Prologue or Epilogue: 31st Dec 2012

Ending of 2012 and the coming of a new year, 2013.

Reflection on teaching, 2012:
1. Have not been setting proper goals and compromising on the little goals I have, making them worse.
2. Did touched a few kids and hopefully may be able to strengthen that this coming year.
3. Could have pushed myself a little further for the kids.

2013 New Year Resolution:
1. Set clear goals and constantly "shower" reminders to myself and the kids about the goals.
2. Will push myself a little harder but still be exemplar in TAL W3.
3. Complete year 2013 with at least 10 quotable proudest moment.

Gosh, now life is just about teaching??!
Well, that ain't so bad.

Sending love to my family and friends, wherever you guys are.
Have a blessed New Year. May it bring more smiles, laughter and surprises, no matter what perspective you  have!

WUPID 2012

Grandfinals - Won by WITS

World University Peace Invitational Debate 2012

Facts and figures, and non-stopping speakers.
Overwhelmed, I was.
Amazed by how much facts and figures the human brain can configure in 15 minutes.
Humbled by the fact that mine cannot.
Moral of the story: Gotta read more, as in more substantial reads.

Haiku

Counting their fingers
Is it really that hard?
I counted mine too!

He may be loud, but he's my student

He is LOUD! His laughter annoys me for the first 3 quarter of the year.
He played truant during my class for nearly a month.
He hardly wanted to try any exercise.
He played paper football with his friends in my class.
He openly bullies other kids while I'm teaching.
But he is my student.

Now, a statement he said to another kid in class, that is still ringing in my ear,
"Tak nampak ke saya tengah belajar!"
while I was sitting in front of him, going through his Math Paper 2 and his overall progress this year, with him.
He may not improve much, and he did not even pass his paper.
But the disappointment from his eyes about his result impacted me.
He changed, and so did his life path.

撑， 不容易。

累了。
为了你们， 累了。
不想放弃，但你们没给我任何直得撑着的理由或力气。
明知你们有实力， 却自己先放弃， 我更帮不了你们。
一个人要为那么多人撑， 不容易。

On a more positive note, half of my kids seem to be doing great going towards the finals.
I really hope they score!

UM Convo 2012

Even more awesome than before, or perhaps I'm just missing UM and the people in it.
Flash mobs, cheers, graduates being thrown by juniors, bouquets, teddy bears....
Aaaah~ memories...

Congratulations to all who has graduated this year, including my sifu, Amos Aw(Masters) and KT friend, Chin Hai (Medical Imaging).

Reflection month

Now it is advised that I put more energy in next year's kids - the ones I haven't made mistakes with yet.

Wise indeed~

L, is for the way I look at teaching~

Love and Like - Both begin with L but the journey to the end makes so much difference.

中秋节快乐

celebration at quarters

celebrated with cousin's family

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival 2012

Contemplating...

Thinking if this is for me.
Can't remember if I ever did before this, but this morning I came to the brink of breaking down while talking to my mom on the phone, while dressing up to go to school.
Stressed. After 9 months being a teacher.
When things pile up and pressure builds, staying strong underneath all these is hard.
With finals coming up, I really have to drill the fact that my kids are not statistics.
Treat them like human.
I am not the only one they have learned from.
Whether I made an impact or not, I can only try my best.
Even if I have not, I can only try to do better next time.
Can't go around feeling guilty about the past.

I do want the best for my kids, but they have to want it too.
I'm grateful that I do see positive change in some kids I taught.

Rejoice for them, Juin dear. You have done something by just hanging on.

Blessed Wedding and Blissful Marriage

To the lovely couple, Shiou Feng and Marvin Toh.
16.09.2012

I miss my old self~

Or young self, the kpop-crazy Juin.
The celebrity-stalking, video-downloading, MV-watching Juin.
The random, dawn-driving-in-search-of-breakfast Juin.
The I-wanna-do-awesome-stuff-but-am-shy, especially dance in public, Juin.

Hey! I'm kinda still all that!
*Self High 5* for keeping the promise to myself of not changing who I am, at least not changing much.

random pic of me in Kyoto Gakuen uniform

P/S: Parody videos and dances will never get old!

1 year and half a century later~

courtesy of youngest sis, Shern

He may not know how to express his love for us that well, but when he does, EPIC!
Happy Birthday, Papa!
I love you!!

Splendid ending to a long week

Parting picture with AiUEduTeam in front of Islamic Art Museum, KL

TFM:Flipped for SMK Juasseh was on 6 September 2012 (Thursday)
Bringing along 34 kids to Islamic Art Museum, KL to meet up with the awesome AiUEduTeam.
(Learn more about AiU here) 
Aiming to give exposure to the kids of the options they have after school and also widen their horizon on what school and life is about.
Whether or not all these got through to the kids, I can only imagine.

The week continued as usual, and having replacement school on Saturday made the week a lil longer.
However, having a shorter weekend doesn't mean it feels short.
Unlike most 2-days weekend, this 1-1/2 weekend actually felt longer.
Quality time spent does make time a subjective aspect of life.
Saturday started of with school, continued with a trip to Seremban 2 and ended with a nearly 3-hour badminton game with school teachers and students at the town hall nearby.
Sunday was filled with a 1-hour open house trip to my mentor's lovely home and now I'm here, blogging.

Time enjoy wasting is not time wasted! Indeed!

a night of danger and dirt~

Mindless me, got myself locked out of my room.
Had to do a mission impossible stunt to get my door to open.
But enough "fun", time to get back to work.
Had been nearly 9 months into the year. My kids are doing well, but I'm so sure they can do better.
The question to ask myself is: What am I doing to make them do better?
What is my end goal? Do they see the same goal too?

Time to reflect~

Simple Pleasures in Life XI

56. Waiting and watching the break of dawn.
57. Sleeping in on a rainy day.
58. Seeing friends whom I have not met in a long time in a random dream. XD
59. Winning something which is not for yourself.
60. Jazz music

KA-CHING!

Hopefully things turn for the better this time.
Well, money may not be important, but it does rank just up there with oxygen.
And... I got funds for my kids!!!
I'm going to invest it in the school's Math Room, kids will wish they are learning Math all the time!
Crossing my fingers and hoping for a change of heart in my kids after all these investment.
They are all good kids, with potential just waiting to be unleashed.
I'm gonna polish them up real good!

I want my kids to go out into the world, asking all the W.H. questions and making sense for themselves.

Cuckoo body clock

Been having weird sleeping patterns these few weeks.
Like I'm in a different time zone.
@_@
Slept at 5pm til 5am
Slept at 7pm til 5am
Basically waking up around 5am-ish
Not sure if healthy or just plain weird~

It has been 8 months...

Of self-discovering journey, testing me beyond my sanity sometimes, but a wonderful journey nonetheless.
Yes, life brings you down, time and time again.
But I have learnt again and again, that the best thing to do is to keep myself happy first.
Never do anything that I'll regret in future.
I realized that I'm not as important as I think I am.
With or without me, life moves on.
Took a step back to breathe and observe.
Only then, will I really see where I can be and try my best at it.

One note at a time

Music soothes the soul. Indeed.
Learning to play the guitar now.
Unlike in the past, this is learning not only to play that 1 song.
Like all other learning, it is for the many other songs to come.

Perfect Numbers

Quote from Murderous Maths: The key to the universe.

One of the most satisfyingly useless bits of maths are perfect numbers.  Only one qualification is required to be perfect: you have to equal the sum of your factors.
6 is the first perfect number, having factors of 1, 2, and 3, summing up to 6.
The next perfect number is 28: 1,2,4,7 and 14, total up to 28 again!

28.6, I am perfect. LOL

my secret dream?

10 question to ask yourself by RD Asia:
http://www.rdasia.com/10-questions-to-ask-yourself

No 9: What is a secret dream I want to make happen this year?
My answer: To be on a boat out at sea at night, just watching the night sky and enjoy the glitter of stars.

Of athletes, teachers and the colour yellow

Am in charged of the Yellow House in school, called Persona, after a Proton car.

Had a cute lil bee mascot and beautiful flower girls and boys in masks, marching for our house.

Awesome athletes with the amazing spirits!

And was awarded the overall runner-up among all Houses. 

Sharon's house, Exora was the champion. Congrats!

Our mascot

Marching squad

Runner up award

Event was great!! Makes me miss high school, a lot!
Also, got an extra "prize" from the day: Sunburn.

Home Sweet Home... No?

Life was good for about 6 months. There will be chaos and piles of workload in school, but there is always comfort at home to come back to.
Until THIS happens:

it began...

to flood...

real bad...

Yea, I'm staying at the first floor, ground floor's apartment seems fine though...
Anyway, it's all over now! Phew! Spent a bomb but totally worth it.
Now to prep the house into a home sweet home again.

P/S: Thanks housemate, Sharon, for putting up with all my tantrums this month. You have been a huge pillar of support!

Quote Mom

"You are not that important. Don't give yourself so much credit."
Ouch! But yeah, truth hurts.
Helped me got through toughest of times.
Live life however that makes you happy and blissful.

<>

Another cycle!

2nd cycle of the zodiac.

Had a great day! And it is a weekday!

I worked... 

But it ended with a roadtrip, superb dinner (added bonus with wonderful company) and a movie!

Without the current social media, I actually realized not many people know about me.

For those who do, I love you!! <3

What do I want from myself?

Need to find my goals before giving others theirs.
What do I want myself to want from you?
THAT IS THE QUESTION!

Step 1: Setting Big Goals.

This should go global!

Great use of reverse psychology

Watching this made my day

Laying down ground rules

In any relationship, ground rules are necessary.
To know how high or low your expectations are, and not wanting to be in between, confused.
Also standing firm, not letting the other party push your boundaries or challenge you.
Communication must be explicit and clear.
Trust is a must as well.

How far do you trust me? And how far can I trust you?
Only one chance to make an impression~ Aaand it's gone.
In my case, it is back!

You're not okay, I'm not okay, and it's okay~

Acceptance is the escape button.
Have been trying hard to change things and expecting change.
Now that I'm okay with me not being okay, not okay just became okay~

Letting go of thoughts now,
for new ones shall perch on my shoulders.
Let them be, as a companion,
which may again leave, soon enough,
for the constant thing is always change.

Don't wanna live by no-one else's design

I love it when ideas start bursting in my mind.
Creativity can give such high!

***

When I notice myself changing from the person I used to be, I hesitate.
Change is not necessarily a good thing, but changing for the better, why not? But then again, for better or worse, who is to judge?
I am starting to question the way I live life.
I hesitate a lot. Spontaneous as I may seem to be, I have had my shares of regrets on missing out on stuff.
The road not taken. The door unopened.
However, all those things I have missed have led me here.
And I am therefore who I am now because of all the things I missed.

Glad I missed them then! =D

Evergreen

Messages carved in trees, 


which also cost 60sen. 

Change in the present

Affects the future, someway, somehow...

He used to be part of a trio. Being late is normal, no books to class, normal.
Playing paper football in class is normal too; to disregard the teacher teaching in front is okay.
Being loud
Now, he is on task. He asked to confirm if what he is doing is right.
He ignores his duo friends and focuses on given exercises.
He improved in his recent Math exam is now about 10 points away from passing.
He used to be 3 times further than that from the passing mark.
Now, hearing his improvement and how near he is to achieving something that seems possible now,
he actually had to double confirm with me: "How many marks more to pass, teacher?"

I hope he sees in him now what I saw and still see in him: POTENTIAL.

Anyone out there?

I think H is screwing with me again.
Need a shoulder to cry on but there is none.
Well, whoever that offers might regret too cos I'll be ranting non-stop. =S

I seem to be focusing more on the things I cannot do and not doing well than noticing positive stuff going on around me.
Por que?

However, I would like to thank my housemate, Sharon, for bringing up the fact that Natasha is now very interested in learning compared to how she first was, disinterested and lost hope.
There are many more Natasha that I overlooked in class, and I need to pull myself back together, at least for Natasha.

BUUUUT, tomorrow is not Natasha's class! =S

Fail to plan and plan to fail

The gap just widened.

I just found out...

when I'm stressed,
sweet drinks help, it seems.
So now my favourite drink is Ribena!!

Tomorrow is the new term for school.
Another 15 weeks (plus minus) to make an impact and push these kids to a whole new level they never thought they could achieve, or never even knew about.
They are like any of us, full of potential.
But how do I make them see what I see in them?
当局者迷，旁观者清。。。

Cassiopeia

She is my first, and she shall be named Cassiopeia.
I shall always be reminded of the good ol days and bitter sweet memories.
Where there is life, there is still hope.

Always keep the faith.

Today...

At time where my guess is as good as yours,

And darkness, a blanket,

Yet see light in places that lights shine not.

A beginning, yet the end;

Dawn-to-be; everything seems different yet the same.

And it feels just right...

Of greens and a housemate

Sharon n I

jumping shot (a must it seems)

~time of arrival~

Green is a soothing colour... Indeed...

Happy Teacher's Day 2012

You believed earth is round because of your teachers.
You know 1+1 is 2 because of your teachers.
You know the 2 facts above can be argued upon because you are educated by teachers.
Also, you can read this because of your teachers.
For every knowledge transferred, 2 characters are involved; one will be the teacher, sharing; and another a student, learning.

To all educators worldwide, for the fact that you are going to school every weekday to educate.
To all my teachers and mentors, for molding me into who I am now.
To all Teach For Malaysia fellows, for not taking education as a course to study but chose it as a career (for 2 years and perhaps more) and bracing through storms every single day.
To my educator cum parents, Pa and Mie, for nearly everything in my life.

"Thank you" is the only 2 words I can offer now.

Crazaay Night

Had one on Saturday, 12th May, which is also the last day of semester 1 for my Post-Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE).
Like any other undergrad, we celebrated the break.
A group of us went to RedBox at IOI Mall to sing our hearts (or throat) out.
Sang a good 5 hours, it was insane!
Had great fun but K.O. right the next day.
Worthied!

I came anyway~

Unprepared. I came to school.
It did not end as terrible as I expected.
Had a fine day.
I think I'm getting a hang of this.
It's just the classroom management that I am having problem with.
Even my students says so (or voted so).
*dread* What to do to handle the kids the way they deserve to be handled?

My cup of tea

Watching Marvel's The Avengers and choosing my style of hero among all the characters in it,
I realized I like guys who are a little cocky yet nice on the inside.
He has to be real smart, playful, charitable.
Most importantly, he has to have a sense of humour.
Just like Ironman.
Quote:
Captain America: "What are you once you strip of all the iron?"
Ironman: "Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist."
*smirk*
And... His eyes!! The confidence emitted from them. *melts*

The movie was cool! Packed with action right from the start. Love it!

To the edge and back

sunrise on the way to school

I went to the edge... of my school field... and back.
I jogged... a little... and panted a lot.
It feels great to sweat it out, just like my housemate, Sharon said.
This is week seems to be the awesomest out of all weeks here.
Monday blues was neutral-ed with Tuesday as a holiday (Labour's Day) ^^
Came Wednesday which was already half the week gone. (and I slept from Wed-5pm to Thu-5am >.<)
Thursday was a short-er day while Friday is the shortest!
The cherry on top: I have the weekend to myself!!
Felt so free I actually manage to get more things done.. Kinda...
Got books marked, not a lot but at least finally managed to get some marked.

Finally had a cool meter going for 1USM. Did it within 5min or so.
Gonna give away 2 Trg-Senyum Sokmo Tshirts.
Gotta pick 2 awesome kids for it!
Things seem to be going well. So I'm gonna enjoy my day tomorrow, TGIF!!
Not gonna let anyone ruin it! =D

Uh oh...

It all became mundane... 

What happened?

Where is the Juin who was always optimistic and full of drive, creativity and a sense of humour?

Let's go find her back!

Teary-eyed... why?

A video was played, showing kids screaming excitedly when their group representative compete against each other. It was a game to see who can list out all the answers for multiplication-table 1 to 9 in the shortest time.

Ooooh, the way the kids shouted and cheered for their friends to write faster and win the game, indescribable.

So excited, so enthusiastic, so loud and yet learning so much!

I teared... a little...

My kids are learning to do the same listing now! In their fastest possible time!

AWESOME!!!

A performer, I am not...

I thought I was incorporating values by trying to set a good example to them.
It seems I'm just being nice and a friend to them who seems to be a push-over.
Values did not seem to burn into their brains yet... Knowledge-wise... Also unsure...
They need an authoritative figure which I cannot seem to be, not all the time.
A teacher should be the world greatest performer, able to be versatile and act as various kind of characters.
No one actually gave me a proper script.. So what character should I be? And when?

Simple pleasures in life X

51. Burst of ideas
52. Watching romantic comedies (online or offline)
53. LOL-ed to entertainment show
54. Learning new applications and uses for normal softwares like Microsoft Words *surprised*
55. Lazing around whole day doing nothing but watching TV or surfing the net. =D

Laws of attraction indeed!

Going to school feeling more positive.
Getting things done kinda according to plan, which, thank goodness, I have.
Aaaaand... A student messaged me and told me I'm in his top 5 list of favourite teachers!
Another teacher in school complimented me for my seem-to-be-adapting behaviour and attitude!
*basking in the proud moment*
**Power UP**

Start anew

Things have been crazy negative these few weeks.
The overall atmosphere wasn't good.
I have not been able to make it to house visits to my students' homes, choosing nap over my kids.
Never have I thought I can call their homes and have a chat over the phone too!
Will start doing that starting today. Might be able to meet some on the way to school or back perhaps.
Charts and others will come later, for now.
Do what I can, and try to think out of the box.
Will start anew for my kids. ^^

Message from an experienced teacher

Well girl, I love my job. Believe in my ability. Received many awards throughout my teaching life.
Don't have too  high expectations of my students.
I don't believe passing exams and strings of A's as ultimate aim.
They are not statistics but human.
If they still fail, I say to myself I've done my best, the rest is their effort.
Some never learn anything so can't push.
Am not super teacher.
Just do my utmost best but if that is not enough, I can do no more.

P/S: I love you, mom! <3

When the mundane gets poisonous in my head

There is no more progress to see...
There are no small achievements for me in class...
The same bunch of kids are curious, the same group of kids are disruptive, the same faces are apathetic...
I'm constantly expecting changes, maybe that's why I am hurting on the inside...now...
I have learned my lesson that expectations lead to disappointment, but as a teacher, how can I not expect anything out of every class I go to?!
I do not know what I need to get out of my current mindset.
When I talk about the hopes for my kids, I'm still full of passion and hope.
But, somehow, there is something in me that makes me lay longer in bed before I wake up on school days.
My kids fuel me, but maybe now the fuel ran out...
I need more fuel, kids! Help me!

The H in me

They affect how I feel and how I react.
They sway me from my passion, causing me to focus on negativity and let the good goes by.
What if the decisions I've made before this was all because of them?
What if the decisions to be made in future are decided when they are at work too?
They peak and they dip... making me inconsistent and crazy at times.
I worry because of them, yet happy because of them too!
In a dilemma...
What do I do when the H in me takes over...

See Me After Class - Roxanna Elden

"This book is meant to keep you from getting discouraged when it seems like all those fabulous ideas you learned in training don't work in your own classroom."
"This book is NOT chicken soup for the teacher's soul. It's more like hard liquor for the teacher's soul, because new teachers need something stronger than chicken soup."
"But we need you to stay on your job, and stay sane."

An awesome read. And I am only on chapter 3.
As a teacher, this books will make you feel better knowing there are teachers who have been there, done that, EXACTLY like what you are going through now. That's the awesome part, EXACTLY like what I am going through now. Hence, it is giving me good humour knowing that what I am going through is not just my problem but nearly every new teacher as well. I am terrible, but I am not "specially" terrible. I am not that good at doing a bad job, so don't be so emo about being bad. There are WORSE cases.
It is like reading a diary of your own story, just written by someone else, which makes it really funny as well.

Love it~!

I sel~fish in class

I am selfish and evil and disguised as a teacher.

Muahahahaha~

I taught fractions and did a little survey in class, which indirectly is an ego-booster for myself.

I did a data collection of their favourite subject in school which will lead to writing of fractions and drawing diagrams of the fractions.

Number of students: 20.

Number of students that wrote Maths and ICTL as their favourite subject: 8 and 6, which equals to 14.

I teach them both Maths and ICTL. XP

EGO BOOSTED! FTW!!

The Heartache

Oh... the pain...
when the aesthetics you bring were not appreciated.
Like colours to a black and white canvas, beautiful yet hard to understand.
Like religion, from one to another.
Like music, composed but not heard.
Like a story, penned but not read.
Oh... the pain...
when the wall between them and what you see is a thin veil,
sewn with threads of complexity yet soft to the touch.
When they heartily laugh at what you think should inspire them,
and stare you in the face, blank and unfazed.
How do you break down a wall, when all you have is a cloth and nothing more?
I start wiping, but to when will the wall crumble, only time can tell...

my pace

for once, got my pace right!
sacrificed a lil time off my schedule... plan n re-plan my sleeping time, which just kept being postponed.
But guess what?! I got work done and the postponing of my sleep time should be worthwhile!
Now just need a pace for marking papers n books.
FTK!

On the edge

from falling into the valley of death...
Or perhaps am already falling?
There is so many spaces for improvement, I don't even know where to begin!!
I am weak in many aspects, especially time management.
I have a schedule, but not fully committing to it. @_@
My kids need me and I am not being responsible enough...
My teenage irresponsible self is back to haunt me and she is taking over!
M.u.s.t. f.i.g.h.t. b.a.c.k.!

My kids fuel me!!!

Non-academic analysis. I like to think of this as a refilling of "fuel" for what I am now doing.
I am starting this "on-book" conversations with my kids now. It is also a nice way to help me keep my kids occupied when they finish their practices quick.  They write how they feel about getting their answers correct during guided practice. These are some of those who wrote to me. I shall reply them as I mark their assessments in their books. How cool is that?! A conversation with the teacher, in their books! And the teacher replies!
It's like Tom-Riddle's diary in Harry Potter!! In a good way of course...
They got it now, hopefully they really show mastery in their assessment too!

This is what drives me! Knowing they actually understood what I taught and like Maths because they now know that they can master it. Because of them, I shall strive more. For they will be the one running the world soon and the world should be a better place, for you and for me...

Simple pleasures in life IX

46. Sunsets - Love the hue in the sky during this time of the day. The last glow of light before nighttime comes along.

Sunset captured from SMK Juasseh

Sunset in Puchong, Selangor

47. The moon. Elegant yet powerful.
48. Looking at a starry starry night sky.
49. Knowing you are prep for the next day, whatever comes.
50. A comforting conversation with family or friends.

I love station games!!!

Objective: Adding and subtracting whole numbers.

Activity: Station games.
Stations depicting real life choices one has to make in future.

Kids start off with a RM 10,000 loan needed to be signed by the teacher aka me. ^^

Station 1: Pick what kind of room you want to rent

the fanciest one I can think of and draw

Station 2: What kind of course in uni do you want to enroll in?

fanciest course offered.

Station 3: CAR SALE

Station 4: Personal expenditure, you want an "ATAS" lifestyle

Last station: Show me how much you used and saved up

I did it under a very controlled environment, by not giving them a choice to choose which lifestyle.
We started with the cheapest lifestyle then the fanciest.
Then 2 and 3.
Worked well, especially for students who can subtract quickly. There was music while they did their calculations as well!!
Hmmm... If I prepared more, they could have chosen their own "life expenditures" too.
However, as in reality for now, I will have to choose for them.
No worries, I'll build them up well to be able to make their own choices soon. ^^

p/s: Music in class is just so must-have that this used-to-be-really-rowdy class can actually stay silent for 10 minutes straight!
I also did a "show me your answers by just a show of fingers to indicate the number you got from your calc"(so they don't have to speak and I can continuously countdown the time to the arrival of Music)

I read it...

And it stings a lil.
Somehow, it is like another calling, and I can't seem to let go.
Please show me a way out, anyone?

May the Dragon ROAR this year!

May peace, health, prosperity and happiness always be with you and your family.
Spend some time with your loved ones and indulge yourself in some great snacks this new year!
Avoid gluttony though and avoid wasting food too...
Happy Chinese New Year and Have an AWESOME Dragon Year, yallz!

Music saves the day!

Never underestimate the power of blasting instrumental music in class.
I thought the kids would not buy it. Instrumental music sounds lame and old-style... Or so I thought they would think.
But guess what?! Miracle happened!
I requested 5 minutes of silence before I can allow music into the class.
We did subtracting using our own fingers. They had to stay silent but showed me they got the correct number when I checked how many fingers are closed or opened.
It was kinda cute, cos I stayed kinda silent too, only nodding and putting a thumbs-up sign if they were correct.
Amazing effect!!! They were learning too! I might missed out a few but most of them got it while I walked around the class checking their fingers.
Then, I requested them to copy the questions on the board and try to finish it silently while the music is being played. Music ON!
Track:
1. Howl's moving castle theme song
2. Aerith's Theme - Final Fantasy 7
3. Kaze no toori michi (Totoro theme song) - Joe Hisashi
4. Romance de amor - Richard Clayderman
5. By My Side - David Choi
6. Valentine - Kina Grannis

Students in class continued staying silent and putting effort in answering the questions given. I went around checking and marking their answers as they answered. They raised hands to ask for help and they whispered their inquiries to me when I stood next to them. AWESOME!!!
FYI, they were the most overly-active kids in the whole form! FTW!! FTK!!!

However, I released them too early, confused by the school schedule. One of my kids went and disturbed the next class and caused a HUGE scene!!! My bad~ so sorry~ ='(
Note to self: Must prep extra questions for seriously fast-learners!! and get blasting speakers...

Simple pleasures in life VIII

41. The beaming faces of kids who learnt something new.
42. gradually seeing change in attitude of my kids.
43. Playing a ball game that I thought I'd be terrible in and still manage to score goals! FTW!
44. When my lesson plans actually went according to plan.
45. The first taste of food after starving for loooong hours.

Will house visits work? I'll see soon...

My fellow friend, Dipesh has started house visits, and it seems to help.
Students want to know that you care. And they need you to show it.
It takes effort, not easy, but not impossible.
I befriended my 2 girls from class already, by making 1 house visit.
Got to know her a little better and the girl and her classmate, who is also my student, brought me to the night market, became my "tour guide" and even helped me picked fresh veges cos the girl I visited has parents that work in the market nearby.
Another girl I visited showed me a loving side compared to what she has been acting like in school and what all the other teachers have said about her.
There are stories behind all those faces, and I want to be in their stories too, be it harsh or happy.
I hope they understand that I mean business and their future is my business, even for awhile...

SMK Juasseh

Life has been hectic and swell at the same time.

I'm blogging in the midst of planning lessons for tomorrow. 

My kids deserve a lot more than I am giving, and I will better myself day by day.

Tomorrow will be my first real lesson in Maths.

Diagnostics will be marked as soon as I am free, but lessons come first.

I'm not sure if I am just cheating myself so that I don't stress out, but my 2UPM kids are doing better by the day.

The number of listeners I get in my class now is more compared to my first week.

One use-to-be-rowdy kid actually nudged his friend to not be disrespectful (kurang ajar) cos the teacher is in front. AAAWWW... *melts* he got teased a little by his friends when I thanked and complimented him for that. 

When I see progress in culture, I will see progress in learning. Right? 

I trust that they do want to do well, and my pep talk seem to work. Hope it works for all my other classes as well.

I leave you with serene scenes from my balcony.

Spectacular sunset from my balcony

My school for these 2 years, or maybe more?

What if I know...

I am a teacher now. My focus should be on my school students.
But what if I know of a child who has not have the privilege to education since kindergarten?

Life has been hectic. Moving house, buying stuff to fill the house, preparing for school, new admin work, balancing work and personal well-being.
My students deserve the best, and I have not been giving them much.
Need to buck up asap!
But now that I know of him, plans need a slight change. Maybe not change, but an additional plan need to be added in between.

More to be done.
Hang on tight, Juin. It's gonna be a long and bumpy ride!