'Mr.Gentleman' since that's how I describe him. He is a very experienced English teacher and I know that I can learn a lot from him. Although he is in the morning session, that is not a problem to him to keep guiding me in the evening. He is the one that I admire the most among the teachers in this school and it makes me wondering what should I do to become like him? That is a difficult thing to answer.

My Wonderful Moment at SMK Secret (Week 3)

Hi there..

This week I do not have much to talk about. It's just that I had a good week since I started a new hobby with my friend. We were promoted to join a new hobby which is cycling but it's not usual cycling activity since it's a mix between on road and off road. This is actually introduced by a teacher in the school. I call him 'Mr. Friendly'. Just like the name, he's a very friendly person and he's the one who makes me feel very comfortable being in that school. It seemed that he has known me for a long time although I have just been there for about three weeks. I feel very delighted with my new hobby and hoping that I'll learn many new things in the upcoming weeks.

My Wonderful Moment at SMK Secret (Week 2)

Hi there..

In my second week in school, I started to teach. There are two classes that are actually in my care. In this second week, I learnt that different students have different attitudes towards their friends, teachers and school. I learnt that as teacher I cannot use the same approach in my teaching because I have to cope with two distinctive situations in my life at school.

The first class is a very good class. They are clever, they respect the teacher and they always use good words when talking to others and to the teachers. They are just wonderful for me. I could not ask for more from them. They made me feel comfortable teaching and communicate with them. They never looked down on you and they never make you angry with them. They give full cooperation and that is the best thing for me.

My second class is different. They are very noisy and they hate learning. When I started to teach, they started to talk and when I stopped, they still could not stop. They are very week in English and I do not blame them for that. I felt a little disappointed about what I have to face but this is the challenge that I have to overcome in these next three months.  

My Third week

Hai there,

My third week is a little bit better. I am able to adjust myself with the school environment. However,  I have problems in classroom management. The students are in form 4 and they are in the age of rebellious . Thus, shouting or getting angry will not work with them. The best way is to persuade them to do the work and keep reminding them to bring their books.

It is hard for me to create activities that suit the students' English proficiency level. Although they are in a good class, their English proficiency level is low. So, activities that involve discussion are not good ideas. At the end, I will be the one who give most of the ideas. After conducting a lot of activities with them, I realise the students love to draw and decorate poster or banner. So, I use this chance in my literature class.

Here is one of my Literature activity that I had conducted. Bear in mind this is double period class. Normally for literature, I use double periods because I can conduct activities without having time constrain. In my Literature class, I ask them to watch a video that related to the short story (QWERTYUIOP and FRUITCAKE SPECIAL). While watching, I ask them to answer some easy questions related to the video (multiple questions). This is to make sure they concentrate with the video. Then, I divided them into groups of six. Each group was given  13 strips of paper (sequence of the story). Students need to arrange and paste it on A3 paper. They were allowed to decorate the A3 paper according to their creativity.

This activity is suitable for intermediate students.

That's all
Thank you.

Third week teaching in SMK Secret (Week 4)

Hello...
For this week, I would like to tell on how do I handle problematic students in my class in SMK Secret. Although they do not have any discipline problem, he always disturbed students that want to listen what I said in their class.

For this type of students, I try to gives more attention to him and asked him any questions that will make him to always gives attention in my class. Sometimes it is working and sometimes it is not.

Another problems is when there was a group of students that will always talk or play at the back of the class. For me, these types of students they always a problem in my class because they do not want to learn anything. They only like to play in class. For this type of problem, I have make a few solution. First option is to divides them into other groups. Second solution, asks one student from that group which we consider as their leader and place him/her to other seat. The last solution is the silent treatment. However, the silent treatment will take a long time to really gives effects to students. So it is the last option that I will use in my classroom control.