the teaching chronicles - and it comes to an end ):
Farewell is so bittersweet, like they always say! I totally want to leave because I can't see how I can tahan another week of teaching - don't even talk about it as a career. But it's damn sad leaving especially when it suddenly actually feels FUN being there and doing all those thangs I've been doing for the past 13/14 weeks. (Ya okay if you're thinking, yes that's alot of money earned.) And I actually miss my students. I mean duh I will, especially my 303 (not that I hate you lah 306)! :)
So the weeks of waking up at 545am every bloody morning, trudging sleepily to school on 854, fighting for a seat on the bus every morning, thinking of what clothes & shoes to wear (Sorry high-class body cannot be seen in same clothes in 2 weeks. LOL okay inside joke tsk.), checking EMB religiously the first thing once in school, kopi/teh breaks with cols, busting my collection of 5 red pens, looking at shit handwriting and telling myself that THIS IS PART OF THE JOB SUCK IT UP, reading English that isn't English but some weird new language I never knew existed, packing lunch up to mark and eat (like, IT'S TOTALLY OKAY to not have company when I'm eating, totally.), planning my lessons plans for the week in the brown book, cracking my brains to adapt handouts/worksheets my own way in class, praying that the kids will miraculously be hit by some quiet bug for once, waiting for lessons to END so that I can go out and have a life.... have all come to an end. I may not be a teacher in the near future, but you never know where life might take you, aye? Not closing any doors, but for the moment, no more teaching for me!!
I really really learnt alot from this experience, and like I said in my mini-speech to my cols, this is possibly the best vacation job I could ever ask for. I fulfilled one of my childhood dreams - to be a teacher click-clocking around in high heels and writing on the board and marking with red pens (!!) - and that's a really damn amazing feeling. I learnt patience, I learnt that I knew how to be firm when I had to, I learnt how to stretch myself past my abilities, I learnt how to handle forty noisy kids, I learnt how to work my brain constantly on-the-spot, I learnt that I can talk non-stop such an amazing ability.. BEST!
Friday was destined to be an exciting fun-filled day because I had 3 blocks (zzzzzzz), last TTT, booze break and PTM. PTM, yes that freakin' stands for Parent-Teacher Meeting. (Can't believe I had to attend it! Until NINE pm! No pay somemore! My last day leh! Okay but suck it up man.) It was damn tiring cos I didn't sleep at all the night before, and I didn't know what I was getting myself into. Basically, I gave Kisses to my Sec 2 Reading classes, especially 205 who have been such participative and active darlings in class. They teach me as much as I have taught them, really! :)
And for my dear Sec 3 classes whom I see 4 friggin' times a week, of course I had to prepare something little yet special for them. I wanted it to be as personal as it gets and something to remember their dear young teacher by. So I wrote them a little something each (that's EIGHTY, not counting the teachers..), and bought my 306 chocs! Eh expensive okay you all, don't always say I cheapskate. And I KNOW the difference between KinderJoy and KinderBueno - I just don't want to buy KinderJoy for you all hahaha!
Hope you like the gifts Band 2b (306)! And thanks for the littles notes too!
You are a HIP but damn noisy class, so have fun with the new fierce teacher! LOL. Stay in touch, guys! :)
And here comes the LOVELY surprise of the day. My ever-earnest, ever-diligent, ever-cheeky, ever-jovial, ever-nice-to-me class planned a farewell party for me in secrecy. AWWWWW right? I know, I was truthfully quite blown away too. Given how much time they had to prepare (they didn't know I was really leaving on Friday..) and how they are banded and thus not much opportunities to meet up and plan, this surprise was a damn good one! The quick-witted XH saw me coming up the stairs and quickly bundled along and told me today's lesson is shifted to another class on the 2nd floor, cos some stupid CCA took their classroom. I ACTUALLY BOUGHT THAT PIECE OF SHIT. I was still bitching away on how can the CCA be so irresponsible and all the crap. Until we reached the 2nd floor, with me holding all my gifts and stacks of stuff, he told me THIS IS A LIE. Omg wanted to slap people. So we returned back to the classroom and I SAW THIS HUGE CAKE IN THE CENTRE OF THE CLASSROOM. Aiya they are so failure - I totally knew what was going to happen already! I remember shouting, "JUST DON'T SLAP CAKE ON MY FACE PLEASE." repeatedly. Unglamorous like that.
Then suddenly, the whole class popped up! From behind the windows! Aiyo so cute please. I walked to the teacher's table, and saw this huge vanguard with messages from them (aiyo double touched), and suddenly I saw the whiteboard too! Triple touched. :) And the BIG Winnie the Pooh bear toy! I felt so loved, really! I was asking myself if I really deserved all this, and I guess I do! Hehe, at least for their class, yes. You don't know how much joy I get from walking into and out of this class after an hour everyday, and how comfortable I am with all of them. They are the ones who made me stay until yesterday, if not I would have seriously left long ago.
P.S. I had a hard time getting home okay!!
Thanks for everything you have taught and given me, 303! Stay in touch! FB rocks yes.
And how could I ever forget my dearest cols from the BEST dept you can ever find in a school? :) Am really very glad that I met all of you, and especially forged friendships with some of you. It's difficult to find people of the same wavelength as you in a strange working environment, so I'm very thankful that I did! We will continue to meet up! Butter nights! :)
my very last TTT
And no, the EL dept doesn't only have one male. We're missing TTM and Kevin! ):
When I left Narnia (we call our part of the staff room Narnia) last night after PTM, everyone came to give me a hug and wished me all the best blahblahblah. Seriously, if not for the fact that I was so SPENT and erm, not very sober, I would have cried. But no strength to summon those tear glands lah. I really had a great time in Narnia! I wouldn't have wanted to sit anywhere else, cos the energy which stems from how we are from different depts made my no-lesson-so-stay-in-staff-room time so enjoyable. (: Thank you everyone!
So here comes the last of my Teaching Chronicles - t'was a great journey! :)
Thanks for the memories, XMS :)
So the weeks of waking up at 545am every bloody morning, trudging sleepily to school on 854, fighting for a seat on the bus every morning, thinking of what clothes & shoes to wear (Sorry high-class body cannot be seen in same clothes in 2 weeks. LOL okay inside joke tsk.), checking EMB religiously the first thing once in school, kopi/teh breaks with cols, busting my collection of 5 red pens, looking at shit handwriting and telling myself that THIS IS PART OF THE JOB SUCK IT UP, reading English that isn't English but some weird new language I never knew existed, packing lunch up to mark and eat (like, IT'S TOTALLY OKAY to not have company when I'm eating, totally.), planning my lessons plans for the week in the brown book, cracking my brains to adapt handouts/worksheets my own way in class, praying that the kids will miraculously be hit by some quiet bug for once, waiting for lessons to END so that I can go out and have a life.... have all come to an end. I may not be a teacher in the near future, but you never know where life might take you, aye? Not closing any doors, but for the moment, no more teaching for me!!
I really really learnt alot from this experience, and like I said in my mini-speech to my cols, this is possibly the best vacation job I could ever ask for. I fulfilled one of my childhood dreams - to be a teacher click-clocking around in high heels and writing on the board and marking with red pens (!!) - and that's a really damn amazing feeling. I learnt patience, I learnt that I knew how to be firm when I had to, I learnt how to stretch myself past my abilities, I learnt how to handle forty noisy kids, I learnt how to work my brain constantly on-the-spot, I learnt that I can talk non-stop such an amazing ability.. BEST!
Friday was destined to be an exciting fun-filled day because I had 3 blocks (zzzzzzz), last TTT, booze break and PTM. PTM, yes that freakin' stands for Parent-Teacher Meeting. (Can't believe I had to attend it! Until NINE pm! No pay somemore! My last day leh! Okay but suck it up man.) It was damn tiring cos I didn't sleep at all the night before, and I didn't know what I was getting myself into. Basically, I gave Kisses to my Sec 2 Reading classes, especially 205 who have been such participative and active darlings in class. They teach me as much as I have taught them, really! :)
And for my dear Sec 3 classes whom I see 4 friggin' times a week, of course I had to prepare something little yet special for them. I wanted it to be as personal as it gets and something to remember their dear young teacher by. So I wrote them a little something each (that's EIGHTY, not counting the teachers..), and bought my 306 chocs! Eh expensive okay you all, don't always say I cheapskate. And I KNOW the difference between KinderJoy and KinderBueno - I just don't want to buy KinderJoy for you all hahaha!
Hope you like the gifts Band 2b (306)! And thanks for the littles notes too!
You are a HIP but damn noisy class, so have fun with the new fierce teacher! LOL. Stay in touch, guys! :)
And here comes the LOVELY surprise of the day. My ever-earnest, ever-diligent, ever-cheeky, ever-jovial, ever-nice-to-me class planned a farewell party for me in secrecy. AWWWWW right? I know, I was truthfully quite blown away too. Given how much time they had to prepare (they didn't know I was really leaving on Friday..) and how they are banded and thus not much opportunities to meet up and plan, this surprise was a damn good one! The quick-witted XH saw me coming up the stairs and quickly bundled along and told me today's lesson is shifted to another class on the 2nd floor, cos some stupid CCA took their classroom. I ACTUALLY BOUGHT THAT PIECE OF SHIT. I was still bitching away on how can the CCA be so irresponsible and all the crap. Until we reached the 2nd floor, with me holding all my gifts and stacks of stuff, he told me THIS IS A LIE. Omg wanted to slap people. So we returned back to the classroom and I SAW THIS HUGE CAKE IN THE CENTRE OF THE CLASSROOM. Aiya they are so failure - I totally knew what was going to happen already! I remember shouting, "JUST DON'T SLAP CAKE ON MY FACE PLEASE." repeatedly. Unglamorous like that.
Then suddenly, the whole class popped up! From behind the windows! Aiyo so cute please. I walked to the teacher's table, and saw this huge vanguard with messages from them (aiyo double touched), and suddenly I saw the whiteboard too! Triple touched. :) And the BIG Winnie the Pooh bear toy! I felt so loved, really! I was asking myself if I really deserved all this, and I guess I do! Hehe, at least for their class, yes. You don't know how much joy I get from walking into and out of this class after an hour everyday, and how comfortable I am with all of them. They are the ones who made me stay until yesterday, if not I would have seriously left long ago.
P.S. I had a hard time getting home okay!!
Thanks for everything you have taught and given me, 303! Stay in touch! FB rocks yes.
And how could I ever forget my dearest cols from the BEST dept you can ever find in a school? :) Am really very glad that I met all of you, and especially forged friendships with some of you. It's difficult to find people of the same wavelength as you in a strange working environment, so I'm very thankful that I did! We will continue to meet up! Butter nights! :)
my very last TTT
And no, the EL dept doesn't only have one male. We're missing TTM and Kevin! ):
When I left Narnia (we call our part of the staff room Narnia) last night after PTM, everyone came to give me a hug and wished me all the best blahblahblah. Seriously, if not for the fact that I was so SPENT and erm, not very sober, I would have cried. But no strength to summon those tear glands lah. I really had a great time in Narnia! I wouldn't have wanted to sit anywhere else, cos the energy which stems from how we are from different depts made my no-lesson-so-stay-in-staff-room time so enjoyable. (: Thank you everyone!
So here comes the last of my Teaching Chronicles - t'was a great journey! :)
Thanks for the memories, XMS :)