anak-anakku

It's been three weeks now. School's been okay, as I managed to get a hang of it right from the start. Everything seems to fall into place. But it's still in the first month. Quite early to tell, isn't it?

I am teaching three Form 1 classes this year, which means I will normally be flat out at the end of each day.The thing about having to teach the Form 1 kids is that it is fun just as it is also exhausting.

Don't get me wrong. I truly love teaching them all. With them, I can do all sorts of activities and I don't have to worry about getting them to respond. They are a bunch of hyper kids themselves and I am normally entertained with their put ups and spontaneous acts. With them, time normally flies without me even realising it that I treasure every lesson with them. In fact, I look forward to meet them every single day - something which I didn't quite experience last year with my former students.

But with them also means that my classroom management is in dire need of improvement. I am not just a teacher but a mom and a babysitter. Instead of having 2 or 3 kids, I have 34 in each class (times 3 classes and you tell me how many little children I have!) to look after. Each differs from personality and behaviour. And all demanding your attention at the same time. Imagine you're attending a boy here, suddenly Iman over there screamed for you because Naim took his book; at the same time Aida at the back shouts "Teacheeerrrr!!! Hajar kacau saya!!!", and then you just noticed poor Nazeer has been standing in front of you for quite some time asking for the Toilet Pass. And you turned to the other part of the class and you caught Kafabil and Mukmin practising their wrestling skills on the God damn floor. Pheww! But I enjoy the noisiness, the chaotic atmosphere. There was a time when I just stood there in the class, letting the noise drown me. I smiled.

And don't even start with their names. I have dozens of Nabilah(s) and Nadirah(s), a few Asyraaf(s) and not to mention quite a number of out-of-this-world names which make me pant by just saying them. Many times I called my students not by their names and I got irritated when they did not respond, not knowing that the so-called names do not exist in that class. Malu sendiri. And I caught a few giggles from the girls.

Kau cuba jadi cikgu sekarang, boleh tak hafal nama semua?

They are indeed, extremely hard to control and they have very short attention span but they give me one thing which I really appreciate - respect.