Freaking February, “Saya Menurut Perintah” (Episode I): The Calendar Of Monday-Sunday.

February is so packed with professional errands! And honestly, a very hectic month for me as everyday from Monday until Sunday, I go to school for my professional affairs. Restless month and days as the body is lethargic yet the mind is active in concocting plans, etc.

Every Saturdays for this whole month are slotted for school programmes. The second Saturday of February 2012 which was 11th February was slotted for Replacement Day (due to the one-week-long- Chinese New Year holidays); the third Saturday which was 18th February was slotted for “Latihan Dalam Perkhidmatan” course focusing on how to discipline the pupils and the ethics of how to manage the discipline cases and also after that the BAKSI (“Badan Kebajikan Guru)’s meeting – of which I was elected as one of the Committee; the upcoming 4th Saturday which is 25th February will be slotted for PIBG or “Persatuan Ibu Bapa & Guru” (Parents & Teachers Association) gathering – of which I am to become the MC; AND the first Saturday for March which is 3rd March will be allocated for another Replacement Day. So… you can imagine that; and those are still exclusive to the sandwiched errands in between! (,”)

Beginning on the 12th February, I’ve been teaching an English Communication class slated for teachers’ children. The class encompasses on simple daily dialogues and also trying to instil fun in learning to converse in English. Supposedly, the class is held on Saturdays but since every Saturdays in this February are already ‘booked’ for school official events, the class has to be shifted to Sunday; and that means NO FREE WEEKENDS for me!

It was really exhausting to keep maintaining the perky and zealous personality for 2hours and a half (almost 3 hours) because I am dealing with kids; so I HAVE to project that cheery and perky attitude in order for them to enjoy the lessons! So far, I’ve received good feedbacks from the kids and also my colleagues; but honestly speaking, I am not sure whether that excites me any more. I mean, I LOVE teaching people/kids how to communicate but 2 hours and a half is simply a tiring task and I am the kind of person who WORK SINCERELY. I won’t abuse the trust by teaching recklessly. I want my colleagues’ money to be worth-spent and I gave my all efforts tantamount to the money!!!!  Still, money ain’t the motive. I don’t even know the pricing. Mainly, I do this for the sake of ‘giving back via charity’ and passion to experience something new in teaching curve. But anyway, we’ll see….

On the third week starting on 13th February, teachers were given a briefing on a new ONLINE system for pupils’ database. Yes, it is the additional online systems of the abundant systems created by the Ministry. But it is not to be confused with “Sistem Analisa Peperiksaan” (SAPS), “Sistem Pengurusan Latihan Guru” (SPLG), and many more. Teachers have to key-in the data and class teachers HAVE to dig all the files for the sake of to retrieve I/C numbers and details of the pupils. Easy you say? It’s tedious. MOUNTAINS OF FILES; and then you have to key-in one-by-one. Very much a clerical stuff. And as usual, Ministry wants the data URGENT; so, by 24th February, teachers MUST key-in the data and retrieve the data from the physical FILES by hook or by crook!

 

To add the salt to the fiasco, my school has just reshuffled the classes and the class teachers; coincide with the third week of February. And so happened that, I was given the responsibility as the Class Teacher for 5 Brilliant on Friday, 17th February. When you take someone else’s task and the management in such short notice with pressing/urging datelines waiting you, it becomes really TOPSY-TURVY! And with that, I’ve to set straight all the management of the class – right from the Attendance Register which has to be re-do; the decoration, arrangement and organizational hierarchy of the class; and of course, the trickiest part is to TRAIN the pupils according to the laws of Dos or Don’ts!!! And so, I’ve stayed back to straightening back the arrangement/decoration of 5 Brilliant – up until 5-6 p.m. daily and I must confess that when I am being entrusted with that responsibility, I got OBSESSED with managing my own space; that is my class 5 Brilliant!….Tiring, I must say, though…

With the reshuffling, I also have to teach a Year 6 class; 6 Gallant for Science. And to teach Year 6 means another pressure is added as school is very meticulous and scrutinize the achievement of Year 6 pupils – since UPSR is the main weightage for the school’s KPI. That means, I’ll be included in the Extra Classes on Saturdays and that is definitely a No-No for my Saturday care-free days…..

As the Secretary for Science Panel, I am responsible to do documentations and jotting reports for every meetings. So happened that the first meeting was held today and I have extra responsibilities which are :-

• The Treasurer for Science Panel;
• The committee responsible to decorate and manage the Science Notice Board for an intra-school competition along with Kak Aireen & Kak Lela

On top of that, I have Night Class at Kak Rafidah’s house on every Tuesday; focusing on English & on Friday focusing on Science; and also a 2-hours slot tutoring on Monday afternoon. All these are done out of the intention of charity or “amal jariah”. Of course, I can’t teach free because these consume my TIME & ENERGY – but I honestly didn’t determine the pricing myself. I let others determine that because so far, I don’t have the “business-mind” attitude. I just hope to give back to the kids for what I have now… Amin.

It is exhausting. I am thinking of rescheduling my calendar now. But of course, I enjoy my career and the people around me especially the kids and also my  beloved colleagues. And for the upcoming PIBG meeting, I’ll be the Master of Ceremony (MC; again!) partnering with seasoned player, Kak Ita. Well, it’s “Saya Menurut Perintah” career cycle, y’all!