Monday, October 20, 2008

Everybody wants

Everybody wants,
a teacher that is fun,
a teacher that can teach,
a teacher that can reach,
a teacher that knows how,
to pressure he doesn't bow,
a person that is strict,
but yet he must be sweet,
meagre he may earn,
but that's not his concern,
for what a teacher wants,
is for his students to get number one.

This teacher must know all,
ignorance he must not show,
discipline he must keep,
without using a stick,
he must always give,
even if there's nothing to receive,
problems he must listen,
even when they're caused by parents,
he's to provide solutions,
and solve all problems by being patient.

Everybody must have think,
a teacher is not a human,
he can be treated like a servant,
how he feels is really irrelevant,
he does not need compassion,
since this path is what he has chosen.

Now, let us all be realistic,
ain't all the expectations a bit too sick,
nobody can be that angelic,
to find such person will definitely be problematic,
you may not find one even in the Arctic,
see if God has hidden one in your attic?!

Now, this is what I have to say,
what people think I don't really care,
the kids I teach are not really angels,
most of the time they only cause anger,
I am really not a saint,
I cannot silence all the pain,
I am also just a human,
so don't give me all those sermons,
let me do my job my own way,
as long as I don't lead the kids astray!

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Teacher - the 'moron' who chooses to teach for peanuts!

NOW, don't think that I put up the title to insult myself, far from it! It's sarcasm. For those who choose to disrespect our profession, unappreciative of our efforts, and have the undying passion to criticize us... R E A D (well, if you have a teacher to teach you how to read in the first place!!!)

To all our teachers !!!


The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life.
One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"

He reminded the other dinner guests what they say about teachers:
"Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach."
To stress his point he said to another guest; "You're a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?"

Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, "You want to know what I make? (She paused for a second, then began...)


"Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.
I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor.
I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5 without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental.
You want to know what I make?" (She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table.)
''I make kids wonder.
I make them question.
I make them apologize and mean it.
I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.
I teach them to write and then I make them write. Keyboarding isn't everything.
I make them read, read, read.
I make them show all their work in math. They use their God given brain, not the man-made calculator.
I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know in English while preserving their unique cultural identity.
I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.
I make my students stand, placing their hand over their heart to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, One Nation Under God, because we LIVE in this great country...
Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life."
(Bonnie paused one last time and then continued.)
"Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn't everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant... You want to know what I make?
"I MAKE A DIFFERENCE . What do YOU make Mr. CEO?"
His jaw dropped, he went silent.


THIS IS WORTH SENDING TO EVERY TEACHER YOU KNOW.

Friday, May 9, 2008

~ my peSt : *ambipure* ~

(*ambipure* - not his real name. name has been changed to protect his privacy)

I said I do not want to blog because if I do blog about funny stuff, all my blog will be centred around him. I do not want to do the 'panjang-lebar' blog because i want to limit my grammatical and spelling errors, and i haven't been blogging for a while - skill getting rusty.. or should i say, i got rusty!

Situation 1 - class was dead quiet. Ambipure can't stand the silence and he had to do this:
Ambipure : Say a joke. (talking to me).
Me : Sure. One word. "Ambipure"
Whole class laughed.

Situation 2 - we're talking about malay's names - sharifah, wan, syed, puteri etc
Ambipure : All the eldest in the family is called WAN is it?
Me : Yeah, the second child we call TWO.
'Apa lagi?' The class erupted.

Situation 3 - Ambipure being mischievious and not doing his work, so I 'konk' his head.
Me : Do your work and don't say that famous statement of yours. You don't have it!
Ambipure : Don't hit me. "Kill brain cells" (that's the statement I forbade him to say)
Class - laughed hysterically.
Me : Told you not to stay it.
Ambipure : (look blur blur) say what?!
SEE WHAT I MEANT?

For the record, Ambipure lost RM1300+ betting with me.
I 'kira' it's 'hutang lapuk' already.
And yet, he had the decency to say to me "Wanna Bet?" almost every other day.

More, but can't really remember the details now.

Well, that's my ***Ambipure***.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Never say never.

I really believe that everyone has a certain responsibility, a certain role, in this world. I've never thought that I would be involve in education, and definitely, the idea of being a teacher has never cross my small, tiny, miniscule brain before I's stranded in my hometown after resigning from a job in the 'big city'! But here I am, teaching kids ranging from 14 to people around my age, i.e. 18!!!

There were times when I feel like quitting, feel like it's not worth it anymore to suffer and agonize when my kids didn't achieve their potential. The feeling of self-doubt is not foreign to me, and believe me, it's revisited me many times lately. Everytime I scream at them for bad results, I scream silently to myself inside, asking myself - was it their fault? they are lazy or Was it mine? Should I have given out more exercise? Should I explain a few more times? Should I give extra class? Should I..? Should I...?

After soul searching and re-searching, I know deep down inside I've given them everything I can, stop short of telling them the questions that will come out in exam. But nobody seems to care that I stood in front of them teaching, yearning for them to know - course syllabus, and life's compass. They must have thought I stood in front yapping, babbling, nagging.. just to get the dough. I'm every witch they can recall, and every b***h they can call. I'm the evil stepmother, always picking on them. To what I owe these?

I believe my kids have potential. I have to be honest, not all of them will get A. But getting A is not the mighty important in life. It's just an alphabet. It doesn't mean you're a failure if you get the other 25 alphabets. But not trying to get the A means you are a failure. You dodge the problem. You rather call yourself dumb then to try and get the A. As if the A is going to choke you?! I remember my first year in primary school. First term I got 15. My dad who didn't finish elementary school himself was so incest he almost bit my head off. Yeah, exaggeration, but it's more or less it. But you see, my problem was not that I's lazy. My problem was that I can't understand the language. Perfecting the language in 3 months time allowed me to be first in class for the remaining term. That, I call, determination. That, I call, success. Nothing is impossible if we put our heart and effort into it.

You have it in you too. Dig deeper into your heart and soul. You know it. You have a role in life. or maybe many roles in this life. For now, your role is to make me not doubt myself, ever. For us... T R Y!

You may be my first billionaire student.
You may be my first prime minister student.
You may be my first actor student.
You may be my first teacher student.
You may be my first mechanic student.
You may be my first chef student.
Whatever you may be, please try to be my good student.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

You are so blessed!

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness,
you are more blessed than the million who won't survive the week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture or the pangs of starvation,
you are ahead of 20 million people around the world.

If you attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death,
you are more blessed than almost three billion people in the world.

If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep,
you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace,
you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

If your parents are still married and alive,
you are very rare, especially in the United States.

If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful,
you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

If you can hold someone's hand, hug them or even touch them on the shoulder,
you are blessed because you can offer God's healing touch.

If you can read this message,
you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read anything at all.

You are so blessed in ways you may never even know.

Cherish life, cherish people, cherish yourself! Carpe diem!

Monday, March 10, 2008

Bill Gates said...

My friends forwarded this in her recent email to me. Seems very true. Check it out!

Subject: Bill Gates' advice to students

Love him or hate him, he sure hits the nail on the head with this! Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.
Rule 1 : Life is not fair - get used to it!
Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6 : If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7 : Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8 : Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT - it even happens in Politics. In some schools, they have even abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want, to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9 : Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10 : Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11 : Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
If you agree, pass it on.
If you can read this - Thank a teacher!
If you are reading it in English - Thank a soldier!