Practicum; Week 1 checked!

         I survived my first week of practicum. Heaven knows how tired I am! I’m not even a real teacher with 30 periods a week! Now that I am in school, I really really really appreciate Saturday. Saturday is the only day where I do not have to rush to do anything, the only day I do not have to wake up early to plan my lesson, and the only day I do not have papers to mark (coz I am so lazy, I only give them worksheets :p). I am slowly adjusting my life to this new routine.

Let me start with the class that is given to me to handle. Hallelujah most of them have very strong basic in English; I hope I won’t face any problems during observation (which is on Tuesday, OH EM GEE!!!). However, yes, there are things that I am not satisfied with; they are very, I mean VERY, very noisy. Everyday feels like running 800 metres trying to control them. Once they become so engrossed with the activity, they started making noise, shouting to each other trying to complete the worksheet. I am still trying to figure out why do they have to shout. And then I shout too, in the end it becomes havoc. I tried ‘blackmailing’ them with the REWARD system, but they do not really care. Gosh! My classroom control is still very-very bad.

Then, lesson planning. Thinking and planning could take a week, figuratively. Moreover, I realized that my pupils have different proficiency level, so, I have to prepare different task for every level of proficiency, to ensure learning is happening in the classroom. It’s a lot of work.

Third, money. Seriously, I spent a lot of money on teaching aids (Note this, note this!! To those who ALWAYS complaint about teachers). Nampak tak pengorbanan I?? Hahaha. And actually I have to restrain my food intake hahaha…But, it’s worth it when they understand the lesson! So far, listening and speaking skill is the hardest skill to teach. Why? Please refer paragraph 2. TT.TT

But I like teaching. It’s actually fun, though really tiring. And scary at the same time, because you are responsible for somebody’s future! I still prefer studying and do my assignments over teaching. Hahaha..

3 more weeks!

Of me, hair and shampoos...

My hair used to be very easy to manage. USED TO BE. No hairfall, no dandruff, effortlessly silky and it was everything a girl could ask for for a hair. And I liked to cut it short, so short because I could. My face was not as wide as it is now. LOL.

It was Christmas 2008 when I had my first re-bonding. I was excited because I’d been saving up for it the whole year and hair re-bonding was an ‘in’ thing at that time. However, after 4 hours exposing my ‘virgined’ hair to the agony of heat and chemical, it turned out sooo BADDDD I couldn’t stand to see my face in the mirror… It was so flat and the roots of my hair were burned. I almost cry but being 16 and stupid, I said nothing and paid the hairdresser anyway.

But I was positive. I fed my hair with the right shampoo (Pantene!), and in return, it served me well for a few months. And then the real aftermath happened when I had my hair trimmed by another unprofessional barber. It was soooo ugly and short I literally cried outside the salon. HAHAHA. I was lucky I had 4 of my bestfriends with me at that time; I think they bribed me with noodle soup to ease my feeling. Haha. And for some reason that I cannot understand, right after the aftermath, my glorious Pantene did not work on my hair anymore. So I had to tie my hair for 1 and a half year, refrained myself from cutting it for a year, and experimented with various shampoo to find the best frizz manager. But I couldn’t find it. Some shampoo will work its magic for a few months and then stopped serving my hair so suddenly it makes me confused. It is never as silky as it was anymore. 

So, over the years, I have experimented with various shampoo, and I can literally say what shampoo works best and what not. These are some of my favourites;

1. Elysyle by Elken (my current favourite! I used the one specialized for hairfall and it really works!)
2. Sunsilk (Cheap and smells really good)
3. Schwarzkopf (Makes hair silky and shiny, too bad it doesn't work on my hair anymore)
4. Pantene (Smells really really good)

...unfortunately for Labourse, Watson's Shampoo, Loreal and Rejoice; they make my hair frizzy and really hard to comb. But many people swear by these shampoos so I hope my experience won't stop you from buying them. 

Elysyle by Elken. My current favourite..

Holidays 2014; well spent...

I tend to surround myself with books since the past two months. So my holiday is all about goodreads. It only hits me after 3 and a half years signing up as a student teacher, realizing how incompetence I am in my own field. Turn out it is the best hobby ever; the feeling when you are so engrossed in a book amazed me in a way I cannot describe. Not that I didn’t read anything before, but only recently I realized how amazing reading is in making me forget all that is happening around me, especially when I am sad. I cannot find any good word to describe it but it is really really amazing.

Apart from that, I also learnt how to bake a decent cake. I never like baking actually; for me it’s the most annoying activity in the universe. But I did it anyway, you know, we need skills to survive. Who knows it might come in handy one day?

…and friends were engaged and getting married soon, I am so excited for them. Yay, I love wedding. Seeing them makes me feel so old; I then realized that it’s been ages since we joined the buffalo in the mud, jumped on a snake in the river (accidentally), ran up the hill and climbed up trees together. I had the most wonderful childhood.

Anyway, 1 week until school is open, and I am going back to routines. Wake up at 6.00 am, class until 12.00pm sometimes 2.00pm, sports event, practicum, assignments, TESL night and exams.

All the best 2015!

Lovely Family, Lovely Tambunan

My one week vacation at Tambunan was finally over. Well, actually I went there for my third School Based Experience, but it was more like a short vacation for me. It was truly a wonderful week, staying with Lilian’s big wonderful family. I can’t thank them enough for treating me so well and made me feel like I was home.

Mother always feels uneasy about me staying at other people’s house. She is worried that I cannot bring myself well just because I cannot cook well. Haha. But I think I’ve proved her wrong. I mingled with their family very well, and I did help in the kitchen although I didn’t cook (I did cook ONCE). See? You don't really need to be an awesome cook to be accepted in one's family. HAHA. 

I’ve grown fonder with Lilian’s nieces and nephew. I think her nephew has become quite attached with me that he didn’t really talk when I told him ‘aunty is going home today’. And I can’t help myself but laugh when Lilian’s niece said ‘Nanti aunty kawin, saya pigi rumah aunty’. Haha… doii…Kawin pula…macam mana, I’m still searching for Mr. Right :p (Don’t get me wrong. I’m not desperate. I do enjoy my solitary moment.)

        I think my first time staying with other’s family didn’t turn out as a major failure. Actually I stayed with Elsa’s family before, but their family is so small I didn’t really have to socialize. Haha. I’ve improved my social skill a lot!! :D

Till next post.