11/8/08 Monday

1st week of TP. Went at 7 a.m. When I went to report myself, there was an assembly so no one was at the staffroom or at the principal’s office. Went to the assembly area and waited until the assembly was over to show myself to the principal (Cg. Noorzinah binti Hj Hassan) She introduced me to Cg. Hj Ali Hassan bin Hj Ibrahim, teacher in-charge of the SENA program.

(At the staffroom) - He asked me about the TP and we discussed about the SENA program. He told me about what the SENA was and explained about the students who are admitted to the SENA program. He gave me a copy of how he did his lesson plan for me to have a look at. He further told me about himself – he came to SR Mabohai this year (2008) and has been teaching at SR Raja Isteri Fatimah for the past 7 years. He then showed me the SENA class.

(At the SENA class) – The class itself has a layout of a kindergarten. A computer is present which was given by UPK (Unit Pendidikan Khas). It seems that Cg. Hj Ali Hassan teaches all subjects, but he mostly teaches Mathematics and Bahasa Melayu. I observed how he handled several students that came in. He introduced me to Mohd Nur Zainiezan and Ashraf. I joined their session and assisted Cg. Hj Ali in teaching them Mathematics. I requested to have them for my TP because I was already thinking up thoughts of how to help them learn using the internet! Two doors down from the SENA class is the ICT Room and when the teacher-in-charge passed by, he introduced me to her i.e. Cg. Siti Rogayah binti Hj Tamin (ITB graduate in Computer Studies and started teaching in SR Mabohai in 2002). Cg. Hj Ali explained to her about my TP and ICT. Since she was tied up with her students, she told me to look for her after break to discuss my TP.

(After break) – Went to ICT Room to see Gg. Siti Rogayah. She had a class so I just sat at her table and observed what she was doing. She was giving instructions and showed them how to do the work they were to do. After the class, we discussed my TP and what I was to do. Since her students were undergoing completion of projects, she told me to just assist her teach during the allocated time slots with her. There was only one ICT Lab in SR Mabohai. There are 12 HP computers, 6 Acers and 1 Active board in the lab. There were also about 10 Mac notebooks recently acquired. The lab has internet access but it is not wireless. After the discussion with Cg. Siti Rogayah, I went back to the SENA class and further observed the students that came in the class. Zainiezan and Asyraf were there so I sat down again with them and assisted Cg. Hj Ali in teaching them Bahasa Melayu. There were also other students in the class. Zainiezan seems to have a problem in reading and has a tendency to easily forget things. Asyraf went through two brain tumor operations, hence maybe the limitation on his motor skills. I helped Zainiezan to read through reading materials given and that covered the rest of the day. Asyraf was supposed to complete a three question Bahasa Melayu comprehension exercise. He did not complete his work because he paid extra attention on beautifying his paper. During my session with Zainiezan and Asyraf, Cg. Siti Rogayah came in and informed Cg. Hj Ali that both of them has been elected by the Principal as my CTs (Co-operating Teachers). The school received a memo/letter from SHBIE informing of a briefing for CTs the coming Wednesday afternoon, 13/8/08 at SHBIE.

18/8/08 Monday

2nd week of TP. After assembly, Gg. Siti Rogayah informed me that I was to take over two of her class starting next week. (1B, Pd 3, 8:30-9:00 & 3A, Pd 6, 10:30-11:00). She had a clearer view of what I was supposed to do and hence the taking over of two of her classes starting next week. She gave her Lesson Plan folder to read through. In her folder were her lesson plans and scheme of work. She showed me which part of the scheme of work has been covered and which part I will be covering starting next week. I asked if it was her who set up the network in the school. She said that when she started teaching in SR Mabohai the network was already set up. She further informed me that she and Cg. Hj Ali will be accompanying students for the opening of the Inter-School Sports for Primary Schools today. Because of this, both the SENA class and the ICT room would be closed. I was left to my own devises so I created this journal and updated my entry.

I haven’t confirmed with Cg. Hj Ali on my periods with him. Hopefully I will be able to confirm by today because I need to start teaching next week alongside teaching ICT. My mind in on searching through the Net for lessons which I can use to teach the SENA students. I want them to use a computer in learning their subjects and straightaway to learn the basics of a computer. On the other hand hopefully by using a computer I am hoping it will motivate the students to learn more and giving them the understanding they need. I wasn’t assigned to relief any class so I did not go to any class. Since I am new and most of the teacher wasn’t aware of my presence I did not want to intrude. The senior mistress informed me to just stay in the staffroom and do whatever updating or learning I had to do by myself.

At the staffroom, I would listen to the other teachers talk about their day and their students and would follow their discussions about general teaching issues concerning students’ behaviors and attitudes. When my sons’ teachers were there I took the opportunity in asking about my sons’ progress and their habits in class. The teachers would discuss with me about my sons’ good and bad behaviors (which I appreciated!) and hence able me to discuss with the teachers on how to strengthen the good behaviors and lessen the bad behaviors.

12:00 pm – Cg. Hj Ali came back and I was able to confirm on my periods with the SENA students. My periods are Pd 5, 9:30 – 10:00 and Pd 8, 11:30 – 12:00 (which would cover up to PD 9, 12:00 – 12:30 if students handled were more than three) During Pd 5 the students I would be handling are Asyraf and Zainiezan (Mathematics) from Primary 3B and Pd 8 are still Zainiezan and Asyraf with some of their classmates (Bahasa Melayu). I plan to use Cg. Hj Ali’s Lesson Plan as a base in developing my own Lesson Plan for next week.

About

Dyg Norolhoda binti Haji Mohd Arpan
08D0302 Diploma in Education (In-Service)

At the age of 34 I decided to change profession from a bank officer to a teacher. I joined the Ministry of Education in 2004 and was posted to Maktab SOAS. It was a huge transition! I started teaching on my 2nd day and was given a class full of naughty and rebellious boys. IOne look at them and my adrenaline went sky high. I was so determine to make whichever class I taught to learn something from me. Most of my days as a teacher was challenging, hectic and memorable. Though referred as a stressful job, I never regretted my decision to become a teacher. The overwhelming feeling when a student comes up to you and says "Thank you" with a smile is a treasure itself. I am by nature a serious person but since being a teacher I have learn to smile a lot especially by the antics of my students. :)